After the Lakers showdown, fans finally know why they didn't make any moves on the trade market. First of all, the team will not pay the luxury tax, which shows that after determining the core lineup of James, Thick Brow and Westbrook, there will be no stars to join, and the Big Three can only be role players around; second, the Lakers will not trade draft picks, which also shows that Tucker can basically stay on the team, without the 2027 and 2029 first-round draft picks, he has no transaction value at all. In fact, it is understandable that the Lakers made such a decision. With the current lineup, it is more difficult for the Lakers to win the championship, there is no need to bear a huge luxury tax, and making money is ultimately a priority. Secondly, James is old, the thick eyebrow brother has not shown the potential to succeed, injuries will always be a hurdle that he cannot cross, and the Lakers must ensure that they have the resources to rebuild. It is worth mentioning that although The Magician has resigned as the Lakers' president of operations, Aunt Jenny still consults him when it comes to important decisions.
The second piece of news is good news about George, who has been injured for 2 months, and according to the famous Haynes, he will start two weeks of recovery training on February 24, which also means that his comeback has entered the countdown phase and he will return in early March. George has averaged 24.7 points, 7 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game this season, and he is the Clippers' top scorer. More importantly, the backseason competition will enter the most intense stage, and the odds of George's comeback team's promotion will skyrocket, which is undoubtedly good news for the Clippers. It is worth mentioning that Leonard, another core of the Clippers, does not have a specific comeback time, and he has not played a single game this season. In addition, Powell, who just got from the Blazers, also suffered an injury in the game, although he did not need surgery, but the hope of a comeback this season is also very slim. Still, the Clippers are a resilient team that still has the strength to impact the playoffs.
Without a double core, role players such as Reggie, Batum and Zubac have all played well, and it is gratifying that the 33-year-old veteran Batum has also exceeded the 10,000-point mark in his career. However, Batum is not satisfied with this, saying that some teams in the league have exceeded 35,000 points, which is obviously James, he can't believe how to do it. It is not easy for an NBA player to score more than 10,000 points, and it is not more than 400 people in history to achieve this achievement, he is just too modest. It is worth mentioning that Batum is a rookie in the class of 2008, has been playing in the league for 14 seasons, he and Westbrook are the same year, and the latter has scored 22882 points, ranking 33rd in history. Of course, scoring and winning cannot be equated, as the alphabet brother said, you must focus on winning, and you can't care too much about scoring.