The Lakers brought in four important players in this offseason, Dennis Schroeder, Harrell, Matthews and Mark Gasol, which gave the Lakers' bench weakness an advantage, so many people think that the defending champion is stronger than last season; but we can't ignore that the defending champion also lost some important players, especially the departure of Rajon Rondo can be very fatal. Know what Rondo's departure means for the Lakers? His key point in last season was second only to James within the Lakers.
As the defending champion, the Lakers also filled in the problem of weak bench scoring ability, and on the basis of hitting the city rival Clippers, did it look perfect? Is it "The NBA is going to have a big finale?" Doesn't that sound familiar, and remember when the Warriors, who had already won two consecutive titles in the summer of 2018, signed DeMarcus Cousins, and did many people say the same thing? But the result is known to everyone, a year later the Warriors even played the bottom of the league's regular season record, Kevin Durant has long left, Klay Thompson has been reimbursed for two consecutive seasons, and the Warriors dynasty has collapsed.
At this time, saying that the Lakers will sink seems to be a bit of an open-eyed and blind talk, but who would have thought in the summer of 2018 that the Warriors' ending would be like this? Of course, devastating injuries like Durant and Thompson are not common, but don't forget that there are not many teams in NBA history that have successfully defended their titles, and even the Spurs, who have healthy Tim Duncan, have never defended their titles. There are many factors that led to the defeat of the championship team, and in addition to the devastating injuries, the departure of some role players could be the "last straw that overwhelmed the camel".
While the Lakers' gains this offseason may seem good, we can't ignore the departure of important players such as Dwight Howard, Javier McGee, Danny Green, Avery Bradley and Rajan Rondo. Although howard left after gasol jr., McGee left and Harrell, Danny Green left and Matthews, although the Lakers in the playoffs without Bradley still easily won the championship, but Rondo's departure seems that no one can fill the vacancy, especially Matthews's passing is irreplaceable, can not hope that the "old" gasol jr. in the regular season will be "full of fire", right?
The Lakers shot the highest 48.0 percent shooting percentage from 30 teams in the league in the regular season last season, inseparable from their good passing, and in addition to LeBron James, who became the NBA assist king, Anthony Davis and Rondo also have strong passing ability. Among the Lakers' main rotation players, there are three players who average no less than 2.0 assists per game, namely James, Rondo and Davis, of which Rondo, as a substitute, can average 5.0 assists per game when averaging only 20.5 minutes per game, ranking third in the league for all players who play mainly on the bench, after Luis Williams and Goran Dragic, who have played much more.
Rondo's contribution to offensive organization is not only reflected in the assist data, he averaged 39.3 passes per game in the regular season last season second only to James in the Lakers, they and Davis are also the only 3 players in the Lakers who average no less than 30 passes per game, the three of them are also the only 3 players in the Lakers to receive no less than 35.0 passes, Rondo averaged 13.1 points per game through assists, second only to James in 25.5 points. Much higher than the team's third-place Davis' 8.4 points... It is conceivable that in terms of offensive passing, Rondo's role in the Lakers is second only to James and the "thick eyebrow brother", and to some extent second only to James. What's more, Rondo's presence could give James valuable rest time.
In the playoffs last season, Rondo's average assists per game increased to 6.6, which has been able to rank seventh in the league, Rondo averaged 47.8 passes per game and received 45.8 passes per game, second only to James in the Lakers, and Rondo's assists averaged 15.9 points per game, second only to James's 22.6 points in the Lakers, much higher than the 9.0 points of third-place Davis.
The introduction of the likes of Schroeder, Harrell, Matthews and Gasol Jr. is indeed exciting, but that doesn't mean the Lakers' title is "stable," especially since Rondo's departure left with passing problems that could be fatal. Think about what it would have been like in the playoffs last season without Rondo, and you'll know that I'm definitely not being alarmist. Of course, the long regular season can give the Lakers a chance to adjust, but the Lakers are still good to keep a low profile.