After insisting on trading Westbrook and building the Big Three as desired, the Lakers experienced an even more failed season, and the team finally ended the season with no chance of play-offs.
Two consecutive seasons of failures have also put the Lakers at the crossroads of team adjustments, especially with James's contract only one year left, and a large number of trade rumors have been circulated in the team.
Among them, the famous Amick revealed that James will reconsider the future after the end of the current contract, and will not complete a two-year, $97.1 million early renewal with the Lakers.
As the rumors have been fermenting and show no signs of dissipating, James' agency, Klutch Sports, has also spoken out through a report by Eric Pincus, a reporter for the Open Stand, that discussions about James's future have not yet begun.
Even if it is a disguised completion of the rumors, but also to the Lakers to eat a reassurance pill, James staying behind the Lakers is indeed a high probability of what happened, the reason comes from two aspects.
On the one hand, James has publicly stated more than once that his family likes Los Angeles very much, and on the other hand, he stays in Los Angeles to facilitate James to manage his business empire.
Therefore, the US media "nbaanalysis" also supported the Lakers, can continue to strengthen around James, through the two-deal plan to pursue the Pacers' Brogdon, 4 for 1 change for the whole, 3 for 2 overdraft first round.
Trading Scenario 1
The Lakers get: Brogdon;
The Pacers get: Horton Tucker + Nunn + 2023 second-round pick (Bulls) + 2024 second-round pick (from wizards or Grizzlies) plus a partially balanced salary addition.
At the first moment after the end of the season, Brogdon openly expressed his loyalty to the team, bluntly saying that he regarded the Pacers as his home and wanted to stay with the team.
But considering the Pacers are fully rebuilt this season and have received Halliburton, the future core, from the Kings through a deal with Sam, it means that this summer the team is very likely to trade Brogdon in the same position.
In terms of ability, Brogdon, who can attack and defend, and at the same time has the ability to space, is undoubtedly the most suitable type of player for James.
And for the Lakers, the deal is perfect, because Horton Tucker and Nunn are not worth much to the team, and the value of the two second rounds is limited.
For the Pacers, however, whether the team will consider the deal is entirely up to how the team measures the future value of the player, Horton Tucker, who more than once proved that he can complete a 40-point performance in a single game when Horton Tucker gets enough ball possession.
Even so, judging by the performance of this season, the big winner of this deal is still the Lakers, the team has successfully completed the change swap, and the Pacers need to face greater risks.
Transaction Scenario 2
The Lakers get: Brogdon + Hield;
Pacers get: Westbrook + 2027 first round + 2029 first round.
Compared with the previous plan, this transaction plan is obviously more in line with the reinforcement needs of the two teams, and the Lakers not only introduced Brogdon and Hield, two high-quality instant combat forces that meet james's ability.
It also cleared out Wei Shao, who was carrying a large contract, and since Wei Shao's contract was as high as $47 million, few teams in the league were willing to take him.
But the Pacers are one of the few teams likely to be willing to get Westbrook because the team is in the early stages of reconstruction.
Westbrook's expiring contract facilitates the Pacers to accelerate the pace of reconstruction, freeing up huge salary space in 2023 for keeping young players, as well as player introduction in the free market.
Therefore, it is not difficult to see from the two transaction plans that the US media are considered from the perspective of the Lakers, and both plans are very much in line with the Lakers' reinforcement plan.
Of course, the Pacers can indeed get some chips in line with the team's reconstruction in the two transactions, but the specific details of the transaction are still worth discussing, and the overall beneficiary is the Lakers.