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

[bigboi]

Yeah, his conditioning is better, he's just not as good at basketball.

He’s flat out better. You can’t even make a sound argument. Lmao. Part of the reason that Lakers are losing is because Luka 1. Is an all time bad defender and 2. Has terrible conditioning and is gassed. Tatum would put up both offense and defense hence lakers would be better with Tatum. Luka is flat out not better than Tatum. You don’t get points for playing one side of the ball

Just dumb, rehashed arguments. This season, Tatum had a better regular season, otherwise Luka is clearly better. Box score stats show this, advanced stats show this, eye test show this. Next season, if healthy, he'll once again be better by anyone other than Celtics fans/Luka haters. Doncic is not an all-time bad defender, that's an idiotic statement. He is an average defender overall, never ever been among the 100 worst NBA players on defense by any stats. You have an agenda, dude.

No, nothing shows it. All I see with Luka is a fat lazy slob who can’t play defense. Live in your delusion tho, Tatum will win ring after ring while continuously making 1st team all nba while Luka keeps declining and remains ring less for his entire career

[Tracymcgoaty]

Lebron and Luka are amazing. Squeeze two more years out of Lebron. Trade AR and build properly around Luka.

Get bigger and more athletic. Seriously if Rob doesn't fix this he should be gone.

[DorianRo]

It was a bad trade for both teams. Dallas and LA. How many teams played Small ball and won chips in the last 30 years? For Lakers to win a title, they're gonna have to bring in a quality BIG to go with Luka and Lakers are just gonna have to tell Luka" Either get in shape this offseason or you're gone"

I honestly don’t agree with that. I legit think the Luka trade helped with ratings so helped the league as whole and I think if AD and Kyrie don’t get injured, Dallas would be a top 4 seed. The team fits very well together

I personally wouldn't have traded AD for Luka. I can see why Dallas wanted the Irving/AD combo as that increases their chances of a title but AD is also always in street clothes and then Irving got hurt so AD will really get lazy. . I mean it could still work but they gotta stay healthy. I think this Lakers with AD healthy beats the Wolves.. They're only issue was with Denver the past 2 years. They would have avoided Denver this year probably. They probably could have gotten to the finals this year with AD avoiding Denver.

[bigboi]

It was a bad trade for both teams. Dallas and LA. How many teams played Small ball and won chips in the last 30 years? For Lakers to win a title, they're gonna have to bring in a quality BIG to go with Luka and Lakers are just gonna have to tell Luka" Either get in shape this offseason or you're gone"

I honestly don’t agree with that. I legit think the Luka trade helped with ratings so helped the league as whole and I think if AD and Kyrie don’t get injured, Dallas would be a top 4 seed. The team fits very well together

I personally wouldn't have traded AD for Luka. I can see why Dallas wanted the Irving/AD combo as that increases their chances of a title but AD is also always in street clothes and then Irving got hurt so AD will really get lazy. . I mean it could still work but they gotta stay healthy. I think this Lakers with AD healthy beats the Wolves.. They're only issue was with Denver the past 2 years. They would have avoided Denver this year probably. They probably could have gotten to the finals this year with AD avoiding Denver.

Lakers with AD stood 0 chance against OKC. It’s more than just this year. Luka is take the reins from Bron and be a cash cow for the lakers for next 8 years at least.

[EmpireFalls]

LeBron played about as well as you could ask of him in Minnesota and they come away 0-2. Season is over. Mark Williams sends his regards. It all could’ve been so different

[eminence]

Realistic targets for Reaves + filler?

I'd look to hang on to DFS, that guy's great.

I see needs as a starting caliber big and a more balanced wing to slot into the starting lineup. Those wings tend to be expensive.

[mademan]

Realistic targets for Reaves + filler?

I'd look to hang on to DFS, that guy's great.

I see needs as a starting caliber big and a more balanced wing to slot into the starting lineup. Those wings tend to be expensive.

Hook up with Dallas again. PJ+Gafford for Reaves/filler

[DorianRo]

I honestly don’t agree with that. I legit think the Luka trade helped with ratings so helped the league as whole and I think if AD and Kyrie don’t get injured, Dallas would be a top 4 seed. The team fits very well together

I personally wouldn't have traded AD for Luka. I can see why Dallas wanted the Irving/AD combo as that increases their chances of a title but AD is also always in street clothes and then Irving got hurt so AD will really get lazy. . I mean it could still work but they gotta stay healthy. I think this Lakers with AD healthy beats the Wolves.. They're only issue was with Denver the past 2 years. They would have avoided Denver this year probably. They probably could have gotten to the finals this year with AD avoiding Denver.

Lakers with AD stood 0 chance against OKC. It’s more than just this year. Luka is take the reins from Bron and be a cash cow for the lakers for next 8 years at least.

Is Luka gonna get in shape though or get at least get halfway decent on D? Its hard to win titles playing just one end of the court. . Wolves just ran him to the sidelines and trapped him with a quick blitz and burned him out physically. I would have liked LA's chances against the Thunder from what I have seen of the Thunder this playoffs. Of course, if they reach that next level, yea every team is in trouble. Even though they swept the Grizz, they really struggled against them which is weird. This Thunder team may not be built for the long haul in the playoffs either. Who knows

[trickshot]

Lebron and Luka are amazing. Squeeze two more years out of Lebron. Trade AR and build properly around Luka.

Get bigger and more athletic. Seriously if Rob doesn't fix this he should be gone.

