[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 As a Lakers fan, I have to admit I’m still kind of in shock that Lebron signed a long-term deal with us. While I’m not shocked he is headed to LA, what I am shocked about is that he is willing to join this roster that is currently so far from title contention even with Lebron. While I like our young core, it is kind of hard to argue that this gives him the best chance to win a title, and I always assumed that would be what he would base his decision on. I thought he would not commit to LA without the assurance of another superstar coming with him. But he did, and their is currently no guarantee that another superstar player will be joining him, although it is still very much a possibility. What this suggests to me is that this move was about far more than basketball and the decision was probably made a long time ago. 

Lebron’s individual dominance over the sport is basically unprecedented in the history of the nba. He has basically been the best player in the league for the past decade straight (possibly longer). Even Jordan had to take a 2 year hiatus in his prime. He has been to the finals 8 years in a row and has carried an unbelievable workload. Could it be that he is comfortable with his legacy in the league and is ready to kind of move on to the next phase in his life? Could that be his primary motivation to be in LA and not necessarily to win more titles?

I guess my question is what Lebron James will the Lakers get? He is 33 and no one is immune to the effects of father time. Will it be a slightly less motivated Lebron who is more focused on other things outside of basketball? What type of player will that look like as he continues to age? Will he still have the drive to chase championships or has he kind of come to realization that it might just not happen with golden state being so dominant?

As a Lakers fan, I’m no doubt thrilled we just signed the best player in basketball. It completely changes the equation and makes us relevant again after so many years of dysfunction. However, the skeptic in me has to wonder if we just got him at the wrong time in his career, and the Lebron we get might not necessarily be the Lebron we saw in Cleveland in Miami.

 

 

 

 

 

[Andv1 WaitingParticipant]

 The Young guys will be hungry to win and Lebron wants to always win… So my guess is the Young guys will try go hard during Regular season and Lebron will coast a little until Playoff time then he will take over…

Sort of think K.D in GSW where he has to ISO less vs OKC where he ISO’s alot.

The Motivation  should be higher for him as he wouldn’t want to get a first round bounce to his name, however I could see it being a little lower as he maybe like I can use the youth as an excuse to why we got bounced early and enjoy a Holiday vs CAVS there was very little challenge in the East with the exception of the Celtics and soon to be 76ers hopefully.

 

 

[thetruth87Participant]

 I think the biggest winners from Lebron signing with the Lakers are the Warriors. I think even if the Lakers got Kawhi (they would have to give up a lot of assets currently on the team to do this) that the Warriors would be a significantly better team than the Lakers are, and if they don’t get him or another superstar on the same level then it’s not even close.

The worst case scenario for the Warriors, in my opinion, would have been if Lebron would have signed with the 76ers, or somehow gone to the Rockets because they could have been able to challenge the Warriors in a 7 game series. I think this greatly increases the liklihood of a 4th championship in 5 years for Golden State.

[llperez]

 theres been chatter for a week now about this decision being about more then basketball. Wade said a while ago this was going to be a life decision for his friend lebron. Magic johnson said that a lot of his talk with lebron was about business and setting himself up for life after basketball. Guys in the media have been saying his family and their wishes factored into this decision more than any past decisions. Lebron himself has said he likes the makeup of this young roster and doesnt think they need to make panic moves to get better day 1. Personally i love the idea of us being competitive while still building around the young guys who i personally really believe in. 

[R4unoParticipant]

 Why is everyone acting like LeBron gave up on winning with this move? If the Lakers are patient and negotiate well enough, I think they will eventually get Kawhi for something like Ingram, KCP and a 1st rounder and if Kawhi has his mind set on joining the Lakers. They don’t need to rush now as they don’t have to convince LeBron anymore, they can wait until the winter when Spurs become scared of losing him for nothing and other teams don’t want a 4 month rental. Let’s say their roster looks like this after the trade:
PG: Lonzo, free agent
SG: Kawhi, Lance, free agent
SF: LeBron, Hart, Deng
PF: Kuzma, free agent, Wagner
C: Randle, JaVale, Zubac
This is definitely not worse than what he would have in Cleveland. Yes, they would still be underdogs against Golden State and the supporting cast isn’t as good as it would be in Philadelphia, but I guess he considered Cavs and Lakers to be the only real options and imo Lakers will have the better supporting cast for LeBron both next year and in long term. Kawhi is probably a better fit beside him than Love, Lonzo is better than Sexton, Kuzma and Randle are better than Cavs’ role players Hood, Clarkson and Thompson. He didn’t really have a chance of beating the Warriors in Cleveland and I don’t think a trade for Kemba would have changed that. Now in Los Angeles, his chances in his first year there are at least the same and after that, the Lakers have more youngsters, cap flexibility and are more attractive to free agents. Combine that with his will to live in Los Angeles and you get a logical decision both on and off the court.

[HitsterParticipant]

With the Lakers resigning KCP, adding McGee and Stephenson alongside LBJ, they will not really have much cap space to add another best available FA unless they stretch Deng’s deal.

If it will take another year to get the right supporting cast around LBJ then that is 2020 Finals you are really looking at them being a legit contender and LBJ will be 35 then with two more seasons mileage on the clock.

LBJ has gone all in with the Lakers he could easily have taken a 2 year deal like he has done before. He hasn’t got a No Trade Clause so he obviously has been convinced they can put the right guys around him.

The Lakers will happily pay luxury tax as the spin offs of being successful again and all the merch LBJ will sell will cover this.

The real winners could be the likes of Boston, Philly and even Raptors who now have the biggest blocker to an NBA final out of the way.

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 The thing is the lakers can be way more patient knowing that lebron is committed to them for at least 3 yrs. There is really no urgency for them to sell the farm to go out and get Leonard now or overpay for someone like cousins who is coming off injury. While they should still explore options, they have a ton more leverage now that they know lebron isn’t going anywhere. They could easily just keep their young core of players together with lebron and let them grow for another season which should easily be enough to get to the playoffs and make some noise at least. Then next summer they will have the space to sign Leonard outright assuming he’s available or someone else. Considering all the one year deals they’ve been giving out to kcp, lance and McGee this clearly seems to be the most likely scenario. I’m just a little surprised that lebron, at 33, would be ok with this and seemingly put so much blind faith in the organization.

[Author]

Posts