LeBron James 2021-22 Regular Season Thread - Part ?

[falcolombardi]

LeBron gets blamed for using his power to make moves happen, and when he doesn’t use his power to stop moves from happening. It’s the same people that blame him too.

Therefore in these people’s eyes, every single move or non-move that doesn’t work out can be used against him.

“Le-GM” gets all blame for ruining rosters and 0 GM credit for the good rosters because then they just go back to saying “stacked team/needed help.” It’s a good way to make it a win-win situation for haters but it’s pretty lame.

The Le-GM narrative is complicated no doubt, but I feel like the way it's being used here is weird. There's pretty much a consensus in this thread that the WB trade is on LeBron and AD, and not many posters here have outright put the Caruso loss on LeBron. The vast majority of times I see it mentioned it's Pelinka, Buss or the organization as a whole that I see being blamed, so I struggle to identify who these people applying the double standards are, especially in this thread.

that makes the most sense

lebron probably at fault for westbrook trade while lakers front Office most at fault for losing caruso

[zimpy27]

Every buyout player Lakers add at the vet min will cost them 1.3m in salary and 8m in tax.

So Nunn plus 2 buyout players equals Caruso $$$.. Hopefully Nunn comes back and Lakers bring in a couple good buyouts.

Bembry is waived, he looks good.
Schroder, Gary Harris, Dragic, Bledsoe, TT, Wall -- Wouldn't mind Lakers picking a couple of these guys up

[falcolombardi]

Every buyout player Lakers add at the vet min will cost them 1.3m in salary and 8m in tax.

So Nunn plus 2 buyout players equals Caruso $$$.. Hopefully Nunn comes back and Lakers bring in a couple good buyouts.

Bembry is waived, he looks good.
Schroder, Gary Harris, Dragic, Bledsoe, TT, Wall -- Wouldn't mind Lakers picking a couple of these guys up

how many of those guys still defend and shot at a pasable clip ?

[zimpy27]

Every buyout player Lakers add at the vet min will cost them 1.3m in salary and 8m in tax.

So Nunn plus 2 buyout players equals Caruso $$$.. Hopefully Nunn comes back and Lakers bring in a couple good buyouts.

Bembry is waived, he looks good.
Schroder, Gary Harris, Dragic, Bledsoe, TT, Wall -- Wouldn't mind Lakers picking a couple of these guys up

how many of those guys still defend and shot at a pasable clip ?

Bembry, Harris, Schroeder
Wall is unknown

[Fadeaway_J]

Every buyout player Lakers add at the vet min will cost them 1.3m in salary and 8m in tax.

So Nunn plus 2 buyout players equals Caruso $$$.. Hopefully Nunn comes back and Lakers bring in a couple good buyouts.

Bembry is waived, he looks good.
Schroder, Gary Harris, Dragic, Bledsoe, TT, Wall -- Wouldn't mind Lakers picking a couple of these guys up

how many of those guys still defend and shot at a pasable clip ?

Harris has rediscovered his shot and has always been a good defender. Is there any reason to believe he'd be bought out though?

Actually the real question is why the best buyout guys would choose the Lakers over the Bucks, Suns, etc.

[sp6r=underrated]

LeBron gets blamed for using his power to make moves happen, and when he doesn’t use his power to stop moves from happening. It’s the same people that blame him too.

Therefore in these people’s eyes, every single move or non-move that doesn’t work out can be used against him.

“Le-GM” gets all blame for ruining rosters and 0 GM credit for the good rosters because then they just go back to saying “stacked team/needed help.” It’s a good way to make it a win-win situation for haters but it’s pretty lame.

The Le-GM narrative is complicated no doubt, but I feel like the way it's being used here is weird. There's pretty much a consensus in this thread that the WB trade is on LeBron and AD, and not many posters here have outright put the Caruso loss on LeBron. The vast majority of times I see it mentioned it's Pelinka, Buss or the organization as a whole that I see being blamed, so I struggle to identify who these people applying the double standards are, especially in this thread.

