After exiting in the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers' offseason moves have attracted the attention of the media and fans. After firing the team's head coach, they desperately needed to bring in an All-Star-caliber player to take the pressure off James and Davis. In the past, many star players, including Mitchell and George, have had scandals with the Purple and Gold.
Just today, there were media reports that 6-time All-Star guard DeRozan made it clear when he was a guest on a podcast that he was willing to join the Lakers this summer and join James and Davis to hit the championship together.
"When I was a kid, I was a Kobe fan. I've been a fan of Kobe Bryant since the day I became a Lakers fan. As a Californian, you can't say no to playing for a hometown team, especially a team with a deep heritage like the Lakers. So let's see, time will give us the answer, I will always go where I want to go, I know what will happen in the future, let's see what happens! DeRozan said.
DeRozan, born in 1989, is 35 years old this year, and he was selected by the Raptors with the 10th pick in the first round of the 2009 draft to enter the league, and has been selected as an All-Star six times and twice to the All-Star team of the season in his 15-year career. DeRozan has a strong scoring ability and a variety of offensive tools, especially the mid-range jumper, and he has averaged more than 20 points per game in the last 13 seasons.
In 80 games this season, he averaged 23.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game, shooting 48.2 percent from the field overall, including 33.4 percent from three-point range, which he was not very good at before. If he can join the Lakers, he can add a scoring strength point to the Lakers, share the offensive tasks on James, and enrich the team's tactical options and playing style changes.
It is worth mentioning that this is not the first time DeRozan has expressed his willingness to join the Lakers, as early as the summer of 2021, DeRozan expressed his willingness to take a salary cut to join the Lakers, but the latter chose Westbrook after hesitation, and everyone knows what happened later, DeRozan played well in the Bulls but was unable to support himself, and the cooperation between the Lakers and Wei Shao did not achieve the expected effect, and the two sides broke up unhappily in the end.
So this time, will the Lakers change course and bring in the All-Star guard? Let's wait and see!