The LeBron Thread 2021 Off-Season Edition

[Slava]

I'm such a big fan of LeBron that if I saw him in person and had a chance to meet him, I'd actually pretend I didn't see him because I'm sure he hates fans coming up to him and bothering him

I’d never want to meet him because he’s probably a douche to fans out in public and it would ruin the fandom for me, lol.

I'd be surprised if any regular fan can get within 6 feet of him without one of his body guards intervening.

[McBubbles]

i think the main difference between durant and lebron is that durant only has to score efficiently for his backers to call him rhe best in the world

the nets, understandably with injuries and bucks tough defense, had a very mediocre offense overall, way below their average (even league average i think)

were it lebron he would get nitpicked for why his numbers didnt translate to impact and cuestioned if his style of play is ceiling raising

lebron peak scoring gets always disrespecred despite almost the same volume +efficiency as peak durant, if durant had the same lebron scoring numbers without the defense or playmaking manyvpeople would still call him better cause the aesthetics of hia style

Not even "if". In the 2018 Finals, whilst on the most stacked team of all time with arguably the best spacing of all time, whilst facing the 29th ranked regular season defence, with a teammate that was better than him in Steph Curry, KD averaged 29 points on 65TS%.

LeBron James, on one of his worst teams of all time, with very little in the way of offensive help outside of basic spacing, whilst facing the 2nd ranked regular season defence, averaged 34 points on 62TS%.

Yet, people bring up that series to point out how ungaurdable KD is! Despite the fact as a scorer he performed worse than Lebron.

Every star that isn't LeBron has a Kobe-esque reality distortion field around them and LeBron has an anti-reality distortion field around him lol. Kawhi beats an injury destroyed Warriors? Best player in the world, new MJ, if he gets a 3rd ring he's top 5. LeBron beats a slightly injured Warriors? Doesn't count. KD scores 29 on 65TS%? Ungaurdable, best scorer since MJ. LeBron scores 34 on 62TS%? One dimensional, not even a better scorer than Kobe or Melo. Kawhi puts in no effort whilst playing on a below average defence? 2nd team all defence. LeBron puts in a lot of effort whilst on the best defence in the league? 0 defence team votes.

I rant about it all the time but it's so infuriating, and I'm not even Lebron lmao, don't know how it doesn't piss him off.

[Baski]

I might make that my sig. Like what the hell

On a serious note, I do think that:

shaq wasn't that dominant
Magic's passing wasn't that great
Bird was just average guy who got pumped because he's white
Curry can't shoot under pressure
LeBron is offensively limited

Anyone else wants to chime in?

News to me that he's limited offensively.

Lebron too limited offensively? Can’t wait to hear this.

I'm sorry guys. It was stupid to suggest that Lebron in his 19th season would be worse offensively than Durant, Curry, Kawhi, Luka, Jokic or Trae. Such a crazy statement from me

Well you said he was too limited offensively to be in the convo with those guys, like they have some huge separation from him or something, plus it cuts out defense as a criterion for BITW, and I can't see how you'd justify that.
Saying he's worse offensively is still iffy because you've put in guys like Kawhi, Durant and Trae, but totally different from what you said.

[Mos_Heat]

I might make that my sig. Like what the hell

On a serious note, I do think that:

shaq wasn't that dominant
Magic's passing wasn't that great
Bird was just average guy who got pumped because he's white
Curry can't shoot under pressure
LeBron is offensively limited

Anyone else wants to chime in?

News to me that he's limited offensively.

Lebron too limited offensively? Can’t wait to hear this.

I'm sorry guys. It was stupid to suggest that Lebron in his 19th season would be worse offensively than Durant, Curry, Kawhi, Luka, Jokic or Trae. Such a crazy statement from me

Well you said he was too limited offensively to be in the convo with those guys, like they have some huge separation from him or something, plus it cuts out defense as a criterion for BITW, and I can't see how you'd justify that.
Saying he's worse offensively is still iffy because you've put in guys like Kawhi, Durant and Trae, but totally different from what you said.

Yes, I think that Jokic, Luka and Curry at this stage are better offensively by significant margin. And I excpect that the gap would be even wider by the start of the next playoffs. As for Kawhi and Durant I think you can make the case that Lebron is as good as them offensively(I personally disagree), but these two are better defensive players and can play more minutes at the high intensity

[Mos_Heat]

Look what happened to the Sixers without Denny green. Dudes just a winner.

Look what happened with the Lakers, it's even worse!!!

