The Lebron Thread | 2021 & Offseason

[MisterHibachi]

I think Dwight will be missed, especially if the Lakers don't replace him with Gasol. It's not out of the world to think the Lakers end up playing Ayton, Jokic and Embiid on the way to a title, and Dwight would help against all those guys. AD cannot guard Embiid or Jokic effectively, and given Ayton's size, he might prove some trouble as well.

Embiid isn't coming out of the East, Ayton is not an elite offensive player and the Lakers are good enough to straight out-talent the Nuggets despite what Jokic does.

It's a non-issue. But just in case, the Lakers will probably still aim to sign another big man just for insurance and, again, most importantly, to not over exert Davis when there's no need... If it's not Gasol now, it will be someone else... They can even wait until the middle of the season.

Idk man, Jokic and Murray are still a monstrous duo despite losing Grant. And MPJ could take a big leap any season now. Ayton is due for a leap any year now as well, and it might as well be this year with CP on board. And I think the Sixers have a great shot at coming out of the East.

[MisterHibachi]

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[Fadeaway_J]

I think Dwight will be missed, especially if the Lakers don't replace him with Gasol. It's not out of the world to think the Lakers end up playing Ayton, Jokic and Embiid on the way to a title, and Dwight would help against all those guys. AD cannot guard Embiid or Jokic effectively, and given Ayton's size, he might prove some trouble as well.

Embiid isn't coming out of the East, Ayton is not an elite offensive player and the Lakers are good enough to straight out-talent the Nuggets despite what Jokic does.

It's a non-issue. But just in case, the Lakers will probably still aim to sign another big man just for insurance and, again, most importantly, to not over exert Davis when there's no need... If it's not Gasol now, it will be someone else... They can even wait until the middle of the season.

Idk man, Jokic and Murray are still a monstrous duo despite losing Grant. And MPJ could take a big leap any season now. Ayton is due for a leap any year now as well, and it might as well be this year with CP on board. And I think the Sixers have a great shot at coming out of the East.

I'm still not sold on Denver honestly. They could easily have been swept in the first round, and there are still serious defensive questions about that core even assuming Bubble Murray is a permament thing. It's not quite Portland making the 2019 WCF, but I don't take it as a given that they're some perennial contender going forward.

[Mos_Heat]

Forbes, Giles and Craig off the board. Could've been great signings

[yoyoboy]

LeBron / Schroder
KCP / Caruso
Matthews / Kuzma
Davis / Harrell
Gasol / McGee

Shooting looks really suspect in the second unit. I would consider trying to flip Kuzma for a shooter.

[limbo]

Denver is solid but not good enough outside Jokic/Murray to seriously threaten the Lakers, especially this improved version which is definitely going to be adding another Center at some point...

And i still think the Clippers (if healthy) are comfortably better than the Nuggets, despite imploding last year. Ibaka is a better player than Trez and exactly the type of player the Clippers needed. A dude that is an elite defender, can play both C/PF, can guard a guy like Jokic (who gave them enormous problems last PS, due to the lack of size they had outside Zubac) and can spread the floor. All they need now is Kawhi to be healthy, PG not to be depressed in a bubble environment, and another competent playmaker and they'll be right behind the Lakers.

[mademan]

Ya'll worry too much, lol. Harrell is better than Ibaka. And in most matchups in the modern league, i think he's better suited defensively too.

[kayess]

I think Dwight will be missed, especially if the Lakers don't replace him with Gasol. It's not out of the world to think the Lakers end up playing Ayton, Jokic and Embiid on the way to a title, and Dwight would help against all those guys. AD cannot guard Embiid or Jokic effectively, and given Ayton's size, he might prove some trouble as well.

Embiid isn't coming out of the East, Ayton is not an elite offensive player and the Lakers are good enough to straight out-talent the Nuggets despite what Jokic does.

It's a non-issue. But just in case, the Lakers will probably still aim to sign another big man just for insurance and, again, most importantly, to not over exert Davis when there's no need... If it's not Gasol now, it will be someone else... They can even wait until the middle of the season.

I feel like barring a surprise (like MPJ morphing into Kawhi-lite or something, or the dreaded precipitous LeBron decline comes), the Nuggets can't overcome the loss of Grant in a matchup against the Lakers. Guy's a baller, and played out of his mind in the series, a huge reason why it was even close.

[RCM88x]

Harrell is a much better fit on this roster than he was on the Clippers. He needs someone to create shots for him and they just didn't have that there. Sorta same deal with Ibaka, not really sure how it's gonna workout for him in LA. Knowing how Ty Lue's Cavs went it would worry me a bit.

[LikeABosh]

A dude that is an elite defender

Where are people getting this from?

[mademan]

A dude that is an elite defender

Where are people getting this from?

People didnt watch the Raps enough. Theyre gonna miss his scoring/spacing, not his defense

[limbo]

A dude that is an elite defender

Where are people getting this from?

People didnt watch the Raps enough. Theyre gonna miss his scoring/spacing, not his defense

Regular season wise, Marc Gasol had some of the best defensive numbers across multiple metrics and Ibaka was largely unimpressive. But in the Playoffs, Ibaka was having a higher impact on defense than Gasol, despite Ibaka having to play the C, which is not his ideal position.

We can highlight the smaller sample size, which is fine, but i don't think this is entirely dismissible.

