Lebron James - next season?

[beau_boy04]

Three season on his belt, let us take a good look:

20.9 ppg 5.5 rpg 5.9 apg 47%FG 29%3P 75%FT
27.2 ppg 7.4 rpg 7.2 apg 47%FG 35%3P 75%FT
31.4 ppg 7.0 rpg 6.6 apg 48%FG 33%3P 73%FT

Ok this guy has stedily improve his game each and every year. What do you expect from him next year? I'm amazed that only in his 3rd season he averaged over 30 ppg so whats next? 35ppg? or maybe a 10apg season? What does he need to work on this summer to polish even more his game? I know his outside shooting is an area he needs to improve on and also his defense. What do you guys think and expect from the King next season?

[Fenix]

I don't think he'll improve as mush stats-wise. He'll probably play better D, shoot better, improve his shot selection and therefore his fg% will go up. His assists per game were much lower when he played with Hughes, so I expect those to fall if LH stays healthy. My prediction: around 30ppg, 7rpg, 6apg, 50% FG, 35% 3P, 78% FT.

[Mayerhendrix]

Sometime in his career, Lebron just might average a triple double. He'll be more of a factor in the late stages of a game as we saw his clutch performances in the late season/playoffs. Lebron is the next Oscar Robertson stat-wise, and if he stays healthy he'll make more MVP runs for another 10 years or so.

[BIG GREEN]

The scary thing about lebron is that he hasn't hit his prime yet and his performance is already top level. This is why people think that he won't improve...but no one has put up these kinda stats at this age in nba history. He probably won't score much more...(and i dont want him to)..but he will improve his defence...which is the only area he's lacking. His clutch will continue to improve...and i expect his rebounding to go up..considering he's said that he focuses on that stat. Also, ofcourse he's going to shoot a better percentage.

[Matthew]

I wouldn't be suprised if he did what jordan did and averaged 30,8 and 8.

[K0beStar]

What was jordans carrer ppg? I know its in the 30's. Lebron can easily pass him up if he wanted to.

[scrub]

It depends who they get in the off-season. If Drew Gooden leaves then expect around more rebounds but if we see a new point guard expect maybe less assists because Eric Snow isn't exactly a great starting point guard, he is more of a role player with his perimeter defence. But I'm expecting more or less the same stats but an improved FG% and 3P% and better defence.

[Its_asdf]

I don't think that his statistics will improve since they're already so high and show that he's a dominant player. I'm guessing he'll maintain similar stats unless a big trade comes along and brings in another legitimate scorer or if Larry Hughes turns into the "contract year" Larry Hughes.

[scrub]

YEa they should have offered him like a two year contract. I know it makes sense to play well on their contract year but why not play like that every year with the oppoprtunity of becoming an all-star maybe. I bet Mike James will average like 13ppg and 4apg next year and with a $60m contract.

[Fenix]

Who the hell is willing to give 60 million per to Mike James (bitch!). OK, perhaps Isiah. Or Kevin McHale. You know, cocaine's one helluva drug.

[Its_asdf]

It is just a growing trend in the NBA, thats all. Players are bound to ask for a lot of money when most of them ride on the fact that they have had that one good season (or playoff round, for some people) and demand for their contracts. Some people might bite on that or might pay more because some other teams are after the same player.

[scrub]

Who the hell is willing to give 60 million per to Mike James (bitch!). OK, perhaps Isiah. Or Kevin McHale. You know, cocaine's one helluva drug.

Well who the hell woould pay 15m each year for Van Horn, 14m each year for Eddie Jones, 16m each year for Brian Grant.

And just to clarify I was talking about 60m over a period of time like 10m per year on a six year contract for example.

[Fenix]

Sure, but it's Mike James we're talking about. You know, a crazy ballhog? That Mike James? He isn't liked even by the Toronto fans, so who the hell would want to have a 6'2, journey man 2 guard with no playmaking skills whatsoever who has an ego with the size of a smaller planet? If I'm Lebron and if Cavs are really planning to sign&trade for him, I'd be ouf of the door as soon as possible. Sweetney, Deng and #2 for James, anyone ?

