**LA LAKERS THREAD** Sitting on 17! 2023-2024 offseason begins

[titang545]

Things that will never not be entertaining for me:
#1. When Lebron has bad stretches, MFers who have hated him for the longest puff their chest out and go "See? He sucks."

#2. Laker fans who hated him in the purple and gold from day 1 doing #1 (That's where we're at now... again.)

#3. Anyone who belongs to 1 or 2 reading posts like this right here and responding with "OMG, another Lebron Stan! Get off his nuts!"

That last one is always entertaining to me because just like this post, nothing positive even has to be said about Lebron.
I haven't said anything positive about Lebron in this entire post, but people who belong to #1 or #2 will feel attacked by a Lebron Stan instead of feeling held accountable for their emotional haterade.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Is he helping or hurting the team and or franchise right now generate wins? is he taking a lions share of the money?

the part of the talent is part of the scrubs ...

Yup this post did not age well.

 

[pmatic]

Spoiler

The most awkward question in basketball

An uncomfortable question is brewing in Los Angeles: Why are the Lakers so much worse whenever LeBron James touches the court?

For more than two decades, the mere presence of James has guaranteed his team competitive — nay, dominant — minutes. Now, he and the Lakers (12-10) can’t figure it out, a query that continued into Wednesday night, when the Miami Heat mauled them for their sixth loss in eight games.

The numbers have become impossible to hide, even if James’ all-time-great status grants him deserved leeway.

The Lakers are now 21.4 points per 100 possessions worse when James is on the court this season, according to Cleaning the Glass. And even if that chasm feels cavernous just from the looks of it, the raw stat still isn’t providing enough context.

This has never happened before. For much of James’ career, that figure hasn’t been just in the positives; it’s been at or near the top of the league. His former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, had seasons when they were 15-17 points better with James in games. Even in his less impactful campaigns, his teams were significantly better with him. Now, the metrics paint the opposite picture.

It’s not like there is one particular lineup dragging down James’ stats. No other Lakers player has an on-off rating worse than minus-6.5, 3 1/2 times better than James’.

The only qualifying players in the NBA with on-off stats in James’ range are a trio of Denver Nuggets reserves who suffer from a syndrome known as Jokić-mania. Playing mostly without three-time MVP Nikola Jokić on a team Jokić is on is the greatest way to doom your on-offs.

At least through 22 games, this is not usual James production.

A lower percentage of his shots are coming at the rim than ever. He has never gotten to the free-throw line this little, either. He just missed 20 consecutive 3-pointers across five games. On the other side, Los Angeles allows way more 3s when he’s on the court. His team defense has been laissez-faire, though maybe that’s what comes when someone who turns 40 in less than a month has to carry the offensive burden that he does. After all, we’ve never before seen someone this age be even this productive — and no question about it, James is still productive, averaging 22 points, eight rebounds and nine assists.

Yet, the counting stats aren’t leading to winning basketball.

There is hope for the Lakers. They probably won’t continue to sink this low when James is around, even if nothing changes. They are shooting terribly from deep when James is on the court, and their opponents have caught fire from 3 whenever he plays. Normally, a difference so large (in this case, Lakers opponents ratchet up their long-range shooting about 10 percentage points when James is in the game) comes back to Earth over time. And once it does, the Lakers will no longer be 21.4 points per 100 possessions worse when James plays.

But that won’t make up for the entire difference. Not close.

It’s too early to declare this a new stage of James’ career. But 22 games of evidence is enough to ask what is going on. And what can the Lakers do not just to halt this trend but to flip it?

 

[grittyman]

Evolving over time isn't the problem, what will you do to retool going forward. That has continued to be a failure by management, still chasing short term goals and messing up long term plan

Huh?

My point was that there was no need to blow it up, this thing is already heading towards a rebuild… that’s the evolution there (contender to pretender to beginner)

The Lakers never really go through a proper rebuild

 

[Lizakers]

Been saying for years we will be mediocre til LeBron is gone and we destroy and rebuild it (word to Nas)

 

[MIKE LOWERY]

Yall still *****ing about Bron in year 7 huh? He ain't going anywhere

 

[pmatic]

Hawks been playing good ball recently.

 

[tupac003]

 

[tupac003]

Hawks been playing good ball recently.

Save yourself and don't watch.

I'm watching college football tonight.

 

[grittyman]

Young athletic team, I'm expecting them to run the Lakers out of the gym.

Honestly this could be easily be a 1, 2, or (gulp) 0 win month

* I forgot Utah was on the 1st, somehow I thought off the top of my head it was the last day of Nov.

 

[pmatic]

Need to see how the next month plays out, but...

 

[pmatic]

 

[atlsfinest]

The Lakers need to make a decision: either Make the moves it takes to build a title contender or hit the reset button.

That being said, I'm not even sure if there's a trade out there that will improve this roster enough to compete for a championship (unless we completely fleece another team).

It's a moot point because as long as LeBron is happy, he isn't getting traded and as long as LeBron is here AD will be here as well. It's just frustrating to see this for an office run back a seven seed as if things were going to magically change.

 

[grittyman]

Same guy that claimed two months ago that JJ was going to right the ship is now telling us to blow it up… but again no criticism towards the same guy when the ship be a sinking.

Also just searched his page and found this doozy

Using his brain instead of his body?

“WTF does that mean Kobe Bryant?”

It means this dude is full of

 

[grittyman]

The Lakers need to make a decision: either Make the moves it takes to build a title contender or hit the reset button.

I agree but we’re all fans so that’s what we want.

How important is winning another title to Bron And AD? Like how much pressure are they putting on Jeanie and Rob to get something done. They just negotiated new contracts lately so they must be okay with it… and let’s be honest, they’re not playing every night like they’re obsessed about winning.

Simple yes or no question here. Is there ANY pressure on these two to deliver another title to LA? I say no, and if there was they’d perform better and probably lead better as well. We the fans put more pressure on everyone but these guys that I don’t really ever expect things to be any different from what they are now.

 

[tay1]

The Lakers need to make a decision: either Make the moves it takes to build a title contender or hit the reset button.

That being said, I'm not even sure if there's a trade out there that will improve this roster enough to compete for a championship (unless we completely fleece another team).

It's a moot point because as long as LeBron is happy, he isn't getting traded and as long as LeBron is here AD will be here as well. It's just frustrating to see this for an office run back a seven seed as if things were going to magically change.

There is no way in hell we trade Bron unless he publicly requests one. It just isn't a good look.

 

[SORIANOTRON]

It should be an insta ban whoever posts bill simmons ***** *** in here

 

[Hijo Del Promo]

OMG, this is SO easy.

1. Fire JJ, Hire Vogel
2. Trade for KCP
3. Trade for Caruso
4. Sign Dwight

 

[Lizakers]

You’re telling me Olivari can’t give us more than Gabe ? Need some youthful hunger out there

 

[grittyman]

Hey darthska check this out..,



JJ says he’s now going to start subbing out players who aren’t following the game plan

Guessing this is what he looked like after someone in the coaches meeting told him he’s able to do that

 

[grittyman]

 

[darthska]

Ssshhhhhiiii, good thing Patty Bev isn't on the team anymore.
JJ would have started the sentence with "OK, I want each of you to..." and Bev would have had his 3 on the scorecard before the sentence finished.

 

[pmatic]

 

[darthska]

JJ says he’s now going to start subbing out players who aren’t following the game plan

Guessing this is what he looked like after someone in the coaches meeting told him he’s able to do that

... when he had the meeting with upper management and said, "I need to establish accountability. If Lebron or AD aren't following the game plan," they hit him with...

 

[tupac003]

 

[tupac003]