[Inside the NBA] Draymond: “Nobody from Cleveland is stepping up… Who’s walking in that locker room saying what you have to do, what you need to do”. Chuck: “I got a answer for that question…. That’d be LeBron James”
Do we think the Cavs are a LeBron away from a title though?
He might be their best wing defender which wouldn’t be ideal. Cavs don’t have enough talent on the wings.
Their perimeter defense is bad and both guards being unable to defend makes it even worse
Whatever happened to that dude from the Kings they traded for? Keon Ellis maybe?
The guy who got faked into the shadow realm by Brunson last year? He ain’t it š
I just remember him being a stopper for some reason, Kings fans seemed to value him
Harden-Don-Bron would be a disastrous defense lmao
Harden would be gone if they signed Lebron.
The team would be atrocious if they had both
Like relying on 41 turning 42 year old LeBron as a defensive savior is certainly something
Lebronās defense is better than Hardenās.
i never said savior. youāre doing whatās called creating a strawman argument. youāre saying āwell Lebronās not a dpoy so heās not saving themā, youāre creating an obvious statement THAT I NEVER SAID OR IMPLIED, and then saying āoh thatās wrongā and just debating yourself.
You are just the next guy on the comment thread so he replied to you. Itās really not that complex
Donāt worry heāll bring Bronny with him
For a first. Bronny isnt a ufa- he’s the Lakers 8th man/hostage. š¤·
Agreed. Combine Strus Merrill and Dean Wade and it won’t be enough
He isn’t much of a wing defender for anyone quick, watching his games last year he played a lot more like post knee injury kg as far as defense goes,generally staying near the basket when possible
Dean Wade, Max Strus, Jaylon Tyson are all good defenders and talented players. When they have four all-star-level players surrounding that wing spot, its hard to have anyone better than these three guys.
or a true point guard least one who plays a lick of D
Come on down Jrue Holiday!
He might be their best wing defender
Defender? LeBron ALWAYS guards the worst player.
statement still stands š / cry
Monley is a better wing defender than LeBron and Iād say Wade is a better on ball defender right now as well. You are not putting James on Brunson as his primary defender. You would still need a Dean Wade type guy there.Ā
But he would be their most dynamic offensive wing, of course and they lost this series on both sides of the floor.Ā
Brother he wasnāt looking for and if and a but. He was just making a general statement that their defense is so bad a 41 year old man would potentially be their best option
Okay? I just disagreed that Lebron would be their best wing defender.Ā
Donāt really see the problem you have with that. Also, who cares what heās looking for? Itās okay.Ā
They had Mobley on Brunson for half the night.
Still couldnāt stop them
Mobley largely guards Towns and Allen guards Hart. When Hart isnāt on the floor, Mobley guards OG and Allen guards Towns, off memory. Iām not sure I saw Mobley on Brunson for half the night.Ā
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When? I remember one possession where he picked him up in transition. But it seems like a huge exaggeration cause Wade and Strus were pretty much always the primary matchup.Ā
He certainly, to my eye, didnāt guard him in any sense where weād say they had Mobley on him and it didnāt matter. I would be surprised if Mobleyās guy was one of Brunsonās primary screeners for him to switch onto Brunson with any kind of significant frequency.Ā
People just say shit on here
Theyād certainly be better than what they are now.
How so? Thatās three high usage players that have low efficiency, and are below average defenders, that will all three be in the starting lineup. LeBron would make them a play in team. And in that play in game, their coach will have coached the team since January because we know already that Atkinson would be fired at some point.
I’m pretty sure Harden will be gone if LeBron comes.
Not if he picks up that player option.
Lebron just made the 4th seed in the better conference with two high usage players 3rd if Luka didnāt get hurt.. would really have thought you fools wouldāve put this bs to rest
The irony would be that Cavs are in a similar situation as the Lakers. Talented enough for 2nd round playoffs, and maybe even a Conference Finals appearance.
Both guards are mostly talented offensively and a liability defensively.
Cavs have more talent and depth than LA, but I’d pick Luka+Reaves over Mitchell+Harden as a guard duo all day every day.