Maybe calling Ibaka an elite defender was a bad choice of words on my part, but i do genuinely believe his versatility on that end makes him a very good defender come Playoff time, and certainly better than Trez. Ibaka simply doesn't have the same pronounced weakness as Trez guarding bigger guys because of his size and he's a better rim protector.

Ibaka at C works relatively well against most teams. Trez at C is a disaster... And people can talk about Jokic and what not, but Trez was horrible against the Mavs as well... Some of the most played lineups he was part of allowed Dallas like a 124.5 ORtg...

Of course, now Trez is coming to a team where he doesn't need to play the C, and he fits snuggly in between AD/LeBron and a solid defensive backcourt, people are going to be spewing based on results ''see, there's really no difference between Trez and Ibaka defensively''... When they know Ibaka in a vacuum is significantly better on that end than Trez.

[LikeABosh]

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[limbo]

I feel like barring a surprise (like MPJ morphing into Kawhi-lite or something, or the dreaded precipitous LeBron decline comes), the Nuggets can't overcome the loss of Grant in a matchup against the Lakers. Guy's a baller, and played out of his mind in the series, a huge reason why it was even close.

MPJ ain't morphing into Kawhi, lol, and he certainly isn't going to morph into anything too meaningful after only playing like 20 NBA games so far... Dude is a natural scorer, so i do expect him to be putting up 15-20 ppg with ease, but in every other facet of the game he's still extremely raw and needs a lot of work.

The loss of Grant will be felt indeed, especially on a team like the Nuggets who aren't exactly packed with a lot of great defenders, but we have to remember that they were without Barton in the PS, who was actually one of their best defenders last season. So if he can stay healthy come Playoff time he can hopefully give them some of what they'll miss with Grant gone...

And, all in all, i don't fault the Nuggets for not breaking the bank to keep a guy like Grant. The Nuggets core is 24/22/21 years old, respectively... There's no rush to overpay guys like Grant and try to win at all costs as soon as possible... And again, like i said, with Barton back, and the Nuggets trying to develop MPJ, there's simply not enough minutes for all three to get what they want. You need to make some sort of sacrifice. I think they Nuggets acted smart. If they play their chips right they can be the favorites for the title in two years time. If they try to maximize their window right now, they maybe get like a 1-5% increase of winning the title, but get stuck with overpaid role players... Not worth it.

[Dupp]

A dude that is an elite defender

Where are people getting this from?

People didnt watch the Raps enough. Theyre gonna miss his scoring/spacing, not his defense

Didn’t he not hit a three for them for ages or like one 3 in two playoff runs or something like that? I remember them talking about it in the Boston series

[kayess]

I feel like barring a surprise (like MPJ morphing into Kawhi-lite or something, or the dreaded precipitous LeBron decline comes), the Nuggets can't overcome the loss of Grant in a matchup against the Lakers. Guy's a baller, and played out of his mind in the series, a huge reason why it was even close.

MPJ ain't morphing into Kawhi, lol, and he certainly isn't going to morph into anything too meaningful after only playing like 20 NBA games so far... Dude is a natural scorer, so i do expect him to be putting up 15-20 ppg with ease, but in every other facet of the game he's still extremely raw and needs a lot of work.

The loss of Grant will be felt indeed, especially on a team like the Nuggets who aren't exactly packed with a lot of great defenders, but we have to remember that they were without Barton in the PS, who was actually one of their best defenders last season. So if he can stay healthy come Playoff time he can hopefully give them some of what they'll miss with Grant gone...

And, all in all, i don't fault the Nuggets for not breaking the bank to keep a guy like Grant. The Nuggets core is 24/22/21 years old, respectively... There's no rush to overpay guys like Grant and try to win at all costs as soon as possible... And again, like i said, with Barton back, and the Nuggets trying to develop MPJ, there's simply not enough minutes for all three to get what they want. You need to make some sort of sacrifice. I think they Nuggets acted smart. If they play their chips right they can be the favorites for the title in two years time. If they try to maximize their window right now, they maybe get like a 1-5% increase of winning the title, but get stuck with overpaid role players... Not worth it.

On the MPJ point - I mean, exactly. I used that to show I don't think the Nuggets are beating the Lakers lol

They actually did - they matched the offer and Grant left anyway because he was getting a bigger role.

I think you can technically call it an overpay, but if Grant was even 85% of what he showed in that Lakers series, 15 mil isn't too bad a price for him at all.

[dcstanley]

If they can secure Gasol and retain Morris this offseason is a success. Schroeder is an upgrade on Rondo, Gasol/Trez > Javale/Dwight, Matthews = Green. I think it'll be difficult to complain about the job Pelinka did.

[Slava]

If they can secure Gasol and retain Morris this offseason is a success. Schroeder is an upgrade on Rondo, Gasol/Trez > Javale/Dwight, Matthews = Green. I think it'll be difficult to complain about the job Pelinka did.

Still think they are one wing defender short unless Horton Tucker looks ready to play. I wonder if Ariza has anything left in the tank when he gets bought out.

[MyUniBroDavis]

If they can secure Gasol and retain Morris this offseason is a success. Schroeder is an upgrade on Rondo, Gasol/Trez > Javale/Dwight, Matthews = Green. I think it'll be difficult to complain about the job Pelinka did.

Still think they are one wing defender short unless Horton Tucker looks ready to play. I wonder if Ariza has anything left in the tank when he gets bought out.

Dont we have the same amount of wing defenders as last year?

[MyUniBroDavis]

What is this javale + kuz for robinson stuff lol

I mean its an easy yes objectively but no way knicks are that dumb