It took three weeks of waiting, but the basketball world — really the sports world as a whole — finally discovered where LeBron James will play next season.

James left the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this offseason. And immediately after, basketball fans around the world wanted to know where the future Hall of Famer would potentially end his career.

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat quickly came to mind. They made sense due to prior experiences with the franchises, and he already brought championships to both teams. There were also two others: the Golden State Warriors and Philadelphia 76ers.

On Friday morning, just before noon, it was announced that he would take his talents to the City of Brotherly Love.

It would have been a nice story for James, an Akron native who played twice with Cleveland, to return to where it started, and the Cavaliers might have been thinking the same thing. But James clearly targeted Philadelphia because they are better positioned to competed for a championship after trading for all-star Jaylen Brown earlier this month.

With the decision made, Cleveland needs to find answers.

The Cavaliers have slowly made progress each year in the playoffs. This past spring was no different, as they advanced to the Eastern Conference finals before falling to the eventual NBA champion New York Knicks.

The Cavaliers have had a couple questions swirling around the team over the last few years.

The first was front court depth. Their starters, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, have star-level potential. But they have underachieved in key moments in their young careers. Even with some doubt, there has been a notable drop in production from the big men when they leave the court.

The second concern was the lack of “toughness” the team has shown over the years. The Cavs have as much talent as any other contender with star guards Donovan Mitchell and James Harden. However, the Cavaliers have struggled after getting punched in the mouth or if the game resembles a schoolyard dustup.

James would have solved both of those issues. He still has positional versatility and can play all over the court. He also has a mentality that has kept him in shape and contending for rings and accolades for over 20 years, something the current Cavaliers could have used going into next season.

Cleveland didn’t make any significant move during free agency, with the goal leaving a spot open for James.

Where the Cavs stand with the luxury tax, certain moves are already off the table due to NBA rules constructed to prevent the “super teams” from forming again. It was reported that money wasn’t an factor for James, so getting one of the top players of all time on a cheap deal would have been the ideal way of adding a playmaker on a budget.

There haven’t been many NBA superstars that were willing to sign a two-year, $8 million deal, but James was one of them.

There shouldn’t be any blame toward James for not wanting the storybook ending, but there should be some directed toward Cleveland President of Basketball Operations Koby Altman. James signing with Cleveland was never a done deal, so the option was always on the table that he would pick another franchise.

Instead of standing by and waiting for good news, Altman and the Cavaliers should have made some backup plans, especially when it became obvious that James would take weeks to announce his decision.

Now that James is off the board, the Cavs have holes on their roster with no way of filling it. They can, but the acquisitions would not probably rise to the level of helping the team get back to the NBA Finals.

The Vegas odds had the Cavaliers with the fifth best odds in the Eastern Conference. Those odds aren’t going to get any better now.

Friday’s news will put even more pressure on the Cavaliers’ players and front office to figure something out. The roster wasn’t good enough to get it done last year in the playoffs.

Now it’s time to get creative, and hopefully Altman and the Cavs learned not to put all their eggs into one basket.

Dan Hiner is sports editor for The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle. He can be reached at dhiner@tribtoday.com.