Lakers free market outlook: Da Luo, Brown, Gordon, who should choose the full middle class?

Free market will open at 6 a.m. Beijing time on 7.1, before that, let's analyze the Lakers' options.

Today, the Lakers officially announced that they chose not to execute the contracts of Malik Beasley and Mohamed Bamba, freeing up a full mid-range (12.4 million) to pursue free agency.

(There may have been some problems with the way I calculated space in yesterday's outlook article, not figuring out the order of bird possession and team options, and it turns out that the Lakers can get the full middle class by giving up Beasley and Bamba)

Of course, we've said that the Lakers still have the possibility of signing Beasley and Bamba again for a lower price, but that's not the point anymore — for now, it's about how the Lakers are going to use the full mid-range contracts they've created.

(Dropping Beasley and Bamba contracts means the Lakers essentially forgo the option of signing a trade, so it's time to focus on free agency.)

Let's take a look at the three free agents that are currently rumored by the Lakers:

1. Brooke Lopez

2. Bruce Brown

3. Eric Gordon

Let's analyze them one by one.

Brooke Lopez

From my perspective, the elder Lopez is probably the most needed and helpful of all the players mentioned above.

This is done in two ways.

On the one hand, Anthony Davis' injury concerns have been the "sword of Damocles" hanging over the Lakers' heads in the past few years, and the Lakers need to help him "reduce the burden" as much as possible in the regular season so that he can get through the regular season healthier.

The Lakers, on the other hand, need to find someone in the playoffs who can help Davis against Jokic.

And Brooke Lopez meets all the requirements of the Lakers.

The Lakers want to reduce the burden of thick eyebrows in two ways: one way is to reduce the frequency of thick eyebrows entering the interior for body collisions, such as playing power forward; The other way is more direct, which is to reduce the playing time of thick eyebrows.

Given Davis' current decline in projection and flexibility, the former method requires the center who partners Davis in the twin towers to have three-point long-range shooting ability (so that the team's space is not too bad); The latter requires the center to be able to stand alone on the field, so that Davis can sit on the field with peace of mind.

As we can see, these descriptions above are simply tailor-made for Big Lopez.

Big Lopez is second in DPOY this season, and with a millimeter gap to 3J, his frame-guarding ability can be said to be "prestigious", surpassing 98% of players in the league last season (averaging 2.5 blocks per game) and reducing opponents by 13% shooting percentage within 6 feet.

His three-point production and shooting percentage are among the best among centers, while he is solid in cover, efficient in finishing down, and versatile in his means. He averaged 15.9 points per game in the regular season and 19.0 points per game in the playoffs.

The only question is how the Lakers will get him. And he is also the lowest possible score for the Lakers of all target players.

Let's first look at the salary of the Bucks, it is reported that Middleton will renew the contract with the Bucks for 140 million in 4 years, that is, the average salary is 35 million, because it is not clear whether it is increasing or decreasing, we will first calculate according to 35 million - then the Bucks' current total salary is about 149 million, and the local tyrant line this season is 172 million, which means that the Bucks can use the full middle class.

This may be the worst news for the Lakers - because the Lakers can only provide Da Luo with the full middle class, and for the same price, Da Luo does not need to leave the Bucks, where he is comfortable.

Moreover, even the Bucks may not be able to keep Da Luo with the middle class - the market has long been rumored that Da Luo is one of the Rockets' number one target, and the Rockets have about 67 million salary space this summer, which is enough for them to win Van Jordan and Dillon while offering Da Luo a contract of more than 20 million.

That's a number the Lakers can't match.

Bruce Brown

Bruce Brown is another target rumored to be targeted by the Lakers, and as the Nuggets' championship hero, he played the role of a key sixth man, averaging 26.5 minutes per game, being very active in counterattacking, attacking the interior, defending, and also reaching a career-high three-point production (second in career shooting percentage).

There's no doubt that Brown is an important figure for the Nuggets.

He's somewhat similar to the guard version of Aaron Gordon, physically strong, defensively tough, with excellent cutting awareness and finishing ability that barely belongs to the position — but at the same time, they all lack the ability to attack autonomously in a large sample and some of the skills that a player in the position normally should possess (for Brown, such as blocking, pie-making, organization, ball shooting).

He and Gordon are both "special function" players to a certain extent, and by Jokic's side, they just complement each other - Jokic does not need his teammates to make cakes for him, but his ability to make cakes for his teammates is unparalleled in the world; Jokic can frequently stand high and does not need defenders to open up space for him, but can open up space for teammates who cut in; Jokic's near-limitless ability to digest the ball also completely masks Brown's lack of organization and autonomous offensive ability.

As a result, all of Brown's strengths were maximized, while most of his shortcomings were masked.

Is Bruce Brown good? Of course good.

