As the regular season enters the final stage, the positioning of the league's teams is gradually clear, the reconstruction team has begun to let go of its hands and feet, showing a certain degree of immediate combat strength, and the core of the playoff-level team has scored high points in a row to do drills for the playoffs.
Among them, there are inevitably some teams that deviate from the plan, and the Lakers are undoubtedly the most representative one, and the Lakers have performed badly this season after betting on the super big three in the offseason.
If it were not for the West's too many bad teams this season, the Lakers may even fall out of the playoff ranks, even if the future thick eyebrow brother gets rid of injuries, the team through the playoffs to enter the playoffs, it is difficult to beat the Suns in the first round.
For the Lakers in the trough, the US media "nbaanalysis" also took precautions, recruited the Lakers in advance, and sent the Lakers 3 major transaction plans to solve the dilemma in the lineup, so as to ensure that the team can continue to compete for the championship next season.
Among them, the Westbrook trade plan 2 for 1 is expected to return to the old owner Rockets, and the Lakers are hopeful to rebuild the 4 giants through this support, and once again launch an impact on the championship.
Deal one: The Lakers sent Westbrook + Horton Tucker and got Wall + Gordon from the Rockets.
Since it is the US media to give the Lakers support, the plan is naturally biased towards the Lakers, and the same is true of this transaction, and the Lakers are the obvious beneficiaries.
Because before the trade deadline, the Lakers had discussed a deal with the Rockets about the swap between Westbrook and Wall, and the Rockets hoped to get a first-round swap in return through the trade.
This means that on the basis of the original, the Lakers have exchanged Tucker for Gordon, considering Tucker's poor performance this season, and Gordon's super efficiency, the Lakers obviously need to add a chip of first-round picks or so to possibly impress the Rockets to complete a similar deal.
Considering that Wall himself is also carrying a large contract, and there are no small injury hazards, while lacking a stable projection, if the first round of signing is asked, the deal is difficult to meet the Lakers' requirements.
Therefore, the two teams need to negotiate to find a certain balance, the Lakers pay a relatively small price compared to the first round of signing, then this deal is completely worth the team's bet.
Replacing Wei Shao with a more stable organizational ability of Wall solved the problem of Wei Shao's negative role, and more importantly, the team got Gordon, a super six player, and his organizational ability and outside three points will undoubtedly bring a lot of help to the Lakers.
Trade option two: The Lakers send Westbrook and get Fournier + Kemba Walker + Burks from the Knicks.
Compared to deal one, this deal is obviously more reasonable and profitable for both teams.
The first is the Knicks, which have been reduced to a fish belly this season, and the team's introduction of Fournier and Walker on a big contract not only failed to solve the problem, but also caused the team to fall into a huge predicament.
Therefore, bet on Wei Shao, who has the ability to lead the team to the first round, is fully in line with the team's short-term goals, and with only one year left on Westbrook's contract, the Knicks can make room in advance to carry out the next round of superstar introduction in the free market, and also take care of the team's future.
For the Lakers, the deal adds depth to the team, after all, Westbrook is currently a side effect, Walker and Fournier are good instant combat forces, can provide basic rotation and projection.
Burks is also a good role player, and even if the follow-up trio does not perform well, the overall processing difficulty is much less difficult than Thatway's.
The only problem is that Fournier's big contract is multi-year, and the lack of defensive ability that the Lakers need could cause long-term trouble for the team.
Deal three: The Lakers send Tucker + Nunn + 2027 first round to get Grant from the Pistons
The deal was also based on information about the deal deadline, when the Lakers had made the same offer to the Pistons, which was rejected.
Therefore, this is still an idealized deal plan, and if the Lakers want to win Grant, they still need to take more chips.
If the Lakers can really successfully complete two of the three transactions, clear out Westbrook and Tucker, and return to Wall and Grant, then the Lakers will re-create a super big four lineup of James + Thick Brow Brother + Wall + Grant, and continue to attack the championship.
Of course, the premise is that the Lakers management is really willing to overdraft the future chips as much as possible, after all, the current team management and the core Zhan Mei are not happy.
At the same time, the team is clear that it will not pay too much luxury tax, which may affect Pelinka's enthusiasm in the trading market.
But combined with the performance of this season, there are not many options left for the Lakers management, either continue to focus on Zhan Mei All in, or break up Zhan Mei to start a new round of championship lineup building, if you continue to choose between the two, it will only waste the team's championship opportunities and the peak period of the players.