The LeBron James- 23-24 NBA Playoffs & Off-Season Thread -(NO PERSONAL ATTACKS & BAITING)

[GSP]

Can some of you guys shut up jesus. Mods, remove people who are trolling here

So whats the moves this summer?

Done with Dlo

The guy shot 31% from 3 and was horrible on defense. Need a guard who is more explosive and can finish (on top of shooting).

Definitely move Vincent if you can in a bigger deal for salary. Probably selling low and he will bounce back a bit, but not worth paying him 10m to be a backup

Rui can go if there is a decent deal. Just don't feel like he was conifdnet shooting when there was pressure and blew so many layups. He is so gifted phsycially, but rarely uses it and we need a better rebounding forward next to Bron, unless we are getting a C and AD goes to the 4 in certain matchups

We have 3 1sts, 3 swaps, JHS, Christie, Reaves, Rui, salary filler in TP (if he opts in), Dlo (if he opts in), Vincent (negative), and Vando (more neutral, solid player, but has injury isssues and a 1 sided guy)

We should be able to make some moves or a big move

If we cant, Bron should walk

Trading Reaves would be a mistake Imo

Hes a big game player, made alot of clutch plays, great pick and roll guard, foul drawer and has great chemistry w/ Bron and Ad. Murray got off this game but Reaves defense on him was a big reason he struggled most the series. Murray really got going 4th quarter of game 2 and this game but alot was Reaves being screened off or in transition, offensive rebound shots, cuts......

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1784667287330369955%7Ctwgr%5E730704b834dfd27bccd8a43d7929b2aca8978838%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flebronwire.usatoday.com%2F2024%2F04%2F28%2Faustin-reaves-has-defended-jamal-murray-well-in-lakers-nuggets-series%2F

[Slava]

Need a new coach if they run it back with Lebron and Davis.

Eh, Ham didn't really cost them the series.

I think he probably cost them a couple RS Wins with rotations, but let's be honest, he wasn't working with a lot.

Two of their key rotation guys--Vando and Vincent--were hurt for a majority of the season.

The team had no wing depth and had to rely on Cam Reddish and Taurean Prince to play big minutes while Rui is a fine piece.

Honestly, all they need to do is tweak some skill-sets [Russell, Hayes, Wood, Reddish] and maybe see what you can do with Vincent while Keeping Vando.

There is a chance Christie finally does something productive and can stay on the floor while Hood-Schifino has an outside shot at being someone.

The players they can get without giving any valuable assets include guys like Malcolm Brogdon, Bruce Brown, Nikola Vucevic, Kevin Huerter, Grant Williams and Jordan Clarkson.

I like giving up some minor-to-medium assets though for guys like Dorian Finney-Smith, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Jerami Grant, C.J. McCollum and Alex Caruso.

It is going to be another interesting off-season for the Lakers.

There seems to be a clear disconnect between the front office and the coach about what the strategy approaching the season is going to be. Pelinka had been preaching continuity by bringing back the majority of the roster from the last playoff run and investing heavily into Rui and Reaves. Ham spent more than half a season trying to find any alternative to avoid playing those two starter minutes and finally settled on them after Prince, Reddish and whoever else disappointed him. That’s valuable repetitions and continuity you’re wasting on a team that admittedly doesn’t practice much or as hard owing to age and durability issues to the primary stars. I feel that’s where they lost the season. If they had a 40 game sample size of what the starting line up was going to look like and where the holes were, they could have enough knowledge to strengthen at the trade deadline, but that’s valuable time lost.

Add on top, it took him a season and a half to find a functional offense, and once he did settle on it, the defense went down the drain. His in game adjustments feel late and he has a habit of falling asleep at the wheel when leads evaporate expecting this team to figure things out when he has adequate sample size to know that they don’t have that personality.

I guess he’s not the only problem. Pelinka has time and again wasted the MLE but I don’t think Ham is a championship winning coach either and the longer you persist with him, the longer you go not investing in someone who is of that caliber. If they plan carefully, they have one more mini run with Davis after Lebron. I wish Pelinka would go too but I know that’s not happening with Jeannie Buss, so I’ll leave it at that.

