On January 3, Beijing time, in an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Lakers narrowly defeated the Timberwolves 108-103 and won 2 consecutive wins, although the Lakers did not play easily in this game, the process was also a little ugly, but at this critical stage, a victory is definitely more meaningful than a loss. It can be seen that with the return of players such as coach Vogel and Ariza, the current Lakers lineup is gradually in order, the playing style is becoming more and more clear, and the chemistry is getting better and better.
Lakers star LeBron James is also deeply touched by this, talking about the team's current 9-man rotation lineup is very different from the beginning of the season, James said: "Recently, we were able to have the same rotation lineup, and we can accumulate the same time on the court with the same group of players, which will establish a chemical reaction, and the establishment of these things is something you can't get through simulated environments, unless you let it happen in reality." So, I think that helps our team perform. ”
As James said, a neat lineup and stable rotation are helpful for the team to quickly build chemistry and find the best way to play, although the thick eyebrows have not yet returned, but James is not worried about this at all, he said: "To be honest, only time can give the answer. AD is an easy player to add in and adapt to, so I don't worry too much about how we'll play when AD comes back. You put AD on the court, AD is in the top five or top ten players in the league, so we're going to be a better team right away. ”
The good news is that the Lakers have gradually groped out the rotation lineup they want when they are still halfway through the season, and the current 10-man rotation consisting of James, Davis, Westbrook, Bradley, Anthony, Munch, Johnson, Tucker, Reeves, and Ariza may be the Lakers' best and most wanted lineup now. But at the same time, it also means that most of the Lakers' reinforcements in the offseason have failed.
In the offseason, the Lakers made a big change of lineup and signed a large number of players who have basically been out of the court so far this season, leaving only Nunn still recovering from injuries. But look at the current rotation of the Lakers, like Howard, Jordan Jr., Bazemore, Ellington, Rondo these 5 people are basically hidden in the snow, Rondo is ready to be traded.
Not only that, the Lakers recently signed Thomas Jr. and Darren Collison on a 10-day contract, the former has left the Lakers, the latter has not been given the opportunity to play for 2 consecutive games, and it is basically certain that he will not be left. Therefore, on the whole, the Lakers have at least 7 reinforcement operations can be said to be quite bad, it is no wonder that many people joke that the Lakers can win the championship in 2020, may only be because Ofinka's operation error.
In retrospect, since James joined the Lakers in the 2018-2019 season, the Lakers' lineup formation has been very problematic for at least 3 seasons:
In the 2018-2019 season, the Lakers also found Rondo, Stephenson and other organizers in the case of having James and The Ball Brother, but did not introduce shooters well, resulting in the Lakers' outside line not projecting at all that season, james was also forced to become the Lakers' top scorer from that season. In the 2020-2021 season, the Lakers demolished the championship-winning lineup and brought in players such as Schroeder and Harrell, and it turned out that these operations made the team weaker. Then this season, the Lakers' lineup can still be said to be quite bad.
3 signings in 4 years is bad, which does make the Lakers' quality lineup in 2019 look more like a "mistake" by management, which is not the excellent level that Pelinka should have. Think about it, but Van Pelinka's vision is better, these 7 signings can have 1 or 2 signings is good enough, the Lakers may not be so struggling this season.