With the last 16 hours left until the trade deadline, the two most eye-catching teams, the Nets and the Lakers, remained on hold. The two regular season MVPs, Harden and Westbrook, became the highlights of the deal deadline, and the swap between the former and Simmons is still inconclusive, but Harden is still the NBA's sweet potato. However, Westbrook is the lowest value player in the league, and even if the Lakers overdraft the future, they cannot be replaced by the players they like.
The Lakers are in the most difficult situation since 2013, this giant team seems to be strong, in fact, there is no hope of winning the championship, nor any hope of rebuilding. Sitting on the league's most luxurious forward combination - James and Davis, but repeatedly lost in the regular season, this scene also caused the dissatisfaction of Lakers fans at home and abroad, fainting Pelinka became the object of fan criticism, seeing that the Lakers are about to spend the trade deadline, the fans' scolding is also rising. Today, the relevant sources revealed a piece of news: unless James agrees to trade Westbrook, the Lakers will not get Wall from the Rockets trade. Prior to the Westbrook deal, Lakers management also sought James's approval.
Obviously, this news is the news released by the Lakers management, who have clearly put the responsibility on James, which is no longer strange in the big team. The current Lakers are like the New York Knicks in previous years, the same big team, the same faint and incompetent team management, the team's condition is just as bad. Releasing this kind of news in advance shows that the Lakers management has been helpless to deal with the current situation of the Lakers, and the Lakers will most likely spend the last 16 hours calmly. The trade deadline is the Lakers' last chance to reinforce, and if the Lakers continue to maintain such a team lineup, then it will mean that the Lakers have basically given up this season. And if there is no accident, the Lakers will once again be pushed to the cusp of public opinion, which is also the reason why the Lakers threw the pot in advance at this time and let James serve as the back pot man.
Throughout His career, there have been countless rumors about James interfering in management work, and it is no surprise that James is the protagonist of this kind of news, and most people are willing to believe in its authenticity. But this time James can be regarded as a big wrong, and the deal with Westbrook is not dominated by James. Offseason, James and Davis proposed to the Lakers to trade deRozan, and there were also relevant news reports at the time, James and DeRozan had dinner twice in a row, DeRozan once thought that he would join the Lakers by signing first and then changing, but the faint lakers management took a fancy to the more famous triple-double King Westbrook, and finally forced a trade with Westbrook despite the opinions of James and Davis. James forwarded the relevant tweets as soon as the Lakers made the deal, which is an operation to cater to management and does not mean that James is in charge of the deal.
That being said, the lakers' problems aren't really caused by Westbrook alone. It is true that Westbrook's defensive habits and offensive limitations do limit the Lakers' play, but the aging of the Lakers' overall lineup is the root of the Lakers' problems. Westbrook was absent today's game against the Trail Blazers, and James and Davis played together, which was the first time this season, but the Lakers' performance did not improve. You know, the Blazers, who have just completed two big deals, are seriously injured, and their strength can be said to be the bottom of the league, but the Lakers did not show any dominance, but instead were hit by the opponent at the beginning of the third quarter with a wave of 14-4 small climax. Obviously, the Lakers' problems cannot be solved by banning Westbrook, and this Lakers is two notches behind the championship-winning lineup two years ago.
Today's Lakers, to improve the quality of outside defense must sacrifice offensive space, and now James, although the basket finishing efficiency is as high as 71%, but his breakthrough success rate is already heavily dependent on the team's space. Therefore, the current Lakers can not do both offensive and defensive, even with Davis, their defensive data is still difficult to say. So, trading Westbrook is only the first step in the Lakers' self-help, and it may be the last step, if after the trade, the Lakers' problems are not solved, then the Lakers have lost the option of trading, because except for James and Davis, the value of other players' trades is not worth mentioning at all.
The Lakers and nets, the two teams with the biggest champions in the offseason, didn't think they would be tough brothers in the middle of the season. What choices can these two teams make in the next 16 hours?