The LeBron James - 21-22 Regular Season Thread - New Thread Soon Part 2

[nzahir]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/r1pl0l/with_daj_on_the_court_lakers_are_84_net_rating_on/?sort=confidence

[donnieme]

Def not moving THT or Nunn for him lol

Rockets record when Daniel Theis plays more than 20 minutes: 0-13

Rockets record when Daniel Theis plays less than 20 minutes: 2-1

He is not an ideal fit with this roster, but I really feel like we need some defense

Russ, Baze/Reaves/upgrade?, Bron, AD, Theis

He can shoot a bit

I prefer Boucher, who has started off slow and his min have been slashed

But I also want more names I am not thinking of

There's no actual solution on the market to this particular problem. AD and Lebron had no clue how big an undertaking it was to play 4 and 5 fulltime on a roster full of one way players. That's 30 minutes of grueling interior defending. That's the bed they made. Is on them to live with it or fix it.

Which is why I am bringing up we need a 5....

Miami Lebron would help

Also having a 3/4 like Ariza instead of all these small guards would also help

They can only do it to close out games it seems like
But you cant have Russ, Lebron, AD, and a 5 who can't shoot at all

Dieng or Mo Wagner also work

Yeah I understand. Just saying there's no real fix because that skillset doesn't come in minimum contracts. Minimum market this deep into the season are mostly guys who at best only bring one of spacing or Defense. All the best minimums are snapped up in the first week of FA. This is why it was important to get it right the first time.

The well known downside of the big 3 format, the big 3 need to actually be big in talent and versatility because they are going to have to do everything with minimum guys. If they lack in versatility it's a death sentence to fill the rest of your team with redundancies and limitations. That LA is already having to play zone to protect roleplayers getting switched is just nuts. Good luck playing that janky zone against the Warriors and Suns. I'm not sure how panic mode hasn't set in within the organization. This doesn't project to get far in the playoffs. And where is Wesley Matthews. I know his raw production was ass but don't tell me you let him go for guys that will get played off the floor in the postseason anyway. He was bad against the Suns but impactful in that play in game with the Warriors.

[Mos_Heat]

Nunn for Justin Holiday makes too much sense

[zimpy27]

Nunn for Justin Holiday makes to much sense

I prefer Nunn for Muscala+Kenrich

[Mos_Heat]

Nunn for Justin Holiday makes to much sense

Don't think either can play in the playoffs

[Freighttrain]

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/r1pl0l/with_daj_on_the_court_lakers_are_84_net_rating_on/?sort=confidence

I don't need numbers to know DeAndre Jordan is washed. Maybe FW it to Vogel, might help

[Slava]

Read on Twitter

LeBron + shooters who can switch = $$$

[PaulieWal]

Read on Twitter

LeBron + shooters who can switch = $$$

LeBron + shooters who can switch and play some defense has been the game's best cheat code since 2012. Only thing is it's just hard to sustain when you are playing that small or often times when you get the no defense version of it like in 2018 - there's a ceiling on that kinda team.

[Slava]

Read on Twitter

LeBron + shooters who can switch = $$$

LeBron + shooters who can switch and play some defense has been the game's best cheat code since 2012. Only thing is it's just hard to sustain when you are playing that small or often times when you get the no defense version of it like in 2018 - there's a ceiling on that kinda team.

Miami obviously pushed that to the limit with Joel Anthony and Birdman as their only nominal centers but those line ups had Battier taking a substantial physical burden to make it work. I still think Lebron and AD at the 4 and 5 is a cheat code line up but we need better perimeter defenders or at least one bigger wing for sure to let Lebron play PG on offense.

[homecourtloss]

Read on Twitter

LeBron + shooters who can switch = $$$

LeBron + shooters who can switch and play some defense has been the game's best cheat code since 2012. Only thing is it's just hard to sustain when you are playing that small or often times when you get the no defense version of it like in 2018 - there's a ceiling on that kinda team.

Interesting thing is that healthy LeBron, even this diminished version opens up many different cheat codes. The 2020 Lakers had one of the most dominant runs in the playoffs playing with a non-shooting big for many of the games and no real shooters other than Green (who wasn’t making open shots) and KCP who’s not exactly Klay Thompson. That team did of course play its best basketball with AD at the 5 and switchable defenders who could shoot (they weren’t great shooters but they could shoot). If that team had t lost garbage time minutes so badly, it would be remembered quite differently, I think.

Look at these playoff leads that 2020 Lakers team had. I’m not sure any team in playoffs history has had these type of leads this many times. This was LeBron + AD scoring, AD playing his best defense, LeBron QBing non-AD lineup defense, Rondo connecting with AD, and switchable defenders executing to perfection in the most difficult defensive environment in NBA history, i.e., no crowds, no noise, empty gym.

Game 2 vs. Blazers: +33, 7:58 left
Game 4 vs. Blazers, +38, 8:38 left in 3rd quarter
Game 4 vs. Rockets, +23, 7:21 left
Game 5 vs. Rockets, +29, 4:33 left
Game 1 vs. Nuggets, +27, 5:03 left
Game 1 vs. Heat, +30, 4:25 left in 3rd; +24, 6:08 left in the game
Game 6 vs. Heat, +36, 3:29 left in 3rd; +22, 2:05 left in the game

Even this Lakers team with one capable defender who can shoot could create some good lineups with AD at the 5 given that James can be close to 2020 James, which I’m not sure he can. Sad as it is to say, Lakers miss Reaves who was that one capable defender. Now imagine if they had 2 or 3.

