In the 20-21 season, I thought I could create a dynasty with the "Zhan Mei Combination", but I did not expect that this season, the Lakers only got the result of "the seventh round of the regular season in the West + the first round of the playoffs".
So in the 21-year offseason, the Lakers management introduced Wei Shao and forcibly formed a "Zhan Weimei" super big three combination in an attempt to impact the championship again. Especially on the basis of the Big Three, the Lakers also introduced Howard, Anthony, Rondo and other powerful players, and the luxurious paper lineup even let the Lakers win the championship, once surpassing the Nets Big Three.
After all, from the paper lineup alone, the Lakers' lineup in the new season is not only comparable to the Nets' Big Three, but also much stronger than the 19-20 season. And 20 years of playoffs with "James + thick eyebrows" can win the championship, and now coupled with last season's "season triple-double" Wei Shao, the Lakers can be worse than where?
So in this context, the outside world "unified" believes that the lower limit of the Lakers regular season in the new season - the top three in the West, the lower limit of the playoffs - the Western Conference Finals.
Can't beat the expected record, and the deal becomes the only straw for the Lakers?
However, the Lakers did not play the expected record in the new season, they first had a wave of six consecutive losses in the preseason; then in the regular season against the Suns and Warriors, two potential opponents in the West, they could not play their own advantages at all, thus ushering in a wave of "eight consecutive losses".
I thought the start was unfavorable, but because the "Lakers Big Three + new rotation lineup" was not in place, with the deepening of the season, the Lakers will be able to play a dominant force and return to the top three in the West. However, until the middle of the season, the Lakers not only could not play strong teams like the Nets, Bucks, and Suns, but even the Timberwolves, Kings, and Thunder, which were perennial weak teams in the West, failed to play.
It is also in the case that anyone can force five or five, so far in the new season, the Lakers have only achieved a record of 26 wins and 31 losses under the leadership of the big three. And what is even more worrying is that the Lakers are still ranked after the Timberwolves and Clippers, and have fallen out of the top eight in the West.
In the Lakers can not play the expected record, fell out of the West's top eight + playoffs are approaching, in fact, there is not much room and time left for them to adjust. The only way to get them back into the title race quickly at the moment seems to be trading.
In the new season, Wei Shao averaged 18.3 points, 7.8 boards and 7.6 assists per game, 43.7% shooting rate + 30.1% three-point shooting rate, coupled with the inefficiency of the defensive end on the court, not only made him the target of public criticism, he also became the Lakers' record did not meet expectations of the "back pot man".
After all, long before Wei Shao joined the Lakers, James + Thick Eyebrow has already proved itself, can play a chemical reaction, and can also play a superstar reaction at the same time. So if the transaction is strengthened, Wei Shao will naturally become the lakers' first choice...
There is neither a deal nor a reinforcement, and the Lakers may have already confessed their fate
However, before the end of the trading day, Harden joined Philadelphia, Simmons joined the Nets, Porzingis joined the Wizards, Harrell joined the Hornets, Schroeder joined the Rockets and other transactions occurred one after another. While the trading market was buzzing, the Lakers management didn't do anything — neither trading nor reinforcing.
In fact, behind the Lakers management's lack of any operation before the end of the trading day, it may have been a sign that they have given up on their fate, they have given up this season, and even given up the next few seasons, focusing on the team's reconstruction in the next few years.
1. Wei Shao and Wall did not complete the exchange, indicating that the Lakers have given up the championship. Before the end of this year's trading day, the Most Promising Deal for the Lakers is for Westbrook and Wall to complete the swap once again, but the deal was not finally reached. Although switching back to Wall may not necessarily bring the Lakers back to life, this at least indicates that the team management has not completely given up this season.
Today's Lakers are like the Rockets management in the 20-year offseason, knowing that it is impossible to leave the Westbrook team to win the championship, in order to prove that they have not given up winning the championship and are willing to strengthen the championship, they can only use Westbrook to exchange it for Wall...
2, the trading market does not act, buy out the market is more difficult to make a difference. If there is no trade in Wei Shao, it means that the Lakers have given up this season, and there may be many denials. After all, after the trading market, the Lakers still have the opportunity to strengthen the team lineup in the buyout market.
However, to know that today's free agents (who failed to mix a contract in the NBA), or players who were bought out later, it is actually difficult to help the Lakers complete the qualitative change. Especially in the case that the Lakers' big three have occupied most of the team's salary space, even if there is a good choice in the buyout market, the Lakers will not be able to come up with the contract they deserve.
3, James's physical fitness is not as good as a year, "peak Zhan" may not come back. Before James joined the Lakers, he had just played his peak performance - using his super personal ability to lead the Cavaliers to the Finals without being favored at all.
However, after joining the Lakers, due to injury + age, James can still maintain a huge star data of about 25 +8+7. But it is undeniable that James' influence on both ends of the court is getting weaker and weaker than at its peak.
After retiring from the playoffs last season, James did not play the personal performance of "Thanos" as expected by the outside world, leading the Lakers to beat the Suns to advance. At that time, in the case of Schroeder, Kuzma and other poor performances, because of the impact of excessive consumption + injury, James also could not play the expected performance.
In recent games such as the Warriors vs Lakers, James played nearly 20 minutes in the first half, shooting 7-of-12 and scoring 18 points; after the lack of physical strength in the second half, he shot 2-of-15 and scored only 8 points. And in the final quarter of the decisive moment, James missed the basket, the empty three-point miss, and even on the three free throws that may equalize the score, the first penalty was lost...
James's performance in the past two years has all indicated that his physical fitness is not as good as a year. However, under the premise that James's performance is not as good as a year, the Lakers management did not effectively strengthen the team before the end of the trade day, nor did it successfully dump The Contract of Westbrook, which not only indicates that the Lakers management has accepted its fate and strategically chose to give up this season, but even indicates that they have set their sights on rebuilding.
After all, next season, as long as Wei Shao is not stupid, it is impossible to jump out of the big contract with $47.06 million left in the summer. As long as the Lakers are delayed for another year, as James's physical fitness continues to decline, the dominance of the "Zhan Mei Combination" will decline sharply; even around James, it will not be able to build a championship team, and the thick eyebrows with two years of contract left may be the original chips for the Lakers to rebuild...