Report: Lebron James could dish out 20 assists

 Lebron is getting a lot of love from Dukies, from teammate Shane Battier saying that James is one of the few mentally tough superstars who could have played as a blue devil, to current and longtime Duke head coach, Mike Krzyzewski , claiming that it shouldn't suprise anybody this season if Lebron decides to get his Scott Skiles on. 

 "Don't be surprised with a 20-assist game,"
-Coach K

Not the most analytical observation, but definitely one that can be shockingly unsuprising when considering the year that Lebron might have.  With defenses gearing up to stop Lebron from taking over as an end-to-end slashing machine, we can expect James to have plenty of opportunities to catch rotating defenders off guard with his patented cross-court wrist-flip chest passes.  Also, with his increased confidence in the low block, he will be able to pick off interior defenders who are caught ball-watching to hit cutting front court players for easy buckets.

Lebron's season high in assists per game was in 2009-2010 (his last season in Cleveland).  That year, he averaged 7.9 (per 36 minutes) which is ridiculous considering the slow-down offense Mike Brown ran, but also consider the fact that he was feeding guys like Mo Williams, Anthony Parker, and Daniel Gibson.  At the time, capable and confident shooters, but with Lebron attracting all the attention, they became known around the league (proof: Boobie Gibson snagged Keyshia Cole this year) for catching and hitting open shots.

This year he has the upper echelon of shooters in Mike Miller, James Jones, and elite jump shooters coming-off terrible years so they are bound to improve shooters, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis and also capable if called upon outside threats, Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier.  We'll find out soon enough how much exactly Lebron will exert himself as a distributor while still maintaining to grow himself as that multifaceted low-post threat (rumor is that he's been adding in a jump/baby hook).  Just don't be suprised if Lebron makes his Olympic coach look like a genius and contends as a league leader in dimes. 

via point forward