Rebirth of Hayes Cyclone

Chapter 274 [The Lakers are planning a deal! 】

The strength of the Bobcats has been significantly improved, and the locker room is very harmonious.The veterans are not dissatisfied with their playing time. Camby and Miller are here for the championship. As long as it is possible to get the championship ring, it is okay for them to get less money, let alone less playing time?

As for last season's main player, Bargnani, he suffered a serious injury, has never played a good number, and has no capital to challenge.Although Azubuike and Weaver shortened their playing time, Weaver even missed three games and was put on the injured list, but they did not have any complaints.

For the two, Hayes was Bole.If it weren't for Hayes, they don't know where to hang out now, let alone the championship ring, and maybe they have no chance to break out in the NBA.

The rookies who don't have many chances to play have not yet proved themselves, and they are not qualified to express dissatisfaction with the coach's playing arrangements.Like Anthony Morrow and George Hill, both trained very hard, honed their skills and waited for opportunities.

On November 11, the Bobcats played against the Toronto Raptors at home. The score was 10 to 111.

In this game, Gerald Wallace, Durant, Hayes and Billups felt extremely bad.Every team may encounter this kind of thing. The main players seem to be cursed in a certain game and can't make any shots. Such games will generally be lost.

The Bobcats trailed by 18 points 26 to 8 in the first quarter.But after adjusting the lineup, the Bobcats quickly regained the initiative.The main players did not perform well, and it was a rare opportunity for the Bobcats' substitutes. Bargnani and Rondo took on the heavy responsibility of offense.Bargnani still feels good when he pulls to the outside and shoots.Rondo succeeded in breaking through many times, laying up or scoring well to revitalize the team.

When Hayes and others adjusted their state in the second half, the Bobcats easily exceeded the score.

In the same game, the Nuggets lost at home, 102 to 106 to the Mavericks.The only remaining teams to keep winning are the Bobcats and Lakers.

The two teams began to challenge openly.

The trend since the start of the new season has once again verified "the insider wins the world"!
Bobcats inside is recognized as the strongest, their rebounds ranked first in the league.Some media jokingly called the Bobcats the "Charlotte Rebound Team". The starting five players are all good at rebounding except Billups, but there is Rondo who is very good at rebounding at the point guard position.

When the substitutes came on the field, the Bobcats' two insiders often blocked their opponents from the outside, allowing Rondo to grab rebounds and launch a fast break directly. This is also one of the Bobcats' usual styles of play.Rondo's average playing time was 19 minutes, scoring 6 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal, with extremely high efficiency.

The Lakers have an inside line composed of Bynum and Gasol, which is also a strong combination.But compared to the bench, the Lakers seem to be a little worse than the Bobcats.The power forward position can allow Odom to play, but when Bynum is off the field, he can only send Mbenga and "Birdman" Chris - Anderson, and the attack power has declined.

In the first week's power rankings, the Bobcats occupy the first position.The Lakers followed suit.

Hayes also won the Eastern Conference Player of the Week title.Although his scoring and rebounding are not high, his average data is a triple-double per game.The best player in the Western Conference was won by Pau Gasol, averaging 18 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists per game.

The Lakers' bench strength this season is also very strong. Needless to say, Odom, the backup small forward Trevor Ariza is strong, has outstanding defensive ability, and has a high percentage of fixed-point shooting.Outside Shannon Brown has excellent athletic ability and can complement Fisher as a backup guard. Although Chris Anderson has average ability, he can contribute morale-boosting blocks and dunks, which is very popular among fans.The big pitcher Radmanovich who once started the game has now been reduced to the third substitute, and Luke Walton, who was signed for 5 million in five years, has no place.

Once upon a time, Walton was one of the most suitable players in the triangle offense system, and his passing ability allowed him to be reused by the "Zen Master".It's a pity that continuous injuries and a sharp decline in shooting percentage have made Walton a marginal player for the Lakers. He has been regarded as a favorite to leave several times by the outside world, but the big contract on his back has become the team's opportunity to trade him. biggest obstacle.

Walton's performance last season was very bad. This season, he can often hear the boos of the home fans when he plays.The Lakers have not traded Walton because his family is very prestigious in Los Angeles. Luke Walton's father is Hall of Fame center Bill Walton. The Lakers have to give the old Bill face.Luke Wharton is lucky, maybe he hit someone with his car, and he can say "My dad is Bill" and he will be fine...

Although the Chinese defender "Sun Dasheng" is useless, he gets a basic salary anyway.Walton's contract is middle-class, with a high salary but can't make any contribution, which makes Walton's status in the eyes of the fans plummet. Home fans boo a home team player, which is a rare situation. , but Wharton encountered it.This scene can fully show that the fans have run out of patience with Walton, and they really want to see him leave the team.Because the goal of the Lakers is the championship, fans naturally hope to see the team have a stronger lineup, and the current Wharton can no longer help the team, on the contrary, he is still holding back the team.

The Lakers have put Luke Walton on the shelf, and they are willing to listen to offers from other teams, but they haven't gone to the extent of selling Walton around.However, trading Walton is a difficult task, because he has four years left on his contract, worth a total of 2160 million.This season, Walton's position in the Lakers' rotation is not stable, averaging only 2010 minutes per game, scoring 11.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists.

