Last season, with james + thick eyebrows, two superstars, coupled with targeted reinforcement of the existing lineup, the Lakers were once regarded as the most likely team in the West to win the championship. However, under the repeated injuries of thick eyebrows and James, in the end, the Lakers only achieved the results of "the seventh + first round of the playoffs in the West", which was far from meeting the expectations of the outside world.
Finally, in the context of last season's thick eyebrows being plagued by injuries and James gradually aging, the Lakers management is no longer satisfied with making small repairs to the existing championship-fighting lineup, but directly uses "Kuzma, Pop, Harrell and 21 Year 22" as a trading chip to form a "Zhan Wei Mei" super big three combination...
21-22 season: The Lakers sit on the three superstars, but they still can't play dominant?
After successfully winning Westbrook, sitting on one of the only two "super big three" combinations in the league, it did make the Lakers once become the team that was most likely to rush out of the West in the eyes of the outside world, and it was also the most likely to "hard shoulder" with the Nets big three. However, after the start of the new season, the Lakers, who sit on the luxury big three, have never been able to play their due dominance.
They can't play against championship-fighting teams like the Warriors, Suns, Bulls, and Nets; they can't beat "weak team" teams like the Thunder, Timberwolves, Knicks, and Kings.
In the new season, with the blessing of the Big Three, the Lakers can almost be said to be "a game that should be won is not less lost, and the game that should be lost is not more won"; so far, even with the Big Three, the Lakers only have a record of 24 wins and 26 losses to the ninth place in the West.
So far in the new season, the reason why the Lakers cannot play dominance in the case of sitting on the big three, in addition to the team's overall lineup deformity and Vogel's coaching ability is questioned, the most important thing is that under the combination of "James + Wei Shao + Thick Eyebrows", there is no chemical reaction, nor does it play dominance.
In the case that the Lakers' big three can't play chemistry + the team lineup is deformed, it seems that the Lakers want to complete the self-help in the new season, want to stand on the finals stage, and only one of the big three is left to trade. And if it is to trade the Big Three, Wei Shao will become the first choice for the Lakers management...
1. The "Zhan Mei Combination" has already proven itself, but Wei Shao has not yet proved that he can play a superstar performance in James or Thick Brow. In the 19-20 season, when the lineup was not particularly optimistic, James joined hands with thick eyebrows and played a superstar performance, not only helping the Lakers to play the first record in the West in the regular season, but even defeating the Blazers, Rockets, Nuggets, and Heat in the playoffs to successfully complete the summit...
But so far in the new season, whether it is with thick eyebrows or with James, Wei Shao has not continued to play a superstar personal performance. Coupled with Wei Shao's personal performance in the playoffs relative to "pulling the crotch" in recent years, if it is two of the three in the big three, I believe that the Lakers management will inevitably not choose Wei Shao.
2, high mistakes + weak defense, let the Lakers suffer. So far in the new season, as the Lakers' starting point guard, Westbrook has been able to contribute 7.6 assists + 4.12 turnovers per game, especially in the key moments of the game, there are always inexplicable "butter hands", resulting in the team missing the best opportunity to chase points or open the point difference.
In addition, at the defensive end, Wei Shao often "unconsciously" leaked to defend the opponent, unconsciously running to the basket to compete for rebounds, such an operation also gave the enemy team a lot of opportunities to grab the rebounds in the front court and easily score.
It is precisely because of these two points that Wei Shao has become the most likely star among the Lakers' big three to be traded. But now even though the trading rumors are flying all over the world, Wei Shao has always sat firmly in the starting position of the Lakers, as if the Lakers management has no intention of trading him at all. In fact, the reason why Wei Shao has not been traded is mainly because no team is willing to take over.
After all, Wei Shao still carries a big contract for one and a half seasons, but he can only contribute 18.9 points, 7.8 boards, 7.6 assists, 44.4% shooting rate + 30.5% three-point shooting rate of personal performance; it seems that whoever takes over Wei Shao at this time will be rotten in his hands...
Lakers vs Hornets: James + thick eyebrow rotation, Westbrook blast 34 + 4 + 5
In the recent lakers vs Hornets, as long as the three giants join forces, the Lakers will have a high probability of winning and stabilizing the ranking; the Lakers have directly suspended James, thick eyebrows, and Munch, allowing Wei Shao to return to the state of the past big package...
Although in the first half of the Lakers vs Hornets game, Westbrook is still in the slump of the past - 1 of 3 shots at halftime, only 5 points, 3 boards and 2 assists. Even the Lakers were led by Westbrook's slump, trailing the Hornets by 16 points at halftime at 49-65, and in the absence of James and thick eyebrows, and Westbrook's sluggish state, the Lakers seemed to have no hope of winning.
However, in the second half, Wei Shao suddenly recovered, shooting 5 of 10 in the third quarter, bombing 14 points and 3 assists; 10 shots in the fourth quarter, bombing 16 points and 1 board; the whole field bombarded 35 points, 4 boards and 5 assists, 52.2% shooting rate of performance, forcing the Hornets who had been in the lead in the first half to the final moment, and even if it were not for the last three-point shot, Wei Shao might have been "blown" to the sky by the outside world.
Behind Wei Shao's 35 points, the Lakers may be playing a big game
Westbrook has averaged 18.9 points, 7.8 boards, 7.6 assists and 44.4% shooting percentage so far this season; although it is not too bad, but considering his actual performance on both ends of the field + more than $40 million in large contracts, the teams in the league that are hoping for the championship do not want him at all.
Therefore, if the Lakers want to trade Wei Shao, it is most likely that only the weak team teams in the league can "take over", because the purpose of the league's "weak brigade" team to get Wei Shao is definitely not to compete for the championship.
Instead, he wanted to play a thunder-era average triple-double performance to attract more fans and reports, thereby increasing the team's market value. However, today's data performance of Westbrook's 18.9 points, 7.8 boards and 7.6 assists has also fundamentally attracted the "weak brigade" team to take the initiative to take over.
Therefore, the best way to "promote" Wei Shao at present is to let Wei Shao play a superstar personal performance when James is absent, and completely attribute his "crotch pulling" performance this season to the repulsion with James' playing style. After all, when Westbrook and Beal joined forces last season, when they had a lot of ball rights and tactical status, they were still able to play an average of 22.2 points, 11.5 boards, 11.7 assists, and 43.9% shooting per season.
"Do your best, obey the destiny" - now after Wei Shao's wild bombardment of 35 points, 4 boards and 5 assists, the next thing is to see if there is a "big injustice" on the hook. If not, the Lakers can only expect Wei Shao to "open up" in time with the deepening of the season, otherwise this year the Lakers will not say that they will win the championship, and the playoffs may not be able to advance steadily...