The Lebron Thread | 2021 & Offseason

[KTM_2813]

If the Lakers re-sign AD and KCP, at that point do they only have the MLE left? I'm not totally clear on their cap situation.

[Greyhound]

Would like Green over Kieff, but how much does he want if he opted out of 5m?

I want some 2021 flexibility, but the pickings may be getting slim. I still do really love Lowry if we had a chance, but I wonder how many years KCP gets.

A 1 year deal would be perfect, 2 year deal is also fine to go after Cp3 or Beal in 2022 if available.

But I am not sure what deal KCP gets

I rather Morris.

Every championship team needs a quality goon (a real one) on the roster. One that can behave until goon business is required.

It may not seem like much, but he neutralizes his brothers goonery in a potential Clippers matchup. With Houston dead and the Warriors gimpy, the Clippers are looking like the sexy matchup in the west again.

Maybe, but I think Dwight is also that guy a bit, no? (assuming we bring him back)

On a side note, Clips got 4 seconds and Kennard (injury risk and wants money) for Shamet...

Excited for tomorrow, not entirely sure what I expect to happen

Dwight has muscles, but he is not that guy.

[nbhadja]

Looks like Harden to the Nets is actually happening lol. Hopefully Houston makes them fork over Allen and their other defensive pieces. If they somehow get Ibaka too I might actually vomit

LeBron and AD in 7 regardless, **** Kevin Durant

Coward KD will be a shell of himself (and has never won a ring without being on a super super 73 win team beating up against a bunch of children). Kyrie is overrated, injury prone, sucks at defense, is a ball hog and cancer...oh and he doesn't contribute to winning basketball games. He just plays in a fancy crowd pleasing way and puts up good offensive stat lines, which is why fans overrate him. As for Harden he sucks at D, he sucks in the playoffs, and he is also a ball hog. That nets team won't even make the finals. if they do the lakers will wreck them in 4-6 games.

[Baski]

Imo we have two options

Try to get a full mle player type like ivaka and fill out with minimums for guys like (hopefully) matthews and them

Or get some decent value mle 3 and D wings and combo guards

Either way the lakers offense had problems with spacing in the playoffs which is kind of crazy considering how good we still were. We'll see how the team is.

Itll be hard to stop the contenders this year (clips/nets/bucks) but keep in mind that our defense in the playoffs was crazy, sure out def rtg was only avg ish but we went against 3 teams all in that top offense level.

The blazers were the best offense in the league when healthy, the rockets were hot from three vs us and rockets hot from three is prolly the best offense in the nba, and the nuggets were a top 5 offense where murray went from a really strong solid player to one of the best offensive players in the nba in the playoffs.

Even the heat had a 115.1 offensive rtg in the playoffs before us, which would be second in the nba, playing the 6th, 1st (and all time level first place at that), and 4th best offenses in the nba

Like if were being honest, we clamped up the blazers, beat the rockets when they were hot from three when the idea was they were unbeatable if they were, the nuggets had 2 games and a quarter with good offense vs us, and even the heat had 3 good offensive games and 3 bad ones vs us.

Im not worried about our D getting worse because its mostly AD and bron for why our defense was so good in the playoffs. Rondo was good in zone vs houstan and dwight was good vs jokic but they were the driving forces, the others were things that helped.

Otoh, for teams harder to stop were gonna need to improve our offense a bit more.The nets and the bucks bucks esp look REALLY scary, not sure which one seems scarier, although its worth mentioning that we are prolly better defensively in the playoffs than the bucks and were better offensively as well, and i think the nets will beat them cuz of my gut lol

About the D. My main worry is that the Defense will depend almost wholly on Lebron and Anthony Davis. They can handle the load to some extent, but if Lebron teams have taught me anything, it's that no championship team should have the offense and defense being anchored by the same player(s). LeBron should not be the 2nd best defender on this team. Without others to cover for them, it's just begging for trouble.

[andyhop]

About the D. My main worry is that the Defense will depend almost wholly on Lebron and Anthony Davis. They can handle the load to some extent, but if Lebron teams have taught me anything, it's that no championship team should have the offense and defense being anchored by the same player(s). LeBron should not be the 2nd best defender on this team. Without others to cover for them, it's just begging for trouble.

LeBron has won 4 rings being the best or second best defender on the team come playoff time so whilst it might not be ideal it seems to work

[Baski]

About the D. My main worry is that the Defense will depend almost wholly on Lebron and Anthony Davis. They can handle the load to some extent, but if Lebron teams have taught me anything, it's that no championship team should have the offense and defense being anchored by the same player(s). LeBron should not be the 2nd best defender on this team. Without others to cover for them, it's just begging for trouble.

