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

[NbaAllDay]

Maybe this will stop a bunch of people with limited understanding of the game who think LA became favourites because of the trade.

[trickshot]

Asides Reaves I would have shopped every poor defender, athlete and rebounder once I knew I was getting Luka. There was already enough offensive firepower. Guys are injured but guys could also get injured in the playoffs

[yoyoboy]

There’s just no realistic path towards beating OKC or Denver in a playoff series. The rim protection and size on the glass are just so weak. I think LA had a better shot of making noise in the playoffs with Davis/Christie, even if it was still a long shot. Against Denver they probably still would have had little chance but I think they match up better against OKC.

[dcstanley]

They were missing three rotation guys and Luka isn't even close to himself yet. I would hold off on the obituaries.

That said, not acquiring a starting a caliber center puts a hard ceiling on them. If the playoff bracket breaks the right way they could make a run at the WCF but very little chance at beating Denver or OKC in a series.

[Mos_Heat]

There’s just no realistic path towards beating OKC or Denver in a playoff series. The rim protection and size on the glass are just so weak. I think LA had a better shot of making noise in the playoffs with Davis/Christie, even if it was still a long shot. Against Denver they probably still would have had little chance but I think they match up better against OKC.

Only if they would've made a trade for a solid big. AD with his abs and plantar fasciitis won't survive a long playoff run this season. With Doncic they at least have offensive upside in any series

[GSP]

Their defense is completely hilarious. Not a contender

Dorian is their best defender and been one of the most impactful wing defenders in the whole league for years now and he was out also Gabe is their best guard defender. Doesnt make sense to make conclusions about their defense w/o those 2...........we saw how it looked when they played

[nzahir]

Their defense is completely hilarious. Not a contender

Dorian is their best defender and been one of the most impactful wing defenders in the whole league for years now and he was out also Gabe is their best guard defender. Doesnt make sense to make conclusions about their defense w/o those 2...........we saw how it looked when they played

This

Guys we just saw us dominate Utah the other night and had some great performances recently

Some guys had an off night, like Revaes was horrific. 0/6 on open 3s in the 1st half killed us

Luka is getting back into the flow of things

DFS and Gabe are huge for our defense and effort

And then we lost Hayes instantly

Lets see how Len looks over a few weeks of games before writing him fully off

We dont have any better options, unless somehow Boucher, Olynk, or Holmes get bought out

[zimpy27]

There’s just no realistic path towards beating OKC or Denver in a playoff series. The rim protection and size on the glass are just so weak. I think LA had a better shot of making noise in the playoffs with Davis/Christie, even if it was still a long shot. Against Denver they probably still would have had little chance but I think they match up better against OKC.

Absolutely they had a better shot with Davis/Christie. But still it's exciting to see a team with a punchers chance on offense. Lakers made the move with future in mind.

[IG2]

I wouldn't make much of last night's loss. Last game before AS break, numerous rotation players out and a bad opponent they had just walloped 2 days ago. It was set up to be an L. And we already knew about their major hole in the middle. Didn't need last night's game to realize that. I still find this team's prospects with Luka this year much more exciting than whatever their ceiling was with AD.

[Ian Scuffling]

And given that this is the Lebron forum, Lebron looked checked out. 13 shot attempts? Low rebound game for him? He gave two **** about this one. It's not a big deal at all.

[Djoker]

I haven't heard anyone mention it but the Lakers have a pretty heavy schedule after the break due to the LA fires which led to game cancellations. Lakers have 30 games in 54 days so a game every 1.8 days. 8 back-to-backs.

[AEnigma]

I haven't heard anyone mention it but the Lakers have a pretty heavy schedule after the break due to the LA fires which led to game cancellations. Lakers have 30 games in 54 days so a game every 1.8 days. 8 back-to-backs.

Oof, yeah, do not love that when their second-best player is 40.

If they match up with Memphis or Houston, I think it is fine, but they need to avoid Denver in the first round.

[Kingdibs19]

I hope the Williams trade does go through. Hayes is injured. Len sucks. Kessler and Claxton are not walking through the door this summer.

[Cavsfansince84]

I wouldn't make much of last night's loss. Last game before AS break, numerous rotation players out and a bad opponent they had just walloped 2 days ago. It was set up to be an L. And we already knew about their major hole in the middle. Didn't need last night's game to realize that. I still find this team's prospects with Luka this year much more exciting than whatever their ceiling was with AD.

Pretty much true of any rs game imo. I would say there's only a few rs games every year that you can read much of anything into. Such as the Clev-Okc-Bos matchups that you know both teams had circled going into and to see how matchups play out.

[PistolPeteJR]

I wouldn't make much of last night's loss. Last game before AS break, numerous rotation players out and a bad opponent they had just walloped 2 days ago. It was set up to be an L. And we already knew about their major hole in the middle. Didn't need last night's game to realize that. I still find this team's prospects with Luka this year much more exciting than whatever their ceiling was with AD.

Pretty much true of any rs game imo. I would say there's only a few rs games every year that you can read much of anything into. Such as the Clev-Okc-Bos matchups that you know both teams had circled going into and to see how matchups play out.

I don't agree. With teams that have brand new coaches and systems, for example, or things like new key personnel, etc., there are way more games you can read things into. And then there's things like B2Bs, what night of the B2B is it and vs who, was there travel involved, is a player resting, etc. There are quite a few variables, and I think it's not as simple as, "only vs the true contenders".

[trickshot]

A loss where they were injured and up against a team they just blew out wasn't the problem, the problem was the game showed they are now the type of good playoff team that can lose to size matchups regardless of opponent quality. They didn't play swarming defense and gang rebound but they shouldn't need to in February and it's all on Rob. The upcoming schedule is going to be brutal for wear and tear. Lowkey before the trade even AD was starting to show signs of breaking down. They'll now have to be picking and choosing when to play hard just to preserve their health.

edit yeah this is what Lebron meant when he said they need to play perfect to win. They already didn't have much margin for error. Now have extra no-margin. The strange part is it's the young role guys who are the bad defenders and athletes. Rob needed to pick a struggle.

[Cavsfansince84]

I don't agree. With teams that have brand new coaches and systems, for example, or things like new key personnel, etc., there are way more games you can read things into. And then there's things like B2Bs, what night of the B2B is it and vs who, was there travel involved, is a player resting, etc. There are quite a few variables, and I think it's not as simple as, "only vs the true contenders".

Of course you can read things into it but imo players will have off games regardless and 1 game samples just aren't worth much. It's all for fun anyhow so nothing against if people want to look at any single game more closely for discussion's sake. My response was more to do with LeBron and one player though. More can be read in terms of how teams perform.

[NBA4Lyfe]

should have shipped lebron out.. him staying i knew it wasnt gonna work.. good luck asking bron to sacrifice and take a backseat to luka lol

ill give it a week before the leaks from espn start the "luka bashing" taking unverified sources as gospel, while luka becomes the new scapegoat.. in less than a month just watch the espn plants try and make luka to be the bad guy, calling luka "moody" and "not a team player"

[AEnigma]

One week, huh. Alright, will hold you to that.

[picko]

There's no point overreacting before we even see the team with a fit Luka. If they look like crap when Luka's a nightly 30 point threat then there's cause for concern.