The LeBron James - 21-22 Off-Season Thread Part 1 (Please Lock Thread)

[TroubleS0me]

LeBron had a great season considering his age

but him & the Lakers failed to make the play-in/playoffs this season.

Lets take this time to reflect on the season LeBron & Lakers had, potential moves for the offseason

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[The High Cyde]

I wonder who they hire as the new coach. It’ll have to be someone green or a past one like Byron Scott given all that’s recently transpired. I could even see Mark Jackson there as well, who knows.

All these quotes from Russ right now, it was over before it even began. Hope Vogel finds a new home soon.

[coastalmarker99]

Russell Westbrook pointed out that he averaged a triple-double last season, so to do less than that with the Lakers represented a failure.

How to confirm the perception of your reputation in 1 easy step.

[nzahir]

[Lane] Stanley Johnson on if he will be with the Lakers next season: "That's a question for Rob...and Kurt"

This franchise is a joke

I can't believe this crap

Should have just gone to the Clippers with PG

Imagine this

Reggie, PG, Lebron, Morris, Zubac
Mann, Powell, Kennard, RoCo, Hartenstein

I don't know if the Lakers can remake a contender with this group b/c they spent a lot of assets on AD and Russ

They wasted a 1st on Dennis and let him walk

They allowed AC to walk

Can't just lose assets for nothing

[LAL1947]

Russell Westbrook pointed out that he averaged a triple-double last season, so to do less than that with the Lakers represented a failure.

How to confirm the perception of your reputation in 1 easy step.

Did he really say that?

I didn't watch his interview because it's too tedious to listen to him speak.

[KembaWalker]

My personal opinions of the guy aside, Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier would actually be excellent fits around LeBron. Particularly Rozier. Dudes something close to what I would call a poor man's Kyrie, clean handles, can iso for himself and not clank the shots off the top of the backboard and its clutch af.

If by some miracle they got Bron Davis and Hayward healthyish to a postseason along with Rozier, Monk, and Reaves I think that team could play some fantastic basketball

[falcolombardi]

My personal opinions of the guy aside, Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier would actually be excellent fits around LeBron. Particularly Rozier. Dudes something close to what I would call a poor man's Kyrie, clean handles, can iso for himself and not clank the shots off the top of the backboard and its clutch af.

If by some miracle they got Bron Davis and Hayward healthyish to a postseason along with Rozier, Monk, and Reaves I think that team could play some fantastic basketball

wait, the thread is back? awesome, though we had got put in jail until next seasom lmao

edit: agree that hayward would be good, but brogdon if available is the best injury prone player for this roster so he would be a better high risk bet

[zimpy27]

My personal opinions of the guy aside, Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier would actually be excellent fits around LeBron. Particularly Rozier. Dudes something close to what I would call a poor man's Kyrie, clean handles, can iso for himself and not clank the shots off the top of the backboard and its clutch af.

If by some miracle they got Bron Davis and Hayward healthyish to a postseason along with Rozier, Monk, and Reaves I think that team could play some fantastic basketball

Yep, it's the best return as a two-team trade involving Westbrook and picks. Would have been great with Vogel coaching too.

[falcolombardi]

My personal opinions of the guy aside, Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier would actually be excellent fits around LeBron. Particularly Rozier. Dudes something close to what I would call a poor man's Kyrie, clean handles, can iso for himself and not clank the shots off the top of the backboard and its clutch af.

If by some miracle they got Bron Davis and Hayward healthyish to a postseason along with Rozier, Monk, and Reaves I think that team could play some fantastic basketball

Yep, it's the best return as a two-team trade involving Westbrook and picks. Would have been great with Vogel coaching too.

rozier + hayward vs brogdon and hield is close

brogdon as a combo guard fits lakers better and la a better injury prone player thsn hayward at this point in their carrers

i dont feel too good over hield too since he doesnt seem to play any defense, not sure how good rozier defense is

[LukaTheGOAT]

LeBron vs top 10 defenses in 2022:

29.7 ppg
8.5 rpg
5.6 apg
63% TS

For comparison:

Giannis Antetokounmpo vs Top 10 Defenses in 2022

• 27.2 PPG
• 10.9 RPG
• 4.9 APG
• 59.1 TS%

Luka Doncic vs Top 10 Defenses in 2022

• 31.3 PPG
• 9.6 RPG
• 8.1 APG
• 59.5 TS%

[zimpy27]

My personal opinions of the guy aside, Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier would actually be excellent fits around LeBron. Particularly Rozier. Dudes something close to what I would call a poor man's Kyrie, clean handles, can iso for himself and not clank the shots off the top of the backboard and its clutch af.

