LeBron to the Lakers

[heyelander]

Lakers are old and not on the upswing. I'll take JLo

[madducks]

Lebron vs JLo. Who ya got?

[B-Fly]

The surprise Magic Johnson resignation could really hurt the Lakers' attractiveness to free agents, no? Obviously, when you combine that with the bad feelings around this team since the trade deadline, and the unclear status of Luke Walton, and LeBron appearing mortal given the games missed to injury. The Clippers have to be looking more attractive as a franchise right now for a free agent who likes the idea of playing in Hollywood. Of course, a little lottery luck or a big off-season trade for Anthony Davis could change all of that pretty quickly.

[TranaGreg]

this.

I, too, noticed it recently. toronto fans know how kyle is excitable and I watched a couple of moments in which kyle is hugging, laughing with kwani.

But everything I've read prior to arrival spoke to kwani wanting to be in california. that said, if he can get past the cold, you never know...

Yeah, but it's been a pretty shitty winter here. I'm hopeful ... but not too optimistic.

But it's all conjecture - as BFly noted the guy is an enigma. And a solid championship run could be the determining factor.

[Art Vandelay]

Over the past month I've started to see some chemistry with the rest of the team - it's good to see him & Lowry talking, sometimes animatedly on & off the court

this.

I, too, noticed it recently. toronto fans know how kyle is excitable and I watched a couple of moments in which kyle is hugging, laughing with kwani.

But everything I've read prior to arrival spoke to kwani wanting to be in california. that said, if he can get past the cold, you never know...

[TranaGreg]

Kawhi is tough to read (dude isn't even on social media), but the sense I have is that he really wants to be in Sothern California. He's from LA and went to college in San Diego. I think he'll go to the Clippers almost regardless of how far the Raptors push in the post-season, but I could be wrong.

Over the past month I've started to see some chemistry with the rest of the team - it's good to see him & Lowry talking, sometimes animatedly on & off the court - but if I were a betting man I'd go with the Clippers as well.

[B-Fly]

I say this as a big fan, but he certainly deserves some blame. As he did in Cleveland, he had a hand in the signings that were made (or not made) and some of them seemed odd from the beginning; the roster construction of this team seems less than ideal. LeBron has never been afraid to use his considerable leverage to force a team to make certain moves and those moves may or may not make sense in both the short and long term. As a player, while still being elite and certainly a top player in the league, he's slipped a bit. His defense has been problematic for a while and it's gotten worse. In terms of stars not wanting to come to LA, who knows. The Lakers have so much to offer in terms of history, marketability, etc that they will always attract great players but I'm guessing the state of the team may give certain players pause. Also, the Clippers have now completely shaken their label as being a bottom-dwelling team and while they don't have the cachet of the Lakers, I can see some players (Kawhi?) choosing the Clippers rather than the Lakers if they want to come to LA.

I think I'd kind of need to know what he was or wasn't doing vis-à-vis the front office and in the locker room around the trade deadline this year. He did have them in fourth place in the West pretty deep into the season. I don't blame him for his injury, but it feels like the wheels really fell off the team psychologically around the Anthony Davis drama. As a leader, I'd have expected him to more successfully mentor his teammates through that than it seems he was able to do.

[B-Fly]

Kawhi is tough to read (dude isn't even on social media), but the sense I have is that he really wants to be in Sothern California. He's from LA and went to college in San Diego. I think he'll go to the Clippers almost regardless of how far the Raptors push in the post-season, but I could be wrong.

As for the Eastern Conference this year, I'm really excited about the fact that I wouldn't be surprised to see Milwaukee, Toronto, Philadelphia or Boston make the Finals. When is the last time one could reasonably view that many teams as having what it takes to make the Finals?

[TS Garp]

Can raptors resign Kwani? must they win? NBA Finals? Or no chance?

I’ve been telling my wife Toronto is best team in east though bucks are neck and neck.

No one knows with Kawhi. I think the hope is that he has fallen in love with the city and the franchise ala Paul George in OKC but he's hard to read. I'd give a very slight edge to the Bucks over the Raptors but they are really close.

[Art Vandelay]

hey, back off!!! he's in the middle of a championship run up here ... no tampering!!! can someone call a Technical here?!?!?!?!?

Can raptors resign Kwani? must they win? NBA Finals? Or no chance?

I’ve been telling my wife Toronto is best team in east though bucks are neck and neck.

