Originally Posted by
Pelicanidae
Honestly, and I may get some crap for this, but here we go:
Lebron's defense this year wasn't that bad.
NO it was not good. I am not saying he was a great defender. He was not. But people are acting like Lebron was just apocalyptically awful on defense this year, and it's just not true. 1.3 steals and 0.6 blocks isn't great, but it's not terrible. 108 DRTG isn't great, but it's not terrible. 1.9 DBPM isn't great, but it's not terrible. 2.6 defensive win shares isn't great, but again, it's not terrible.
And when you look at his direct matchup stats, they tell the same story. Opponents shot 3.4% worse than their averages this season when Lebron was their primary defender.
Lebron's one on one defense isn't great anymore. He's not going to make any all defensive teams anymore. He's not a top 5 defender at the SF position, by any means. But people need to stop acting like he was a bottom 5 defender or something, cause he just wasn't. He was a fine positional defender, and a decent help defender most of the time.
Yes, Lebron's getting older, but he averaged 27/8/8 this year on 50+% from the floor. He's not going to drop off THAT badly in one off-season. He'll still be 25/7/7 next year at worst. Pair him with AD and Jimmy Butler, if Houston does sell the farm and Golden State loses Durant, then I could see that Lakers team making the WCF.
Plus, you're making the BIG mistake of assuming AD cares about winning. It's pretty clear from his preferred destinations that he doesn't. At least, it's not his number one priority.