LABron James Discussion: The Final Year?

No way I grant a no trade clause

And after two years I’m trading him to Suckramento.

A Queen on the Queens. Fate is cruel.

 

LOL!!!

 

Calling my position an emotional one doesn't really help the cause if you want to have a good discussion. This reminds me of the old discussion we had on CL between the optimists and "realists". History will tell who was right, as it usually does, treating other's opinions as less objective doesn't help the discussion. Cheers

I don't want this to turn into one of those long back and forths, I don't really have the time to write long post after long post. It was never my intention to convince you to change your mind about LeBron. I know I can't do that. I just want you to accept that some of us may have a different view of the facts surrounding the Lakers and James specifically. It is my impression that this (perception of what facts are) is the main difference between those who want James on the Lakers and those who don't.

Just a few points from my side referring to some of your statements.

IMO, James is not worth his max, as good as he may be. It's a huge amount and could basically allow us to instead retain Julius (which IMO should be the No.1 priority this off-season) and sign another very good player. Due the way the current CBA is structured, the older a player gets, the less he's usually worth his max. This also applies to James. And no, I don't believe he'll still be a top 10 player in 2 years. Don't even get me started on 4-5 years from now.

There is no evidence that having James on board will speed up the development of our youth. I actually expect it to have the opposite effect - as it will significantly decrease their involvement, in some cases playing time and responsibilities.

There is no evidence that James would help us attract big name free agents. How and where did that actually happen? What great players was he able to attract to Cleveland over all his years there? What is more, he's aging and would eat up a massive chunk of the salary cap. One might expect other players take those things into consideration. BTW - the recent example of Kyrie suggests James might have the exact opposite effect as regards attraction of other stars.

Better for team and brand? The one and only thing that we need here is winning, and I just don't agree that James is the best option to improve our team in the perspective of the coming 4-5 years.

George wanted to come last year already, with no LeBron on the Lakers and what seemed to be a very bad team overall. We look much better now and could use the available cap space on other good players. It's not James or bust. I still believe we have very good chances to sign George without James.

 

TLDR

LLLLLebron is a douche and a narcissist

www.ihatelebron.com

 

@SamsonMiodek great and valid points, but of course there are LaBron haters out there...just look at the dude above my post. Its all out of love though sirron.

But to add to what Real said pertaining to each topic:

Not being worth the money:
I know all of us feel burnt by Nash and even to a certain extent, Kobe, cause father time is undefeated. That's a fact, no doubt. But Nash was 38 when he came on board. LaBron would be 34 when he throws on the P&G. Recall Nash would be on the sidelines sprawled out to loosen his back while he was in Phoenix. His minutes kept dwindling down in the last couple of years he was with the Suns, yet we made that move knowing of the ramifications. How could we not? He was freaking 38 years old when we traded for him. His injury was nerve related and guess where all your nerve roots go to? The writing was on the wall when we made that move. If fans wanted to state that Nash was an injury concern and not worth the money, that would be completely valid. However with LaBron, he's playing time hasn't decreased over the last few years and he's been within MVP conversations during that time all while leading his squad to 7 consecutive Finals. How was he allowed to do that? By not pushing his body during the regular season. He has not played a full 82 game schedule ever in his 15 years and has played less than 79 games each season since his 1st year in Miami. This is unlike Kobe, when dude would play to the bone regardless of injury and when you have an enabler like MDA, well that's all she wrote.

When it comes to how much he will get paid as a 36 year old and beyond, its true that he might not be worth max money due to production, but look at his last lengthy contract. A 3 year 100M deal with Cleveland with a player option on the 3rd year. No doubt he wants to get paid, but he has yet to ever sign a true max deal yet. Meanwhile his buddy Melo has and he's seen first hand how that could be a problem even though New York was intended to be his final landing spot. I'm sure he knows even about the Deng contract. LaBron is so tapped in, that I find it extremely dubious if he doesn't create flexibility for himself.

Developing the youth:
This one is easy...have any of our youngns tasted the playoffs? With him, they certainly will. Kobe shooting 4 airballs in the playoffs against Utah and look how that experience turned out for him. Look at Kyrie and how he developed with continued playoff exposure. Also when it comes to the regular season, we know LaBron doesn't push the pedal to the metal during that portion of the season, so all the minutes with him on the bench or in street clothes means more time for our youngns to step on in.

Free agent draw:
Bosh and Wade both took less than their true max to partner up with Bron in Miami. Jesus Shuttlesworth lost friends by taking his talents to South Beach to partner up with LeBron. When LeBron came back to Cleveland, Mike Miller and James Jones followed him and took far less than what they could have gotten on the open market. When Love was traded to the Cavs, he was essentially an expiring contract since he could opt out and become a free agent the next summer. Yet he consented on the trade to Cleveland and re-upped that following summer to stay with LeBron and his sub-tweeting ways. Ky was the only anomaly which is why it got so much news cause he was the only guy to walk away from LeBron and title contention. Yet, he wanted to dictate his own terms and be the man and that all happened to develop under LeBron's watch So again, player development seems to be intact and wouldn't you want our youngns to develop into being their own men? And while they do, LaBron ages and hands them the keys.

