LABron James Discussion: The Final Year?

I think you're right, but that the problem is more with the timing, than the desire to replace coaches and teammates. Should have waited until closer to the trade deadline, or been more discreet.

But if the goal is to win championships, then we should want to replace coaches and teammates, just like most of us wanted a trade at last year's trade deadline or even before the season. And as far as "coach-killers" go, I hate that label bc I think it's stupid. That if the coach is not good, we should want to change coaches asap. If the coach is good, then that's another issue. So LeBron was wrong about Spo, and that's poor evaluation skills, but he was probably right about Blatt and Lue, and that resulted in a championship.

The same thing could be possible here (not likely, but possible), and he and we should be clamoring correctly to change coaches bc Ham is obviously, provably bad. Milwaukee showed what's possible when you're not cheap and you actually want to win championships. They made the wrong subsequent hire, but there's nothing wrong with fans or players trying to change a bad coach imo.

He's not happy with the coach bc the coach is bad and putting the team and players in positions to fail instead of succeed. We should all want to change such a coach, regardless of if LeBron is 25 or 45. With LeBron being 39 but still playing at this level, this is still probably our best chance at a championship for several years. Possibly many years, if the FO doesn't pull off a miracle superstar trade/signing in the next few years, which is unlikely. So we should want to maximize the current title chances and screaming to fire the coach and make whatever moves are necessary imo.

 

Meh, don't agree. We have AD locked up for another 2-3 seasons and we've done nothing but put LBJ and his Klutch priorities first; at some point, it's time to move on.

If anything, we'll be in a stronger position this summer to make move and we'll have Vando's contract in the mix to move, too.

My prediction is this: we make marginal moves at the deadline, LBJ opts out, and we to all in this summer on an All-Star. LBJ will play out how it plays out.

This season is a wash...

 

Who can you get this summer that would give you as much title equity as this current team if a good coach were coaching it?

I don't think D-Mitch and Trae will truly be available. They're not even truly making Murray available except for a too-high price they're not gonna get. And Trae + AD isn't a championship team imo. Possibly D-Mitch, but you'd have to get him to force his way out, and you'd still need a OG better than DLo, which isn't likely after you trade most of your good pieces for D-Mitxh. If you could get Luka to force his way out, sure, but that's not likely either.

Part of this might also be a disagreement on the assessment of the team. It has shown it can beat top opponents when motivated. If Spo were coaching, I think we'd have a good chance of winning the West and then you have a shot. We were close last year, and Denver's worse. We can beat Clippers and Suns and Thunder and Wolves imo, if coached properly.

 

ok jeanie and rob, there's your cue to fire ham now

just really hope they don't make a d****** trade like giving up dlo+1sts for someone like tyus jones

 

We're in a really tough spot. At this point, it probably makes more sense at this point to retain that 2029 pick and try to make a bigger move in the summer when we have 3 firsts to trade as well as Vando's salary and Vincent's deal with one less year. Even if we did the DLo for Murray trade or some other trade and got rid of Ham, I don't think this team can win 4 playoff series without homecourt advantage in a tougher Western conference than last year.

But I don't know if LeBron will be okay with punting on the season again. I think it's awesome that he clearly put in a ton of work this offseason; physically, he looks better than he did last year even before the foot injury. Maybe he and AD are just as good next year, but you can't just assume that. I do think there's a chance we could get a Mitchell or a Trae Young with three picks plus AR if those guys exerted some leverage, but is LeBron willing to wait for that chance? Or does he say f*** it, decline his PO and just sign with Philly who will have a bunch of cap space.

 

Sounds insane, but I don't expect him to leave. I think we will find a way to draft Bronny James and go from there.

 

Would love to trade him. He will only go to a top contender. But…would love to be rid of him.

No, it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the chip (esp after KB died) or the things we see him do - like against Steph the other night. Just too much drama and inconsistency, and an injury is looming.

 

lebron's not going anywhere unless its to play with bronny. he's done caring about winning another ring

 

Not me. He’s been amazing to watch play on my team and as long as he’s around this level or even 80% of it I want him here. We always have a punchers chance with AD and him at that level. Enjoy it while it lasts is how I feel, and yes it won’t be a whole lot longer.

