LABron James Discussion: The Final Year?

Does that mean people didn't like Michael Jordan and Kareem?

 

Just unreal - he's been playing like an All-star again

 

He is, he's playing more cerebral, like how he was playing from 2019 until the ankle sprain in 2021, when he was still the best player in the league.

He's not pounding the rock like he resorted to before, part of that is due to having Luka and Austin on the team, but when he does run the halfcourt offense, he's making way better reads, and his overall offense looks smooth.

 

Midrange game sucks, and I’d like to think he’d get a handle on the turnovers, but at this point, he is who he is.

 

The unforced turnovers where the ball just slips out of his hands are strange- is arthritis creeping in?
He has been doing less of the Barkley Back Down and dribble, so that’s good.
As a team, I still don’t like that we are one of the worst at turning the ball over.

 

Let's go LeBron! Shut up the haters.

 

Nahhhh, if he put his mind to it and put in the work, within 3 to 4 years he could be an allstar!!!

 

That Jeanie Buss article probably cemented it with his and Rich Paul's egos, not that I expected him to be OK with taking leftovers after everyone else they target is signed. All assuming he stays healthy through the playoffs and Walter wants him back at that reduced salary. It will have to be a reduced salary elsewhere though fo sure.

 

He’s going to wrap it up in Clev at a huge discount.

 

Lebron wants to gut the team and bail.

 

He's playing like he wants to the Lakers do well - him and Luka have been an awesome 1-2 punch. Rest of the team needs to step up

 

OH HELL NO!!!...That's 5 quality players plus RUI and Vando!!..That's a damn lot IMO. That's damn sure enough to advance out of the 1st rd .If not somebody's a** needs to be fired!

Wth...now we need a 12 deep roster of high end players or something? That's ridiculous. If we fail with what we already have, somebody wasn't doing their damn job. There needs to be consequences for that.

 

It’s been nice seeing Lebron get into the swing of things. He’s playing well and it’s a shame that we don’t believe we can make noise with Luka, Lebron and AR.

Cranji’s take on our roster is so spot on.

Luka - Elite #1
Lebron and AR - Elite #2 and #3
Ayton - average starting center due to his mentality
LaRavia - average 5th man, better suited to 7th or 8th

Smart - average 6th man, better suited as a 7th-8th
Rui - above average 7th man, hasn’t shown to be a two way player consistently yet
Vando - good defensive specialist that won’t see playing time in the playoffs
Hayes - above average backup who won’t see much time in the playoffs
Gabe - below average and shouldn’t be getting time in the playoffs
Kleber - the chosen one

We need some upgrades 4-8. But we could be elite with the right blend.

 

No way I'm ranking Jake over Ayton, Rui, Smart or Vando.. These guys have started and produced wins in the playoffs. Jake hasn't done jack yet.

 

Jake as the 5th starter fits better than Rui, Smart or Vando. He isn’t necessarily a better player.

 

It depends on the matchups, Jake struggles against certain type of guys too. So I'm not ready to declare him, a better fit per se. We have several guys that are useful in certain situations, the head coach is going to have to figure out, who works best against who. In general, I'm leaning towards the proven playoffs performance, once we get to the postseason. Hopefully Jake will elevate his game and establish himself. We'll see.

 

Sure, I'm more saying that he is a good glue guy and plays both sides of the ball. We could use more two way players alongside Lebron, AR and Luka.

 

Took to long to get going offensively but I can't believe at 41 he's still a shutdown defensive guy in the 4th when you need him to be.