Difference is east is way weaker than the west
Is it way weaker though? Are the suns way better than the hawks? Are the wolves way better than the Cavs? Are the nuggets way better than the Celtics? Are the spurs way better than the Knicks? Lakers way better than pistons?
I’d say so. Knicks look and play like the only legit contender in the East. A lot of the other good teams are just very flawed.
Pistons can’t create offense without Cade, Cavs are just mentally weak, Celtics will probably have some bigger changes and depending on Tatum, might become a contender again (or not). 76ers just have a messy team, despite elite talent.
OKC has no weakness. Spurs only weakness is that they aren’t as deep as OKC. Wolves are damn good but had bad luck.
Nuggets and Lakers lack depth, but their starting 5s are better than most in the East.
Next season might look different, though. Pistons and Celtics are my two candidates, who could make a jump next season, depending on the off-season.
That Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson deals are going to be interesting for the Pistons. Do Piston trade 1 of them or sign them both? They need to make significant leap in their offensive game to be revelant in playoffs, because they will be taking significant amount of Piston Salary with Cade.
To make the finals, which is all LeBron cares about, it absolutely is. There isnāt anyone close in the east to the quality of OKC and San Antonio, and especially OKC
Celtics while healthy.
The pacers took OKC to 7 games and then had their star player tear his Achilles in the first quarter of game 7. The Knicks more than held their own against the spurs this season. To say there isnāt anyone close to them is just wrong lol.
No, yes, maybe (or a close tie), yes and yes.
Pure recency bias. Knicks match up extremely well vs the spurs. I donāt think the lakers are even better than the Cavs. Nuggets and wolves arenāt better than the Celtics.
We may end up seeing Knicks vs Spurs to see if you’re right, but I personally expect if the refs call games like they are in in OKC/spurs series then spurs would probably win in 6, maybe even in 5.
And your initial listings never proposed wolves vs Celtics.Ā I don’t think the wolves are better than the Celtics, but would absolutely beat the cavs pretty easily.Ā They’re like the raptors if you plopped a superstar on their team.
I also admitted the nuggets could be equal to the Celtics.Ā Next year when Tatum is fully back that probably won’t be true again (past two years Celtics were better than the nuggets), but this years’ Celtics were just not the same.
This year. Next year the Hawks, Wiz, Celtics and the Pistons will improve. West will still be better at the very top, but for 3-8 the gap will shrink a ton.
I would take Luka over Haden and Mitchell period. Don’t even need to include Reaves tbh.
I think it’ll be easier for him to reach the finals in the east.
You’ve solved the NBA
What does he win?
If he stayed in the east, heād be on his 16th straight finals run.
Bold take
Fittingly, they may be a LeBron away from an eastern conference title
And another Final’s loss
if you just put lebron on the cavs this year and didn’t take away anything would they beat the knicks? i prob still bet on the knicks
Lebron playing for a vet min maybe but if he wants a sign and trade and sign a big deal, send back Allen and someone for example, then no way
No I think only 3⁄5 of the starters can remain. Theyād need to land Bron and another huge signing like a Jaylen Brown.
Maybe a 2016 LeBron?
2016 lebron would stomp the fuck out of east on this squad. it would be Adam Silver needs to intervene levels of stomp
2016 LeBron with Allen, Mobley, Harden and Mitchell is kinda insane.
thats what im saying
I mean thatās kinda what I was getting at??
if that was your message you didnt word it correctly
No. Not a good fit. Cavs can’t compete with backcourt Harden & Mitchell. Need better defense. Lebron and Harden would be worse combo than Lukan and Lebron. Lebron to Spurs one year contract. After that money to Wembys contarct.
Hell no, this is just a stupid statement from Draymond per usual
Draymond didnāt say it
Hell no. At this stage LeBron is like at a fringe all-star level, like top 50 in the league. Swapping Mobley for Giannis is the actual move if the Cavs want to go all in next year.
Top 50 is ridiculous. SGA and Lebron had basically the same numbers during the Lakers vs OKC series.
