After a losing season, the Lakers chose to bet on Wei Shao, creating a super big three with Wei Shao + James + thick eyebrows, and successively introduced double-digit new signings around the big three.
The luxurious lineup list once made the outside world look forward to this new Lakers, and as a result, since the beginning of the game, the Lakers have only achieved a record of 21 wins and 21 losses, and have always been a team with a winning rate hovering around 50%.
During the period, Wei Shao has been outside the system, and he has frequently ruined the games that the Lakers could have won at key moments, and coach Vogel can be described as helpless against Wei Shao, and it is not used, nor is it used.
Wei Shao himself seems to be gradually losing confidence, because since the beginning of the game, he has been adjusting according to the requirements of the Lakers coaching staff.
His ball possession was drastically reduced, and the average number of turnovers per game did drop, but the overall offensive influence also disappeared.
In response to such a situation, the US media "Lakeshowlife" also listed three major reasons, believing that Westbrook was the worst deal in the history of the Lakers.
Reason one: The Players traded the Lakers to go are all good
In order to trade Westbrook, the Lakers sent away Kuzma, Pope and Harrell in one go, and these three players have performed very well so far this season.
After experiencing the ups and downs of the season, Kuzma has been a hit in the last 10 games, scoring more than 20 in eight games, with only one scoring less than 15 points, and a single 36-point performance.
In addition, his control over rebounding has improved dramatically, averaging a career-high 8.7 rebounds per game and 22 rebounds against the Magic.
Pop's performance is still remarkable, or the solid 3D wing player, he played this role in the Lakers for a long time before being traded, and shot 40% of the three-point shooting rate.
More importantly, when the Lakers needed to reduce the space several times, Pope chose to cooperate with the team to reduce his salary, and as a result, the Lakers chose to send him away in order to get Wei Shao.
Although Harrell is not reused in the Lakers, considering that the Lakers have been playing small lineups this season, his role is obviously much greater than Jordan Jr. and Howard Jr.
Reason two: Westbrook is too expensive and not suitable for the Lakers
Since the beginning of the game, the Lakers have been trying to help Westbrook integrate into the team, not only equipped with a large number of shooters, James and Thick Brow brother had to play more in the No. 5 position, and Howard was directly abandoned.
Even so, it is still impossible to hide the shortcomings of Wei Shao's lack of projection, low personal offensive efficiency, and excessive number of mistakes.
This, combined with his salary of $44 million this season and $47 million next season, has led to the Lakers having to give up Caruso, whose contract is only $9 million per year.
To make matters worse, Westbrook's contract has a year and a half left, and it doesn't expire at the end of the season.
This means that the Lakers simply can't find a suitable home and exchange Wei Shao for valuable chips.
The Lakers can only waste two years with Wei Shao, considering that James is 37 years old, wasting two years is too cruel for both the Lakers and James.
Reason three: The Lakers didn't have to take risks
Although the Lakers failed last season, the reason for the failure is mainly injury problems, as long as Zhan Mei can stay healthy, then the Lakers have a good chance to win the championship.
Even if the Lakers have to complete the reinforcement, they can choose players such as DeRozan and Hield who are less expensive and have a more suitable style of play, so that the team can also leave Role Players such as Caruso or even Pop.
As a result, the Lakers chose the worst of many paths, betting on Westbrook, a giant who was completely unsuitable for the team system.