The LEBRON JAMES Thread

[lakersfever714]

[Snipes]

[BILBJH]

[miggz23]

[Hanging from Rafters]

If others notice the Lakers don’t appear committed to a ship then LBJ notices it too. If others notice the GM’s roster building holes and inadequate talent evaluation then LBJ notices it too.

LBJ doesn’t have time to waste more multiple seasons as he’s already done. I think he is gone to Philly. MaxC and Dlo will get suitors that will plan on using them appropriately for a reasonably price. No team will trade with Pelinka.

This is next year’s starters:

AD
Rui
Vando
AR
Vincent
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“When it looks as if it is a realistic possibility, I want to focus on winning a ship like it’s a goal that can’t be denied. I didn’t see that this off season.”

[daytripper]

[Megaton]

Their is actually two teams I could easily see Lebron going to:

- Third time is the charm: Cavs. Ever since Mitchell, that time has been a SF away from truly competing for a title. What better swan song for LeBron then going back home again and playing with Garland, Mitchell, Mobley and Allen? Although the fit is questionable considering the two front court big men don’t shoot outside jump shots at all.

- My dark horse pick: The Suns. Imagine the Suns out of nowhere decide to draft Bronny? Not only Pheonix would have his son (no pun intended), but LeBron finally getting the chance to play with Kevin Durant? Devin Booker? And play with shooters like Grayson Allen and Bradley Beal? (Lol) The one thing the Suns are in truly desperate need of is a point guard. Lebron is that point guard. Yeah he would have to sign basically for the vet min, but to play with his son AND a realistic shot at a title?

Bradley Beal
Devin Booker
Kevin Durant
LeBron James
Jusuf Nurkic

Plus the Suns are looking to trade their 2031 first rounder so they could upgrade their bench with that lineup as well with that.
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Lakers Offseason Goal:
- Draft Zach Edey (or Kel'el Ware)
- Sign Jonas Valanciunas or Nicolas Claxton
- sign and trade DLO to not lose value
- sign a coach that’s not an idiot

Call it an offseason

[Reds622]

[JUST-MING]

Coach killer

Paul Silas, Cleveland (2003-05) FIRED
Mike Brown, Cleveland (2005-10) FIRED
Erik Spoelstra, Miami (2010-14)
David Blatt, Cleveland (2014-16) FIRED
Tyronn Lue, Cleveland (2016-18) FIRED
Luke Walton, Los Angeles (2018-19) FIRED
Frank Vogel, Los Angeles (2019-22) FIRED
Darvin Ham, Los Angeles (2022-24) FIRED

[Reds622]

[Bron2AD]

[Brawn13]

[J.C. Smith]

[vasashi17+]

@Brawn: So let me ask you, it takes a special lame brain to be deluded into thinking that something that has historically worked for a player ain’t the way to go any longer.

You correctly observed that Bron was younger when he took his talents to link up with not only 1, but 2 established/rising stars. Yet our supposed “brain” trust be”lie”ved that Bron with just 1 star and a mess of role players was the way to go for a now older Bron. TF? They used the bubble chip, which had its own uniqueness of novelty compared to any other regular/post season in NBA history to prove proof positive that an older Bron only needed 1 other star, even tho they angled for a 3rd but failed at doing so that season.

They then took the Westbrook experiment along with 3 star combos around the league like BK to again justify that the 2 star + role players was the model to offer the most help to Bron…who was much older now that in his 3star model days.

Bron obviously should have recruited far harder when he first got here, cause his Laker tenure has been far more underwhelming than expected, even with Father Time’s contributions considered. Likewise, Paul George & Kawhi gotta be kicking themselves thinking what could have been had they respectively partnered up with a Bron/AD pairing in the offseasons of 2018 or 2019. Ky probably regrets his exit strategy a year too early from Cleveland now. Butler & KD probably wondered, maybe we shoulda partnered up with Bron when we was free agents.

But the fact of the matter is, that there was a blueprint to Bron’s success and it was pairing him with a young perimeter playmaker (Wade had already won a chip & been an allstar before teaming up with Bron, while Ky was the #1 overall pick & a 2 time allstar before he linked up with Bron) & an established frontline player (Bosh, Love & AD, who were all established allstars before linking up with the chosen 1).

So you gotta choose the right 2 to put next to Bron, especially with him being older now…and clearly a Russell of any kind (even in jersey #) ain’t the way to go.

Hindsight is 20/20, so it’s easy to go in on how lame our FO has been…but they too had the gift of 20/20 seeing them Heatles & Cleaveland models not only with their 3star alignment, but also AVknowleding the margins by spending a pretty penny on “the others” that make up the rest of the roster. Times where different then with the C3ltics & Dubs teams also rounding out that Star Wars generation in the league, but our FO did get to see all of that in hindsight. Yet they took an older Bron that was slowly coming out his prime and thought it was a good f’n idea to give him less help….good grief, Robbie Brown.

Is if dropping the Kang’s crown wasn’t enough, they even let the Brow down by giving him less to work with & continuing to place dude in a po5ition to fail, when dude made it blatantly obvious he preferred forward thinking when it came to his future. 🙁
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Not familiar with the salary cap/CBA rules & how it impacts our Lakers?
#GetFamiliar by CLICKING HERE!

[JUST-MING]

Established rising stars? They were literally his team usa teammates. Miami was team usa with Erik Spoelstra as the head coach instead of Coach K. Lebron even tried to get Spolestra fired.

[Treble Clef]

I get why some people are anxious to turn the page on the LeBron James chapter but it’s going to be a rough several years after he leaves.

[Japago]

LeBron should be celebrated more for winning even one title with our garbage front offices. Going back to mention some of the Jim/Mitch days because those effects bled into the LeBron era.

-Lakers had 3 #2 picks and 1 number 7 picks, and got NO stars from them. Brown in 2016 and Tatum and Fox in 2017 were reasonable picks at those positions that the Lakers missed on. The AD trade ended up being the right move because NONE of those assets were anything special and LeBron would never be quite at the level he was in 2020.

-The Mozgov and Deng signings were so bad that it made the Lakers get rid of assets to unload Mozgov and Deng carried his cap hold into the LeBron era because the Lakers stretched his contract.

-The Lakers started with Luke Walton coaching LeBron. Vogel was a good coach who got dealt a bad roster, and he got replaced with a bad coach.

-The Lakers stood still in 2019 FA for a player that ended up not going to them. The Lakers' FO recovered nicely to get the pieces that lead to the 'ship, but think about the players the Lakers missed out on while the Lakers made that wait.

-The Lakers have been frivolous with giving away picks and good players since. They gave away an FRP for Schroder and multiple good players and a pick for Westbrook.

-And the Lakers have done nothing with the picks they have kept. None of those guys have made an impact, with THT still being the best player out of the bunch.

-The Lakers haven't done enough with their signings, which was a strength of theirs in 2019. Their signings in 2021, 2022, 2023 were all bad overall, including their use of exceptions. They were bad even by the standards of that small spending power. I think this has been exacerbated by their bad drafting, making the Lakers rely on these guys more.

This team would be a Charlotte Hornets-level team without LeBron's stint here.

He saved this team from having absolute nothingness since 2013.

[Snipes]

[defense]

[levon]

[Ziggy]

[Denny_Russo]

[venturalakersfan]

There is a median between rebuilding and play-in contention. In my mind it would be maintaining play-in contention without trading future picks for an older vet who might get a couple of more regular season wins and maybe an additional playoff win. Let things die organically without destroying the future.
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RIP mom. 11-21-1933 to 6-14-2023.

[MJST]

[Sojo]