LeBron James 2021-22 Regular Season Thread - Part ?

[trickshot]

I'm hoping Lakers can convince Westbrook to opt out and sign a 1+1 for $55m. Westbrook does it because it's same as 47m plus another season of 8m but he gets a defacto no trade clause meaning he can't be traded next season.

Lakers would be able to use the 10m MLE and 4m BAE in offseason if Westbrook does this.

On top of this I'd be trying to trade THT+picks to get Melton+Tillman

Woah, I wouldn't even give Westbrook a 15 minute no trade clause. The whole point of extending him in any re-signing scenario should be to make it easier for him to leave. If I'm a GM I'd even consider tampering to help someone get him, personally chauffeur him to the airport and get him a new house in a different city.

[Fadeaway_J]

I don't think AD's position has anything to do with his injury proneness. How many of his issues have been of the wear-and-tear type from banging with bigger players, as opposed to acute injuries that occur during a game?

The man probably falls over while making breakfast. Between his playstyle and just random bad luck, he'll be getting hurt if you play him at PG.

[trickshot]

I don't think AD's position has anything to do with his injury proneness. How many of his issues have been of the wear-and-tear type from banging with bigger players, as opposed to acute injuries that occur during a game?

The man probably falls over while making breakfast. Between his playstyle and just random bad luck, he'll be getting hurt if you play him at PG.

Yes very true, although the most common thread I see in his injuries are they often come within 3-5ft of the basket going towards or within the paint. Achilles sprain after knocking knees with Jokic on a drive, groin strain in the phx series on a landing on a layup, reaggravated it going for a block and rolled ankle last night coming down. Doesn't include the minor ones. Ironically he might be safer playing softer.

Why it doesn't matter is although playing C might reduce the occurrences he's generally in and around that area you can't hide him forever. He isn't a top 10 player without these things. He'll eventually enter some freak collision and be out for 4 weeks. His real problem is every routine collision has a high chance of ruling him out.

[PistolPeteJR]

I don't think AD's position has anything to do with his injury proneness. How many of his issues have been of the wear-and-tear type from banging with bigger players, as opposed to acute injuries that occur during a game?

The man probably falls over while making breakfast. Between his playstyle and just random bad luck, he'll be getting hurt if you play him at PG.

Yes very true, although the most common thread I see in his injuries are they often come within 3-5ft of the basket going towards or within the paint. Achilles sprain after knocking knees with Jokic on a drive, groin strain in the phx series on a landing on a layup, reaggravated it going for a block and rolled ankle last night coming down. Doesn't include the minor ones. Ironically he might be safer playing softer.

Why it doesn't matter is although playing C might reduce the occurrences he's generally in and around that area you can't hide him forever. He isn't a top 10 player without these things. He'll eventually enter some freak collision and be out for 4 weeks. His real problem is every routine collision has a high chance of ruling him out.

I wonder how much of his being injury-prone most often inside of 3-5ft has to do with him not developing the proper mechanics inside the paint as a young gun growing up due to his crazy growth spurt in high school. As a result, playing more inside in the big leagues, different than what he was used to most of his life prior, he just didn't understand positioning inside as much from a safety standpoint.

Granted, it's something that can be developed by working with a biomechanics expert and all, but who knows if he's invested in that?

Just a thought.

[zimpy27]

Of all the talk about the Westbrook trade ruining the season, it turns out in the end that even if Lakers got every move right they still wouldn't have won a championship because AD got injured pretty much all season.

Makes me think that Davis should be traded for someone.

[Greyhound]

He will be better next season than this season but he really shouldn't be a C, his body isn't made for it. Lakers need to go back to LeBron at SF or trade Davis.

Davis going back to PF is one major component of going back big. The key is that he needs to be paired with a shooting big or a grunt work garbage man with the ability to cover on the perimeter (Bismack Biyombo, Tristan Thompson type).

They need a big SG who can defend wings and not get destroyed by big forwards on switches. That guy could be Austin Reaves.

They also need another wing capable of defending PG’s (a KCP type).

Isn't Davis at PF more of an injury risk?

Needs to cover more ground and be on the perimeter even more

We need a stretch big then

Wood was the guy....

I wonder if we can convince Russ to do 3 years 60-70M or 2 years 50-55

Open up some cap space

Nunn opts in possibly?

Maybe convince Monk to take a small deal and pay more later with bird rights?

Use the mle if we have it

Need a major turn around with this team

Say we can't move Russ or he actually opts goes for a longer deal with less hit this year, I try to package a 1st with THT

Stanley? Dwight as a backup C maybe? Melo maybe as a deep bench scorer?

