On draft day, talk to everyone about a few deals and more unexpected draft results.
1. The Nets' money-saving program
Draft day operation
Send Shamet to the Suns, get Javin Carter, pick no. 29, get center Daron Sharp;
The 27th picked the point guard, Cameron Thomas;
Three second-round picks were made for small forward Kessler Edwards on the 44th, point guard Marcus Zejarowski on the 49th and striker Lei Kuang Gray on the 59th.
Whether it can become a talent aside, the Nets have selected 5 different positions in 5 signs, and a rookie lineup has a prototype, which is quite interesting.
The Nets sent Shamet away, and my first reaction was a bit of a surprise. Shamet is Harris' next spare tire, and holding him in his hand means Harris is tradable, providing flexibility for mid-season operations. Since entering the league, Shamet has been a playoff rotation player, ranking 8th in the Nets' average playtime per game and 7th in total playoffs this year, although still a marginal man, but the 7th and 8th man still shows that he has a playoff rotation significance for the Nets, and Jevin Carter is a candidate that the Suns do not consider in the playoffs.
Carter's improved three-pointer played a fixed-point shooter without problems, and he could provide more backcourt alignment ability than Shamet, but his size also determined that the alignment was limited to the backcourt, which may not be strong for a team like the Nets that overflows the backcourt.
But after careful consideration, I found that the Nets' intention to choose was very clear. Leaving aside the fact that the Nets got the first-round pick, Carter had a one-year more contract than Shamet, allowing the Nets, whose salary exploded, to avoid the trouble of how to renew Shamet next summer. Getting one more draft pick means that the Nets have added a cheap labor force in the next few years, and Sharp is just the big inside line that the Nets need, they originally thought of picking him in the 27th pick, and now the 29th pick has earned.
If you look at the operation of selecting a player in each position of the Nets, their intentions are very clear:
After the renewal of the Big Three, the luxury tax is so high that the double eleven double twelve activities cannot be made up every day, so the Nets need a large number of rookie bonus contracts.
Fingers crossed, big three, Harris, Jordan Jr., Javin Carter, four brothers, 5 rookies, already 12 people, Brown has a high probability of contract extension, Green and Griffin keep one more, the Nets are enough. From the perspective of team management, with multiple maximum salaries and not hurting the team's core rotation, a large number of reserve young players is a very reasonable operation, and the operation of the Nets draft day is no problem.
It's a little strange for the Suns to switch to a shooter with an edge rotation plus a first-round pick, as they don't seem to need Shamet in particular. Shamet competed with the Suns forwards in a wing rotation and basically only used as a spare tire. The Suns backcourt is indeed limited, when Paul, Payne, and Booker are healthy, this will not be reflected, if someone is trussing or one of Paul and Payne leaves the team, the Suns will lack a ball carrier, but Shamet can't do this job, which he is not as good as Carter.
So the Suns' logic was unclear, and their weakest bench center could have been reinforced with a first-round pick, but the Suns sent Sharp to the Nets.
Nets Rating: A
Sun rating: C
2. Rockets concentrate on replenishing talent
The Rockets sent the 2022 Pistons first-round pick and the 2023 Wizards first-round pick to the Thunder, got the No. 16 pick, and selected center Shen Jing;
Jaylen Green was selected for the table pick, Usman Garruba for the 23rd pick and Josh Christopher for the 24th pick.
The selection of Green is already a suspenseful matter, and there is no need to talk about it. The Rockets' wonderful operation is that they exchanged two future first rounds for the Thunder's No. 16 pick and chose Shen Jing.
Is it worth it to swap two future first rounds for a mid-range first round?
The two first-round protections given by the Rockets are as follows:
The Pistons' first round of 2022 is 1-16 pick protection, 2023 is 1-18 pick protection, 2024 is 1-18 pick protection, 2025 is 1-13 pick protection, 2026 is 1-11 pick protection, 2027 is 1-9 pick protection, and then it becomes a second round;
The Wizards' first round of 2023 1-14 pick protection, 2024 1-12 pick protection, 2025 1-10 pick protection, 2026 1-8 pick protection, then two second rounds.
These two first-round high-pick protections are very strict, and there will be no embarrassing plot for the Rockets such as the Thunder's future mention of two titles, so the cost of the Rockets' bet is not particularly large.
Shen Jing has the opportunity to become the biggest lottery in this draft, he is the most bullish player in the Turkish League X, the level of the Turkish league is very high, with the rise of overseas stars in these years, the possibility of non-AMERICAN high-power stars logging into the NBA to cash in on their combat strength is getting higher and higher. The Rockets may be looking forward to blowing Shin Kyung into the next Jokic (unlikely, the style of the ball is still slightly different), and the worst can also work in the direction of Varan and Sa. If Shin Kyung can immediately show immediate combat power, it will accelerate the rocket to get out of the lottery quagmire.
Holding 4 rookies at once, with the rocket's previous lottery, the rocket will enter the rhythm of the youth army next season. Compared with the Thunder next door, the progress of the Rockets' reconstruction is relatively fast and urgent, which is understandable, first, they don't like the lottery area to be bad for too long, and returning to the playoffs to sell tickets is what the boss expects; second, they are not in their hands in the first round of 24 years, and the time to be able to swing is not long, and they must accumulate talent before this.
