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Do the Cavaliers' woes really show how valuable LeBron is? Does their pitiful performance thus far justify James as MVP? Read more after the jump.

It has become a compelling argument of late. Does LeBron's absence in Cleveland and significant presence in Miami make him the NBA's Most Valuable Player? Isit possible that LeBron's move to South Beach solely transformed the Cavs from one of the league's best to the flat-out worst?

Without LeBron, Cleveland holds a league-worst 8-45 clip including a record breaking 26-game losing streak. With LeBron, the Cavs were 61-21 last season and 66-16 the season before that. Both of which stood as the best records in the NBA.

So that raises the question? Being that the Cavs went from first to worst, does LeBron's value automatically earn him MVP honors?

No. And here's why:

1. What does MVP mean?
It stands for Most Valuable Player. It means if you take a guy off his team, how much worse off would that team be?

Go ahead and take LeBron off the Heat. That leaves Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh as the two main pieces. Without LeBron or Bosh last season, Miami finished 47-35 behind the leadership of Wade. That was good enough to earn them a #5 seed in the East. Now add Bosh to that. Still a #5 seed and most likely higher.

Sure they're not nearly as good without LeBron, but nonetheless, they are still a playoff team behind Wade and Bosh. There are other players in the NBA that make or break their teams' playoff chances. Like.......


2. A guy named Derrick Rose
To be completely honest, the MVP race shouldn't even be close right now. If this was an actual race, Rose would have lapped the competition.

You're talking about a guy who elevated his game to a different level this season. A guy who dissected his imperfections and improved them. A guy who single-handily holds the postseason fate of his team in the palm of his hands.

Thus far, Rose has improved in a bunch of statistical categories. He has seen his averages increase in points, assists, rebounds, free-throw percentage, three-point percentage, and steals. Rose's 24.7 PPG, 8.2 APG, and 4.4 RPG represent more than a solid line.

Rose has also been holding down the fort while watching Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah miss significant time with injuries. Besides D-Rose, Boozer and Noah are the two most important pieces to Chicago's playoff puzzle. Being able to keep your team near the top of the league without the second and third most meaningful players means a lot. If you take Rose off the Bulls, they aren't even close to being a playoff team. This would make him the single-most valuable player being that his team relies on him so heavily.


3. Is LeBron the only reason why the Cavs have sunk so low?
Probably not. I don't think a team that won 60+ games two seasons in a row could collapse because of one player's absence. It's never happened before an why should it make sense now? Am I supposed to believe LeBron is the most valuable player in the history of the NBA? No.Yes it's LeBron and yes he's one of the best talents to ever play the game, but there are a few more elements that should be factored into this equation.

For one, the head coaching position has changed hands. Wait, stay with me here. I know Mike Brown wasn't the one of the greatest coaches in the league. I would have been one of the first to tell you that. And I know Byron Scott and his accomplishments as a head coach trump Mike Brown's. But it may be a case of dealing with the struggles of implementing a new system.

In Scott's first season coaching New Jersey, the Nets went 26-56. However the very next season, they finished with an Eastern Conference-best 52-30 and reached the NBA Finals.

Same scenario in New Orleans for Scott. In his first year, he coached them to a miserable 18-64. And the season after that, they improved by 20 games and won 56 games two seasons after that.

Secondly, the air in Cleveland got sucked out with LeBron's choice to leave for Miami. There was no enthusiasm and no optimism, just a whole lot of hate. If there was anybody in Cleveland, besides Dan Gilbert, who truly thought the Cavs would still be good, then hey should have been admitted into a mental hosptial. No excitement amongst the players and the fanbase will not translate into success. It will not maintain good morale and it will not instill a desire to win.

And just to put it into further context, LeBron didn't bring Cleveland a title. So it wasn't like they went from hoisting trophies to constantly losing. No championship with LeBron, no championship without LeBron.