LeBrondage

My nightmare is that he somehow joins forces with another juggernaut like Bosh, Wade, CP3, or even Kobe. But what can you do abut it?

The Blazers have to just build the best team possible and hope it all works out. It would be nice we could land another defensive wing like Ariza or Childress. If we met the Cavs in the finals next year who could you possibly stick on Lebron besides Batum?

Lebron makes me a little nervous.

Jordan couldn’t win it all without several quality teammates either. With comparable experience, James is a more productive player than Jordan. Each distorts and warps reality as it pertains to the game around them. How far he goes depends on Ferry initially, and if they don’t have more talent by June 2010, the GM he ends up playing for next. Jordan won because he was complemented by Pippen, and surrounded by Rodman, Harper, Kerr, Paxson, and other valuable role players.

LeBron has been enough to beat the Blazers by himself the past couple years. But as Oden and the other young talent on the team develops, like in the case of Orlando, LeBron won’t be enough to do it alone (ie with his current supporting cast). However, if he ends up paired with another all-star quality player or two, I think that team will be unbeatable. Most likely scenario – LeBron goes to New York and is joined there by someone like Bosh. Bad news for everyone else. I don’t see it working out with any Western Conference teams, the L*kers already have their superstar, and LeBron isn’t going to play for the Clippers.

No. LBJ is no Jordan. Yet. To become Michael he needs to forge a body of work that demands the attention of the rest of the league. As it stands now he is being pushed and marketed beyond the limits of his credentials simply because the league needs a champion to push and marked in Jordans image.

3-5 Years away Lebron will be as dependant on his supporting cast as he is now. Just how much further can he elevate his game? Look at MJ again as an example. It took Horace Grant, Scottie Pippen and a host of solid role players to be as dominant as he was. Prior to that it was all potential but no trophy. I believe that the blazers as a franchise are probably better suited right now to deal with Lebron 3-5 years away than anyone else in the league.

The biggest fear would be if he ended up somewhere like…Orlando or Houston. Anywhere with a dominant Big I also think he will be able to slip into the 4 spot more easily as he goes older and looses some speed. LBJ at 30 as a bigger meaner 6-8 power forward will be a super effective machine. If he stays in cleveland and they don’t get lucky in the draft, the rest of the league will breathe a sigh of relief. They are an Ilgauskus foot injury away from the pack.

LBJ is doing all of this stuff, putting up historic regular season and then playoff numbers without a decent jump shot or a post up game. Two things he could easily have in the next 5 years. He’s one of the leagues top 5 passers and he led the league last year in assists that went for 3 point shots. The way he’s able to take the ball to the basket is something nobody will ever see again. He puts up ridiculous numbers even with a no-name squad around him. He’s already the greatest player to never win a ring, and he’s 24 years old. I hate the he’s the guy Portland will have to face all these years. IMO in the next 5-10 years it’ll be the greatest ever overall collection of talent (Blazers) versus the greatest ever single player in the NBA.

The Cavs are in a pretty unique situation next year in that they can sign not just one but two maximum salary free agents and still have room for a few nice role playern. Wally Szczerbiak and his albatross contract comes off their cap now. Ben Wallace seems to be mulling retirement, and would be a big expiring contract anyway. Big Z is also expiring. They can either trade those contracts for the player that puts them over the top next year (some argue GM Ferry should have acquired Shaq with one year left on his contract at the deadline as rumored). Or just let them all come off the books and go hunting for free agents.

They can offer LeBron one year more than any other team. Assuming he is one of those 2 free agents, that can become a very very scary team and likely his best option to win one or multiple championships.

There will be a few other teams with cap space in 2010 but not more than 1-2 others with so much, and the Knicks are looking at a roster with worse role players in place. Boston is still solid, but not much longer. Orlando is looking really good now but also painted itself in a corner in terms of surrounding Howard with the best team with that dumb Rashard Lewis monster contract for which they outbid themselves by about $30 million over its lifetime. The Bulls have a chance to retool around Rose, but still a lot of work to do. Same with Detroit and the rest of the Eastern Conference. So LeBron’s chances to dominate the East in many years to come if he stays in Cleveland after testing the market is very good.