He defends well (a rare DFPM positive player in the guard, and about 20% of the defenders), has excellent defensive elasticity in the guard, can be defended from Devin Booker to Durant, from Reeves, Russell to LeBron, Hachimura;

His ability to impact the interior is strong, whether it is a breakthrough or an open cut, he is very threatening, and his finishing ability under the basket is the top among guards (more than 87% of players in the same position in the league);

He has also shot above the passing line in his three-point shooting in the last two seasons (when he can hit threes, he goes from being a "good" player to a "pretty good" player);

He's a good player, and I'm sure he'll be a contributor wherever he goes — but for the Lakers, they're not as good for Bruce Brown as the Nuggets.

The Lakers need to note that as long as this team remains centered on James, they will not be a team with good space - in the case of average space, it is dangerous to add a guard with an unstable projection - the Lakers also have a Vanderbilt, and the four players of Zhan, Mei, Van and Brown cannot be present together.

The Lakers' inability to provide Brown with the wide space he has in the Nets and Nuggets will have a certain impact on Brown's breakthrough and cutting value - and the Lakers actually have a certain need for guards to develop offensive ability, and from this point of view, Bruce Brown's 64% assist rate may not be entirely good for the Lakers.

On the other hand, in what "LeBron" does best, the Lakers already have another player responsible for cutting in and scoring and completing the task of converting offense — and this person is much more productive and efficient than Brown — his name is LeBron James.

But even so, Brown's game will have a lot of value:

For example, in the transition after LeBron leaves the court, he can partner Russell to provide some game content that Russell cannot provide (cut, break, fast attack, defense);

He can improve the Lakers' backcourt size so that they can better match those big guards (like Jamal Murray);

Even, as a player with both offense and defense, he can become one of the Lakers' finishing five-man group in some games, and increase the intensity of the Lakers' finishing five-man (yes, remove Russell)...

If the Lakers can take him, that's certainly a good thing — in fact, there are quite a few teams competing for Bruce Brown in the market. The Lone Ranger can provide him with the same full mid-range offer as the Lakers, and the Lone Ranger's open court space is more suitable for Browns to play; The Pacers are rumored to join the battle for Brown, and the Pacers have 40 million+ undercap space. (If they are willing to spend money, the Lakers can be said to be hopeless)

A full mid-range contract of 12.4 million, which is all the sincerity that the Lakers can give. If Brown doesn't pick the Lakers, the Lakers have other options.

Eric Gordon

Frankly, I prefer Eric Gordon to Bruce Brown – although he looks worse than Brown in terms of both panel data and high-level data.

Eric Gordon is a veteran, he can't be the Lakers' defensive arrow like Bruce Brown, but he's not a burden on the defensive end, like Bruce Brown, he can replace Russell into the Lakers' finishing five, and his more valuable skill set is on the offensive end.

On a large sample, Eric Gordon is a much better shooter than Bruce Brown (shooting 37% from three-point range in his career and averaging more than two three-pointers per game). Not only can he catch the ball, but he can also complete more difficult ball-holding shots — you can empty Bruce Brown, but never Eric Gordon — which means that Gordon will bring space, and Brown may need more space from the Lakers.

Gordon also has stronger autonomous offensive abilities than Brown, including blocking, one-on-one singles, and ball-carrying jumpers, Gordon is better (and Gordon can also break through, although not as sharp as Brown), we said that Russell's weakness is "hard solving ability", and to supplement this ability, Gordon is a better candidate than Bruce Brown.

Gordon may not have a good relationship with Russell, but he should be a better fit for LeBron and Davis in terms of skill sets.

The problem with Gordon is his age, he's 34, and while 34 isn't too old in this era, older age certainly means higher injury and downward risk.

More critically, what kind of contract should the Lakers offer him?

Currently, the teams reported to be interested in Gordon include the Lakers, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Suns, Bucks, and Blazers.

Among them, the Suns can only provide veteran base salary, and the only teams that can provide full mid-class are the Lakers, Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Bucks, and Blazers.

Among them, the full middle class of the Bucks should be used to keep Da Luo, and if it is not successful, it is likely to pursue the striker; The Blazers and Grizzlies have overflowed center guards, and even if they are interested in Gordon, they are more likely to split the middle tier than to provide the full mid-range; The only ones more likely to pursue Gordon with a full mid-range are probably the Timberwolves — but only if possible.

At present, it is rumored that the Lakers also prefer to split the middle class to sign Gordon, but if they change their minds and sign Gordon with the full middle class, I think it is very competitive.

Of course, this may not be the best choice for the Lakers.

They also have younger and better defensive options like Josh Richardson than the full middle class smashing Gordon, including splitting the middle class, but we won't list them all here.

Let's see what happens tomorrow.