LeBron James to the Lakers 4 Years/$154M

[stl4life07]

On 7/9/2018 at 12:20 PM, BStanRamFan said:

Chris Broussard reported before the end of the season that LeBron wanted to play off the ball if he went to Philly; the same logic applies to LAL as they have a young, potential all star PG in place. It would lengthen his career and keep his usage down. He is definetly going to change the way he's played compared to the last 15 seasons if he wants to play 7 more and reach the goal of playing with his son.

You will see a different Lebron offensively next season. He will play off the ball and in the post more. All of the moves made by the Lakers and reports from Broussard point to that change happening.

I agree with what you are saying. The only thing I question is whether or not LeBron will stick to playing off the ball? Like Mike Tyson famously said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth". LeBron can come into the season wanting to play off the ball but when the Lakers start losing games or get down big in games, will LeBron stick with playing off the ball or will he demand the ball because he want his team to stop losing?

[Jetsfan33]

Laker$ gonna be anywhere between 3-8 in the tough tightly packed West.

[sdrawkcab321]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2785439-massive-amount-of-lakers-fans-line-up-to-greet-lebron-james-at-la-blaze-pizza

 

lmao Lebron doesn’t care about fans

[TLO]

Still doesn’t seem real to me tbh

[BStanRamFan]

21 hours ago, stl4life07 said:

I agree with what you are saying. The only thing I question is whether or not LeBron will stick to playing off the ball? Like Mike Tyson famously said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth". LeBron can come into the season wanting to play off the ball but when the Lakers start losing games or get down big in games, will LeBron stick with playing off the ball or will he demand the ball because he want his team to stop losing?

I think signing his first long term deal in years shows his commitment to the long term and the plan Magic laid out to him. This next season is essentially a wash anyway; they will see which young players progress (Hart, Ingram, Ball, Kuzma) and make a move next offseason FA wise. Plus no one is beating the Warriors so I think LeBron truly does commit this season to adjusting his playing style. Their ceiling is a loss in the WCF. Floor is 6-7th seed in the West. I think Houston falls off a cliff next year and it's really just Warriors and everyone else.

 

[BleedTheClock]

23 hours ago, stl4life07 said:

I agree with what you are saying. The only thing I question is whether or not LeBron will stick to playing off the ball? Like Mike Tyson famously said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth". LeBron can come into the season wanting to play off the ball but when the Lakers start losing games or get down big in games, will LeBron stick with playing off the ball or will he demand the ball because he want his team to stop losing?

EXACTLY. That roster isn't good enough for him to just play within the confines of the offense. He's going to need to go God Mode for them to win games. I'm sure LeBron would like to sit in the corner and J.O. for 4 quarters and win, but that's never going to happen. He needs to be the alpha. And his teammates are going to feed him the ball. Every team he's ever been on has passed him the ball and stood there and watched. It's not easy to attack the basket or shoot a contested shot when you know you have the greatest player on the planet on the roster. The only change I think we see is that LeBron starts to play less minutes. His play style won't change because his team needs him to play hero ball to win.

[CWood21]

1 hour ago, BleedTheClock said:

EXACTLY. That roster isn't good enough for him to just play within the confines of the offense. He's going to need to go God Mode for them to win games. I'm sure LeBron would like to sit in the corner and J.O. for 4 quarters and win, but that's never going to happen. He needs to be the alpha. And his teammates are going to feed him the ball. Every team he's ever been on has passed him the ball and stood there and watched. It's not easy to attack the basket or shoot a contested shot when you know you have the greatest player on the planet on the roster. The only change I think we see is that LeBron starts to play less minutes. His play style won't change because his team needs him to play hero ball to win.

Who was supposed to run the offense with Cleveland?  George Hill?  J.R. Smith?  Jose Calderon?  Jordan Clarkson?  LeBron was the offense because he had to be.  Last year, LeBron's USG% was 31.6%, which was 6th highest behind James Harden (36.1%), Russell Westbrook (34.1%), Joel Embiid (33.4%), DeMarcus Cousins (31.9%), and Devin Booker (31.7%).  Go compare Kevin Durant's USG% with Oklahoma City and compare it to Golden State.  Golden State has other players who can/would run the offense so that Kevin Durant wouldn't have to.  There's probably four or five guys I trust to run an offense more on the Lakers than I do the Cavaliers.  Do I suddenly think he's going to be a completely different player?  No, but I do think we're going to see a different LeBron.

