On January 16, Beijing time, the Lakers lost to the Nuggets 96-133 in the NBA regular season, suffering a wave of 3 consecutive losses, and the 37-point difference also created the Lakers' biggest loss point difference this season. After the game, James refused to be interviewed, And Westbrook complained about the team's efforts, and in my opinion, this Lakers must seek to change.
In this game, James played 31 minutes, shot only 9 of 23, contributed 25 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks, and showed frustrated behavior on the court many times; Wei Shao played 26 minutes, shot 7 of 15, contributed 19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, after scoring in 3 consecutive games, Wei Shao also ushered in a small outbreak, but this is still of no help for the Lakers at this stage.
The Lakers made drastic changes to the roster during the offseason, using Kuzma + Pop + Harrell's chips to trade wester from the Wizards. Last season, Westbrook averaged 22.2 points, 11.5 rebounds, 11.7 assists and 1.4 steals per game for the Wizards, almost single-handedly bringing the Wizards into the playoffs. The Lakers' idea is very good: sign a number of high-quality shooters, including Bradley, Anthony, Ellington and Ariza, etc., hoping that Westbrook can play his impact role and help James reduce the pressure, but so far in the season, the Lakers are completely living in the dream.
James adapted to Westbrook: The Lakers began to play the small lineup from the beginning of the season, pushed Davis to the center position too much, resulting in increased injury risks, and now there is no specific comeback schedule, and then began to focus on mini five small, let James serve as a center, did receive certain results, James played a bright performance continuously, leading the Lakers to win some games, but this is not a long-term solution, because James is too tired, at the age of 37, in the 19th season of his career, Challenging roles that he doesn't fit in, he averaged nearly 36.7 minutes per game and ranked fourth in the league.
Wei Shao adapted to the team: In the past 5 games, Wei Shao has delivered 30 assists and only 4 turnovers, but he averaged only 12.2 points per game and shot as low as 28.6%, yes, you did not mistakenly see that Wei Shao no longer chooses to be his true self. In the previous game against the Timberwolves, Wei Shao had a new season high of 9 mistakes in the whole game, although the Lakers won thrillingly, but Wei Shao was under a lot of public pressure after the game, so he said in an interview: "I would rather shoot on the top edge of the rebound than make a mistake", and it turns out that Wei Shao has fulfilled his promise.
In order to let Wei Shao integrate into the team, abandon the center and play a small lineup as much as possible, so that Davis and James are very tired; and Wei Shao in order to reduce mistakes, no longer hold the ball, and can not play their own advantage of breaking through the tearing defense line, and this is the Lakers after getting Wei Shao, the outside world is worried about this team, but now halfway through the season, the Lakers still have not found a suitable solution, and James and Wei Shao are very tired, one body tired, one is tired.
Everyone is a superstar in the league, all are the 75 biggest stars in the history of the NBA, and they are the first choice of previous teams, who should compromise who? Recently, there have been more and more rumors about Wei Shao's transaction, but Wei Shao's 44 million contract is not easy to talk about, so the Lakers still have to think hard and make key decisions. Either as Lakers reporter Jorge Sedano said: let Westbrook accept the substitute role, bring an inside line + three shooters, and maximize his value; or as James' former teammate Frye said: let Westbrook be himself, accept Westbrook's shortcomings, and let James and Davis adapt to Westbrook as much as possible. (Stop making it impossible for everyone to be really yourself)
Although the decision is very difficult, if it cannot be traded, this may be the only way the Lakers can save themselves, and if it continues like this, the locker room may really have to break out of conflict. In addition, I want to explain: Wei Shao's decline is declining with the naked eye, and James's dominance at both ends of the attack and defense is also following the decline, so the Lakers must make a decision, and James and Wei Shao should also be willing to make sacrifices for the team, don't worry about their own status, can win the championship is the greatest stability of the status.