The LeBron James All-NBA (2nd) and Luka Doncic - 24-25 Thread

[tone wone]

3 future hall of famers? Pelinka had **** all to do with LeBron and Davis coming to LA.

[trickshot]

I assume you guys have all filled out your Rob Pelinka apology forms

What did he do right that warrants an apology for the most mediocre job done in professional basketball in the last 5-6 years? An 8-year old boy receiving a call offering him Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis, a role player and a pick would have done the same thing Rob did.

Fine we'll trade you Mike Dunleavy for him lol. You'd think this guy hasn't delivered 3 future hall of famers in his very short tenure

Magic brought Lebron. Lebron brought AD, AD and Bron brought Westbrook and it's looking like Mavs GM might have even had a connection or at least a passive interest in helping Lebron. Pelinka isn't some genius and has famously struck out on all his big FA signings when he hasn't had some kind of connection advantage. He ruined 2 summer reloads putting all his bets on Klay and Kawhi and even gets snubbed by tier 2 FAs like Valancuinuas, Brown and co.

[Dupp]

Pelinka is awful. Anyone with the slightest clue knows this.


He’s lucked into some great players because they wasted to play for LA and Dallas made a ridiculous phone call.

[Ian Scuffling]

Lebron Luka Reaves perimeter defense lol lol lol lol

The Mavs were probably the second best team in the West when healthy and they were starting Luka/Kyrie/Klay.

Defensively, Lebron/Reaves' baseline level is probably similar to Kyrie/Klay but they have a much higher ceiling. In high leverage games Lebron can actually be a plus defender.

They also has guys like Dereck Lively and Daniel Gafford cleaning up the glass and protecting the rim. The Lakers don't have an inside presence.

Also, LeBron and Luke don't move on defense. Top 5 slowest players on defense in the NBA (minimum 20 MPG):

1. James Harden
t2. Chris Paul
t2. Nikola Jokic
4. Luka Doncic
t5. LeBron James
t5. Joel Embid

Luka and LeBron are going to have to work a lot harder on defense than they are used to.

Good point. I think with Lebron,though, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. It is what it is. Luka could possibly be reinvigorated and start moving and playing better defense? Maybe? That has been my concern since the trade. The perimeter defense is already weak and they traded away the great interior defense to help cover up for it. There has to be more trade(s) for the Lakers.

[Fadeaway_J]

I assume you guys have all filled out your Rob Pelinka apology forms

What did he do right that warrants an apology for the most mediocre job done in professional basketball in the last 5-6 years? An 8-year old boy receiving a call offering him Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis, a role player and a pick would have done the same thing Rob did.

Fine we'll trade you Mike Dunleavy for him lol. You'd think this guy hasn't delivered 3 future hall of famers in his very short tenure

You or I could have "delivered" those HOFers based on how it actually played out

[Ian Scuffling]

I assume you guys have all filled out your Rob Pelinka apology forms

What did he do right that warrants an apology for the most mediocre job done in professional basketball in the last 5-6 years? An 8-year old boy receiving a call offering him Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis, a role player and a pick would have done the same thing Rob did.

Fine we'll trade you Mike Dunleavy for him lol. You'd think this guy hasn't delivered 3 future hall of famers in his very short tenure

As others have said, Pelinka did nothing but be at the right place at the right time. I guess, as with everything, being lucky is a good thing, too.

[AEnigma]

I will give Pelinka credit for having such a close relationship with Nico that I do not believe any random person could have managed to do the same, no. He deserves at least that level of acknowledgement, and for as much as his fortune is tied to the Lakers brand, he has never torched the franchise’s future the way Nico just did to the Mavericks.

But there is a significant difference between someone asking to trade Luka to your team, and you setting out to initiate that trade yourself.

[parsnips33]

I guess I would much rather have the Forrest Gump of GMs than Daryll Morey. Who gives a damn if the guy is some genius

[Fadeaway_J]

I guess I would much rather have the Forrest Gump of GMs than Daryll Morey. Who gives a damn if the guy is some genius

That just sounds like you don't like Daryl Morey.

