The LeBron Thread 2021 Off-Season Edition

[nzahir]

Fire up the Russ trades

What team would want this guy or give us multiple bad contracts back

Who the hell is gonna want to trade for a bottom 50 player on a 44 million dollar contract lmao. Pelinka is the only GM stupid enough to fall for it the third time, I can't even see the Cavs/Wolves stooping that low. Westbrook's not even fool's gold at this point, he's straight dookie and it's plain as day. He's gonna stink things up in LA these next two years and then he's either out of the league or an end of bench novelty guy like old TMac.

Love seems like the only guy I can think of that might work

[letskissbro]

Also if you guys think this is bad just wait til THT comes back and Vogel starts playing him major minutes lmao. It's so over

THT is much better than some of the guys playing tonight

He is a solid man defender

Bad off the ball, but hoping Vogel has worked with him

He might not be that horrible in a vacuum but he's only going to compound the spacing issues and he isn't good enough to be dominating the ball the way he needs to to play his game. If his team defense is as bad as it was last year and he hasn't improved his shooting we're basically gonna be looking at Rondo + 2 more Rondo type players rotating in and out of the game and playing major minutes together lol

[nzahir]

Also if you guys think this is bad just wait til THT comes back and Vogel starts playing him major minutes lmao. It's so over

THT is much better than some of the guys playing tonight

He is a solid man defender

Bad off the ball, but hoping Vogel has worked with him

He might not be that horrible in a vacuum but he's only going to compound the spacing issues and he isn't good enough to be dominating the ball the way he needs to to play his game. If his team defense is as bad as it was last year and he hasn't improved his shooting we're basically gonna be looking at 3 regular season Rondos rotating in and out of the game lol

Cant be any worse than Russ tonight

THT is a great finisher, Russ is a poor one

I am pissed off

[Mos_Heat]

At least Lebron plays in LA with his buddy, hope he's happy

[toodles23]

Not only useless but below a replacement level player. He’s been astonishingly bad. If he can be what he was last year and AD and James play like this, there’s hope bur they’re not title contenders like this. Put KCP and Caruso in this game and they win by double digits.

Yeah actively destructive would be a better description than useless. I just don't see how this is resolvable. He could still help a team that desperately needs an on ball creator but the Lakers don't need that when Lebron's on the floor, and off ball he has zero value. Defensively he also has constant mental lapses that I don't think he can fix at this point, even when he wants to lock in he can't help but briefly lose focus which is all it takes to cause a breakdown.

[nzahir]

Not only useless but below a replacement level player. He’s been astonishingly bad. If he can be what he was last year and AD and James play like this, there’s hope bur they’re not title contenders like this. Put KCP and Caruso in this game and they win by double digits.

Yeah actively destructive would be a better description than useless. I just don't see how this is resolvable. He could still help a team that desperately needs an on ball creator but the Lakers don't need that when Lebron's on the floor, and off ball he has zero value. Defensively he also has constant mental lapses that I don't think he can fix at this point, even when he wants to lock in he can't help but briefly lose focus which is all it takes to cause a breakdown.

What team has about 35M of salary to move and want a playmaker

[toodles23]

Not only useless but below a replacement level player. He’s been astonishingly bad. If he can be what he was last year and AD and James play like this, there’s hope bur they’re not title contenders like this. Put KCP and Caruso in this game and they win by double digits.

Yeah actively destructive would be a better description than useless. I just don't see how this is resolvable. He could still help a team that desperately needs an on ball creator but the Lakers don't need that when Lebron's on the floor, and off ball he has zero value. Defensively he also has constant mental lapses that I don't think he can fix at this point, even when he wants to lock in he can't help but briefly lose focus which is all it takes to cause a breakdown.

What team has about 35M of salary to move and want a playmaker

I haven't looked but I doubt any team in the league would be willing to trade for Westbrook specifically.

