The Lebron Thread - Offseason & 2019-20

[CKRT]

I don't get how Bradley got a 2 year 10 million deal. He's a vet minimum guy at this point who shouldn't be getting any significant minutes.

Cook-Rondo/Rondo-Cook/Caruso
Green/KCP/Bradley
James/Dudley
AD/Kuzma
McGee-Cousins/Cousins-McGee

One thing you can definitely say about this team is that despite the Kawhi mess, they end up with some decent depth allthroughout. Their worst position is PG, and that isn’t something they can’t fix midseason.

Decent is not the word that comes to mind. 32 million in cap space and outside of Green I don't really trust any of the guys they signed to be reliable two-way contributors.

Bolded is my biggest issue with their off season. They also committed 2 year deals to most of these guys too, so if this season goes poorly due to injury or the people they signed being awful there's not really much hope for the 2020 season. Lakers are playing with fire in regards to LeBron aging.

[PistolPeteJR]

I don't get how Bradley got a 2 year 10 million deal. He's a vet minimum guy at this point who shouldn't be getting any significant minutes.

Cook-Rondo/Rondo-Cook/Caruso
Green/KCP/Bradley
James/Dudley
AD/Kuzma
McGee-Cousins/Cousins-McGee

One thing you can definitely say about this team is that despite the Kawhi mess, they end up with some decent depth allthroughout. Their worst position is PG, and that isn’t something they can’t fix midseason.

Decent is not the word that comes to mind. 32 million in cap space and outside of Green I don't really trust any of the guys they signed to be reliable two-way contributors.

Bolded is my biggest issue with their off season. They also committed 2 year deals to most of these guys too, so if this season goes poorly due to injury or the people they signed being awful there's not really much hope for the 2020 season. Lakers are playing with fire in regards to LeBron aging.

LeBron obviously blessed their waiting for Kawhi. The two-year deals aren’t a big issue. Worst case scenario, they trade them to tanking teams and they’re expirings next year.

[Basileus777]

Lakers aren't going to have cap space until LeBron is off the books anyway.

[letskissbro]

Read on Twitter

Thoughts on this? I'm not a fan, starting LeBron at point guard is a gimmick and they don't have enough ball handling for it to work. Also hints that they intend to start LeBron/Green/Kuzma/AD/Cousins which doesn't have enough shooting and has the potential to be disastrous. The Lakers' FO is officially more incompetent than the '04-'10 Cavs.

[Dr Positivity]

Man, the Lakers really love Kuzma don't they

[MisterHibachi]

Not sure how I feel about that - at least Rondo isn't starting then. But even if LeBron is your primary creator, you still want a ball handler next to him to take pressure off. But there's a lot of playmaking in the front court with AD and Cousins so maybe they mitigate the pressure that way. Still need someone to guard point guards. Maybe Green and KCP both start then. Or Bradley?

LeBron/Bradley/Green/AD/Cousins?

Edit: or Kuz in the starting lineup? That would mean LeBron guarding 2s, which isn't ideal. And Kuz would really need to bring back his rookie shooting numbers to make this work. But that lineup would be huge and very physical. If Kuz can improve his shooting and they can figure out the defensive back court assignments, it would make it practically impossible to play small guys against them.

Excited to see full time point guard LeBron though.

Edit: or this could mean AD is starting at the 5 and both Bradley and Kuz are starting. Which is good.

[Dr Spaceman]

This is so dumb. If Point Guard skills weren’t completely necessary then everyone under 6’5” would just not make the league due to the trade offs. Going without a point guard because you have LeBron is like saying “I’ll go without a left foot because I have my right one”.

I hate this.

[MartinToVaught]

The Lakers kind of have to do this because of how weak they are at PG, but still... it's a tough job and LeBron isn't as young and spry as he used to be.

[MisterHibachi]

This is so dumb. If Point Guard skills weren’t completely necessary then everyone under 6’5” would just not make the league due to the trade offs. Going without a point guard because you have LeBron is like saying “I’ll go without a left foot because I have my right one”.

I hate this.

Their point guard depth is trash though. They have Caruso, Rondo, Cook, and Bradley. Bradley is likely gonna start anyways, and it's probably easier lockeroom wise for Rondo to be benched in favor of LeBron than for Bradley. I don't see the scheme changing much. LeBron will still dominate the ball in the half court, and probably bring it up a bit more than usual, but Bradley can absorb some ball handling too. He can bring the ball up, and AD and Cousins can be the secondary creators in the half court after LeBron.

Edit: the more I think about this the more I feel this is just a political thing to keep Rondo from getting upset.