Edit:
-Eddie Jones was a great SG back in the day. If he had a cooler name and a shoe contract, he'd be a star.
-KVH had the 'potential' and the 'next Larry Bird' thing going on.
-Grant's contract was just plain bad.
But the thing is - all of them are sane.

[scrub]

I'm not saying that Mike James is getting a 60m contract next year I'm just saying he will probably get a bigger contract thatn he should get because he had a good year statistically and I didn't say that the Cavs would sign-and-trade for him. I said they need a starting point guard.

[Fenix]

That's a very common rumour for his next destination, I wasn't saying you propose it.

[1CenT]

I hope he can improve his D, better in the clutch, win 6-7 more games for the season..

Get his Free Throw % to like 79-80%, 3pt to 37-38%, about same stats, 30/7/6 or so...

[Cloudy]

Doesn't it seem scary that this guy is already better than so many superstars in this league? Not only the hype, but he is really proving it. Maybe we should prepare for another person greater than Jordan? It's gonna be sad next season if he > Kobe.

[beau_boy04]

I don't expect him to overtake Kobe as the best swingmen next season but maybe in his 5th season he will be on top of everybody else. Good thing because by then another giant should be coming along and his name is Greg Oden .... this kinda reminds me of Jordan vs Ewing era

[Silas]

Oden has several years yet till I think he'll make a big impact in the NBA.

[scrub]

I disagree I think that he will contribute right away because his year in college will help him a lot.

[Andrew]

What was jordans carrer ppg? I know its in the 30's. Lebron can easily pass him up if he wanted to.

Michael Jordan's career points per game average is 30.1 ppg, which for those keeping score at home is the highest in league history. Assuming LeBron played an identical amount of games to Michael Jordan (1072) by the time his career concluded, he would need to average 31.3 ppg for the next 834 games of his career. Not unthinkable, but I think to say LeBron would easily pass him is to greatly underrate Michael Jordan as well as underestimate the difficulty of maintaining such a high scoring average year in and year out.

A lot of people seem to think LeBron is going to keep building himself up to a triple double with 40 ppg because he's putting up great numbers at such a young age. Personally, I don't think that takes into consideration how difficult such a feat would be. There have been a lot of tremendous players who have played in the NBA through the years. If it were that easy, it would have been achieved a few times over by now.

I'd expect LeBron to post similar numbers to this year, perhaps with better shooting percentages across the board. Aside from that, he'll probably improve his defense as well as his decision making and other mental aspects of the game, things that won't necessarily show up in the boxscores.

[Matthew]

What was jordans carrer ppg? I know its in the 30's. Lebron can easily pass him up if he wanted to.

If he wants to? If it was that simple, and he could do it on command, he would be the one with a championship now and not wade.

I think alot of people forget (or werent alive) when mj was simply unstoppable. Lebron has an opportunity to challenege mike as the greatest of all time, but so does darko. Lebron has to do some serious winning and play at a high level for many more seasons before he will warrent a comparison.

[Laker Socks]

Lebron needs to improve on the defensive end and become a clutch performer. If he does that, he'll be better than Kobe.

[Matthew]

Lebron isn't a cluthc performer? Tell that to Washington. Lebron needs to win at least 3 rings before he becomes better then Kobe.

[unorthadux]

Lebron needs to win at least 3 rings before he becomes better then Kobe.

I Don't believe that is true because without shaq i dont think kobe would have any rings, maybe 1. Kobe is a great player, in his 9th? (correct me if im wrong) year, but lebron is just going into his 4th year and the numbers, and the roles of the players to each of their respective teams, are relatively parallel. Lebron will be better then kobe, i would assume in the next 2-3 years, but Lebron will not be the next MJ. MJ was a one of a kind talent that makes a head coach touch himself at night, and although Lebron will be a hall of fame player, as will kobe, he will not be Michael. Lebron will have a great career, and im sure the comparisons between him and jordan will never cease, remember kobe was and sometimes still is compared to michael, but lebron will never be what michael was....
thus ends my novel about MJ and Lebron and kobe