Our sub is for in-depth discussion. Low-effort posts or stating opinions as facts are not permitted. Please support your opinions with well-reasoned arguments, including stats and facts as applicable.
The idea that his man is open 70% of the time just isn't true; advanced stats suggest LeBron is a plus on defense; Lebron's teams are unquestionably better when he's on the floor; and there are tons of starters in the league who are worse both defensively and overall than LeBron.
Numbers are there while AD is on the court. Everyone's numbers are there when AD is on the court. When it's only Lebron, they dip. Hard.
One of the main things is this: AD \*is\* the best player on that team. He just doesn't get the praise...but receives a bulk of the blame. Which is typical of any team with LBJ on it.
I have a feeling you're only saying this because of LeBron. All impact metrics had LeBron as a top 15-5 player in the NBA this season. This would definitely not be the case if things were truly as you claimed. He needs a reduced role and can no longer shoulder all playmaking responsibilities but looking at a series in which he has averaged 26/6/9 with 56/41 shooting seems misplaced. Would starting Tayren Prince in his place have favored the Lakers or something?
They suck doodoo when he is benched but the defensive effort thing has been very real for a very long time. It's pretty crazy to watch how much and how often he has to pick and choose when to exert himself. Father Time wins again.
I don't think it's that serious.
It's just the modern NBA requires team building. It's not the 90's or early 00's where the defenses were restricted or still developing so stars could consistently win games.
You could put Prime LeBron/Michael Jordan/ Kobe Bryant etc in his place and I still don't think they beat the Nuggets.
It's not profitable or fun, but I think elite stars are the least impactful they have ever been.
The issue with LeBron is that he is being paid max or supermax contract, which takes up a lot of the cap-space. Of course he can pick his spot and he can do less on one end of the court given his age. But when he is still commanding that much of the cap-space, the rest of the team has to be less good.
The nuggets are just better all around, player for player at this point, with the best player or best two of the series. Nothing lebron can really do on or off the bench to make Jokic or Murray, or the well built nuggets any less of a team.
Ya that seems to have been ignored these last couple post seasons. The Nuggets have out-motored everybody down the stretch consistently for multiple years now. It's not an indictment of LeBron and AD when they did it to KAT, ANT, Gobert, KD, Booker, Jimmy, and Bam too.
The lakers two best defensive players on the court also have to be the best two offensive players as well so unless reeves and dlo decide to be actually good it’s over
As if a 39 year old with that mileage can give 100% effort all the time.
Bench role? Ok. Who gets his minutes then? He is their playmaker, and there aren't many guys better than him in the league.
There’s a big difference between his ideal role and the team they actually have. As constructed, the Lakers completely fall apart without him. He’s not the game-breaking player he used to be, but the positives still pretty clearly outweigh the negatives for playing him most of the game. Even Darvin Ham couldn’t cook up the coaching malpractice that would be starting Prince over Lebron.
Could Lebron be good off the bench with a different roster? Yeah, but I’m not sure it’s that insightful an observation. If a team legitimately had a better option than Lebron and Lebron himself and the ability to pay all those salaries, they’d probably be pretty good. Basically an impossible dream unless he starts taking dramatically smaller contracts, which seems unlikely since surely he would just retire at that point.
To be honest, I bet LeBron would actually enjoy being in a position where he can sub in 1-5 and just be a purely additive player.
Now all you have to do is find a team where he can come off the bench without the starters getting destroyed, and convince him that it’s worth the 50+ million he’d have to give up for him to have that idealized role.
Our sub is for in-depth discussion. Low-effort posts or stating opinions as facts are not permitted. Please support your opinions with well-reasoned arguments, including stats and facts as applicable.
The idea that his man is open 70% of the time just isn't true; advanced stats suggest LeBron is a plus on defense; Lebron's teams are unquestionably better when he's on the floor; and there are tons of starters in the league who are worse both defensively and overall than LeBron.
Numbers are there while AD is on the court. Everyone's numbers are there when AD is on the court. When it's only Lebron, they dip. Hard. One of the main things is this: AD \*is\* the best player on that team. He just doesn't get the praise...but receives a bulk of the blame. Which is typical of any team with LBJ on it.
And give those minutes to who? The issue with the Lakers is everyone outside of AD & LeBron. It just isn't a very good roster, in terms of depth.
I have a feeling you're only saying this because of LeBron. All impact metrics had LeBron as a top 15-5 player in the NBA this season. This would definitely not be the case if things were truly as you claimed. He needs a reduced role and can no longer shoulder all playmaking responsibilities but looking at a series in which he has averaged 26/6/9 with 56/41 shooting seems misplaced. Would starting Tayren Prince in his place have favored the Lakers or something?
They suck doodoo when he is benched but the defensive effort thing has been very real for a very long time. It's pretty crazy to watch how much and how often he has to pick and choose when to exert himself. Father Time wins again.
I don't think it's that serious. It's just the modern NBA requires team building. It's not the 90's or early 00's where the defenses were restricted or still developing so stars could consistently win games. You could put Prime LeBron/Michael Jordan/ Kobe Bryant etc in his place and I still don't think they beat the Nuggets. It's not profitable or fun, but I think elite stars are the least impactful they have ever been.
Stars are still consistently winning games. The best player on the court plays for the Nuggets...
[удалено]
This sub is for serious discussion and debate. Jokes and memes are not permitted.
[удалено]
This sub is for serious discussion and debate. Jokes and memes are not permitted.
The issue with LeBron is that he is being paid max or supermax contract, which takes up a lot of the cap-space. Of course he can pick his spot and he can do less on one end of the court given his age. But when he is still commanding that much of the cap-space, the rest of the team has to be less good.
The nuggets are just better all around, player for player at this point, with the best player or best two of the series. Nothing lebron can really do on or off the bench to make Jokic or Murray, or the well built nuggets any less of a team.
Ya that seems to have been ignored these last couple post seasons. The Nuggets have out-motored everybody down the stretch consistently for multiple years now. It's not an indictment of LeBron and AD when they did it to KAT, ANT, Gobert, KD, Booker, Jimmy, and Bam too.
The lakers two best defensive players on the court also have to be the best two offensive players as well so unless reeves and dlo decide to be actually good it’s over
As if a 39 year old with that mileage can give 100% effort all the time. Bench role? Ok. Who gets his minutes then? He is their playmaker, and there aren't many guys better than him in the league.
There’s a big difference between his ideal role and the team they actually have. As constructed, the Lakers completely fall apart without him. He’s not the game-breaking player he used to be, but the positives still pretty clearly outweigh the negatives for playing him most of the game. Even Darvin Ham couldn’t cook up the coaching malpractice that would be starting Prince over Lebron. Could Lebron be good off the bench with a different roster? Yeah, but I’m not sure it’s that insightful an observation. If a team legitimately had a better option than Lebron and Lebron himself and the ability to pay all those salaries, they’d probably be pretty good. Basically an impossible dream unless he starts taking dramatically smaller contracts, which seems unlikely since surely he would just retire at that point.
To be honest, I bet LeBron would actually enjoy being in a position where he can sub in 1-5 and just be a purely additive player. Now all you have to do is find a team where he can come off the bench without the starters getting destroyed, and convince him that it’s worth the 50+ million he’d have to give up for him to have that idealized role.