This is my read. And the reasoning for Lebron isn't a unique failing on his part. Athletes are by and large lousy GMs. He looked at Russ and just badly misread the player.

[Colbinii]

LeBron gets blamed for using his power to make moves happen, and when he doesn’t use his power to stop moves from happening. It’s the same people that blame him too.

Therefore in these people’s eyes, every single move or non-move that doesn’t work out can be used against him.

“Le-GM” gets all blame for ruining rosters and 0 GM credit for the good rosters because then they just go back to saying “stacked team/needed help.” It’s a good way to make it a win-win situation for haters but it’s pretty lame.

The Le-GM narrative is complicated no doubt, but I feel like the way it's being used here is weird. There's pretty much a consensus in this thread that the WB trade is on LeBron and AD, and not many posters here have outright put the Caruso loss on LeBron. The vast majority of times I see it mentioned it's Pelinka, Buss or the organization as a whole that I see being blamed, so I struggle to identify who these people applying the double standards are, especially in this thread.

This is my read. And the reasoning for Lebron isn't a unique failing on his part. Athletes are by and large lousy GMs. He looked at Russ and just badly misread the player.

LeBron saw how he was able to mesh with Wade so quickly and said "This can't be hard, Westbrook will be able to figure it out" and it turns out Westbrook only knows how to play 1 way. It's glaring.

[sp6r=underrated]

The Le-GM narrative is complicated no doubt, but I feel like the way it's being used here is weird. There's pretty much a consensus in this thread that the WB trade is on LeBron and AD, and not many posters here have outright put the Caruso loss on LeBron. The vast majority of times I see it mentioned it's Pelinka, Buss or the organization as a whole that I see being blamed, so I struggle to identify who these people applying the double standards are, especially in this thread.

This is my read. And the reasoning for Lebron isn't a unique failing on his part. Athletes are by and large lousy GMs. He looked at Russ and just badly misread the player.

LeBron saw how he was able to mesh with Wade so quickly and said "This can't be hard, Westbrook will be able to figure it out" and it turns out Westbrook only knows how to play 1 way. It's glaring.

And he made the other failing common to athletes: not grasping the age curve. Russ is 6'3 and 33 yrs old.

Athletes understandably and out of self-interest don't like to accept how much age/position matters for a player. Shorter guards who maintained value deep into their career are uncommon. The ones that do have a skill-set very during Russ.

Also, I'm trying not to rip Russ too much. He got a little to much credit for parts of his career but the revisionism now in some corners that he's always been a marginal player is BS

[AmIWrongDude]

LeBron gets blamed for using his power to make moves happen, and when he doesn’t use his power to stop moves from happening. It’s the same people that blame him too.

Therefore in these people’s eyes, every single move or non-move that doesn’t work out can be used against him.

“Le-GM” gets all blame for ruining rosters and 0 GM credit for the good rosters because then they just go back to saying “stacked team/needed help.” It’s a good way to make it a win-win situation for haters but it’s pretty lame.

The Le-GM narrative is complicated no doubt, but I feel like the way it's being used here is weird. There's pretty much a consensus in this thread that the WB trade is on LeBron and AD, and not many posters here have outright put the Caruso loss on LeBron. The vast majority of times I see it mentioned it's Pelinka, Buss or the organization as a whole that I see being blamed, so I struggle to identify who these people applying the double standards are, especially in this thread.

In this instance, I’m sure LeBron did have a major part in getting Westbrook but how is that different than other stars’ influence in the league? Why is it that only LeBron gets **** for it?

Why doesn’t LeBron get extra credit for getting Blatt fired, getting JR Smith, etc. which lead to a championship? Or getting AD which lead to a championship.

I’m not even saying he should but my issue is that people want to use the “Le-GM” argument only when his team loses which isn’t logical.

