The Lebron Thread | 2021 & Offseason

[Greyhound]

The way THT is being utilized as a primary ball handler (in that second unit)...

If Schroder starts, Caruso could end up on a milk box:

(#1)

THT
Mathews
Kuzma
Morris
Harrell

Or... (#2)

Caruso
THT
Kuzma
Morris
Harrell

Or... (#3)

Caruso
Mathews
THT
Kuzma
Harrell

Number three seems way too small to me. With Caruso being injured, I suspect it will be number one. If all goes well with that lineup, Caruso could find himself on the milk box.

[Fadeaway_J]

Man, THT is so disruptive. 3 steals and a bunch of deflections. That wingspan is scary.

[MisterHibachi]

Vogel needs to find regular rotation minutes for THT this year, somehow. He's playing like a lottery pick.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Vogel needs to find regular rotation minutes for THT this year, somehow. He's playing like a all star.

Ftfy

[MyUniBroDavis]

The way THT is being utilized as a primary ball handler (in that second unit)...

If Schroder starts, Caruso could end up on a milk box:

(#1)

THT
Mathews
Kuzma
Morris
Harrell

Or... (#2)

Caruso
THT
Kuzma
Morris
Harrell

Or... (#3)

Caruso
Mathews
THT
Kuzma
Harrell

Number three seems way too small to me. With Caruso being injured, I suspect it will be number one. If all goes well with that lineup, Caruso could find himself on the milk box.

Caruso shouldnt be a primary ball handler he does the little things

[nzahir]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

THT has so much potential. Idk if he'll get legit rotation minutes this year though. Guard rotation is pretty crowded with Dennis, Caruso, Wes, and KCP.

Just saw the full clip and see THT hit a 3 right after, impressive
https://streamable.com/ru86tt

Damn he put up some big numbers, going to check out his highlights

[Heej]

THT is what a lotta Laker fans hoped Kuzma would become. I wonder if he feels a little jealous that this kid has legit 3rd star potential

[MyUniBroDavis]

THT is what a lotta Laker fans hoped Kuzma would become. I wonder if he feels a little jealous that this kid has legit 3rd star potential

Tbf kuzmas jumper seemed nice

Tht is next level, i mean he was picked 42nd and people thought he was a good pick at 25-30, high potential pick

Hes raw but people forget how young he is, hes 20

6ft4 (with shoes tho lol) 7ft1 wingspan means he has longer arms than bron, 235 pounds so hes as heavy as guys like kawhi too. Defensively he has that switchy guard type feel and can def guard 1-3, good potential interior help D for a guard too. Hes been great off ball so brons gonna help that as well

Also harrell looks switchy asf on D so thats pretty nice lol, ur switch everything dream be alive lmao

Kuz is still a consistent jumper away from being in the running for our third guy, he changed his form for the 100th time so lets see if he gets it.

Whats interesting about tucker is hes gonna be getting better every game, his experience rn is essentially rookie, hes a YOUNG 20 year old, as in if the season was normal he would start the year at age 19

This is essentially an age 19 season in terms of experience, he only played G league which is a big step up from college but still, and he WAY got better as time went on after a really rough start

If tucker is genuinely good, and he looks WAY better than tbh all the lottory picks this year without having THAT much more experience than them, this team becomes so deep its actually hilarious. Guard was the only position that was worrying and now we might have a top tier young guy there. More importanrly, one with defensive upside too

[MyUniBroDavis]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

THT has so much potential. Idk if he'll get legit rotation minutes this year though. Guard rotation is pretty crowded with Dennis, Caruso, Wes, and KCP.

Just saw the full clip and see THT hit a 3 right after, impressive
https://streamable.com/ru86tt

Damn he put up some big numbers, going to check out his highlights

He played ALOT better than his numbers look it was insane lol

[dcstanley]

Gasol's passing is going to unlock things for Kuz. Vogel should consider pairing the bulk of Gasol's minutes with guys who are going to actively move without the ball like Kuz, Caruso, and KCP. I don't think Gasol and Lebron need to be in together too long.

[limbo]

There is no way the Lakers are losing the title this year barring some sort of catastrophe. It's at a point where i believe AD could miss the entire Finals and the Lakers would atill have enough pieces around Bron to compete and close the deal...

