LeBron James to the Lakers 4 Years/$154M

[J-ALL-DAY]

1 minute ago, Leader said:

It I were coaching the LAL (too bad for them......) I wouldnt designate LBJ to be the buy pushing it up. I think we've got enough young guys with ball skills and legs who can do it.

Oh yeah. Lonzo is going to push the ball regardless and they have the youngsters to play that fast pace style. I think LeBron REALLY respects Magic and may be more willing to listen to him than others. He even admitted it will be hard to break some of his habits, but no reason for the Lakers not to be top 5-7 in pace with their personnel.

5 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

You could easily make the argument that's because of the way the Cavaliers are created.  I woudn't really say any of their roster is composed of guys who play with pace.

And so what is your excuse for him not playing fast in Miami? The Heat ranked 20th, 15th, 23rd and 27th in pace during the LeBron era. One thing you could say is he prefers to play with veterans and less youngsters, but this is just the way he likes to play. 

[CWood21]

1 minute ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

And so what is your excuse for him not playing fast in Miami? The Heat ranked 20th, 15th, 23rd and 27th in pace during the LeBron era. One thing you could say is he prefers to play with veterans and less youngsters, but this is just the way he likes to play. 

What exactly about the Heat screams fast pace?

[J-ALL-DAY]

Just now, CWood21 said:

What exactly about the Heat screams fast pace?

Oh I don't know, prime LeBron and Wade on the same team who are two of the most devastating players on the break in the history of the game? Or the fact that when you have the most talent you want to maximize the numbers of possessions you have? 

First you say it was how Cleveland was constructed, and now you are saying Miami didn't have the personnel for that style either? 

[Leader]

2 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Oh yeah. Lonzo is going to push the ball regardless and they have the youngsters to play that fast pace style. I think LeBron REALLY respects Magic and may be more willing to listen to him than others. He even admitted it will be hard to break some of his habits, but no reason for the Lakers not to be top 5-7 in pace with their personnel.

No question - but I think it would be best he allow others to carry that load.

Just feed the point guy (Lonzo/Rajon) who'll push it up with ball skills others fill the lanes. Let LBJ take his moments.

[CWood21]

1 minute ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

Oh I don't know, prime LeBron and Wade on the same team who are two of the most devastating players on the break in the history of the game? Or the fact that when you have the most talent you want to maximize the numbers of possessions you have? 

First you say it was how Cleveland was constructed, and now you are saying Miami didn't have the personnel for that style either? 

And the rest of their players?  They were a team built to play in the half-court, and that was during a time when transition play wasn't at the premium it is now.

[champ11]

22 minutes ago, seminoles1 said:

I understand how he plays, but he's smart enough to know that transition buckets are easy opportunities (thus him being 2nd in the NBA) and he is playing on an extremely young team filled with players who want to run.

This will be the fastest team he's ever played on.

I'll believe it when I see it. I'm with @J-ALL-DAY on this one. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

L-O-L, so I guess LeBron in 15 years never had a squad that was made to be in the top 10 in pace right? I guess it was never his actual playing style that affected the teams pace right? This is how his teams have ranked in pace since he got drafted: 12, 19, 18, 18, 24, 25, 24, 20, 15, 23, 27, 25, 27, 15 and 12. That is enough of a sample size to show this is just how the man prefers to play. And Miami just alone with Wade/Bosh/LeBron/Chalmers could have gotten the team in top 10 in pace if they really wanted to. But they didn't.....Because it didn't suit LeBron's playing style. 

In LA, he may not have a choice with the amount of youngsters they have. Those guys aren't going to want to play slow. Magic nor Walton will want them to play slow. If they are top 5-7 in pace, then LeBron needs to play less minutes. He shouldn't be playing more than 32-33 minutes if that is the case.

7 minutes ago, Leader said:

No question - but I think it would be best he allow others to carry that load.

Just feed the point guy (Lonzo/Rajon) who'll push it up with ball skills others fill the lanes. Let LBJ take his moments.

