The Los Angeles Lakers, which completed the formation of the Big Three this summer, are one of the most anticipated new lineup teams for fans before the start of the season, but compared to the Bulls, who also formed a new lineup, the two teams can be described as one in the sky and one underground. The Bulls, who also make up the Big Three, have reached the top of the East with a wave of eight consecutive wins after the latest round of games, chasing the league's First Warriors. However, after a wave of six consecutive losses, the Purple and Gold Army welcomed back the suspended Rivers and Ariza, and successfully hunted for Stanley Johnson with a ten-day short contract, and the Lakers seemed to be on the road to success once again. James has played at the MVP level in the last month' game, Westbrook has also recovered slightly, and the cooperation between the two has become more and more exciting. The Lakers completed their first trade of the season in early January when they sent Rondo to the Cavaliers to create a roster slot. Just when everyone thought that the vacancy was reserved for Stanley Johnson, who had played well in the near future, the emergence of a piece of news cast another shadow on the Lakers' prospects for this season and even the next few years.
According to well-known NBA journalist Jovan Buha, the Los Angeles Lakers have not yet made a final decision on Stanley Johnson, whose contract is about to expire, and Bradley, who is facing an unsecured contract transfer. In other words, the Lakers are not 100 percent sure to retain these two important rotation players who have played well. The reason for such a strange situation is actually a side of the complex situation of the Lakers' high-level power struggle. It is reported that coach Vogel very much hopes that the team will retain Stanley Johnson and Bradley, and the reason why the team did not sign these two players immediately with fully guaranteed contracts is because the Lakers executives led by the Lambis and Pelinka do not want to pay extra luxury taxes. With Nunn nearing his comeback, Bradley's playing time will be reduced a lot. After the return of Anthony Davis, Stanley Johnson's rotation position will also be unstable. For the Lakers' top brass, the two players are not as "indispensable" as Vogel puts it. In today's situation where the league's base salary players have become sought-after goods, Bradley and Stanley obviously will not wait for the Lakers to call, and they may be "cut off" by other teams that propose better treatment at any time.
In fact, this is not the first time that the Rambis and Pelinka have "demonized". Back in the middle of last season, the Lakers signed Damian Jones, a center who played for the Kings this season, on a ten-day contract. Unexpectedly, the young interior lineman who is about to fade out of the league has played an unexpectedly good performance with the Lakers. When everyone thought the Lakers would give him a guarantee contract that lasted at least until the end of the season to retain him, the Lakers let the inside lineman go in vain. According to later reports in the Los Angeles media, the Lakers made such a decision because some people in the team's top management believe that signing Drummond in the absence of James and Davis is a guarantee for the Lakers box office. Obviously, after winning the championship in the 19-20 season, the Lakers management shifted its focus from team lineup building to topic creation, team attention and box office.
It is reported that the reason why the Lakers made a trade with Westbrook at the beginning of this season, which was not optimistic from the beginning, was also influenced by the Rambis and Pelinka, for reasons similar to the "box office theory" mentioned above. In addition to westbrook can bring more media attention and box office to the team, the Lakers executives are also very dissatisfied with many of the team's "Rich Paul-James" players. Some of the Lakers' top brass believe James' influence on the team is too great, and they want to cut the superstar's influence. Using James's influence to build a lineup and sending away James's cronies to break up the championship lineup after winning the championship is not the first time that James's team has occurred. Before joining the Lakers in 2017, James suffered similar treatment with the Cavaliers. After 17 seasons, the Lakers switched to the Lakers, and at the end of this season, James's contract with the Lakers is only one year left, whether he will leave the Lakers because of this, who can say for sure?