The Lebron Thread - Offseason & 2019-20

[TheGOATRises007]

On the other hand, every other contender I look at has 7-8 guys I’m absolutely positive will be impact players.

Warriors aren't deep either(unless you don't consider them a contender because of Klay's injury and uncertainty).

[yoyoboy]

On the other hand, every other contender I look at has 7-8 guys I’m absolutely positive will be impact players.

Warriors aren't deep either(unless you don't consider them a contender because of Klay's injury and uncertainty).

Curry
Green
Klay (should be back in January/February)
Russell
Looney
Cauley-Stein

And this is a team most people don’t seem to think is a contender. To me, the Warriors are clearly more talented than the Lakers and yet the Lakers are expected to compete for a championship. I’d count on the Warriors’ FO adding a couple more minimum players that can actually help them, too, whereas the Lakers have just made questionable signing after questionable signing after Danny Green.

[toodles23]

I think people have been colored by the last few years of Warriors basketball where one team is just completely unbeatable when healthy and essentially perfect in fit, talent, chemistry, etc. That's not what the league is anymore. There's no perfect team out there. Having question marks heading into next year isn't a big deal, every team has them.

For example, what are the Clippers gonna do about their front court? They have no one to guard guys like AD, Jokic, Towns, Embiid (if they make it that far), etc. Does Paul George come back healthy from his shoulder surgeries? Is he back to MVP PG or something below that? Who's their best playmaker in a playoff series? We saw Kawhi's limitations as a passer this year (and his defensive step back too) and we've seen PG take steps back in the last two playoffs.

Every team has question marks. It's not a big deal right now.

The Lakers have way more question marks than any other team. Like there’s a chance that only three of their players are playable in a playoff series.

Well put. When I look at LA’s roster right now, how many guys and I absolutely certain would be positive players in playoff minutes?

LeBron
Davis
Green
Kuzma?

Cousins is the next most likely option to be a positive contributor in a lot of people’s eyes and yet he was a detriment to the Warriors all postseason long (-16.7 on-off). People who are heavily factoring Cousins “returning to form” into the Lakers success this coming season are just as bad as the people who are pointing to a “motivated Rondo” as a good player for the Lakers. McGee’s IQ is just too poor to rely on him in any way. Cook can’t guard a pinecone and will bleed points on defense every time he sets foot on the floor. If I had to bet on a 5th guy who can actually help the Lakers it would be KCP but even he’s just incredibly inconsistent and his shooting was a disappointment this past season. Just under 89% of his 3 point attempts were classified as open or wide open and he still shot 34.7% from that range.

On the other hand, every other contender I look at has 7-8 guys I’m absolutely positive will be impact players.

Yeah this seems about right to me. Rondo is probably the most damaging player in the league right now and when you consider the lack of other obvious options on the roster and the infatuation coaches seem to have with him (no reason to think Vogel is different) he's going to be play 25+ mpg, much of which will be alongside the starters, which will be a complete disaster. Cousins might still be decent in a vacuum but playing him alongside AD takes away the Lakers path to pace + space greatness (AD at the 5 with Lebron and shooters around him) and I can't imagine any way Boogie makes up for it with his other skills.

I suppose they could still make meaningful changes to the roster but right now 50 wins is where I'd put them.

[picko]

Narrative surrounding Cousins is getting really weird. His playoffs were ruined by injury and posters are using a ridiculously small sample size to declare him useless and a questionable contributor.

The regular season suggests that he is still capable of doing most of the things he did before the injury. His per minute stats scale very well to the pre-injury version. He will surely be better for having training camp.

He could very well average an 18-10 as the third option. And if the Lakers do make the finals they will likely run into the 76ers and they'll need Boogies size to at least force Embiid to work.

[Dr Spaceman]

Narrative surrounding Cousins is getting really weird. His playoffs were ruined by injury and posters are using a ridiculously small sample size to declare him useless and a questionable contributor.

