Ignore $164 million and prepare to say goodbye to the Lakers! It turns out that you and the Lakers have figured out a way out

Lao Liang commented

2024-05-27 22:36Posted in Shandong Sports Creators

This season's NBA has reached the division finals stage, and the Celtics and Pacers in the East, the Mavericks and Timberwolves in the West, the results of the first three games are one-sided, and the Celtics and Mavericks will meet in the finals. Statistics show that in the history of the NBA playoffs, there have been 154 3-0 situations, and the leading side won all of them, of which 94 were easy sweeps, and only 4 were dragged to the tie-break, but they couldn't win. Doncic and Tatum ushered in the peak meeting, and in the team that has bid farewell to this season, they have begun to plan for next season, the 76ers have $60 million in salary space and 5 first-round picks, and are ready to make a big move this summer, in the list of favorite players, James + Ingram + George + LaVine + Butler + Anunoby and others are impressively listed! The Warriors are ready to cut back on spending, and Paul is likely to be the first casualty.

Paul George is likely to say goodbye to the Clippers and pursue the next big contract; The Suns are even ready to try out Bronny, and they are looking forward to the No. 22 pick in the first round and are ready to recruit James at a base salary. The most interesting thing is the Lakers, after Ham left the class, the Lakers management determined the future direction early: build a team around thick eyebrows, but several favorite coaches, Budenholzer took over as the Suns, and the Clippers were reluctant to let Tyronn Lue go, and the Lakers seemed to be ready to save money on the coach. James' business partner, Rich Paul, previously said James was a free agent and that he would be willing to play for any coach. And Rich Paul emphasized one point: we will assess the situation and help LeBron make the best decision! Ignore the 3-year $164 million and prepare to say goodbye to the Lakers! It turns out that you have already thought of a way out.

First, if James is willing to stay with the Lakers and exercise his $51.42 million player option, he will receive a two-year, $112.9 million contract by August this year, $54.3 million in '25-26 and $58.6 million in '26-27, for a total of $164 million over three years. But what is the premise that James is willing to live with the Lakers for the rest of his life? Three factors: First, the absolute core position, which is difficult to achieve, because James can only play the No. 4 position as he gets older, and the thick eyebrows are forced to the No. 5 position, except for the championship season, it will be very uncomfortable in the next few years, and the Lakers will not get anything, and the Lakers management has decided to change, starting with the selection of coaches. Second, James has occupied more than $40 million in salary space in the past few years, and the data is not to be picked, but in many games in the regular season, the state of not working on the defensive end often makes the Lakers have a ceiling and no lower limit.

The most direct result is that the pressure on the thick eyebrows increases and it is easy to get injured. Finally, is it possible for the Lakers to win the championship? It is difficult for James to stay in an uncompetitive team, his salary will exceed $50 million next season, and Lakers owner Jeanie Buss is not rich, and it is impossible to compare with teams such as the Celtics, Warriors, and Clippers, so in fact, the Lakers need to build a super team to help Lao Zhan in the limited remaining $120 million space. Is this possible? Russell is very likely to leave, Wood + Hayes + Reddish and others are tasteless and abandoned, and there are only a few people around Thick Eyebrows who are really useful, Hachimura, Reeves, and Vanderbilt. Now the league's better wings have salaries of more than $20 million, such as Pope and Monk, who are old Lakers players!

In fact, in one sentence: in addition to off-court business factors, James has no motivation to stay with the Lakers on the court! Of course, he can choose to go to the 76ers, and according to the salary rules, once James jumps out of the player option, he can sign a three-year, $157.4 million maximum salary contract with the 76ers, with an average salary of more than $50 million. Compared with the brutal West, the pressure of competition in the East is too small, and the Lakers fought all the way to the Western Conference last season, were swept by the Nuggets, and were eliminated by the Nuggets in the first round of this season; And here in the East, the young Pacers can fight all the way to the East finals, and the East is essentially only competitive with the Celtics. And the 76ers have enough basic conditions, Embiid and Maxey can shoot, and it just so happens that these two are regular-season stars, complementing James, who only needs to play the playoffs with all his might.

The Lakers have actually thought about the way out after James left since they sent Wei Shao away, and keeping Reaves and thick eyebrows is the best explanation, and they have decided to build a team around thick eyebrows next season. And James here, if Bronny's entry into the NBA is an opportunity, James wants to be on the same team as Bronny, there are indeed a lot of uncertainties, but what if it is not in the Lakers? It could even be a hole card for the 76ers to recruit James! The biggest problem with James being difficult to stay with the Lakers is that James can only renew his contract with the Lakers in August, and in the past few years, the Lakers' operation every summer has been difficult to satisfy.

James did not participate in the Lakers coach interview, nor did he pay attention to which coach the Lakers were going to sign, but Rich Paul was right, from James's point of view, it is not difficult to evaluate various situations and make the best decision! James doesn't have much time left in his career, and a squad with a chance to win the championship, a team with a higher ceiling, and a division with a greater probability of being closer to the championship must be James' best option. Now that both sides are ready to separate, it's time for the Lakers to prepare to rebuild and say goodbye to James.

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