The 2019-2020 LeBron James thread

[Greyhound]

I'm not really a Bradley guy, I'm more excited about the fact that Rondo might not start than Bradley starting. If it were up to me, I'd actually just throw Caruso out there and see what he can do and how he would fit with the starting lineup, I'm a fan of his tbh. Unfortunately, it seems like his role goes as far as 7th man, for now anyway.

Locking down players and keeping their FG% down is one thing. The caliber of the competition must definitely be considered.

Locking down NBA point guards to the extent that they have to pass out, in order to avoid you entirely (due to fear of being stripped) is something completely different.

Bradley did the same thing to stars like Irving and Curry when he played for the Celtics. So let’s not act like this is some flash in the pan beating up on the Hamburglar out there.

[Greyhound]

The have 2 holes

1. Big wing defender. Right now they don't anyone who naturally matches up with star wings defensively. Green is great and plays larger than his 6'4 size but still.

2. Perimeter initiator . Its all Lebron. None of their guards are really passers. This is why I think Cousins injury was a bigger than most you guys. Almost all of LA's playmaking is gonna come their front line. Cousins was in line to be the 2nd best passer in their rotation. Instead he's being replaced with Dwight whose skillet is redundant with Javal's. LA didn't need a 3rd rim-runner...they needed a spacer and passer to keep the paint open for Lebron and AD.

Green is 6’6” tall.

[TheGOATRises007]

What are Lakers/LeBron's expectations this year? I want to say championship but I don't think anyone other than Lakers fans are putting the team that high in pre season rankings.

Fully depends on how Lebron looks.

If he resembles 2019 Lebron, they have no shot.

If he's closer to 2018 Lebron, they've got a great shot.

I think we'll witness another small decline, but it wouldn't surprise me if Lebron bounced back.

[andyhop]

I'm not really a Bradley guy, I'm more excited about the fact that Rondo might not start than Bradley starting. If it were up to me, I'd actually just throw Caruso out there and see what he can do and how he would fit with the starting lineup, I'm a fan of his tbh. Unfortunately, it seems like his role goes as far as 7th man, for now anyway.

Locking down players and keeping their FG% down is one thing. The caliber of the competition must definitely be considered.

Locking down NBA point guards to the extent that they have to pass out, in order to avoid you entirely (due to fear of being stripped) is something completely different.

Bradley did the same thing to stars like Irving and Curry when he played for the Celtics. So let’s not act like this is some flash in the pan beating up on the Hamburglar out there.

Bradley was a bad defender with the Celtics and will likely carry on being a bad defender with the Lakers , on the bright side he isn't Rondo

[Slava]

The have 2 holes

1. Big wing defender. Right now they don't anyone who naturally matches up with star wings defensively. Green is great and plays larger than his 6'4 size but still.

2. Perimeter initiator . Its all Lebron. None of their guards are really passers. This is why I think Cousins injury was a bigger than most you guys. Almost all of LA's playmaking is gonna come their front line. Cousins was in line to be the 2nd best passer in their rotation. Instead he's being replaced with Dwight whose skillet is redundant with Javal's. LA didn't need a 3rd rim-runner...they needed a spacer and passer to keep the paint open for Lebron and AD.

1. I think Green, LeBron, Kuzma is enough large perimeter defense needed. Kuzma is underrated on this end and he has made big strides in the offseason apparently. Kuzma is an SF, he can guard SG to PF, but he was put in as a PF and he struggled on Cs.

2. LeBron is happy as the initiator, all he needs is one other option to playmake or score in isolation (Davis). When LeBron sits, Davis should be on the court with Caruso and Bradley.
They always have the option to bring Rondo in if the offense stalls.

He may be happy with it, but we've seen his teams collapse without him specfically because they lack a sutiable replacement. Davis needs to be an elite playmaker entering this season

LeBron monopolises the offence so much that his teams struggle when he is not on the court even when they have other elite talent like we saw in Cleveland with Kyrie and Love. In a way I don't think its the end of the world with giving LeBron carte blanche on playmaking in line ups featuring him. The non-LeBron units really need to be designed to run a brand of their own offence at times rather than finding someone who can essentially replace him in offence sets because that's pretty much impossible.

[Greyhound]

I'm not really a Bradley guy, I'm more excited about the fact that Rondo might not start than Bradley starting. If it were up to me, I'd actually just throw Caruso out there and see what he can do and how he would fit with the starting lineup, I'm a fan of his tbh. Unfortunately, it seems like his role goes as far as 7th man, for now anyway.

Locking down players and keeping their FG% down is one thing. The caliber of the competition must definitely be considered.

Locking down NBA point guards to the extent that they have to pass out, in order to avoid you entirely (due to fear of being stripped) is something completely different.

Bradley did the same thing to stars like Irving and Curry when he played for the Celtics. So let’s not act like this is some flash in the pan beating up on the Hamburglar out there.

Bradley was a bad defender with the Celtics and will likely carry on being a bad defender with the Lakers , on the bright side he isn't Rondo

I have seen enough Bradley over the years to form my own assessment.

[KTM_2813]

LeBron monopolises the offence so much that his teams struggle when he is not on the court even when they have other elite talent like we saw in Cleveland with Kyrie and Love.

