In this cold winter, the NBA regular season is in full swing. At this stage of the league, every team has shown the same desire to survive. Affected by the lineup, many teams' record is not very satisfactory, but some of them are strengthening.
After the Lakers defeated the strong Eastern Bucks, their record came to 11 wins and 4 losses. Only because of the disadvantage of losing, they fell behind the Clippers. Under this circumstance, the US media Brett Siegel suggested that the defending champion Lakers can choose to make a 2-for-2 deal with the Rockets to focus on improving the team's defense. The details are: the Lakers send Kyle Kuzma and Ya Alex Caruso, in exchange for PJ Tucker from the Rockets, the 2024 second-round pick.
NBA so far this season, Kuzma has averaged 10.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.67 blocks, 0.27 steals, field goal percentage 44.1%, three-point field goal percentage 40.3%; Caruso averaged 5.8 points per game 2.5 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.2 blocks, 51.2% shooting from the field and 55.6% from three-pointers.
So what about the defensive Titan Tucker? Tucker averaged 5.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.08 steals and 0.77 blocks per game, shooting 45.1% from the field and 44.1% from the three-point range. Although in terms of statistics, Tucker is not too outstanding, but he is a more cost-effective player, and he has been the bottom three-pointer for many seasons. The point is that Tucker's defense is something Kuzma can't make up for.
Now the league is at a very critical moment. The outcome of each game will affect the ranking of the team. Therefore, the arrival of Tucker will undoubtedly give James a trusted person. The team is attacking and defending. Both ends can be upgraded to a level.
Anyway, I hope the Lakers make some changes in the lineup to ensure the success of the defending season.
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