The LeBron Thread 2021 Off-Season Edition

[Freighttrain]

Might get you Kemba.

Being more injured will be fun but high risk high reward. Kemba would be perfect. And AD and Lebron + KCP/ Caruso is like the perfect team to cover his defensive weaknesses (might be the only team that really could).

No way, having 3 injury prone stars - I know LeBron is not injury prone but just penciling in some missed game due to age and more wear n tear, those would be some incredibly low odds of having your 3 best players healthy for the playoffs. The next guy they get - if they get one has to be someone with a clean injury history IMO.

Say BKN lives up to their potential and wins it all, so we have enough talent?

Hell no

Need to add top end guys unless we can create a very very solid team that is built well, and idk if we can or if I can trust Pelinka

Our #3 guy can’t be Dennis

Kemba is washed accoring to the Boston media, so hard pass for me. Dennis is also just a waste of 20 mils which I sincerely hope Palinka does not give him, unless its a sign & trade situation. CJ mccollum in a 3 team deal?

[PaulieWal]

Might get you Kemba.

Being more injured will be fun but high risk high reward. Kemba would be perfect. And AD and Lebron + KCP/ Caruso is like the perfect team to cover his defensive weaknesses (might be the only team that really could).

No way, having 3 injury prone stars - I know LeBron is not injury prone but just penciling in some missed game due to age and more wear n tear, those would be some incredibly low odds of having your 3 best players healthy for the playoffs. The next guy they get - if they get one has to be someone with a clean injury history IMO.

Say BKN lives up to their potential and wins it all, so we have enough talent?

Hell no

Need to add top end guys unless we can create a very very solid team that is built well, and idk if we can or if I can trust Pelinka

Our #3 guy can’t be Dennis

No, Brooklyn next year would have been my title favorite regardless of what happens this year - giving them another full season under the hood, I'd expect them to have a dominant title run next year with those 3 guys.

What am I saying no to is adding Kemba. If you are playing the odds having your top 3 guys be injury prone or susceptible means you are most likely to get to the post-season not healthy. I don't know what the move is - whether it's adding a 3rd star level player or just retooling the supporting cast. The Lakers have to do something and the biggest thing might be AD has to truly take over from LeBron and be healthy. But that's a big IF.

[Greyhound]

Don't see why anyone would have faith in Schroeder. He's too terrible a shooter to be on a LeBron team. Him and Kuz gotta go

I think he still holds value as a dynamic 6th man who can pressure full court. He was brought in to be a young 6th man improvement to Rondo. Then his demands forced him into the starting unit.

If he can be had at a reasonable price, and he is played in the proper role, he still holds value.

[thebigbird]

No way, having 3 injury prone stars - I know LeBron is not injury prone but just penciling in some missed game due to age and more wear n tear, those would be some incredibly low odds of having your 3 best players healthy for the playoffs. The next guy they get - if they get one has to be someone with a clean injury history IMO.

Say BKN lives up to their potential and wins it all, so we have enough talent?

Hell no

Need to add top end guys unless we can create a very very solid team that is built well, and idk if we can or if I can trust Pelinka

Our #3 guy can’t be Dennis

Kemba is washed accoring to the Boston media, so hard pass for me. Dennis is also just a waste of 20 mils which I sincerely hope Palinka does not give him, unless its a sign & trade situation. CJ mccollum in a 3 team deal?

McCollum would be great to snag if Portland wants to change things up. 40% from 3 on 9 attempts per game. No idea how they’d get him but he’d be a great third option.

[JulesWinnfield]

Don’t know where else to put this... but when asked on the Dan Lebatard show if he or Wade was more responsible for Lebrons decision to come to Miami, Pat Riley bizarrely answered with (paraphrase) “If we really got into some of the real reasons why that wound up happening then I’d be excommunicated from the NBA....so I’m gonna steer clear of that”

[TheGOATRises007]

Don’t know where else to put this... but when asked on the Dan Lebatard show if he or Wade was more responsible for Lebrons decision to come to Miami, Pat Riley bizarrely answered with (paraphrase) “If we really got into some of the real reasons why that wound up happening then I’d be excommunicated from the NBA....so I’m gonna steer clear of that”

That is confusing.

Is there really a deeper reason besides Miami getting worse and Lebron having a perfect narrative to return to Cleveland and compete with a better team?

[J Shuttlesworth]

Don’t know where else to put this... but when asked on the Dan Lebatard show if he or Wade was more responsible for Lebrons decision to come to Miami, Pat Riley bizarrely answered with (paraphrase) “If we really got into some of the real reasons why that wound up happening then I’d be excommunicated from the NBA....so I’m gonna steer clear of that”

That is confusing.

Is there really a deeper reason besides Miami getting worse and Lebron having a perfect narrative to return to Cleveland and compete with a better team?

The quote seems to be about LeBron joining, not leaving Miami

[Heej]

Hard pass on Kemba guys come on. Hes a liability in a playoff series. He's an 82 game player. This team doesn't have the juice for a 3rd guy. Needs to go 2019 raptors and get elite 2-way role players so there's no weaknesses to exploit in a series. This series exposed our lack of shooting point blank. 2018 Cavs could've pulled it off vs these guys with CP injured honestly

[GSP]

As someone that has seen most of Boston Kemba his legs are shot. Hes not the same guy from Charlotte and his defensive and size issues in the playoffs are even more pronounced. And its not the Bron level hunting mismatches. Bums like Herro on the ball and even Lowry looked like Penny with Kemba guarding him. And thats just on ball his off ball defense is even worse

Playoff Isaiah was honestly better. Kemba without his explosive crossover is a subpar playoff player to put it lightly. Cant blow by even heavier wings, cannot beat a zone. Can only hit 3s off screens going right. Just no he sucks.