[GSP]

Read on Twitter

[Slava]

Read on Twitter

Damn, this dude had his draft ready prating for the final whistle to go.

[Heej]

I then said your season isn't over because your daughter's basketball games.

This was brought up completely out of the blue. Why are you talking about my daughter at all? I certainly haven't been. This is a thread where posters HATE me, and have said so explicitly. Don't talk about my family here in any context. Use your judgement please. Edit: I'm out, this obviously isn't a safe space. Like, wtf.

Realistically you're not even like top 5 on the RealGM Bron hater power rankings I fear. Don't overestimate your impact lil guy

Anyways, twas another classic season. Can't be too mad other than at Bron missing some boxouts but that's likely never gonna change. Overall pretty solid season that could've been better. We'll be at an interesting crossroads with this final free agency.

It's too bad Ham just isn't good at managing momentum. He seems like a great gameplan guy and genuinely a likable locker room leader. Likely why he was such a coveted assistant coach. Does he have potential to develop and shore up his weaknesses? Idk guess it's possible but I just don't see the makings of a legit franchise coach.

Would love to see LeBron and AD stick together. But at this point if you're doing that you need another 2-way forward who can get big on the glass to make up for old Brons weak rebounding at the 4 spot. Don't really see any other obvious paths for improving his outlook in LA

[Colbinii]

I then said your season isn't over because your daughter's basketball games.

This was brought up completely out of the blue. Why are you talking about my daughter at all? I certainly haven't been. This is a thread where posters HATE me, and have said so explicitly. Don't talk about my family here in any context. Use your judgement please. Edit: I'm out, this obviously isn't a safe space. Like, wtf.

You have brought up the fact you watch your daughters games.

I simply said "If the season is over, you still have her season".

Relax, adult conversation can be overstimulating, happens to me too.

[nzahir]

Can some of you guys shut up jesus. Mods, remove people who are trolling here

So whats the moves this summer?

Done with Dlo

The guy shot 31% from 3 and was horrible on defense. Need a guard who is more explosive and can finish (on top of shooting).

Definitely move Vincent if you can in a bigger deal for salary. Probably selling low and he will bounce back a bit, but not worth paying him 10m to be a backup

Rui can go if there is a decent deal. Just don't feel like he was conifdnet shooting when there was pressure and blew so many layups. He is so gifted phsycially, but rarely uses it and we need a better rebounding forward next to Bron, unless we are getting a C and AD goes to the 4 in certain matchups

We have 3 1sts, 3 swaps, JHS, Christie, Reaves, Rui, salary filler in TP (if he opts in), Dlo (if he opts in), Vincent (negative), and Vando (more neutral, solid player, but has injury isssues and a 1 sided guy)

We should be able to make some moves or a big move

If we cant, Bron should walk

Trading Reaves would be a mistake Imo

Hes a big game player, made alot of clutch plays, great pick and roll guard, foul drawer and has great chemistry w/ Bron and Ad. Murray got off this game but Reaves defense on him was a big reason he struggled most the series. Murray really got going 4th quarter of game 2 and this game but alot was Reaves being screened off or in transition, offensive rebound shots, cuts......

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1784667287330369955%7Ctwgr%5E730704b834dfd27bccd8a43d7929b2aca8978838%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Flebronwire.usatoday.com%2F2024%2F04%2F28%2Faustin-reaves-has-defended-jamal-murray-well-in-lakers-nuggets-series%2F

What if you could get these guys, say yes or no to each

Donovan Mitchell
Trae Young
Kyrie
KD

I would say yes to all, but for Kyrie I would hope you could get him with other guys and picks+swap and keep Reaves.

If Reaves was in it, then it has to be something like Reaves, Rui/Vando, Vincent. 0 picks, 0 swaps

[nzahir]

Hope Durant forces his way to LA, but idk if that would be enough, you’d lose a bit in a trade and MPJ for example could probably match any production of his. Should still try. I’ve always wanted to see Bron and Durant to play together, so much potential there, but yeah it’d be slim pickings after the trio.