The regular season suggests that he is still capable of doing most of the things he did before the injury. His per minute stats scale very well to the pre-injury version. He will surely be better for having training camp.

He could very well average an 18-10 as the third option. And if the Lakers do make the finals they will likely run into the 76ers and they'll need Boogies size to at least force Embiid to work.

Then why was no one willing to pay him?

[MisterHibachi]

On the other hand, every other contender I look at has 7-8 guys I’m absolutely positive will be impact players.

Warriors aren't deep either(unless you don't consider them a contender because of Klay's injury and uncertainty).

Curry
Green
Klay (should be back in January/February)
Russell
Looney
Cauley-Stein

And this is a team most people don’t seem to think is a contender. To me, the Warriors are clearly more talented than the Lakers and yet the Lakers are expected to compete for a championship. I’d count on the Warriors’ FO adding a couple more minimum players that can actually help them, too, whereas the Lakers have just made questionable signing after questionable signing after Danny Green.

Cauley-Stein? Really? He's worse than McGee, and McGee is likely gonna be the Lakers third string centre by playoff time.

I think too many people are glossing over the fact that the Lakers have by far the best star duo in the league. Two top five players, AD could very well win MVP this year and he's a DPOY candidate too. There's like two guys in the league against whom he's not penciled in as a winning match up, and LeBron until proven otherwise is still LeBron. Would anyone be surprised if AD pulled off a 30-15 playoff run this year? Would anyone be surprised if he was the best player in a Lakers-Clippers series? If your best two players are the two best players on the court, you're winning the series no matter the gap in supporting casts.

[eminence]

Lol, McGee is not even close to WCS.

[Basileus777]

Cousins was a negative court presence and a defensive sieve even before his playoff injury. Even when he was putting up decent box scores the Warriors were largely losing in his minutes. He was dragging down lineups with the hamptons 5. The guy barely got more than the minimum for a reason, his mobility is shot and he hasn't shown the ability to adapt his game to it and the lesser role he's going to play.

[Dr Spaceman]

Supporting cast matters. The elite teams in the West go at least 8 deep. You use this word “competent” but I don’t agree. Im sorry but the difference between Rondo, McGee, Cousins, Kuzma and Tucker, Eric Gordon, Clint Capela and Daniel House is worth 10 (or more) wins all by itself. The Lakers are literally signing the dudes who couldn’t get deals 6 days into free agency.

You compare "competent" roleplayers but leave out Danny Green and KCP?

The Lakers are literally signing the dudes who couldn’t get deals 6 days into free agency.

Lol you don't have a clue what's going on. Cousins could've gone to Miami, Green could've gone to Dallas, McGee could've gone to Detroit, KCP/Morris were both Klutch clients waiting on the Kawhi situation. Or what, Mike **** Muscala is more valuable than those guys because he got picked up early on? That's a terrible argument on your part and you should know it's completely inaccurate. Jordansbulls has more reasonable takes than this

I’d respond to this but really only interested in interacting with adults here

[LikeABosh]

Supporting cast matters. The elite teams in the West go at least 8 deep. You use this word “competent” but I don’t agree. Im sorry but the difference between Rondo, McGee, Cousins, Kuzma and Tucker, Eric Gordon, Clint Capela and Daniel House is worth 10 (or more) wins all by itself. The Lakers are literally signing the dudes who couldn’t get deals 6 days into free agency.

You compare "competent" roleplayers but leave out Danny Green and KCP?

The Lakers are literally signing the dudes who couldn’t get deals 6 days into free agency.

Lol you don't have a clue what's going on. Cousins could've gone to Miami, Green could've gone to Dallas, McGee could've gone to Detroit, KCP/Morris were both Klutch clients waiting on the Kawhi situation. Or what, Mike **** Muscala is more valuable than those guys because he got picked up early on? That's a terrible argument on your part and you should know it's completely inaccurate. Jordansbulls has more reasonable takes than this

I’d respond to this but really only interested in interacting with adults here

No, go ahead. I'd like to hear about how those guys couldn't get deals 6 days into free agency except from the Lakers. Did you twist it expecting people to believe it or did you just not know any better?

