Lebron and Jimmy don't mesh well. This is 08 Lebron so he still isn't a consistent shooter and Jimmy hasn't been able to shoot at all in Miami. They're both slashers that need the ball. Defensively it would work but Lebron wasn't an elite defender yet in the 08 season.
The notion that Lebron wasn't yet an elite defender is misguided. He was at the peak of his athleticism. You can just glance at more advanced metrics to see this is true.
- #6 DBPM
- #9 Defensive Win Shares
- #87 DRtg
And only 2.1 personal fouls per game with that despite playing over 40 minutes a game, and also putting up the 20th best steal rate in the league. He was named to the 1st Team All-Defense in the very next season. If the press wasn't asleep at the wheel, on cruise control handing Kobe one of the last half dozen All-Defense selections he didn't deserve, for example, you probably would have seen Lebron getting one that year.
Additionally, the notion that there was some sort of sea change in his shooting prowess (rather than his 3PT shooting volume) is true, but perhaps exaggerated. Chiefly he improved his midrange shooting. He shot 31.5% from the 3PT line in 2008. His career percentage is just 34.5%. He's won 2x championships with 3PT shooting seasons below 35% including his 2016 upset against the Warriors where Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were his primary co-contributors. Kyrie shot 32.1% from deep that year, and Love shot almost not at all. Yet the Cavs made the #2 most 3PTers in the league that year. This speaks to the more salient truth. You can always round out a team with sharpshooting role players. Easy to find. On the other hand, finding players who can self-create and collapse defenses (like Lebron or Butler) is NOT easy, and it isn't difficult to create offensive schemes to enmesh them.
Too many slashers is a problem when your so-called slashers are really just volume scorers who aren't actually
that great at finishing at the rim, and offer no outside threat whatsoever. Neither Butler nor Lebron are this kind of player. After all, Lebron's FG% was still well above 50% that season (because he was above 70% at the rim). You're thinking of putting together players like D'Aaron Fox with DeMarcus DeRozan. You know, the kind of brilliant shit my Kings would dream up.