super small forward

Chapter 25 25. Transactions
Because the Celtics traded too much this time, the soul of the Celtics, Pierce, who is known for his loyalty, and Garnett, who is quite popular around the world, will attract huge attention if they design a deal between the two. , When the two were traded together, or purely for profit, the Celtics have become a whirlpool of public opinion.

As a result, the Lakers' petty transactions were completely ignored.

The Lakers had a three-way deal with the Warriors and the Rockets. The Lakers sent Steve Blake and got the Warriors' backup point guard Kent Bazemore. By the way, the Lakers were leaving their team's third small forward Draymond Green. And the Rockets' 2014 second-round pick as an addition.

The Warriors sent Bazemore, Green, and Marshan Brooks to get Steve Blake and the Rockets' 2016 second-round pick.

The Rockets came purely to suffer. They took advantage of the Lakers in the summer. Morey took the initiative to suffer this time. He exchanged two second-round picks for Marshan Brooks, who could barely play.

Warriors head coach Mark Jackson has long wanted a steady and tough backup point guard to infuse the team with an iron-blooded temperament. Although Blake is a white man, he has always played tough, and he has a strong personality that emerges from his bones. That kind of toughness, no matter who your opponent is, you dare to fight hard.

Mark Jackson thought it was worth it to send away the young Bazemore for Blake, but he didn't know that what Kupchak really wanted was Green, who he regarded as an addition, who had nothing outstanding in his opinion. A short striker with great ability is too slow to play the third position and too short to play the fourth position.

Mark Jackson is a traditional coach, and the division of each position is very detailed, which is completely different from the later Steve Kerr.

Mark Jackson heard that the Lakers had previously signed a long-term contract with a center who had been laid off for two years. He believed that the Lakers really had no insiders, so they would take Green away.

When Liu Ren saw the Lakers deal in the corner of the news section, he couldn't help but wonder if Cole would take over the Warriors according to history next year, and then see Green, who was sent to the Lakers by the Warriors as an extra, would be angry. Kidney pain?
Liu Ren does not doubt whether D'Antoni can make Green play. If D'Antoni is given four superstars, all of whom are former bosses, and they have just been combined together, and they don't even know what they want to do together. Maybe he will do something. He couldn't make it to the playoffs because everyone was bigger than him.

However, if you give him a bunch of average players, he can play for you.

Liu Ren has always felt that D'Antoni's ability to discover role players is comparable to Popovich. Earl Clark of the Lakers left the team a few days ago and signed a three-year 3 million contract with the Cavaliers.

Clark almost couldn't play the ball when he was in the Magic a year ago, and he came to D'Antoni for a year, and now he is almost middle-aged.

An all-around player like Green went under D'Antoni, allowing him to perform well during the period before Kobe came back. Kobe will only trust him more when he comes back. Kobe likes players like Green who pass the ball as the first priority. up.

Just like Liu Ren once fantasized about Kobe and James teaming up at their peak, one loves to pass the ball and is all-around invincible, the other is invincible in scoring and desperate to defend, the picture of the combination of the two should not be too beautiful.

"Is this the bankrupt 23+24 combination?" Liu Ren thought maliciously.

The Lakers' reinforcements are still continuing. Among their summer league teams, there are two first-round picks in recent years. One of them is Wesley Johnson, a small forward who played in the Suns last year and the No. 2010 pick of the Kings in 5. He has the strength close to the NBA starter, took the initiative to participate in the Lakers Summer League, and reached a two-year 190 million contract with the Lakers.

Wesley Johnson's strength has always been good, but unfortunately when he entered the NBA, he was too old and had little room for improvement. He has no place in a team like the Kings that needs to hoard talents, and the Suns have no place for him.He got offers from other teams, but he chose to return to Los Angeles to prop up the collapsing Lakers.

The other was also a first-round pick in 2010, named Xavier Henry, the number one player at home and abroad, and was selected by the Grizzlies with the 12th overall pick.Unlike Wesley Johnson, he didn't play out, not because the team had no position, and he was very young. He was 19 years old when he was selected. Whether it is in the Grizzlies or the Hornets, the team is willing to train.

But Henry is a serious glass man. He has explosive jumping, top-notch speed, and skilled skills, but his body is not resistant to grass.

The Lakers are willing to gamble on him and also sign him with a two-year minimum salary.

After signing two people in a row, the Lakers continued to strengthen. After studying many videos of Antetokounmpo Antetokounmpo playing in Europe with D'Antoni, Kupchak made a decision and submitted a trade application to the Bucks.

At this time, the Bucks did not see the potential of Antetokounmpo. In this young year of the super draft, even the No. 15 pick was only positioned as a qualified starter, a [-]th pick that did not even enter the lottery. They randomly selected someone from the list provided by the scouts.

However, Bucks general manager John Hammond wanted to take advantage of it, and after bargaining with the Lakers, they reached an agreement.

The Lakers sent Jody Meeks, Ryan Kelly, their own 2014 second-round pick and the Rockets' 2014 second-round pick to the Bucks rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo.

People think this transaction is quite satisfactory. The Lakers have signed many young perimeter players. It is necessary to exchange Meeks for a frontcourt player to reinforce the frontcourt that has lost Jamison and Howard.

Fast forward to mid-September, two weeks before the start of the training camp, the Lakers players began to return one by one, Liu Ren invited three old teammates Thackeray, Gasol, and Jordan Hill to go together His family got together once, and among the Lakers players from last season, there are only four of them, plus Kobe, whose tendon has healed and started to recover.

After Kobe's tendon injury fully recovered, Gary Vidi was taken away by Kupchak to take care of Kobe. Liu Ren could only train by himself. Fortunately, he got used to the gradual weight gain every day. Treat boring things as fun, and it will not be boring.

The Lakers are suddenly young to the limit. Except for Kobe, Nash, Gasol, and Farmar, everyone else was born after 89, a group of 22 and 23-year-old freshmen.

Most of the young people had a bad life before, but now they are very motivated in the new environment and want to prove themselves.

In the beginning, Baibian Whiteside joined Liu Ren's training and asked Gary Viddy to guide him to train together.

Gary Viddy is a very good trainer throughout the NBA and has a great reputation. When Whiteside played in the NBL, he played less games and usually trained less, mainly due to environmental issues.

What Whiteside doesn't understand is why some Chinese players who are very talented in his eyes don't like training at all, and would rather play with a beer belly. Can they play well?

However, Whiteside felt that the training in China was very unprofessional. He turned back and ran and squatted at every turn. Whiteside thought it was murder, especially for a center like him.

Everything is unprofessional, this is what Whiteside learned about Chinese basketball playing in the NBL.

Liu Ren was very excited to join Whiteside in the training. Not surprisingly, this big man is the future pillar of the Lakers. He is still a defensive type and will not compete with him for the shot. He is very beautiful...

(End of this chapter)