Leaving the Lakers who played for 4 years, Kuzma regained his life in the Wizards this season, not only was able to cut a large double-double with 36 points and 14 rebounds in a single game, but also made a cameo appearance as a rebounding idiot, picking 22 rebounds on the inside, facing the Magic today, Kuzma showed his versatility, handing over a quasi-triple-double of 19 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. It is no exaggeration to say that with the current development of the situation, Kuzma is likely to be selected as an NBA All-Star in the future. A few joys and a few sorrows, compared with the wizards whose records have steadily improved, the Lakers' situation is obviously unfavorable, and Wei Shao, as a substitute for Kuzma, Pop, Schroeder and others, has not played a positive role, resulting in the Lakers' regular season victory remaining at about 50% for a long time, and it has been unable to impact the first echelon of the West.
If the loss to the popular team Grizzlies a few days ago was their own limited strength, then today's loss to the Western Conference's weak team Kings is really not enough. According to statistics, in the Lakers' 116-125 away game against the Kings, Wei Shao's hand is still cold, and he only hit 2 goals in 14 shots, 0 of 5 outside the three-point line, and got 8 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists. It is worth noting that Wei Shao has scored single digits in three consecutive games, and since 2022, Wei Shao has not shot a single three-pointer. Consecutively elected to lose sinners, Wei Shao's mentality has completely collapsed, and the Lakers' three-way trade is inevitable!
In the post-game selection session of many media, Wei Shao became the primary sinner of the Lakers' past two losses. James, who got 34 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists today, talked about Wei Shao's performance in an interview with the media, as the leader of the Lakers locker room, James is more encouraging between words, shouting wei shao not to be discouraged, any athlete will encounter a trough period, and want to get out of the predicament, the only thing Wei Shao can do is to train hard and strive to shoot those damn balls in the future. Lakers head coach Vogel also talked about Wei Shao, in the face of reporters' questions, Vogel admitted that Wei Shao's competitive state is indeed very bad, but the Lakers coaching staff will not sit still, they will do their best to help Wei Shao adjust back to normal state.
Although neither the head coach nor his teammates gave up on Wei Shao, there are various indications that the mentality of Wei Shao and the Lakers management has changed significantly. The first is Wei Shao, in fact, before this, Wei Shao often became the focus of public opinion because of his performance on the court, and many reporters even threw some problems with traps to Wei Shao in order to create traffic and attract attention. In dealing with media interviews, Wei rarely has his own set of playing styles, will respond to provocations with a casual tone, and sometimes divert the other party's attention, such as flipping through his mobile phone in an interview. But today, Wei Shao is different from usual, the facial expression is particularly low, when NBA reporter Dan Woike launched a topic, how to look at his slump, Wei Shao actually said dirty words, said "no need for you to remind me, I am now TMD can not score a ball."
Then there is the Lakers management, for Pelinka and others, the collapse of The Westbrook mentality is already an indisputable fact, the next is how to deal with it, according to NBA reporter James Edwards, the Lakers are seriously considering eating Tobias Harris's garbage contract, which can also be understood as a three-party transaction has been put on the agenda, and Westbrook will most likely be sent away. In this regard, there may be fans who will feel incomprehensible, because in their hearts, the Difficulty of the Lakers trading Wei Shao is beyond imagination. This is true, but that doesn't mean the Lakers don't have a chance. From James Edwards's follow-up report, it is known that the Lakers, Pistons, 76ers and other three teams have completed a trade discussion, and the names of Westbrook, Harris, Simmons and Grant have been mentioned many times.
The preliminary result of the negotiations is that the Lakers use Westbrook + Tucker + Nunn + 1 first round + 2 second rounds to get Simmons + Harris, 76ers get Grant + Westbrook + 2 second rounds, and the Pistons get Tucker + Nunn + 1 first round. The current problem with the three-way deal is whether Grant's star composition meets the expectations of the 76ers and whether a first-round pick can meet the Pistons, rational analysis, both of which are likely to be solved, but all this is premised on the Lakers' willingness to accept Harris's more than 2-year, total garbage contract worth nearly $100 million. Since this contract is also very difficult to deal with compared with Wei Shao, the Lakers also need to carefully consider the feasibility of the three-party transaction to avoid going further and further down the wrong path. Do you think the Lakers can get out of the woods this season? Welcome to leave a comment in the comments section below, thank you for reading and following.