That is the supposed plan. And LeBron should want to carry less of a load. No reason for him to create every shot for his team. He has no excuse of not having another play maker on his team as he has three others in Rondo/Lonzo/Ingram. 

[J-ALL-DAY]

Just now, champ11 said:

I'll believe it when I see it. I'm with @J-ALL-DAY on this one. 

We have a 15 year sample here. At what point do you just accept reality? 

[Leader]

3 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

That is the supposed plan. And LeBron should want to carry less of a load. No reason for him to create every shot for his team. He has no excuse of not having another play maker on his team as he has three others in Rondo/Lonzo/Ingram. 

Yup.

Sounds like a gameplan to me.

[CWood21]

3 minutes ago, J-ALL-DAY said:

L-O-L, so I guess LeBron in 15 years never had a squad that was made to be in the top 10 in pace right? I guess it was never his actual playing style that affected the teams pace right? This is how his teams have ranked in pace since he got drafted: 12, 19, 18, 18, 24, 25, 24, 20, 15, 23, 27, 25, 27, 15 and 12. That is enough of a sample size to show this is just how the man prefers to play. And Miami just alone with Wade/Bosh/LeBron/Chalmers could have gotten the team in top 10 in pace if they really wanted to. But they didn't.....Because it didn't suit LeBron's playing style. 

In LA, he may not have a choice with the amount of youngsters they have. Those guys aren't going to want to play slow. Magic nor Walton will want them to play slow. If they are top 5-7 in pace, then LeBron needs to play less minutes. He shouldn't be playing more than 32-33 minutes if that is the case.

That is the supposed plan. And LeBron should want to carry less of a load. No reason for him to create every shot for his team. He has no excuse of not having another play maker on his team as he has three others in Rondo/Lonzo/Ingram. 

LeBron James is pound for pound probably the greatest athlete of our generation.  If you don't think he's capable of playing at a high level in transition, we're not going to see eye-to-eye.  But you look at the roster that Cleveland was composed of, it wasn't 3&D guys.  It was guys who were capable of shooting the ball well, but in terms of the defense part it was virtually non-existent.  I'd make the argument that LeBron James was the best defensive player on the Cavaliers roster last year.  You can't play in transition if you don't play defense.  Last year, the Cavaliers only had 2 players with 1+ DWS and they were LeBron and Love.  Last year, the Lakers had 9 although two of them (Clarkson and LN) were dealt to Cleveland and another (Julius Randle) was let go.  Between those 3, they were a combined 4.1 DWS.  They added Rajon Rondo (1.7 DWS), Lance Stephenson (2.0 DWS), and JaVale McGee (1.1 DWS).  Last year, the Lakers were 10th in opposing team's FG%.  The Cavaliers were 28th.  If that's not the obvious reason for difference in pace of play, I don't know what is.  The Lakers want to play in transition and can because they have the defenders.  Cleveland couldn't play in transition, and they played in a half court offense because of it.

[CWood21]

11 minutes ago, champ11 said:

I'll believe it when I see it. I'm with @J-ALL-DAY on this one. 

So you think the Lakers are going to completely overhaul the system they've put into the place the last few years simply because LeBron has always played in half-court based systems?  I mean, if that were the case the Lakers would have signed a bunch of shooters.  Instead, they did the exact opposite which indicates that the Lakers aren't running their offense/defense like the Cavaliers did.

[champ11]

5 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

So you think the Lakers are going to completely overhaul the system they've put into the place the last few years simply because LeBron has always played in half-court based systems?  I mean, if that were the case the Lakers would have signed a bunch of shooters.  Instead, they did the exact opposite which indicates that the Lakers aren't running their offense/defense like the Cavaliers did.

Yes I think the way LeBron likes to play may take priority over the system that has led to 61 wins in two years. Like I said, I'll believe it when I see it. 