[LikeABosh]

Lol, McGee is not even close to WCS.

WCS kind of sucks though. McGee is at least really productive for the short time he's on the court. Unfortunately he's a bit of a doofus

[eminence]

Lol, McGee is not even close to WCS.

WCS kind of sucks though. McGee is at least really productive for the short time he's on the court. Unfortunately he's a bit of a doofus

He really doesn't and he really isn't.

[LikeABosh]

Lol, McGee is not even close to WCS.

WCS kind of sucks though. McGee is at least really productive for the short time he's on the court. Unfortunately he's a bit of a doofus

He really doesn't and he really isn't.

McGee isn't productive for the time he's on the court? 12/8 with 2 blocks in 22 minutes? Okay then. And he's hyper efficient

Sac fans don't have a lot of nice things to say about WCS. He plays like his heart and head isn't it. At least with McGee it's just his head

[eminence]

WCS kind of sucks though. McGee is at least really productive for the short time he's on the court. Unfortunately he's a bit of a doofus

He really doesn't and he really isn't.

McGee isn't productive for the time he's on the court? 12/8 with 2 blocks in 22 minutes? Okay then. And he's hyper efficient

Sac fans don't have a lot of nice things to say about WCS. He plays like his heart and head isn't it. At least with McGee it's just his head

Ahh, box-score stats. Sure I guess Javale gets those.

[LikeABosh]

He really doesn't and he really isn't.

McGee isn't productive for the time he's on the court? 12/8 with 2 blocks in 22 minutes? Okay then. And he's hyper efficient

Sac fans don't have a lot of nice things to say about WCS. He plays like his heart and head isn't it. At least with McGee it's just his head

Ahh, box-score stats. Sure I guess Javale gets those.

Well I said he was productive and posted some easy stats. Evidently he was contributing something. What would you like to discuss? Shaqtin a fool highlights?

[Colbinii]

McGee isn't productive for the time he's on the court? 12/8 with 2 blocks in 22 minutes? Okay then. And he's hyper efficient

Sac fans don't have a lot of nice things to say about WCS. He plays like his heart and head isn't it. At least with McGee it's just his head

Ahh, box-score stats. Sure I guess Javale gets those.

Well I said he was productive and posted some easy stats. Evidently he was contributing something. What would you like to discuss? Shaqtin a fool highlights?

For starters Cauley-Stein was much better this season on-court than McGee on a similar caliber team
[WCS +.5, on/off +3.2]
[McGee -4.0, -3.7 on/off]

Round 2 RPM
WCS 1.75 [16th among Centers]
McGee -2.33 [64th among Centers]

There isnt a strong argument for McGee. This is a guy who was being outplayed by Zubac and wanted him gone or himself because of his insecurity.

Side note, if you want discussion you shouldn't attack people.

[LikeABosh]

For starters Cauley-Stein was much better this season on-court than McGee on a similar caliber team
[WCS +.5, on/off +3.2]
[McGee -4.0, -3.7 on/off]

Round 2 RPM
WCS 1.75 [16th among Centers]
McGee -2.33 [64th among Centers]

There isnt a strong argument for McGee. This is a guy who was being outplayed by Zubac and wanted him gone or himself because of his insecurity.

Side note, if you want discussion you shouldn't attack people.

A strong argument for what, that he's not a great center? Yeah, I don't think he is. I don't think McGee or WCS are guys who should be playing starter level minutes, but I have liked McGee in short spurts. Not sure where the issue is saying that he's really productive given he just plays half games. It's not the most complete compliment. Cousins can be really productive too, but he has drawbacks that can the hurt team overall. Eminence just doesn't want to concede anything to McGee because he doesn't like him. He can agree he's productive while still thinking he's not good for the team. That's fine with me

And I don't really care. The only people I attack are the users who became bitches ever since LeBron joined the Lakers and they care less about discussing LeBron and more about their anti-Laker brigades. But maybe that's on me for not blocking Spaceman and others

[Colbinii]

For starters Cauley-Stein was much better this season on-court than McGee on a similar caliber team
[WCS +.5, on/off +3.2]
[McGee -4.0, -3.7 on/off]

Round 2 RPM
WCS 1.75 [16th among Centers]
McGee -2.33 [64th among Centers]

There isnt a strong argument for McGee. This is a guy who was being outplayed by Zubac and wanted him gone or himself because of his insecurity.