However, there are always exceptions, because if the relationship between NBA owners is good, there will be many unknown insider transactions.And the Lakers have never lacked insider information.

For example, after failing in the finals in 04, the OK team parted ways and the Sharks traveled eastward.The outside world has always said that Kobe forced the Sharks away.Until the beginning of last season, Kobe bombarded the management because of the team's poor record and asked to trade himself.Only then can people know the truth of the matter.

In the summer of 2004, O’Neal, whose career had already begun to decline, asked for an annual salary of 3000 million. The same year was also Kobe’s contract year. The money is not enough to make up a 2000-man lineup, so the Lakers management chose Kobe, who is younger and has more box office appeal, and gave up the old Sharks. This is the essence of capitalists.

There is nothing wrong with this matter itself, but then a person from the Lakers management personally told the media that Kobe did not want O'Neal to stay in Los Angeles. K turn away!This is simply blatant framing, and Kobe is also burdened with the blame for driving away the sharks.For nearly three years after that, Kobe was bombarded by the media every day. The Lakers management knew the whole story, but they didn't say anything.At the same time, Lakers owner Jerry Buss personally assured Kobe that the Lakers will immediately try their best to keep the team in the ranks of the championship team in the new season of 2005.

Because Kobe got the promise from Jerry Buss, Kobe didn't defend himself on Shaq in the past three years. What he did was more silent.But in the next three years, the Lakers made countless assholes.The biggest deal for the Lakers in recent years is to send away the future All-Star player Caron Butler and trade the parallel importer Kwame Brown.

It wasn't until Kobe threatened a transfer that the Lakers executives finally got scared.Through a series of operations last season, the Lakers brought inside star Paul Gasol.After being eliminated by the Timberwolves in the playoffs, the Lakers continued to strengthen. In the summer, they signed Artest, a big-name star in the free market, to form the Big Three.

Only 5 games into the new season, the Lakers have already begun to brew a new deal, and contacted the Raptors and Thunder (the Supersonics have been renamed) with good personal relationships.Originally, the relationship between the Lakers and the Bobcats was good, but this season the two teams have become competitors, so they are naturally unwilling to help each other strengthen the lineup.

As long as the two teams are willing to help each other, even bad contracts and players can be traded.The Grizzlies sending Gasol is an example.

On the 11th, Lakers general manager Kupchak and head coach Phil Jackson met with big boss Jerry Buss in the office.

In the Lakers, Zen Master Jackson has a lot of power.Because Jackson's wife Jenny Buss is the daughter of Jerry Buss, who is currently the vice president of the Lakers and is a popular candidate to take over the Lakers in the future.After Jackson left the Lakers that year, Jenny also had a tense relationship with her father. It was not until Jackson returned to the team that the relationship between the father and daughter improved.

Bass first asked Jackson Artest, Kobe Bryant, and Gasol about the running-in situation of the three.Then came the bobcats.

"How is our strength compared to the Bobcats this season?" Bass asked.He believes that the current strength of the Lakers can already overwhelm the Timberwolves and Nuggets.It's just that the Bobcats' momentum is too strong, and Hayes, a super player, is in charge, which is likely to become a stumbling block on the way for the Lakers to win the championship.

The Los Angeles Lakers will have three players with an annual salary of over ten million dollars in the new season. Kobe's salary is about $2126 million, Paul Gasol's salary is about $1511 million, and Lamar Odom's salary is about $1100 million. Ten thousand U.S. dollars.
The current total salary of the Lakers has exceeded the bottom line of the league's luxury tax. In addition, Bynum's contract renewal may also be the standard of tens of millions of annual salary. Their only goal for such investment is the championship.

"Compared to the starting lineup, we are on par with the Bobcats, they have Hayes, Billups. We also have Paul (Gasol) and Kobe. But the bench, I think the Bobcats are better than us, their summer reinforcements The most successful in the league," Jackson said truthfully.

"What's going on with Wharton?" Bass asked again.

Kupchak's expression was ugly, and he said seriously: "There are currently two trading plans. One is to trade Kapono of the Raptors."

Kapono is an out-and-out soft egg.He can only shoot three-pointers without defense, and he actually gets a salary of 600 million.The Raptors let him start last season because they wanted to trade this cancer out quickly, but unfortunately he is so bad that he can't be replaced even if he wants to.Kapono played 22 minutes, scored 7.4 points, and grabbed only 1.5 rebounds, which is unbelievable for a player with a height of 203 cm.Regardless of strength or contract rubbish, he is on par with Wharton.

Buzz frowned and asked, "What about the other plan?"

"Swap Adam Morrison with the Thunder," Kupchak said awkwardly.

Morrison was the parallel importer hand-picked by Jordan back then.He played 57 games with the Sonics last season and was reimbursed due to injury.Played 18.6 minutes, scored 4.6 points and 1.6 rebounds, and shot only 36%.This level obviously cannot bring any help to the Lakers.

"What do you think?" Bass asked helplessly.

"I feel that Kapono can be traded. Although his defense is poor, his shooting percentage is still stable, especially three-pointers. It can increase the offensive power of the bench. Moreover, his contract expires one year earlier than Walton. Kupchak expressed his opinion.

Jackson thought for a while and said, "I agree."

(End of this chapter)