(LOCK THREAD) The LeBron James - 22-23 NBA Season Thread -NBA's All-Time Scoring Leader!

[AmIWrongDude]

Ya’ll gotta chill. It’s been 8 games and he clearly hasn’t been full strength the past 2.

Somehow to people Westbrook went from the worst player in the league to better than LeBron in the span of 3 games.

The NBA in general has the most dramatic fanbase lol its hard to keep up sometimes.

It’s a lot of this.

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=ppWq1ktzRUZu4A-3g009Qg

Yes, exactly. Man when LeBron does fully fall off it’s gonna get ugly.

[LukaTheGOAT]

Dang, if Bron ends up having a 2015 year with his jumper, or the officials don't start blowing their whistles a bit more, his efficiency could end up worse than Russ' this year (Russ looks kind of aight off the bench tbh).

My greatest fear:

Read on Twitter

[Mos_Heat]

Why does his shot look different?

Wtf did he do to it?

Multiple thoughts:

AD looked slow, wasn't protecting much at the rim

We are a bit too small/short. I would give Jones some run again

Is Nunn hurt/benched for being bad?

Say we kept Russ, what other deals are realistic?

If you don't have a top 10 player on the team what's the point of making the trade?

I think AD can get close to their (mostly due to versatility come playoff time and defense), but likely right

You need a great team if no bonafide #1 and Rob didnt do a great job

This is why I brought up Miles Bridges, is it worth it?

Say we also made a Kyrie for Russ deal with 1 1st (if)

Kyrie, Beverly, Bridges, Lebron, AD
Dennis, Reaves, Lonnie, TBJ, Bryant
Nunn, Ryan, Gabriel, Jones

Is this enough? Can still move some others

Kyrie for one pick would be a steal, but Lebron has to show that he can be a top 10-15 player first

[zimpy27]

Westbrook+FRP for Kyrie
OR
Westbrook+Davis+2xFRP for Durant+Kyrie
OR
Davis+FRP for Durant

Which is the best avenue?

[Owly]

Westbrook+FRP for Kyrie
OR
Westbrook+Davis+2xFRP for Durant+Kyrie
OR
Davis+FRP for Durant

Which is the best avenue?

None of the above.

It's sad and not good to waste a year of LeBron's remaining career but ...

1) Too early to go all in but appearance is this might be a dead season from the Lakers perspective anyway.
2) The above but moreso for a single player in terms of sample, but LeBron may be done as an elite player. Given they'll be missing picks they may be bad and so better chance these picks are valuable than average.
3) So I'd need more upside to make a move for this year trading future assets.
4) Westbrook is finally far less toxic in the final year of his deal. He's now a means of getting cap space.
5) Kyrie is where Kyrie is right now. Beyond that he's had availability issues and was never a huge impact player to begin with.
6) Davis - KD is more interesting but still. Davis has started better than we've seen for a while. Not where he was from what I've heard but better. KD is older. KD played 90 games over the past 3 regular seasons. Otoh I think KD's contract goes longer and pays more per year. I'd have to think about more what I thought the potential upside was here as tempting as KD might be.

[nzahir]

If you don't have a top 10 player on the team what's the point of making the trade?

I think AD can get close to their (mostly due to versatility come playoff time and defense), but likely right

You need a great team if no bonafide #1 and Rob didnt do a great job

This is why I brought up Miles Bridges, is it worth it?

Say we also made a Kyrie for Russ deal with 1 1st (if)

Kyrie, Beverly, Bridges, Lebron, AD
Dennis, Reaves, Lonnie, TBJ, Bryant
Nunn, Ryan, Gabriel, Jones

Is this enough? Can still move some others

Kyrie for one pick would be a steal, but Lebron has to show that he can be a top 10-15 player first

I think Lebron Kyrie and AD is a good enough core to contend

Kyrie and Joe for Russ and a 1st

Move Nunn and filler for a wing/big

[Kingdibs19]

No other team wants to trade for Kyrie and it sounds like the Nets want to be done with him. Why do the Lakers need to give up a first to make this happen? Westbrook and 2nd rounder for Kyrie.

[IG2]

He's moving a little bit better today.

His shot remains an abomination though. 15 straight 3pt misses now.

[zimpy27]

No other team wants to trade for Kyrie and it sounds like the Nets want to be done with him. Why do the Lakers need to give up a first to make this happen? Westbrook and 2nd rounder for Kyrie.

Westbrook probably needs to go to a 3rd team.

Lakers get Kyrie, $10m TPE
Pacers get Westbrook, LAL27FRP, BKN28FRP
Nets get Hield, Turner


The FRP for the Lakers isn't just for Kyrie but for also for the $10m savings they get (in form of TPE).

They could take Theis from Pacers and call it or they could try work in a deal for Crowder or Burks.

[Mos_Heat]

He's moving a little bit better today.

His shot remains an abomination though. 15 straight 3pt misses now.

Still has zero impact on the game

[Fadeaway_J]

Man LeBron is throwing up some of the ugliest jumpers I've ever seen from him.

[RCM88x]

Lakers have so many guys that just don't look like NBA players.

[LukaTheGOAT]

Lebron looked better. But man, he just cannot draw fouls.

[RCM88x]

Lebron looked better. But man, he just cannot draw fouls.

I think at this point he sort of avoids them. He'd rather finish at the rim w/o contact than risk being hit and missing the shot.

[IG2]

You could see that collapse coming in the 2nd half a mile away.

Team is just so limited offensively given the lack of shooters and at this point, Russell being the only reliable creator off the dribble. So when they aren't getting stops, they fall apart fast.

LeBron looked pretty decent, so that's something. WB continues his strong play off the bench.

AD was trash. Got abused inside all game.

The roster is painfully weak outside the Big 3, and they themselves aren't particularly special.

[Mos_Heat]

What is the best package LAL could get for Davis? OG, Trent Jr + 2 picks - is this a fair value?

[PistolPeteJR]

What is the best package LAL could get for Davis? OG, Trent Jr + 2 picks - is this a fair value?

I'll tell you this much: if they can get OG + Trent + 2 1sts for AD (with a guarantee that Trent Jr resigns), they need to run with that.

1 1/2 to 2 seasons ago when there was a lot of smoke regarding Dame being unhappy and Portland moving him, I proposed an AD for Dame-type of deal and was scoffed at. Sure, hindsight is 20/20, but I really think that's what they should have done back then. LeBron + Dame + the Lakers' roster back then would have been so good. At that point, they can make a move to add a big a la Horford for example since he was cheap on Philly or OKC's (can't recall) roster. Move a pick for Grant or something in Detroit.

Dame-Caruso-LeBron-Grant-Horford would be so nice... They'd still have their 2027 and 2029, still have Caruso, perhaps even KCP and Kuzma, '21 1st, depending on what they move for Horford... LeBron and Dame would have unlocked each other's games tremendously.

[Ian Scuffling]

Finally got to see a Lakers game. As a Cavs fan, it was a good game. As a Lebron fan, what the hell has happened to his jumper? Hell, not even his jumper, but his shot in general. Missed all three free throws as well. But, his jumper just looks awful. And honestly, prime Lebron wouldn't move the needle very far on this train wreck of a roster. It's just a bad team. Nice job Pelinka.

[CKRT]

"Anthony Davis is the biggest what-if in NBA history"

I'm not sure if it was a tweet or a quote from someone on the board (someone had it as a sig), but I think about that quote a lot when I watch the Lakers lol

[Mos_Heat]

AD still can be a top 10ish player on the right team, but he needs a lead P'n'R creator and spacing around him. Same for Lebron, he plays more and more off the ball