Wei Shao is not gone! According to Marc Stein, the Lakers insisted to the outside world that they would rather keep Westbrook until next season than pay extra assets to send Westbrook to facilitate the deal.
At the end of the season, Westbrook's 5-year, $206 million contract with a final year, next season's salary of $47.1 million, player options. In theory, Westbrook could jump out of the contract to become a free agent, but everyone knows that Westbrook will execute the contract. Although Wei Shao also does not like to stay in the Lakers, Wei Shao also understands that with his performance this season, once he jumps out of the contract, it is almost impossible to get a contract with an annual salary of 20 million. For professional players, playing is first and foremost for money. That's $47.1 million, and Wei Shao has no reason to give up.
Due to Wei Shao's sluggish performance this season and his contract is too large, the Lakers need to take the draft pick if they want to send Wei Shao away. The Rockets have spoken that their offer to Westbrook is valid for a long time, as long as the Lakers are willing to take the first round of signing, they are willing to take over Westbrook's contract and then trade Wall to the Lakers. The problem is that Wall has not played for more than a year, and his contract is also very large, what is the use of the Lakers taking less for Wall? Although the Lakers have made a lot of confusing transactions over the years, they are not confused in this matter.
Since it is difficult to trade Wei Shao, the Lakers simply do not trade. Anyway, Wei Shao's contract is only the last year, as long as he stays up for another 1 year, the Lakers will be liberated. At the same time, the Lakers also have illusions, they believe that the reason why Westbrook has performed so poorly this season is that Vogel does not understand it. As long as you change a coach, you can get Westbrook back to the top. The Lakers have locked in a new manager, who is the Bucks' chief assistant coach Hamm this season. But can Ham really get Westbrook back to the top? For this question, I believe that everyone has the answer in their hearts.
The Lakers are reluctant to take the draft pick to send Westbrook away, which is not a good thing for James. The Lakers stayed up for a year and waited for The Westbrook contract to expire, but James did. James is 37 years old, the years are not spared, he has reached the end of his career, and there is little left at the peak. Head coach is the rookie Hamm who is head coach for the first time, teammates are Westbrook who has proven incompatible this season, the team lineup is aging, and there is no system of defense. If James continues to stay in the Lakers, next season will not talk about impacting the championship, and whether he can enter the playoffs is a problem.
The only thing that could make James a little happier might be the Lakers' plan to offer Little Warcraft Bamba. Bamba's contract with the Magic expired and he became a restricted free agent. Magic drew the top pick in the lotto draw, and this year's top picks are all inside, with inside lineman Smith locking in the top spot almost ahead of time. Bamba is reluctant to stay with the Magic and compete with Smith, and he plans to play on a different team. According to US media reports, the Lakers plan to use Horton Tucker to quote Bamba, although the performance in the Magic is average, but Bamba is only 24 years old, there is still a lot of room for improvement. The Lakers got O'Neill and Howard from the Magic, both tasted the sweetness, and now they want to repeat the trick.
If the Lakers get Bamba, their strength will increase, but they are still far from the championship. If James doesn't want to waste time on the Lakers, leaving the team will be a good choice. This offseason, James qualified to extend his contract with the Lakers for 2 years and $97.1 million. The Lakers are willing to offer James such a contract extension, but James does not intend to sign it. It's clear that James has already started to prepare for his departure. The Cavaliers and nets could become James' next home. The Cavaliers are James' hometown team, and there are a lot of talented young players out there. The Nets have Durant and Irving, and if James joins the Nets, the NBA will have a big finale again. The NBA is surging undercurrents.