The Lakers' performance this season has ups and downs, and the US media "Sports Illustrated" believes that the Purple and Gold Army can no longer win the championship only by relying on the existing lineup, and the team can only hope for changes in the external environment or through transactions to achieve a breakthrough.
The Lakers' trend this season is extremely unstable, when they win three games in a row, they will soon be offset by three consecutive losses, the Lakers' current performance is obviously not up to the level of championship competition, which they know very well, this team has the old LeBron James, as well as the top interior Line anthony Davis and the all-round Westbrook.
While the line-up looks good on paper, it doesn't work well, with only James still at the top level, Anthony Davis not finding form since his 2020 title, and injuries that have plagued him. Westbrook is past his peak, and his salary is about twice the team's actual value. Horton Tucker was pinned on the team's hopes, but he was clearly not ready to move up and struggled to find stability on both ends of the board. In addition to these people, the Lakers have a group of veterans with a base salary in the lineup, and they obviously can't help the team turn around the passive situation.
How did the Lakers win the championship with their current roster? Unless the external environment changes, the new crown virus is raging in the NBA, which also bothers the vast majority of teams, in the absence of major generals, teams can only go to the development of the league to recruit people, even the 40-year-old Joe Johnson has achieved re-employment in the NBA.
Currently, the top teams in the East, including the Nets, Bucks and Bulls, are all plagued by the pandemic, and in the West, the Warriors have three main players who will trigger the health and safety agreement. The Lakers also have a number of role players absent, and they previously signed former All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas to ease the offensive pressure in the backcourt.
With so much interest involved, the NBA doesn't intend to put the season off, and they're still steadfast in pushing the season forward. In this state, no one can predict what will happen in the future, if you continue to play in the current way, then in the spring, the NBA is likely to experience a wave of new crown, if the main western rivals are recruited during the playoffs, then the Lakers may get a chance.
From a moral point of view, you can't expect your opponent to be infected, but sometimes external factors are also part of the influence of the game. In 2020, part of the factor for the Lakers to win the championship is the "bubble environment", where the players are united and united, and finally stand on the top podium, while some teams affected by the epidemic, mentality changes and lack of self-discipline are eliminated in advance, which allows the Lakers to avoid one strong opponent after another. The Four teams the Lakers faced in the playoffs at the time had a combined 57.9 percent regular-season win rate, the lowest total for a championship team's opponent in the new century.
Of course, aside from external factors, if the Lakers want to return to the championship race, they can only make internal adjustments, they need to improve the odds of winning the championship through trades, trading Westbrook from Philadelphia to Simmons, or using Tucker, Nunn and future draft picks to package from the Pistons in exchange for Grant, these can greatly alleviate the Lakers' problems, but both Philadelphia and the Pistons want their stars to sell for a good price, and the Lakers do not have an advantage in chips.
How do I change my lineup before the trade deadline? Pelinka faces a conundrum and still needs to give it a go for the championship.
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