At 17m Rui was actually the one to trade because his contract is up soon and probably won't be re-signed to avoid the second apron. That 17m coulda been broken into a more versatile roleplayer who can take tough assignments and maybe also one lesser but better fitting back up hustle big. He's only a good fit if you only look at shooting percentage (which is on volume too low and too shot shy to justify just how open he is all game). I don't know why Rob made so many trade pieces unavailable only to panic trade at the deadline. It means he saw the problem and still did nothing till it was late. Through the whole month the Luka trade was secretly brewing maybe he should have started making contingency moves to cushion the AD sized hole in the backline. Anything better than Mark Williams at the deadline.

[One_and_Done]

Lebron is playing with house money at this point.

[trickshot]

Well deserved. All season long, get a bruiser. Nah, we good with Jaxson Hayes. Didn't even try to convert one of the bigs on 2 way contracts. Rob built this team like he thought they were going to be miles better than every opponent. No plan b tactics for the frontcourt, no break glass in case of emergency bigs. The starting 5 doesn't have anyone that can guard Ant, Randle or Reid on the glass. Let that sink in. Once you decide Reaves is your guy you have to load up on athleticism or BBIQ. Players like Rui can barely jump over a phonebook and give guys like Reid gets any rebound they want. JJ also has to go deeper in the bench because the excessive trust he and Rob had in the non-stars is about to come back full circle and end the season.

Going into a postseason with Jaxson Hayes as your only big is pure insanity. Hell, having him as AD's only backup was insanity. He played over his head for a few weeks, but he's not remotely starting calibre.

Oh well, fortunately Luka falling into his lap means Pelinka is now dug in for the foreseeable future.

It is two, possibly going on three straight postseasons losing to lack of size. Like HOW does one not address it after the first two? Or even just everybody asking for one. AD asked, Lebron asked, Reddick asked for a bruiser then Luka came and also asked for one, fans asked. Rob has to be in some kind of echo chamber bubble to not see it.

[tsherkin]

Rod has to be in some kind of echo chamber bubble to not see it.

I mean, it isn't a secret that Pelinka is a useless moron. If the Luka trade hadn't fallen into his lap, this Lakers squad would be no where right now. That's a given.

[DirtyDez]

It was a bad trade for both teams. Dallas and LA. How many teams played Small ball and won chips in the last 30 years? For Lakers to win a title, they're gonna have to bring in a quality BIG to go with Luka and Lakers are just gonna have to tell Luka" Either get in shape this offseason or you're gone"

The Luka trade was a long term move for the Lakers and likely won’t pay off until 2027 free agency.

[thebigbird]

I hope LeBron goes elsewhere after this year(though I know he won’t). I don’t like watching Luka ball at all, and he’s a traffic cone defensively.

[Ian Scuffling]

Rod has to be in some kind of echo chamber bubble to not see it.

I mean, it isn't a secret that Pelinka is a useless moron. If the Luka trade hadn't fallen into his lap, this Lakers squad would be no where right now. That's a given.

Exactly. I still can't get over how useless Hayes is and there is no way in hell you can convince anyone, they were comfortable going into the post season with him as their center. And again, the bench was useless today. And as far as centers, or big men go, Lebron could have come back to Cleveland and played with not one, but two capable big men

[Fadeaway_J]

Well deserved. All season long, get a bruiser. Nah, we good with Jaxson Hayes. Didn't even try to convert one of the bigs on 2 way contracts. Rob built this team like he thought they were going to be miles better than every opponent. No plan b tactics for the frontcourt, no break glass in case of emergency bigs. The starting 5 doesn't have anyone that can guard Ant, Randle or Reid on the glass. Let that sink in. Once you decide Reaves is your guy you have to load up on athleticism or BBIQ. Players like Rui can barely jump over a phonebook and give guys like Reid gets any rebound they want. JJ also has to go deeper in the bench because the excessive trust he and Rob had in the non-stars is about to come back full circle and end the season.

Going into a postseason with Jaxson Hayes as your only big is pure insanity. Hell, having him as AD's only backup was insanity. He played over his head for a few weeks, but he's not remotely starting calibre.

Oh well, fortunately Luka falling into his lap means Pelinka is now dug in for the foreseeable future.

It is two, possibly going on three straight postseasons losing to lack of size. Like HOW does one not address it after the first two? Or even just everybody asking for one. AD asked, Lebron asked, Reddick asked for a bruiser then Luka came and also asked for one, fans asked. Rob has to be in some kind of echo chamber bubble to not see it.

I'm pretty sure Echo Chamber Bubble is the official name of the Lakers' front office headquarters.

[DorianRo]

Lebron would be better served to go back east. Be a third-fourth fiddle (if he insists on playing another year or two) get a young up and coming team over the hump with a good push in a conference that is far less competitive and littered with a talent and who knows, maybe make a nice finals run there with that team. The ship sailed catching MJ. Actually it sailed a LONG time ago but he can still contribute and snatch with a good young team back east with some up and coming superstars. Thats what he should do. I'm not sure adding more stats to his personal resume over in the west, with another 1st round exit is accomplishing.

At 41 years old next year the East on a good young team is the place to be. Not out west thats just too competitive with quality teams (And will only have more with the teams like the Spurs coming up and perhaps Dallas if they stay healthy etc). Its only gonna be tougher for him next year out West

[KembaWalker]

How can you have the most redundant 1-2 option in the league and still not find a way to get them some rest

[TroubleS0me]

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[nzahir]

Lebron and Luka are amazing. Squeeze two more years out of Lebron. Trade AR and build properly around Luka.

Get bigger and more athletic. Seriously if Rob doesn't fix this he should be gone.

You are saying to trade AR now?

I dont think you can honestly, unless we get a 3rd ball handler

Lebron is more of a #2/3 on offense than a clear cut #2

AR isn't good enough I think to be a #2, but hes a very good #3

If we had a C right now, we would be fine