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

[Mos_Heat]

I will say it’s hard to feel bad for LeBron when he pushed for Westbrook in the first place.

I don’t care what anyone says, I’ll never believe that LeBron was the one who pushed for Westbrook. That has AD written all over it.

Even if he did, Westbrook isn’t even really the problem. LeBron has played fine with Westbrook. The problem is the players dips*** Pelinka surrounded them with. LeBron wasn’t the one who refused to pay the tax to resign Caruso. He wasn’t the one who refused to sign any wings. We’ve seen Pelinka for several off seasons now and he’s made bad move after bad move. LeBron isn’t the one who puts together the atrocious lineups. The problem was trading for Westbrook and then surrounding him with players who don’t fit with him. A traditional big and THT alongside Westbrook is just asking for a disaster.

Of course Westbrook is the problem, he's a super duper max player who plays worse than an average starting point guard

[homecourtloss]

damn lakers ranked as the 4th worst offense

It’s actually pretty wild that they are considering that they have decent metrics in some areas that would usually mean that a team isn’t a bottom 4 offense.

17th in TS%, 15th in eFG%, 6th in free-throw rate (top 3 over the past 15 games though LeBron doesn’t get many of these), 20th in three-point attempt rate, 18th in three-point%, 10th in two-point%. Given all these, you’d think there’s ZERO chance the offense is as bad as it is, but then you have:

27th in TOV%, 25th in OReb%, 29th in FT%. They turn it over, don’t get possessions back off ORebs, and give away points at the line.

What’s interesting is that the Lakers have been the team that falls off the least offensively when LeBron is off court. BTW, check out the offensive performance of those Cavs Heat sUpErTeAmS without James on court.

LeBron’s Offensive ON-OFF (stats.nba.com for seasons 2008-2022; BKREF for seasons 2005-2007)

2010: 114.0 on, 97.3 off, +16.7 on-off
2009: 114.0 on, 97.9 off, +16.1 on-off
2017: 116.7 on, 100.6 off, +16.1 on-off
2016: 114.0 on, 98.6 off, +15.4 on-off
2008: 107.2 on, 93.0 off, +14.2 on-off
2012: 108.6 on, 94.4 off, +14.2 on-off
2013: 114.2 on, 100.7 off, +13.5 on-off
2015: 113.8 on, 100.3 off, +13.5 on-off
2006: 109.8 on, 96.8 off, +13.0 on-off
2014: 113.2 on, 101.2 off, +12.0 on-off
2018: 113.7 on, 102.5 off, +11.2 on-off
2022: 110.1 on, 100.1 off, +10.0 on-off
2007: 107.6 on, 99.9 off, +7.7 on-off
2011: 111.5 on, 104.0 off, +7.5 on-off
2005: 107.6 on, 100.5 off, +7.1 on-off
2020: 112.1 on, 105.2 off, +6.9 on-off
2021: 112.4 on 105.8 off, +6.6 on-off
2004: 102.5 on, 96.4 off, +6.1 on-off
2019: 109.6 on, 103.6 off, +6.0 on-off

[SideshowBob]

27th in TOV%

Meanwhile Lebron's 29.7% USG is his lowest since 04-05 and 31.6% AST% is his lowest since 06-07.

[Kingdibs19]

Like what I saw from Stanley Johnson and Collison. If the Lakers were fully healthy and they kept both than what would the roster be and who would be cut ?

IT, Deandre and Rondo could all go IMO.

[trickshot]

Kind of surreal seeing Westbrook cancel out a huge Lebron game. I mean I knew he was a wrecking ball when he was cancelling out KD and Harden but goddamn. I'm now certain he could cancel out a tsunami. Throw him on Russell's Celtics and they don't win one.

Didn't even know in real time Lebron and Carmelo were open on that final dunk attempt, it was literally easier to not be a detriment. Continuing the trend of becoming a worse player when the defense makes it easier for him. Think he saw the team compete without him and thought it the perfect time to make a statement bucket. He has some of the dumbest interpretations of what it means to be a competitor.