They won the title last year with relative ease and they added Schroeder, Gasol, Harrell (all better than who they replaced). Morris will be there from the start. Guys like Caruso and KCP are now more comfortable and established in their role. Kuzma surely can only get better? THT has emerged as another potential piece and the chemistry will be better as well than last year when most players and coaching staff was new...

The competition has also not got much better... Jrue Holiday is nice but doesn't move the needle enough and the Bucks have lost some depth as well. Ibaka is nice but not enough to move the needle... Denver is too green, Houston has imploded, Utah capped, Dallas too young, Portland not talented enough. Raptors too old, Boston didn't do anything to move the needle, Miami is largely the same, Philly won't win **** with Doc and Embiid/Simmons...

This year will be a Warriors style formality in terms of the title, but the battle for 2nd in the West and ECF should be a bit more entertaining...

[MyUniBroDavis]

There is no way the Lakers are losing the title this year barring some sort of catastrophe. It's at a point where i believe AD could miss the entire Finals and the Lakers would atill have enough pieces around Bron to compete and close the deal...

They won the title last year with relative ease and they added Schroeder, Gasol, Harrell (all better than who they replaced). Morris will be there from the start. Guys like Caruso and KCP are now more comfortable and established in their role. Kuzma surely can only get better? THT has emerged as another potential piece and the chemistry will be better as well than last year when most players and coaching staff was new...

The competition has also not got much better... Jrue Holiday is nice but doesn't move the needle enough and the Bucks have lost some depth as well. Ibaka is nice but not enough to move the needle... Denver is too green, Houston has imploded, Utah capped, Dallas too young, Portland not talented enough. Raptors too old, Boston didn't do anything to move the needle, Miami is largely the same, Philly won't win **** with Doc and Embiid/Simmons...

This year will be a Warriors style formality in terms of the title, but the battle for 2nd in the West and ECF should be a bit more entertaining...

Chill lol, the clippers are strong but they had a really bad playoff coach, lues a pretty string coach in terms of adjustments altho well see how much of that was bron, and the bucks lost depth but jrues REALLY damn good

The bucks, the nets, and the clippers are the rival teams. I think we the favorites but its not a done deal, the bucks figuring thingns out in the playoffs makes them an ATG team, the clippers were a great team that went 0 iq, and the nets have Kd.

We the favorites, more than we were last year but those 3 teams are def trouble

[limbo]

Jrue is overrated. Dude consistently struggled to win 35 games with AD on the Pelicans... He's not that significant of an upgrade over Bledsoe. In fact, Bledsoe was actually a good player during the RS, it's only in the Playoffs where he flew off the handle because teams started to wall off Giannis and his weaknesses flared up... Most notably his lack of shooting making him force the issue. And Jrue is far from a knock down shooter himself.

If you think Jrue is enough to invalidate what the Lakers have now it terms of options you have another thing coming.

Lue isn't going to do squat with the Clippers either... He was there last season and just stared from the bench with his mouth agape, totally useless. I think the Clippers are a top 5 team in the league rather easily, but in a 7-game series, they have more chance of losing to the Suns than winning against the Lakers...

Stop trying to counter some sort of imaginary jinx and accept that the Lakers are going to crush every team they'll face in a 7-game series, and if LeBron and AD wanted to take the RS seriously, they wouldn't drop more than 5 games total either...

[limbo]

And don't even mention KD... KD first needs to prove he can play a full season at a Top 5 level after not playing NBA basketball for 550 days...

Not to mention keep Kyrie from imploding the entire team that's being coached by someone with zero coaching experience...

This isn't 2K21...

[Homer38]

The lakers are great and they are the favorite but they are not the 2017 Warriors.

[limbo]

The lakers are great and they are the favorite but they are not the 2017 Warriors.

They might not be, but that only means they aren't the best team of all-time...

I think they can get close to that level with this team.

The problem is two-fold. LeBron teams usually don't take the regular season that seriously because LeBron post 2013 doesn't take it seriously... That makes it tough to compare regular season dominance... The 2017 Warriors might be the better regular season team because they could outgun most od the league with historical ease, while yhe Lakers might need to buckle down and put more physical effort if they want to cement wins, and it's just not worth it...

