End of the Luke Walton Era?

[dtgold88]

This is completely false. This team will likely finish with a worse record because of injuries more than anything. Prior to the injuries, the roster was working and the Lakers were the #4 seed. In the previous 6 years, they didn't even have a winning record at Christmas (when Lebron and Rondo went down), let alone as high as the 4 seed.



When Lebron came back to Cleveland, they already had Kyrie and brought in Kevin Love. And at the least, were expected to reach the ECF.

sure, they had some injuries. Like all teams. But still had Lebron for, what, 60ish games by season's end?

Lebron only played 69 for the Cavs his first year back. Love and Kyrie each missed 7 games, and Varejao missed 50+. All teams suffer injuries.

Know why they could bring in Love? They had the assets to make a deal.

 

[dtgold88]

Yes, but every time Lebron has moved from one team to another he had two all-stars and at least 1 of them be a top 10 talent at the time. Dwyane Wade was top 5 at the time and Chris Bosh was probably top 15ish. Kevin Love was in his prime and considered a top 10 player in Minnesota and Kyrie was probably top 20ish or so at the time (which he got much better from then).

Lebron's best teammate coming to LA weren't even considered top 50 players. That's a huge difference.

Go back and look at what the odds were for the Cavs to win the Championship in their first year with Lebron. They were the heavy favorites. So it wasn't unexpected.

Fair points, but Cleveland had the assets to deal for Love and never had the lure of LA to bring in a FA.

 

[dtgold88]

I think that was largely due to scarcity in last year's free agent class. Redick wasn't leaving Philly, and who else was there, Ellington? Some other guys could've been options that ended up having good seasons, but they weren't necessarily considered good bets at the time. Then again, neither are Lance and Beasley.

Not disagreeing...only laughing at him taking a stab at the Cavs when he failed to get shooters.

 

[Rod Freakin' Dangerfield]

Reports and rumors are coming out that the Los Angeles Lakers are planning to fire Luke Walton at the end of the NBA season:

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According to reports, the Lakers are expected to fire former Warriors assistant Luke Walton at the end of the season https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2019/3/4/18250641/2019-nba-warriors-lakers-luke-walton-lebron-james?utm_campaign=goldenstateofmind&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter …


If the Lakers indeed fire Luke Walton at the end of the season, did he not get a fair shake and the proper time to build the Lakers into an contending team, also has Lebron destroyed another solid head coach, because he wants things his way, what say you SportsHoopla Nation?

 

[dtgold88]

well he wont fire himself.

 

[trojanfan12]

sure, they had some injuries. Like all teams. But still had Lebron for, what, 60ish games by season's end?

Lebron only played 69 for the Cavs his first year back. Love and Kyrie each missed 7 games, and Varejao missed 50+. All teams suffer injuries.

Know why they could bring in Love? They had the assets to make a deal.

Did Lebron miss 17 consecutive games in his first year back? Did the Cavs lose another important player for another 17 games at the same time? How many season ending injuries did the Cavs have to starters on that team?

And yes, the Cavs had assets to make the trade for Love that the Lakers didn't have. That's kind of the point. The Cavs were set up to win a title when Lebron returned, the Lakers weren't. In short, it's pretty silly to compare the situations because they were very different.

Magic and Pelinka have been trying to dig the Lakers out of the crater that Short Buss created by signing Mozgov and Deng to ridiculous contracts and trading away assets.

 

[Wamu]

Did Lebron miss 17 consecutive games in his first year back? Did the Cavs lose another important player for another 17 games at the same time? How many season ending injuries did the Cavs have to starters on that team?

And yes, the Cavs had assets to make the trade for Love that the Lakers didn't have. That's kind of the point. The Cavs were set up to win a title when Lebron returned the Lakers weren't. In short, it's pretty silly to compare the situations because they were very different.

Magic and Pelinka have been trying to dig the Lakers out of the crater that Short Buss created by signing Mozgov and Deng to ridiculous contracts and trading away assets.

There you go making sense again. Stop that!

 

[trojanfan12]

Not disagreeing...only laughing at him taking a stab at the Cavs when he failed to get shooters.

