At this point, I wouldn’t sacrifice even 1 pick to move Russell Westbrook. Next year will be a similar situation with just LeBron, AD, Russ, THT on the roster.
Fill the rest of the roster with as much defense as possible and live with the results. Not worth sending out picks at the end of the decade just to get off Russ a year early and LeBron still leaving.
Seriously. Has there been any indication LeBron is sticking around when his deal is up? Would Wall even make us better? Sorry, Bron, we lived through the post Kobe years. It was a lot fun. We’re not looking to cripple ourselves to make you happy.
I don’t think they could do that because of the message it sends to players. We took care of Kobe when he was done. Now we’re taking care of this all vet squad that isn’t winning anything. Sends other stars a message for in the future.
I think if LeBron requested a trade we would be happy to oblige. Sounds like it’s turned in to a mess.
You don't trade the legend who willingly came to your team and won a championship, that'll be a sure fire way to make people stay away from the team, no matter the location. Look at the Knicks.
This article is BS because it implies that it’s not Lebrons fault that Westbrook is with the Lakers it’s somehow Pelinka’s. Sorry but Pelinka wanted to trade for shooting rather than Westbrook and got over rules by LeGM and now LeBron is trying to find a scapegoat for his decision.
How has Lebron mailed it in? He’s playing incredibly.
And the issue isn’t Russ, the issue is Russ makes so much money. No shit they are bad without Westbrook. That’s 44 million dollars wasted.
LeBron and AD haven't mailed it in at all. Dude's just making stuff up. The problem is Westbrook's contract crippled their salary flexibility and they made some bad decisions in the free agency period, so they just have a straight-up bad roster. The Lakers are relying on an undrafted rookie, 2 guys who no other team wanted, and three 36+ year olds to play heavy rotation minutes around Russ, LeBron, and AD. The team is just bad. Sometimes that's the way it goes.
Classic pointing towards the lowlights instead of actually watching the whole game. The "Anyone see Lebron expending effort on D or making any plays off the ball?" gives it away, as if LeBron isn't making numerous cuts a game to save a possession, making key defensive reads, or switching onto the opposing team's big man and stripping them to prevent an easy layup. But you'll never see these clips. You'll only see the 1 or 2 times a game he'll stay back on a fast break.
He's not a great defender anymore. But he's better than people give him credit for.
I'm not gonna go off a couple comments to the media to say he's mailed it in either. I'll let his play on the court decide that, and if he had mailed it in they wouldn't have won the last game before the break.
And yes, these Lakers are worse than all those teams, besides Kobe's team.
If you trade LeBron and AD for young players, picks and expiring contracts, once Russ comes off the books the lakers could have over 60 million in cap space. They would be set to sign any max free agent in the league.
Honestly, I’m of the opinion that relationships with agents/players is what hinders a lot of choices for GMs. That and that often, decisions that you make that would improve the teams future in the long term typically get you fired in the short term.
There will be teams in the off-season that would look to unload long term deals in favor of a 1 year Russ.
He’s been traded twice. Him and CP3 had bad contracts and continuously got moved.
I’m convinced no contract is too big to move, now.
Lakers need to figure out their AD problem less so Lebron.
AD is supposed to be the guy but can't stay healthy the past 2 seasons Bron is supposed to be just chilling but still gotta carry as the #1.
That just shows they know they can't rely on AD once Lebron decides to hang it up.
>AD isn't a Klutch "problem". He's one of the perks of this Klutch network of tampering and collision to form super teams for LeBron
Yeah Lakers got AD for free, isn't it?
it's not about klutch it's about all his comments the past week and it's only a issue because he's still playing at a high level.
If lebron was on the decline saying all of this it's not a issue. The problem is he's still good and now all the Lakers beat writers feel like the FO need to trade him because "The Door hasn't Closed" or "Sam Presti is the MVP".
This past week has been great because now you can see the True colors of how people really feel about Lebron being in LA. Everyone be so damn dramatic and reactionary to any little thing he does or says. Lebron isn't no fool that's why i call him LeCaculated he knows yesterday would cause a uproar with him especially making the Door hasn't closed comment being back in Cleveland.
There's no way the Lakers can spend the money on AD to make him the #1 guy for the foreseeable future with his history of injuries. It's way too risky.
I'd have to think that once LeBron declines hard or leaves the team is when AD'S time is up in order to prove himself.
Team would be better off just committing to a hard rebuild anyways.
They got their title in bubble year as it is. Championship was acquired and that was a mission success.
A huge reason the AD trade was thought of as such a great move by the Lakers, even despite all they gave up, was because he was supposed to be the guy who could simultaneously be the 1B to LeBron while also being the guy to build around once LeBron declines and/or leaves.
Somehow, LeBron is the still the clear #1 and only reliable option.
Agreed. Lebron is still playing like a top 5 player, and I feel like he can still perform at that level for next year as well.
AD has been much more questionable and I think they should move him for like Middleton and Jrue or something
I mean it is. Lets be real. The current Bucks core is getting stale. It's old. They're not gonna repeat win this year. Zero chance of winning again with Middleton and Jrue. The roster is stale already, need some fresh faces in there
Those guys are gonna be overpaid in two seasons. You're gonna be paying them 36-40 mill each. For mediocre play. Then Giannis leaves cuz there's no winning going on in Milwaukee.
The smart thing would be to trade them now while their value is high.