Core pieces:
Lebron, AD, Russ, Reaves, Nunn?, Monk

Missing a long defensive wing who can shoot a bit at least

Missing a starting sg

Missing a stretch big

Missing a mobile big

I don’t think it is. He gets to float around and use his length to contest players on the perimeter more.

More then anything, it makes him more comfortable as a player.

He begrudgingly plays center because he does not like jostling with bigger guys. It could be that he plays a more timid style game when faced with bigger opponents. That mindset could plausibly lead to a less aggressive/ reactive play style, more susceptible to getting hurt.

It’s a stretch, but mindset should not be totally discounted.

———-

This was the starting lineup of the bubble champion:

KCP 6’5” (6’8” wingspan)
Green 6’6” (6’10”)
James 6’9” (7’0”)
Davis 6’10” (7’6”)
McGee 7’0” (7’6” wingspan)

That team was huge (not just in the paint, but everywhere). That was their advantage and I would like to see them go back to it for next season.

[LukaTheGOAT]

Lol maybe Bron doesn't get calls because he doesn't need it as much as other people

Read on Twitter

?s=19

Also the last thing I'll say about the freethrow thing.

Lebron leads the league in scoring without freethrows at 25.9 pts per game.

[homecourtloss]

Lol maybe Bron doesn't get calls because he doesn't need it as much as other people

Read on Twitter

?s=19

Also the last thing I'll say about the freethrow thing.

Lebron leads the league in scoring without freethrows at 25.9 pts per game.

To put this into perspective, Michael Jordan only scored 25.9 points per game sans free throws three times in his career.

[McBubbles]

This was probably already mentioned at the time and I just forgot, but wtf was up with the All D voting last year?

Lakers #1 defence, 0 All D members.
76ers #2 defence, 3 all D members.
Heat #9 defence, 2 all D members.
Bucks #10 defence, 2 all D members.

The ****. Lebron's inability to get credit for his defence has metastasized. I assume it's because they didn't win enough games to justify them narratively? But Draymond's on the ballot and the Warriors sucked so idk.

[trickshot]

I don't think AD's position has anything to do with his injury proneness. How many of his issues have been of the wear-and-tear type from banging with bigger players, as opposed to acute injuries that occur during a game?

The man probably falls over while making breakfast. Between his playstyle and just random bad luck, he'll be getting hurt if you play him at PG.

Yes very true, although the most common thread I see in his injuries are they often come within 3-5ft of the basket going towards or within the paint. Achilles sprain after knocking knees with Jokic on a drive, groin strain in the phx series on a landing on a layup, reaggravated it going for a block and rolled ankle last night coming down. Doesn't include the minor ones. Ironically he might be safer playing softer.

Why it doesn't matter is although playing C might reduce the occurrences he's generally in and around that area you can't hide him forever. He isn't a top 10 player without these things. He'll eventually enter some freak collision and be out for 4 weeks. His real problem is every routine collision has a high chance of ruling him out.

I wonder how much of his being injury-prone most often inside of 3-5ft has to do with him not developing the proper mechanics inside the paint as a young gun growing up due to his crazy growth spurt in high school. As a result, playing more inside in the big leagues, different than what he was used to most of his life prior, he just didn't understand positioning inside as much from a safety standpoint.

Granted, it's something that can be developed by working with a biomechanics expert and all, but who knows if he's invested in that?

Just a thought.

Yeah I think so too. You can tell he didn't grow up playing in this body. Things like straining his groin on a conventional landing are the norm for him. He should definitely work on his biomechanics. I think sometimes these players don't take advantage of modern methods till the worst happens. Like coming back after the offseason with a buff upper body might not have been the best if he did it on his own. Total noob move to buff up your arms and chest. Consulting any kind of physio or exercise specialist would tell you not to add weight there without first strengthening everything else that adds stability and takes off stress. it's not a simple offseason workout regimen.

[Baski]

Lol maybe Bron doesn't get calls because he doesn't need it as much as other people

Read on Twitter

?s=19

Also the last thing I'll say about the freethrow thing.

Lebron leads the league in scoring without freethrows at 25.9 pts per game.

This is **** insane. Has no one on the Lakers noticed this?

This was probably already mentioned at the time and I just forgot, but wtf was up with the All D voting last year?

Lakers #1 defence, 0 All D members.
76ers #2 defence, 3 all D members.
Heat #9 defence, 2 all D members.
Bucks #10 defence, 2 all D members.

The ****. Lebron's inability to get credit for his defence has metastasized. I assume it's because they didn't win enough games to justify them narratively? But Draymond's on the ballot and the Warriors sucked so idk.

