What are your Major Concerns for this team?

[tamaraw08]

Mine are.
1. Marc Gasol's ability to stay healthy and foot speed or lack thereof to switch in the perimeter. I still remember 16 years ago when Mitch signed Horace Grant as a break-glass PF reserve for Karl Malone. Phil barely played him in the regulars hoping he can heal his injuries but when playoffs came and Malone got injured in the Finals vs Detroit, he still couldn't play...,
2. Dennis Schroeder's aggressive personality. I love his guy's tenacity and grit but him strongly expressing that he's done being a reserve is not great IMO, bec it puts pressure on Vogel to do everything to make it work or else...Even AD who is a superstar NEVER was loud in communicating his preference in playing PF instead of center.
3. Harrell's ability to defend the pick and roll. He was picked apart by Denver's offense, granted Doc was not great in making adjustments etc.
4. How long is the learning curve? It's such a quick turn around and very short training camp. Will the new guys quickly adapt and grasp the system established by Vogel? I sure hope it's automatic and everyone would play great playing together but it's NOT ALWAYS THE CASE. Lebron James is a such a great team guy who wants to share the ball and enforce positive reinforcements, never rips teammates in public etc etc but let's not forget good players like Derrick Rose, Crowder,George Hill did NOT PLAY GREAT next to Lebron.
5. Perimeter shooting esp in the clutch. Yes, playoff games are limited and very little sample size but still. Marc Gasol shot 18% from 3, also, the years he took more than 4 attempts from 3, he shoots around 34%.
Schroeder shot under 29% from 3 last playoffs and career ave 32.6% from 3.
Matthews on the otherhand shot great last playoffs with 39.5% from 3 but only has a career 34.3%. Note that Green has career 38.7.
What's yours?

[Dmagic]

grit is the major concern and loss. -but adding shroeder and trezz was brilliant in my mind--its different than signing just one of them--we are talking about two sixth men being able to compete on the same team a but they will have to play defense--and quite frankly "trezz" seemed like an idiot come playoff time

[TheHartBreakKid]

#1 by far is health/lebron taking a step back/lebron being fatigued- The way he looked last year I don't think he takes a big step back unless he is hurt and or fatigued, so that's the number one concern.



Other than that:

1. Big man depth- for the regular season only. We will be fine come playoff time, but I don't want AD to have to have to play much center during the rs. Just having Gasol and Harrell capable of playing that position is a little thin for me. Need one more big body
2. Schroder repeating his last year performance- This is one of those concerns that I believe won't be valid, but it's still lingering in the back of my mind. Without Rondo/Bradley, we have a lot riding on Schroder. It's actually more likely that he'll improve vs regress, but I just wish the sample size for his play last year was a little bigger. We need 2020 or better Schroder to come through; If he regresses to the 2019 and previous version of himself, we might have some problems in the perimeter playmaking department. Again, more my anxiety vs it being a valid concern.


And that's really it. Big man depth should be easily solved. Schroder should be fine in that role. Really it comes down to health. If this team is healthy, I like our chances at a repeat. It certainly won't be easy even for a healthy team and you still need to come through and win the games when they matter, but I'm overall very happy with this roster.

[Beethoven]

I don't have any concerns other than health.

[lazybatman]

#1 by far is health/lebron taking a step back/lebron being fatigued- The way he looked last year I don't think he takes a big step back unless he is hurt and or fatigued, so that's the number one concern.



Other than that:

1. Big man depth- for the regular season only. We will be fine come playoff time, but I don't want AD to have to have to play much center during the rs. Just having Gasol and Harrell capable of playing that position is a little thin for me. Need one more big body
2. Schroder repeating his last year performance- This is one of those concerns that I believe won't be valid, but it's still lingering in the back of my mind. Without Rondo/Bradley, we have a lot riding on Schroder. It's actually more likely that he'll improve vs regress, but I just wish the sample size for his play last year was a little bigger. We need 2020 or better Schroder to come through; If he regresses to the 2019 and previous version of himself, we might have some problems in the perimeter playmaking department. Again, more my anxiety vs it being a valid concern.


And that's really it. Big man depth should be easily solved. Schroder should be fine in that role. Really it comes down to health. If this team is healthy, I like our chances at a repeat. It certainly won't be easy even for a healthy team and you still need to come through and win the games when they matter, but I'm overall very happy with this roster.

Echo that. Injuries and Covid are the biggest concerns by far.

Interesting take on Schroeder. I think his demeanor and play style is gonna be crucial to the next step in this team's development. If he can build some chemistry with Trez, Gasol, AD & Bron and try to end the year with 14p-7a instead of the last year's 19p-4a, it would be a great year for us and him. Playmaking on this high IQ and better shooting team should come easier than OKC too. And that's what really takes the burden off Lebron's shoulders. Easier said than done of course.

