Rich Paul implies Austin Reaves needs to come off the bench

[Full Court]

The Lebron +/- thing is really bizarre. The last couple years it's been inexplicably low even tho the eye test says hes been great. And thats not just Lebron shtick, hes been playing at a really high level. His midrange, his three point shooting, his passing, his cutting to the basket, it's all been textbook. And last year he played really good defense.

When you watch him play Lebron looks like an incredibly sharp and willing 2nd/3rd option doing everything hes supposed to do. I dont understand why the plus minus hasnt been reflecting over his last 50-60 games or whatever it is. Hes genuinely been playing great basketball.

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone at all. He's the laziest player in the league on defense. The other team is basically playing 5 on 4 basketball.

LeNetNegative.

[Im Still Ballin]

Austin and Luka play really well together. LeBron's the odd man out and should come off the bench.

[bdonovan]

https://streamable.com/9h9nh7

Shameless. Absolutely shameless. Why can't LeBron come off the bench? Team Klutch aren't handling this loss of LA leverage well.

Ginnobli might have come off the bench but he had starter-type minutes roughly- about 30 minutes a game (until he got older).

His minutes overlapped with the other starters but also including leading the 2nd unit.

Doncic and Reaves cannot beat the best teams in the league. They don't have the defense, they don't have the toughness, they can both be slowed down with physical defense.

We saw in the recent game what LeBron is capable of, even at this age, when he has the ball. Play Reaves like Ginnobili, not just leading the second unit, but enough overlap minutes that he's playing 30m a game.

You have Rui shooting 3's at mid 40%s- so you have the role players to contribute.

[ImKobe]

Austin and Luka play really well together. LeBron's the odd man out and should come off the bench.

These are numbers from last season? He's only played 7 games thus far so there's no way the minutes add up here. Thus far his net Rating is neutral (+0.1). Their offense is amazing with him on the court but the defense is also the worst lol, but it's only 7 games. Thus far the pbpstats numbers say that they have a great Net Rating when one of the 3 is on the bench and they've been getting their asses kicked when all 3 are on the court (115 ORTG 122 DRTG).

[tpols]

Austin and Luka play really well together. LeBron's the odd man out and should come off the bench.

Exactly.

Reaves is a sniper shooter so he helps spread the floor for Luka and give him clean 1v1s. Lebron is the best passer here so he would maximize the team by coming off the bench and getting everybody else good looks.

[Yes or No]

Exactly.

Reaves is a sniper shooter so he helps spread the floor for Luka and give him clean 1v1s. Lebron is the best passer here so he would maximize the team by coming off the bench and getting everybody else good looks.

LeBron will retire before coming off the bench. He should come off the bench but it'll never happen.

Carmelo "who me?" Anthony didn't want to come off the bench and I guarantee his ego pales in comparison.

The most likely scenario is that LA once again flames out in the playoffs without making it to OKC and LeBron goes elsewhere next season.

[Xiao Yao You]

LeBron will retire before coming off the bench. He should come off the bench but it'll never happen.

Carmelo "who me?" Anthony didn't want to come off the bench and I guarantee his ego pales in comparison.

The most likely scenario is that LA once again flames out in the playoffs without making it to OKC and LeBron goes elsewhere next season.

Jazz were thankful for starter only. Was the series basically!

[FultzNationRISE]

These are numbers from last season? He's only played 7 games thus far so there's no way the minutes add up here. Thus far his net Rating is neutral (+0.1). Their offense is amazing with him on the court but the defense is also the worst lol, but it's only 7 games. Thus far the pbpstats numbers say that they have a great Net Rating when one of the 3 is on the bench and they've been getting their asses kicked when all 3 are on the court (115 ORTG 122 DRTG).

This was a phenomenon I noted about the Celtics last year and made a thread about.

When Brown Tatum and KP were on the court together, the team had a worse net rating than when any two of them were on the court and one was off.

[Yes or No]

This was a phenomenon I noted about the Celtics last year and made a thread about.

When Brown Tatum and KP were on the court together, the team had a worse net rating than when any two of them were on the court and one was off.

Teams are greater or less than the sum of their parts. Team dynamics are a tricky thing. The best result does not always come from the best players. It often comes from how players best fit together. Most front offices aren't smart enough to ever consider such a thing, let alone the people on this forum.

[Axe]

They want him to be a sixth-man?

Naw thats bullshit

[Mask the Embiid]

Reaves and Luka need to have a serious conversation after the game about which one of them is going to go to the bench for the betterment of the team. Gotta put pride and ego aside. I know you were an mvp candidate, but if you truly want to win are you truly willing to sacrifice for a ring? Do you truly want to win?