[Baski]

I'm sorry guys. It was stupid to suggest that Lebron in his 19th season would be worse offensively than Durant, Curry, Kawhi, Luka, Jokic or Trae. Such a crazy statement from me

Well you said he was too limited offensively to be in the convo with those guys, like they have some huge separation from him or something, plus it cuts out defense as a criterion for BITW, and I can't see how you'd justify that.
Saying he's worse offensively is still iffy because you've put in guys like Kawhi, Durant and Trae, but totally different from what you said.

Yes, I think that Jokic, Luka and Curry at this stage are better offensively by significant margin. And I excpect that the gap would be even wider by the start of the next playoffs. As for Kawhi and Durant I think you can make the case that Lebron is as good as them offensively(I personally disagree), but these two are better defensive players and can play more minutes at the high intensity

Well Ok then.

[MisterHibachi]

I just don't understand why people are so quick to write off LeBron when he was just playing at an MVP and First Team All Defense level before the injury, despite coming off the shortest off season in history, and surrounded by some of the worst spacing around a star player this year. It was literally just the ankle turn that changed the course of the season, not LeBron actually becoming any worse and it's not like the ankle is a career defining injury like an ACL or Achilles (KD notwithstanding).

If he's still looking like he did post injury next year, then sure, adjust your evaluation of LeBron, but why jump to conclusions based off a freak injury that shouldn't have long term effects when he was looking elite before it.

[JVL]

Pretty crazy that despite the flawed roster, the Lakers likely repeat if AD doesn't get hurt in game 4.

Perhaps, that same logic goes for the Nets. If their stars dont get hurt I'm not sure we could've taken them on in the Finals. Just too much star power.

Lebron will be great next season. Lots of time to work on his nagging injuries and to rest up. He'll be better than he has been this year, which is crazy.

[kayess]

I might make that my sig. Like what the hell

On a serious note, I do think that:

shaq wasn't that dominant
Magic's passing wasn't that great
Bird was just average guy who got pumped because he's white
Curry can't shoot under pressure
LeBron is offensively limited

Anyone else wants to chime in?

News to me that he's limited offensively.

Lebron too limited offensively? Can’t wait to hear this.

I'm sorry guys. It was stupid to suggest that Lebron in his 19th season would be worse offensively than Durant, Curry, Kawhi, Luka, Jokic or Trae. Such a crazy statement from me

Lol don't be a **** coward. You said he was "limited offensively", not that he's worse than those guys. Absolutely completely different things.

[kayess]

I just don't understand why people are so quick to write off LeBron when he was just playing at an MVP and First Team All Defense level before the injury, despite coming off the shortest off season in history, and surrounded by some of the worst spacing around a star player this year. It was literally just the ankle turn that changed the course of the season, not LeBron actually becoming any worse and it's not like the ankle is a career defining injury like an ACL or Achilles (KD notwithstanding).

If he's still looking like he did post injury next year, then sure, adjust your evaluation of LeBron, but why jump to conclusions based off a freak injury that shouldn't have long term effects when he was looking elite before it.

Lol haters gonna hate; do people really think the people who watched the games would forget how he and the team looked pre-ankle injury? I pulled the numbers and unless I picked the wrong filters:
- Took the team from 102ish ORTG (by far league worst) to 113ish (dead average), TS went from 55 (below league average) to 59, NetRTG increased from -2-3 to ~+10 (so +12-13).
- 7th overall in LEBRON, 11th in OLEBRON (this includes post-injury games)

That looks like a top player to me still, especially when you account for the slump the team went through by being not rested enough. This isn't to say he's gonna be the best player next year, it's just the historical revisionism that usually follows a LeBron season to downplay what he did has just been egregiously bad this year.

The sad thing is one of these days they're going to be right... and they'll trump it up as some victory despite that year being the first time in like a decade that they've been wrong about the decline

[Mos_Heat]

I might make that my sig. Like what the hell

On a serious note, I do think that:

shaq wasn't that dominant
Magic's passing wasn't that great
Bird was just average guy who got pumped because he's white
Curry can't shoot under pressure
LeBron is offensively limited

Anyone else wants to chime in?

News to me that he's limited offensively.

Lebron too limited offensively? Can’t wait to hear this.

I'm sorry guys. It was stupid to suggest that Lebron in his 19th season would be worse offensively than Durant, Curry, Kawhi, Luka, Jokic or Trae. Such a crazy statement from me

Lol don't be a **** coward. You said he was "limited offensively", not that he's worse than those guys. Absolutely completely different things.

