The base salary went to James, but he became the first on the team! The Lakers successfully picked up the leak, and the thick eyebrows solved the urgent need
The new NBA season is in full swing, and the preseason is often of great significance as the final experimental training stage before the start of the regular season. This summer, the Lakers signed Soncent, Wood, Reddish, Prince, Hayes and other titans in one go, which not only retained the team's Western Conference framework last season, but also improved the depth of the lineup, and the US media generally listed the Lakers as a championship team. After playing the first two games of the preseason, defeating the Warriors miserably, Reeves and James were suspended; Facing the full lineup Nets, the Lakers' rotation framework once opened up a gap of 20 points, and finally won the first win of the new season. Especially against the Nets, it was impressive, after one game, the Lakers made 20 three-pointers, in James's words, whoever dares to despise our outside will pay the price! From the thick eyebrows and the hard training of eight inches this summer, it can be seen that the effort has indeed been made.
After two games, the performance of several new signings was mixed. First of all, the Lakers' Western finals last season: Russell + Reeves + James + Hachimura + thick eyebrows five, the tacit understanding on the floor, the overall state on the court, support the entire Lakers framework. Prince, who has good shooting ability, but has a relatively high number of fouls, playing a total of 32 minutes in two games and making 11 fouls. Reddish was too small and suffered an ankle injury; In the time that Wood played with Thick Eyebrows, as long as he worked diligently to grab rebounds, in fact, he didn't have to worry about his ball at all, in fact, he was sometimes too anxious, like to do it alone, and the defensive end did not contribute. Vincent reached the Finals with the Heat last season, and his playmaking and shooting skills are indeed an effective addition to the Lakers' guard line, but he is suitable for the second team at this stage.
There's another person that's easy to overlook, but that's the biggest takeaway from the Lakers this summer: Hays! As the eighth pick in the first round in '19, with a height of 2.11 meters and an arm span of 2.22 meters, his static talent is very outstanding. In the first three seasons of the league, he has been the focus of Pelicans' training, but last season, Hayes was directly refrigerated by the team for some off-court reasons, and Hayes's team tried to negotiate an early contract extension with the Pelicans, but the team refused. After the free market opened this summer, the Pelicans even refused to offer Hayes a qualifying offer. In this case, the Lakers quickly contacted Hayes and finally signed the Lakers for $4.63 million in 2 years, 2.165 million in the first year, and with player options in the second year, worth $2.464 million.
When Charania reported that the Lakers had signed Hayes, Hayes couldn't wait to reveal his admiration for James. Hayes grew up with Ohio, and in his own words, when he was in elementary school, James was able to score 30 points per game, and now that he is in the league, James is still averaging 30 points per game. Being teammates with James was something he dreamed of, and he was glad that his wish had come true! Hayes's shortcomings are more obvious, the Pelicans often jump out of tactics to mess around, and even block their own ball carriers. However, he has strong ability to assist in the sweep of the outside, moves quickly, and has excellent physical talent. In the preseason game with the Nets, James had a pass between three non-stick and empty catches, in fact, including the opponent did not react at the first time, and Hayes under the basket took off and smashed the ball into the basket!
After that goal was scored, everyone from James to Thick Brow to his teammates on the bench turned over. Statistics show that in the first two preseason games, Hayes's plus-minus value ranked first in the team (+9.5), playing 15 minutes for Warrior Hayes, scoring 5 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block, and the plus-minus +7 was second only to Russell (8); Against the Nets, Hayes played 21 minutes, scoring 8 points, 7 rebounds and 1 assist on 4-of-4 shooting, with a plus-minus of +12 second only to Thick Eyebrows (+17). Hamm intends to give Hays more time to play the No. 5 position, he is like the enhanced version of Howard + McGee when the Lakers won the championship 3 years ago, and the finishing efficiency after getting the ball under the basket is very high, and Hamm has also repeatedly said that Hayes' enthusiasm and team sense are great. Especially with partners James and Wood, it means two things.
First, Hays' blocking quality, as well as his athletic talent, is a much-needed interior supplement for the Lakers, and he is very efficient at eating pie, with James's tandem blessing, Hays' statistics will only skyrocket in the new season; Second, Thick Eyebrows will definitely play as the starting five in the new season, but Hays's mobility, as well as Wood's multiple finishing methods, any combination of the three interior linemen, can at least effectively protect the frame. The Lakers stopped in the Western Conference finals last season and were swept out by the Nuggets, although the difference in points in each game is not large, but in the end, the Lakers only have thick eyebrows available, and thick eyebrows can not be prevented at all, as long as the thick eyebrows are pulled out, the Lakers inside a wide field. And Hayes in addition to his pie eating and protective frame, his ability to defend against small things, somewhat like the Nets' Claxton, the traverse coverage area is indeed large, young, fitness and speed are the biggest advantages.
The Lakers picked up the leak successfully! After being abandoned by the Pelicans, Hayes didn't have much choice. But the Lakers were able to sign such a young interior lineman with only a base salary, and the management led by Pelinka contributed a lot, and the biggest problem he faced with thick eyebrows has been solved: playing some key moments of the game, he only needs to stay under the basket and let Hayes chase the dismantled ball carrier. Hayes and Vanderbilt were able to relieve a lot of pressure on the defensive end of the James' combination. Looking forward to Hays continuing to grow and become the pillar of thick eyebrows, he is only 23 years old, and the ceiling is very high. I also hope that in the 21st year of James' career, he can lead the team to the championship and draw a successful end to his career.