The LeBron James All-NBA (2nd) and Luka Doncic - 24-25 Thread

[Mos_Heat]

Going to shower after saying it but to be fair to Rob and Lakers patience was why the deal was possible. If he had consolidated all their assets to go pursue a Lavine he could still do the deal on paper but it would be impractical both financially and on the court with nowhere to go. Call it blind luck but I wouldn't have had the patience to wait for blind luck to fall in my lap. His real job starts with how he rounds out the rest of the roster.

29 pick doesn't do much in this deal. You could have traded Reaves with AD and bridged that gap.

[nzahir]

Thybulle is the poa defender....

No herb isn't gettable for what lakers have unless they trade Reaves.

Rui+Vincent for Thybulle+RW3

I'd rather go all in now and say: Vincent + 2nd for Thybulle and Knecht + unprotect UTA pick + '31 1st for Kessler

Doncic / Milton
Thybulle / Reaves
DFS / Vando / Reddish
Lebron / Rui
Kessler / Hayes

RW3 would be as good as Kessler on the Lakers. Its just his health isn't as good so he's a ton cheaper.

I don’t think u can risk Rw3, injury prone option made sense before

Now u push in the chips

Can Knecht, 2031, and a swap get you Kessler?

Rui for any sort of Christie replacement?

Or Rui+1st for a C like Claxton/etc. maybe give us back a 2nd

Knecht for Naw and 1-2 2nds?

Salary filler and 2nds for a backup wing

Roster is just weird with Reaves and Luka

Reaves off the bench now?

[dcstanley]

LeBron's time with the Lakers is coming to an end. No longer his team.

Him and Luka is maybe the worst basketball pairing I can think of in terms of on court skillsets, and LeBron is clearly not a very good player at this point. The Lakers made this trade for the next 7+ years of prime Luka, but they're going to suck this year. They have no intention of LeBron being part of their Luka plan now, and I can't blame them. Love the guy, but he's not worth it any more.

I think everyone is being a bit dramatic. Lebron has a NTC and a player option, he's on this team until he no longer wants to be. Now, Luka is obviously the front office's priority but it's not like they're going to just punt on the next season and a half until Lebron's gone. They should remain competitive and put even more chips on the table next season. Lebron is no longer in control but that doesn't preclude the team from contending. The AD/LBJ partnership ran it's course.

As for Lebron, the Lakers are 8-2 in their last 10 games and he's averaging 25/8/10 on 61 TS%. Since the DFS trade the Lakers have had a top ten net rating. He's clearly still a top 15-20 player.

Lastly, this is the player Lebron was searching for with all of his misguided attempts at acquiring a playmaker/superstar guard. How do teams guard Lebron screening for Luka? Hedge? Lebron dices them up in the short roll. Switch? Luka fries them in isolation as he's wont to do. The offense should be elite.

[Fadeaway_J]

Mavs are smoking crack

Pelinka really has 9 lives. I'm sure he'll eventually screw up the Luka era too, but this resets the clock for several years.

[ShaqAttac]

wtf.

[ShaqAttac]

LeBron's time with the Lakers is coming to an end. No longer his team.

Him and Luka is maybe the worst basketball pairing I can think of in terms of on court skillsets, and LeBron is clearly not a very good player at this point. The Lakers made this trade for the next 7+ years of prime Luka, but they're going to suck this year. They have no intention of LeBron being part of their Luka plan now, and I can't blame them. Love the guy, but he's not worth it any more.

I think everyone is being a bit dramatic. Lebron has a NTC and a player option, he's on this team until he no longer wants to be. Now, Luka is obviously the front office's priority but it's not like they're going to just punt on the next two seasons until Lebron's gone. They should remain competitive and put even more chips on the table next season. Lebron is no longer in control but that doesn't preclude the team from contending. The AD/LBJ partnership ran it's course.

As for Lebron, the Lakers are 8-2 in their last 10 games and he's averaging 25/8/10 on 61 TS%. Since the DFS trade the Lakers have had a top ten net rating. He's clearly still a top 15-20 player.