Limited in the sense that at his age he can't constantly put the pressure on defenses for 40+ minutes like top offensive players

[falcolombardi]

I just don't understand why people are so quick to write off LeBron when he was just playing at an MVP and First Team All Defense level before the injury, despite coming off the shortest off season in history, and surrounded by some of the worst spacing around a star player this year. It was literally just the ankle turn that changed the course of the season, not LeBron actually becoming any worse and it's not like the ankle is a career defining injury like an ACL or Achilles (KD notwithstanding).

If he's still looking like he did post injury next year, then sure, adjust your evaluation of LeBron, but why jump to conclusions based off a freak injury that shouldn't have long term effects when he was looking elite before it.

Lol haters gonna hate; do people really think the people who watched the games would forget how he and the team looked pre-ankle injury? I pulled the numbers and unless I picked the wrong filters:
- Took the team from 102ish ORTG (by far league worst) to 113ish (dead average), TS went from 55 (below league average) to 59, NetRTG increased from -2-3 to ~+10 (so +12-13).
- 7th overall in LEBRON, 11th in OLEBRON (this includes post-injury games)

That looks like a top player to me still, especially when you account for the slump the team went through by being not rested enough. This isn't to say he's gonna be the best player next year, it's just the historical revisionism that usually follows a LeBron season to downplay what he did has just been egregiously bad this year.

The sad thing is one of these days they're going to be right... and they'll trump it up as some victory despite that year being the first time in like a decade that they've been wrong about the decline

-lebron misses the all nba team at 41 years old-

"i told you all he was done"

[nzahir]

Did some digging into defensive numbers (which is really tough since so many things contradict each other and you probably need to watch dozens of hours of tape at a minimum), guys like Hield and Rozier are fine at defending 3s, but not great at defending 2s.

We need some sort of move to make to add firepower, but just hope we do our DD

I think we have the assets most likely for 1 pretty nice upgrade. Either at the wing or the guard

It is easier to do a wing upgrade and re sign Dennis, but not many wing options honestly.

Would love Bojan, probably the best guy who might be available if Utah wants some more athleticism

Would easily move Kuzma, our 1st, and 2nds

Bring Back AC and THT. Consider moving THT for a more win now guy who can shoot by the deadline

For the C spot, I like Gasol vs big teams

But I think we need a more mobile big vs most teams. Gasol spreads the floor but he isn't very respected from 3, so doesn't have much gravity

Boucher and Powell are 2 guys I really like. Mobile bigs who defend the 3 well. Boucher can shoot the 3 and Powell is a vertical threat

Can't wait for the off season

[thebigbird]

I just don't understand why people are so quick to write off LeBron when he was just playing at an MVP and First Team All Defense level before the injury, despite coming off the shortest off season in history, and surrounded by some of the worst spacing around a star player this year. It was literally just the ankle turn that changed the course of the season, not LeBron actually becoming any worse and it's not like the ankle is a career defining injury like an ACL or Achilles (KD notwithstanding).

If he's still looking like he did post injury next year, then sure, adjust your evaluation of LeBron, but why jump to conclusions based off a freak injury that shouldn't have long term effects when he was looking elite before it.

Because most people are prisoners of the moment and incapable of remembering anything that happened more than 24 hours ago. LeBron was outstanding before the ankle injury. When he came back it was clear that he was nowhere near 100%. He didn’t fall off a cliff in two months, he just got hurt. But that’ll be what people will think he is now until he proves them otherwise.

[MartinToVaught]

- 7th overall in LEBRON

LeBron isn't even the #1 overall LeBron anymore? Jeez, he is washed.

[LikeABosh]

If Philly blows it up or makes major moves, Lakers gotta call about Curry. He'd be perfect

[nzahir]

If Philly blows it up or makes major moves, Lakers gotta call about Curry. He'd be perfect

They won't be fully blowing it up I think

Unless they can somehow get Dame, then I doubt Seth is available

Man if the Lakers didn't go after Kawhi in FA could have had Seth for cheap

[kayess]

If Philly blows it up or makes major moves, Lakers gotta call about Curry. He'd be perfect

Even if they're blowing it up I think there's absolutely zero way Morey deals Curry.

[CKRT]

Caruso arrested on marijuana charges and the team is heavily interested in going after Melo. Pelinka going back to making a meme team.

[thebigbird]

Caruso arrested on marijuana charges and the team is heavily interested in going after Melo. Pelinka going back to making a meme team.

Caruso got arrested for weed but Pelinka is the one on drugs if he thinks signing Carmelo Anthony is anything other than a horrendous decision.