lets compare the last cavs team that made it to the conference finals and the sunsm yes i know different conferences etc.
gortat puts up nmbers comparable to illgauskas on the cavs
schola better offensively than varajeo but a poorer rebounder
james now is better than he was at 24
shannon brown / delonte west = a wash
dragic - a better pg than mo williams
lets say he took the path of say the spurs
lakers yeah they would win
golden state yup
and they would be in the conference finals
not to mention lebron makes his teammates better