Team Brand:
The Lakers have been 2nd to the Knicks and team valuation. We haven't been number 1 in team merchandise for a minute. I'm sure it has alot to do with not having a true star wearing the purple & gold. I'm sure it has alot to do with not making the playoffs for the last several seasons. With LaBron here, that surely changes. Cleveland when LeBron left was worth 355M. After he returned it went up to 885M and as of right now its valued at 1.35B.

George free agency:
Its true that PG wanted to come here when we sucked. But after experiencing the brodieo in OKC, I'm sure if we gave him the option to partner up with a fellow star, he wouldn't decline the offer...actually from all the brotherhood talk, it seems like he would prefer it. Also there were reports that he was willing to get traded to Cleveland to partner up with LeBron, if there wasn't a deal to send him to LA. IMHO, these two are connected and neither will come without the other. Also, Jules does not have to get bounced if these two come on board. They each have to shave 3M off their true maxes and we can retain Jules, by stretching Deng. LaBron has already proven that he is willing to do that when he first got to Miami and in his 1st year back in Cleveland. He accepted less than his true max then...why wouldn't he this summer?

Btw, I too do not want to get into a back and forth about Bron...especially if folks are already issuing an injury report on the guy 2 years from now.

 

Ummmm .... Cookie has voiced her opinions as well. More than The Dame of Doom.


"I agree with everything @Barnstable said above. I am a self professed Lebron hater but I could get on board with the signing if he was a few years younger. No way I’m paying Lebron max money for 5 years when he’s not going to be the player he is today.


Ok you say, but he’s putting up great stats. Yes he is but this is a guy with more mileage on him then a Delta jet they are retiring to the plane boneyard. It’s MY belief he will have a season ending injury within the first 2 years of his contract. People will say “but he’s never been hurt”. You’re correct but that just increases the odds that it’s coming. Sure he could be a one in a million but my money is on Father Time.


Sooo what happens when he gets hurt. First we will be subjected to 24 hour Lebron injury watch. Everyday of every practice, reporters will be asking Lebron if he’s ok. Of course Lebron being Lebron will milk it for everything it’s worth. This will be disruptive to our team. Not in a big way but I’m sure the team will tire of the subject.


Next come rehab. What kind of work ethic do you think Lebron will have to get back to 100% from say an achilles tear? I personally do not think he will go full force with his rehab based on how long it took him to add onto his game during the summertime of past seasons. I just don’t think he has that strong of a work ethic and when you’re his age things don’t bounce back like they used to.


So let’s talk about him aging. This is a guy with an ego the size of Montana. A few years ago when Steph and Kevin were being crowned the new MVP’s of the league, Lebron was pissed. How could anyone deny his greatest? After all he’s the Chosen One. So does anyone think he is going to go quietly into the night? Of course not. Now people will say even a 36 year old Lebron will still be top 12-15. Not if he’s didn’t do his make a full recovery from his injury. My personal belief is he won’t be top 12-15 even if he does make a full recovery. The league has too many young talented guys coming up through the ranks, some of which are on our team.


So what do I think Lebron is going to do you ask (well maybe you don’t but I’ll tell you anyhow). I think he will become disruptive to our team chemistry. He already blames his teammates for not covering for him. As he ages that is only going to get worse. Professional athletes are always the last one to acknowledge their downfall. He will probably start jacking up more shots to keep his “check my stats” up and he will be less effective each year. The “kids” (at least what’s left of the ones we didn’t trade away to appease the king)
will tire of him and his attitude. They will be thinking, gosh if only we weren’t paying this a**shole a good chuck of our cap space, we could swoop in a get X disgruntled player who’s asking for a trade.



All the above does not take into account Lebron’s lack of clutch gene. This is a guy that doesn’t take the big shots. He’s had what, all of 2 or 3 game winning shots in his career. If we do get to the playoffs, Lebron will pass the ball off to our kids anyhow, so they can take the game winning shots. This will of course be great experience for them but if they miss, Lebron didn’t have enough help.



All the above is just conjecture. These opinions are just my own. They could just as easily not come to pass but there’s enough underlying truth to them to maybe make you wonder....if not, I hate Lebron James and I don’t care."

 

Can y'all stop writing essays?
I'd have to buy a comfier toilet seat.

 

^^^Definitely go buy one. At least, that's how I'm able to write my essays.

Butt sitting atop my throne, maybe I should look into getting a scribe.

 

No lie...this s*** (pun intended) is the truth.



Do do it!



Congrats btw...yall successfully turned the LaBron thread into poo poo. Well excrecuted!

Heres to LaBron dropping a deuce on Gilbert this summer.

 

Here's my contribution to this thread.

 

I love this post... The Dame of Doom is one smart Cookie...

 

I'm a three sentence guy at most, I'm not reading those...maybe make a video next time guys or a podcast.

 

Our young guys are better than the other young teams. I sure hope we don't mess this up trying to get some quick fix. The right coach with a very special young team. The next dynasty with possibility of many chances to beat the C's in the championship. George Yes... James No...

 

If you'd get up and move around once in awhile you'd have more energy.

 

No LeBron dictating we have to hire Fizdale horse**** either. Still have the guy in my sig.