Sitting on the Big 3 but missing out on the playoffs, after a season that disappointed all supporters, the Lakers clearly needed to make a big move in the offseason. From the current situation, Vogel's dismissal is basically a matter of time, but in addition to changing the coach, the Place where the Lakers need to open the knife is their lineup. Whether the Purple and Gold Army's next step is to compete for the championship, or to tear down and rebuild, break up the Big 3, and trade Westbrook, it is the work that Pelinka must complete.
The Lakers' Big 3 have played a total of 21 games this season, and both Westbrook and Thick Brow have lost to the Suns and have played too few games together after losing to the Suns, which is the most important reason for the Lakers' failure this season. It must be admitted that in addition to Westbrook, James and thick eyebrows have taken turns to be injured, and the number of games in the same game of the 3 giants is too small, which does greatly affect the record of the Lakers, but the problem is that even if the 3 giants can play at the same time, they have not shown the strength to compete for the championship at all.
When the Big 3 play together, the Lakers' winning rate hovers around 50%, similar to the situation of the 8th Clippers in the West. In the case that Leonard has not played a game so far this season and George has been absent for a long time, the performance of the Clippers is very worthy of respect, but who would think that such a remnant Clippers can have the ability to compete for the championship? When the 3 giants are all there, the Lakers, which have a similar record with the Clippers, actually have no hope of competing for the championship.
Of course, some people may say that if the Big 3 play at the same time for a long time, then they will enhance the tacit understanding of cooperation, which can completely make the Lakers' record better. But the question is, can the conflict between Westbrook and James in terms of technical characteristics be solved by increasing the run-in? Compared with the championship season, the situation of the serious decline in COSCO's shooting ability can be solved by increasing the run-in? The Lakers lineup is too old, the front line is seriously short of people, is it solved by increasing the run-in? Obviously, these problems cannot be solved by running-in, which belongs to the "hard injury" of the Lakers.
If you want to solve the "hard injury", sometimes you can only choose the "hard solution", and for the Lakers, the only feasible "hard solution" is to send away Wei Shao.
If you want to compete for the championship, Wei Shao's technical characteristics conflict with Zhan Mei, and at the same time occupy a huge salary space, and he has absolutely no hope of competing for the championship with the Lakers. And if the Lakers choose to tear down the rebuild, then they need young players and draft picks, and there is no reason to keep Wei Shao, but can use his expired big contract to help other teams eat some garbage contracts in exchange for draft picks to win the future.
Of course, considering Westbrook's performance this season, and the Lakers' poor record, the difficulty of sending him away is probably much greater than when they first got him, and the Lakers are likely to post the first-round draft pick. Therefore, whether the offseason can complete this goal, I am afraid it is difficult to say, so many media people have suggested that the Lakers wait until the closing date of next year's transaction, and then send away Wei Shao, which may be better. But the question is, if such a choice is made, it means that the Lakers are basically giving up next season, and James will be willing to accompany such a team in the twilight of his career? If the Lakers are not willing to get the draft pick to send away Wei Shao as soon as possible, then at that time, they may lose more.