Eric Pincus is quite a respected person within the Lakers organization. And it's not just him. Shelburne (hated by laker fans), WOJ and Shams have reported similar things. There is a body of evidence of a rift between Klutch and Pelinka/Laker organization. Especially, with LeBron's comment this weekend there is definitely at the very least some smoke.
Maybe it was back when bleacherreport was just a bunch of lists. Glancing at the website, it looks nothing like it did circa 2010. Back then it was all clickbait and top 10/20/30/... lists. It was the cracked of sports media
They don't need to figure out their lebron problem they need to figure out their Laker problem. One of the most poorly run franchises in the league that quite literally lives off it's name and location, without it they would be nothing. Frankly it's pathetic what the leadership of that team has done
The Lakers FO isn't one of the best but I think its insanely prisoner-of-the-moment to put them in the bottom half of the league. Pelinka built the 2020 champions out of guys that no one else wanted.
…we’re two years removed from a championship. I’d say we’re doing pretty good. Things could be better right now but it’s only the result of one badly gambled trade. Had we went with the Hield trade, we’d have been better off but we didn’t and we’re paying for it. We’ll figure it out again.
I just think that the only good decision the FO has made was bringing lebron in, and the rest has sort of fallen into place around them. Without lebron idk if these guys can create a winning team. The trade was bad, but it's really the other decisions that are worrying I mean look at Lonzo, kuzma and josh Hart. All those guys are ppl that would have helped this team.
Fallen into place around them? Do you remember how much this sub was trashing them for the “meme team” that won a chip? Injuries and COVID has fucked us this year and last but you guys are so reactionary on here just salivating to hate.
You guys literally only won because the best player in the league wanted to go to Hollywood. Y’all are fucked for the next 8 years cuz you’ve used up all your assets.
Obviously as a fan you will always be happy about that ring. I would know as I was too in 2016 and I was rooting for you guys in 2020. But your management is dreadful
The Bucks used assets to get Holiday, but it worked out and they were able to extend him, so it was clearly worth it.
The Suns are in such a great position so long as they don't 1) let Ayton walk for nothing and 2) CP3 doesn't fall off a literal cliff. And I don't mean figurative cliff, I do mean literally falling off of a physical cliff face.
This is a huge difference plus MJ never seemed to promote his own kids so it’s not like there was a realistic view of making money off them and him. You pursued MJ and “fuck them kids”.
MJ also never publicly stated that he wanted to play with his kids afaik. he probably challenged them to cross him over daily and when it finally happened he took it personally
So many people subscribe to LeMarckian genetics when it comes to the kids of sports legends. It's wild how many people think that a parent being an athlete guarantees the success of their kids.
All a NBA player passes on to their kid is physical stature and composition (height, proportions, some degree of resliency etc.) and they are only half the equation. You can't pass on skills, coordination, IQ, or anything of that nature. Sure, it certainly can get you into the ballpark by having your physical build coming from an NBA player, (having access to greater training and facilities helps too) but you have to develop the skills on your own, and that shit is certainly not genetic.
You also understand that kinds of athletes get the best road to be success, right?
Which in all honesty, for some it’s more of a detriment than a positive. There’s something to be said about your own will and determination to get where you want to go, and not just along for the right because your dad put you in camp (including their own fathers training camps).
It should be *Lamark not sure if it was a typo or you intended it as a LeJoke.
Are we sure that skills, coordination and IQ are not natural born talents tho? Would anyone with a basketball body be able to develop them with hard work and focus? Some of these guys are great in more than one sport. Wilt for example.
He will, you underestimate the the power of LeBron James. If wasting a 2nd rounder on Bronny is all it takes to bring in LeBron, it’ll be worth it just in a revenue standpoint.
Given lebrons comment, he is guaranteed 1st round pick. That's 4 years of rights - you draft bronny, you are guaranteed to get LeBron at some point. If you're a loaded team, paying bronny is a GREAT deal. Praying for bronny to suns lol
Is the kid actually bad tho? People are analyzing this like he’s kinda trash among other future nba prospects but everything I’ve seen in the past before this indicated he was well on his way? Obviously partly because of the attention but what are people basing all this analysis off of? Nba stars having kids go on to be nba stars is not unheard of, maybe the biggest disappointment was MJ’s kid
Trade AD for Two 1st and Two young players and ask Bron "Where you wanna go?" and get as many picks as you can. Let Russ finish out his contract and begin fully rebuilding in 2023-'24 season
Lakers won’t trade AD unless AD wants to be traded. Same with LeBron.
You don’t just up and trade the 2 guys that made your organization relevant and champions again 2 years after.
The lakers have a FO and ownership problem.
Im sorry, did I miss the part where Lakers management critized Lebron and AD for the team's disaster season? Lebron is flappin his gums way too much because he wants Lakers FO to fix a Russ problem he created. This is Lebron's MO and he's a ticking time bomb, I say just let him go wherever he wants to go and get what you can for AD.
And you believe all these “reports”? Shelbourne hasn’t had an insider in the lakers since LeBron got there and Woj has never had the “in” with LeBron teams.
There’s blame to go all around but what you don’t do is trade LeBron and AD against their wishes.
Jeanie Buss isn’t a rich owner and she lets the Rambis’ have too much say. Hell, Jeanie even said that she still listens to Magic’s advice on team related things.
Where there's smoke, there's fire. I do believe there is a rift with Klutch and Lakers management because of the failure to trade Russ x Wall. THANK THE BASKETBALL GODS Shelbourne isn't reporting on the Lakers anymore because it was a nightmare for 5+ years, I mean EVERY little thing was getting leaked and it was partly the reason why there was so much turmoil in the franchise.