[tone wone]

I'm the only one who doesn't hate THT probably. He just playing in the absolute worst situation, on a team with no offensive system, with bottom 5 offense, with a point guard who can't shoot, move without the ball or even run basic offensive sets. In a paralel universe, he's playing with Danny Green and KCP on the wings and doing just fine. On this team, he's used like a 3nD guy, and he's clearly isn't that

He's got a very narrow skillet at this point. Getting downhill one on one and crafty finishes are what he's good at but on this team there's not much use for that. Teams treat him like Rondo off the ball and he's not much of a pick n roll player.

Had Ariza and Nun been healthy, he'd already be traded cause there would be no need for him on this roster. He's only starting because they have no wings and that crazy wingspan makes him a reasonable facsimile of one. He's also not much of an athlete.

He would've fit more on the 2020 team since they were devoid of slashers but if he's gonna have an impact on this team then he's gonna have to go the Kuzma route .....defense, rebounding and energy

[homecourtloss]

27th in TOV%

Meanwhile Lebron's 29.7% USG is his lowest since 04-05 and 31.6% AST% is his lowest since 06-07.

I didn’t think he could he this effective scoring with this much lost athleticism and playing in suboptimal lineups. Makes me wonder what he could score like in his prime if he were just scoring instead of QBing the defense and creating offense for everyone.

—Career high 2pt FG% at 62.4% DESPITE the third fewest % of attempts at the rim in his career.
—2nd highest FG% from 10-16 ft., highest ever from 16ft—3P (50%)
—2nd highest % at the rim (78.8%, 83.7% since he came back from injury)
—tied for career high in blk% at 2.4%
—2nd highest FT%

[Heej]

Hahaha Bron is really having a great season it seems. Like easily retained 92-95% of peak Bron, and likely will be able to up that to like 97-98% in the playoffs in select games. Yet despite all that he's screwed this season lol

[homecourtloss]

LeBron shooting at the rim. This year he's having his 9th best season relative to the league and the best as a Laker. Last 15 games, he’d be at about +16%

Code: Select all

Year   NBA %   LBJ%   r%
2014   63.6   79.6   16.0
2017   63.1   78.0   14.9
2013   63.1   77.6   14.5
2010   61.3   74.5   13.2
2005   59.6   72.5   12.9
2009   60.2   72.8   12.6
2012   63.4   75.8   12.4
2007   61.0   72.5   11.5
2022   67.5   78.6   11.1
2018   65.8   76.6   10.8
2021   67.5   78.2   10.7
2008   60.7   70.6   9.9
2016   62.4   72.2   9.8
2019   65.8   75.5   9.7
2011   65.0   74.4   9.4
2015   62.7   72.1   9.4
2006   60.1   68.9   8.8
2020   66.7   72.7   6
2004   59.2   60.4   1.2

[Cavsfansince84]

Hahaha Bron is really having a great season it seems. Like easily retained 92-95% of peak Bron, and likely will be able to up that to like 97-98% in the playoffs in select games. Yet despite all that he's screwed this season lol

I think he's probably 85-90% of his 17 self but that's still good enough to be a top 5 player. He has gotten to rest a lot more since 2018 compared to the 2012-2018 era so that may be helping him look better in the rs.

[TroubleS0me]

Read on Twitter

[thebigbird]

It’s an absolute shame that they totally blew up the team after the Phoenix series. It was clear to anyone with a brain that they only lost because LeBron was a shell of himself. If they had December 2021 LeBron (averaging 29/9/6 on 64% TS) instead of 55% sprained ankle LeBron, they beat Phoenix even without AD. Instead, they panicked and are where they are now.

