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Magic is one funny dude…
Hanging out with my Laker family AND gm Rob Pelinka
Hanging out with my Laker family AND gm Rob Pelinka
**LA LAKERS THREAD** Sitting on 17! 2023-2024 offseason begins
- Thread in 'Sports & Training' Thread starter Started by licensed to ball,
- Start date
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F Bron for life
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Ramona prob thought she had some genius idea of using the projector as a metaphor or microcosm of the season. Ended being corny af
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The second sentence of that Magic tweet.
darthska
Staff member
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"and GM Rob Pelinka"
-foe
-foe
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To be fair
His Twitter proofreader wrote it as correctly
And I too was watching last night
Mason Jones was called up earlier in the season
Would still prefer the playmakjng skills of Mac
But both dudes are short for their positions
His Twitter proofreader wrote it as correctly
And I too was watching last night
Mason Jones was called up earlier in the season
Would still prefer the playmakjng skills of Mac
But both dudes are short for their positions
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LeBron James is out for the year. What does he really want from the Lakers?
The last chance Lakers fans had to see LeBron James this season came a minute into Friday’s home finale, when the injured 37-year-old strode onto the court, slapped hands with Russell Westbrook and took a seat on the end of the bench. Decked out in denim, a black T-shirt and a gold chain, James sat back and seemed to genuinely enjoy watching as the eliminated Lakers relied on lineups consisting largely of recent G Leaguers to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-101.
But beneath that veneer of temporary joy, there was the reality of one of the most disappointing campaigns in NBA history as the Lakers prepare for an offseason of questions essential to James and their futur. Questions like…
What does LeBron want?
After chasing the league’s scoring title for 56 games before a sprained ankle ended his season and the Lakers’ playoff hopes, on the day he was officially shut down for the rest of the season, James watched as yet another Lakers season ended with his team far from title contention.
Individually, he was brilliant, averaging 30.3 points per game — his most in 14 years — posting a pair of 50-point games and putting himself in position to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer next season.
But the Lakers were, and for now remain, a historic disaster. And whatever comes next, it’s not certain they will be less of one next season or beyond.
As James prepares for his third early offseason in four seasons with the Lakers, it’s fair to wonder if individual greatness is enough for him if the Lakers are going to be mediocre.
He is already achieving unprecedented feats at his age, and though this season was interrupted by more injuries than James had endured before in his career, there’s no reason to think he won’t continue to dominate when healthy.
“Obviously Father Time catches up with everybody,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said, “but I think everybody thought that would have been three, four, five years ago, and he’s still doing it. I think it’s just going to be more of what we saw this year, MVP-level play, up until the body tells him he can’t do that anymore.”
James has continued to defy logic. Going into his second season with the Lakers in 2019, there were questions of whether he would be the same after tearing his groin the previous Christmas.
He led the league in assists and the Lakers to a championship in the bubble.
The next season, many wondered if he could possibly have any juice left after just a six-week offseason.
He was in position to win his fifth Most Valuable Player before suffering a sprained ankle.
This year, with all that history, he was on pace to lead the league in scoring before another sprained ankle prematurely ended his season.
But as James gets older, there will inevitably be diminishing returns. Frankly, despite his dominance when healthy, there already have been. He played 56 games and missed time with an abdominal sprain, a swollen knee and two sprained ankles.
As his career goes on, James is going to need more help. And the Lakers aren’t exactly in a great position to give it to him.
The Lakers used James’ 19th season to surround him with big-name former impact players who ended up on the end of the bench, ceding time to players who, if not for the desperate state of the team, might not have been in the NBA.
A front office led by Rob Pelinka has this summer to untangle itself from a mess of its own creation: the final year of Westbrook’s $47 million dollar deal. The Lakers could trade Westbrook, but not without taking on another team’s bad money and sacrificing draft picks. Or they could avoid the long-term pain by holding on to Westbrook’s expiring contract but essentially punt on another year of LeBron’s career since history has proven Westbrook simply does not work alongside James and Anthony Davis.
Will James be content if Pelinka decides the Lakers are better off keeping Westbrook for one more year?
James and the Lakers have been lockstep partners since his arrival in 2018, but as the superstar ages, is what’s best for the Lakers going to be what’s best for James?
Throughout his career, James has always had a clear path to winning championships. And when he has felt that slipping away, he has bailed.
In Los Angeles, it might be different. His family is established here, and his personal empire has grown exponentially since he became a Laker. He may be willing to tolerate more struggle if it means continuing to check all those other boxes in his personal and business lives.
James is under contract for one more season, but this summer he will be eligible for a two-year extension that would pay him $97.1 million through 2025, when he will be 40.
Is James ready to put ink to paper to commit what we can reasonably presume would be the rest of his basketball playing days to the Lakers? He has so openly expressed his desire to play with his son, Bronny, who could become draft-eligible in 2024, and he has not been shy about flirting with other situations, from the Cleveland Cavaliers over All-Star Weekend to his recent comments on “The Shop” about his interest in playing with Stephen Curry. When LeBron makes comments like these, you never know if he’s just talking or if they’re actually breadcrumbs.