I think Dwyane Wade might be mature enough, with the success he already has and recognizing his body won’t hold up with the stress he is under while carrying a team in Miami each year, to take the second fiddle behind LeBron. Imagine that team. Maybe a bit weak in outside shooting, but drawing more fouls than any other combo in the league. Or they add Chris Bosh (I would prefer that if I was LeBron) or Amar’e Stoudemire, and run high screens for LeBron ad nauseam.

Who do you guard on a team with two bona fide superstars that command a double team? His coach puts a solid Mo Williams or Gibson at point guard, and adds a big man in Varejao or promising rookie J.J. Hickson, and that team gives any other squad problems on most nights.

Also, as stupid as it sounds talking about the MVP and most stat-stuffing wingman since MJ and Oscar Robertson, LeBron is far from reaching his own potential. TrueHoop had a very interesting debate on the whole Kobe vs. LeBron issue with several bloggers. And while they came to different results regarding who is the best while tending to LeBron or the future, it’s not really debatable that Kobe has the more refined all-around game right now. James has one ultimately developed skill: Scoring around the basket in bunches. And another one that distinguishes him from most other superstars: Being a great passer and unselfish enough to give it up to a teammate in a better position. LeBron’s footwork is not refined yet (and he has duck feet anyway). He about never posts up with his back to the basket, which should be a very powerful addition to his game considering his size and strength advantage to almost all small forwards in the league. His mid-range and three point shot is not really good (his coaches asked Dirk Nowitzki’s personal mentor long ago to help him with that, to no avail). He only began to really focus on defense this year, which was also the year when he started thinking about how to adapt his training to keep his body healthy for the long term beginning with Yoga and better nutrition. And so on.

And if you bank on him declining rapidly with vanishing athleticism, forget it. At some time he will lose a step and can’t rely so much anymore on his superior quickness and hops. Big deal. He has the body of a modern power forward, and can just switch over to that position in his thirties if he develops just a bit of a post play.

So yes, while the era of LeBron has been delayed a second time now, he will be a force to be reckoned with for the next decade. And I expect him and his teammates to stand between the Blazers and a title at least once.

when he’ll sign with our team anyways? no j.k but yeah ive thought about that too many times. hopefully he never matures or he bolts to a team with a worse roster situation

A team that already is a bad match-up for the Blazers suddenly becomes a nightmare. As noted above, we have very few people who can adequately defend LeBron. Throw in Yao, Ron Artest, and Shane Battier, and you have one of the most elite defensive teams in recent memory. The four pronged attack of James, Yao, Artest, and McGrady would also provide continuous offensive production regardless of who is on the bench. The powerful inside out attack would bowl over all but the most disciplined team defensive efforts.

They would dominate but they wouldn’t be able to pay James thank goodness.
1. Lebron is the best player in raw skill in the entire league he may be not as refined as Kobe but most of his significant stats are much better then Kobe. Kobe is not a real competitor to LEbron’s talent he is right there with Lebron in jersey sales so that is how the league markets him. I don’t fear him the way I feared Jordan, with Jordan everytime a game was on the line it seemed he would hit the shot with Lebron I don’t get a big dread. Lebron could develop me feeling this dread about him but let us hope that never happens. I have more trust in Brandon making the plays down the stretch then Lebron, I also am an positive and believe that the Blazers would have more talent and assemble a better team then Cleveland
2. In 3-5 years I see Lebron in cleveland, Lebron isn’t going to kill us with out a team If he has some really good team mates they would have a shot at taking us down. It really comes down to will the Blazers be a team that can turn it on in the Playoffs. Oden is the REAL KEY.
3. Worst case is he goes to LA, I don’t see that happening financially or egotistically. Kobe and Lebron wouldn’t work because they both wouldn’t want the other on their team in the same way that Shaq and Kobe didn’t work, its a no go to start.
Houston would scare me as well, cause then they would have a real offensive and Yao would be free to get easy shots set up be Lebron that team would beat us Unless Oden was Odin, or in Basketball terms better then WIlt when compared to the rest of the league

I’m not sure how this happens in 2010 if Kobe doesn’t early terminate this year, but if it did it would certainly be the worst case scenario for the Blazers: LBJ with Gasol, Bynum, Ariza, and some other pieces that probably wouldn’t be too bad.