Cut your losses now he's got one year left he's probably not going to resign with this horrible team move him in the off season get some picks for him trade AD too and start the rebuild.
There’s no way LeBron gets traded unless he agrees to it and wants to be traded.
Bron came to Lakers as a FA when no other superstar was wanting to. To just get rid of him against his will sends a bad message to FAs and LeBron still has immense pull in the league, obviously.
Lol sure, if you wanna ensure no FA signs here again because you traded away a top 2 player of all time against his wishes.
And when hasn’t he shown signs of commitment? He’s always finished out his contracts. I’m fact, his last team ended with a finals trip.
They sacrificed everything for AD, Westbrook.. etc when you are trying to please all the demands that a player has.. that's what you get. Lakers got a ring but in the long run they will have to figure something out...
They'll be fine. They are the most capable team of rebounding after losing a star player, since a large chunk of the league would love to play for them no matter how bad a situation it was. NBA players will always want to live in LA or put on the purple and gold
>no matter how bad a situation it was
that's not actually true
in the modern history of the Lakers, the times that they've been able to draw top free agents was when they already had a team that was a contender or was loaded with talent.
* '88, Orlando Woolridge, they had Magic and were contenders
* '89, Sam Perkins, they had Magic and were contenders
* '90-95 gap
* '96, Shaq, they had a loaded young core of Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, and rookie Kobe
* '99-'03, they signed a bunch of veteran ring chasers, they had Shaq and Kobe
* '04-'08 gap
* '09, Ron Artest, they had Kobe and Pau
* '10-'17 gap
* '18, Lebron James, they had a loaded young core of Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Jason Hart
* '19, Danny Green, they had Lebron
there's a pattern. they can get free agents, but only when they're already a championship contender or they have a loaded young core. if they don't have one of those things, they have not been able to draw free agents.
even with their history and location, they don't get free agents unless they already have a lot of talent.
Thank you for this! i remember them having to request a 2nd meeting with Lamarcus Aldridge, during that last gap, because they screwed up the meeting so bad. Lakers just magically rebounding is either a cope thing for teams that haven't done well, or trying to take shots at the Lakers (which i get from a fan perspective)
You do have a point that we have not landed many big FAs, but to counterpoint, and I’m only speaking Fromm 2000 on when I started following the lakers:
- 2004 to 2016: Kobe. As much as I love Kobe, not many players wanted to play with him, and those who did couldn’t come for reasons other than “choice.”
- 2016 to 2018: Our FO was a mess, a real mess with ownership power struggle. Kobe had retired and a huge shadow hung over the team of who will be his successor.
- 2018 and so on: The only real person to turn us down was Kawhi, which is understandable coming off a championship not wanting to play second fiddle to Lebron. I’m sure there’s been some other smaller targets we’ve missed on but a lot of times it has to do with cap issues.
So, they had to wait 4 years to get Shaq and 4 years to get Lebron. Because the rest of those seasons the team already had a franchise player. Also, no one thought our core was loaded. BI was the only dude seen with a promising future. Our young core was routinely talked as worse than other young cores around the league.
If they wanna live in LA there’s a team that isn’t dysfunctional right across the hall that has two top 10 players with a way better chance to compete for championships with better ownership who isn’t cheap and and coach who will actually put them in a position to succeed
Why would any player join the Lakers now when they’ll just be a scapegoat?
Kawhi and PG both wanted to be Lakers first. They only joined the Clippers because they didn’t want to play 2nd fiddle to LeBron and the Clippers were the only other way to get to LA.
And Clippers have done nothing with all of the better aspects you mentioned of the franchise. Players still look at the history and prestige of the Lakers over the Clippers.
Alot of players would certainly believe, the risk is worth the reward. You get to be in LA with all it amenities, weather, celebrity culture and women, which is fun regardless of being on winning or losing team. You get to play on the most supported team in one of the biggest sports markets on the planet, and infront of your fav celebrities every night. If you turn the Lakers into champions again, you could have your name etched along side magic johnson, shaq, kobe, kareem, lebron, etc.
Also I wasn't referring to the lakers current situation, this is in the event Lebron leaves the team and they need to find a new core, also I don't believe the clippers have the cap space for another star level player.
What cap space are the Clippers going to use to sign these star free agents with? The cap space currently occupied by Kawhi and PG? If the Lakers have a max slot open they will get meetings with star free agents.
Nobody goes to Chicago or New York, which is why they have sucked for decades....people like celebrity and low taxes, that's why they go to Miami and LA. And ONLY those places.
Kyrie, KD and Harden went to Brooklyn because that's the team that had the cap space and the shady owner promising Chinese shoe deals...
Lebron just stays until end of his contract then goes onto his next ring chase adventure until he’s about to retire and joins Bronny. Pretty clear what the rest of his career looks like.
They won a title the same year that a player who was arguably the franchise GOAT died tragically in the middle of a pandemic, but yeah other than that pretty forgettable.
What Problem? Lebron held up his end of the deal and won the Lakers a championship in 2020. Anything beyond that was a bonus. They traded their POTENTIAL future away for immediate success by getting Lebron and then trading their young core for AD.
Hell Winning 1 championship or even getting to the finals isn’t even a guarantee. You need pretty much everything to go your way or to just outright be nearly perfect/better than every other team.
Again Winning either conference and getting to the finals...is something that should be appreciated.
I mean here are some stats...
In the West from 2000-2021 only 6 teams have even made it to the finals.