If by some miracle they got Bron Davis and Hayward healthyish to a postseason along with Rozier, Monk, and Reaves I think that team could play some fantastic basketball

Yep, it's the best return as a two-team trade involving Westbrook and picks. Would have been great with Vogel coaching too.

rozier + hayward vs brogdon and hield is close

brogdon as a combo guard fits lakers better and la a better injury prone player thsn hayward at this point in their carrers

i dont feel too good over hield too since he doesnt seem to play any defense, not sure how good rozier defense is

I mean now that Vogel is gone it probably is actually even. Rozier was an ideal fit in Vogels system of defense, Hayward too.
Brogdon and Hield aren't good defensive fits for Vogels system.

But now Vogel is gone so maybe Brogdon would be better in that he can run an offense alone. I think Hield is a bad option unless Lakers just want to build an elite offense with below average defense now.

[thebigbird]

LeBron vs top 10 defenses in 2022:

29.7 ppg
8.5 rpg
5.6 apg
63% TS

For comparison:

Giannis Antetokounmpo vs Top 10 Defenses in 2022

• 27.2 PPG
• 10.9 RPG
• 4.9 APG
• 59.1 TS%

Luka Doncic vs Top 10 Defenses in 2022

• 31.3 PPG
• 9.6 RPG
• 8.1 APG
• 59.5 TS%

I remember during the 2019/2020 season LeBron had some trouble scoring (compared to prior LeBrons) against top defenses. Now two years later he balled out against them. His jumper is really an asset now.

[homecourtloss]

Added some stats on the last thread before it was locked.

You basically have a super efficient scorer on and off the ball who played pretty good individual defense, some lackadaisical team defense, but you would think that a team that has a 30 points per game scorer at 62% true shooting and 58% eFG would be better than a bottom 6 team offense.

Defense:

NBA.com has the numbers for box outs, loose ball gathering, deflections. Guess what? He’s middle of the pack there. You can see for yourself.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/hustle/
https://www.nba.com/stats/players/box-outs/

Also, would it surprise you to learn that when contesting shots, LeBron was in the upper upper percentiles for holding opponents below their averages?

205 players played at least 40 games and contested 9 shots per game.

1. Robert Williams III, held opponents to -7.0% below season FG%
2. Jarett Allen, -6.7%
3. Rudy Gobert,-6.5%
4. JJJ, -5.9%
5. Draymond, -5.5%
6. Mitchell Robinson, -5.4%
7. Bruce Brown, -5.1%
8. Thybulle, -5.1%
9. Horford, -4.9%
10. Jaden McDaniels, -4.9%
11. LeBron James, -4.7%
12. Bam Adebayo

You can see the entire list here: https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-overall/?Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=PCT_PLUSMINUS&dir=-1&CF=GP*GE*40:D_FGA*GE*9:PLAYER_NAME*E*

You can see how many shots they contested per game and you can see what the average field goal percentage of the opponents was.

LeBron: 12.9 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 42.2%, 46.9% vs. everyone else, -4.7 difference.
Durant: 14.0 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 42.2%, 46.3% vs everyone, -4.1 difference
Tatum: 11.9 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 43.0%, 45.9% vs. everyone, -2.9 difference
Smart: 10.7 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 45.2%, 45.5% vs. everyone,-.3 difference
Giannis: 13.9 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 44.5%, 47.9% vs. everyone, -3.2 difference.
Butler: 9.6 FGA defended per game, opponents shot 44.6%, 46.3% vs everyone else, -1.7

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-overall/?Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=PLAYER_LAST_TEAM_ABBREVIATION&dir=-1

Also, many would be surprised to see how effective LeBron was defending inside of 6 feet. LeBron held opponents to 8.6% below their season FG% on shots under 6 feet Would it surprise you to know that he held opponents below their season averages a better rate than did Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Zubac, Poetl, Porzingis, Ayton, and Bam Adebayo (40+ games played, 4+ FGs defended)

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-lt6/?sort=PLUSMINUS&dir=-1&CF=GP*GE*40:FGA_LT_06*GE*4&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

From LukaTheGOAT

LeBron vs top 10 defenses in 2022:

29.7 ppg
8.5 rpg
5.6 apg
63% TS

For comparison:

