The Lakers manager held a press conference: thick eyebrows and hard training Shui La is still the starter Zhan Huang will be subject to strict time management
On September 29, Beijing time, the start of the new NBA regular season is getting closer and closer. The Lakers spearheaded a media meeting earlier today, attended by team president Pelinka and coach Hamm, who talked about some of the operations this summer, as well as their outlook for the new season.
Talk about Davis' successful contract extension with the Lakers
This summer, Davis signed a three-year, $186 million contract extension with the Lakers. In the 2022-23 season, Davis played 56 regular season games, averaging 25.9 points, 12.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.1 steals and 2.0 blocks per game; in the playoffs, Davis played in 16 games, averaging 22.6 points, 14.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.4 steals and 3.1 blocks per game.
Pelinka has placed great importance on the team's ability to renew Davis' contract, saying: "This is a testament to our commitment to each other, that he will be the leader and the hardest working player. He has trained more this offseason than since joining the Lakers, more than any previous summer. ”
Hamm said: "Davis will play the number four and the number five position in the new season. I'm not ready to reveal who will be in the starting line-up, I'll let you know 45 minutes before the start of the game. We now have several different squads that can be adapted to the opponent's situation, and we will arrange rotations as needed. ”
Talk about James' physical reserves
In the new season, James will turn 39 years old, which makes James the focus of media and fan attention considering that the NBA will adopt a new rotation rule in the new season. In the new season, the Lakers have made a total of 15 back-to-back trips, including two consecutive 6 consecutive trips.
Hamm said: "We manage James' playing time from top to bottom, not just every game, but every month. According to the schedule, James is in his 21st season in the league and deserves a proper rest. I don't think James should be restricted by the league's new rotation rules, and he shouldn't be penalized for resting. ”
Pelinka said: "I have proposed to the NBA Athletic Committee to eliminate back-to-back games altogether, which would solve the problem of players not resting. Without back-to-back, many players don't have to take turns and the interests of the fans are not damaged. ”
Talk about the rest of the team
Reeves also renewed his contract with the Lakers this summer, playing in 64 regular season games in the 22-23 season, averaging 28.8 minutes per game, 13 points, 3 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 0.5 steals while shooting 39.8 percent from three-point range.
Pelinka was full of praise for Reeves' progress: "We are not surprised by what happened to Reeves, because he has the Mamba gene and the matching professionalism. He never becomes arrogant because of external praise, nor does he become inferior because of criticism, he only cares about his work. ”
Russell will have his first full season with the Lakers, and despite his poor playoffs last season, Hamm and Pelinka are still looking forward to him.
Hamm said: "I have been having a very candid conversation with Russell this summer, and he has been training with James and Thick Eyebrows. At the end of the day, we wouldn't have been able to do this last season without Russell, who would still be our starting point guard. Vincent is also good, but he will start the new season as a substitute. ”
"Last year we worked with Russell like a honeymoon for newlyweds, the first 13 days of travel were sweet, but you had a bad lunch on day 14, but that lunch didn't ruin the whole honeymoon," Pelinka said. ”
Also highly anticipated players include Hachimura.
Pelinka said: "Hachimura has seen a recovery in terms of individual performance after last season's trade deadline and has spent most of the summer training with James. The new season is going to be a crucial year for him and I think he's building energy for his take-off. ”
Hamm revealed: "James always said that Hachimura was his backup, so he stayed with him all summer. ”
Talk about Wood's base salary to join
The Lakers signed Wood on base salary this summer, which greatly strengthened the team. For Wood, Pelinka gave very high expectations, saying: "During the months of pursuing Wood, I spoke to his agent almost every day. Wood chose us among many competitors. Just like Monk and Schroeder before, he signed us to a base-salary contract and regained value here, reasserting his position in the league. Wood is a very thoughtful and good at expressing his ideas, and his ability is undoubted, so there are many suitors. He's very, very excited to join the Lakers, and he's going to have a huge impact on our success this year. ”
Looking ahead to the new season
Pelinka gave his opinion on the upcoming season: "If you want to still compete in June, it's going to be a long time from October to June, during which everyone has room to make a huge contribution and everyone gets a chance to play. ”
Hamm was undistracted when asked about Lillard's trade, saying, "That's the way it is, I don't care about that, the only thing I care about is the Lakers." We need to improve our shooting ability, we need to defend as hard as we can. We're getting younger and more athletic, and I hope that improves our ability to switch defensively. ”
In the regular season last season, the Lakers once ranked second from bottom in the West, but they caught up in the second half of the regular season and eventually got a playoff ticket, knocking out the Grizzlies and Warriors, and finally eliminated by the Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals. What will they achieve in the new season? Everyone is welcome to give your predictions in the comments section.