Yeah and Shai was hard doubled the entire series
Watch the game not the spreadsheet
I only watched the first 3 games so I didnāt see SGAs 35 pt performance but there is no argument to be made off those first 3 games I watched that there is a 50 player difference between Lebron and SGA.
Yeah man youāre right, why assess a player based on a full 82 games season when you can just watch three games and act like you know everything?
Thatās cause you make your analysis of players based on a 3 game sample size.
And a 4 game sample is fine? We just moving goalposts now. Iām only using the series to evaluate because thatās when they go head to head in a playoff environment. First it was watch the game now itās you canāt evaluate two players who went head to head in a playoff series on 3 games in a 4 game series. Also watched SGA in the first round where he torched the Suns (maybe his best series ever) and there is again, no argument to be made that there is a 50 player difference between SGA and Lebron, especially in the playoffs.
Also letās not act like the Rockets and Sengun arent getting negative narratives thrown around them after their performance in the first round, so yes people do evaluate players and even a team based off 1 playoff series.
Who is we? Sane people? Then no. There isnāt a single team in the league that Lebron at 42 propels to a title. LeBron joining your organization changes your entire philosophy. Heās done winning titles.
Ask yourself, what would the Thunder look like next season if they could twist the money and add him to the rotation? Would they be more likely to win the finals? They may still win, but the addition of LeBron would lower their odds IMO.
Lebron for vet minimum on the Thunder would be excellent. On the court, heās still a great play maker and court general, you could mitigate what he canāt do on defense athletically with their stacked defensive lineups, and reduced minutes mean he could play at his peak far more often. Off the court, itās hard to imagine better veteran leadership and experience than Lebron James.
I mean if SGA is already getting doubled, imagine if Lebron was there, he’d either get you free buckets at the rim or he’s dropping the 3rd guy open on the baseline 3.
I agree that heās still an excellent play maker and floor general. And I also agree with how he affects the roster off the court. But whose minutes does he take? It would be the likes of much better and more versatile defenders (Caruso, Dort, Wallace), or much better perimeter shooters (Joe, Wiggins, JayWill)
I donāt know that Iād agree heās a much worse perimeter shooter, I think heās certainly still more than enough of a perimeter shooting threat to adequately space the floor. But he offers other benefits that none of those guys offer- not a single one of them is even close to the playmaker he is, and heās still a better scorer in the post and as a driver than any of them (especially would be on reduced minutes).
I donāt think heād just take any one players minutes, youād probably use him in a variety of lineups according to the situation and opponent.
I appreciate you adding the nuance of him being enough of a threat to still adequately space the floor. I totally agree with that, but my thought was more based on him taking away minutes from guys that are in that role because theyāre perfect for that role. LeBronās usage rate was 27.2 this year compared to around 17 for each of Joe, Wiggins and Jay Will. The 3p rate for Jay Will, Wiggins and Joe were 73% 50% and 78%. LeBron was 26%.
Him being in the rotation would cause so much chaos for their lineups.
But my point is that you can still use those guys more if you need those hyper specific roles. Lebron just 100% adds way more to the team than he subtracts, and although it would take a bit of retooling sure, the Thunder would absolutely be a better team with him on it.
2018 LeBron aināt walking through that locker room door
But 2018 J. R. Smith sure did in the 4th quarter of Game 1 in New York! lol
2026-2027 Bronny can walk through that locker room?
2016 Kyrie Irving aināt walkinā through that locker room door
would 2026 cavs + 2018 lebron beat 2026 okc? it’d be close
It really wouldnāt be, Cavs win in 4 or 5. LeBronās only problem in 2018 was the fact that he didnāt really have a functioning team. The 2026 cavs solve this problem perfectly
the defense is getting absolutely cooked by the knicks. i doubt 2018 bron, who was 4 years removed from making an all-defense team, fixes that against the knicks let alone okc
Yeah but he might put his fist through a wall next to hardens big head and tell atkinson to wake up or hes gone after the game.Ā
I donāt think Bron wants that kind of headache at 41 lol.
