Minnesota Sports Forum

LeBron James had one of his best seasons ever last year and was head and shoulders above every other player in the playoffs -- on BOTH ends of the court. He's not slowing down any time soon.

he was routinely hidden, resting, and picking his spots on defense. You're crazy if you think you're getting full two way effort for a full season. Playoffs maybe, but even this past season his effort waned.

foye2smith wrote:he was routinely hidden, resting, and picking his spots on defense. You're crazy if you think you're getting full two way effort for a full season. Playoffs maybe, but even this past season his effort waned.

LeBron absolutely coasted defensively during the regular season. Not arguing that. I'm not sure you could realistically ask him to play all-out every game for that team considering his responsibilities he had on a team that was lacking a lot. But in the playoffs, he was, no shit, the best defensive player in the post-season. He's got it when he wants to have it.

I'm not scared of a Lebron/PG Laker team. LeBron doesn't play D in the regular season so they won't be an automatically better regular season team. LeBron's also gonna trash all the team play Walton has been trying to build there. This is the West so there's no more regular season cakewalk for Lebron. They're also still super young outside of those 2 guys. I wouldn't favor us over them in a playoff series, but if we have a fully healthy team I think we have some players they would struggle dealing with themselves and it would be a good series. Getting blown out by 3's is really our only weakness and right now I only see two teams who can really take advantage of that.

khans2k5 wrote:I'm not scared of a Lebron/PG Laker team. LeBron doesn't play D in the regular season so they won't be an automatically better regular season team. LeBron's also gonna trash all the team play Walton has been trying to build there. This is the West so there's no more regular season cakewalk for Lebron. They're also still super young outside of those 2 guys. I wouldn't favor us over them in a playoff series, but if we have a fully healthy team I think we have some players they would struggle dealing with themselves and it would be a good series. Getting blown out by 3's is really our only weakness and right now I only see two teams who can really take advantage of that.

Here is another case for not being scared of that pairing. I'd like to see our final roster and theirs first. Besides it's not a certainty either player leaves their teams. Thorpe talked up OKC bigtime on the podcast with Wolfson and it's hard to argue with that. We will see what happens it's all about to get rolling to some extent in a few hours.

foye2smith wrote:he was routinely hidden, resting, and picking his spots on defense. You're crazy if you think you're getting full two way effort for a full season. Playoffs maybe, but even this past season his effort waned.

He led the league in minutes for crying out loud! Yeah, he's getting a little older and basically had to do EVERYTHING for that Cavs team. If he gets on the right team and his minutes and responsibilities get shaved a bit, I think the defensive focus will be there.

It sounds like some moves are already in the works.

Durant planning to do a 1+1 saving GS some money but he can cash in later.

Will Barton supposedly resigning with the Nuggets for 4 years 12 million. Wow that's a lot of cash for this offseason.

Paul George is hanging out with folks in OKC.

Sounds like the idea of Joe Harris here ain't gonna happen. He seems like a bit of a hot name already with the Pacers interested.

If the Lakers miss out on paul George they may make a run at Cousins to pair with Lebron. I'm weirdly cheering for the Lakers to fall flat on their faces in FA.

khans2k5 wrote:I'm not scared of a Lebron/PG Laker team. LeBron doesn't play D in the regular season so they won't be an automatically better regular season team. LeBron's also gonna trash all the team play Walton has been trying to build there. This is the West so there's no more regular season cakewalk for Lebron. They're also still super young outside of those 2 guys. I wouldn't favor us over them in a playoff series, but if we have a fully healthy team I think we have some players they would struggle dealing with themselves and it would be a good series. Getting blown out by 3's is really our only weakness and right now I only see two teams who can really take advantage of that.

You should be scared. LeBron is still the best player in the League. He led the Cavs to the finals this past season playing with the likes of Kevin Love, Tristin Thompson, Jose Calderon, Kyle Korver and Jeff Green. He led the League in minutes and carried a team that would have been a lottery team without him, even in the East. With the Lakers he wouldn't just be paired with Paul George. He's be surrounded by Ingram, Ball, Kuzma and Hart. He's also likely have other very solid vets who sign at the vet minimum for the chance to win a championship. Strange that anyone would think that LeBron would kill team play. He's one of the most unselfish superstar scorers to ever play in the NBA. He's a great passer.

Paul George is reportedly staying with the Thunder. I'm shook.

Camden wrote:Paul George is reportedly staying with the Thunder. I'm shook.

Wow. I'm really surprised. I'm glad, but surprised. So what do the Lakers do now? Will LeBron sign with the Lakers without Paul George going there? I guess this makes it imperative for the Lakers to trade for Kawhi, but if Paul George stays put in OKC, then the Spurs will have a lot of leverage in any such deal. I'm not sure the Lakers could get Kawhi without giving up too much to also get LeBron. I could see LeBron staying in Cleveland if the Lakers can't land Paul George or Kawhi. Very interesting development.