As LeBron James has cemented himself as the best player of his generation and perhaps to ever play, you could argue that the single-most impressive accomplishment on his résumé is that, as we speak, he's been to seven straight NBA Finals -- four with the Miami Heat dating back to 2010-11, and the last three with the Cavs. I know the East has been the far weaker conference for some time now, but that is still ridiculous. 

Over that span, it has become a popular assertion that you could put LeBron on any team in the East and that team would immediately become a Finals threat, if not the favorite. That is going too far. Yes, that 2007 Cavaliers team that LeBron dragged to the Finals was a scrap-heap that gave more than 53 combined minutes per game to Larry Hughes and Boobie Gibson, but that was an exception. Over these last seven years, LeBron has been playing with nothing less than the collective cream of the Eastern crop. 

That's what makes this year different. This Cavs team, to state the obvious, is not even close to being the most talented team in the East. Take LeBron off this squad, in fact, and there's a decent chance this is a lottery team. This year, we're really going to find out just how powerful the LeBron factor is. 

Look what he had to do for Cleveland on Monday night: 40 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists ... all for the Cavs to beat the pretty pedestrian Bucks, at home, by seven. Kevin Love returned, and he helped with 18 points and seven boards in 24 minutes. But Cleveland still gave up 117 points. George Hill scored zero points in 21 minutes. Let's be fair: Neither Rodney Hood nor Larry Nance Jr. played on Monday, and those are two pieces that came over in that deadline trade with the Lakers that so many people -- including myself -- thought made so much sense for Cleveland. 

In terms of fit, the moves still do make sense. But sometimes all this in-the-weeds analysis about "fit" and "style" and "system" can camouflage the very simple fact that basketball, when you get down to it, is largely about players making plays. We love to talk about the beautiful Warriors' system, but how great was that system on Monday night when they played without Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson and promptly scored 75 points in a loss to the Spurs? 

Great basketball teams are, for the most part, a product of great players, and the bottom line is the Cavs only have one of those. So far, that has made them a slightly better than average team. In the 16 games that Cleveland has suited up its four new players since that trade, the Cavs are 9-7. Of those nine wins, only three have come against current playoff teams, with the most recent one prior to Monday being Oklahoma City on Feb. 13. 

In other words, until the Cavs managed to knock off the mighty Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, they hadn't beaten a current playoff team in over a month. Meanwhile, over that stretch they've lost to six playoff teams and the Lakers by 79 combined points, or by more than 13 points a game, which is a terrible mark. 

So, yeah, the Cavs are not a great team. But they have the greatest player. And this is where this gets really interesting. Once again, the East is the weaker conference. There is no debate about this, so don't try to start one. LeBron will once again have the advantage of not having to go through a truly great team until the Finals. Entering Tuesday, the Cavs, as the No. 3 seed, would match up with the Sixers in the first round. 

They could very well lose that matchup. I wouldn't bet on it, but I wouldn't bet the mortgage against it either. At the same time, the Cavs could just as well go back to the Finals. This is probably the truest measurement of LeBron's greatness: That a team ranked 28th in defense, a team with just one superstar in a super-team era, a team that could reasonably lose in the first round and certainly the second, just cannot be dismissed as a Finals contender. 

This is also an indictment on the East. If the Cavs were in the West, forget about it. If they even made it out of the first round it would be an accomplishment, and from there they'd likely see Golden State or Houston in the second round, and it would be a bloodbath, just as it will if they somehow get back to the Finals this year out of the East and see one of those two teams. 

But in the East? The Toronto Raptors are really good, and if I had to pick right now I would definitely say they're the favorite to come out. But after that? Boston doesn't have the offense and will probably be without Marcus Smart for a while through the playoffs. Washington doesn't scare anyone, even when John Wall comes back. The Pacers? It's a nice story, but come on. 

This year's Eastern Conference playoffs are setting up to be wild. Flaws and all, the Raptors, Celtics, Cavs and the Wizards are legit threats to make the Finals if things go their way. Again, if the Cavs were to see the Sixers in the first round, that would be a must-watch. Take LeBron off the Cavs, and I would take the Sixers' roster in a heartbeat. Same could be said for the rosters of Toronto, Boston and Washington. 

For years LeBron has been the best player on the best team in the East, and as such, the Eastern playoffs have been a snooze-fest, particularly since he returned to Cleveland. Even when he had some pretty contentious series battles with the Pacers when he was in Miami, he was doing so with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh by his side. This year he's rolling with J.R. Smith and George Hill. 

So, yes, it does appear true that you could put LeBron on any team, or at least any playoff team, in the East, and that team would immediately become a Finals threat. But the Finals favorite? That claim ends this year. Cleveland is not the favorite to come out of the East; I don't care what Vegas odds you can find to the contrary. All the Cavs have is LeBron. We're about to find out if that is truly enough.