Giannis Antetokounmpo vs Top 10 Defenses in 2022

• 27.2 PPG
• 10.9 RPG
• 4.9 APG
• 59.1 TS%

Luka Doncic vs Top 10 Defenses in 2022

• 31.3 PPG
• 9.6 RPG
• 8.1 APG
• 59.5 TS%

Players to average 30+ PPG on 58+ eFG% in a season:
- Stephen Curry, 2016
- Stephen Curry, 2021
- LeBron James, 2022

To add to this, players to average 30+ ppg on 6 or less FTA per game:

Steph Curry 2016
LeBron James 2022

[falcolombardi]

yeah, i think yhe lack of team succes is gonna make people throw out a legitemely impressive regular season

he was arguably more impressive this regular season than in 2020 or 2021 although the situation was much worse for him

[LukaTheGOAT]

LeBron vs top 10 defenses in 2022:

29.7 ppg
8.5 rpg
5.6 apg
63% TS

For comparison:

Giannis Antetokounmpo vs Top 10 Defenses in 2022

• 27.2 PPG
• 10.9 RPG
• 4.9 APG
• 59.1 TS%

Luka Doncic vs Top 10 Defenses in 2022

• 31.3 PPG
• 9.6 RPG
• 8.1 APG
• 59.5 TS%

I remember during the 2019/2020 season LeBron had some trouble scoring (compared to prior LeBrons) against top defenses. Now two years later he balled out against them. His jumper is really an asset now.

I appreciate you pointing out the shooting improvement. For example, check this stat out

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[dcstanley]

My personal opinions of the guy aside, Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier would actually be excellent fits around LeBron. Particularly Rozier. Dudes something close to what I would call a poor man's Kyrie, clean handles, can iso for himself and not clank the shots off the top of the backboard and its clutch af.

If by some miracle they got Bron Davis and Hayward healthyish to a postseason along with Rozier, Monk, and Reaves I think that team could play some fantastic basketball

Yep, it's the best return as a two-team trade involving Westbrook and picks. Would have been great with Vogel coaching too.

rozier + hayward vs brogdon and hield is close

brogdon as a combo guard fits lakers better and la a better injury prone player thsn hayward at this point in their carrers

i dont feel too good over hield too since he doesnt seem to play any defense, not sure how good rozier defense is

Brogdon might be the best of the bunch but Rozier and Hayward are significantly better than Hield. Rozier was a good POA defender in Boston but I'm not sure how his defense has been in Charlotte. He's an excellent fit with Lebron offensively.

[Slava]

All this talk of the franchise being an utter mess, which it probably is, reminds me so much of the 19-20 offseason until they acquired AD. Talent papers over all cracks. A healthy LeBron and AD with a supporting cast that is not actively trying to shoot itself in the foot is good enough to make everyone forget all else.

Also **** Westbrook. If there was any doubt as to how big of a clown he is, him spending his entire exit interview throwing everyone else under the bus is proof enough to tank his non-existent trade value even further. If he feels so strongly about how he was mistreated, he can very well opt out of his player option, having already made $290 million in his career earnings. There is no scheme in the world that makes you throw up vomit inducing air balls and backboard clanking lay ups time and again.

[Ian Scuffling]

So, basically the trolls "eye tests" about James horrendous defense was wrong? What a surprise. This season was doomed from the beginning with the way they gutted the team for old non defensive players and Westbrook. Throw in your second best player missing over half the season and your best player missing over a quarter of the season and you'll have this season. Pelinka should have been fired before anyone else. Whether you feel that James was the master mind behind all those horrible moves or not, the fact remains that the buck stops with Pelinka. He destroyed the Lakers and then the injuries finished them off.

[falcolombardi]

lakers should look into atkinson, he was a solic coach with the nets

[falcolombardi]

So, basically the trolls "eye tests" about James horrendous defense was wrong? What a surprise. This season was doomed from the beginning with the way they gutted the team for old non defensive players and Westbrook. Throw in your second best player missing over half the season and your best player missing over a quarter of the season and you'll have this season. Pelinka should have been fired before anyone else. Whether you feel that James was the master mind behind all those horrible moves or not, the fact remains that the buck stops with Pelinka. He destroyed the Lakers and then the injuries finished them off.

defensive eye test is so misleading cause most of the time people dont pay attention to defense

a few memorable good or bad possesions end up defining a player to most people

others simply go by reputation