Secondly. The 2017 Warriors really didn't get tested in the Playoffs. Utah was decent, but nothing special, most all-time great teams could have swept them. Spurs lost their best player halfway through Game 1 and the Cavs were a good matchup for the Warriors... You can't expect to compete with the Warriors with a below average defense... You need to be able to play a lick of defense against them. In a straight up gunning match when you're trying to outscore them you'll lose 100% of the time...

[frica]

THT got those Lamar Gant arms.

[MyUniBroDavis]

Jrue is overrated. Dude consistently struggled to win 35 games with AD on the Pelicans... He's not that significant of an upgrade over Bledsoe. In fact, Bledsoe was actually a good player during the RS, it's only in the Playoffs where he flew off the handle because teams started to wall off Giannis and his weaknesses flared up... Most notably his lack of shooting making him force the issue. And Jrue is far from a knock down shooter himself.

If you think Jrue is enough to invalidate what the Lakers have now it terms of options you have another thing coming.

Lue isn't going to do squat with the Clippers either... He was there last season and just stared from the bench with his mouth agape, totally useless. I think the Clippers are a top 5 team in the league rather easily, but in a 7-game series, they have more chance of losing to the Suns than winning against the Lakers...

Stop trying to counter some sort of imaginary jinx and accept that the Lakers are going to crush every team they'll face in a 7-game series, and if LeBron and AD wanted to take the RS seriously, they wouldn't drop more than 5 games total either...

The bucks problems come from a coaching standpoint more than giannis, there are legitimate adjustments to walling off you can make that dont start and end with giannis should pass better but budenholzer hasnt shown he can make playoff adjustments whatsoever, if he gets that ability the bucks become a serious threat

I think i know more about what happened on the pels than most people, jrue was amazing with AD everyone else was hurt or sucked, and AD wasnt nearly as good as he is now in 2016 or 2017, and 2019 onv we know what happened. Hes a strong all around offensive guard thats a very good smart playmaker, and defensively probably a top 3 pg in the league, hes a huge upgrade on bledsoe

Lues shown to be a solid playoff coach adjustment wise, we know at the very least hes the guy that called for key defensive adjustments against the warriors in 16 that were gamechabging (other than bron going off). The teams gotten better too, and realistically they were just outcoached in their series not outalented. Alot of assistant coaches are on horrible staffs and do well when theyre on their own, lues teams histrocially have been pretty good at adjustments, at the very least uts doubtful theyll be as bad as docs who was genuinly worst in the nba level in the bubble

The lakers could potentially be a ATG top tier team and were definately the favorites, to say its a done deal is ridiculously premature. If the bucks figure out playoff adjustments and dont run a everyone drop defense against everyone, theyre a strong contender, clippers with good coaching are a strong contender, etc etc.

Now we have the most talent + vogel is an amazing coach, prolly top 5 in the nba and for our team only nurse is potentially as good. But to say its a done deal is premature

The nets dont have good D and the roster construction is questionable

But clearly those 4 teams (lakers/bucks/nets/clippers) are a tier above the rest, lakers the best overall but we know the bucks are a evolved coaching staff away from challenging us, and the clippers were a top team when everyone played and they clearly werent ready in the bubble and doc coached like genuinly the worst coach in the nba. We might be an ATG team but there are 2 others

Otoh our upside is the highest id say, and we probably have 2 of the best players in the nba, so we def are the favorites, but the odds of the bucks or the clippers beating us is higher than them losing to the suns lol

ONE thing to note, outside of garbage time the 2020 lakers werent far off the 2017 warriors/2001 lakers in net rtg so take that how you will.

If rhe bucks dissapoint and we find out offensice adjustments were more brons genius than anything else than yeah, we destroy,

but lets not act like the bucks werent at a near 70 win pace pre bubble and replaced a playoff choker with a high tier guard thats probably the best non ben simmons defensive point guard in the nba, or the clippers werent absolutely dominant when healthy. If the cards fall right for them obv they both can challenge us because all three are ATG teams in some regards, but the bucks coaching staff might still be idiots in the playoffs and we might learn lue isnt as good of a playoff coach offensively as his rep shows sometimes, but who knows

[limbo]

Jrue is an inefficient scorer, a below average shooter and a good but not elite playmaker... His defense is good but as a guard he can't influence the defensive end of the court to any significant level against elite offensive teams, imo.