[jalengreen]

Read on Twitter

Good bit of that was probably LeBron being hot from midrange but yeah I imagine the Lakers offense should look different soon. Or I'd hope so.

Fairly impressive that an almost 37-year-old LeBron James was the best player on the court in a game with prime Anthony Davis and Steph Curry. Still an amazing player

Although I'll never understood why LeBron supposedly wanted to make the trade for Westbrook. Just don't get it lol

[Run DLC]

This team is trash. Horribly constructed. Not worth watching.

I think I may have to bail on this season. It’s not worth the aggravation. LeBron’s milestones can be tracked in the box scores.

Yeah, I don’t have high hopes either. I know it’s just game one, but Westbrook is just a dumb player. He has heart and plays hard, but he doesn’t know how to play in a system. Lakers need to figure out a way to use him as a back door cutter/slasher. He has no business forcing those contested 3’s and 2’s that he normally take.

[nzahir]

This team is trash. Horribly constructed. Not worth watching.

I think I may have to bail on this season. It’s not worth the aggravation. LeBron’s milestones can be tracked in the box scores.

Yeah, I don’t have high hopes either. I know it’s just game one, but Westbrook is just a dumb player. He has heart and plays hard, but he doesn’t know how to play in a system. Lakers need to figure out a way to use him as a back door cutter/slasher. He has no business forcing those contested 3’s and 2’s that he normally take.

There was 1 time where he slashed and literally fumbled the ball instead of making the open dunk/layup

Guy is cancerous

I can legit think of 1 deal, would be with CLE

Love and Rubio for Russ and 5 2nds?

Nunn, Bazemore, Bron, Love, AD
Rubio, THT, Ariza, Melo, Dwight

Unrealistic, but funny to think If PHI hasn't figured it out by December:

Niang and Simmons for Russ, 2027 1st, 5 2nds

Phi probably laughs at us though

[homecourtloss]

Read on Twitter

Good bit of that was probably LeBron being hot from midrange but yeah I imagine the Lakers offense should look different soon. Or I'd hope so.

Fairly impressive that an almost 37-year-old LeBron James was the best player on the court in a game with prime Anthony Davis and Steph Curry. Still an amazing player

Although I'll never understood why LeBron supposedly wanted to make the trade for Westbrook. Just don't get it lol

With nobody guarding Russ, going to be hard getting lanes to get to the basket. 2020 Lakers took by far the most shots at the rim in the playoffs and were top 2 all regular season.

LeBron made 11 of his 13 FGs unassisted, which is also unsustainable

[dcstanley]

Crazy how a team with prime Anthony Davis and Lebron James is barely a contender (if at all). You couldn't construct a worse roster around them if you tried.

You would hope this front office deals THT by the deadline for someone that could help this team win games.

[zimpy27]

This team is trash. Horribly constructed. Not worth watching.

I think I may have to bail on this season. It’s not worth the aggravation. LeBron’s milestones can be tracked in the box scores.

Yeah, I don’t have high hopes either. I know it’s just game one, but Westbrook is just a dumb player. He has heart and plays hard, but he doesn’t know how to play in a system. Lakers need to figure out a way to use him as a back door cutter/slasher. He has no business forcing those contested 3’s and 2’s that he normally take.

There was 1 time where he slashed and literally fumbled the ball instead of making the open dunk/layup

Guy is cancerous

I can legit think of 1 deal, would be with CLE

Love and Rubio for Russ and 5 2nds?

Nunn, Bazemore, Bron, Love, AD
Rubio, THT, Ariza, Melo, Dwight

Unrealistic, but funny to think If PHI hasn't figured it out by December:

Niang and Simmons for Russ, 2027 1st, 5 2nds

Phi probably laughs at us though

Rubio and Love would be a great haul for Russ

[Statlanta]

It’s only one game. Shipping out THT is basically admitting that you don’t believe in any young players and you don’t believe in contending post-LeBron.