I'd do the PJ Tucker for Kuz + McKinnie + a pick deal in a heartbeat, if the Rockets were willing sometime in midseason, cos the dude's a legit 1-5 position elite defender and the league's absolute best corner 3 shooter. His versatility gives us so much depth, it's just crazy. They got Chris Wood and Boogie now, which should diminish his role even further, and he probably figures there's no chance of getting a payday from Crazy Broke Cheap B*stard Fertita, so might as well get a ring. I figure Rob could dole out a 1+1 contract on similar terms to him next year to get him to turn in a transfer request.

[tamaraw08]

#1 by far is health/lebron taking a step back/lebron being fatigued- The way he looked last year I don't think he takes a big step back unless he is hurt and or fatigued, so that's the number one concern.



Other than that:

1. Big man depth- for the regular season only. We will be fine come playoff time, but I don't want AD to have to have to play much center during the rs. Just having Gasol and Harrell capable of playing that position is a little thin for me. Need one more big body
2. Schroder repeating his last year performance- This is one of those concerns that I believe won't be valid, but it's still lingering in the back of my mind. Without Rondo/Bradley, we have a lot riding on Schroder. It's actually more likely that he'll improve vs regress, but I just wish the sample size for his play last year was a little bigger. We need 2020 or better Schroder to come through; If he regresses to the 2019 and previous version of himself, we might have some problems in the perimeter playmaking department. Again, more my anxiety vs it being a valid concern.


And that's really it. Big man depth should be easily solved. Schroder should be fine in that role. Really it comes down to health. If this team is healthy, I like our chances at a repeat. It certainly won't be easy even for a healthy team and you still need to come through and win the games when they matter, but I'm overall very happy with this roster.

Echo that. Injuries and Covid are the biggest concerns by far.

Interesting take on Schroeder. I think his demeanor and play style is gonna be crucial to the next step in this team's development. If he can build some chemistry with Trez, Gasol, AD & Bron and try to end the year with 14p-7a instead of the last year's 19p-4a, it would be a great year for us and him. Playmaking on this high IQ and better shooting team should come easier than OKC too. And that's what really takes the burden off Lebron's shoulders. Easier said than done of course.

I'd do the PJ Tucker for Kuz + McKinnie + a pick deal in a heartbeat, if the Rockets were willing sometime in midseason, cos the dude's a legit 1-5 position elite defender and the league's absolute best corner 3 shooter. His versatility gives us so much depth, it's just crazy. They got Chris Wood and Boogie now, which should diminish his role even further, and he probably figures there's no chance of getting a payday from Crazy Broke Cheap B*stard Fertita, so might as well get a ring. I figure Rob could dole out a 1+1 contract on similar terms to him next year to get him to turn in a transfer request.

I sure hope you guys are right about Schroeder. Lebron has worked well with one playmaker before with both Bosh and Love getting much less touches compared to what they got with their original teams and surely AD will have his usual. Everyone knows he is getting older and would welcome another scorer but it’s not going to be “ let’s spread out and here’s the ball Dennis, do your thing” set up. Harrell is not a spacer and Marc can’t play major minutes.
I like PJ but I don’t think at 6-6 he can handle Nurkic and Jokic. He looked good guarding a thinner AD but...

[Desiderium]

My concern is what happened to the Clippers last year happens to us this year. We can't take shortcuts. Players with talent need to make sacrifices (playing tough defense, diving for lose balls). Can't crown ourselves champs until we have the trophy in our hand.

[mcscotty]

Overall I feel we got better, but I have these concerns:

1. Less experience.
2. Regressed defensively
3. Got a little smaller
4. The media has already crowned us champs. Reminds me of the the Nash/Howard signings.
5. No word on Jason Kidd returning.
6. Chemistry issues and fit with Schroder and Harrell.

[lazybatman]

I sure hope you guys are right about Schroeder. Lebron has worked well with one playmaker before with both Bosh and Love getting much less touches compared to what they got with their original teams and surely AD will have his usual. Everyone knows he is getting older and would welcome another scorer but it’s not going to be “ let’s spread out and here’s the ball Dennis, do your thing” set up. Harrell is not a spacer and Marc can’t play major minutes.
I like PJ but I don’t think at 6-6 he can handle Nurkic and Jokic. He looked good guarding a thinner AD but...

Yeah.. Schroeder's crucial now that we don't have Rondo and didn't sign Brad Stevens as a head coach. AD+Bron can get theirs and some. Good things come from getting role players some touches and easy buckets on offense to get them keyed in on D.

AD's a problem for anyone to guard cos of how versatile he is for his size. What he did in that Houston series is no knock on PJ for me. PJ's strong for his size bro.. I'm not saying he can take Jokic full time, but he can definitely put in a shift if Gasol's minutes are restricted. The good thing about him is that he can fit in at any position, except guarding the Steph Curry / Kyrie / Dame kinda elite shifty ball handlers. And the dude's a pro's pro - all about winning.

[stan francisco]

My major concern for this team would be not to get to play the season due to Covid. We’re about to find out that about 15-20% of all NBA players have it.