So will James take a wait-and-see approach, forgo the extension and maintain maximum flexibility and leverage by dangling the specter of free agency in 2023?
And what of the Lakers? What is their level of enthusiasm for maxing out a 37-year-old James for two more seasons beyond his current contract? This is not 2013, when Kobe Bryant’s Achilles tendon was still in two pieces, but surely the degree to which that two-year extension slowed the Lakers rebuilding efforts lingers in the memory of Lakers decision-makers.
The Lakers have continued to view their clean cap sheet in 2023 as an endorsement of their team-building philosophy, including the Westbrook deal. Trading for the former MVP may not have worked out, but the Lakers maintained flexibility in the near future that they would have lost had they made the trade for Buddy Hield that was so close to completion back in July.
The last time James spoke about his long-term commitment to the Lakers, it was after his comments to The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd about Cleveland. Asked if he believed the Lakers front office had what it takes to build championship rosters around him, James said he was “very confident.”
“They’ve done it,” he said back on Feb. 25. “They’ve shown me that. Ever since I got here.”
It’s doubtful that when he said that he would have believed the Lakers would go 5-18 through their final home regular-season game and fall out of the postseason picture entirely — or that his season would end with him on the bench watching Mason Jones and Wenyen Gabriel play out the string of a lost Lakers season.
James showed this year that as long as he is healthy, he remains one of the best players in the world.
Is that enough?
The last chance Lakers fans had to see LeBron James this season came a minute into Friday’s home finale, when the injured 37-year-old strode onto the court, slapped hands with Russell Westbrook and took a seat on the end of the bench. Decked out in denim, a black T-shirt and a gold chain, James sat back and seemed to genuinely enjoy watching as the eliminated Lakers relied on lineups consisting largely of recent G Leaguers to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 120-101.
But beneath that veneer of temporary joy, there was the reality of one of the most disappointing campaigns in NBA history as the Lakers prepare for an offseason of questions essential to James and their futur. Questions like…
What does LeBron want?
After chasing the league’s scoring title for 56 games before a sprained ankle ended his season and the Lakers’ playoff hopes, on the day he was officially shut down for the rest of the season, James watched as yet another Lakers season ended with his team far from title contention.
Individually, he was brilliant, averaging 30.3 points per game — his most in 14 years — posting a pair of 50-point games and putting himself in position to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer next season.
But the Lakers were, and for now remain, a historic disaster. And whatever comes next, it’s not certain they will be less of one next season or beyond.
As James prepares for his third early offseason in four seasons with the Lakers, it’s fair to wonder if individual greatness is enough for him if the Lakers are going to be mediocre.
He is already achieving unprecedented feats at his age, and though this season was interrupted by more injuries than James had endured before in his career, there’s no reason to think he won’t continue to dominate when healthy.
“Obviously Father Time catches up with everybody,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said, “but I think everybody thought that would have been three, four, five years ago, and he’s still doing it. I think it’s just going to be more of what we saw this year, MVP-level play, up until the body tells him he can’t do that anymore.”
James has continued to defy logic. Going into his second season with the Lakers in 2019, there were questions of whether he would be the same after tearing his groin the previous Christmas.
He led the league in assists and the Lakers to a championship in the bubble.
The next season, many wondered if he could possibly have any juice left after just a six-week offseason.
He was in position to win his fifth Most Valuable Player before suffering a sprained ankle.
This year, with all that history, he was on pace to lead the league in scoring before another sprained ankle prematurely ended his season.
But as James gets older, there will inevitably be diminishing returns. Frankly, despite his dominance when healthy, there already have been. He played 56 games and missed time with an abdominal sprain, a swollen knee and two sprained ankles.
As his career goes on, James is going to need more help. And the Lakers aren’t exactly in a great position to give it to him.
The Lakers used James’ 19th season to surround him with big-name former impact players who ended up on the end of the bench, ceding time to players who, if not for the desperate state of the team, might not have been in the NBA.
A front office led by Rob Pelinka has this summer to untangle itself from a mess of its own creation: the final year of Westbrook’s $47 million dollar deal. The Lakers could trade Westbrook, but not without taking on another team’s bad money and sacrificing draft picks. Or they could avoid the long-term pain by holding on to Westbrook’s expiring contract but essentially punt on another year of LeBron’s career since history has proven Westbrook simply does not work alongside James and Anthony Davis.
Will James be content if Pelinka decides the Lakers are better off keeping Westbrook for one more year?
James and the Lakers have been lockstep partners since his arrival in 2018, but as the superstar ages, is what’s best for the Lakers going to be what’s best for James?
Throughout his career, James has always had a clear path to winning championships. And when he has felt that slipping away, he has bailed.