Getting healthy is the MO of the season. Everything else including Russ will fix itself until then

[Statlanta]

Rubio and Love would be a great haul for Russ

Rubio and Rondo/LeBron is redundant. Kevin Love stopped playing the 4 with a younger LeBron. How’s he getting minutes with AD and Dwight and DAJ when he hasn’t seen playoff basketball in almost 4 years.

[PistolPeteJR]

Rubio and Love would be a great haul for Russ

Rubio and Rondo/LeBron is redundant. Kevin Love stopped playing the 4 with a younger LeBron. How’s he getting minutes with AD and Dwight and DAJ when he hasn’t seen playoff basketball in almost 4 years.

They're saying if the Russ experiment fails over the next few months, getting Love and Rubio would do a few things:

1) Gets rid of Russ and improves spacing.
2) Gets rid of Russ and improves the defense on the perimeter.

In essence, it would get rid of Russ and force the coaching staff to play more synergetic lineups lol.

[thebigbird]

Didn’t watch last night (hate 10:30 pm starts), but looks like it went about how I expected. Vogel has no idea how to put together proper lineups and Pelinka is the dumbest GM in the NBA. LeBron had a nice, efficient night though. 34/11/5 on 57% shooting. It’s a shame he has such stupid people running the team. For all his problems Dan Gilbert wasn’t afraid to spend like crazy.

[Gooner]

Lakers don't look convincing to me at all. I don't know what LeBron thought when he decided to bring in Westbrook. He is like an overpaid Schroeder with worse shooting. He is useless on this team. I predict a 5th seed for the Lakers, behind Utah, Phoenix, GSW and Clippers. They are old, they don't have much shooting, and Westbrook is a serious liability. This idea that they are a heavy favorite in the west was always laughable to me. They could get bounced in the first round again, it wouldn't shock me one bit.

[Dr Positivity]

This team is trash. Horribly constructed. Not worth watching.

I think I may have to bail on this season. It’s not worth the aggravation. LeBron’s milestones can be tracked in the box scores.

Yeah, I don’t have high hopes either. I know it’s just game one, but Westbrook is just a dumb player. He has heart and plays hard, but he doesn’t know how to play in a system. Lakers need to figure out a way to use him as a back door cutter/slasher. He has no business forcing those contested 3’s and 2’s that he normally take.

There was 1 time where he slashed and literally fumbled the ball instead of making the open dunk/layup

Guy is cancerous

I can legit think of 1 deal, would be with CLE

Love and Rubio for Russ and 5 2nds?

Nunn, Bazemore, Bron, Love, AD
Rubio, THT, Ariza, Melo, Dwight

Unrealistic, but funny to think If PHI hasn't figured it out by December:

Niang and Simmons for Russ, 2027 1st, 5 2nds

Phi probably laughs at us though

Cavs shouldn't want Westbrook on a team with Sexland otherwise it would be ok

D'Angelo and Prince for Westbrook?

[Gooner]

Yeah, I don’t have high hopes either. I know it’s just game one, but Westbrook is just a dumb player. He has heart and plays hard, but he doesn’t know how to play in a system. Lakers need to figure out a way to use him as a back door cutter/slasher. He has no business forcing those contested 3’s and 2’s that he normally take.

There was 1 time where he slashed and literally fumbled the ball instead of making the open dunk/layup

Guy is cancerous

I can legit think of 1 deal, would be with CLE

Love and Rubio for Russ and 5 2nds?

Nunn, Bazemore, Bron, Love, AD
Rubio, THT, Ariza, Melo, Dwight

Unrealistic, but funny to think If PHI hasn't figured it out by December:

Niang and Simmons for Russ, 2027 1st, 5 2nds

Phi probably laughs at us though

Cavs shouldn't want Westbrook on a team with Sexland otherwise it would be ok

D'Angelo and Prince for Westbrook?

Minnesota's GM would have to be drugged to accept that trade.