Hey, in case it was news to any NBA players, this Covid thing spreads from your lungs two days before you have symptoms. It’s 30-40 times more contagious than the flu. It’s a little late to figure that out now, but just in case anyone was worried about there being a season.

Edit: AD and LBJ load management to keep them healthy.

[DanishLakerFan]

The only major concern of mine is Lebron's health.

So far he's been beating father time and i'm not completely convinced that he isn't a cyborg, but i actually felt the same about Kobe and suddently he tore his achilles which essentially ended his career as a top-tier player.

[heezyo2o]

Chemistry and health. Even if everyone gets along, I don't think think you can recreate the chemistry the team had last season.

Winning solves a lot of things, but if they go back into a bubble for the playoffs, chemistry is really important when they're constantly around each other. I think Harrell could rock the boat and possibly Schroder too. Harrell leaking things to media last season on the clippers is not a good sign.

[gordonyao]

we are getting smaller this year and length is a concern

[danfantastk32]

Saw the topic and had only one thought. But people have beat me to the punch. I don't think we can just show up, and win. This team is a great team....but not unstoppable. They need to show the hunger and grit it takes. Feel like our signings are a bit younger (Marc the exception...but then Dwight and McGee were no spring chickens either) and I think we have some hunger here again. I really doubt AD is satiated with his first title...and of course Lebron has his sights on GOAT, so I doubt complacency will be an issue. I think we have a really good coach. He will get good D out of our squad, and I'm not worried about offense.

Just stay healthy. It's really that simple. Good health, and I see no reason why we wouldn't be at least one of the last 4 teams standing. We'll take it from there.

[Kilroy]

Health and chemistry... It's really hard to repeat. The main thing that kills it, is that it's hard to maintain that energy and chemistry.
LeBron and AD should know each other a little better by now but it's going to take a while to get on track with the other new guys.

How they do that and how long it takes will determine how this season goes. We have everything we need to repeat.

[Spens1]

wing defense. Wes Matthews replaces Bradley but Schroeder is a worse defender than Rondo for all intents and purposes and we lost Green (even if his offense was bad, he could defend). Loss of grit also and major experience as well does hurt.

[snaquille oatmeal]

Concerned about how I’m on the fence on those new city jerseys

[tamaraw08]

wing defense. Wes Matthews replaces Bradley but Schroeder is a worse defender than Rondo for all intents and purposes and we lost Green (even if his offense was bad, he could defend). Loss of grit also and major experience as well does hurt.

man, I should hope and pray that you are wrong about your opinion on Schroeder's defense bec that would surely be a problem indeed. Pelinka provided this team before with very good shooters/spacers in Cook and Daniels but Vogel decided to not use them bec of their bad defense. Dennis' leash would be longer but he is truly a bad defender then eventually he'll sit longer in the bench than play.
Yes, I think the Lakers would miss Green's defense too. They didn't miss Bradley in the playoffs bec of Danny and Caruso, losing both Avery and Green would be a factor esp if AC and/or Matthews gets injured.

[Spens1]

wing defense. Wes Matthews replaces Bradley but Schroeder is a worse defender than Rondo for all intents and purposes and we lost Green (even if his offense was bad, he could defend). Loss of grit also and major experience as well does hurt.

man, I should hope and pray that you are wrong about your opinion on Schroeder's defense bec that would surely be a problem indeed. Pelinka provided this team before with very good shooters/spacers in Cook and Daniels but Vogel decided to not use them bec of their bad defense. Dennis' leash would be longer but he is truly a bad defender then eventually he'll sit longer in the bench than play.
Yes, I think the Lakers would miss Green's defense too. They didn't miss Bradley in the playoffs bec of Danny and Caruso, losing both Avery and Green would be a factor esp if AC and/or Matthews gets injured.

Well, yeah Schroder's record on defense is not good, like at all (he's seemingly well below average on that end which is a worry).

[Doug_12]

wing defense. Wes Matthews replaces Bradley but Schroeder is a worse defender than Rondo for all intents and purposes and we lost Green (even if his offense was bad, he could defend). Loss of grit also and major experience as well does hurt.

man, I should hope and pray that you are wrong about your opinion on Schroeder's defense bec that would surely be a problem indeed. Pelinka provided this team before with very good shooters/spacers in Cook and Daniels but Vogel decided to not use them bec of their bad defense. Dennis' leash would be longer but he is truly a bad defender then eventually he'll sit longer in the bench than play.
Yes, I think the Lakers would miss Green's defense too. They didn't miss Bradley in the playoffs bec of Danny and Caruso, losing both Avery and Green would be a factor esp if AC and/or Matthews gets injured.

Well, yeah Schroder's record on defense is not good, like at all (he's seemingly well below average on that end which is a worry).

But to be honest Rondo was also a poor defender in the majority of his tenure w/ the Lakers. He stepped up in this playoffs - especially against Harden - but apart from that... if I say his defense was subpar, then I'm very gentle. He was literally unplayable on both ends of the floor.