We’ll have to see who becomes available after the playoffs are over, some stars or decent role players might want out and in for the Lakers. It’s LA so it’s easier than most teams.

I would love KD here

Reaves, Rui/Vincent and JHS, Dlo and some combo of picks and swaps (not all the picks and swaps)?

[TroubleS0me]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[TroubleS0me]

Read on Twitter

[The Master]

It's quite simple for the Lakers:

- fire Ham and try to establish some long-term culture with decent coach (what they were not capable of post-Jackson)
- chase a star on the market (I find it very unlikely assets-wise)
- no old guys for exceptions/minimums

I'm pretty sure Lakers' ownership is kind of satisfied after last two seasons with an outcome (consistent playoffs appearances with top viewership/merchandise ratings, right?), so I don't expect any overhaul or bold moves. Having LeBron (still the biggest star in the league) is a blessing for this mid-happiness approach.

Re: this season - no need to elaborate further, well, it happened: Lakers underperformed (easily can imagine Lakers getting few additional wins if Ham hadn't gone wild with rotation in post-IST period for a month or so, and then eliminate Mavs/Clippers level of teams in the playoffs, considering how atrocious their series is level-wise), but also kind of overperformed in a way (AD and LeBron healthy all year long, that wasn't a given, and West was wild wild West this year). Last year's offseason (Ham kept, extensions/new contracts for Hachimura/Vanderbilt, MLE for Vincent) definitely hasn't aged well, so I don't believe Lakers are capable of doing magic and improve a tier as a team (and that would be needed to compete for anything realistically), especially considering 40yo/32yo leaders.

And even if they do, this season could've been realistically a 'last dance' opportunity, LeBron was BY FAR in the best shape post-2020 in April/May time, wonder what are the odds for this happening again.

[TroubleS0me]

Read on Twitter

Read on Twitter

[Doug_12]

Can some of you guys shut up jesus. Mods, remove people who are trolling here

So whats the moves this summer?

Done with Dlo

The guy shot 31% from 3 and was horrible on defense. Need a guard who is more explosive and can finish (on top of shooting).

Definitely move Vincent if you can in a bigger deal for salary. Probably selling low and he will bounce back a bit, but not worth paying him 10m to be a backup

Rui can go if there is a decent deal. Just don't feel like he was conifdnet shooting when there was pressure and blew so many layups. He is so gifted phsycially, but rarely uses it and we need a better rebounding forward next to Bron, unless we are getting a C and AD goes to the 4 in certain matchups

We have 3 1sts, 3 swaps, JHS, Christie, Reaves, Rui, salary filler in TP (if he opts in), Dlo (if he opts in), Vincent (negative), and Vando (more neutral, solid player, but has injury isssues and a 1 sided guy)

We should be able to make some moves or a big move

If we cant, Bron should walk

I wouldn't trade Vincent: he can only sell him very low and we haven't seen much from him as he was out most of the season. He is not in a contract year, but he has only 1 more year left after his current one, so I think he wouldn't gamble on the last year. All in all: I think he will bounce back, and will be a better player than anyone we could get for him.

I see three options:
If Lebron stays and there is a big name available, without sacrificing AD (like Mitchell), we will probably move for him.
If Lebron stays but there is no big move available, I'd just re-run the core of the squad again: AD, Lebron, Reaves, Rui, Russell and Vincent. All others are fine for me to go: None of them are able to perform neither in the PO nor in the RS. (Russell at least is helping in the regular season).
If Lebron leaves, I'd start a rebuild, in which case I'd sacrifice anyone except Reaves (and maye JHS, who is still very young and can only sell him super-low)

[Peregrine01]

LeBron and AD have special chemistry so you really can't break that up. Next to Luka, Bron might be the best short roll passer in the game and who better to pass it to than perhaps the best rolling big man of all time? If they get some size at the 5, I think they'd be right back in the mix. Putting AD on Jokic is just asking too much. They sacrifice some offense but it was not like they were shooting well anyway and it was rebounding that really hurt them this series.