Heās still capable of ramping it up when needed, we literally saw it in Round 1. I just doubt he wants to voluntarily carry that kind of load for another full season at this stage of his career.
I struggle to see why Lebron would want to spend his final year away from his family, literally his son playing for the Lakers, his golfing, just to go to Cleveland instead of sign the same deal in LA. He already got his championship in Cleveland, he did enough, I don’t think he’d do it.
If he wants to leave, I guess the Lakers have his son hostage so..
I think mainly the discourse because people love romanticizing a great player returning to his original team to retire there
Lebron can take his son with him to Cleveland
Lakers can threaten Lebron with his son and send him to Sacramento
Send him to live with his brothers in Toronto
They could, but I don’t really think they would do that. That’s a really petty and scummy thing to do (not just Sacramento, but any team is a threat). It leaves a bad reputation that the Lakers wouldn’t want.
Also, why would Sacramento or any other team do that. What advantage does that give to them? Unless they actually believe in Bronny and are going to give him a chance, in which case I’m sure Bronny wouldn’t mind to get out of his dad’s shadow and really prove to everyone he’s worthy of being in the league.
Lakers donāt fuck with stars. They know where their bread is buttered
The bucks should revisit Mobley for Giannisā¦ if LeBron joins at a discounted rateā¦ thatās a championship level team
That theoretical discount is a minimum. he would not do that
i mean, he’s not laying concrete and he’s one of the all time greats. Of course he wants the leadership.
One of the few times I agree with him. They needed to be switching off of Brunson. Harden did what he waa supposed to for a guy whose always been a horrible defender he actually played defense. Draymond and Klay would have never allowed Steph to be hunted like that on defense.
Rest assured someone is getting traded/axed this off season and it won’t be Harden (unless he chooses to switch teams on his own accord). Lebron would definitely help in a major way if they can get him.
The general thrust of Draymondās comment was fine, but he really did not tell us why the Cavs are playing the way they are.Ā
I found that super weird in a way because Draymond knows and if he wants to be honest with fans, it actually is on Harden. Thereās a reason the Knicks were able to have Brunson switch and recover while Harden mostly has played a standard switching scheme. Itās not like the Cavs donāt know about other schemes or having a guy fight over. Dray talking about āwe would never allow Steph to do thatā is not it. If he pulled up one Steph show and recover and then looked up at Hardenās catch and recover plays, the difference would be obvious.Ā
Watch his comment from his podcast. He elaborated a bit more.
You mean the podcast clip that got posted here before? Is there a longer version beyond that where he goes into the reasons why the Cavs might not be doing these things? Love Draymond so Iāll definitely check it out if he did.Ā
They did with Mobley last night to little success
Lebron getting PTSD watching this shit, no way he signs up for more
Yeah they don’t have a leader. Harden has never been a leader. Mitchell doesn’t have the resume to be that kind of leader.
When the Knicks were in the middle of that comeback in game one, there was a fan video of Jalen Brunson galvanizing his team. Thereās no audio, so we donāt know what was said, but they then proceeded to make one of the greatest comebacks in NBA playoff history.
Tonight Mitchell was wired for sound, and they showed him on the bench, trying to galvanize his teammates after giving up 37 in the first quarter. For me it came across like… he didnāt believe the shit he was saying, and they didnāt believe the shit he was saying.
Well what was he saying?
Something like āwe saw their best in the first and now we gotta play both sides of the ball. They aināt doing that again.ā Paraphrasing
Everyone being too hard on the Cavs. They just beat the 60 win Pistons in 7 games and then turned around to give the Knicks hell in their first meeting. This seems more like the wheels falling off rather than bad leadership. Harden is old and Mitchell also seems injured. The Knicks are on an absolute heater and the Cavs are giving them decent resistance.
41 year old LeBron isnāt helping them nor saving them
Stop this fantasy
He wouldnāt even fit next to Harden
I dont think theyre saying he would save them. I mean, Lebron now even admits heās the third option in the Lakers. What Charles is saying Lebron would be the one to push them if he was there and make sure Donovan Mitchell, for example, steps up.
