Take what you need? 2 for 3 trading plan, the Hornets bet on The Two Eagles with one stone, and the Lakers won two big tough generals

With the team completely unable to compete in the playoffs, the Lakers management has begun to adjust the lineup, according to the famous Shams report, the Lakers plan to lay off veteran Ariza, freeing up a place for signing another young player.

In addition, Stein also wrote a long article detailing the prospects of Westbrook in the Lakers, which is nothing more than two paths to choose from, one is a buyout, and the other is a deal.

The buyout is about spreading Westbrook's contract next season equally for the next three seasons, each occupying $16.5 million, similar to the previous contract to clean up Rohr Dun.

The benefits of the buyout are also very obvious, the Lakers' total salary will be directly reduced to below the luxury tax line, the team can use the full middle class of tens of millions to keep Munch, or it can sign with a $4 million biennial exception.

The downside is that the Lakers can't get back direct chips, and they also need to have "dead money" in the next few years, knowing that Luo Erdeng's "dead money" did not end until this season.

The other is a deal, but the problem is that Westbrook's big contract has led to his few potential buyers, and Stein points out that neither rocket nor Westbrook has any intention of reuniting, and unless Wall can't find a home, the rockets are likely to restart negotiations.

But during the analysis, Stein pointed out another very interesting piece of news, that is, Jordan has always been very fond of Westbrook, and the problem is that the Hornets have a hard time eating Westbrook's big contract.

To this end, the Los Angeles local media "Lakeshowlife" also decisively supported the Hornets, can get Westbrook through a 3-for-2 deal, and the two teams are expected to achieve a win-win situation in which each team takes what it needs.

Potential trading scenarios

Hornets get: Westbrook + 2027 first-round pick (lotto protection);

The Lakers got: Plumlee + Hayward + 2022 second-round pick (from the Raptors).

For the Lakers, this is of course a dream deal, and it can even be said to save the Lakers from water and fire to meet the needs of the team to continue to compete for the championship next season.

Hayward is a forward player who can average nearly 15+5+4 per game, with a 39.1% three-point shooting rate, although defense is not a strong point, but it will definitely not be a short board to meet the Lakers' championship needs.

This is especially true of Plumlee, a traditional interior player with good confrontation and rebounding protection that could be one of the lakers' starting interior lines after Howard leaves.

In addition to the improvement in immediate combat power, Hayward's contract salary next season is $30 million and Plumlee is $9 million, compared to Westbrook's contract, which can free up about $7.5 million for the Lakers.

This is undoubtedly a temptation for the budget-conscious Lakers management, and the second-round pick is 2022, and the Lakers can immediately use this second-round pick to select a player like Caruso and Rivers.

Therefore, for the Lakers, this deal is perfect for the team, although the price of the first round of picks, but from the perspective of long-term team building, dealing with Wei Shao is naturally a long pain rather than a short pain.

For the Hornets, the deal seems to be a hundred harms and no benefits, after all, the team already has three goals and Rozier, and there is no need for Westbrook, the third point guard.

But from the perspective of boss Jordan, combined with the current role positioning of the Hornets and the team operation strategy of the Hornets in the past period of time, trading Wei Shao is a choice of killing two birds with one stone.

Because many times, the starting point of fans and team owners is completely different, fans hope that the team can win the championship as soon as possible, even if it cannot win the championship, it should also increase the immediate combat strength, but the boss is a long-term ball-holding team, while improving the team's ability, maximizing profits is the key.

Take the Hornets signing Hayward, from the perspective of fans, signing Hayward is another bad operation for the Hornets.

But in fact, Jordan is in the "atmosphere", Hayward is one of the few "white elite" players in the league, bringing market benefits to the Hornets far more than Jordan paid a large $120 million contract.

The purpose of trading Wei Shao is similar, as a small-ball city team with little fame, the Hornets have not had a superstar-level player for a long time, even if Wei Shao's current strength is no longer a superstar, but his fame is the top ten level of active duty.

More importantly, Wei Shao has proved in the Wizards and Rockets that when he has enough ball rights, he is still the "triple-double king", and the playing style is extremely infectious and ornamental, which will undoubtedly increase the income of Wasp tickets.

In addition, the Hornets themselves are a playoff fringe team, and there is no way to compete for the championship in the next 1-2 seasons, so the negative effect of introducing Westbrook is not large.

Especially considering that Westbrook's contract has only one year left, after the contract expires, it can make a huge salary space for the Hornets in advance to leave players like Bridges, which is naturally a choice of killing two birds with one stone.