Having a superstar like James, but can only miss the playoffs, can only say that the operation of the Lakers is too disappointing, after winning the championship in 2020, the strength of the team is deteriorating, but also the assets accumulated in the previous years, a little squandered. By the offseason, the Lakers definitely want to adjust, but rummaging through their pockets is cleaner than their faces.
Wei Shao's contract must be a smash in the hand, because his annual salary is too high, other teams just want to change, but also to send out several main forces, is it in order to clear Wei Shao's contract, the Lakers will send out the first round of 2027? The future is already overdrawn. And the best way is actually to trade thick eyebrows.
First of all, the trade value of thick eyebrows is very high, and when he is healthy, he is in the league's top ten or even top five superstars, both offensive and defensive, and a playoff killer. But the disadvantage of thick eyebrows is also obvious, that is, injuries are too frequent, coming to the Lakers for 3 years, and 2 seasons are missed half of the time. If you can't play, even if you are strong, it will not help. Therefore, the US media FW also suggested that the Lakers cut into zero and make a 1-for-5 deal with the Raptors: the Lakers can play five small lineups, and the Raptors will reproduce the 19-year championship?
The potential plan is: the Lakers send thick eyebrows, get Anunoby, Trent, Achuva, 2024 + 2026 first-round picks
In terms of salary, Anunoby is 17.36 million, Trent is 17.28 million, Achuva is 2.84 million, a total of 37.48 million, and the annual salary of the thick eyebrow next season is 37.98 million, so it is completely equal.
The Lakers want to play a small-ball lineup, and they intentionally arranged for James to play the fifth position in the middle of this season, which speeds up the offense and has a more offensive effect. But the disadvantage is that the defense is getting worse and worse, in addition to the thick eyebrows can not play, the Lakers themselves are not high defensive configuration, especially in the front, basically rely on old Zhan and Anthony. In this plan, all you get are forward players.
Among them, Trent is the forward guard swing, and Anunoby and Achuva are more than 2 meters tall and can swing in the third and fourth positions. At the same time, all 3 have good offensive and defensive capabilities, Anunoby regular season 17 + 5 + 2, 2.4 three-pointers, 1.5 steals, defensive efficiency is also medium. Trent 18+2+2, 3 three-pointers and 1.7 steals, defensively good among defenders. Achuva is on the inside, 9+6+1 stats, but the defensive efficiency is the 71st in the league, can play as a center in the small-ball lineup. And Achuva is the second year of the rookie contract, with a solid rookie dividend.
Get these 3 players, plus Wei Shao and Old Zhan, the Lakers version of the death of the five small moments came out, in addition to Wei Shao, the other 4 people have a stable three-point ability, holding the ball is also a lot. Of course, the Lakers also need to introduce excellent interior players to deal with different opponents. In addition, these 3 players are 23-24 years old, can become a long-term main force, plus 2 first-round signings, James retired Westbrook contract expires, the Lakers will rebuild faster.
The Raptors won the championship in 2019 by gambling heavily, exchanging DeRozan for the right to use the small card for one year. In fact, the current Raptors configuration is also very good, the championship core lineup of Siakam and VanVleet are still at their peak, their forward configuration is very high, but also selected a super rookie like Barnes, so now there is actually another superstar to lead the team forward.
In the Raptors, the thick eyebrow regular season can recuperate, referring to the small card that did not play back-to-back games to do physical load management, and then the playoffs were dominated by thick eyebrows. So now the Raptors can completely repeat the 2019 championship winning model and gamble.