LeBron James: If He Moved to the Point, Would LBJ Be as Good as Magic Johnson?
For the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James played DE....Do Everything!
He brought the ball up. He ran the point. He led fast-breaks.
He spotted up for shots beyond the arc. He pulled up for mid-range jumpers.
He took the ball to the hole. He went back-door for alley-oops.
He posted up at the block. He ran pick-and-rolls.
He dished out assists. He defended all five positions (not at once).
He did everything.
When he decided to "take his talents to South Beach," speculation went wild about the role that he would play on the Miami Heat.
With Dwyane Wade already in place and Chris Bosh arriving via free agency, fans and media members alike wondered where LBJ would play. Many thought the answer was the same as the old punchline: anywhere he wants.
One of the possible scenarios for LeBron is still a possibility: move LBJ to the point.
Even as the 2011 Eastern Conference Finals series with the Chicago Bulls unfolds, James' role shifts back and forth between scorer and distributor/facilitator.
The fact that Pat Riley functions as team president of the Miami Heat creates additional fuel for that fire.
Riley was the head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s when 6'9" Hall of Famer Magic Johnson was running the point and winning five NBA championships.
While Riley is not Miami's head coach, all it would take for LeBron to be moved to the point would be for Riley to "say the word" to Eric Spoelstra and it would happen.
If James became a full-time point guard for the Heat, who would be better, LBJ or Magic?
Yes, I know. At this point, this comparison is apples and oranges. While he has occasionally played the role of playmaker, LeBron has not played the position of point guard.
We can consider his present body of work and make some "educated guesses" on what might happen if he began to actually play PG for the Heat.
Let's look at a head-to-head PG comparison between these two superstar players.
Playmaker's Mentality
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Playmaking is just as much a mindset as it is a skill-set.
Magic Johnson's focus was setting up his teammates to score.
He was able and willing to take shots and score, but his first focus was on delivering the basketball to and creating scoring opportunities for other Laker players.
Because of that, Magic is the NBA's all-time leader in assists per game, with a mind-boggling average of 11.2 apg.
For the first seven years of his career, LeBron James played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and was the focal point of their offense.
From his very first NBA game (25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals), James displayed versatility and creativity on the court.
But creating scoring opportunities for him was the team's first priority.
And it's hard to transition from a scorer's mentality to a playmaker's mentality.
You might think that moving to Miami would have helped LeBron in the assists category.
Even though James has a higher talent-level around him now, he equaled his career 7.0 apg average.
Putting better players around him didn't seem to make him a more effective playmaker.
Possession Management
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Point guards obviously have to take care of the ball.
If PGs don't do a good job of managing possessions, then their team is going to struggle to score points.
Magic had an outstanding career assist-to-turnover ratio (2.89) which means that he had nearly three assists for every turnover he committed. (For comparison, this is about the same ratio that Steve Nash has had for his career.)
LeBron's career A/T ratio is good (2.09, having twice as many assists as turnovers), but not exceptional.
For 2010-11, James' A/T ratio dipped a little (1.95) for the regular season.
We don't necessarily know whether or not LeBron's A/T ratio would improve or decline if he actually moved to the point.
It is pretty safe to predict that it would decline at least some with the added ball-handling and play-making responsibilities of playing PG.
Matchup Problems
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Because of his size and length, Magic created matchup problems teams, coaches and players had never had to contend with: guarding a 6'9" point guard.
They could handle 6'3"...6'4"...6'5" but not 6'9"!
Magic consistently used this to his advantage in terms of passing lanes and angles, as well as shooting over and posting up his opponents.
LeBron has the same potential advantage when he plays point guard, especially if the Heat put other players with size and length alongside the Big 3.
He, like Magic, is easily four or five inches taller than most of the guards on the floor.
Shot Selection
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Point guards need to be able to score when shots are available.
If they aren't confident in their shooting, their opponents can drop off of them to help or double-team.
Shot selection for PGs is especially important because it will help them be an effective and efficient floor leader.
But, on the other hand, PGs shouldn't be "high volume/low percentage shooters."
Magic was a moderate volume/high percentage shooter.
He averaged attempting a fairly low 13 shots per game and shot 52 percent from the field for his career. He shot at least 50 percent from the field in nine of his 13 seasons.
(To compare, Derrick Rose pulled the trigger on the average 20 times per game this past season and is launching 23 shots per game this postseason.)
LeBron has shot 48 percent from the field so far for his career. In his first eight NBA seasons, James has shot at least 50 only in these last two years.
He has averaged taking 21 shots per game so far in his career. That number of shots would most likely decrease if James moved to the point, especially if he played the position straight.
But we don't know what would happen to his shooting percentage. As long as his shot selection would stay solid, there's no reason to believe that a move to PG would have an adverse effect on his shooting percentage.
Conclusion
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The possibilities of LeBron James moving full-time to play the point are intriguing.
He has the physical capabilities and tools to pull it off.
He has proven that he can handle the ball effectively and find open teammates in scoring position.
The most challenging part to switching LeBron to become a full-fledged PG would be re-training someone who has thought, responded, and played one way his whole life.
Magic didn't have to go through that type of transition. He always has played the point from school days on.
Elite-level, one-in-a-million players have deeply rooted actions and reactions that become almost second nature.
LeBron's biggest challenge would be changing mindsets (from scorer to playmaker), and I'm not sure he can do it to the degree where he could become as good as Magic was.
His desire to primarily put the ball up and in the hole might be too all-encompassing.