I've never been a big fan of this theory, personally. I dunno... Irving and Love were probably their team's focal point throughout their basketball lives. Certainly in the NBA, both guys were the primary offensive weapons for several years. So with that said, it doesn't make a ton of sense to me that playing with LeBron would all of a sudden torpedo their abilities to keep offenses afloat whenever LeBron goes off the floor. I think that more more likely explanations for how bad the Cavaliers were without LeBron are:

1) Ty Lue was not a very creative coach. You can get away with high pick and roll every time when you have someone like LeBron, but that isn't going to work as well with Irving and Love. The team needed some tricks up its sleeves during non-LeBron minutes, and it didn't have any.

2) Cleveland surrounded LeBron with so many shooters that they didn't have any play-makers besides him and Irving... And even Irving isn't that great a passer. The team had legitimate structural problems, which LeBron might even deserve blame for, but those problems probably would have persisted irregardless of LeBron's offensive approach.

[freethedevil]

1. I think Green, LeBron, Kuzma is enough large perimeter defense needed. Kuzma is underrated on this end and he has made big strides in the offseason apparently. Kuzma is an SF, he can guard SG to PF, but he was put in as a PF and he struggled on Cs.

2. LeBron is happy as the initiator, all he needs is one other option to playmake or score in isolation (Davis). When LeBron sits, Davis should be on the court with Caruso and Bradley.
They always have the option to bring Rondo in if the offense stalls.

He may be happy with it, but we've seen his teams collapse without him specfically because they lack a sutiable replacement. Davis needs to be an elite playmaker entering this season

LeBron monopolises the offence so much that his teams struggle when he is not on the court even when they have other elite talent like we saw in Cleveland with Kyrie and Love.

Neither kevin or love were elite playmakers, rendering the entirety of your post very silly.

[HBK_Kliq_33]

1. I think Green, LeBron, Kuzma is enough large perimeter defense needed. Kuzma is underrated on this end and he has made big strides in the offseason apparently. Kuzma is an SF, he can guard SG to PF, but he was put in as a PF and he struggled on Cs.

2. LeBron is happy as the initiator, all he needs is one other option to playmake or score in isolation (Davis). When LeBron sits, Davis should be on the court with Caruso and Bradley.
They always have the option to bring Rondo in if the offense stalls.

He may be happy with it, but we've seen his teams collapse without him specfically because they lack a sutiable replacement. Davis needs to be an elite playmaker entering this season

LeBron monopolises the offence so much that his teams struggle when he is not on the court even when they have other elite talent like we saw in Cleveland with Kyrie and Love. In a way I don't think its the end of the world with giving LeBron carte blanche on playmaking in line ups featuring him. The non-LeBron units really need to be designed to run a brand of their own offence at times rather than finding someone who can essentially replace him in offence sets because that's pretty much impossible.

Exactly, Lebron just gets his team to rely on him too much and they lose offensive flow\rhythm when he's off the court. His on\off stats are overrated because of it.

[Greyhound]

He may be happy with it, but we've seen his teams collapse without him specfically because they lack a sutiable replacement. Davis needs to be an elite playmaker entering this season

LeBron monopolises the offence so much that his teams struggle when he is not on the court even when they have other elite talent like we saw in Cleveland with Kyrie and Love. In a way I don't think its the end of the world with giving LeBron carte blanche on playmaking in line ups featuring him. The non-LeBron units really need to be designed to run a brand of their own offence at times rather than finding someone who can essentially replace him in offence sets because that's pretty much impossible.

Exactly, Lebron just gets his team to rely on him too much and they lose offensive flow\rhythm when he's off the court. His on\off stats are overrated because of it.

No.

LeBron’s teams over rely on him because he has been that great over the course of his career.

He fills in the gaps in playmaking, defense and rebounding to make ok roster constructions imposing. That is the reason for his on/ off excellence.

When he is out greatness is missed. The simplest of answers are typically the right ones.

———-


It’s about time you put some spec’ on LeBron’s name, guy.

[_Game7_]

Watch on YouTube

AD jumper looking automatic. Lebron doing allot of point guard duties plus clutch 3 at the end.

[MisterHibachi]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

[thebigbird]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

Really like the lineup. I was worried Vogel would fall into the Rondo trap. There are a lot of options to put around AD/Bron so long as Rondo doesn't start.

[toodles23]

Night and day difference in the spacing between this starting lineup and anything they had out there last year. Let's see how badly Rondo screws it up...

[thebigbird]

AD is so freaking good. A lot of people let last year's drama impact their opinions of his game. Dude is a PROBLEM.

[Mos_Heat]

Rondo is pretty terrible even by pre-season measures

[MisterHibachi]

One quarter into pre season and I'm loving this team. Forgot what it's like for LeBron to have good teammates.

[MisterHibachi]

LeBron/AD pick and roll thus far seems as advertised. Should be enough to carry the offense deep into the playoffs. Could allow the Lakers to keep AD at the 4, and just always have a massive lineup out there. Offensive rebounds in a 2 point game in clutch time are back breakers.

This team is likely gonna play ugly, bully ball and its gonna be amazing.

[MisterHibachi]

Fully expecting AD to finish higher than LeBron in MVP voting this year.

[toodles23]

Best to take it with a grain of salt but Lebron looks more spry defensively in the first 18 minutes of preseason than he did for most of last season. Stayed in front of his man on the couple of occasions they tried to take him off the dribble. We'll see if that actually maintains at all when it matters.