RealGM

Michael Jackson wrote:

bbalnation wrote:

Michael Jackson wrote:Well a few issues with this, but Lebron didn’t outsmart himself, basically Westbrook was the only guy the salary capped and asset poor Lakers team could trade for. He wasn’t top of their list I would bet but he was gettable. They know they needed more talent and Russ was available. Will it be a car crash? Very possibly. Where the Lakers blundered imho was not paying Caruso. Not that he is great but they have few options on the free market because of the cap to get players that aren’t vet minimum guys. They could sign AC if for nothing else p, just to trade him down the road. Still not sure why they didn’t. Not that he was going to make them a much better team but he is an asset and they are asset poor, unless they are trading AD.

They could have had Demar instead of Russ, which to me is the biggest gamble LeBron took this summer.

Russ brings out tenacity in teammates and thatll probably help AD/Bron in the regular season more. Spacing wise, I think Demar would have been a better fit, and its what this team needs more in the playoffs. I've already seen him hit a couple of threes in the preseason, so it seems like he's more willing to take them than he was before.

I still think they'll figure it out. The Lakers are loaded and deep, so age is less of a factor. I see enough speed, length, shooting, and defense on this team. Along with a core that has 2 years with Frank Vogel and his principles/vernacular.

Not sure the Spurs would be willing to help out the Lakers. Westbrook is still the better player but DDR is maybe a better fit. That being said he operates in a lot of the same space that Lebron does. So does Russ too I know.

floppymoose wrote:I would take Caruso over Westbrook straight up.

giberish wrote:They couldn't have had DeMar for hard cap reasons (or at least it would have been difficult). They couldn't get Lillard, Beal or any other real star both because those players weren't on the market at all and because they didn't have anything meaningful to offer.

The options were really depth or Westbrook. IMO they choose poorly, both overrating Westbrook's actual value (as opposed to his fame) and overrating the amount of useful depth you can assemble on all min salary contracts.

Joerezz7 wrote:

Jfh20 wrote:so first, lebron starts with the decision to join up with Dwade and bosh in south beach, which turned out to be a good decision right? they win a few titles, bron is 2x FMVP and things looking up. Then Dwade starts slowing down and bron realizes its over with the miami heat. meanwhile in cleveland kyrie irving was proving to be a all star caliber player and a top 5 pg in the nba and cleveland landing wiggins in the lottery was a opportunity lebron could not let go. So he leaves miami and joins up with cleveland and superteam #2 is built. They win a title (thanks to kyrie heroics) with cleveland and things are looking good. Until they run into the juggernaut GSW which lebron didnt see coming. So they end up losing and soon after kyrie requests a trade and rest is history. Next stop, the Lakeshow! bron and rich paul decide there assets in lakerland and another opportunity! with rich paul pullin strings behind the scenes and tampering they managed to trade for anthony davis. They even tried to sign kawhi but failed. With that said, they still manage to win a title and become champions! but after failing to repeat lebron decides to trade for russell westbrook! a player that has never won anywhere he goes. This is where i think lebron finally outsmarted himself. The lakers will not only fail to win a title with this current team, but will be the laughing stock of the nba. Lebron is not a good GM, and should never be involved in this sort of team personnel decisions. Its ok though, bron won 4 titles, has a great career to look back on. Looking forward to lebrons retirement after this collapse of incoming season.

100% agree. I don’t know how he’s considered top 3 all time when he took the route that he did to win rings, jumping from super team to super team.

homecourtloss wrote:

Joerezz7 wrote:

Jfh20 wrote:so first, lebron starts with the decision to join up with Dwade and bosh in south beach, which turned out to be a good decision right? they win a few titles, bron is 2x FMVP and things looking up. Then Dwade starts slowing down and bron realizes its over with the miami heat. meanwhile in cleveland kyrie irving was proving to be a all star caliber player and a top 5 pg in the nba and cleveland landing wiggins in the lottery was a opportunity lebron could not let go. So he leaves miami and joins up with cleveland and superteam #2 is built. They win a title (thanks to kyrie heroics) with cleveland and things are looking good. Until they run into the juggernaut GSW which lebron didnt see coming. So they end up losing and soon after kyrie requests a trade and rest is history. Next stop, the Lakeshow! bron and rich paul decide there assets in lakerland and another opportunity! with rich paul pullin strings behind the scenes and tampering they managed to trade for anthony davis. They even tried to sign kawhi but failed. With that said, they still manage to win a title and become champions! but after failing to repeat lebron decides to trade for russell westbrook! a player that has never won anywhere he goes. This is where i think lebron finally outsmarted himself. The lakers will not only fail to win a title with this current team, but will be the laughing stock of the nba. Lebron is not a good GM, and should never be involved in this sort of team personnel decisions. Its ok though, bron won 4 titles, has a great career to look back on. Looking forward to lebrons retirement after this collapse of incoming season.

100% agree. I don’t know how he’s considered top 3 all time when he took the route that he did to win rings, jumping from super team to super team.

He didn’t jump to any superteam—he WAS the reason these teams were so good.

levon wrote:

floppymoose wrote:I would take Caruso over Westbrook straight up.

aaand this is my cue to sign out from this site forever

God Squad wrote:

levon wrote:

floppymoose wrote:I would take Caruso over Westbrook straight up.

aaand this is my cue to sign out from this site forever

I'd rather have Caruso also. I'd rather a player like Caruso follow a offensive/defensive scheme than have Westy gunning for low efficiency triple doubles while playing a$$ defense and chucking away. This isn't even including contract differences.

floppymoose wrote:I would take Caruso over Westbrook straight up. LAL is a mess. AD and LJ are going to have to drag them into the playoffs.