The LeBron James Thread

[ojandpizza]

Cavs were only a better fit from the standpoint of “LeBron needs shooters around him” point of view. But when the playoffs rolled around and Smith, Love, Hill, Green, Hood, Clarkson were all shooting in the low 30’s% or in some cases worse, the shooting “fit” kind of went out the window. If they aren’t going to hit 3’s might as well have guys who can defend and make plays like what the Lakers have..

As far as how good the team will be, I’m really torn. It’s an odd mix, where with the Cavs you at least had an idea of the direction they were going in. The Lakers success rate will depend almost entirely on the type of jump Kuzma, Ingram, Ball, and Hart make. If any of them have a “breakout” year, especially more than one of them, this team could have a pretty good year.

The positive here vs Cleveland is they have multiple playmakers, they have people who can defend, and they should have a better balance as far as not living and dying by one thing, they should be better on the break which makes me think we’ll get more of that Wade-Bron fastbreak type of action with Ball/Rondo.

The team lacks top tier talent, especially if there is no breakout season. Probably the least amount of top level talent LeBron has had since his first go around with Cleveland all while facing better competition. But this might be the deepest team he’s played on. Not really a situation where the bench is depleted and old, or where guys are completely one dimensional. With this team I can’t really imagine them just falling off a damn cliff any time LeBron sits for 3 minutes or doesn’t touch the ball on consecutive trips up the court.

Even when the Cavs had Kyrie it was basically just Kyrie-iso any time the play didn’t run through Bron. Which if Kyrie wasn’t hot looked just as disastrous as anything they did this year. I actually feel like off ball movement from Bron was better this season than any year with Kyrie, maybe because he felt like he would get the ball if he cut, but not having Kyrie limited them because everyone else outside of Love was basically spot up shooters.

Ultimately it really depends on those younger guys. I think they are definitely a playoff team, I don’t see them missing the playoffs entirely. I understand they are unproven, the West is deep, but it’s hard for me to sit here and see the Jazz will be a 3 seed predictions and the Lakers might miss the playoffs lol. I just don’t see a team with LeBron and any cast of players no matter how young being a non-competitive team. Once the playoffs start they have pieces to make games interesting, but I don’t really see any sort of deep run if this is their final roster.




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[TMagic]

I'm just curious about what JazzMan thinks

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[jeebs9]

All I can say is the ball is going to be flying around. Like you thought the Lakers had one of the best pace in the NBA. They should be even better this year.

[AlexBrady]

Daryl Morey is mistaken in his belief that LeBron James is the GOAT by a bit of a margin. He is certainly among the top handful of non-bigs to play the game but his considerable flaws keep him out of the very top spot.

Michael Jordan was a more consistent perimeter shooter from beyond 15 feet. Since MJ was much quicker than LeBron he was also much more capable of defending speedy opponents man to man. Off the ball, MJ was more active making swift dive cuts.

Oscar Robertson was also a finer player than LBJ. He was a better passer and post up player. He was slightly quicker and a more consistent defender.

[Majingir]

lol, NBA.com is in ultimate clickbait mode.

Front page story on their site:
"What if Kobe came back to play with LeBron?"

[Vni]

Quote: Originally Posted by Majingir

lol, NBA.com is in ultimate clickbait mode. Front page story on their site: "What if Kobe came back to play with LeBron?"

What if Wilt came back to play with Lebron ? Their next article.

[ojandpizza]

Keep thinking of the Lakers with all those young guys, and all those new guys, and always in the mix I forget about Caldwell-Pope still being on the roster and still only 25 years old himself.

In my previous post I had mentioned that the team is only going to be as good/bad as how much progression those young guys make coming into this year. But that didn't factor in KCP.

What would be your guys take on what to expect from him next year? Does he start over Hart? Solid defender who keeps creeping closer to 40% from three, might crack it this year with multiple passers on the team. Seems like last season I would catch him scoring 30 and then the next Lakers game I got around to checking out he would have 6. What type of consistency level should be expected next year?

Does he still look like the type of player who's going to improve and get more consistent or is he the type who will always be up and down. One would think that with the whole team being up and down so young that would have been a big reason for him being up and down as well. Is there some truth to that, or is he just that kind of player. If he does settle in and improve is he a borderline 20 a game guy? Or is it going to be a reduced role thing where he's closer to a 10 a game guy.

[AlexBrady]

With LeBron dominating the ball and only looking to make assist passes I would expect the development of the Laker's young players to be stunted. Standing around and waiting for the 'golden pass' does nothing for a player's growth.