[trickshot]

Claxton actually looks like a great contract. I wonder if the Dlo trade could have been expanded if they were willing to part with a 1st. If not Rob should have used those picks to fleece someone when they still had value. Getting multiple 1sts off some unsuspecting GM. Even months before Luka trade should have known they wouldn't be worth jack one day. Lakers never need to tank.

[PistolPeteJR]

I assume you guys have all filled out your Rob Pelinka apology forms

What did he do right that warrants an apology for the most mediocre job done in professional basketball in the last 5-6 years? An 8-year old boy receiving a call offering him Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis, a role player and a pick would have done the same thing Rob did.

Fine we'll trade you Mike Dunleavy for him lol. You'd think this guy hasn't delivered 3 future hall of famers in his very short tenure

Seriously? It’s EXTREMELY well documented how it was that each of those three came to the Lakers:

1) LeBron came because of Magic. Straight and simple.

2) AD came because of LeBron and Lakerlore.

3) Doncic came because the Mavs sent him here.

There’s literally nothing vague about any of these acquisitions. It’s super clear how they each made it here, and it had nothing to do with Rob.

[TheGOATRises007]

Yeah Pelinka still isn't great.

He lucked out that Nico might be the worst GM in the history of sports.

[tone wone]

We'll give Pelinka credit for Westbrook

[Fadeaway_J]

We'll give Pelinka credit for Westbrook

That takes his HOFers count to 4!

[tone wone]

We'll give Pelinka credit for Westbrook

That takes his HOFers count to 4!

I count 5 + Rondo

[Fadeaway_J]

We'll give Pelinka credit for Westbrook

That takes his HOFers count to 4!

I count 5 + Rondo

Melo makes 6...

[nzahir]

If Pelinka knew for weeks he could’ve maybe had Luka, why was the 2031 1st/swaps not dealt first to get a C

Now it’s worth less

Just goes to show you how lucky he really is

[TheGOATRises007]

Pretty excited to watch Luka and LeBron.

I think they will be much better than people think. LeBron with a lessened offensive load is scary to think about.

[O_6]

When Kawhi played with PG, I was mostly excited to see their comparative defensive styles. What made them both great. PG was so easy going through screens for his size on top of being stronger than you’d think and athletic af. But Kawhi getting so much lower than PG stood out so much and made me realize Kawhi’s ability to look 6’5” out there with a 7’ reach and strength made him a terminator when he wanted. He could get so low naturally with his long arms and king hands which makes the opponents dribble radius smaller by a lot. Unreal player at his best.

When Harden and Paul played together, I wanted to see the difference in their passing. I saw why CP3 is so much less TO prone, he was just so smart. His defense is something that made him so damn valuable even at that age in comparison to prime Harden too. But I also saw Harden feed Capela and the rest with insanely easy buckets at a clearly higher rate than old prime Paul. Helped me put Harden into perspective better. All time offensive player.

There was a thread last year about who was a better passer, Luka or LeBron? Essentially I said LeBron was a better pure passer in terms of passing, but Luka’s anticipation and flexibility allowed him to do certain wild things that LeBron couldn’t.

This was a shock of a move. But just styles wise, this will be interesting and fun to see. Watching both of them possibly make insane crazy court passes simultaneously is just something that could finish the season for everyone. The potential is there. But getting a better look at the specific differences that make both stand out because they’re playing with each other, priceless.

[dcstanley]

I was thinking of Harden/CP3 after this trade. There was a lot of consternation about their fit, you know the typical "there's only one ball!!!!" analysis. What we saw was 48 minutes of elite playmaking and an ATG offense. There's a lot of similarities of that pairing to this Lebron/Luka partnership. In fact, there's even more synergy offensively due to Lebron's off-ball prowess and finishing ability.