[GSP]

What about Tim Hardaway Jr?

[yoyoboy]

I want to see LeBron lose a little weight for next season to be honest.

[Jdw38]

I'm surprised the impact Lebron's injury had on his stamina hasn't been talked about here. Lebron's sub-optimum conditioning was something that stood out to me. Now part of that is clearly age, but the level of fatigue he displayed this series clearly is a consequence of the injury disrupting his build-up routine. He looked utterly gassed on the bench at times yesterday.

I'm honestly still pretty high on their title from last year, which still feels pretty fresh. All things considered, I'm glad he got the one last year if I had to choose between this year and last, particularly due to what it means in Lakers history: he got a title the same year Kobe died. I never thought Lebron would do something that compares to the narrative significance of his 2016 Cavs title, but the 2020 one is pretty significant as well, never mind the fact that it was a title amidst the the Pandemic.

[eminence]

What about Tim Hardaway Jr?

Money from where? Lakers are essentially capped with LeBron/AD/KCP/Kuzma/Deng(lol)

[GSP]

What about Tim Hardaway Jr?

Money from where? Lakers are essentially capped with LeBron/AD/KCP/Kuzma/Deng(lol)

Damn i forgot Kcps contract was what it was. That Pelinka stimulus

[McBubbles]

Why didn’t crowder try in Cleveland?

His Mom died in the weeks prior to his joining tbf.

[dcstanley]

Maybe take another shot at Lowry? See if a S/T involving Dennis could be worked out.

[McBubbles]

Also, you guys have gotta stop using regular season nunbers to justify why the team is actually fine as it is. There are players that are good in the regular season, players that are good in the post season and players that are good in both. Pretty much every single person on the team not named LeBron, AD, KCP or Caruso is a regular season player that is either extremely exploitable in a match up or just not resilient / consistent enough come playoffs, so in my mind the regular season nunbers pre injury or 21-6 is irrelevant. Dennis, Harrell, Kuzma, Gasol, Markieff and Drummond come to mind. Even regardless of fitting next to your superstar players, something which half of the players listed do not, they just suck ass talent wise and cannot produce come post season.

Speaking of fit though, players that provide non AD rim protection (or just rim presence in general actually), secondary playmaking AND **** SHOOTING are needed. Literally if nothing else, just some shooting for the love of god. This team being league average from 3 would have gotten them out the first round. This team being THEIR PEDESTRIAN REGULAR SEASON AVERAGE, 21st ranked 35.3%, would have likely gotten them out of the first round.

I think going 5-5-5-6 actually hurt the team in the long run. It's given the FO and a lot of fans a false sense of confidence in the Lakers blue print. It wasn't just LeBron, AD and great defence. It was Prime (Somehow), Mega Efficient LeBron, Mega Hot Streak AD, Hot Streak Rondo, Hot Streak Markieff and mediocre competition. It took Rondo, Morris and AD mega career high shooting splits just for the Lakers to be the 12th ranked 3 point shooting team in the playoffs at 35.3%. This season the playmaking got worse, shooting got worse, rim protection got worse and the competition got much better, and yet people still convince themselves that this team healthy was a contender because of the pre-injury regular season record.

[Gooner]

LeBron got injured because an eastern conference player dove on his ankle like it was a football. Really no idea what that has to do with playing in the West or “paying the bigger price for that in the West.”

Solomon Hill made a natural basketball play, it was just bad luck. It was really disappointing to see people attack him for nothing.

That play may not have been intended to injure LeBron, but there was nothing “natural” about it. He certainly did not care if he happened to injure him.

He dove into a man’s leg going after a ball that was out of reach. It was stupid fake hustle, by an end of the bench bum attempting to impress his coach with his “hard play”.

Ha attepmted a steal, what is he supposed to do other than play hard? It was unlucky.

[nzahir]

Hard pass on Kemba guys come on. Hes a liability in a playoff series. He's an 82 game player. This team doesn't have the juice for a 3rd guy. Needs to go 2019 raptors and get elite 2-way role players so there's no weaknesses to exploit in a series. This series exposed our lack of shooting point blank. 2018 Cavs could've pulled it off vs these guys with CP injured honestly

The defensive numbers on raptor, rpm and other stats (iso defender and pick and roll defender) aren’t awful

He is a negative like most point guards

I think the health is a risk but the short off season hurt, hoping he recovers and gets 100% in the summer

They got a while off

Not many point guards who can shoot the 3, play d, score consistently and get others involved

Brogdon is one guy depending what Indi wants to do

But I don’t think we have enough for him

Maybe this works?

Kuzma and THT (sign and trade) 1st, 1-2 2nds

But only if we can move Dennis for someone useful (even if overpaid). I would do Dennis (20m/yr and Alfonzo) even for someone like Horford (but idk how to make this happen). Would prefer a defensive wing but we ran out of assets

Brogdon, Pope, Lebron, AD, Horford
AC, Ben, Wes, ?, Gasol

Feels like this isn’t too doable and we lack a defensive wing and have also lost Kuzma

[Gooner]

The big plan is to get Curry in free agency, nothing else will work. LeBron has already started the recruitement process around the all star break. It's Curry or bust, unfortunately, I don't think Curry will ever leave Golden State.