It is also understandable that the Thunder's choice of draft picks has been postponed, and they have too many first-round picks this year, all of which have been selected, and the team's quota is not enough. The Thunder not only replaced the No. 16 pick with the next two first rounds, but also replaced the No. 34 sign with the No. 36 sign with the No. 32 sign, which is equivalent to 3 missing first rounds this year, even so, they still got 4 young people.
Still, the Thunder's choice was confusing, as they chose Josh Gidey instead of the expected Bucknett or cummingga, who was more theoretically talented, instead chose Josh Gidey. You don't dare to say anything with the general vision, and look at it.
Rocket Score: A
Thunder Rating: B-
3. The Warrior accidentally picked up a leak
Sign No. 7 chose Ku Mingjia
The 14th pick chose Moody's
Originally, the Warriors were one of the most embarrassing teams in the lotto district this year. Although holding two lotto signs, this year's characteristic is that the top 5 rookies are basically determined, and even once there was a situation of six kings competing for supremacy, but no matter how they were arranged, the No. 7 sign has not determined the candidate. The Warriors did not have time to renovate kuminga's rough house, and the 3D Moody's of the No. 7 pick is a loss, and if there is no most suitable answer, it will lead to a lot of rumors that the Warriors trade draft picks.
As a result, the Warriors did not trade the No. 7 pick in the end, which is understandable, since Bill and Lillard do not plan to move now, then the Warriors can not be bored to go to Stud Simmons, and the remaining suspense is the question of whether the draft pick is swinging up or down. But Miles didn't move in the end — why didn't the Thunder change places with the Warriors — and it seemed that there was no other suitable way to operate.
When you're not sure that the answer to your satisfaction is, choose the one with the most talented of the remaining players, and that's always okay with that principle. Therefore, the Warriors' choice of Cu Mingjia is blameless, and in the case of not making a trade, it should be chosen this way. The Warriors are a team that needs immediate combat power, and in the case that the No. 7 pick can't provide immediate combat power, the answer to the No. 14 pick is very important - who would have thought that Moody, who originally made the Warriors tangled, actually fell to the 14th pick, simply not too...
Miles didn't do anything in the draft, but was popping up.
Warriors Rating: A
4. Spurs' confused behavior
The 12th pick selected point guard Primo;
The 41st pick selected striker Joe Wiscamp;
After seeing Bucknett bye all the way, Spurs fans went like this:
After seeing the Hornets take Bucknett with the No. 11 pick, Spurs fans went something like this:
Spurs fans are like this after seeing the Spurs pick Primo go with the No. 12 pick.
Unless Primo has been considered with a second-round pick, Spurs fans may have done their homework in vain — who is Primo? Has this guy ever been in a lotto discussion?
It was a bit of a surprise that the Spurs picked a name that rarely appeared in the middle of the first round with the No. 12 sign. Moreover, this is still a guard, a position where the Spurs are concentrated, and the Spurs did not choose him for the reason of accurately reinforcing the team's gap.
What's so mouth-watering about Primo?
One is young, he is the youngest of this rookie;
The second is that his style of play is a little silky, and from the shooting and action, there is the potential to adapt to the Spurs style.
But it is not worth signing the 12th, or it is debatable. Even if the Spurs are discerning, in the case that everyone is not optimistic about him, you can also trade the draft picks downwards and get some oil and water.
Spurs score: D
5. The Lakers are incomprehensible
The Lakers sent away Kuzma, Pope, Harrell, the No. 22 pick, in exchange for Wei Shao, 24 years, 28 years two second rounds.
Although there were rumors of the deal a few days ago, I was shocked to see the news this morning when I got up - the deal actually happened, and the Lakers also sent away the first round of signings...
Wei Shao played well in the second half of the regular season this year, but to be honest, no matter how commentators praised him when Wei Shao was domineering, everyone knew what was going on with him, under what circumstances he could do it, under what circumstances he couldn't, everyone knew in their hearts - you can give him a high salary, give him the best of the week, the best of the month, let him be in the best team, but when building a championship team, you will not consider Wei Shao.
Wei Shao's positioning of "guaranteeing the lower limit, pit upper limit" is basically a consensus in the private chat of commentators. Most people admit that Westbrook has the ability to get the team to the end of the playoffs in a comfortable environment with a few functional players and play beautiful statistics. But his limitations are too big, the more you go to the playoffs, the more you will be magnified, which you have already seen, for example, this year's playoffs, you can see how the 76ers defend him:
Let's take a look at the circumstances in which Bill played:
Infinity is wrapped around the defense plus infinity is emptied.
If Westbrook can hit the jumper like the two rounds in the picture, then naturally there is nothing to say, he has such a chance, and the opponent will be uncomfortable at night. But isn't that where Wei Shao is unreliable? Shooting 39 percent in the regular season and 32 percent in the playoffs this season, he shot a lot. The main player's mid-range shooting target is not enough for the top teams.
