As the NBA free agency continues to open, teams are still actively seeking reinforcements. Today, there is news that Kevin Durant wants to join Philadelphia and join James Harden again, and the two have frequently attended events, travel, etc. in recent days, which inevitably makes people wonder whether Durant will really join Philadelphia in the end; The Grizzlies let Anderson go this summer as their biggest blunder; In addition, for the renewal of LeBron James, the Lakers also have no clue, they do not have the capital to let James reach a contract extension with them.
Philadelphia ran out of chips and the deal ran aground
According to reports between the two, Durant is willing to join Philadelphia and continue to play with James Harden in the new season, but in terms of actual operation, durant wants to join Philadelphia is still very difficult. If the deal were to happen, Philadelphia would need to hitch at least 2-3 first-round picks, but philadelphia doesn't currently have a single first-round pick to trade.
According to the regulations, a team can trade up to the team's first-round picks for the next 7 years, while not trade first-round picks for two consecutive years, while Philadelphia has signed the Nets in the first round of 23 years and the Thunder in the first round of 25 years. In addition, Philadelphia also gave the Nets a first-round pick in harden's deal, which is likely to be 27 years or 28 years. But no matter what year it is, under the rule that "a team can't trade for the first round for two consecutive years", Philadelphia currently has no first-round picks that can be traded in the seven years from 2023 to 2029. This led to the Durant deal being stranded again.
The Grizzlies misstepped letting Anderson go
Last season, the Grizzlies achieved very good results, ranking second in the West with a 56-26 record in the regular season, and colliding with the Warriors in the first round of the playoffs in the second round, causing the Warriors a lot of trouble, if it were not for Morant's injury and inability to participate, the Warriors would probably face more difficult problems in that series. The Grizzlies haven't changed much this summer, and the most surprising thing is that they didn't renew Kyle Anderson and let him join the Timberwolves.
Experts believe that the Grizzlies' release of Anderson this summer was their biggest mistake and their biggest loss. The Grizzlies have proven last season that they have enough depth but must keep it, and keeping Anderson is very important for them. During his four years with the Grizzlies, Anderson proved his ability to score, grab rebounds, defend, and be a very qualified substitute. Experts said that this is a big loss for the Grizzlies, and the after-effects of losing Anderson will slowly reveal themselves in the new season.
The Zhan Mei combination is still optimistic
Although the Lakers played a bad season last season and missed the playoffs, the outside world still has great expectations for the combination of James + Davis. Davis only played 40 games last season due to injuries, which is one of the reasons why the Lakers lost, and the healthy James and Davis duo are the most threatening duo in the NBA.
Recently, NBA expert Collerman said: "James is old, Davis is suffering from injuries, which is why they failed last season, but despite this, people are still optimistic about them." If Davis can play 62, 72 or even 82 games, james does the same, the last time they did, they beat the team in the league and managed to win the championship. "It is also true that in the season when the Lakers won the championship in 2020, Davis and James remained healthy, and the two dominated the entire arena, and if the two of them can still stay healthy at the same time in the 2022-23 season, then the Lakers will become a force to be reckoned with.