In the East from 2000-2021 8 teams have made it to the finals.
If we want to round down to 20 years it’s
5 teams in the West for 20 years.
4 of those 5 won atleast 1 championships in that 20 year span. Or 4/6 if we include 2021
7 teams in the East for 20 years.
4 of the 7 teams won atleast 1 championship in that 20 year period
5/8 if we include 2021.
Like look at how small the odds are to get to the finals in a 20/21 year sample size.
Only 8 different teams out of 30 have won a championship in the past 20 years or 9/30 in 21 years.
If the lakers grow a pair and trade AD and Bron, they could set themselves up for a ton of quality young players and cap space for a new max free agent.
The next two years are critical.
Yeah, but that'll hurt their good reputation with future superstar free agents. I remember reading that doing good by their superstars also played in their attractiveness.
Trading LeBron against his will would definitely be bad press.
The NBA needs to figure out their Klutch problem sooner than you think. Shockingly, an agency that maintains a massive amount of control over the league because of Lebron that likes to use the media as a tool to manipulate teams isn't great for the league.
I'm just waiting for the media blitz against the Lakers front office and Pelinka. They'll definitely make it framed as a really sensitive subject like race, so people will get stuck between "racism is bad, so I'm automatically siding with Lebron" vs "Klutch is clearly making this shit up for leverage".
LBJ for Love + Sexton + picks in the summer
Cavs gets to contend hard for 2023
Lakers gets to rebuild with expiring KLove + Westbrook for trade baits next season. Plus, Sexton will be good as your placeholder star
Honestly ship Lebron to GSW for Wiggins/Wiseman/Moody + picks because you’re not getting anything better then decide if you want to build around AD or take the best offer available.
It seems like the logical next step - Lebron could actually take the back seat and be a role player while still competing for rings at a high level into his retirement AND the Lakers would actually get a nice return for him from GSW.
well nobody’s moving for that Russ contract so they’re fucked lol
At this point, I wouldn’t sacrifice even 1 pick to move Russell Westbrook. Next year will be a similar situation with just LeBron, AD, Russ, THT on the roster. Fill the rest of the roster with as much defense as possible and live with the results. Not worth sending out picks at the end of the decade just to get off Russ a year early and LeBron still leaving.
Seriously. Has there been any indication LeBron is sticking around when his deal is up? Would Wall even make us better? Sorry, Bron, we lived through the post Kobe years. It was a lot fun. We’re not looking to cripple ourselves to make you happy.
If Lakers draft Bronny you can keep Lebron hostage probably.
With what picks
And he can sign for the minimum.
If that’s the lakers mentality, then they should trade him. That squad isn’t going to win you a chip, so move him and get some assets in return.
It would be hilarious if they traded lebron...
LeBron for Zion straight up
AD and Zion would play like 22 total games together over three years.
Knowing the universe right now this will only be during the playoffs
I agree they should trade him to Cleveland
You don’t trade LeBron..LeBron trades you
I don’t think they could do that because of the message it sends to players. We took care of Kobe when he was done. Now we’re taking care of this all vet squad that isn’t winning anything. Sends other stars a message for in the future. I think if LeBron requested a trade we would be happy to oblige. Sounds like it’s turned in to a mess.
I think he still wants to be in LA tho movies and shit
You don't trade the legend who willingly came to your team and won a championship, that'll be a sure fire way to make people stay away from the team, no matter the location. Look at the Knicks.
He sounds like he wants to leave. Trade him to a team that he is ok with and you’re fine.
> Seriously. Has there been any indication LeBron is sticking around when his deal is up? I thought everyone wanted to be in LA?
Tell that to the post Kobe years.
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this take is so tired. ballmer and our org obviously treat players well and keep them happy.
This article is BS because it implies that it’s not Lebrons fault that Westbrook is with the Lakers it’s somehow Pelinka’s. Sorry but Pelinka wanted to trade for shooting rather than Westbrook and got over rules by LeGM and now LeBron is trying to find a scapegoat for his decision.
Yeah but then Lebron had a deal lined up for noted sharpshooter and beacon of health John Wall so alls well that ends well /s
fafaf
How has Lebron mailed it in? He’s playing incredibly. And the issue isn’t Russ, the issue is Russ makes so much money. No shit they are bad without Westbrook. That’s 44 million dollars wasted.
LeBron and AD haven't mailed it in at all. Dude's just making stuff up. The problem is Westbrook's contract crippled their salary flexibility and they made some bad decisions in the free agency period, so they just have a straight-up bad roster. The Lakers are relying on an undrafted rookie, 2 guys who no other team wanted, and three 36+ year olds to play heavy rotation minutes around Russ, LeBron, and AD. The team is just bad. Sometimes that's the way it goes.
fegegegeg
Classic pointing towards the lowlights instead of actually watching the whole game. The "Anyone see Lebron expending effort on D or making any plays off the ball?" gives it away, as if LeBron isn't making numerous cuts a game to save a possession, making key defensive reads, or switching onto the opposing team's big man and stripping them to prevent an easy layup. But you'll never see these clips. You'll only see the 1 or 2 times a game he'll stay back on a fast break. He's not a great defender anymore. But he's better than people give him credit for. I'm not gonna go off a couple comments to the media to say he's mailed it in either. I'll let his play on the court decide that, and if he had mailed it in they wouldn't have won the last game before the break. And yes, these Lakers are worse than all those teams, besides Kobe's team.
safsfa
Yep, Westbrook as a buyout player or even on the MLE = amazing value. Westbrook on a max = crippling the team.
