If The 2016 Cavs Met The 2020 Lakers, Who Wins? J.R. Smith Has The Answer

In good times and in bad times, J.R. Smith battled alongside LeBron James. Smith, then, is in a good position to answer this hypothetical question: If LBJ’s two latest championship squads were to collide, who comes out on top?

Appearing on an episode of the “To the Baha” podcast, Smith was asked to imagine a dream matchup between the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers. The 16-year veteran was a rotation player in both of these title campaigns, and on the podcast, he gave a definitive answer.

“Cavs. It’s not even close,” Smith said.

For Smith, who was drafted into the NBA a year after James headlined the 2003 class, age is one of the deciding factors in this fantasy duel. “[In LA], you had an older Rondo, obviously an older Bron, an older AD. That team in Cleveland…Kyrie? Nobody on that Lakers team can guard him. Nobody.”

When the podcast hosts argued that 2020 Anthony Davis might have “cooked” if he’d gone up against the 2016 Cavs frontcourt, Smith pointed out that his Cleveland team had a durable big man who could’ve given AD problems. “The way double T [Tristan Thompson] played, I don’t know, I can’t say he was going to cook,” he replied. “Double T, he knew how to get under a m*****f**ker’s skin. He got that dirty little Canadian play.”

Aside from Davis and Thompson, this hypothetical Cavs-Lakers matchup has other top-tier bigs who contributed to their respective teams in distinct ways. On the Cavs’ side, Kevin Love was stockpiling rebounds, and Channing Frye was spreading the floor with his outside shooting. Meanwhile, the Lakers had a healthy supply of traditional bruisers: JaVale McGee, Markieff Morris, and a 34-year-old Dwight Howard who could still bully opposing bigs.

To Smith’s point, though, Cleveland had the luxury of having two elite shot-makers in LBJ and Kyrie Irving. The 2020 Lakers could have deployed defensive stalwart Rajon Rondo to cover Irving, but as the 2016 Golden State Warriors found out, Uncle Drew’s handles and jump shot were on a different level of smooth.

So, who wins between the 2016 Cavs and the 2020 Lakers? That’s for NBA 2K players to recreate in a video game, but as far as Smith is concerned, the team that came back from a 3-1 series deficit holds an edge over his other championship squad.