[rk2023]

LeBron and AD have special chemistry so you really can't break that up. Next to Luka, Bron might be the best short roll passer in the game and who better to pass it to than perhaps the best rolling big man of all time? If they get some size at the 5, I think they'd be right back in the mix. Putting AD on Jokic is just asking too much. They sacrifice some offense but it was not like they were shooting well anyway and it was rebounding that really hurt them this series.

Bingo.

Am curious if you would still take LAL over any other Western team - as it’s clear their poor marginal execution does them in against Denver but they may have a good enough floor to handle a lot of other WC playoff teams.

[Peregrine01]

LeBron and AD have special chemistry so you really can't break that up. Next to Luka, Bron might be the best short roll passer in the game and who better to pass it to than perhaps the best rolling big man of all time? If they get some size at the 5, I think they'd be right back in the mix. Putting AD on Jokic is just asking too much. They sacrifice some offense but it was not like they were shooting well anyway and it was rebounding that really hurt them this series.

Bingo.

Am curious if you would still take LAL over any other Western team - as it’s clear their poor marginal execution does them in against Denver but they may have a good enough floor to handle a lot of other WC playoff teams.

Minny looks amazing so I'm not sure. But if Bron can keep turning it on whenever he wants to, age be damned, I think they're a lot closer than many think. He's freaking 39 and in his 21st season and he's playing with the force of the most athletic guy on the floor...the guy is as close to a superhero as we'll ever see in sports. Ultimately age has to factor in right?

[rk2023]

LeBron and AD have special chemistry so you really can't break that up. Next to Luka, Bron might be the best short roll passer in the game and who better to pass it to than perhaps the best rolling big man of all time? If they get some size at the 5, I think they'd be right back in the mix. Putting AD on Jokic is just asking too much. They sacrifice some offense but it was not like they were shooting well anyway and it was rebounding that really hurt them this series.

Bingo.

Am curious if you would still take LAL over any other Western team - as it’s clear their poor marginal execution does them in against Denver but they may have a good enough floor to handle a lot of other WC playoff teams.

Minny looks amazing so I'm not sure. But if Bron can keep turning it on whenever he wants to, age be damned, I think they're a lot closer than many think. He's freaking 39 and in his 21st season and he's playing with the force of the most athletic guy on the floor...the guy is as close to a superhero as we'll ever see in sports. Ultimately age has to factor in right?

Agree there (both across the board and in MN case), and I’d guess you definitely see more of the taxation w.r.t. game by game performance and overall stamina throughout a playoff run at this age. Iirc LAL was 14-7 against the non MN-DEN PO teams out West, which id guess translates well

[zimpy27]

Read on Twitter

Everyone picks up their options.

Backup big is the most pressing need. I'd want a Rui upgrade tbh.

A guy that can start at PF and be backup C would actually be the prime target. Who is that though?

Portis?

[Slava]

Read on Twitter

Everyone picks up their options.

Backup big is the most pressing need. I'd want a Rui upgrade tbh.

A guy that can start at PF and be backup C would actually be the prime target. Who is that though?

Portis?

Is Lyles a free agent? He’s a massive Kobe fan.

[ardee]

Lakers losing Game 2 cost them the series here.

It's funny because LeBron teams always figure out how to win these series but he just doesn't have that extra gear anymore.

Props to Jokic/Murray though, Jokic knows how to make an imprint on a game.

Like I said to GSP, he still looked like a top 5 player in the Playoffs. He can absolutely still lead a better organization to another title.

Yeah, I mean outside of Jokic, who are you taking in a 7-game series over LeBron right now?

The real shame in all this was 2021. The 2021 Lakers cruise to the Finals if he doesn't get hurt by someone diving near his legs.

Then the Lakers [even with a deep run in 2021 without a title] don't trade for Westbrook.

I would say Luka, he's a proven Playoff performer who kills it in big games. Prime LeBron is on another level from him, but he's good enough to be over year 21 LeBron.

But yeah no one else jumps out as obvious. 2021 and 2022 seem a million years ago for Giannis, the young guards are too green, I wouldn't trust any of them yet over Bron.

Unreal how good he is still, just beyond belief. I will likely give him a top 5 vote in the RPOY project.