In Los Angeles, it might be different. His family is established here, and his personal empire has grown exponentially since he became a Laker. He may be willing to tolerate more struggle if it means continuing to check all those other boxes in his personal and business lives.
James is under contract for one more season, but this summer he will be eligible for a two-year extension that would pay him $97.1 million through 2025, when he will be 40.
Is James ready to put ink to paper to commit what we can reasonably presume would be the rest of his basketball playing days to the Lakers? He has so openly expressed his desire to play with his son, Bronny, who could become draft-eligible in 2024, and he has not been shy about flirting with other situations, from the Cleveland Cavaliers over All-Star Weekend to his recent comments on “The Shop” about his interest in playing with Stephen Curry. When LeBron makes comments like these, you never know if he’s just talking or if they’re actually breadcrumbs.
So will James take a wait-and-see approach, forgo the extension and maintain maximum flexibility and leverage by dangling the specter of free agency in 2023?
And what of the Lakers? What is their level of enthusiasm for maxing out a 37-year-old James for two more seasons beyond his current contract? This is not 2013, when Kobe Bryant’s Achilles tendon was still in two pieces, but surely the degree to which that two-year extension slowed the Lakers rebuilding efforts lingers in the memory of Lakers decision-makers.
The Lakers have continued to view their clean cap sheet in 2023 as an endorsement of their team-building philosophy, including the Westbrook deal. Trading for the former MVP may not have worked out, but the Lakers maintained flexibility in the near future that they would have lost had they made the trade for Buddy Hield that was so close to completion back in July.
The last time James spoke about his long-term commitment to the Lakers, it was after his comments to The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd about Cleveland. Asked if he believed the Lakers front office had what it takes to build championship rosters around him, James said he was “very confident.”
“They’ve done it,” he said back on Feb. 25. “They’ve shown me that. Ever since I got here.”
It’s doubtful that when he said that he would have believed the Lakers would go 5-18 through their final home regular-season game and fall out of the postseason picture entirely — or that his season would end with him on the bench watching Mason Jones and Wenyen Gabriel play out the string of a lost Lakers season.
James showed this year that as long as he is healthy, he remains one of the best players in the world.
Is that enough?
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[contrarian] maybe he had to take bathroom break. Who is this guy? Bill Oram?[\contrarian]
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People are thirsty for drama, that’s for sure
Maybe there’s tension, maybe not. Why does that even matter, the season is almost over so who cares?
A clip that shows Bron and Melo embracing after the game while Russ is leaving is somehow proof of tension? That Oram piece just said he dapped Russ up at the beginning of the game when he got to the bench. This seems like a reach imo unless there’s another clip showing something more egregious.
One more game…
Maybe there’s tension, maybe not. Why does that even matter, the season is almost over so who cares?
A clip that shows Bron and Melo embracing after the game while Russ is leaving is somehow proof of tension? That Oram piece just said he dapped Russ up at the beginning of the game when he got to the bench. This seems like a reach imo unless there’s another clip showing something more egregious.
One more game…
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Meh not gonna make a big deal out of it. Russ was pretty into the game from what I saw last night (I went to bed at halftime). AD too. Bron looked zooted.
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I’m sure Bron was still pissed off about the projector. That would’ve never happened at a Space Jam viewing 
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Thought it was funny that Melo was basically sitting next to Dyan Cannon the whole game
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Isn’t Pincus plugged in with Pelinka? Some interesting info in this one…
- Add Juwan Howard, Mike Brown and Steve Clifford’s name as potential Vogel replacements
- Davis unlikely to be moved unless Bron doesn’t sign an extension. Guess it would be reset mode if that’s the case
- Most direct path w/ RW would be to see if improvement comes new coach and upgraded roster
- Keep Monk using taxpayer MLE and fill out rest of roster w/ min players
- Waive and stretch w/ Russ a possibly, could use money saved to bring back Monk using full MLE
Not sure if this was posted, if so I may have missed it. Not a fan of how these articles are titled…what does LBJ want, where do LBJ and the Lakers go from here, etc but it is what it is
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If it only take 1 first rounder to move Russ you make the trade all day. 3 serviceable players that aren't 35 or older immediately makes this team better.
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darthska
Staff member
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Waive and stretching Rust’s contract would be the dumbest move
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Pincus ever been right about anything?
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We just got done paying for Deng.
They talking bout pay Russ 7 mil over 7 seasons????
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didnt watch last game only looked at box score. thunder only played 6 guys?
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Best move to get rid of Russ is flipping him to CHA for Rozier,Oubre, and Plumlee
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I don't think it's going to be that hard to move Russ's contract especially since it's an expiring.
Just can't give up more than 1 FRP.
I hope this year's pick conveys to the Pels. Will open up some options on pick front.
Just can't give up more than 1 FRP.
I hope this year's pick conveys to the Pels. Will open up some options on pick front.
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From what I’ve read if they stretched him it would be for 3 years I guess 14-15 mil per season. That would hurt but this is the logic behind that
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