LeBron James Discussion: Not Returning To The Lakers

You may be right in the West. Would still feel different than full roster turnover and the mercenary approach, but that seems to be calming down some too.

But hey, I'm never happy, so I'll complain about all options. Get off my lawn.

 

If he goes, he goes. I don’t see it, but it would expedite our rebuilding around AD. Can’t blame him if he wants to wrap things up in Cleveland where it all started.

 

his story is plausible. but if he wants to go there, we should help make it happen. i'll give you all the picks and lebron for mitchell. or no picks and lebron for garland (a contract they probably want out of, tbh).

anyway, i really don't think lebron wants to move again.

 

LT, sorry to be slow. I was watching LeBron play defense and it was catching...lol. I think AD still comes to LA without LeBron. The front office wasn't going to quit trying to sign anyone just bc LeBron didn't come and AD still wanted out of New Orleans. I've always been in on the regular season being meaningful. If we had done a better job we might still be playing. Fans pay a lot of money to watch crap basketball and as we've proven seedings are important. I don't agree LeBron is half of our punchers chance, maybe 1/3. I always try to word my posts to not be offensive to anyone but LeBron just isn't that guy anymore. It isn't like I said he was a washed up bum that didn't play defense, played to pad his own stats, refused to take responsibility when things went wrong, would throw a teammate or coach under the bus or throw temper tantrums and expect to be catered to. I just stated IMO he is at most a second option and likely a third on a championship team. That isn't a bad thing.

 

Even if AD didn't come look how our youngsters have developed. Would of been a fun group to watch. Likely no championship which I acknowledged but much more entertaining ball to watch since the championship year and no one can say what would or wouldnt have happened. Though some know all- see alls think they can. Since we won the championship we have been painful to watch. LeBron pounding the ball and long threes as the clock expires and our painfully predictable 4th quarters is torture along with poor defense. The way everyone has to bow down and kiss LeBron's butt to keep him here and happy is embarrassing. IMO, a decade from now, LeBron's tenure here will be seen as the biggest tire track in Laker history. One no amount of Clorox can remove...lol.

 

why would AD have come to the lakers without lebron? and why would the lakers trade all of their young talent for AD without a guaranteed second star here?

 

i was never a big fan of the "develop the kids" strategy.

 

this team would still have not made the playoffs since 2013 if they had kept lonzo/BI/randle/kuzma/hart/etc. not to mention that wouldn't have even been possible financially

but hey, i guess some people prefer finishing in the bottom 5 every season

 

I believe!!!!

 

Have you been talking to Uncle Ouija or maybe the Sacred Riana? It is likely some other moves would have been made. But hey, why think when you can predict the future...lol. Sounds like you are quite knowledgeable with that bottom five stuff. Keep up the good work.

 

i think it's reasonable to extrapolate based on:

how bad we were
how bad teams with those guys as top players have been
how free agents treated us pre-lebron (like we were radioactive)


that we would have been bad if we kept that core. if you're saying we could have traded some of those guys for a star, sure. but again, nobody wanted to come here until lebron was here. what was going to change, exactly?

 

I was and still am all in for the AD trade. My point is we don't have to sell our Laker soul to LeBron forever for one championship. Time to move on and build around AD since we traded for him.

 

Teams go through stretches good and bad. Do you really think the Laker Franchise would never have recovered without LeBron?. You LeBron guys are over the top. Lunacy. What is going to happen when he retires?...lol.

 

The Lakers survived West, Kareem, Magic and Kobe retiring. I think we will survive LeBron...lol. Maybe not, according to some of you LeBron is better than all of them combined.

 

AD is 31. The only way we're able to rebuild around AD and contend for a championship is if we acquire a Top 5ish player, because AD is probably only going to play at a Top 10 level for another couple of years. I've always thought the idea of AD being a/the face of the franchise post-LeBron was optimistic at best, there's actually just a LeBron + AD timeline and it will be time to move on from AD when its time to move on from LeBron.

 

I agree for the most part. IMO we should have made AD the cornerstone two years ago. Kind of a wasted opportunity. Basketball wise, to me anyway, this seems like a good time to move on from LeBron. Find a good point guard and give AD a chance to show what he can do. I know financially for the franchise that is not realistic. Good post.

 

The first 3 I bolded we still had Jerry running the organization with Sharman, West and then Mitch GMing for him, the internet wasn't around to let players build their all important brands and outside marketing income possibilities no matter what city they were in ..... and after Kobe ..... it sure as hell was NOT happening at least until LeBron finally came. MAYBE Magic could have set his sights elsewhere and landed another Big name but not as BIG as that nor as good of a player and as dominant at THAT time. Plus that was the plan all along for Magic .... first LeBron and then him to woo AD here as soon as possible. Hell they tried it in ugly fashion LeBron's first season.

As far as your very recent all things bad about LeBron all the time now, respectfully, I think you're over the top with them, to the exclusion of all the positive things on the other side of the balance sheet. Which I'm not going into for the stance it would put me in being his huge defender as if I don't see the negative aspects too. But they are definitely there, and as long as he hasn't broken to where he can no longer be fixed, in HOPEFULLY not too long of rehab times .... I still want him here, so agree to disagree with you.

 

I don't completely disagree. I'll admit, a big part of me wanting LeBron to stick around is nostalgia. He's the last guy standing from the early/mid 2000s NBA or NFL stars. That's when I fell in love with both sports.

I'll be happy if we just re-sign LeBron and have one or two more 45-50 win seasons. But part of me does want to keep the draft pick ammo dry so we have a real shot at the next guy, even if that pisses of LeBron and he walks. The "Luka wants out" stuff is coming, he's under contract for the next two years and then has a player option for 2026-2027. I think some part, however small, of Cuban deciding to sell his stake in the Mavs now is because he knows that's coming down the pipe. I haven't seen it talked about much, but Tatum is under contract for next season and then has a player option for 2025-2026. If they fall short again this year and sees 34 year old Holiday, 30 year old White, 38 year old Horford and a rickety Porzingis he might start thinking about other options. Those are the two younger, already Top 10 guys that I could realistically see becoming available over the next two years. It would be great to have a haul to trade when that time comes.