[trickshot]

Rockets are wrong for not even showcasing what they were trying to trade. I know they were trying to keep Wall from getting injured but sitting out the season in this manner is the same thing as being injured, hell even retired. If he played even just 10 games Lakers might have known what his current self looked like. Similar to how OKC did Horford before shutting him down. Don't let anyone tell you Presti is just making obvious moves. Look at how the rest of these rebuilding FOs are misusing their leverage.

[Baski]

LeBron gets blamed for using his power to make moves happen, and when he doesn’t use his power to stop moves from happening. It’s the same people that blame him too.

Therefore in these people’s eyes, every single move or non-move that doesn’t work out can be used against him.

“Le-GM” gets all blame for ruining rosters and 0 GM credit for the good rosters because then they just go back to saying “stacked team/needed help.” It’s a good way to make it a win-win situation for haters but it’s pretty lame.

The Le-GM narrative is complicated no doubt, but I feel like the way it's being used here is weird. There's pretty much a consensus in this thread that the WB trade is on LeBron and AD, and not many posters here have outright put the Caruso loss on LeBron. The vast majority of times I see it mentioned it's Pelinka, Buss or the organization as a whole that I see being blamed, so I struggle to identify who these people applying the double standards are, especially in this thread.

In this instance, I’m sure LeBron did have a major part in getting Westbrook but how is that different than other stars’ influence in the league? Why is it that only LeBron gets **** for it?

Why doesn’t LeBron get extra credit for getting Blatt fired, getting JR Smith, etc. which lead to a championship? Or getting AD which lead to a championship.

I’m not even saying he should but my issue is that people want to use the “Le-GM” argument only when his team loses which isn’t logical.

I guess I'm saying you should probably make these criticisms on a case by case basis. You'll see a lot of double standards on the GB but I thought it strange that you, TexasChuck and falco brought it up in this thread as if it's happening here.

I said it's complicated because I don't think you're
going to get a uniform opinion on how much he actually deserves the LeGM title, even in this thread. Personally, this is the first time I've been convinced that LeBron pulled his weight to get a FO trade done, and imo it's not different from what KD, PG, AD, Kawhi and Harden did in recent years.
The Blatt firing and AD trade were very "duh" moves to me. Does anyone actually think Blatt's job was safe if not for some ultimatum from LeBron? Or that Pelinka was hesitant to pull the trigger for AD until LeBron demanded it? Or did LeBron have to force Griffin to trade away IT and Crowder? For me, it makes no sense to either blame or praise LeBron for such moves happening just because he was on the team when they happened, but I'm sure others will disgaree with that. That's why I have a problem with the generalization of these "double standard people" you guys are referencing.

Same thing with LeGM credit. To me LeBron deserves credit for the 2016 and 2020 titles because he was the best player on both teams and for no other reason. He doesn't deserve LeGM blame for any other season except for this one. But again not everyone will agree with me, so yeah it's too complicated for general statements.

[Baski]

Some of you just need to accept that LeBron can have an outstanding on-court basketball IQ and yet have a poor understanding of roster construction and fit. He isn't the only superstar who fits into that category. Jordan, if he had his way, would have traded himself out of about six-championships had he had any meaningful influence over Krause.

LeBron and Davis preferring Westbrook to Hield likely amounts to little more that: Westbrook is an all-star, Hield isn't. Westbrook can drop 30 point triple-doubles, Hield can't.

LeBron has enjoyed great team success in spite of his influence over the GMs that he's played with. He's enjoyed success because he is perhaps the best player in NBA history and that has been enough to offset a range of poor roster decisions across multiple teams. There is no evidence that he has unique insight into roster construction and we shouldn't assume that he does because he's a smart player on-court.

At this point it's just one person refusing to acknowledge that LeBron is a bad GM.

[PistolPeteJR]

If LeBron cut the checks KCP would be on 20m a year
LeBron now responsible for the financial planning of the organization

Don't bother. You know better than to argue with VanBiased lol. Guy's refrain is well known around here.

