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LeBron James, right, embraces new Lakers teammate Josh Hart at the NBA's summer league in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
The addition of LeBron James has made the Lakers think big, albeit in a small ball way. The team would be "impatient" to take a page of the Warriors with its own "Death Lineup", one of the Cavaliers' stars in the center, while Magic Johnson, the president of the Lakers team , is at least as enthusiastic as Golden State. "I'm a competitor, so I'm not afraid of Golden State," Johnson said Wednesday on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," adding, "I'm not worried about Golden State."
"They do not do not keep it up at night. "
Asked if the Lakers, as constituted" now, "could beat the Warriors, especially after adding center star DeMarcus Cousins, Johnson replied," I think we're looking forward to this challenge.
"Everyone expects Golden State to win again, but I would like to have the challenge of playing them in the finals of the Western Conference, if we can get to that position" keep on going. "… I know we have a strong team, a good team, a competitive team, and a strong team." Johnson described James as someone who "brings a championship mentality to our team," and he also cited two other recent acquisitions of free agents, Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGee, as having been on the winning teams of the NBA.None of them, however, nor Lance Stephenson, another veteran added after James announced that he was going to Los Angeles, were among the players that the Lakers plan to use in their version of the so-called death row
The only trap is that James should play center, which he has rarely done, and a role that, like the noted Pincus, could involve defensive responsibilities. James is taller and more athletic than Draymond Green, who plays center-stage in the Warriors' version – which some dubbed the "Hamptons Five" after Golden State replaced Kevin Barnes by Kevin Durant – but Green has almost nothing from James.
Then, even the Warriors chose to wisely use their Death Lineup, which also includes Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala in a quintet able to effectively deflect into raining points on upgraded enemies. The formation tended to hit the ground towards the end of both halves, either to give Golden State a half-time bulge or to let it lock the victories.
The Lakers might try a similar approach, leaving McGee championships with the Warriors, getting the big minutes in the center. However, the game is not risk free, as one skeptical leader said with another team at Pincus.
"James has been steadily losing ground in recent years and now he is going to close the games like the 5 Lakers," the executive asked. "Draymond is why it works for the Warriors."
Nevertheless, Johnson is simply delighted that his team has the ability to experiment with n & # 39; any type of programming featuring James, especially after he's claimed that he should be fired should he not attracted a superstar at the Lakers this summer or in 2019. Asked by Kimmel though, at the time of these comments, he had "a good idea" that he would get LeBron Johnson replied: "I had confidence in myself, the Laker brand, the young players we had and Luke Walton as a coach. "
Johnson said he and general manager Rob Pelinka" did our homework "and" We really thought we had a good plan to present to LeBron. Saying that he had been watching James' "all film", in his two passages with Cavs and with the Heat, Johnson claimed that he had "a sense of [James’s] game, and what's wrong?" He wanted, in terms of what he was looking for. "
When The Lakers signed Rondo, Stephenson and McGee, who had all had moments of tension with James in the past, as opponents, and none of them brought the kind of outdoor shooting considered the most useful to the NBA's MVP, some wondered if the team had actually run these moves beyond its most recent franchise icon. from Johnson, it is also fair to speculate on how much James has "sought" a chance to play extended minutes in the center, not to mention how much this prospect will keep the Warriors at night.
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