LABron James Discussion: The Final Year?

Everyone knew what we (Lakers) signed up for in the very beginning unless they were in full denial.

This only ends one way

 

It's kind of insane how quickly things have imploded in under 18 months since winning the championship. Just goes to show you what injuries and bad trades can do to a team.

 

i'm still big on it. and i think rob is quietly moving away from klutch because he doesn't see them as the power brokers going forward. people see this as lebron getting what he wanted from us, but we got what we wanted from him, too: a title and a return to prominence. our refusal to shed assets for a (dumb) attempt at a quick fix was a shot across the bow of klutch, imo. they mad. maybe big mad. but the key is to maintain as many good agent relations as you can, so hopefully rob has been forging some others.

 

I'm fine with whatever outcome.

Just need all parties to have a kumbaya moment and some pieces to fall together so we can build a competitive roster.

Otherwise? Don't feed into any of this.

If LBJ wants to go play with his son or elsewhere, that's fine by me.

 

Yeah. LeBron has said for awhile he wanted to play with his son so I still don’t quite get the shock. I’m okay with it.

I’m also not upset with the front office for not digging a bigger hole with a bad trade. We’ve been more than good to Klutch so I have no issues with us saying enough.

 

We'll see how it plays out. I think the Klutch thing is a bit overblown, it's more that Lebron is still a major economic force for the league, and still an elite player. Throw in AD, a younger guy that was playing like he was a top 5 player. That's serious weight, it's a player's league. I don't think we overpaid Kcp, Trez or Talen and it's not like Klutch players are trash. I don't know if this rumor is true, f*** John Wall, but if Wood was attached? Not a bad idea at all, If Wall was opting OUT

 

I'm with you Ox, time to air out the locker room and build a team it is fun to get behind. I have been less invested in the team the last two years that any time since I started watching in 1970. Maybe I'm just getting old...lol

 

I actually agree. As I said, we’ve been good to their clients. That’s not a knock on any of those guys either.

I do like Wood, but I’m not mad at the team if they didn’t feel comfortable making that deal. We really don’t know what kind of shape Wall is in or if he’s be willing to opt out. Just too many unknowns there IMO.

 

No, you aren't getting old. I get that s*** from my friends who are a few years younger than me. I'm hip to current culture, I embrace modern technology.

What never should change is basic fundamentals and respect. Those can be subjective in this p**** a** world we live in now but fundamentals are fundamentals now or before. Like, have respect for a team paying you 35 million a year to run their team. Talking about playing elsewhere while you are still on the team is a cowardice disrespectful slob. I only wish I could say it to his face. Maybe one day I'll get lucky and have the opportunity.

 

Nice game winner from Bron

 

Anyways you can tell Lebron wants to be a Cav really bad. Jeanie and Lakers FO want Lebron to achieve the scoring record in a Laker jersey but from this weekend I can gather Lebron doesn't feel the same. Hope the Lakers can bleed the Cavs dry with picks and have a legit conversation about trading him to CLE. I wouldn't mind trading AD as well if they can expand it into a 4 or more multi-team type deal where we get 2-3 young up and coming players and get 4-5 1st round picks in return. I don't think we own any picks of our own until 2027.

Not looking good for Lakeshow right now. They don't want to be the team to trade Lebron and Lebron doesn't want to be the guy to ask out of LA. It's just gonna involve a lot of hit pieces coming out, hold on to your butts...

 

I wonder how Kobe fans will feel when Curry ties him with 5 rings and you starting hearing chatter about who's better lol.

If LBJ joins the Cavs, it's going to be by free agency. I doubt teams would line up to trade for an expiring 40m+ contract that's going to leave to wherever his son plays. No team is stupid enough to give up 4-5 first round picks for a 39 year old player when the likes of AD and Harden got traded for less first round picks than that.

Anyways, ownership and Pelinka have to take their share of the blame. In hindsight, we've tinkered with the team too much since winning the title and should've given them the opportunity to play the next year again. I'm sure GM LBJ offered 84 million to schroeder and signed the corpse of Deandre Jordan. It's questionable how badly ownership wants to help us win by going over the luxury tax and not paying dudes like Caruso.

I think we all have been a little reactionary at this time given what's happened, but there's still plenty of hope going forward and we've faced similar drama before with the whole Magic snitching situation. I think there needs to be more continuity with the team. You can't keep changing the role players constantly.

 

When Lebron/Klutch start attacking the credibility of their FO/Ownership thats when you know they've started an exit plan.

I'm not sure if Pelinka, Lebron and Jeanie are on the same page here, this is gonna get really ugly.

Jeanie is going to fire Pelinka and Vogel as a last ditch effort to please Lebron. She's gonna realize the hard way that the Lakers image, reputation has already been on a slide since late 2021 and gonna sink even further with each passing day

 

I was countering the point we'd get a crazy return for LBJ. Definitely tradeable, but I think for less than people expect.

Next thing you know, we trade him to Golden State for Wiggins, James Wiseman and 1-2 first round picks or something like that.

 

I

it’s not just you.

 

Sold!!!!

 

After further thought, the “can’t rule out a return to Cleveland” seems like a bluff, and the “I’ll do whatever it takes to play with my son” is something we always knew.

I could see him taking a pay cut to go play with his son in his final year. I don’t see him taking a pay cut to leave comfy LA just for another 1 year reunion with Cleveland.

A Lebron trade just doesn’t seem feasible. It would be a terrible look to trade him somewhere against his wishes, and even with teams he may be interested in, I just don’t see how they construct a trade that makes sense. Like Cleveland would be idiotic to trade some of their youth for a year of Lebron, they actually have a very bright future now.

Lebron is pouting to express his frustration at the lack of trade deadline movement. Let him pout. Standing pat was the right move. Lebron is still going to show up to work and be great. If we turn things around, his frustrations will vanish.

So I don’t think the plans have changed much at all in the past few days just off Lebron’s comments. Survive the rest of this season, then try to trade Russ and build an actual team for one last shot next year. Do we have a GOOD shot next year? Probably not. But I just don’t see us punting a season that we have both Lebron and AD locked up under contract. And I wouldn’t want to either just for a head start on the rebuild on whatever limited assets we could get for 37 year old Lebron. We saw what happened in the post season last year, injuries changed the course of the playoffs and an unexpected team won. I’m not ready to rule us out for next season already.

Then after next season, see what Lebron does. If he leaves, we could likely still get in on a sign and trade to get some return. Although I actually think there’s a good chance he surveys the league and decides to just run it back with us on one year deals until Bronny comes to the NBA. But if he does leave in free agency, so be it. THAT’s when it becomes decision time and we either retool around AD or blow it up and rebuild. Making that decision before we’re forced to just doesn’t sound wise.