[TranaGreg]

I say this as a big fan, but he certainly deserves some blame. As he did in Cleveland, he had a hand in the signings that were made (or not made) and some of them seemed odd from the beginning; the roster construction of this team seems less than ideal. LeBron has never been afraid to use his considerable leverage to force a team to make certain moves and those moves may or may not make sense in both the short and long term. As a player, while still being elite and certainly a top player in the league, he's slipped a bit. His defense has been problematic for a while and it's gotten worse. In terms of stars not wanting to come to LA, who knows. The Lakers have so much to offer in terms of history, marketability, etc that they will always attract great players but I'm guessing the state of the team may give certain players pause. Also, the Clippers have now completely shaken their label as being a bottom-dwelling team and while they don't have the cachet of the Lakers, I can see some players (Kawhi?) choosing the Clippers rather than the Lakers if they want to come to LA.

hey, back off!!! he's in the middle of a championship run up here ... no tampering!!! can someone call a Technical here?!?!?!?!?

[TS Garp]

So, it's not mathematically impossible, but it's practically highly improbably that LeBron's Lakers will even make the playoffs this year. How much blame, if any, would you put on LeBron, here, and what impact will the Lakers' missing the playoffs and the surrounding bad press have on the willingness of other top stars to join LeBron on the Lakers next year?

I say this as a big fan, but he certainly deserves some blame. As he did in Cleveland, he had a hand in the signings that were made (or not made) and some of them seemed odd from the beginning; the roster construction of this team seems less than ideal. LeBron has never been afraid to use his considerable leverage to force a team to make certain moves and those moves may or may not make sense in both the short and long term. As a player, while still being elite and certainly a top player in the league, he's slipped a bit. His defense has been problematic for a while and it's gotten worse. In terms of stars not wanting to come to LA, who knows. The Lakers have so much to offer in terms of history, marketability, etc that they will always attract great players but I'm guessing the state of the team may give certain players pause. Also, the Clippers have now completely shaken their label as being a bottom-dwelling team and while they don't have the cachet of the Lakers, I can see some players (Kawhi?) choosing the Clippers rather than the Lakers if they want to come to LA.

[B-Fly]

So, it's not mathematically impossible, but it's practically highly improbably that LeBron's Lakers will even make the playoffs this year. How much blame, if any, would you put on LeBron, here, and what impact will the Lakers' missing the playoffs and the surrounding bad press have on the willingness of other top stars to join LeBron on the Lakers next year?

[hacko]

I think it was mainly a business decision -and setting himself up for "after basketball" I think personally he loves St V high School and thought about keeping his kids there but in the end ( with the wife and Kids ok going to LA) the future for his brand and business was in LA. After talking to Magic I think the basketball side of it was just getting the lakers to be a player for the title is good enough . He could then say when it is all said and done.
I Have:
3 titles
Brought Cleveland it only title in 50 plus years.
While defeating a record breaking club - plus coming back from 3-1 hole
8 finals in a row
And brought the lakers back to the Limelight ( even if they don't win one with him there.)
Plus all the individual records he will have,

I think he could live with that.

[B-Fly]

He clearly had non-basketball reasons for selecting the Lakers, particularly on a 4-year deal whereas with Cleveland he always left himself an early escape valve. I think this was a family decision, heavily influenced by his wife and kids. And honestly, that's cool, because I certainly consider my wife and kids when making choices about career and geography, so why wouldn't LeBron.

From a basketball perspective, I think he puts the Lakers in the playoffs, but they're certainly not superior to the Warriors or Rockets, and maybe no better than the Thunder, Jazz, Spurs or Nuggets. Cousins is obviously the biggest remaining free agency wild card, and Leonard the biggest trade wild card. Either of those guys could change the landscape.

Assuming the Lakers just stand pat on yesterday's roster while retaining Randle on a one-year deal that still leaves them maximum flexibility to sign Kawhi and/or other free agents next year, I think it's a poorly designed team. Having an bad shooter like Ball as your so-called PG on the court with LeBron doesn't make a lot of sense, so you presumably stagger them as much as possible. There are no high efficiency three-point shooters for LeBron to kick to on the perimeter. They signed Lance Stephenson, which helps on defense, but offensively he's basically drunk LeBron - a point forward with terrible judgment. I like Ingram with LeBron better than Ball, obviously, so if they could make Ball the key piece in a trade package (that would likely have to include Kuzma as well), that's better than making Ingram the key piece.

Reddick would also be pretty good here, but I don't know how they fit him and Randle, and they are guard heavy right now after the Caldwell Pope signing.