Free agent market So far, Lakers has completed a major change of role players, which also shows in disguise that the Lakers management has admitted that their operation in the last offseason was a failure. However, compared to the failure of the character lineup signing, the operation of trading Westbrook is a bigger core issue. Next, whether it is to continue pursuing Irving or to focus on Hilde and Eric Gordon, the Lakers will focus on sending Westbrook away. It seems that the Lakers have experienced a complete failure season, but in this bad season, the Lakers still gain something. In order for the Lakers to withdraw from the draft, get the Lakers contract as they wish, give up their vacation and work hard to practice, you have completed the first step of transformation.
The Lakers have definitely experienced a season that people don’t want to review, but for their undrafted Austin Rivers , there are many highlight moments worth his careful savoring this season. In an interview, Rivers talked about his performance this season from both personal and team aspects. He said: "Personally, the past season has been really great, everything I have done is very special. Of course, this is just from my personal perspective, from the team's perspective, I mean, no matter what, the results of this season are terrible, we are far from meeting expectations, we have high expectations, but from the beginning to the end, we didn't find a sense of running-in. My personal ultimate goal is to win, so this is pretty bad."
It is obvious that Rivers is one of the few discoveries of the Lakers. His experience can be written into a novel. In order to join the Lakers, Rivers was told in the second round that he would be selected by Pistons in advance, and he withdrew from the draft. This requires a certain amount of Warriors. Anyone wants to enter NBA. The chance of picking in the second round is even more precious. After becoming a undraft, he only participated in the Lakers' trial, which means that Rivers blocked his other roads. If the Lakers did not take a fancy to him, then he would not appear in the NBA field at least in the past season. Fortunately, the Lakers gave him a chance to participate in training camp, and gold always shines. When everyone was thinking about which player the Lakers would sign for the last lineup, Rivers' two-way contract was turned into regular and he occupied the last lineup seat of the Lakers.
overtime three-pointer buzzer-beater Mavericks , home against Jazz hit a three-pointer that locked the victory at the last moment. In a "Development League" game, Rivers scored a large triple-double of 31+16+10. He also sent two steals and one block on the defensive end. One of the steals appeared at the last moment of the most critical regular time. Rivers completed a one-stop counterattack, helping the Lakers drag the game into overtime and finally won. For Rivers himself, this season is as he said, everything is special. However, as a young man who is positioned as a 3D player, Rivers' defensive confrontation and three-point stability have serious flaws.
I won’t talk about the physical aspects. Apart from his height of 1.96 meters, Rivers is very thin. Even though he has outstanding defensive position selection awareness, his weak confrontation makes it difficult for him to really stop offensive players. In terms of three-point shooting, Rivers’ three-point shooting percentage of the season is only 31.7%. During this offseason, Rivers' training is very targeted. In addition to training his shooting ability, he is gaining weight. According to the Lakers' team reporter Buha, Rivers has gained 12 pounds at present. Rivers has found a new nutritionist and a chef, and he has managed his physical strength more strictly.
In addition, Rivers also said in the interview that no matter what stage of the season, all he has to do is to throw the ball in.Another exciting thing is that according to Buha’s additional report, after the season ended, Rivers only went home for two weeks to rest, and then began movement and shooting training. Buha revealed that Rivers returned to the Lakers Arena one month after the regular season, training three times a day, including weightlifting, training with teammates, and returning to continue shooting training in the evening. The assistant coaches who trained with Rivers include Phil Handy, Richardson, John Lucas, and Gonzalez.
According to Rivers' agent Riley, the Lakers told him during Rivers' training that he could go back and rest for a week, but Rivers' reaction was "Go to him, I'm going back to train." Rivers knew what the Lakers expected of him next season and he needed to throw the ball in, which was the basis for him to get all the guaranteed amount in his contract next season. Rivers has not changed his mind throughout the offseason for training four days a week and three times a day. Since he started training, he plans to stay in the Lakers training hall until the start of training camp in September. In Rivers' words, "I've made plans to spend the rest of the offseason here." Rivers is not even ready to return to Arkansas.