In the 17 minutes vs. the Pacers last night with DAJ and Howard off the court and LeBron on court

ORtg: 138.2
DRtg: 94.1

LeBron, 22 points on 68.8% TS
Ellington, 8 points on 133% TS
Monk, 8 points on 100% TS
Westbrook, 6 points on 60% TS
Carmelo, 3 points on 37.5% TS

But the effort James put in can it be sustained over a season. He defended 19 shots last night, which is a really high number for him as he’s also charged with quarterbacking the defense.

https://www.nba.com/stats/player/2544/defense-dash/?Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&LastNGames=1

[Slava]

Bill Simmons took his annual turn tongue punching Gambler Bob on his podcast and the irony of the conversation was Bob saying it’s easy to root against Lebron because he is completely devoid of humility to have chosen one tattooed on his back and call himself King. Jesus wept.

[nzahir]

Nunn for Justin Holiday makes too much sense

Meh, not the worst but I want to see Nunn play for us 1st

Also not sure if Indi does it

I mean he is their starting sf and they don't have a ton of depth there

Nunn is someone that should be really good for us, so I want to see how he is

Holiday could be our starting sg though

Russ, Holiday, Bron, Ariza, AD
THT, Ellington, Reaves, Melo, Dwight
Monk, Baze

I would try to move a few expirings for a stretch big

[nzahir]

Nunn for Justin Holiday makes to much sense

I prefer Nunn for Muscala+Kenrich

Muscula was bad here with us, but seems like his adv numbers have looked after ever since

Has anyone actually watched him?

Could he start come playoff time?

[zimpy27]

Nunn for Justin Holiday makes to much sense

I prefer Nunn for Muscala+Kenrich

Muscula was bad here with us, but seems like his adv numbers have looked after ever since

Has anyone actually watched him?

Could he start come playoff time?

He wasn't really given a chance with the Lakers but I don't remember him being bad. He was playing as a PF. Played

He's experienced enough and old enough to be counted on in playoffs IMO. But he may not need to start. Will depend on matchups

[AmIWrongDude]

Was watching LeBron 2018 playoff highlights. Damn man he was still so athletic and even that was way less than his prime athleticism. 2018 compared to now is night and day though.

Gotta either get in the post more or hit jumpers consistently like last night. I’d actually like to see him have the mindset of putting up a lot of jumpers because I think if he decided to do that he would be super effective.

[PistolPeteJR]

Was watching LeBron 2018 playoff highlights. Damn man he was still so athletic and even that was way less than his prime athleticism. 2018 compared to now is night and day though.

Gotta either get in the post more or hit jumpers consistently like last night. I’d actually like to see him have the mindset of putting up a lot of jumpers because I think if he decided to do that he would be super effective.

I firmly believe that when healthy, he can still drive it when he wants to, though not to the level of 2018, more like 2020 PS. The guy was having a good year last year before the injury, and that was with him still preserving himself and the physical toll his body would take playing inside as often. This year, he came in in great shape with in-game load management on his body in mind as well as trying to learn how to adjust to play to Russ and AD’s strengths over 82 games pre-playoffs, and then an injury happened again, which is probably still affecting him. Part of age to an extent, I guess, but sigh.

[Mos_Heat]

Nunn for Justin Holiday makes too much sense

Meh, not the worst but I want to see Nunn play for us 1st

Also not sure if Indi does it

I mean he is their starting sf and they don't have a ton of depth there

Nunn is someone that should be really good for us, so I want to see how he is

Holiday could be our starting sg though

Russ, Holiday, Bron, Ariza, AD
THT, Ellington, Reaves, Melo, Dwight
Monk, Baze

I would try to move a few expirings for a stretch big

Nah, their starting SF is Warren, he's just a placeholder. It's not a perfect trade for Indy, even tho Nunn is a perfect guard for Carlisle.

[lambchop]

Was watching LeBron 2018 playoff highlights. Damn man he was still so athletic and even that was way less than his prime athleticism. 2018 compared to now is night and day though.

Gotta either get in the post more or hit jumpers consistently like last night. I’d actually like to see him have the mindset of putting up a lot of jumpers because I think if he decided to do that he would be super effective.

His confidence seemed super high against the pacers. It felt as though was just trusting his shot, cause his percentage wasn't really that high and if you watch the full tape you can see that he missed quite a few shots down the stretch but it didnt matter cause he knew some of them would go in and that is exactly what the team needed to win that game.

[nzahir]

Nunn for Justin Holiday makes too much sense

Meh, not the worst but I want to see Nunn play for us 1st

Also not sure if Indi does it

I mean he is their starting sf and they don't have a ton of depth there

Nunn is someone that should be really good for us, so I want to see how he is

Holiday could be our starting sg though

Russ, Holiday, Bron, Ariza, AD
THT, Ellington, Reaves, Melo, Dwight
Monk, Baze

I would try to move a few expirings for a stretch big

Nah, their starting SF is Warren, he's just a placeholder. It's not a perfect trade for Indy, even tho Nunn is a perfect guard for Carlisle.

Forgot about him

I would still love to be able to get a starting sg or a wing for depth and keep Nunn

2-3 of Monk, DJ, Rondo, Bazemore, Ellington and 1-4 2nds

Should be able to get at least 1 guy who can contribute

Luckily no Barnes or Holmes tonight for the Queens, lets please win and do it convincingly

[zimpy27]

THT could be a terrible contract, maybe Lakers should move it while they can