Lastly, this is the player Lebron was searching for with all of his misguided attempts at acquiring a playmaker/superstar guard. How do teams guard Lebron screening for Luka? Hedge? Lebron dices them up in the short roll. Switch? Luka fries them in isolation as he's wont to do. The offense should be elite.

what y'all talking about? we be winning games without AD. How we not contenders? how bron not very good? we coulda def won a chip the way we was playing with ad back. luka better not choke

[trickshot]

Going to shower after saying it but to be fair to Rob and Lakers patience was why the deal was possible. If he had consolidated all their assets to go pursue a Lavine he could still do the deal on paper but it would be impractical both financially and on the court with nowhere to go. Call it blind luck but I wouldn't have had the patience to wait for blind luck to fall in my lap. His real job starts with how he rounds out the rest of the roster.

29 pick doesn't do much in this deal. You could have traded Reaves with AD and bridged that gap.

Reaves would have been consolidated but that wasn't not really what I was getting at. Talking practical not illegal. I'm talking the willingness to do it if there would be 3 max guys. It's no longer just a basketball decision for owners. The apron bit is why conference finalists are suddenly mysteriously shedding their best players and Lakers ownership isn't exactly loaded. Even if willing to take all that on they'd just end up like the Phoenix Suns who are well and truly f'd.

[thebigbird]

LeBron's time with the Lakers is coming to an end. No longer his team.

Him and Luka is maybe the worst basketball pairing I can think of in terms of on court skillsets, and LeBron is clearly not a very good player at this point. The Lakers made this trade for the next 7+ years of prime Luka, but they're going to suck this year. They have no intention of LeBron being part of their Luka plan now, and I can't blame them. Love the guy, but he's not worth it any more.

Do you even watch basketball?

[thebigbird]

LeBron deserves so much more than what he’s gotten from Jennie Bussdown and Pelinka. It’s his fault for resigning with the team, but man. What a massive middle finger to him.

[Tracymcgoaty]

Lebron was never in control. Anybody who believes that got told with it was bull with this trade.



This duo in theory could be **** ridiculous. Season might be a wash if trades are not made though. Either way kudos to Rob for doing the trade.

I hope we go for more trades cause we could actually make some crazy **** noise this season. Rob should def not punt on this season. Now more than ever he needs to put more pieces around Luka.

Lebron not having to carry on offense will give him great energy to do everything else. Would be great to see a olympic version of Lebron.

Anybody who thinks this duo couldn't work has no idea how good Lebron is off ball. Now with a top 2 offensive hub in the league are you kidding me? The pick and roll will be ridiculous. Instead of Rui having the ball when Lebron cuts it's going to be Luka.

In theory this dude is the best duo in the league.

[Myth_Breaker]

Is there any chance of AD getting his jersey retired? Will be a shame if he doesn't hang in any team's rafters

No way LAL retires his jersey. No disrespect to him, it’s just he doesn’t fit up there with those LAL HoF bigs in terms of what they mean to LAL.

You are actually completely wrong in this regard. His case for having a jersey retired is comparable to Pau's, while superior to Silk Wilkes' or Goodrich's. All of those have their jerseys hanging in the rafters, so I have no doubts about it also in AD's case.

[Tracymcgoaty]

Is there any chance of AD getting his jersey retired? Will be a shame if he doesn't hang in any team's rafters

No way LAL retires his jersey. No disrespect to him, it’s just he doesn’t fit up there with those LAL HoF bigs in terms of what they mean to LAL.

You are actually completely wrong in this regard. His case for having a jersey retired is comparable to Pau's, while superior to Silk Wilkes' or Goodrich's. All of those have their jerseys hanging in the rafters, so I have no doubts about it also in AD's case.

True accolades,stats a FMVP and a title.

He has a great chance at getting his jersey retired.

He's been a great laker. People forget how awful we were prior to lebron coming. We were in purgatory with no noticeable top end talent.

[dreamshake]

No way LAL retires his jersey. No disrespect to him, it’s just he doesn’t fit up there with those LAL HoF bigs in terms of what they mean to LAL.

