In the offseason, Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers were completely torn, and if there was no miracle, Simmons would not be wearing a 76ers shirt, and he has been watching from the sidelines so far this season. Even so, Simmons has no shortage of suitors, so the 76ers management is not in a hurry, because with almost two months left before the final deadline of the season, the 76ers can patiently listen to the offers of each team and finally choose the best chip option.
As it stands, seven teams, including the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers, have a strong interest in Simmons. The asking price for the 76ers is at least one All-Star player or multiple first-round draft picks, and in the view of the US media, considering the lineup fit and the high asking price of the other side, teams like the Lakers and Knicks should withdraw immediately, rather than continue to waste time on Simmons.
As the 2016 winner, Simmons' talent is certainly unquestionable. Although missing a full year due to injury, Simmons made a bloody comeback in the 17-18 season and won the league's best rookie award as a "repeat student", and Simmons has been selected as an All-Star consecutively. Although he has not grown much on the offensive end, even if the three-point line is empty, he is reluctant to shoot, and even the free throws seem very uncertain, but it has to be said that Simmons's talent is really too good. Even with offense, passing and defensive ability in the three-second zone, simmons averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists last season, which is why many teams still want to gamble on Simmons.
But the Lakers obviously can't come up with the chips that the other side wants, in order to get Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, the Lakers have overdrawn all the draft picks they can use. From the perspective of existing players, Anthony Davis and LeBron James are non-selling, naturally needless to say; most of the remaining players have contracts that are too small, and some simply take the basic salary, which is not enough to be a head. In this case, the best chip the Lakers can come up with is Westbrook plus Taren Horton Tucker, and I am afraid that it has not satisfied the other party. On the other hand, in fact, Simmons is not suitable for the Lakers, he needs to hold the ball in his hand for a long time, and there is no threat at all, such players can try if they are free to join at a low price. But considering that Simmons is carrying a big contract, if you want to replace him, you also need to bleed heavily, it is really too much to lose.
For the current Lakers, the management needs to focus more on these three aspects, the first is the center position. Judging from the list, the lakers' standard interior players are only Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard and Jordan Jr., which are in the tactical arrangement of the team, coupled with the decline in jordan's state is very serious, so most of the time the Lakers can use two big players. Obviously, this will not be a long-term solution, before the deadline, the Lakers need to find 1-2 technical flow five positions, not necessarily have to have a strong basket to eat pie or defensive ability, if they are good at projection and have a certain strategy, but can make the team's tactics more abundant.
The second point is that the Lakers lack a real stadium commander, Russell Westbrook is more of a one-man offense, Kendrick Nunn belongs to the defensive sappers, and the organizational ability of both is relatively average. Originally, the Lakers still had Rondo, but as they grew older, Rondo's current state declined seriously, and from time to time he would be hit by injuries. Although the Lakers let LeBron James play point guard in the 19-20 season, it also received good results, James became the league assist king for the first time in his career, and the Lakers also regained the championship. But James is going to spend his 37th birthday in two weeks, and it's unrealistic to expect him to still grasp the organization and score points and completely carry the team on his shoulders as he did in the past.
Finally, the Lakers need to add more players with autonomous offensive ability, and now in addition to the big three LeBron James, Russell Weisbrooke and Anthony Davis, only Cameron Anthony and Malik Munch can attack with the ball, not to mention that some of them have entered the twilight of their careers, and the stability of Munch is also very problematic. Other players can only be used as an endpoint, driven by the Big Three, and may be able to keep the lower limit, but in the bayonet playoffs, if the Lakers' play style is still so monotonous, I am afraid that they will still be out of the first two rounds in the West. So instead of blindly pursuing those stars who seem to be big names but not suitable for themselves, Lakers should also learn to be pragmatic, after all, only what suits them is the best.