LeBron has won 4 rings being the best or second best defender on the team come playoff time so whilst it might not be ideal it seems to work

I maintain that it wasn't ideal when they won too, but 2016 was the last time it was a viable strategy. He's older and worse now. When so much of the defense hinges on one person, the results are disastrous when he just stops caring. I say that acknowledging that AD is currently the best defensive player on the team, but Lebron still does a TON that would be sorely missed if he stopped trying as hard.

[andyhop]

About the D. My main worry is that the Defense will depend almost wholly on Lebron and Anthony Davis. They can handle the load to some extent, but if Lebron teams have taught me anything, it's that no championship team should have the offense and defense being anchored by the same player(s). LeBron should not be the 2nd best defender on this team. Without others to cover for them, it's just begging for trouble.

LeBron has won 4 rings being the best or second best defender on the team come playoff time so whilst it might not be ideal it seems to work

I maintain that it wasn't ideal when they won too, but 2016 was the last time it was a viable strategy. He's older and worse now. When so much of the defense hinges on one person, the results are disastrous when he just stops caring. I say that acknowledging that AD is currently the best defensive player on the team, but Lebron still does a TON that would be sorely missed if he stopped trying as hard.

Not sure how it can not be a viable strategy when he just won a ring doing it

[Baski]

LeBron has won 4 rings being the best or second best defender on the team come playoff time so whilst it might not be ideal it seems to work

I maintain that it wasn't ideal when they won too, but 2016 was the last time it was a viable strategy. He's older and worse now. When so much of the defense hinges on one person, the results are disastrous when he just stops caring. I say that acknowledging that AD is currently the best defensive player on the team, but Lebron still does a TON that would be sorely missed if he stopped trying as hard.

Not sure how it can not be a viable strategy when he just won a ring doing it

Maybe my wording was wrong with viable, but Lebron wasn't the best defender on the 2020 Lakers. And he had way way more help help on defense than he did when his teams won the other 3 titles, which is what they should try to maintain.
My worry is that in going after shooters, the team might trend towards the 2016-2018 Cavs where it's just Lebron that can do anything defensively.
There's AD but I'm pretty sure Lebron at this point does so much that if AD was the lone capable defender, their D would fall drastically

[andyhop]

I maintain that it wasn't ideal when they won too, but 2016 was the last time it was a viable strategy. He's older and worse now. When so much of the defense hinges on one person, the results are disastrous when he just stops caring. I say that acknowledging that AD is currently the best defensive player on the team, but Lebron still does a TON that would be sorely missed if he stopped trying as hard.

Not sure how it can not be a viable strategy when he just won a ring doing it

Maybe my wording was wrong with viable, but Lebron wasn't the best defender on the 2020 Lakers. And he had way way more help help on defense than he did when his teams won the other 3 titles, which is what they should try to maintain.
My worry is that in going after shooters, the team might trend towards the 2016-2018 Cavs where it's just Lebron that can do anything defensively.
There's AD but I'm pretty sure Lebron at this point does so much that if AD was the lone capable defender, their D would fall drastically

Lebron was right up there in the playoffs as the best defensive player on the team with AD, thats the only time it really matters.

He was actually really good defensively this year in the regular season but if he needs to slack off their a bit it isn't going to hurt the team too much

[Baski]

Not sure how it can not be a viable strategy when he just won a ring doing it

Maybe my wording was wrong with viable, but Lebron wasn't the best defender on the 2020 Lakers. And he had way way more help help on defense than he did when his teams won the other 3 titles, which is what they should try to maintain.
My worry is that in going after shooters, the team might trend towards the 2016-2018 Cavs where it's just Lebron that can do anything defensively.
There's AD but I'm pretty sure Lebron at this point does so much that if AD was the lone capable defender, their D would fall drastically

Lebron was right up there in the playoffs as the best defensive player on the team with AD, thats the only time it really matters.

He was actually really good defensively this year in the regular season but if he needs to slack off their a bit it isn't going to hurt the team too much

Yes. That is my point. LeBron is a great defender. He was insane in 2016 and in the 2017 playoffs pre-finals too. My worry is that what happened when he took his foot off the gas that time gets more and more likely if the team continues to rely this much on him.

Maybe you're saying thay he simply won't take his foot off the gas no matter what? I'd reply with "it would be a bad idea to rely on that".

[dreamshake]

About the D. My main worry is that the Defense will depend almost wholly on Lebron and Anthony Davis. They can handle the load to some extent, but if Lebron teams have taught me anything, it's that no championship team should have the offense and defense being anchored by the same player(s). LeBron should not be the 2nd best defender on this team. Without others to cover for them, it's just begging for trouble.