I don’t see LeBron going to Houston or any other western conference team besides LA. In the east I think NY and maybe Boston or Orlando are the only places outside of Cleveland he would play.

him on Jordan’s level. Dwight showed that a defensive presence in the lane is enough to stop him.

Blazers will be fine, Lebron is not a threat. A few years from now is Brandon Roy time.

A coach that can effective utilize him within a system with role players.

Let me take a subset of your question.

I think it’s entirely possible that LeBron may end up “standing in the way” of a title just like Jordan did in those Blazer years.

Here’s the thing though: I don’t care.

I wouldn’t trade those Blazer years for anything. I loved those players. Looking back, I wouldn’t have changed anything (except that Cliff Robinson fast break pass off of his chest.) I loved it all.

There are two things I’m thinking:
1) One: I don’t need a title necessarily. I just need a team that legitimately threatens for a title and plays basketball I can be proud of and be passionate about.
2) Two: I love team basketball. That’s why I get excited about our Euro players (plus, I think it’s cool to have a Euro following). I greatly prefer the teams with underrated players working together to create beautiful basketball rather than the superstar surrounded by role players. In short: I am the perfect “Moneyball” fan, which fits perfectly with Portland.

I ge the feeling from people—including this article—that “A Title” is some kind of ascension to Valhalla and forever after the heavens rain milk honey.

Not me… I just want to be fan. Give me Bibby’s Kings over the Lakers. Give me the 90s Blazers over Jordan. Give me even the Phoenix suns wtih Barkley and that Eliot Perry kid over Jordan.

The title isn’t everything. Not even close. It’s just an end point that allows us to relate to the game. Give me instead good basketball. I don’t need LeBron for that. And his presence shouldn’t hinder it.

Most certainly about things I have zero control over.

And unlike a lot of people, I do not take it for granted that Portland will win championships. Nor do I rate the team and my enjoyment of them based on them winning a championship. If following the Blazers in the early 90’s should have taught us anything, it is that you can have a very good team worthy of giving your heart to without them ever gaining that title.

So I’m not going to worry about James possibly standing in the way of a Portland championship. I’m just going to enjoy the journey.

If they can give Vince Carter away to someone they should have plenty of room for Bosh and James while retaining Harris and Lopez. That team should take home a few rings. RE: #1, I don’t see LeBron having the same effect as Jordan. There are many ways to knock our young team off track, and it could be LeBron a couple of years, but we’ll get ours.

is a must in today’s league, to try to keep the Lebrons of the world in check. Pietrus did it in the last series, Battier and Artest served us up our worst possible playoff matchup. It seems that this is as good a case as any for keeping Batum and giving him the support he needs to develop his overall game. Judging from how well he did on guys like K*be during his rookie season, with a little more muscle that wingspan could be devastating on D. Not saying the is a cure for Lebron, I just throw fewer things at the TV when he has to make shots with a hand (or two) in his grill.

Sacrilege maybe. But if we were to be so scared of LeBron, why wouldn’t the Blazers get after him themselves in a S&T?

Do the unthinkable – Roy, Outlaw, Przy, Blake, picks, cash, the kitchen sink for LeBron.

Cavs have Blake, Mo Will, Delonte, Roy, Wally, Outlaw, Verajao, Przy, Ilgauskus.

And Portland gets to look at Bayless, Rudy, Martell, Batum, LeBron, LMA and Oden…

I guess the question there would be, is Roy and that package enough for LeBron? Ferry would demand Oden in return. Roy AND Oden for LeBron? God that would be painful and missing the point for us. A chance to pair up LeBron and Oden would be the prize here, throw in LaMarcus Aldridge and it wouldn’t really matter who else was along for the ride.

But I digress. LeBron to Portland is highly unlikely, but maybe, just maybe more likely than LeBron to say OKC for example…

And please God no Lebron to Portland. His ego would clog the entire city.

But I also think that the league has developed over the past decade. Gone are the days when the good teams had 2 good players. It seems like every team has 2 and the good ones have 3, sometimes 4.