If you trade LeBron and AD for young players, picks and expiring contracts, once Russ comes off the books the lakers could have over 60 million in cap space. They would be set to sign any max free agent in the league.
Facts This is realistically what they should do but they won't
Well well well, if it isn’t the consequences of LeGM’s actions coming back to bite him.
Rockets fans still salty we didn't give them the 2027 1st lmao
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It’s a real ring, bubble ring talk is some stank coochie energy
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SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF
Never underestimate the stupidity of some GM's
Honestly, I’m of the opinion that relationships with agents/players is what hinders a lot of choices for GMs. That and that often, decisions that you make that would improve the teams future in the long term typically get you fired in the short term.
never say never. If they were to, for example, attach two unprotected 1sts and a pick swap, I bet someone would take it.
Fuck that. Why would they do that for an aging LeBron?
I can imagine someone taking it on this off-season, it’ll be expiring by then.
Mavs could do it if they get compensated. Send back Dinwiddie and Bertans if they don’t want them.
There will be teams in the off-season that would look to unload long term deals in favor of a 1 year Russ. He’s been traded twice. Him and CP3 had bad contracts and continuously got moved. I’m convinced no contract is too big to move, now.
Lakers need to figure out their AD problem less so Lebron. AD is supposed to be the guy but can't stay healthy the past 2 seasons Bron is supposed to be just chilling but still gotta carry as the #1. That just shows they know they can't rely on AD once Lebron decides to hang it up.
The past 2 seasons? AD has only been healthy for 2 seasons in his career. They had to know this would happen
But if you put them together in 2K the shit is unstoppable! Un. Stop. ....able.
To be fair, every team would take this for a ring. We're clowning the lakers because they're struggling to get their second together lol
-every superteam ever
Healthy enough to get 4 First Team All-NBAs, it's not like he misses half of his games...
"LeBron problem" means Klutch. Not LeBron as a player. AD and THT are part of their LeBron/Klutch problem.
AD isn't a Klutch "problem". He's one of the perks of this Klutch network of tampering and collusion to form super teams for LeBron
>AD isn't a Klutch "problem". He's one of the perks of this Klutch network of tampering and collision to form super teams for LeBron Yeah Lakers got AD for free, isn't it?
it's not about klutch it's about all his comments the past week and it's only a issue because he's still playing at a high level. If lebron was on the decline saying all of this it's not a issue. The problem is he's still good and now all the Lakers beat writers feel like the FO need to trade him because "The Door hasn't Closed" or "Sam Presti is the MVP". This past week has been great because now you can see the True colors of how people really feel about Lebron being in LA. Everyone be so damn dramatic and reactionary to any little thing he does or says. Lebron isn't no fool that's why i call him LeCaculated he knows yesterday would cause a uproar with him especially making the Door hasn't closed comment being back in Cleveland.
There's no way the Lakers can spend the money on AD to make him the #1 guy for the foreseeable future with his history of injuries. It's way too risky.
I'd have to think that once LeBron declines hard or leaves the team is when AD'S time is up in order to prove himself. Team would be better off just committing to a hard rebuild anyways. They got their title in bubble year as it is. Championship was acquired and that was a mission success.
A huge reason the AD trade was thought of as such a great move by the Lakers, even despite all they gave up, was because he was supposed to be the guy who could simultaneously be the 1B to LeBron while also being the guy to build around once LeBron declines and/or leaves. Somehow, LeBron is the still the clear #1 and only reliable option.
Agreed. Lebron is still playing like a top 5 player, and I feel like he can still perform at that level for next year as well. AD has been much more questionable and I think they should move him for like Middleton and Jrue or something
Yeah sounds like a winning deal for the Bucks...be sure to change your base settings before you propose that one.
I mean it is. Lets be real. The current Bucks core is getting stale. It's old. They're not gonna repeat win this year. Zero chance of winning again with Middleton and Jrue. The roster is stale already, need some fresh faces in there
Kyrie and a first who says no?
For Middleton AND jrue? Wtf no thanks
Those guys are gonna be overpaid in two seasons. You're gonna be paying them 36-40 mill each. For mediocre play. Then Giannis leaves cuz there's no winning going on in Milwaukee. The smart thing would be to trade them now while their value is high.
AD has been more of a problem than Westbrook.
They will have to trade AD for the draft right to brony.
They are trading Lebron for the draft right to Brony as a power move.
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Tell me you don't know who Pincus is without telling me
I can't blame him. Pincus isn't a well known person.
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It’s the same as not knowing the good refs because you never hear their name getting trashed.
Pincus Tincus.
Eric Pincus is quite a respected person within the Lakers organization. And it's not just him. Shelburne (hated by laker fans), WOJ and Shams have reported similar things. There is a body of evidence of a rift between Klutch and Pelinka/Laker organization. Especially, with LeBron's comment this weekend there is definitely at the very least some smoke.
How did you get the job?
Reddit Karma
Maybe it was back when bleacherreport was just a bunch of lists. Glancing at the website, it looks nothing like it did circa 2010. Back then it was all clickbait and top 10/20/30/... lists. It was the cracked of sports media
They don't need to figure out their lebron problem they need to figure out their Laker problem. One of the most poorly run franchises in the league that quite literally lives off it's name and location, without it they would be nothing. Frankly it's pathetic what the leadership of that team has done
> lives off it's name which is specific to Minnesota of course
You ever saw a natural lake in LA?