Ad Hominem: This fallacy occurs when, instead of addressing someone's argument or position, you irrelevantly attack the person or some aspect of the person who is making the argument.

Fallacy? I'm sorry, simply stating the painfully obvious is both a fallacy as well as an attack now? All it takes is a simply scanning of your post history in order to see the severe, general bias with the occasional sprinkling of something more positive with which you post in regards to LeBron.

Healthy discussion is when a clear case of bias is replaced with more objectivity. It is counterproductive when that is missing.

In other words, thanks but no thanks.

[PistolPeteJR]

Some of you just need to accept that LeBron can have an outstanding on-court basketball IQ and yet have a poor understanding of roster construction and fit. He isn't the only superstar who fits into that category. Jordan, if he had his way, would have traded himself out of about six-championships had he had any meaningful influence over Krause.

LeBron and Davis preferring Westbrook to Hield likely amounts to little more that: Westbrook is an all-star, Hield isn't. Westbrook can drop 30 point triple-doubles, Hield can't.

LeBron has enjoyed great team success in spite of his influence over the GMs that he's played with. He's enjoyed success because he is perhaps the best player in NBA history and that has been enough to offset a range of poor roster decisions across multiple teams. There is no evidence that he has unique insight into roster construction and we shouldn't assume that he does because he's a smart player on-court.

Honestly I don't think LeBron is lacking in his IQ as it pertains to roster construction and fit.
What I think happened last summer was that he and AD each made an emotionally-driven decision, where LeBron was driven by some desperation to have someone else play on-ball more and salvage his mental and physical energy, and AD was driven by some desperation to have that other ball-handler get him involved properly unlike the disaster that was his chemistry with Schroder the year prior.

And of course, allowing his/their emotions to drive them obviously makes for poor "GMing".

[tone wone]

Some of you just need to accept that LeBron can have an outstanding on-court basketball IQ and yet have a poor understanding of roster construction and fit. He isn't the only superstar who fits into that category. Jordan, if he had his way, would have traded himself out of about six-championships had he had any meaningful influence over Krause.

LeBron and Davis preferring Westbrook to Hield likely amounts to little more that: Westbrook is an all-star, Hield isn't. Westbrook can drop 30 point triple-doubles, Hield can't.

LeBron has enjoyed great team success in spite of his influence over the GMs that he's played with. He's enjoyed success because he is perhaps the best player in NBA history and that has been enough to offset a range of poor roster decisions across multiple teams. There is no evidence that he has unique insight into roster construction and we shouldn't assume that he does because he's a smart player on-court.

Honestly I don't think LeBron is lacking in his IQ as it pertains to roster construction and fit.
What I think happened last summer was that he and AD each made an emotionally-driven decision, where LeBron was driven by some desperation to have someone else play on-ball more and salvage his mental and physical energy, and AD was driven by some desperation to have that other ball-handler get him involved properly unlike the disaster that was his chemistry with Schroder the year prior.

And of course, allowing his/their emotions to drive them obviously makes for poor "GMing".

Right, this goes against the idea that the Lakers had a foolproof championship formula and blew it up. That gets repeated ad nauseum "the Lakers blew up a title team" While true on some level, you have to also acknowledge how fragile the setup was.

Maintaing their defensive identity would've been easy enough given the talent and age range of the roster. But offensively, they were a ticking timebomb. Roster full of weak passers and decision makers, unreliable 3pt shooting, no halfcourt system to speak of and 35+ year old LeBron being burdened with making EVERY decision while having to score 25ppg. That is NOT sustainable.

The ease in which LeBron is scoring this year is actual proof that he was right...he just chose the wrong PG and honestly the wrong coach. Maybe the 2020 setup would've felt less burdensome if the coaching wasn't so pisspoor offensively. The Lakers screwed up because they chose roster changes to address their offensive issues before first looking at their coaching problem.