Role players are becoming better and that lessens the impact of 1 superstar. Unless ’Bron changes teams or upgrades the Cleveland roster, I do not see him beating Roy, LA, Oden and ….

But he has to have great players alongside him. I mean Pippen, Rodman, etc., all great players, Jordan couldn’t do it alone either…

LeBron has to score at +50% FG and +35% 3FG to be good enough to beat good team frequently. The reason for this is how he plays. In my opinion, he spends way too much time standing with the ball in his hands (often 10-12 seconds per possession) before making his move. This lack of ball movement is stifling to the team, and doesn’t encourage player movement either. There is a reason that in the Orlando series the bench put up such great numbers as 5 points.

Statistically, it may look good when a play consistently is putting up 30-40 points, but basketball is a team game. LeBron may be more physically impressive, and may be making more “impossible to defend” shots as each year passes, but that doesn’t make up for the deficiencies of his game.

Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, and Chris Webber are examples of flashy players that haven’t made it over the hump when considered to be the best or near the best in the league and “unguardable.” Honestly, after watching the Eastern Conference Finals the thought occurred to me that LeBron may never win a championship. Good teams – teams with good team defense, rebounding, and ball and player movement that can hit their shots can beat any team that LeBron leads. His game actually reminded me a lot of Zach Randolph in how he swallows up the ball for such a huge part of the possession that the team cohesion falls apart.

Consider the difficulties Mo Williams and Daniel Gibson had in consistently hitting their shots. Shooters need to get involved in the flow of the game. LeBron makes his own flow and without getting the ball more in the hands of other players they will struggle to consistently shoot at a good percentage. The contention that putting great players alongside LeBron will make him unstoppable I don’t buy into. LeBron doesn’t make players around him better, except maybe the cold-blooded stationary 3-point shooter (rather than the streaky 3-point shooter like J.R. Smith, Daniel Gibson, etc.). Players with midrange games, good shots off the curl (Rip Hamilton), and give and go games aren’t going to flourish at a higher efficiency around LeBron.

In this vein, I am not worried about what team LeBron goes to because the more scorers he has on his team, the more his lack of efficiency will become evident. I am not sure that there is a better team out there for LeBron. Maybe LeBron will find a way to get a championship, but I think this has more to do with his competition not playing up to championship level. In the Eastern Conference, I think it is more likely that a 1 or 2 seed can fly easily into the second round, get some rest, and play a worn down 3-6 seed. We all saw how easily the Cavs swept their way into the Eastern Conference Finals this year. I think LeBron’s path to the finals gets much more difficult on a Western Conference team, not that I really want LeBron in the West. In my opinion, LeBron’s best chances for success lies with Cleveland, Milwaukie, Utah, and Atlanta in that order. Every other team that could take him on would lose so much by taking him on that it isn’t worth it.

I think the Blazers have the talent, potential, and style of play to beat the Cavs or a LeBron-led team in the near future. Dealing with that team in yellow and purple is a much greater pressing problem.

Great post Dave. You have read my mind actually. About a year ago, I had this very conversation with some friends. LBJ is on the verge of taking this league over. He is still a spoiled immatrue brat with no humility, but that will eventually pass with time. Even if he never gets a ‘Pippen" on his team, he will still most likely win titles and stand in our way. Remember, he is going to get beter. Not necessarily physically, but mentally. The answer? Get at least 2 big SF’s who can be very physical and make LBJ work very, very hard. There is no easy answer. I just hope he stays in Cleveland, I dont want him on the West coast for sure.

There looms the dark cloud of LeBron. I’m seriously pinning my hopes on some Russian Billionaire offering LeBron $300M a year to go play in Europe. It could happen! Heck, Michael had to leave the game for a couple of years to give someone else a chance to win a title (and that was over an eight year stretch.)

LeBron’s ceiling of potential is higher than MJ. He’s not there yet, and I kinda hope he never gets there, but it’s within realistic possibilities that we’re all playing for second best to whatever team has LeBron. For a very long time.

This Post tapped into my LeBron phobia big time.