[homecourtloss]

LeBron at Center this season:

141 minutes, 72% eFG, 75.8% TS, 90.3% at the rim

Lakers 112.2 ORtg, 107.7 DRtg

[GSP]

LeBron at Center this season:

141 minutes, 72% eFG, 75.8% TS, 90.3% at the rim

Lakers 112.2 ORtg, 107.7 DRtg

19th year Bron is still the best option for La at every position

[letskissbro]

LeBron at Center this season:

141 minutes, 72% eFG, 75.8% TS, 90.3% at the rim

Lakers 112.2 ORtg, 107.7 DRtg

It's insane how easy buckets come to him when he has space and guys who can make an entry pass. If only AD moved like him off the ball. With Reaves in for THT and Ariza slotted in at PF for Melo he could maintain those numbers but with a +double digit net rating.

He could go deep into his 40s playing like prime Karl Malone on roids. Hopefully he doesn't get bored/jaded by playing on **** teams

[zimpy27]

damn lakers ranked as the 4th worst offense

It’s actually pretty wild that they are considering that they have decent metrics in some areas that would usually mean that a team isn’t a bottom 4 offense.

17th in TS%, 15th in eFG%, 6th in free-throw rate (top 3 over the past 15 games though LeBron doesn’t get many of these), 20th in three-point attempt rate, 18th in three-point%, 10th in two-point%. Given all these, you’d think there’s ZERO chance the offense is as bad as it is, but then you have:

27th in TOV%, 25th in OReb%, 29th in FT%. They turn it over, don’t get possessions back off ORebs, and give away points at the line.

What’s interesting is that the Lakers have been the team that falls off the least offensively when LeBron is off court. BTW, check out the offensive performance of those Cavs Heat sUpErTeAmS without James on court.

LeBron’s Offensive ON-OFF (stats.nba.com for seasons 2008-2022; BKREF for seasons 2005-2007)

2010: 114.0 on, 97.3 off, +16.7 on-off
2009: 114.0 on, 97.9 off, +16.1 on-off
2017: 116.7 on, 100.6 off, +16.1 on-off
2016: 114.0 on, 98.6 off, +15.4 on-off
2008: 107.2 on, 93.0 off, +14.2 on-off
2012: 108.6 on, 94.4 off, +14.2 on-off
2013: 114.2 on, 100.7 off, +13.5 on-off
2015: 113.8 on, 100.3 off, +13.5 on-off
2006: 109.8 on, 96.8 off, +13.0 on-off
2014: 113.2 on, 101.2 off, +12.0 on-off
2018: 113.7 on, 102.5 off, +11.2 on-off
2022: 110.1 on, 100.1 off, +10.0 on-off
2007: 107.6 on, 99.9 off, +7.7 on-off
2011: 111.5 on, 104.0 off, +7.5 on-off
2005: 107.6 on, 100.5 off, +7.1 on-off
2020: 112.1 on, 105.2 off, +6.9 on-off
2021: 112.4 on 105.8 off, +6.6 on-off
2004: 102.5 on, 96.4 off, +6.1 on-off
2019: 109.6 on, 103.6 off, +6.0 on-off

They are struggling at team effort stats like forced TOs and rebounding. Honestly, the problem for the Lakers could be fixed with low level talent change over. It's not a big problem to fix but it's very impactful.

[Colbinii]

Imagine this LeBron on something like the Suns instead of CP3 or even a lesser team like Boston instead of Brown or Tatum.

[RCM88x]

Imagine this LeBron on something like the Suns instead of CP3 or even a lesser team like Boston instead of Brown or Tatum.

On the Cavs instead of Sexton

[Heej]

LeBron at Center this season:

141 minutes, 72% eFG, 75.8% TS, 90.3% at the rim

Lakers 112.2 ORtg, 107.7 DRtg

19th year Bron is still the best option for La at every position

Man's still got banged on by Speedy Claxton tho =\

[homecourtloss]

251 players have played 450+ minutes in the NBA this season.

Four different Lakers are in the bottom 30 players per 538 RAPTOR.

236. THT, -4.4, 531 minutes played
230. Bradley, -4.1, 599 minutes played
227. Westbrook, -3.9, 1,227 minutes played
222. Ellington, -3.3, 564 minutes played

EDIT: Four. Forgot about Ellington.