Caruso and Schroder are both very solid defenders for the point guard spot. I think KCP almost certainly is coming back. Wes Matthews seems somewhat likely. Caruso, Schroder, Matthews, KCP, LeBron, AD is a really strong defensive core. I think they probably end up with 1 of Howard, Ibaka, or Tristan Thompson as well.

[mademan]

Read on Twitter

I like KCP, but i take Bogs at 17 mill over KCP at 12, every day.

[MisterHibachi]

The Lakers stealing Bogdan out from under the Bucks would be such a hilarious turn of events. How can they even afford him though? Would that require letting KCP go? I think KCP is a better defender. Or it could be the Lakers looking at options incase Rich Paul gets too cute and asks for too much money, meaning just a leverage meeting?

[dreamshake]

The Lakers stealing Bogdan out from under the Bucks would be such a hilarious turn of events. How can they even afford him though? Would that require letting KCP go? I think KCP is a better defender. Or it could be the Lakers looking at options incase Rich Paul gets too cute and asks for too much money, meaning just a leverage meeting?

Read on Twitter

I don't see this happening. No way he takes 12.8 and I don't think KCP agrees to go to Kings.

[Freighttrain]

Read on Twitter

I like KCP, but i take Bogs at 17 mill over KCP at 12, every day.

I know we tried to trade for Bogdanovic last summer but we couldn't offer a package good enough, so I don't think that rumour is false. Bogdanovic would be our 4th best player but I worry about our depth if we sign him for 17 mil if that's what he's being offered.

[yoyoboy]

No thanks on Bog. I would flat out take KCP over him at the same salary.

People really underestimate how important it is come playoffs to not have guys out on the floor who the other team can pick on. KCP is an active defender who plays his role well and shot 38.5% from 3 in the RS and then 38% from 3 in the PS. Bogdan isn't in another league as a shooter and he's signficantly worse as a defender. And whatever upgrade he brings to the table as a creator isn't necessary on a team with LeBron, AD, and Schroder. I like KCP next to Bron a lot.

Bring Bogdan in and this team is on its way to taking a significant step back on defense as the entire identity changes. I'm already worried as it is about losing Green and playoff Rondo on that end. LeBron will most likely take a slight step back on D and who knows if Dwight returns?

[nzahir]

I like Bogdan, but I think we need to keep KCP first

We can't lose 3 of our 4 defensive guards in Avery, KCP, and DG

We also need a replacement for DG.

I know if we do a sign and trade (assume Kuzma and Mcgee) we lose the mle, but do we keep the BAE?

I think I rather have Kuzma, Mcgee, and the Mle over Bogdan. Losing too much depth, but say it happens

If we could sign Dwight for his salary x 1.25, Kieff for 1.25x salary and get a guy like Matthews or Harkless for the BAE:

KCP, Matthews/Harkless, Lebron, AD, Boogie?
Schroeder, AC, Bogdan, Kieff, Dwight
?, THT, Dudley?, Another rim running vet min C?

[MyUniBroDavis]

Bogdans not a bad defender but im indifferent to that, would be fun though,and our offense would be unstoppable

If we did a sign and trade with kuz and javale for him that would be ez. Honestly even him for kcp is prolly fine

Bogdan can run p and r (a key weakness for us), is a better shooter (keep in mind kcp has easy shots in comparison). But he costs more and idt we get the full mle with him. Kcp is a but overrated as a defender anyway

[Baski]

About the D. My main worry is that the Defense will depend almost wholly on Lebron and Anthony Davis. They can handle the load to some extent, but if Lebron teams have taught me anything, it's that no championship team should have the offense and defense being anchored by the same player(s). LeBron should not be the 2nd best defender on this team. Without others to cover for them, it's just begging for trouble.

Caruso and Schroder are both very solid defenders for the point guard spot. I think KCP almost certainly is coming back. Wes Matthews seems somewhat likely. Caruso, Schroder, Matthews, KCP, LeBron, AD is a really strong defensive core. I think they probably end up with 1 of Howard, Ibaka, or Tristan Thompson as well.

Yeah that looks like a pretty good defensive team tbh. Not particularly sold on Schroder but the Lakers survived Rondo so eh.

[MyUniBroDavis]

I like kuz from a personal standpoint but doing a trade with him and javale makes more sense

Schroder/Caruso
KCP/
Bogdan/
Lebron/
AD/

Is an amazing start. Sub out KCP for bogdan and i still like it, but alot of that will depend on how kuz does and im sure we value kuz over kcp

Essentially our three options our

Schroder/Caruso
KCP/
Kuz/
Lebron/
Davis/Javale

Schroder/Caruso
Bogdan
Kuz
Lebron
Davis

Schroder/Caruso
KCP
Bogdan
Lebron
Davis

All three are nice but our offense with schroder and bogdan would be absurd.