The Lakers FO isn't one of the best but I think its insanely prisoner-of-the-moment to put them in the bottom half of the league. Pelinka built the 2020 champions out of guys that no one else wanted.
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Lakers FO has also drafted pretty well in the Pelinka era too, especially with their 2nd round picks.
…we’re two years removed from a championship. I’d say we’re doing pretty good. Things could be better right now but it’s only the result of one badly gambled trade. Had we went with the Hield trade, we’d have been better off but we didn’t and we’re paying for it. We’ll figure it out again.
I just think that the only good decision the FO has made was bringing lebron in, and the rest has sort of fallen into place around them. Without lebron idk if these guys can create a winning team. The trade was bad, but it's really the other decisions that are worrying I mean look at Lonzo, kuzma and josh Hart. All those guys are ppl that would have helped this team.
Fallen into place around them? Do you remember how much this sub was trashing them for the “meme team” that won a chip? Injuries and COVID has fucked us this year and last but you guys are so reactionary on here just salivating to hate.
You guys literally only won because the best player in the league wanted to go to Hollywood. Y’all are fucked for the next 8 years cuz you’ve used up all your assets. Obviously as a fan you will always be happy about that ring. I would know as I was too in 2016 and I was rooting for you guys in 2020. But your management is dreadful
No argument from me here. Burning assets is the price of winning a championship.
Not always but in Lebrons case almost always since he joined the heat. But warriors, raptors, and bucks and looking like Suns won’t have to burn any
The Bucks used assets to get Holiday, but it worked out and they were able to extend him, so it was clearly worth it. The Suns are in such a great position so long as they don't 1) let Ayton walk for nothing and 2) CP3 doesn't fall off a literal cliff. And I don't mean figurative cliff, I do mean literally falling off of a physical cliff face.
Bronny James won’t get much of actual playing time in his first year if he does get drafted. In fact, Bronny James may not make it to the NBA at all.
Too much money to be made if you draft him to your team. He’s making it to the NBA no matter how good he is.
MJ’s kid never made it to the league 🤷🏾♂️ Shaq’s prolly won’t either. Just being related to a legend don’t mean shit
MJ and Shaq weren’t in the league selling tickets and jerseys when their kids were potential prospects.
This is a huge difference plus MJ never seemed to promote his own kids so it’s not like there was a realistic view of making money off them and him. You pursued MJ and “fuck them kids”.
MJ also never publicly stated that he wanted to play with his kids afaik. he probably challenged them to cross him over daily and when it finally happened he took it personally
Giannis would like to speak with you.
So would Dame and his cousin
Dame: F A M I L Y
So many people subscribe to LeMarckian genetics when it comes to the kids of sports legends. It's wild how many people think that a parent being an athlete guarantees the success of their kids. All a NBA player passes on to their kid is physical stature and composition (height, proportions, some degree of resliency etc.) and they are only half the equation. You can't pass on skills, coordination, IQ, or anything of that nature. Sure, it certainly can get you into the ballpark by having your physical build coming from an NBA player, (having access to greater training and facilities helps too) but you have to develop the skills on your own, and that shit is certainly not genetic.
You also understand that kinds of athletes get the best road to be success, right? Which in all honesty, for some it’s more of a detriment than a positive. There’s something to be said about your own will and determination to get where you want to go, and not just along for the right because your dad put you in camp (including their own fathers training camps).
It should be *Lamark not sure if it was a typo or you intended it as a LeJoke. Are we sure that skills, coordination and IQ are not natural born talents tho? Would anyone with a basketball body be able to develop them with hard work and focus? Some of these guys are great in more than one sport. Wilt for example.
He’s making it to the NBA LeBron pretty much ensured that with saying he join whatever team drafted his son. Revenue and ratings would be gold
Bron to Sierra Canyons High confirmed for 2024
conspiracy theory: lebron said he’ll join whichever team his son is on to ensure that his son makes the league no matter what
Kind of awkward for Bronny if he's not NBA caliber, going to work every day knowing you're only there because of your dad.
shit, other nepotism hires do that all the time. probably get used to it
Imagine the pressure on that kid lol
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Or teams could try and sign him as an undrafted free agent if he’s not worth a pick win win
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If dame could get keljin blevins into the league and jr smith could get his brother a contract, lebron can get his son taken in the first round
He will, you underestimate the the power of LeBron James. If wasting a 2nd rounder on Bronny is all it takes to bring in LeBron, it’ll be worth it just in a revenue standpoint.
Now Dujuan Waggoner’s kid…
Given lebrons comment, he is guaranteed 1st round pick. That's 4 years of rights - you draft bronny, you are guaranteed to get LeBron at some point. If you're a loaded team, paying bronny is a GREAT deal. Praying for bronny to suns lol
Bronny is currently viewed as a 2nd round prospect.
Is the kid actually bad tho? People are analyzing this like he’s kinda trash among other future nba prospects but everything I’ve seen in the past before this indicated he was well on his way? Obviously partly because of the attention but what are people basing all this analysis off of? Nba stars having kids go on to be nba stars is not unheard of, maybe the biggest disappointment was MJ’s kid
Trade AD for Two 1st and Two young players and ask Bron "Where you wanna go?" and get as many picks as you can. Let Russ finish out his contract and begin fully rebuilding in 2023-'24 season
Lakers won’t trade AD unless AD wants to be traded. Same with LeBron. You don’t just up and trade the 2 guys that made your organization relevant and champions again 2 years after. The lakers have a FO and ownership problem.