[BleedTheClock]

Just now, CWood21 said:

Who was supposed to run the offense with Cleveland?  George Hill?  J.R. Smith?  Jose Calderon?  Jordan Clarkson?  LeBron was the offense because he had to be.  Last year, LeBron's USG% was 31.6%, which was 6th highest behind James Harden (36.1%), Russell Westbrook (34.1%), Joel Embiid (33.4%), DeMarcus Cousins (31.9%), and Devin Booker (31.7%).  Go compare Kevin Durant's USG% with Oklahoma City and compare it to Golden State.  Golden State has other players who can/would run the offense so that Kevin Durant wouldn't have to.  There's probably four or five guys I trust to run an offense more on the Lakers than I do the Cavaliers.  Do I suddenly think he's going to be a completely different player?  No, but I do think we're going to see a different LeBron.

.....and who's supposed to run the offense in Los Angeles? Lonzo Ball? Rajon Rondo? Have fun with that.

[CWood21]

4 minutes ago, BleedTheClock said:

.....and who's supposed to run the offense in Los Angeles? Lonzo Ball? Rajon Rondo? Have fun with that.

I trust either of those two or Brandon Ingram exponentially more than anyone the Cavaliers could run out.

[BleedTheClock]

Just now, CWood21 said:

I trust either of those two or Brandon Ingram exponentially more than anyone the Cavaliers could run out.

George Hill is better than Lonzo Ball and he's not even good. Lonzo is an Eric Snow-level player.

 

What about when the Cavs had Kyrie? We still ran the offense through LeBron. What about when the heat had Wade? They still ran the offense through LeBron. Pointing to his final season with arguably the worst supporting cast he's had since his early Cavs days is not indicative of why he plays the way he does.

There is nobody on the planet that is more dangerous with the basketball iso'd up at the top of the key than LeBron James. It's the reason why we see it almost every play. This isn't going to suddenly change because the Lakers have freaking Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram lolololol

[indifference]

2 minutes ago, CWood21 said:

I trust either of those two or Brandon Ingram exponentially more than anyone the Cavaliers could run out.

I’m with you. Ingram and Ball with LeBron on the court is a burden off his back. He doesn’t have to create offense EVERY single possession to get a bucket. Both guys are capable of creating open shots for others or better yet just scoring on their own. Ingram is more advanced in the latter area where as Ball needs to develop in that scoring department. Needs to work on his in between game like a floater and finishing at the rim. That’s two players who can create offense while Bron can coast or be ready to shoot open shots. He’s always had at least one other creator when he wins a ship now he’s got two. Rondo and Lance will create off the bench so I’m not really counting that. But, that means Bron will be able to rest a lot more because he actually has shot creators on the roster. The shot makers are questionable at this moment but at least the offense won’t rely on 1 or 2 man to score like his previous teams.

[CWood21]

4 minutes ago, BleedTheClock said:

George Hill is better than Lonzo Ball and he's not even good. Lonzo is an Eric Snow-level player.

 

What about when the Cavs had Kyrie? We still ran the offense through LeBron. What about when the heat had Wade? They still ran the offense through LeBron. Pointing to his final season with arguably the worst supporting cast he's had since his early Cavs days is not indicative of why he plays the way he does.

There is nobody on the planet that is more dangerous with the basketball iso'd up at the top of the key than LeBron James. It's the reason why we see it almost every play. This isn't going to suddenly change because the Lakers have freaking Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram lolololol

I know you're a Cavs fan and all, but at least try and hide your bias.  The Cavaliers' 2017/18 roster was a joke.  The only reason they made the NBA Finals was because of LeBron James.  We're going to see how badly they regress this year. 