Side note, if you want discussion you shouldn't attack people.

A strong argument for what, that he's not a great center? Yeah, I don't think he is. I don't think McGee or WCS are guys who should be playing starter level minutes, but I have liked McGee in short spurts. Not sure where the issue is saying that he's really productive given he just plays half games. It's not the most complete compliment. Cousins can be really productive too, but he has drawbacks that can the hurt team overall. Eminence just doesn't want to concede anything to McGee because he doesn't like him. He can agree he's productive while still thinking he's not good for the team. That's fine with me

And I don't really care. The only people I attack are the users who became bitches ever since LeBron joined the Lakers and they care less about discussing LeBron and more about their anti-Laker brigades. But maybe that's on me for not blocking Spaceman and others

1. The stats I posted say "McGee is not productive, WCS is quite productive".

The thing about McGee's stats is that they are easily replicated and every stat that measures impact says in plain daylight "This guy is the most replaceable center in the league".

While his numbers look "cute" in "limited minutes", McGee simply is a negative player on the court.

WCS on the other hand, while SAC fans dont like him, is a net positive on the court. He is a solid defender and smart offensive player [unlike McGee].

2. You should never be attacking people.

ATTACK THE POST, NOT THE POSTER.

3. Eminence acknowledges that McGee puts up empty numbers.

4. I've never known Spaceman as a Laker hater, but I've only been reading his posts for years...must have slipped through the cracks!

[PaulieWal]

For starters Cauley-Stein was much better this season on-court than McGee on a similar caliber team
[WCS +.5, on/off +3.2]
[McGee -4.0, -3.7 on/off]

Round 2 RPM
WCS 1.75 [16th among Centers]
McGee -2.33 [64th among Centers]

There isnt a strong argument for McGee. This is a guy who was being outplayed by Zubac and wanted him gone or himself because of his insecurity.

Side note, if you want discussion you shouldn't attack people.

A strong argument for what, that he's not a great center? Yeah, I don't think he is. I don't think McGee or WCS are guys who should be playing starter level minutes, but I have liked McGee in short spurts. Not sure where the issue is saying that he's really productive given he just plays half games. It's not the most complete compliment. Cousins can be really productive too, but he has drawbacks that can the hurt team overall. Eminence just doesn't want to concede anything to McGee because he doesn't like him. He can agree he's productive while still thinking he's not good for the team. That's fine with me

And I don't really care. The only people I attack are the users who became bitches ever since LeBron joined the Lakers and they care less about discussing LeBron and more about their anti-Laker brigades. But maybe that's on me for not blocking Spaceman and others

Yeah this type of posting is not allowed. As a long time member of the community you should know and be better.

Warned for baiting and personal attacks.

[Mos_Heat]

On the other hand, every other contender I look at has 7-8 guys I’m absolutely positive will be impact players.

Warriors aren't deep either(unless you don't consider them a contender because of Klay's injury and uncertainty).

Curry
Green
Klay (should be back in January/February)
Russell
Looney
Cauley-Stein

And this is a team most people don’t seem to think is a contender. To me, the Warriors are clearly more talented than the Lakers and yet the Lakers are expected to compete for a championship. I’d count on the Warriors’ FO adding a couple more minimum players that can actually help them, too, whereas the Lakers have just made questionable signing after questionable signing after Danny Green.

Saying that Russell will have a positive impact is a stretch, imho. He was really bad against Philly and not efficient even in regular szn