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The issue with that statement is this. LeBron is getting older. He's not even trying to defend anymore. If this deal happens, your team is essentially stripped to the studs. You MAY get Jimmy Butler. What else do you have? This isn't the Eastern Conference where you can sleepwalk to the Finals.Originally Posted by Pelicanidae
Don’t know. Don’t remember. At least I don’t switch each week like M.M on Twitter
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.
Basketball.
all of this https://t.co/KJfp3L4ziF
— NOLA Pelicans Reddit (@PelicansReddit) June 5, 2019
Contributor
Both can play an equal hand in this. Rich Paul and Davis.
It's kind of both.
AD, ultimately, made the choice to hire Rich Paul, and presumably he also made the choice to demand the trade, and he made the choice to handle it like a punk to the media. That's all on him.
Rich Paul, on the other hand, definitely influenced his decision to focus so hard on LA at first, and very probably had a large hand in the media strategy, and if we try and pretend that he wasn't behind the t-shirt then we're fooling ourselves.
Both suck.
Grown people get manipulated all the time. I'm all for holding AD accountable, but whatever that made up word is... It's a ridiculous generalization.
I understand where you're coming from, and I can admit the numbers tell a story. But the eye test is different. It's easy to say he averaged 28 ppg without watching a game and seeing that he takes plays off on defense. When your teammate has to literally push you into your assignment, that's a problem. When you throw your hands up in frustration at your team even though you're the one who let your assignment blow right by you, that's a problem.
He does take plays off on defense sometimes. I don't deny that. He's 34 years old, has more minutes on his body than literally anyone since 2003, and is the most important offensive player for his team. But that doesn't mean he's overall a bad defender: it means he takes plays off on D sometimes. That's bad, sure, but most superstars do that from time to time. He was in the 96th percentile defending the PnR ball handler, 79th percentile in isolation, 94th in handoffs, 89th off screens, 83rd in PnR roll man, 72nd for post-ups. That's all still pretty good for a dude 16 seasons in.
Lebron turns his engine off on D sometimes. He's not a top tier defender anymore. That's totally true. But this narrative that he's just become a dead last defender is a product of NBA twitter and highlight clips, where you see Kuzma push Lebron on a closeout and get 26 hours of news cycle about it, completely ignoring the rest of that game.
Interesting thread between MM, Shamit, and the rest of the twitterverse...
Show me the package that's a sure thing and I will say either; It won't be offered or the upside is limited
— Elite Bored (@BallThen) June 5, 2019
https://www.si.com/nba/2019/06/05/nb...rs-free-agency
Couldn’t embed. Davis has named his preferred destination. It’s not Boston
The most overused words on Pelicansreport.com. Wrongly, I might add.
ELITE - (often used with a plural verb) the choice or best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons.
GREAT - notable; remarkable; exceptionally outstanding
These words should not be used lightly
This is relatively old news, but also folks here don't think it's relevant.
AD named his preferred destinations in February. It doesn't matter.
I would bet that he re-signs with Atlanta or maybe Toronto, but I'd love if Griff could add this dude after the AD trade.
Let the farewell tour begin ��
— Yahoo Sports NBA (@YahooSportsNBA) June 5, 2019
Vince Carter announced that he will retire after next season.
(via @gswchris) pic.twitter.com/xLAGOWMs7P
I am not sure if MM is trolling people on twitter or has completely changed his tune. He has always told posters they are stupid if they want to trade a dollar for 4 quarters, yet he continues to advocate a Nets package of decent players mainly because they will not cost much to re-sign and allows the team to maintain flexibility. He seems to be just taking a contrarian point of view to others such as Shamit and Jake.
MM being contrarian for the sake of argument despite it not making sense and having no consistency with his own statements?
Colour me shocked.
http://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/n...p13rwfo498r7fq
This may change some trade scenarios
No one cares what he wants.
I think Boston will drop out, unfortunately
As long as he's selecting between teams who are in play for AD, this is good for us.
If Morant is there at 3 and Boston refuses to trade Tatum I take the Knicks deal allllll day
I wouldn't put too much stock in any of these reports unless it's Woj or Shams.His plans/desires today may not be the same as they are on June 30 (when free agency begins). With that said, in recent days, people around Irving have described the probability of him returning to Boston as a free agent as low.
That's very unlikely considering Ainge has been wanting Davis for years. Their offer might change, but I doubt they drop out completely.
The buzz from people with a good track record for such things is that Boston is going for Davis regardless of Kyrie's decision. I suspect that's true.
Who knows what they or anyone else will actually offer though. The winning bid will be high, but there might not be an every-possible-asset package from anyone.
Contributor
So much for all of his talk about being willing to go to any other other markets. So he just wants NY or L.A. What a princess.
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