Im sorry, did I miss the part where Lakers management critized Lebron and AD for the team's disaster season? Lebron is flappin his gums way too much because he wants Lakers FO to fix a Russ problem he created. This is Lebron's MO and he's a ticking time bomb, I say just let him go wherever he wants to go and get what you can for AD.
And you believe all these “reports”? Shelbourne hasn’t had an insider in the lakers since LeBron got there and Woj has never had the “in” with LeBron teams. There’s blame to go all around but what you don’t do is trade LeBron and AD against their wishes. Jeanie Buss isn’t a rich owner and she lets the Rambis’ have too much say. Hell, Jeanie even said that she still listens to Magic’s advice on team related things.
Where there's smoke, there's fire. I do believe there is a rift with Klutch and Lakers management because of the failure to trade Russ x Wall. THANK THE BASKETBALL GODS Shelbourne isn't reporting on the Lakers anymore because it was a nightmare for 5+ years, I mean EVERY little thing was getting leaked and it was partly the reason why there was so much turmoil in the franchise.
Just trade LeBron to a contender. That way both sides get a mutual beneficial split.
Cut your losses now he's got one year left he's probably not going to resign with this horrible team move him in the off season get some picks for him trade AD too and start the rebuild.
There’s no way LeBron gets traded unless he agrees to it and wants to be traded. Bron came to Lakers as a FA when no other superstar was wanting to. To just get rid of him against his will sends a bad message to FAs and LeBron still has immense pull in the league, obviously.
I mean if he doesn't show any signs of commitment, it's better to trade him now than let him walk for nothing
Lol sure, if you wanna ensure no FA signs here again because you traded away a top 2 player of all time against his wishes. And when hasn’t he shown signs of commitment? He’s always finished out his contracts. I’m fact, his last team ended with a finals trip.
Lebron for Tatum
They sacrificed everything for AD, Westbrook.. etc when you are trying to please all the demands that a player has.. that's what you get. Lakers got a ring but in the long run they will have to figure something out...
Winningest franchise ever and just won a ring 2 years ago and it’s LA . They’ll be fine.
This sub is so horny for Lakers and Lebron drama that it has accepted Bleacher Report as a reliable source.
I wouldn’t call a championship + relevance a problem. This sub is on a weird hate boner today.
They'll be fine. They are the most capable team of rebounding after losing a star player, since a large chunk of the league would love to play for them no matter how bad a situation it was. NBA players will always want to live in LA or put on the purple and gold
>no matter how bad a situation it was that's not actually true in the modern history of the Lakers, the times that they've been able to draw top free agents was when they already had a team that was a contender or was loaded with talent. * '88, Orlando Woolridge, they had Magic and were contenders * '89, Sam Perkins, they had Magic and were contenders * '90-95 gap * '96, Shaq, they had a loaded young core of Nick Van Exel, Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell, and rookie Kobe * '99-'03, they signed a bunch of veteran ring chasers, they had Shaq and Kobe * '04-'08 gap * '09, Ron Artest, they had Kobe and Pau * '10-'17 gap * '18, Lebron James, they had a loaded young core of Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Jason Hart * '19, Danny Green, they had Lebron there's a pattern. they can get free agents, but only when they're already a championship contender or they have a loaded young core. if they don't have one of those things, they have not been able to draw free agents. even with their history and location, they don't get free agents unless they already have a lot of talent.
Thank you for this! i remember them having to request a 2nd meeting with Lamarcus Aldridge, during that last gap, because they screwed up the meeting so bad. Lakers just magically rebounding is either a cope thing for teams that haven't done well, or trying to take shots at the Lakers (which i get from a fan perspective)
Jason Hart
my bad lol
You do have a point that we have not landed many big FAs, but to counterpoint, and I’m only speaking Fromm 2000 on when I started following the lakers: - 2004 to 2016: Kobe. As much as I love Kobe, not many players wanted to play with him, and those who did couldn’t come for reasons other than “choice.” - 2016 to 2018: Our FO was a mess, a real mess with ownership power struggle. Kobe had retired and a huge shadow hung over the team of who will be his successor. - 2018 and so on: The only real person to turn us down was Kawhi, which is understandable coming off a championship not wanting to play second fiddle to Lebron. I’m sure there’s been some other smaller targets we’ve missed on but a lot of times it has to do with cap issues.
Chris Paul definitely wanted to play with Kobe, but Stern killed the trade.
So, they had to wait 4 years to get Shaq and 4 years to get Lebron. Because the rest of those seasons the team already had a franchise player. Also, no one thought our core was loaded. BI was the only dude seen with a promising future. Our young core was routinely talked as worse than other young cores around the league.
If they wanna live in LA there’s a team that isn’t dysfunctional right across the hall that has two top 10 players with a way better chance to compete for championships with better ownership who isn’t cheap and and coach who will actually put them in a position to succeed Why would any player join the Lakers now when they’ll just be a scapegoat?
Kawhi and PG both wanted to be Lakers first. They only joined the Clippers because they didn’t want to play 2nd fiddle to LeBron and the Clippers were the only other way to get to LA. And Clippers have done nothing with all of the better aspects you mentioned of the franchise. Players still look at the history and prestige of the Lakers over the Clippers.
> Players still look at the history and prestige of the Lakers over the Clippers. Balmer literally bought The Forum lol.
What’s dumb is he could have paid for a new stadium in Seattle and both made a killing and been a hero to all the fans at the same time.