I said it here in 2019. LeBron's defense was already disrespected by 2018, but he permanently killed any shot of getting future defensive recognition with his 2018 and 2019 seasons. Optics are still pretty important for these accolades so you won't get away with some of the lazy crap he was pulling, regardless of how effective overall he was.

[trickshot]

Hate to bring it up because of how lacking Lebron has been on D this year but the entire 21 Lakers were undercredited defensively. I can't believe people thought AD was anchoring that defensive rating. That was his worst defensive season of his career, just had to watch a couple games to see it. Defensive awards really are rep based because I'm certain most fans don't know. Took a full year for people to find out AD had actually been mailing it since the bubble.

Now the media are waking up to what Caruso, Wes, KCP, Schroder and others brought, even Lebron was impressive. You know how good your perimeter/wing defenders have to be to retain a top DRTG during periods you're last in rim defense? means they consistently denied penetration without help. On that end 22 Lakers are a joke by comparison.

[Fadeaway_J]

Hate to bring it up because of how lacking Lebron has been on D this year but the entire 21 Lakers were undercredited defensively. I can't believe people thought AD was anchoring that defensive rating. That was his worst defensive season of his career, just had to watch a couple games to see it. Defensive awards really are rep based because I'm certain most fans don't know. Took a full year for people to find out AD had actually been mailing it since the bubble.

Now the media are waking up to what Caruso, Wes, KCP, Schroder and others brought, even Lebron was impressive. You know how good your perimeter/wing defenders have to be to retain a top DRTG during periods you're last in rim defense? means they consistently denied penetration without help. On that end 22 Lakers are a joke by comparison.

It didn't make sense to suggest AD was the anchor anyway when he missed half the season.

The truth is, outside of Caruso I'm not sure anyone else was All-Defensive Team level. It felt more like a collective effort than two or three individuals "anchoring" anything.

[trickshot]

Hate to bring it up because of how lacking Lebron has been on D this year but the entire 21 Lakers were undercredited defensively. I can't believe people thought AD was anchoring that defensive rating. That was his worst defensive season of his career, just had to watch a couple games to see it. Defensive awards really are rep based because I'm certain most fans don't know. Took a full year for people to find out AD had actually been mailing it since the bubble.

Now the media are waking up to what Caruso, Wes, KCP, Schroder and others brought, even Lebron was impressive. You know how good your perimeter/wing defenders have to be to retain a top DRTG during periods you're last in rim defense? means they consistently denied penetration without help. On that end 22 Lakers are a joke by comparison.

It didn't make sense to suggest AD was the anchor anyway when he missed half the season.

The truth is, outside of Caruso I'm not sure anyone else was All-Defensive Team level. It felt more like a collective effort than two or three individuals "anchoring" anything.

All defensive team is a different topic. I don't actually think anyone was all defense because of how evenly spread defensive responsibility was. Maybe that's why no one ever stuck out. It was a collective and individual effort. They were all good. Caruso was the best at team defensive aspects (which is a silently large portion of defense) but the best man defender would cycle every night between Dennis, Caruso, Matthews and KCP depending on the assignment. For the regular season Schroder and KCP were the POA guy for the quicker guard matchups.

They all put in a great contribution. It's also hard to make all defensive team as a guard without heavy defensive responsibility on ball night in and night out. That's what people most notice when they see a game, which I guess there's nothing wrong with. Is normal. Defensive awards are all reputation and the most glaring optics.

[nzahir]

Davis going back to PF is one major component of going back big. The key is that he needs to be paired with a shooting big or a grunt work garbage man with the ability to cover on the perimeter (Bismack Biyombo, Tristan Thompson type).

They need a big SG who can defend wings and not get destroyed by big forwards on switches. That guy could be Austin Reaves.

They also need another wing capable of defending PG’s (a KCP type).

Isn't Davis at PF more of an injury risk?

Needs to cover more ground and be on the perimeter even more

We need a stretch big then

Wood was the guy....

I wonder if we can convince Russ to do 3 years 60-70M or 2 years 50-55

Open up some cap space

Nunn opts in possibly?

Maybe convince Monk to take a small deal and pay more later with bird rights?

Use the mle if we have it

Need a major turn around with this team

Say we can't move Russ or he actually opts goes for a longer deal with less hit this year, I try to package a 1st with THT

Stanley? Dwight as a backup C maybe? Melo maybe as a deep bench scorer?

Core pieces:
Lebron, AD, Russ, Reaves, Nunn?, Monk

Missing a long defensive wing who can shoot a bit at least

Missing a starting sg

Missing a stretch big

Missing a mobile big

I don’t think it is. He gets to float around and use his length to contest players on the perimeter more.

More then anything, it makes him more comfortable as a player.

