The Cavaliers lost soundly to the Warriors in the 2017 NBA Finals. What do they do now?

The Cleveland Cavaliers couldn’t do it twice.

It was fortunate enough that the Cavaliers came back last Finals, down 3-1 in the series. It was never likely to happen again, especially when Cleveland found themselves in a 3-0 hole. The Golden State Warriors team they faced was a different foe than the one last year, with Kevin Durant along for the ride.

Given that, and given that the Warriors could even be remembered as the league’s greatest team when we look back on them, this isn’t a series that the Cavaliers should feel ashamed that they lost.

Right now, they’re the favorites in the Eastern Conference every year and they have the best player in the world, but you never know how long that might last. Arguably, last year’s unprecedented Finals win lulled the Cavaliers into a sense of security. As champions, they didn’t feel the need to make any dramatic changes, only to see their biggest rival sign a top-three player who won MVP just three seasons before.

When LeBron James returned to Cleveland, he said that he always imagined finishing his career in the city where he was born and raised. In all likelihood, that’s what James has intended to do. But James himself helped create the era where superstars have autonomy over their future. In the past, players usually only left by trades or after their prime, which is a huge reason why James’ decision in 2010 received so much vitriol.

We’re already seeing rumors peak out from the shadows, murmurs that James could consider leaving when his contract expires in 2018. Don’t put too much stock into that, except investing in the reality that the Cavaliers can’t be content with their third straight Finals appearance. It won’t work against the Warriors, and it soon might not work against the Eastern Conference, either.

The Cavaliers do have an infrastructure in place. Kyrie Irving is still only 25 years old, while Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert, and Channing Frye are all signed through next season.

However, next year’s salary cap is projected at $101 million and the Cavaliers have $126 million already on the books. It’s going to force the Cavaliers into massive luxury tax payments and make every move more complicated.

Love is the most popular name brought up when trades are suggested. He has been a team’s best player before and could probably do it again, something the Cavaliers have never needed him to do. It’s hard to play him and Thompson together against modern teams — namely, the Warriors, who go small, switch everything, and run traditional big men off the floor.

All the names and rumors will come out over the coming weeks. Maybe James’ longtime friend Carmelo Anthony, or maybe Paul George now that Larry Bird is out as Pacers president. George would certainly make more sense than Anthony — George’s defensive abilities are more proven and his three-point shooting a bit more reliable.

An even more audacious approach: make Irving available and attempt to acquire Jimmy Butler, too. Three wing players, all All-Stars who can hit three-pointers and switch defensively, might be the league’s best shot to slow down this Warriors roster.

These are nice, creative ideas. Actually pulling them off is another thing entirely, and it largely won’t be up to the Cavaliers. You can’t run this same team out against the Warriors in the 2018 Finals and expect dramatically different results, but changing up the team is hardly a guarantee of that, either.

As much as the James rumor mill will churn at ruthless efficiency nearing his 2018 free agency, there just may not be a better place for him. With Cleveland over the past three years, he has won relatively easily, never even going to Game 7. This year, the Cavaliers only lost a single game in the lead up to the Finals.

The two Eastern Conference teams coming for the Cavaliers next are the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks. Both are young and built for the future, and Boston in particular could grow even stronger with a successful summer. Cleveland should still be favorites over both teams until proven otherwise — the Cavaliers have earned that respect. But can they stave them off with their current lineup for two or three more years?

Cleveland has James. They could probably meet the Warriors in the Finals for three more years, at least. They would probably lose all three times.

You never know until it happens. But could the Cavaliers — and more importantly, James — be satisfied with hoping and waiting?

The next year will determine that.