[Leader]

6 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

LeBron James is pound for pound probably the greatest athlete of our generation.  If you don't think he's capable of playing at a high level in transition, we're not going to see eye-to-eye.  But you look at the roster that Cleveland was composed of, it wasn't 3&D guys.  It was guys who were capable of shooting the ball well, but in terms of the defense part it was virtually non-existent.  I'd make the argument that LeBron James was the best defensive player on the Cavaliers roster last year.  You can't play in transition if you don't play defense.  Last year, the Cavaliers only had 2 players with 1+ DWS and they were LeBron and Love.  Last year, the Lakers had 9 although two of them (Clarkson and LN) were dealt to Cleveland and another (Julius Randle) was let go.  Between those 3, they were a combined 4.1 DWS.  They added Rajon Rondo (1.7 DWS), Lance Stephenson (2.0 DWS), and JaVale McGee (1.1 DWS).  Last year, the Lakers were 10th in opposing team's FG%.  The Cavaliers were 28th.  If that's not the obvious reason for difference in pace of play, I don't know what is.  The Lakers want to play in transition and can because they have the defenders.  Cleveland couldn't play in transition, and they played in a half court offense because of it.

Okay - all I need is the definition of DWS and I'll be good to go.....

[J-ALL-DAY]

3 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

LeBron James is pound for pound probably the greatest athlete of our generation.  If you don't think he's capable of playing at a high level in transition, we're not going to see eye-to-eye.  But you look at the roster that Cleveland was composed of, it wasn't 3&D guys.  It was guys who were capable of shooting the ball well, but in terms of the defense part it was virtually non-existent.  I'd make the argument that LeBron James was the best defensive player on the Cavaliers roster last year.  You can't play in transition if you don't play defense.  Last year, the Cavaliers only had 2 players with 1+ DWS and they were LeBron and Love.  Last year, the Lakers had 9 although two of them (Clarkson and LN) were dealt to Cleveland and another (Julius Randle) was let go.  Between those 3, they were a combined 4.1 DWS.  They added Rajon Rondo (1.7 DWS), Lance Stephenson (2.0 DWS), and JaVale McGee (1.1 DWS).  Last year, the Lakers were 10th in opposing team's FG%.  The Cavaliers were 28th.  If that's not the obvious reason for difference in pace of play, I don't know what is.  The Lakers want to play in transition and can because they have the defenders.  Cleveland couldn't play in transition, and they played in a half court offense because of it.

Don't think he is capable of playing at a high level in transition? When did I say that? Just because he is the best athlete of his generation doesn't mean he wants to play fast. He will pick his spot and will definitely get easy buckets when they are there to be had, but he likes to preserve his energy and one way to do that is play more half court ball. And LeBron was atrocious on the defensive side of the ball. He had his moments in the playoffs when he locked in, but best defender on the Cavs? They were all trash, no one deserves the moniker as the best defender on the roster. But if we are going that way, then it was Nance or Osman.....Just because they actually gave effort on that end. And will LeBron be helped playing with more athletes? That goes without saying,. 

So Cleveland couldn't play in transition and played in half court because their defense sucked? Okay, so when he was in Miami and they ranked 5th and 4th in defensive efficiency in 2011/2012, what was the excuse for them being 20th and 15th in pace? I mean they had elite defense and plenty of plus defenders. So what held them back from playing so fast? 

Stop trying to overthink this, it is by no coincidence that in 15 years of being in the league, none of his teams have been top 10 in pace. You could blame other players or other elements, but it is clear what kind of style he prefers. In LA, it may not matter what he prefers as they have too many youngsters that want to get up and down. The Lakers will likely be top 10 in pace regardless of how much LeBron wants to slow it down. They were 3rd in pace last year,  I bet that isn't happening next season with LeBron. 

[CWood21]

10 minutes ago, champ11 said:

Yes I think the way LeBron likes to play may take priority over the system that has led to 61 wins in two years. Like I said, I'll believe it when I see it. 

If the Lakers were going to play similar to the Cavaliers, wouldn't have they put more shooters around him?