[Freighttrain]

Lol @ the "Lakers intend to start LeBron at point". LeBron has always been the point guard /point forward. He was point forward in Miami and he'll have that similar role. He won't defend the guards nor will he dribble up the ball. He himself said that takes a lot of energy.

[yoyoboy]

Caruso/Green/LeBron/Davis/McGee
Cook/KCP/Kuzma/Dudley/Cousins

That should be the rotation. McGee starting is far from ideal but they have no other options.

[Dupp]

I think him saying he’s gonna be point guard means he’s gonna look to play a bit more like a traditional point guard. Meaning he’s gonna take a slight step back scoring wise and try feed Davis as much as possible. I doubt he’s gonna guard point guards and we all know he’s always been the point guard/ point forward.


I actually agree with them starting kuzma. He’s young and talented. Having fresh legs out there is good and you need to give young talent the best opportunity to flourish. If it’s not working he can become 6 man later on.

Bradley? Can he even still defend?

Also these two year deals. I wonder how many are team options because they are that makes a lot of these signings look way better. Keeping flexibility is important.

[MyUniBroDavis]

I think him saying he’s gonna be point guard means he’s gonna look to play a bit more like a traditional point guard. Meaning he’s gonna take a slight step back scoring wise and try feed Davis as much as possible. I doubt he’s gonna guard point guards and we all know he’s always been the point guard/ point forward.


I actually agree with them starting kuzma. He’s young and talented. Having fresh legs out there is good and you need to give young talent the best opportunity to flourish. If it’s not working he can become 6 man later on.

Bradley? Can he even still defend?

Also these two year deals. I wonder how many are team options because they are that makes a lot of these signings look way better. Keeping flexibility is important.

Most of them are player options

I think it’s just cuz Giannis is a free agent in 2021 lol.

They probably play something like LeBron/KCP/Green/Davis/McGee or Cousins with KCP guarding the point guard on defence, green guarding the two and LeBron guarding the 3. kuz as a bench scorer role and finishing games with him at the 4 and Davis at the 5

I think that Davis might be able to cover for McGee on defence a bit, McGee chases blocks too much but Davis on help D helps limit the damage of that, and McGee does have insane defensive range too. That athletic interior Defensive length could be real nice together.

[MyUniBroDavis]

This is so dumb. If Point Guard skills weren’t completely necessary then everyone under 6’5” would just not make the league due to the trade offs. Going without a point guard because you have LeBron is like saying “I’ll go without a left foot because I have my right one”.

I hate this.

I think the problem is that the lakers point guards aren’t really good at traditional playmaking guard skills, outside of rondo who has a lot of other faults. They’re play style probably will use more front court playmaking.

Idk where it said Kuz would start. I think he’s definitely good enough to start (I’m assuming his jumper comes back) but i feel like the second unit needs him more. He can finish games though

[Dupp]

I’d roll with green/lebron/kuzma/Davis and a fairy. Kcp or Bradley I guess?

[Dupp]

Kuzma shot 36% from three in year one. If he can get back to around 35% thats great for LA. Bradley shot 38% last year I believe. Add in green and Davis and that’s actually pretty good spacing in the starting lineup.

[nolang1]

Read on Twitter

Thoughts on this? I'm not a fan, starting LeBron at point guard is a gimmick and they don't have enough ball handling for it to work. Also hints that they intend to start LeBron/Green/Kuzma/AD/Cousins which doesn't have enough shooting and has the potential to be disastrous. The Lakers' FO is officially more incompetent than the '04-'10 Cavs.

Almost a sig-worthy post for a number of reasons. LeBron has been his team's point guard for like 10 years now - the only thing this signifies is that the team won't be starting some shorter player who's a defensive liability and provides little marginal value on offense next to LeBron just for the sake of adhering more closely to positional definitions that are 50+ years old. Seriously, do you think it takes that much ball handling ability for someone to bring the ball past halfcourt and get it to LeBron?

[RCM88x]

My guess is Caruso or Cook will be the actual "PG" come crunch time or in usual lineups by the midpoint of the season. It's not like they don't have any actual PGs on the roster, like the Cavs in 2017 or 2018.

[dreamshake]

Just makes the Rondo signing even more annoying. Afraid Caruso is going to be the one that loses out on minutes, which is a mistake

[Greyhound]

I’d roll with green/lebron/kuzma/Davis and a fairy. Kcp or Bradley I guess?

Just guessing (by the way the roster has been constructed and the coach), I suspect they will start games big.

Something like:

Bradley
Green
James
Davis
Cousins

Second unit:

Rondo
KCP
Dudley
Kuzma
McGee

Closing lineup:

Bradley/ Cook/ KCP (the hot hand)
Green
James
Kuzma
Davis