The Lakers have made 10 mistakes since winning the championship in 2020, which led to their decline

A Xiongkan basketball

2024-06-12 14:06Published in Guangdong

Since the Los Angeles Lakers won the championship in the 2019-20 season, their competitiveness can be said to be worse every year. Frequent coach changes and role players on the assembly line have made LeBron James and Anthony Davis unable to lead the team to success.

Since winning the championship, the Lakers have been arrogant and have made them make a lot of serious mistakes, which have led to the team becoming one of the most hated teams in the league. To this end, the American media "Fadeaway World" listed the top 10 mistakes the Lakers made after winning the championship in the 2019-20 season.

1. I once wanted Tyronn Lu to join with a low salary but was rejected by the other party

In the past few seasons, LeBron James has been hoping that Tyronn Lue can work with him again. However, the Lakers only offered him a three-year, $18 million contract, which is much smaller than the five-year, $35 million contract he had during his Cleveland Cavaliers. Tyronn Lue's record in coaching the Clippers is also very good, and he has also entered the Western Conference Finals.

2. Reluctance to get Alex Caruso a good contract extension

Alex Caruso has excellent defense, fast-break counter-attack, and three-point shooting. At first, Alex Caruso thought that the Lakers would renew his contract to keep him, but the Lakers only gave him a three-year, $21 million contract extension, and he begged the Lakers to give him a little more, and he wanted to stay in Los Angeles.

In the end, Alex Caruso could only opt for a four-year, $37 million contract with the Chicago Bulls. Looking at Vincent's 3-year contract of more than $30 million, and then looking at Alex Caruso's contract and performance now, the mistakes of the Lakers management are really outrageous.

3. Overdrafted the future for Wei Shao, giving up a bunch of great players and draft picks

Recently, Wei Shao praised Dan Hurley's post of rejecting the Lakers contract, which also attracted the attention of many fans and media. Originally, the Lakers sent Kyle Kuzma, Pope, Montrez Harrell and the 22nd pick in the 2021 draft in order to get Willis.

As a result, the Lakers used one and a half seasons to prove how stupid they were to win Wei Shao. Even if LeBron James misses the game, Westbrook can't lead the Lakers to a better place. Willis proved to be a bad fit for the Lakers at all, with inconsistent defense, a lot of passing errors, and a low shooting percentage. He can't be the third star to assist LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The Lakers are averaging 17.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists per game in their careers, shooting 29.7% from three-point range and averaging 3.7 turnovers per game. Look at Kyle Kuzma, who is averaging 22 points per game this season, and Pope has also helped the Nuggets win a championship. Now Wei Shao has become the core of the Clippers' bench.

4. The 2023 NBA Draft takes Hudsky Fino instead of Jaime Jaquez Jr

The choice of winning Hudsky Fino with the 17th pick in the first round in 2023 instead of Jacquez Jr. has also been criticized by many fans and media. Hudskifino averaged 5.2 minutes per game and just 1.6 points per game. Jacquez is averaging 11.9 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.

5. Hire an assistant coach like Hamm, who has no coaching experience, as the head coach

After Vogel got out of class, the Lakers hired Darvin Ham in order to improve the competitiveness of their defense and the lethality of the interior. At that time, the Lakers considered that Ham was a member of the 2004 Detroit Pistons championship and had an excellent defensive system, so they deliberately took him for this.

In fact, the overall performance of the Lakers led by Ham in the 2022-23 and 2032-24 seasons is quite good. With a 43-39 record and a 47-35 record in both seasons, he made the playoffs in both seasons. However, when Ham coached the Lakers, he faced the Nuggets with a 1-9 record in the playoffs, which also led to the Lakers finally choosing to fire him.

6. Give up chasing Lillard

After Lillard played for the Bucks, he averaged 24.3 points and 7.0 assists per game. Is his scoring ability and playmaking really a good fit for the Lakers? Not necessarily, when he partnered with Brother Alphabet, he got a lot of excellent open space projection opportunities, but the projection effect was not ideal.

Lillard's offense, overall, is still inconsistent. His passing clashed with LeBron James, and the Lakers needed a shooting guard who could replace LeBron James and impact the basket to make LeBron James less physically exerted.

7. There are no stars who are willing to join the Los Angeles Lakers before the February trade deadline

In the past few seasons, the Lakers have wanted to rely on the reputation of traditional giants and the geography of metropolitan teams, and want some stars to join at a lower price. However, none of them are willing to give up their big contracts and take a pay cut to join the Lakers. The Lakers need some offensive and defensive guards to join them.

Like Zach LaVine, Donovan Mitchell and Dejounte Murray, but the Lakers didn't give them enough leverage to join the team. Coupled with LeBron James's influence on the team in recent years, there are no stars who are willing to join the Lakers.

8. D'Angelo Russell's contract situation

He averaged 18.0 points and 6.3 assists per game in the regular season this season. In the playoffs, he averaged 14.2 points and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 31.8% from three-point range. D'Angelo Russell was once put on the trade table by the Lakers, and in the 2024 offseason, he will most likely be sent away.

Even if the Lakers re-sign D'Angelo Russell, it will be more to increase his trade value. His poor performance in the playoffs has seriously affected his trade value.

9. Failure to give Dan Kelly more money led to the other party's refusal to join the Lakers

Dan Hurley has rejected the Lakers and opted to stay at the NCAA University. The main reason is that the Lakers are not offering an eight-year, $100 million contract, they are offering Dan Kelly a six-year, $70 million contract. In the end, he opted for a six-year, $50 million contract at the University of Connecticut.

10. LeBron James will turn 40 next season

LeBron James' individual performance in the 2023-24 season is indeed outstanding, but for the Lakers who want to win the championship, LeBron James's age will be a fatal blow because he can't play the whole game like he did when he was young without feeling tired.

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