Secretly signing 5 people in a row, all of them are picking up bargains! The strongest offensive trio in the NBA, it’s time to disband

The NBA quietly came to a close this season, the Thunder won the championship, and Alexander achieved a single-season MVP + scoring champion + best team + Western Conference Final MVP + championship + FMVP All-Slam glory. In fact, this season, with the rise of young teams such as the Thunder, Rockets and Pacers, the new generation has taken over the top, and legendary stars James, Durant, Curry and others have gradually become a past trend. In particular, Durant was forcibly sent away by the Suns and exchanged for Jaylen Green + Brooks + No. 10 picks + 5 second rounds from the Rockets, which was too cheap. The draft conference naturally became a carnival for the weak team. The Mavericks won the No. 1 pick Flag and the Spurs won the No. 1 pick Harper, which may all determine the direction of the team in the next 10 years, and Chinese player Yang Hansen was also won by the Trail Blazers at the 16th pick.

Looking forward to the new season, these young teams naturally have higher expectations, but what about those old giant teams? Taking the Lakers as an example, this season's regular season record is third in the Western Conference, and he lost to the Timberwolves 1-4 in the first round of the playoffs and was eliminated. The team faces many difficulties this summer. First, what kind of contract should James choose? He can break out of the player option worth 52.6 million next season and sign a contract with the Lakers with a maximum of $176 million; secondly, Reeves' team has officially rejected the four-year, 89.2 million maximum salary renewal offered by the Lakers, striving to get a larger contract next summer. In the end, the Lakers still had no center, and Doncic watched. So what did the Lakers do in the draft?

The Lakers originally had only one second round 55th pick in the draft (the Hawks were the Hawks in the first round), but they traded with the Suns and Timberwolves in the draft, jumped twice in a row, and finally selected Tierro in the No. 36 draw, with the template being Vanderbilt. The original favorite was center Carl Cobrenner, but was "accidentally" intercepted by the Hornets. In the words of US media, the Hornets don't care about using a second round pick to "retaliate" against the Lakers before returning Ma Wei, and after the Hornets sent Ma Wei to the Suns, they also need a center. After the draft, the Lakers management "killed crazy": signing power forward Karuma + point guard Matthew Leonis + North Carolina defender Davis + NCAA scoring champion Dixon were all out of the draft, including Thiero, all of them were bargaining.

The Lakers' current lineup, Hayes and Ryan both have expired contracts, Kolok has expired two-way contracts, and Jamison has one year left in the two-way contract. In other words, the team has not had a center! Pelinka's original words are: We won't rest until we find the right center! But whether it is Clarkston or Kessler, the Lakers like, their value is much higher than that of Ma Wei. In the words of Los Angeles media, the Lakers management is essentially resistant to using the next two first-round picks to strengthen the center, otherwise they would not have actively returned the goods. Even Kennett and Hachimura Shizuki seem to have become non-sale products in the eyes of the Lakers management. Then the Lakers can't even have a decent center next season, right?

can only use Reeves! Let's look at a set of data. Since the All-Star Weekend, the Lakers' Big Three, Cic, averaged 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists per game, James averaged 24.6 points, 8 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game, Reeves averaged 22.6 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game. The three players contributed a total of more than 95 points per game (including assists). This data is already the strongest offensive trio this season, but in the playoffs, James and Doncic are very stable, and Reeves fell to 16 points per game. The key is that the Lakers cannot match the Timberwolves from height to confrontation, or even overall shooting. He exchanged Doncic but did not equip Doncic with a center, and initiated it as a tactical strategy. The Lakers' failure this season is inevitable.

But what about the future? In James' original words, I have to prepare for the championship in the offseason, and I don't want to enter the new season without being prepared. In addition to James' player options of $52.6 million next season, Doncic has 46 million, and there are many middle-class players in the Lakers: Hachimura 18.26 million + Finney Smith 15.38 million + Reeves 13.94 million + Vanderbilt 11.57 million + Vincent 11.5 million + Cleber 11.0 million. Except for Reeves, it is an absolutely high-quality asset, Finney Smith and Hachimura are standard assets, and the remaining three are all premium assets in the trading market. If you want to send it away, you need to pay some chips. If you want to compete for the championship, you will have at least two rotations in the center position, and at least one blue-collar worker with the ability to shoot and open up space.

The Lakers' horoscopes are not yet a single one! The best ending is that James jumps out of the player option and chooses to cut salary and renew contracts to help the Lakers relieve salary pressure. At the same time, he sent Reeves away for inside players such as Kessler or Clarkston. But most importantly, the Lakers urgently need to solve the expiration contract of Vincent + Claiber and the team's final team building problem. Keep Knecket as a treasure, but is the goal of winning the championship suitable for rookies to grow? Is it reasonable to keep the first round pick but not strengthen the obvious shortcomings? If the Lakers management wants to be both good and strong, it will be useless and waste Doncic's peak in his career. James has no hope of winning the championship in his last career.