If you can’t beat him, sign him. Run the 2-3-4 of Brandon, LeBron & LA. Poof! All concerns about our point guard D vanish. All worries over Greg (the will he or won’t he develop into a star center) vanish. In all seriousness, KP has got to at least get us in the LeBron sweepstakes. Buy a ticket. Try.

CW says LeBron wants marketing potential, a team with a great dedication to winning, and the chance to have that structure together for a long time. We’re aces on the last two qualifications.

And as for marketing, I don’t assume he needs a big market. He transcends that concern. No matter where he is, people will watch that team. His commercials will still get made and played. Nike’s not going to lower his deal because he’s not in a big market. He’s also “In America” for the purposes of world-wide fame. The fans in China and Europe don’t care Sacramento from New York from Fargo. The games are televised all the same.

Show him the plane. Show him everything we’ve got. Let him see that while the Cavs are trying to put a team around him that could win titles, we have that team ready made. Sign here and win right now and for the foreseeable future. Several teams could offer him that. But New York can’t. The Lakers can offer him a brief stint with Kobe, but that wouldn’t last as long as a PDX dynasty.

So I’d say we’re better candidates than NY or LA, leaving… the rest of the league. And then, there’s still only a handful of teams. Us, Orlando, Houston. Who else? We’re in better shape than Atlanta and Miami (and that assumes they can resign Wade.) One could speculate down the list, especially if some team has the pipe dream of signing LeBron AND Wade, but that’s going to be difficult for everyone, unless the players decide to make it easy.

I certainly don’t want to play devil’s advocate for Lebron James, but I hear a lot of people saying that Howard’s presence in the lane shut him down. Not the case. Not at all:

James’ Average Output in Magic Series:

48% FGA
27% 3PA
8.4 RPG
8 APG
1.7 SPG
1.7 BPG
38.5 PPG

38, 8, and 8 is somebody getting shut down by a presence in the paint? What would he have done if Howard wasn’t there?

There is no paint defender who is going to stop James, not even the fantasmatic version of Greg Oden that exists in our minds. If Lebron had gotten any kind of consistent output from his teammates there would have been no series. It was Orlando’s perimeter defense (and the sudden shooting slump the Cavs went into) that advanced the Magic.

If Lebron gets any reliable second option—someone who can create his own shot and create opportunities for Lebron—the man will be unstoppable.

This will be a long off-season as we wait for Blazer news.

In the Summer of 2010, a super team forms in New York. LeBron, Wade, and Bosh all sign there, and high level role players flock in.

I think that by the end of his career, everyone will agree that he’s a step above MJ.

Is not a threat.

Lebron on the Cavs with another all Star player becomes dangerous. Can the Cavs snag Nash, Wade, Amare, Bosh?

The cavs are still mediocre, but give Lebron another weapon and you have a dangerous team. I become nervous about Lebron leaving. I breath a sigh of relief if he stays. I think he’ll need two others to counter the Blazers. Miami with Wade or Chicago with Rose would be my feared destination in the east for him. I don’t see him heading to Toronto.

I have thought about this fairly regularly.

The Blazers need a major jump from Oden and a upgrade at the point in order to challenge. That could happen as soon as next year. It might not be enough though.

No one has had such a singular set of skills in such a huge frame before. Lebron could play any of the five positions, just like Magic.

I think he’s staying in Cleveland. I think Cleveland will get him all the help he needs.

Yes, he will be a major pain in the butt for any team in the Western Conference that thinks they are good enough to win a championship. – Elgin

By signing LeBron in 2010

It took Jordan seven years to win an NBA title (drafted in 84, first title in 91).

LeBron made it to the Finals sooner, but will not be winning one at least until HIS seventh season.

That said—I don’t see a Pippen on the Cavs roster. Mo Williams is a nice complement to LeBron, but he’s not a game-changing defender.

As has been shown in the Magic series, all you need to stop Lebron is a French defensive wingman who can hit 3s to keep the other team honest, and a rebounding, defending, simplistic offensive center to back the French wingman up.

Done deal.

That is why KP has to continue to build & add great players, tough players. We have to be set up to handle LeBron + whoevers team he plays on. Knicks? Nate Robinson, LeBron James + Amar’e + Shaq? Scary.