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.fcgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1_hint=Lonzo+Ball&player_id1_select=Lonzo+Ball&y1=2018&player_id1=balllo01&idx=players&player_id2_hint=George+Hill&player_id2_select=George+Hill&y2=2018&player_id2=hillge01&idx=players

Lulz.  The only thing that George Hill did better than Lonzo last year was shoot the ball better.  Lonzo rebounds at significantly higher rate, he's a significantly better passer, and both DBPM and DWS valued Lonzo significantly higher than George Hill.  And that's all despite the fact that they had similar USG% rates.  It's not even close.  Add on the fact that Lonzo Ball is 20 years old and George Hill is 31 years old as well as Lonzo being on his rookie contract for another 3 seasons, and George Hill has some 2 years, $27M left on his contract and Lonzo is exponentially better and more valuable than George Hill.  I can't believe you're even arguing that.

[indifference]

7 minutes ago, BleedTheClock said:

George Hill is better than Lonzo Ball and he's not even good. Lonzo is an Eric Snow-level player.

 

What about when the Cavs had Kyrie? We still ran the offense through LeBron. What about when the heat had Wade? They still ran the offense through LeBron. Pointing to his final season with arguably the worst supporting cast he's had since his early Cavs days is not indicative of why he plays the way he does.

There is nobody on the planet that is more dangerous with the basketball iso'd up at the top of the key than LeBron James. It's the reason why we see it almost every play. This isn't going to suddenly change because the Lakers have freaking Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram lolololol

I think you are severly underrating the talent of Ball and Ingram. Bron is high on both players and part of the reason why he decided to play along side. They aren’t all stars by any means yet but these guys are lengthy and can create offense off their PnR IQ. Ball and Ingram were top 3 picks for a reason. They can hoop. Not saying Bron will not be the primary ball handler that won’t be the case. But, he won’t have to dominate the ball as much with those two. Can use himself as a cutter in lanes when those guys break their defender down on iso or PnR. Bron FTA will go up as he plays off ball.

[CWood21]

3 minutes ago, indifference said:

I’m with you. Ingram and Ball with LeBron on the court is a burden off his back. He doesn’t have to create offense EVERY single possession to get a bucket. Both guys are capable of creating open shots for others or better yet just scoring on their own. Ingram is more advanced in the latter area where as Ball needs to develop in that scoring department. Needs to work on his in between game like a floater and finishing at the rim. That’s two players who can create offense while Bron can coast or be ready to shoot open shots. He’s always had at least one other creator when he wins a ship now he’s got two. Rondo and Lance will create off the bench so I’m not really counting that. But, that means Bron will be able to rest a lot more because he actually has shot creators on the roster. The shot makers are questionable at this moment but at least the offense won’t rely on 1 or 2 man to score like his previous teams.

I'm not sure if people are misunderstanding me, or if they legitimately are being obtuse.  I'm not saying he's going to suddenly be a spot up shooter and standing around the perimeter or playing like a big man.  He's just not going to handle the offense as much, because he isn't the only one capable of creating the offense.  Look at the USG% of LeBron in Kyrie's last year (30%) and last year (31.6%).  He's going to be closer to that last year with Kyrie than he is last year.

[Mox]

16 minutes ago, BleedTheClock said:

George Hill is better than Lonzo Ball and he's not even good. Lonzo is an Eric Snow-level player.

 

What about when the Cavs had Kyrie? We still ran the offense through LeBron. What about when the heat had Wade? They still ran the offense through LeBron. Pointing to his final season with arguably the worst supporting cast he's had since his early Cavs days is not indicative of why he plays the way he does.

There is nobody on the planet that is more dangerous with the basketball iso'd up at the top of the key than LeBron James. It's the reason why we see it almost every play. This isn't going to suddenly change because the Lakers have freaking Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram lolololol

Lonzo Ball and Rajon Rondo are significantly better playmakers for others than George Hill, Kyrie Irving, and Dwyane Wade. Kyrie Irving is actually legitimately bad at it. Doesn't make Ball/Rondo better players (they aren't) but running the offense through them is not a bad thing. If they run a portion of the offense and LeBron spends more time in the post, spotting up or slashing they will be plenty good offensively. The only problem is they can't shoot.