Today the league had four significant games, first the Grizzlies lost to the Pistons, the Warriors defeated the Thunder , leading to the change of the eighth place in the Western Conference, and then the Lone Ranger unexpectedly beat the powerful Nets 113-109, and The Lakers here thick eyebrows Davis came off early due to back spasms, lost the derby battle with the Clippers , and the ranking dropped to sixth in the West, According to the current trend, they will be big next. The probability will be overtaken by the pioneers with the same record behind them, and they will be reduced to the point of playing in the play-offs. In the case of the increasing number of injured teams, the goal of defending the championship can be said to have basically been lost. possibility.
The way to copy success? James at a crossroads again
The streak of injuries between James and Davis is truly incredible, but it doesn't seem too hard to understand when looking back at their championship run last season, after all the Lakers have played more than 90 games in the league % of the team, and their finals opponent, the Heat, is also suffering from injuries this year, and currently only ranks seventh in the Eastern Conference. Therefore, the Lakers are equivalent to overdrafting their future health in exchange for the 17th championship trophy in team history. The misaligned market operation is the driving force behind their total collapse.
In fact, what the Lakers have experienced this year is very similar to 2019. It was James' first season with the Lakers, but they encountered a rare wave of injuries. James was sidelined for two months with a groin strain in the Christmas war . During this period, young players such as Brother Qiu and Ingram were also injured one after another. Coupled with the influence of Davis' trade rumors, they fell directly from the fourth in the West at the beginning of the season to the eleventh in the West, and finally missed the playoffs . Much to the disappointment of a large number of Lakers fans.
At that time, James was questioned by the sky. The outside world thought that he was old and had lost the ability to lead a mediocre team to guarantee the playoffs. Some people thought that he would make a decision to change teams again. He still firmly shouldered all the responsibilities for the crossroads. In the end, the Lakers management waved a big hand and traded for Brother Nongmei. At the same time, he left Rondo , signed Howard, and built a lineup that is enough to compete for the championship. These essences All of the above are based on the Lakers voluntarily giving up the playoffs.
Now James is standing at this crossroads again. He has previously said that the rules of the playoffs are very tasteless, but this is something that cannot be changed. It is a difficult choice to strategically give up this season as in 2018, so as to ensure that the two core players have more room to recover from their injuries.
Instead of being covered in bruises, is not as good as , waiting for a full blood return The latter is only 28 years old and has just entered the peak stage of his career. It can be said that the only factor that can prevent them from hitting the championship is injury. As long as the Lakers do not make the same mistakes as last year in the operation of the market, then around the It is impossible for Zhan Mei to be kicked out of the first echelon of the Western Conference.
Personally, I think that instead of forcing the Lakers to compete for the championship and making themselves bruised and bruised, it is really not as good as to let the flow take its course , let James and Brother Nongmei be reimbursed for the season, and adjust their bodies to the best mode, so that , No matter what the Lakers' final result is this year, they can guarantee that they will be able to attack the championship again next season in a state of full blood.
After the season ends, the Lakers' top priority is still to choose the most suitable role player to partner with Zhan Mei in the free market. The contracts of people such as Schroeder , Zhuangshen , and Xiao Jia will all come to an end. In the future, they can free up enough spots to sign functional veterans hungry for a championship, as they did with veterans like Green and Howard in the summer of 2019.
For James, he still has enough reasons to compete for the fifth championship trophy in his career, so that he will have more strength to press Magic and Kareem to become the second person in history. A frustrated season will inevitably re-name itself and return to the ranks of the top five stars in the league. I wonder how the Lakers management will plan for the future?
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