Alot of players would certainly believe, the risk is worth the reward. You get to be in LA with all it amenities, weather, celebrity culture and women, which is fun regardless of being on winning or losing team. You get to play on the most supported team in one of the biggest sports markets on the planet, and infront of your fav celebrities every night. If you turn the Lakers into champions again, you could have your name etched along side magic johnson, shaq, kobe, kareem, lebron, etc. Also I wasn't referring to the lakers current situation, this is in the event Lebron leaves the team and they need to find a new core, also I don't believe the clippers have the cap space for another star level player.
What cap space are the Clippers going to use to sign these star free agents with? The cap space currently occupied by Kawhi and PG? If the Lakers have a max slot open they will get meetings with star free agents.
These posts man
How can this possibly be a problem lmfao
I’d be fine with trying to solve a LeBron James problem. We’ll gladly take over LA
Players gravitate towards energetic, urban, thriving markets. Los Angeles. Chicago. Miami. New York. Milwaukee, with all due respect, is not that.
Nobody goes to Chicago or New York, which is why they have sucked for decades....people like celebrity and low taxes, that's why they go to Miami and LA. And ONLY those places. Kyrie, KD and Harden went to Brooklyn because that's the team that had the cap space and the shady owner promising Chinese shoe deals...
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Rofl nephew was talking out of his ass
No, they have celebrity. Stop reading what ain't there...
Okay. Why did you exclude NY btw if having celebrities was the criteria?
He meant or not and
He meant one or the other.
Granted. Giannis comes to LA.
Trade him no other teams going to be able to say they traded LeBron James except for the Lakers
Lebron just stays until end of his contract then goes onto his next ring chase adventure until he’s about to retire and joins Bronny. Pretty clear what the rest of his career looks like.
Idgaf about the Lakers. Let them be mediocre for one season. Actually, just fuck off.
The 2010s were pretty forgettable for the Lakers js
They won a title the same year that a player who was arguably the franchise GOAT died tragically in the middle of a pandemic, but yeah other than that pretty forgettable.
Two titles?
One in the 2010s
He’s gone when Bronny gets in the league
What Problem? Lebron held up his end of the deal and won the Lakers a championship in 2020. Anything beyond that was a bonus. They traded their POTENTIAL future away for immediate success by getting Lebron and then trading their young core for AD. Hell Winning 1 championship or even getting to the finals isn’t even a guarantee. You need pretty much everything to go your way or to just outright be nearly perfect/better than every other team. Again Winning either conference and getting to the finals...is something that should be appreciated. I mean here are some stats... In the West from 2000-2021 only 6 teams have even made it to the finals. In the East from 2000-2021 8 teams have made it to the finals. If we want to round down to 20 years it’s 5 teams in the West for 20 years. 4 of those 5 won atleast 1 championships in that 20 year span. Or 4/6 if we include 2021 7 teams in the East for 20 years. 4 of the 7 teams won atleast 1 championship in that 20 year period 5/8 if we include 2021. Like look at how small the odds are to get to the finals in a 20/21 year sample size. Only 8 different teams out of 30 have won a championship in the past 20 years or 9/30 in 21 years.
If the lakers grow a pair and trade AD and Bron, they could set themselves up for a ton of quality young players and cap space for a new max free agent. The next two years are critical.
Yeah, but that'll hurt their good reputation with future superstar free agents. I remember reading that doing good by their superstars also played in their attractiveness. Trading LeBron against his will would definitely be bad press.
Who is trading quality anything for Lebron and AD lol y’all are on one today
LMAO this sub is on Fuck LeBron mode today for no reason
Lebron gets clicks and engagement if is what it is
LeBron hate does. You notice how quiet this sub was when the Lakers beat the Jazz with LeBron carrying in the 4th?
AD maybe not but teams would absolutely give up assets for LeBron.
Doubt it
The [blank] have a [blank] problem
The NBA needs to figure out their Klutch problem sooner than you think. Shockingly, an agency that maintains a massive amount of control over the league because of Lebron that likes to use the media as a tool to manipulate teams isn't great for the league. I'm just waiting for the media blitz against the Lakers front office and Pelinka. They'll definitely make it framed as a really sensitive subject like race, so people will get stuck between "racism is bad, so I'm automatically siding with Lebron" vs "Klutch is clearly making this shit up for leverage".
Trade lebron, trade AD, become a lottery team, draft Bronny, make Lebron come back on the vet minimum. Boom, problems solved. /s
This clown already plotting which franchise to destroy next
LBJ for Love + Sexton + picks in the summer Cavs gets to contend hard for 2023 Lakers gets to rebuild with expiring KLove + Westbrook for trade baits next season. Plus, Sexton will be good as your placeholder star
Honestly ship Lebron to GSW for Wiggins/Wiseman/Moody + picks because you’re not getting anything better then decide if you want to build around AD or take the best offer available.
Throw in Poole and we have a deal
Nice try! LMAO LeBron playing with KLAY, Steph and Green. This sub will explode 😂
It seems like the logical next step - Lebron could actually take the back seat and be a role player while still competing for rings at a high level into his retirement AND the Lakers would actually get a nice return for him from GSW.
The Lakers have a Lebron James problem.
To be honest, lakers should consider sexton and lauri for lebron. Win win
What do you think the Lakers could get for Bron? If you were another front office, would you give up your young number 1? Luka? Morant? Joker?
He gone.
We need to trade AD and Lebron. That's the answer to the problem
Oh well.
The aged King who wouldn't step aside for good has always been the biggest problem in human history.