Although between Westbrook and Thick Eyebrows, there is hope of replicating some of the chemistry between him and Adams, as well as the Wizards' three highs, that is, combining Westbrook's ability to carry the ball with the center's close-to-the-basket technique. But this style of play is more of a sadistic dish, really to the playoffs, this trick is not good, the case is not too much:
18 Westbrook and Adams were sanctioned by Gobert;
19 Thunder sanctioned by the Blazers (Blazers starting center Kanter);
The 21 Wizards three highs did not take advantage of the 76ers.
So, as I said before in the market operation preview, the Lakers can only go further in the direction of constipation bureau when they get Wei Shao. The lakers can refer to the case is this year's Bucks, they spent most of the time on the court is the letter + Tucker two drag space points, Holliday playoffs most of the times the three-point line is not online, The big Luo perimeter is also sporadic, and the team finally won the championship by defense and size.
The Lakers' advantage is similar to that of the Bucks, their ability to pose a large five-person group to solve the problem of alignment does have, the front board impact league is top, the defensive discipline is coordinated with the most violent counterattack in the league, and winning in the chaotic battle is also the Lakers' championship season. They can find a way to deal with some teams with poor size, average defensive discipline, and lakers defense.
The problem is that the deeper the playoffs, the harder it is to shake the opponent's defense. Whether it is the 20 Lakers or the 21 Bucks, no matter how much they rely on defense and size, there is a means of maintaining the offensive support that cannot be ignored - the middle distance, the two teams champions the playoffs of the shooting efficiency is not low. The NBA is not a slam dunk master, no one can open and steady catch the front board like Sakuragi Hanamichi, and a position battle must find some way to open the situation in a constipated environment. The Bucks are Middleton doing this full-time, what about the Lakers?
Zhan Meiwei's playoff feel of holding the ball will largely determine the team's ceiling.
So, there is another annoying problem - the two sides of Wei Shao can affect the upper and lower limits of the Lakers:
In the regular season, Wei Shao's energy will give Zhan Mei a break, which is the lower limit he can bring to the team;
In the playoffs, Westbrook himself can digest half of the team's ball-holding shooting opportunities, and it is difficult to control the desire to shoot, and in some cases, opponents have to let him shoot, and it is not appropriate for him not to shoot. On his bad nights, did Vogel have the courage to press a 40 million star on the bench?
This is the punch ceiling problem brought by Wei Shao. Pinching the three Zhan Meiwei together is probably even more difficult than the Zhan MeiWei trio, and Vogel is going to lose his hair.
It's just a matter of looking at the deal from the game level. Judging from the trading chips themselves, the Lakers are also very egg-painful. For the team that wins at the moment, the first round of signing is a reasonable operation, but it also depends on the situation. After the Lakers enter the salary expansion period, the first round of signing as a dividend contract has a very important value, if it is not a very necessary reinforcement to send away the first round, it will make the future financial and personnel structure lack of flexibility. The Lakers signed the No. 22, and the young people in their hands are only left with the little Tucker, where is the future growth point?
The three players sent away by the Lakers are all rotating members. We think Harrell must go, Pop is the team's starting guard, Kuzma is one of the team's rare substitute strikers and young players, and they are also the team's two most important shooters, for a team like the Lakers, it is too hurtful to send the only remaining shooters away.
The Lakers now only have these rotational players left:
James, Thick Brow, Westbrook, Gasol Jr., McKinney (if regularized), will basically leave Caruso, Tucker Jr., hopefully Matthews, and perhaps consider keeping McLemore. By this time, salaries had exploded, cutting off the possibility of signing first and then changing free agents, as well as using the full middle class exception. If the mini middle class retains the god (provided that it can be retained), then the Lakers only have the basic salary reinforcement and Schroeder signing first and then changing the two reinforcement methods, and Schroeder will sign first and then change whether it will happen, how it will happen is not easy to say.
So, in this case, how do the Lakers find a few shooters that can be used?
There is only one case, pelinka's wave of operations can also strengthen the team space, that is, the Lakers have a tacit understanding with many veterans in the market, they are willing to pay the basic salary, including Redick, Batum, Lou Wei, Galloway, Bjelica, Ellington, Moore and so on.
All in all, the Lakers have pinned themselves firmly to a particular type with a deal that has left both the present and the future inflexible. They have to prove that this direction can succeed.
We are not optimistic about Wei Shao today, really not intentional black Wei Shao, it is really Wei Shao and the Lakers are not a frequency band existence, the former is suitable for the playoff marginal team to create a record, the latter to impact the championship, this matter if there is no consensus, it is a very strange thing.
I hope that all the fans who shouted less today are suitable for the Lakers, and even the Lakers who form the Big Three, can be softer in the future when exporting firepower in the warmest conference atmosphere in history. Because the wrong person is not Wei Shao, he has been like this for a long time, and everyone knows that the wrong person is the person who let him come to the Lakers.
Finally, although he is held every day, as a generation of fans, I believe that everyone has a lot of feelings for Wei Shao, and I sincerely hope that he can prove that he is the right answer when everyone is not optimistic.
Lakers rating: D
Wizards Rating: A+