Are these Lakers better than last year’s Cavs?
The 2018 Finals was a letdown. Golden State blew through the Cavs, a four-game sweep. The stacked Warriors just had too much talent, and have ever since the Kevin Durant signing. Meanwhile, Cleveland was financially paralyzed. Paying out big contracts to JR Smith, Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye, Tristan Thompson, etc., had the Cavs stuck with all those role players around LeBron, and their cap flexibility was essentially nonexistent while Golden State was signing veteran minimum guys and drafting wisely, and even saving max space for the best scorer in the NBA. Throughout the entire 2018 playoffs, the narrative around the Cavs was the weak supporting cast around LeBron. Finally, this summer, King James was free to join a new team. That team was the Lakers, and they had plenty of room left to build a team around LeBron… but how did they do? (Spoiler alert — not good)
The Rosters — Lakers
Guards — Lonzo Ball, Rajon Rondo, Josh Hart
Wings — LeBron James, Brandon Ingram, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Lance Stephenson
Bigs — Kyle Kuzma, JaVale McGee, Mo Wagner
The Rosters — Cavs
Guards — George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood
Wings — LeBron James, JR Smith, Kyle Korver, (Cedi Osman)
Bigs — Kevin Love, Jeff Green, Tristan Thompson, Larry Nance
The Comparison
LeBron James vs. LeBron James — Technically, the nod here should go to the younger LeBron. Plus, LeBron has always dipped a little bit in his first season on a new team. We’ll just call it a wash here. Advantage — Tie
Brandon Ingram vs. Kevin Love — Love is the best player in this pool other than LeBron. That’s one thing he’ll miss in LA this year, on a team that doesn’t have any other all-stars. Now, Ingram is young, and has shown incredible potential, so I don’t wanna shortchange him, but we need to give this to Love until BI shows us a little more. Advantage — Cavs
George Hill vs. Lonzo Ball — George Hill is no all-star, but he was really contributing in the finals. He’s still not Kyrie, and he may not even be Isaiah, hard to say with the injuries, but he was definitely better than Lonzo Ball last season. Once again, Zo has room for improvement, but Hill gets the nod for sure. Advantage — Cavs
JR vs. KCP — In 2017–18, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope averaged 13, 5, and 4 to JR Smith’s 8, 3 and 2. Of course, there’s a grading curve when JR is playing alongside LeBron and KCP gets a few more shots, but look at the splits. JR shot 40% on FGs and 38% on 3s, while KCP shot 43% on FGs and also 38% on 3s. Plus, Caldwell-Pope’s defense is one of the best in the NBA, while JR’s is only slightly above replacement level. Advantage — Lakers
Kyle Korver vs. Lance Stephenson — These two players are very hard to compare, considering the difference in play styles. Korver hardly ever dribbles the ball, just runs off screens and spots up for catch and shoot threes. Meanwhile, Lance is, well, let’s let Pacers GM and president Kevin Pritchard say it: “Sometimes he was the best player on our team and sometimes he was the best player on the other team.” Both players averaged 9.2 PPG, but considering Korver’s efficiency and better fit with LeBron, I’m gonna give it to him. Advantage — Cavs
Tristan Thompson vs. JaVale McGee — This one is tough. Tristan averaged one more point than JaVale, 5.8 to 4.8, but the noticable difference is reboudning. Thompson’s 6.6 per game beats McGee’s 2.6. Of course, Thompson played almost twice as many minutes, so the comparison is very difficult. However, after watching the Finals, JaVale is much more of a modern player. He’s a rim runner who can screen and roll, but also block shots on the other end. Thompson’s offensive game is a tough fit, especially with LeBron. We’ll give it to JaVale. Advantage — Lakers
Bench — Rondo is the best guard available, and Kuzma is way better than Nance. The Lakers have the better bench. Advantage — Lakers
The Results
Point Guard — Cavs
Wing — Cavs
Wing — Lakers
LeBron — Tie
Forward — Cavs
Big — Lakers
Bench — Lakers
This sure is close. But when it comes down to it, Kevin Love is the best non-Bron player in this article, and George Hill is the best guard in this article. That’s it. That’s my verdict. LeBron downgraded, at least for this season.
