LeBron James Discussion: Not Returning To The Lakers

He has had excellent stretches, but looks really uninterested most games. I wonder how much is Father Time and how much is pouting.

 

it was great to see some shots fall from him, but i agree with svtzr--it still looked like he didn't want to be there. and he really didn't play that great aside from the three point shooting. he had a couple really nice passes, but some pretty lazy offense and defense, which has become basically standard.

as for the cause, it's probably a mix of age and annoyance.

i still contend that it would be in lebron's best interest to finish this year strong, though, as the story he wants to play out next year is us looking way worse without him and cleveland looking way better with him. if we crater to end the season, the first part will be nearly impossible.

 

The 3 point jumper has been really missing till the last 2 games - weak competition but Lebron showed up against teams like OKC more than Luka/AR and that was with his jumper broken. Good sign that he actually looked like he wants to take them now

 

sure about that?

 

This team is so much more solid without him.
Very curious to see how they handle his injury the next 4 games. We have Chicago today, followed by Denver and then a couple games at Houston.
3 games with our main rivals in the standings when the team is playing well, best option would be for him to sit out but I don't know how you'd have that conversation with him

 

I think the team without LeBron is higher floor, lower ceiling. Ideally, LeBron would give us some of the defensive stuff the starting lineup needs while also providing a different look for the offense so it doesn't get too one-dimensional (Luka and Austin high P&R over and over). Unfortunately, that just hasn't panned out. If he's not rotating on defense, and won't take spot-up threes and tries to play his some role from the last few years on offense, yeah he lowers the floor compared to someone like Rui.

I haven't completely given up on LeBron fitting in better this year. One thing you can't say about him is that he's a dumb basketball player. He knows exactly how he would best help this team, the question is whether he can/will do it. We saw some positive signs when he first came back at the beginning of the season, maybe we see some of that when he returns this time as well. He's got this season and probably just one more (probably in Cleveland). Might as well do what you can to try and make one more run.

 

i keep thinking he's going to realize that he needs to adjust his role so that the team looks better with him on the court than it has. he's all about narratives, and if he can't have us hitting sk's theoretical ceiling, it's going to really damage the story he wants to tell about this year and next.

 

I think it was Irwin who said on one of his pods recently that maybe once the FO made it clear to him in the summer he wasn’t getting an extension and they were fine with him just expiring, he was never going to buy into a different role. At that moment he decided he was just going to do his thing and save his legs for next year. Wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

 

He's not stoopid though, and if he somehow has his health these playoffs, along with EVERYONE else important on the squad (for 100th time) .... his chances at a ring are likely better here than he'll have next year and a year older still. Say what everyone will about LeBron but he HAS to want another ring. Doesn't mean he'll change his play of course, so that's up to hm how MUCH he wants it I guess.

 

I think he genuinely has tried. He's just at this point of his career, can't play off-ball.

He's too old to be constantly moving around out there so he just stands there on offense when he doesn't have the ball. I'm thinking they should just play him around 26-28 minutes. Right now he's clocking in 32 minutes per game. I don't think he needs to be playing that many minutes. Give the other dudes more minutes and saves LeBron's body so he can be more useful when he's actually on the court.

 

I think there's a difference here between his offense and defense. On offense, I think it's true that the stuff we need him to do is stuff he's not comfortable doing. He doesn't like taking spot-up threes, never has. He likes taking them off the dribble. Other than in transition, he doesn't have much of an off-ball game. You see stars transition into less ball-dominant roles as they age, but that typically happens gradually. 14 months ago we needed LeBron to create just about everything offensively. But between Luka showing up and Austin improving he's rapidly gone from option #1 to option #3. That's not easy to figure out.

I think it's different on defense. The role we need him to play is the same one he's played the last few years and done well when he's actually engaged. But he can't/won't engage every night.

 

That sounds like something Irwin would say. Maybe there's something to it, but personally, I don't quite buy it. As others have pointed out, Bron (despite all his sulking and inflated ego) isn't stupid. He knows this may be his last chance (even if it's slim) at a title, and that he'll maximize it by fitting into the team and playing third fiddle to Luka and Austin.

Speaking of podcasters, Jason Timpf argued with great conviction in his latest show that Bron will probably do just that now - do the "little things" and focus more on defense, and less often / sometimes take over on offense. Jason justified this by saying, among other things, that Austin played much weaker after his injury (true) and that, in fact, our top 3 had not played together for a long time this season, which led to more pressure on Bron.

It sounds convincing to me, but as always, time will tell.

 

Agree with all points above. If Lebron can't adjust his role, he might be playing himself out of the league. We're quick to rub our problem onto someone else, but if Lebron can't play with Luka and Reaves, the fit would be the same with Harden and Mitchell, perhaps even worse.

He's got 15 games or so (and the playoffs) to show that he can be effective playing off-ball and rotating on defense. Even better if he asks JJ to come off the bench. Neither is likely to happen though.

 

Way too much money to be made on a LeBron fairwell tour for him to not sign somewhere next year.

 

From his perspective, yes, but a farewell tour is a nuisance for a team with title aspirations ie Lakers, Cavs.

He can sign with the Wizards if that's his motive to play another year.

 

As I said multiple times in the GameDay... an absolutely perfect game from Bron as the 3rd best player. He should play like that EVERY night and we will be OK.

 

The 3 is just gone right now - he was so good last year from 3 and the last couple of years (unless he got hurt)

Needs to get to be able to shoot those open 3's that are generated by the defense now focusing on Luka/AR

 

He only shot 1... and we didn't need him to shoot anymore of those