The Lakers lost again, in the same city derby with the Clippers, the Lakers finally brushed the basket and the team regretted losing by 1 point, after the game they had a chance to win the game, but their problems appeared on the defense, at the end of the game, Wei Shao's eye defense was thrown into the empty three-pointer by the opponent on the outside, and then Reggie broke through a simple turn with the ball to come to Wei Shao and Munch, and hit the quasi-kill. Although Thick Brow has averaged 29.5 points per game in the past four games, but his teammates have not been able to do it, the Lakers have lost three of them, and Wei Shao, who has not performed well on the court, has also been sent to the hot search again and again.
So far in the season, Wei Shao has averaged 34.8 minutes per game and has 18.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists, averaging 4.2 turnovers per game, the Lakers have obtained Wei Shao through operation in the offseason, they hope that Wei Shao can share the pressure of James, reduce the burden for James, and also hope that once James encounters an injury, Wei Shao can lead the Lakers to continue to move forward, but it backfires, the Lakers' record so far this season is not ideal, James has missed many games due to injury this season, Wei Shao has not been able to meet the team's expectations, and now the Lakers are 25 wins and 28 losses in the West, and they are getting farther and farther away from the sixth place 。 From now on, it looks like the Lakers' offseason deal is a failure.
The Lakers' operation failed more than this transaction, and many of the decisions made by the Lakers in the past two seasons on personnel adjustments were not ideal or simply wrong. They sent away players who can help the team together, such as the Lakers between Caruso and Tucker, they chose to send Caruso to leave Tucker, and as a result of tucker's performance so far this season, Tucker's performance is a mess, the defense is not good, the offensive end of the nerve knife, and there is not enough ability to lead the rotation lineup; there is the aforementioned deal about Westbrook, what players are the Lakers lacking now? That is the front line rotation, there are only a few veterans in the team's front line, James has missed many games due to injury, and Anthony has also suffered a hamstring strain, which has caused the Lakers to have problems in the rotation of personnel.
Last season they also had a young rotation player on their front line, kyle Kuzma. Last season, Kuzma averaged 12.9 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in the Lakers' lineup, averaging 2 three-pointers per game and shooting 36.1% from three-point range. But the Lakers sent him away.
After leaving the Lakers, Kuzma, like many players who left the Lakers, ushered in a comprehensive promotion. After coming to the Wizards, the team was at the top of the table with an excellent record at the beginning of the season, and although the ranking has now fallen to 11, Kuzma has grown into the core player of the Wizards. So far this season, Kuzma has played all 48 starts, averaging 16.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, shooting 46% from the field, a career high, and has a significant improvement, to know that Kuzma is completely at the same level in the defense and Lakers period faced by the Wizards.
It is worth mentioning that Kuzma's data in the 15 games since 2022 is even more amazing, averaging 22.8 points, 10.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, and even cut a double 20+ data of 27 points and 22 rebounds, in the previous two games do not miss due to injury, Kuzma carried the team's banner, a game of 25 points and 11 rebounds, a game of 24 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks (against Philadelphia, this data against Embiid, and at the key moment of the game to block Embiid) to help the team win the game. It can be said that after leaving the Lakers, Kuzma gradually grew into a good front player.
Kuzma wants to thank Wei Shao, who went to the Lakers before he came to the Wizards and started his new career. Kuzma's current contract is 3 years and 39 million, with the 23-24 season as a player option, and if Kuzma can maintain this performance and go further, then his next high-paying contract is properly secure.