Vogel is a terrible offensive coach and thinking he, of all people, would have the acumen to integrate Westbrook when he couldn't even get a strong offense out of LeBron-AD was insane.

[trickshot]

Some of you just need to accept that LeBron can have an outstanding on-court basketball IQ and yet have a poor understanding of roster construction and fit. He isn't the only superstar who fits into that category. Jordan, if he had his way, would have traded himself out of about six-championships had he had any meaningful influence over Krause.

LeBron and Davis preferring Westbrook to Hield likely amounts to little more that: Westbrook is an all-star, Hield isn't. Westbrook can drop 30 point triple-doubles, Hield can't.

LeBron has enjoyed great team success in spite of his influence over the GMs that he's played with. He's enjoyed success because he is perhaps the best player in NBA history and that has been enough to offset a range of poor roster decisions across multiple teams. There is no evidence that he has unique insight into roster construction and we shouldn't assume that he does because he's a smart player on-court.

Honestly I don't think LeBron is lacking in his IQ as it pertains to roster construction and fit.
What I think happened last summer was that he and AD each made an emotionally-driven decision, where LeBron was driven by some desperation to have someone else play on-ball more and salvage his mental and physical energy, and AD was driven by some desperation to have that other ball-handler get him involved properly unlike the disaster that was his chemistry with Schroder the year prior.

And of course, allowing his/their emotions to drive them obviously makes for poor "GMing".

Right, this goes against the idea that the Lakers had a foolproof championship formula and blew it up. That gets repeated ad nauseum "the Lakers blew up a title team" While true on some level, you have to also acknowledge how fragile the setup was.

Maintaing their defensive identity would've been easy enough given the talent and age range of the roster. But offensively, they were a ticking timebomb. Roster full of weak passers and decision makers, unreliable 3pt shooting, no halfcourt system to speak of and 35+ year old LeBron being burdened with making EVERY decision while having to score 25ppg. That is NOT sustainable.

The ease in which LeBron is scoring this year is actual proof that he was right...he just chose the wrong PG and honestly the wrong coach. Maybe the 2020 setup would've felt less burdensome if the coaching wasn't so pisspoor offensively. The Lakers screwed up because they chose roster changes to address their offensive issues before first looking at their coaching problem.

Vogel is a terrible offensive coach and thinking he, of all people, would have the acumen to integrate Westbrook when he couldn't even get a strong offense out of LeBron-AD was insane.

Valid point but kind of disagree about what identity they should have retained. The previous defensive identity gave them a steady floor every night, it's actually way more sustainable than a good shooting team with compromised defense. Shooting is a streaky skill to throw away an elite defense for. No matter how good a team is at shooting they will never collectively top the kind of efficiency they need to beat the average opponent with an incompetent defense. That model was much more sustainable for winning than what they went after. Playoffs are wild and it only takes one weak link to lose a series. Lakers were already beating teams shooting 30% from 3. They were immune to the ups and downs of cold shooting nights. A supernatural ability with today's shooting volume.

To make matters worse the new rules would have mitigated their weaknesses at individual superstar defense. The league pretty much fixed superstars using high pressure defense for freethrows.

[zimpy27]

Anyway, Bembry is available right now. He's ideal for Lakers, if they don't pick him up then what does that say?

[falcolombardi]

Anyway, Bembry is available right now. He's ideal for Lakers, if they don't pick him up then what does that say?

that rob pepinos is not good at his job?

[trickshot]

Anyway, Bembry is available right now. He's ideal for Lakers, if they don't pick him up then what does that say?

I thought the owner wasn't loaded. Wouldn't someone also have to get cut resulting in a larger bill? Maybe another reason to have not done the trade but they should probably have known because big 3s are a very expensive contender model to maintain. Have to spend big on that model unless you plan on downgrading your roster frequently.

[Dupp]

Not often a lebron led team does nothing at the deadline… kinda weird.



Also, Schroeder turned down 100mil.. dang