He begrudgingly plays center because he does not like jostling with bigger guys. It could be that he plays a more timid style game when faced with bigger opponents. That mindset could plausibly lead to a less aggressive/ reactive play style, more susceptible to getting hurt.

It’s a stretch, but mindset should not be totally discounted.

———-

This was the starting lineup of the bubble champion:

KCP 6’5” (6’8” wingspan)
Green 6’6” (6’10”)
James 6’9” (7’0”)
Davis 6’10” (7’6”)
McGee 7’0” (7’6” wingspan)

That team was huge (not just in the paint, but everywhere). That was their advantage and I would like to see them go back to it for next season.

Isn't moving around more on the perimeter more of an issue for the knees and feet?

Likely more of an injury risk on offense, but smaller risk on defense

Unless AD justs ettles for jumpers, which sucks

We need a stretch big like Wood

[nzahir]

Anyone here think Lebron may consider taking less money this summer and opts out for a 1+1 to help the team make a push for 1 last run. Say he takes a 1+1 for 40-50m total

This would also require Russ going for a 2-3 year deal with less money this year. Something like 2 years 50-55m or 3 years 60-70m.

Who would be a few ideal FA's if we actually carved out cap space?

RoCo?
Gary Harris?
Ibaka?

Could we steal a guy like Beal if we had the cap space?

[homecourtloss]

Hate to bring it up because of how lacking Lebron has been on D this year but the entire 21 Lakers were undercredited defensively. I can't believe people thought AD was anchoring that defensive rating. That was his worst defensive season of his career, just had to watch a couple games to see it. Defensive awards really are rep based because I'm certain most fans don't know. Took a full year for people to find out AD had actually been mailing it since the bubble.

Now the media are waking up to what Caruso, Wes, KCP, Schroder and others brought, even Lebron was impressive. You know how good your perimeter/wing defenders have to be to retain a top DRTG during periods you're last in rim defense? means they consistently denied penetration without help. On that end 22 Lakers are a joke by comparison.

LeBron’s defensive year has been interesting. His off ball defense isn’t as good but some of that has to do with the LeBron at the 5 lineups and because there are seemingly 2 negative defenders with him at all times.

But his defensive contest numbers are actually really good and he’s contesting more shots, but from watching games, teams are going at him more than they did in the past. There are poster(s) active on this thread or on the PC boards who have decried his “doesn’t contest as many shots as X or Y,” but often times, it’s because Lebron had stopped an action off of a rotation/close-out and the ball was swung away from him. This year, he’s contesting shots and is near the top of the league but the Lakers’ defense with him on court has been not good.

Last 10 games Opponents are shooting 33.3% against him, 13.3% lower than season averages.

https://www.nba.com/stats/player/2544/defense-dash/?Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&LastNGames=15

For the season, they’re shooting 40.1% against him, 6.3% lower than season averages, on 12.6 FGA per game. For players who have played 25+ games, and contested 7+ shots per game (286 such players), LeBron is 4th in holding opponents under their season averages:

1. DRose, 25 games, 9.5 DFGA/g, -7.6%
2. Jarret Allen
3. Kleber
4. LeBron, 41 games, 12.5 DFGA/g, -6.3%
7. Thybulle
8. Iggy
9. Quickley
11. Gobert
12. Bam
16. Draymond
18. Mobley
24. AD
38. Tatum
42. Giannis
51. PG13
106. Embiid
118. Marcus Smart
120. Ayo
122. Caruso
139. RoCo
140. Danny Green
171. Siakam
175. Jimmy Butler
198. CP3
202. Lonzo Ball
237. Derozan
243. Dejounte Murray
252. Lowry
257. Westbrook, +4.0%
277. Buddy Hield
284. Avery Bradley, +7.7%
286. Jalen Green, +8.4%

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/defense-dash-overall/?CF=GP*GE*25:D_FGA*GE*7&Season=2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=PCT_PLUSMINUS&dir=-1

[letskissbro]

LeBron is 37 playing center next to 2-3 defenders who don't know how to make a correct rotation twice in a row for half of his minutes. I mean no **** he's posting negative defensive stats. Things aren't going to be noticeably better by him just trying harder. He led the league in stocks and the Lakers in every hustle stat for the entire month of December and they were still terrible. It's an issue with role, not ability or effort. If you played Thybulle at center your defense would look like **** too.

[thebigbird]

Lakers fans really exposing themselves after these LeBron comments this afternoon. I hope he leaves them high and dry. They never embraced him in the first place.

[falcolombardi]

Lakers fans really exposing themselves after these LeBron comments this afternoon. I hope he leaves them high and dry. They never embraced him in the first place.

i am out of the loop, what happened?