You are actually completely wrong in this regard. His case for having a jersey retired is comparable to Pau's, while superior to Silk Wilkes' or Goodrich's. All of those have their jerseys hanging in the rafters, so I have no doubts about it also in AD's case.

True accolades,stats a FMVP and a title.

He has a great chance at getting his jersey retired.

He's been a great laker. People forget how awful we were prior to lebron coming. We were in purgatory with no noticeable top end talent.

Sounds like you're talking about LBJ. He's obviously getting his jersey retired. Discussion was about Davis though.

[Tracymcgoaty]

You are actually completely wrong in this regard. His case for having a jersey retired is comparable to Pau's, while superior to Silk Wilkes' or Goodrich's. All of those have their jerseys hanging in the rafters, so I have no doubts about it also in AD's case.

True accolades,stats a FMVP and a title.

He has a great chance at getting his jersey retired.

He's been a great laker. People forget how awful we were prior to lebron coming. We were in purgatory with no noticeable top end talent.

Sounds like you're talking about LBJ. He's obviously getting his jersey retired. Discussion was about Davis though.

Oh my bad. I think same with AD he'll probably get his jersey retired. Monumental in the title win. All-star every year. Should have had a DPOY.

Easy decision.

[dreamshake]

This move clearly seems to be about the future. Any chance this prompts LeBron to force a trade out? I didn't think there was a chance given that he seems happy having his family in LA and Bryce still playing in HS there. Probably still true, but I wonder if he considers trying to engineer a trade to GSW or back to CLE.

GSW makes more sense in terms of staying in California close to his family, but I'm not sure they're real contenders with him in place of Wiggins/Kuminga. If he could get a trade to CLE without them giving up any of their major pieces, I feel like they'd be the favorites. Winning another title there to close out his career would be a nice ending.

[eminence]

There's no deal with Cleveland that doesn't send out major pieces. Just doesn't seem possible.

Wiggins/Kuminga could fit decently around Luka going forward.

[Ian Scuffling]

At first glance, I thought this was a horrible trade for the Lakers. Getting rid of two of your best defenders on an already defensively challenged team and all. But, after reading some of the optimistic/positive takes, I'm kind of sold, depending on Pelinka's next moves, on the possibility of them being able to contend this season. That's a BIG if, though. Obviously, it was made for the future, so unless they have a solid plan for this year, they just punted Lebron's last season(s). Still, not sure why he hitched his wagon to this Lakers organization. I know. I know. He loves LA, which is his prerogative. As for the comment above from someone saying Lebron isn't a very good player anymore. Hope that was just poor phrasing, because unless you're comparing him to himself of 6 to 10 years ago, that's just not true at all. He's certainly not a good "defensive" player anymore, though. And at 40, you can't really find fault with that. But, offensively, even at 40, which is non-sensical, he is still a top 10 player in this league.

[dreamshake]

There's no deal with Cleveland that doesn't send out major pieces. Just doesn't seem possible.

Why not? Package 3 of LeVert/Strus/Okoro/Niang to make salaries work. Cleveland has some draft picks to throw in. LeBron has a no-trade clause so its not like LA is shopping him on an open market.

[tsherkin]

what y'all talking about? we be winning games without AD. How we not contenders? how bron not very good? we coulda def won a chip the way we was playing with ad back. luka better not choke

You're 4-1 without AD, against Memphis, Portland, Brooklyn, Washington and New York.

MEM is 32-16, and beat them. Portland's 20-29, and the 4th-worst D in the league. Brooklyn is 16-33, the 4th-worst offense in the league and 24th on D. Washington has 7 wins, and is the worst team in the league on both ends.

New York is the legit win, but overall, I wouldn't be crowing too hard about the LA record without AD, personally.

[eminence]

There's no deal with Cleveland that doesn't send out major pieces. Just doesn't seem possible.

Why not? Package 3 of LeVert/Strus/Okoro/Niang to make salaries work. Cleveland has some draft picks to throw in. LeBron has a no-trade clause so its not like LA is shopping him on an open market.

Those combos of 3 don't work. Has to be LeVert/Strus + 2/3 of Okoro/Niang/Wade.

Who knows, maybe it happens, anything is possible.