LeBron James Discussion: Not Returning To The Lakers

because it's better? i love how people are like, but no crowd and everyone was healthy!! you mean that who was actually best at basketball won instead of who got lucky with injuries or got the favorable hometown whistle due to cowed referees (that team, ironically, would have been us anyway!!).

i'm not sure what antics you're referring to here, either. if it's the non-stop "gotta upgrade the team" stuff, i agree. but note he was quieter this year, even prior to the luka trade. i think he knows his salary is holding us back, and he's accepted that our level of contention is partly his choice at this point.

anyway, if he asks out, i'd send him wherever he wants--he's earned the right, imo. if he wants to stay, i pay him what he wants, too, despite his declining production, simply because this is our brand, and it has worked for us for a long time.

 

It's been fairly unsuccessful compared to other Laker eras but not the present salary cap era.

Lakers had a title and a WCF final run. No team other than Boston has made the Finals twice since the bubble title. The Nuggets have made one more WCF.

Shame that the injuries derailed the title defense and that triggered the Brick trade. Lakers had a chance to beat the cap but the NBA is becoming harder

 

It also completely ignores how awesome the Lakers were playing before Covid hit. They beat both the Bucks and the Clips in back to backs were Lebron locked up both Kawhii and George.

It's also bizarre considering the Nuggets era since that the Bubble isn't there coming out party. It really looks like insane coping rather then they got their butts handed to him by a new superpower

 

This is the first playoffs that I can confidently say LeBron is getting old.

He played amazing for his age but man, he's been so great for so long that you just expect perfection from him every playoffs.

 

Lebron avg 25pts 9 reb 6 assist 2 steals and 2 blks per game this postseason. Playing 40 min a game. That's still a top 10 player, and he's being paid accordingly with his value.

We need to make some better decisions with these other roster spots, before claiming that Lebron's salary, is some kind of problem. The Lakers will be drifting more towards 9th or 10th in salary next season, not towards the top.

 

He's 40.

 

I bet if he’d been healthy at 40 instead of managing a groin injury in these playoffs you would “not” confidently be saying that. S*** happens with injuries. Ask Jayson Tatum.

 

Now that the Cavs got embarrassed in the 2nd round after being HEAVILY favored...I'm hoping that they make a run at LeBron and make him think about retiring in Cleveland instead and making one last run with his hometown team.

We should def consider an offer from Cleveland because it'd likely involve guys like Allen, Hunter, and Okoro.

 

Good. Good. Let the jinx flow through you

 

Anything is possible I guess, Cleveland's payroll is going to be around 218M next season.

 

i think the issue is that he's 40, and that he's getting these groin and hamstring soft-tissue stuff a bunch. it happens. i know, i'm 40+, too.

he's actually been "old" for a while now in terms of movement (particularly laterally on defense, where he's as slow as doncic, imo). is what it is. he's still quite effective when healthy.

but we have to keep him that way. and that means limiting regular season minutes and changing his role on offense.

 

time for John Stockton minutes

 

It's hard to find a trade that makes sense with them. The first one I thought of was Allen/Hunter, but Allen is pretty soft and Hunter is kinda meh. There's a reason he was available at the deadline despite being the exact archetype every team is trying to find. He's a little Rui-ish in that you see the physical tools and think this guy has to be awesome...but when he actually plays you're left a bit underwhelmed.

 

It's not like we can use the money we'll "save" with him gone for major upgrades, you know that, right?
I'd rather limit his minutes, get Luka a true C, find a 3 and D guy and let them cook in the PO next year.

 

this is the way. it's simple, and i think it's possible.

 

The hell is your problem?

He's 40.

Deal with reality and stop trying to put this on me for saying he looked old.

28 year old LeBron wasn't missing a lot of games due to injuries. Most of his groin injuries have come the last few years.

You're defending a losing point here. LeBron is getting old and it's noticeable.

 

I'm saying the nagging groin is what made him look like you could confidently say that in this playoff performance. Everyone gets injuries no matter how old. We all know he's 40 LOL ..... congratulations Captain Obvious. You could have said the same thing 2-3-4 years ago. With "luck" this year just like everyone else has to hope for it with health ..... he'd still have had all star numbers on the biggest stage. No need to get all hot and bothered over my initial remark.

 

There’s a decent chance we never find a #2 for Luka as good as 40 year old LeBron is right now. I’m in no rush to move on from LeBron. And aside from him still being a great player on the court, him and Luka being on the same team is f***ing cool as a basketball fan, let alone a Laker fan. It really is Magic and Kareem 2.0. We won’t have as much time with them together as Magic and Kareem had, so I’ll be enjoying every second of it.

 

With Tatum's injury...I see a world where June is filled with especulation on Bron joining the Cavs.
The East is wide open. Giannis is likely to move to the West, so thec2 best players of an already weaker conference won't play there next year. The East superstars are Brunson, Haliburton and Donovan Mitchell. I see older stars in the West like Bron, Durant, even Sabonis, Beal or Zion looking at that and thinking "that could be a unique opportunity to reach the Finals".

I admit it's super weird now to imagine Bron going to Cleveland again, but you never know. He may go there for the vet min and a backhand agreement with the owner for a share when Bron owns a team. Who knows...

Either way, I see East teams that are not tanking being super aggressive. Cavs and Miami in particular. But also Orlando or Detroit that are one piece away from being in the fight for the Conference Finals. And I see some teams in the West backtracking and avoid this bloodbath. NOLA or Sac come to mind. What's the point of trying to compete? I see what Rob was talking about, it should be a very entertaining offseason. I see around 20 to 25 starters being traded

 

I hope he does because we aren’t going to come close to building our next Chip roster until his big salary is off the books. He should at least do a sign and trade so we can get one useful player back. Say he would take a paycut to “go back home” on a two year $40 million deal and let us get Allen back. That’s a win-win.
Too bad His Massive Ego wouldn’t allow for it. He needs at least a $50 million per year deal- ya know, cause he’s “really worried about others having to take less as well.”