Switch LeBron with Durant, do both teams get better?

[JordansBulls]

Switch LeBron with Durant, do both teams get better?

[jaypo]

Honestly, I think the Heat become better and the Thunder stay the same or get worse. I think Durant's game would mesh better with DWade. Just my opinion.

[ORLANDO_MAGIC]

I dont see Lebron and Westbrooke playing together.

[jaypo]

I dont see Lebron and Westbrooke playing together.

That's whay I said I think the Thunder would regress.

[Sinant]

Durant's pretty much the best "play alongside another elite player" elite wing player in the league. Individually, LeBron is better than Durant, in terms of this thread, I think the Thunder probably stay the same/regress a bit and the Heat improve.

Wade would get to use all of his skills to his fullest without marginalizing anything Durant does, while LeBron would marginalize a lot of Westbrook's game.

[Jeff23]

A line-up of

Westbrook
Sefolosha
LeBron James
Serge Ibaka
Kendrick Perkins

I think the Thunder win more than 60 games with this line-up. LeBron would provide the great passing, what the really need. He would be someone who can create his shot and for his teammates. They would struggle with the floor spacing, but they already do right now. Defensively they would be even better.

[DumbyTheWizard]

Heat get better and Thuner worse as a team even tho Durant isnt as good as 'bron.

[mopper8]

I'm going to disagree about the Heat getting better. As others have said, he'd be easier to mesh with Wade, but Wade and Lebron having been working in harmony for a little while now, since early March at least, so the amount of improvement you get there is being a little overstated IMO.

Meanwhile, switching Durant for Lebron would make our defense significantly worse. Durant is a nice player, but Lebron does a lot of the heavy lifting for Miami defensively (as does Wade, for that matter).

[lijoge]

this thread must have entered us into the twilight zone...

because i believe the thunder would get worse and the heat would get better...at least on paper...

but i also belive LBJ>Durant....

how is this so?...

[Tim_Hardawayy]

I'm going to disagree about the Heat getting better. As others have said, he'd be easier to mesh with Wade, but Wade and Lebron having been working in harmony for a little while now, since early March at least, so the amount of improvement you get there is being a little overstated IMO.

Meanwhile, switching Durant for Lebron would make our defense significantly worse. Durant is a nice player, but Lebron does a lot of the heavy lifting for Miami defensively (as does Wade, for that matter).

Pretty much this. How well the two wing players coexist is being overstated, and LeBron's defensive impact (along with his ability to run an offense) is being underrated.

In addition, LeBron has been a comparable jumpshooter to Durant this past season.

[We da Pressed]

Heat get better, Thunder stay about the same. LeBron would take over the point role and force Westbrook into being an off the ball player. But LeBron having the ball>>>>Westbrook having the ball even without a Durant to pass to. OKC's cast is comparable to Cleveland's so OKC should win around 60~ games with LeBron. Heat would be a 60 win team with Durant so I think they would improve a bit as well.

It's unfair to state the Thunder get better if you put LeBron in the lineup because they win 60+ with

Westbrook
Harden/Sefalosha
LeBron
Ibaka
Perkins

Durant only played with that lineup, in place of LeBron obviously, 19 games and they went 16-3. I'm fairly confident OKC is a 60+ win team as currently constructed.

[fallacy]

Heat get better

Thunder get worse


Lebron is still better than Durant though

[dhh2h]

If you replace Wade with Durant, the Heat would win 65+

[Joseph17]

Honestly, I think the Heat become better and the Thunder stay the same or get worse. I think Durant's game would mesh better with DWade. Just my opinion.

[Tim_Hardawayy]

I just think people are underrating LeBron's defense here. Even if Durant improves Miami's offense (and I do NOT think that's a given, with how good LeBron's jumper was this year), I could see us falling about 5 spots defensively, from 5th in the league to 10th, and that would really hurt.

In addition, instead of having the luxury of either LeBron or Wade to direct the offense, you'd be stuck with Wade as the only reliable ball handler. Teams could just trap Wade at the end of games to get the ball out of his hands and stall Miami's offense.

For as critical as people have been of the Heat this year, they still finished 3rd in offensive rating and 5th in defensive rating. They were damn good this year, and were playing essentially without their expected 4th and 5th best players in Haslem and Miller for the majority of the year.

[Jvaughn]

A line-up of

Westbrook
Sefolosha
LeBron James
Serge Ibaka
Kendrick Perkins

Defensively, that lineup is ridiculous. Lockdown lineup. Offensively, that is one of the worse shooting lineups I've ever seen.

[Rapcity_11]

I dunno. As Jvaughn just noted the Thunder become a team with extremely poor spacing. There's also the fact that Westbrook and Harden get less time with the ball. The only way it works better for the Thunder from my view is it Westbrook is traded for a better fitting and still talented player.

So no I don't see the Thunder getting better.

The Heat I think get slightly better offensively and worse defensively, with the net being basically the same.

[Jvaughn]

I dunno. As Jvaughn just noted the Thunder become a team with extremely poor spacing. There's also the fact that Westbrook and Harden get less time with the ball. The only way it works better for the Thunder from my view is it Westbrook is traded for a better fitting and still talented player.

I didn't even look at it from Westbrooks perspective. He'd be off the ball 80% of the time. Unless he really improved his 3pt shooting in the offseason, I don't see how he'd be half as effective. You could seriously pack the paint for a full game. Only way to pull teams out of that D would be to put Cook and Harden on the floor for 30+mpg apiece.

[ahonui06]

LeBron on Thunder

I believe the Thunder's spacing would be thrown into disarray because LBJ does not have the range Durant does. Westbrook would also become marginalized because LBJ needs the ball in his hands to make things happen for himself and teammates.

Defensively, the Thunder would improve because of LeBron being a more physical, better defender than Durant.

Although, the Thunder may become worse offensively due to spacing issues and teams packing the paint, I feel the Thunder would improve slightly due to better defense.

Durant on Heat

Durant in Miami would free up Wade to penetrate and drive the basketball which fully utilizes his skillset. Durant is great at spacing the court due to his shooting ability.

Defensively, the Heat would decline since LeBron shoulders a heavy load at the moment and Durant isn't elite defensively at this point in his career.

I feel the Heat would remain about the same due to the improved offense and floor spacing.

In short, Thunder would improve slightly due to improved defense and Heat would remain the same/improve slightly due to better spacing.

[Laimbeer]

Both teams are better with LeBron. There's something to be said for blend, but he's just a lot better than anybody we're talking about here. The guy won MVPs and 60+ games with D-Leaguers in Cleveland and both supporting casts are far better and he's a strong contender with either.