The 21-22 NBA playoff semifinals are in full swing, isn't that what it is? The Suns beat the Lone Rangers 121-114 to make the opening, and the Heat beat the 76ers 106-92, and the first place in the East and West finally showed their strength. However, the 76ers lost for a reason, mainly because of the injury absence of the star Embiid, which led to the team's offense and defense dropping a notch, and Harden was unable to sustain himself. The Lone Ranger's defeat is the result of the team's too many rebounds and the inability of the interior strength to match the Suns.
Playoff teams are busy hitting division titles and finals, but what about teams that are already out or miss out of the playoffs? That's the best way to prepare for the offseason free market opening, to find the right players for the team next season so they can achieve their goals and dreams again. The Lakers were the champions favourites at the beginning of the season, and the irrational structure of the team's lineup led to the failure to qualify for the playoffs, which was an unacceptable result for fans. After all, it's so luxurious and the stars are shining, you shouldn't play like this, and you have to make the playoffs at worst.
The dismal outcome of not being able to win the championship will inevitably lead to the team management adjusting the current lineup, otherwise the Lakers still cannot go further. As the first small forward in the history of the NBA, the 37-year-old James is still at the end of the peak, the Lakers will inevitably seize the tail of this peak to impact the championship, the combination of James and Davis has been proven to be able to win the championship, the team lacks only high-quality role players, able to score and defend the right players, just like the old Caruso, Pope and others.
As soon as the Lakers' offseason goal becomes very clear, that is, to find those high-quality 3D championship puzzles and clean up some of the unbalanced players in the current team. Bazemore, once a premium 3D player in the league, played in 67 games for the Warriors in the 2020-21 season, averaging 19.9 minutes per game, 7.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1 steal, shooting 44.9% from the field and 40.8% from three-point range. During this time, he was reused by the Warriors for his excellent defense of James, and then the Warriors offered him a multi-year contract, but he turned it down.
How does Bazemore think about it? He believes that the Lakers have a better chance of winning the championship, and the Lakers management promised him playing time and team roles, and finally Bazemore accepted the Lakers' basic salary and joined the Lakers with a basic salary of $2.4 million for 1 year. Now that the contract is over, TMZ reporters asked Bazemore about his offseason plans, and he said publicly in an interview: "I want to go back to the Lakers!" There's no better option than being a Lakers player! Last season I saw Kobe Bryant numbers on the wall every day when I was training, which was the biggest encouragement for me! ”
Apparently, Bazemore became the first player among the Lakers' contract expired to publicly state that he stayed with the team, and it seems that he really likes Los Angeles and the Lakers. In the past, he rejected the Warriors in order to follow Emperor Zhan, and seeing the Warriors' current performance, I don't know if he will regret it, but there is no chance for him to return to Golden State again. So how did he perform with the Lakers? He averaged 3.4 points, 1.7 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.6 steals per game in the regular season, shooting just 32.4 percent from the field, 36.2 percent from three-point range and 76.5 percent from the free throw line.
Now openly express loyalty, but the Lakers are not a charity, Bazemore has been unable to provide the team to win the championship needs of stable three-point and high-quality defense, and there is no way to become James's side of the "knife guard", the Lakers will most likely not provide him with a new contract. After all, the NBA is a purely commercial interest organization, and it is impossible to lead the team to win the championship by feelings alone, so Bazemore may have reached a career trough.