He probably could have stated it better, but Magic didn't take a stab at the Cavs. He acknowledged that Lebron is 4 years older than he was when he returned to Cleveland and the Lakers didn't want him to have to do everything like he did in Cleveland. It would wear him down too much.

If the Lakers were getting the version of Lebron that the Cavs got, I have a feeling that this team would have been built differently and that he would have been surrounded with the types of players he had in Miami and in his return to Cleveland.

Basically, the Lakers are trying extend Lebron playing at a high level for as much of the length of the contract as they can. So, especially since they weren't going to be winning a title this year, they tried to bring in some guys that could lighten some of his load. They also wanted to reduce his minutes per game this year as well. Which they were able to do to a point. He's played fewer minutes per game, but not by as few as they would have liked.

 

[trojanfan12]

There you go making sense again. Stop that!

My bad.

 

[Sparhawk]

End of the Luke Walton experiment would have been a more fitting description.
They managed to out-process The Process.

 

[CitySushi]

Fair points, but Cleveland had the assets to deal for Love and never had the lure of LA to bring in a FA.

Yeah, but Lebron never had to recruit. The Cavs were already tapped out on cap space so they couldn't lure any big name free agents anyways. So the lure of LA doesn't have the same weight in this comparison.

Cavs were set up with more assets like you said. So they were in a better position than the Lakers, and thus better able to succeed.

 

[dtgold88]

Yeah, but Lebron never had to recruit. The Cavs were already tapped out on cap space so they couldn't lure any big name free agents anyways. So the lure of LA doesn't have the same weight in this comparison.

Cavs were set up with more assets like you said. So they were in a better position than the Lakers, and thus better able to succeed.

He pretty much recruited Love...either directly, or Love wanted to play with him.

 

[dtgold88]

Did Lebron miss 17 consecutive games in his first year back? Did the Cavs lose another important player for another 17 games at the same time? How many season ending injuries did the Cavs have to starters on that team?

And yes, the Cavs had assets to make the trade for Love that the Lakers didn't have. That's kind of the point. The Cavs were set up to win a title when Lebron returned, the Lakers weren't. In short, it's pretty silly to compare the situations because they were very different.

Magic and Pelinka have been trying to dig the Lakers out of the crater that Short Buss created by signing Mozgov and Deng to ridiculous contracts and trading away assets.

17 consecutive? Nope. But missed around 10 midseason. Say what ya will, but AV was an important piece. He missed 50 games. Don't recall when Love/Kyrie were out but each missed 7. As for season ending, would Ball's be season ending if they needed him (serious question as I don't know)?

Cavs had the assets because they acquired them. They didn't trade away 1st rounders, they added extras.

Yeah, good thing Magic got rid of the Deng contract so they could add the extra star last offseason. Wait...what?

 

[dtgold88]

He probably could have stated it better, but Magic didn't take a stab at the Cavs. He acknowledged that Lebron is 4 years older than he was when he returned to Cleveland and the Lakers didn't want him to have to do everything like he did in Cleveland. It would wear him down too much.

If the Lakers were getting the version of Lebron that the Cavs got, I have a feeling that this team would have been built differently and that he would have been surrounded with the types of players he had in Miami and in his return to Cleveland.

Basically, the Lakers are trying extend Lebron playing at a high level for as much of the length of the contract as they can. So, especially since they weren't going to be winning a title this year, they tried to bring in some guys that could lighten some of his load. They also wanted to reduce his minutes per game this year as well. Which they were able to do to a point. He's played fewer minutes per game, but not by as few as they would have liked.

Aren't you one of the many who made excuses for Magic that there were no shooters to get, and now you think they'd have gotten them if only Lebron were 4 years younger (he was a whopping 1/2 month older when FA started than he was since he had led the Cavs to the Finals. But they needed to change how he played and the types of players he needed?

 

[CitySushi]

He pretty much recruited Love...either directly, or Love wanted to play with him.