I don’t buy that at ALL. Why do you think he’s finally had it with Ham?

 

LeBron James cannot be hired as player-coach of the Lakers.

While Hall of Famers like Russell, Wilkens, Bob Cousy and Dave Cowens served as player-coaches during their respective careers, the NBA enforced rules prohibiting player-coaches when the salary cap was instituted 40 years ago.

Because there is no cap on a head coach's salary, a franchise's decision to pay a player more money to double as a coach would be viewed as cap circumvention.
The most recent example of this came ahead of the 2004-05 season when Avery Johnson was reportedly nudged to retire as a player to become Don Nelson's lead assistant coach with the Mavericks.

 

i'm willing to roll with what lebron wants, as long as it isn't dictating FO moves that aren't about him. if he wants to be traded, i'm down with moving him to wherever he wants to go, as long as it doesn't hurt our future prospects. if he wants to stay and make sure we draft bronny in the 2nd, that's fine, too.

he just can't westbrook me again. once was enough.

 

i'm not saying he doesn't care about winning games anymore, but he's not going to ring chase at this stage of his career

 

bron just wants to pad his scoring record

 

Options are limitless. There's always players wanting out, not happy, etc. With respect to Mitchell, the word is he wants to be in New York. That might be a long shot? Young? I want no part of, but what if he's tired of being in Atlanta and getting bounced out of the playoffs? There's always somebody wanting out and if we're holding onto to most of our assets this summer, we'll be in a good position.

This team? It's done. This coach is here to stay and he's not going anywhere. I think there's a chance he'll be gone this summer if the season continues to spiral downward. I don't think the roster is bad. Just my .02 cents.

Anyway, I'm losing interest the more we lose ...

 

I don’t agree I think LeBron is about championships …. why he is unhappy and has had it with Ham. He’s feeling from his experience the chances look bad with him. You really think he doesn’t want #5 and a 2nd in this town?

 

of course he wants it, but he also knows there's only so much he can do and that at this point another title with the lakers is not likely

 

I'm in no rush to push him out the door. He's not leaving because of his family, money and legacy. Lakers aren't going to trade him because he's a cash cow till he retires.

Both sons are currently in school here, even if Bronny declares, Bryce is still in HS. He's not uprooting him and enjoys being a hoop dad too much to leave.

$$$ Bron is wanting to buy the Vegas team. That takes money. While Bron is NBA rich, he's not team owner rich. Sure he'll put together a group, but he's going to want as much of that pie as possible. That means he's not leaving contract dollars on the table AND even if your name is LeBron James there are still more off court financial opportunities than say...Orlando. Charlotte. Or wherever else Bronny could wind up.

No one cares more about image and historical standing than Bron. For one, I don't think he'd like the career optics of historians seeing him in a Hornets (just an easy s***ty example) jersey. Breaking record after record while a member of the most storied team in league history matters more. He's been here 6 years (Shaq was only here 8 years...Bron might get there) , you'd think people would stop trying to throw him off the bridge by now. He wants the retired Lakers jersey.

Having Bron means your team prints money. Jeanie is NBA destitute, she's not letting Bron go. Plain and simple.


Personally I'm not looking forward to that eventual day. I clearly remember before Bron. We were awful. Top of the draft every year and no prospect of winning anything. I have no desire to go back to that. Bron is the only thing keeping this organization even half attempting to take the sport seriously. Our GM and ownership are not qualified for their station, they are not good at their jobs. (I liked Rob's off-season, I'm zooming out to big picture). If Kobe didn't stay and Bron didn't come, we're worse than the Knicks when they were at the very bottom.

The years between Bron retiring and Jeanie selling are what nightmares are made of.

 

Funny post from Bleacher Report:
“The annual LeHunger Games to see who gets traded or not.”

 

Can barely drag his teams with All Stars on it to a .500 record. Not the GOAT, but still my favorite player.

 

my trade proposal was great wasn’t it