This is some crazy Willis Reed erasure! From a Lakers fan, that hurts. That was Wiltās title.
Maybe but honestly I doubt it
Theyāre just outmatched
And theyāre exhausted from two seven game series
They ran into a buzz saw, the best Knicks team ever imo
Itās a wrap and LeBrons leadership wouldnāt save them
Mitchell is overrated and playing off an injury, Harden is cooked
Unless they had prime LeBron
Yeah, whether it would actually make a difference? Who knows, but I dont think Lebron would let them quit so early down the stretch like the Cavs have been doing
Harden has been a quitter his entire career. Lebron doesn’t want to deal with him
I agree there
Mitchell and Harden are quitters
Cavs also take too much of a back seat to Harden, heās too old
Itās a joke. Not that deep
I know Iām just rambling my thoughts overall on the subject
Trust me Iām in so cal and I know die hard LeBron fans who think he should go there and could be the difference
Knicks are just better and probably going to be the best east team next year too unless major changes happen
Theyād get rid of Harden if they added Lebron. Heās an improvement at almost every level.
Oddly enough before the playoffs a lot of people still think LBJ wants to play in NYK once in his career.
I can only see that if the Knicks lose the finals in 4-5 games
Draymond is not going to work out
Miami trades for Giannis and signs LeBronĀ
Harden will tell them where they gonna party at after the series ends
Now once again 42 year old LeBron is supposed to be the savior for Cavs? Lol
I almost donāt want LeBron to come back. He doesnāt deserve to end his career on a roster full of losers.
That wonāt be enough
Chuck really said “LeBron James”
As a Laker fan this is kinda perfect in both sentimental and salary cap terms. Lebron gets to have a legit team around him that he can, with the energy of his last great season, potentially lead them to a championship in his home state. If you optioned that screenplay 25 years ago youād have been laughed out of the room. If he pulls that off, I think heās got it. Truly I think he will be the goat if he can do that.
And itās a huge amount of cap space we now have to build the perfect squad for luka.
Lebron pulls off a player coach move for the next ten years to finally catch Mike? I don’t know if it’s allowed, but I also wonder how that would work with the salary cap. He could just sub himself in a few big plays a game with fresh legs.
Yeah that is kinda the problem with their roster right now. Too many guards, twin towers in the frontcourt and then vibes at the wing.
You can survive one small guard, but Garland, Mitchell and then Max as your best perimeter stopper is rough in the playoffs.
Garland got traded awhile agoā¦
Hopefully the Warriors take him off the Lakers hands.
Yeah LeBron is gonna step up and play defense at 45 š these guys are fuckin morons
I wish it would happen just to prove Draymond wrong lol. Bron cant even lead the Lakers when it comes to effort
it’s better than punching your teammate while practicing i guess…
Cavs fans acted as if they would rather drink dumpster juice than entertain the idea of LeBron in Cleveland again, I bet money they donāt get swept if they had him on this team especially with how badly Harden is
which cavs fans lol
Literally a post on Cavs Reddit talking about how Lebron Bandwagoners can go when he isnāt even on the team. Clearly there are at least some Cavs fans who feel this way.
The Cavaliers are trash
Theyāre in the ECF and won playoff series against two other teams to get here.
You donāt know ball.
Do you have to know ball to understand that?
Theyāre in the eastern conferenceā¦ You could have just stopped there.Ā
You can hardly call the Hawks a team
And thatās relevant how?
Catching fucking strays šš
Which would be fine if likeā¦ there was even the slightest reason for it. Some Wolves fan attacking a comment in a thread about the Cavs by trashing the Hawks is just stupid.
Lebron James in the big 26š„š„š„š«©š«©š«©
Iām ngl your team could absolutely use Bron for one season.
Replace Randle with him and heās probably giving you around 18/7/7 on decent efficiency (a bit more offensive decline), but still with good playoff defense and way higher decision making.
You could play 25-26 Helen Keller instead of Julius Randle and it would be an upgrade