Of course Love did. Lebron was coming off 4 straight finals appearances while Love never made the playoffs. It's easier to recruit guys who haven't won anything versus guys who have had some success in the league. You think the Warriors get KD if KD already won a title with OKC? Not a chance in hell.

 

[dtgold88]

Of course Love did. Lebron was coming off 4 straight finals appearances while Love never made the playoffs. It's easier to recruit guys who haven't won anything versus guys who have had some success in the league. You think the Warriors get KD if KD already won a title with OKC? Not a chance in hell.

Great.....Lebron was coming off 8 straight Finals' appearances when he joined the Lakers. should have been really easy to get guys.

 

[CitySushi]

Great.....Lebron was coming off 8 straight Finals' appearances when he joined the Lakers. should have been really easy to get guys.

Again which guys are you talking about? You already said the Lakers didn't have the assets the Cavs had so a trade was near to impossible without depleting the entire team of any talent. If you're talking about Free Agency, once Lebron signed all the big name guys had already come to terms. Which guys should he have brought in with him?

Or maybe the vision all along was to target this upcoming off-season. Maybe there was a pattern in the Lakers free agent signings in that all of them were large-ish one year deals. Maybe the goal was to develop talent this year and see which guys should be a part of the future next to Lebron and address talent next season.

I mean you can't have it both ways and say the Lakers didn't bring in anyone and then say the Cavs had more assets to work with. They didn't acquire Love through free agency. They got him by trade. Kyrie was already on the team. It wasn't as if Lebron went on a recruiting tour in Cleveland and both Love and Kyrie decided to join Lebron. I don't think you're being completely fair when viewing the two situations separately.

 

[dtgold88]

Again which guys are you talking about? You already said the Lakers didn't have the assets the Cavs had so a trade was near to impossible without depleting the entire team of any talent. If you're talking about Free Agency, once Lebron signed all the big name guys had already come to terms. Which guys should he have brought in with him?

Or maybe the vision all along was to target this upcoming off-season. Maybe there was a pattern in the Lakers free agent signings in that all of them were large-ish one year deals. Maybe the goal was to develop talent this year and see which guys should be a part of the future next to Lebron and address talent next season.

I mean you can't have it both ways and say the Lakers didn't bring in anyone and then say the Cavs had more assets to work with. They didn't acquire Love through free agency. They got him by trade. Kyrie was already on the team. It wasn't as if Lebron went on a recruiting tour in Cleveland and both Love and Kyrie decided to join Lebron. I don't think you're being completely fair when viewing the two situations separately.

You really think he didn't already know before he made the announcement he was joining LA? Hadn't already tried to recruit PG (and obviously failed)?

I could see that being the plan had he been the same age as when he joined the Cavs (of course they went to the Finals), but cannot see Lebron wanting to punt one of his precious remaining seasons. He had to know while he'd still be great for a little longer at some point not being the best was coming.

As to your last comment, that was kind of my point in a sense. The Cavs obviously did a better job rebuilding. But LA did have an extra max spot at their disposal.

Maybe not completely fair, as we don't know all the circumstances, but a West Coast guy wanted to play with Lebron in Cleveland, while an LA boy would not join him in LA?

 

[shopson67]

You really think he didn't already know before he made the announcement he was joining LA? Hadn't already tried to recruit PG (and obviously failed)?

I could see that being the plan had he been the same age as when he joined the Cavs (of course they went to the Finals), but cannot see Lebron wanting to punt one of his precious remaining seasons. He had to know while he'd still be great for a little longer at some point not being the best was coming.

As to your last comment, that was kind of my point in a sense. The Cavs obviously did a better job rebuilding. But LA did have an extra max spot at their disposal.

Maybe not completely fair, as we don't know all the circumstances, but a West Coast guy wanted to play with Lebron in Cleveland, while an LA boy would not join him in LA?

Paul George grew to love OKC. Nothing more, nothing less. He wanted to stay, so be it. Making that somehow about Lebron is ridiculous.

 

[Sparhawk]

Paul George grew to love OKC. Nothing more, nothing less. He wanted to stay, so be it. Making that somehow about Lebron is ridiculous.

It says that it wasn't enough.
Take that as you will.