He's literally a safer version of Bledsoe, and mostly because Bledsoe is known as a Playoff choker, not because Jrue turns into something amazing in the PS...

Bucks are going to be great because they have a Top 5 player in the league and a good roster around him... but unless Giannis becomes a respectable shooter, they have more chance of losing to Philly than winning against the Lakers... And Jrue don't change that.

[MyUniBroDavis]

I agree theres potential for our team to be a ATG+ team, we were already ATG last year factoring some stuff in, and we improved ALOT, esp if you think kuzma is gonna get a better shot with his new jumper, and how high you are on tucker who really looks good.

Last years team was a 64 win team pre bubble that got better as the season went on, that were a top 10 team all time taking out garbage time im pretty sure, that was built for the playoffs

Kuzma was improving steadily all year, if he has a jumper hes a great piece although weve been saying that for awhile, his passing looks sharper than before and he looks more willing

Dwight was a guy only used to bother jokic, marc's a top tier post defender, but on top of that an ELITE playmaker at his position with jives well with us, and can space the floor

Rondo was good in the playoffs but was still exploited on D at times and his decision making was too long sometimes, we replaced that with 6MOY runner up in schroder

We replaced Javale who did nothing in the playoffs with 6MOY Harrell, who has his offensive talents and alot of his shortcomings will be better as a 4, and with a staff using him better. More importantly hes looking switchy, and i think theres potential for good defense there


Tucker, its preseason, but he looks as good as any 19 year old weve had, and from a skillset standpoint he can be REALLY good, his man d looks strong didnt get a good look at his team D but he could be more thanbjust a rotation player

Matthews is a downgrade over RS green but an ipgrade over playoff green, we also needed a wing defender like him

Ranking the talent from 1-10

Lebron/AD/Harrell/Schroder/Marc/Caruso/Kuzma/Tucker/Matthews/Morris

3-8 are all in the mix.

While its a stretch, you can argue our 8th best player mightve been a top 3 guy on a 5th seed in the west, the second leading scorer on that team, and a genuinely good 6MOY candidate. (Schroder).

Harrell was genuinely a great player for the clippers pre kawhi and george and even with them was grreat at times, his shortcomings on defense dont effect him as much at the 4, more than that his strengths will be better utilized and he might even be good on that end, so an offensive 6MOY with bad D that might be a strong defender now too that fits our vision for the team defensively

Caruso is one of the best guys in the league at his role (defensive combo guard that screens and does the little things)

Marc is a year off from being an integral starting player in a championship team that was built mostly with depth

Matthews is a great 3 and D guy that focuses more on the D part, fills out a weakness we had last year at a high tier level (wing defense outside of bron and AD)

Kuzma has something to prove, more than last year with the hate hes been getting, changed his form and although its too early to see the results and its preseason, his passing looks better, and kuzma continuing his ascent defensively, better passing and a good jump shot is an amazing piece

And tucker can range anywhere from 3rd to last on our team, but even though its preseason, hes looked REALLY good

Playoff Bron + playoff AD might only be rivalled by kobe + shaq and i might take the former for today, brons genuinly still a top 5 peak ever rn and maybe thats underselling him, AD put together a peak KG defensive run + scored at a rate I think thats top 3 in big man history taking into account effeciency and volume and most of it was off self creation, schroder should be a better p and r partner for him than rondo because hes more of a scoring threat

As in if AD goes playoff mode again, bron>AD>curry>durant is reasonable

Our only questions aside from health are

Will kuz pan out
Will tucker be as good as we think he will be
Will schroder maintain his three point shot
Will harrell maintain his D

If say im confident in 4, confident but not as confident in 3, 2 im willing to bet in, 1 i have no idea

If that all pans out we have the best duo and best depth around them ever, but to say theres no way other teams can challenge us is premature

If all the cards fall right we could be the GOAT team, but other teams have ATG potential and we cant be sure if itll all work out like we think it will