The Most Talked About the Lakers this season is whether the offseason trade to Westbrook's Big Three experiment was successful, and as far as the results shown so far, it is obvious that this is a gamble that does not work, the Lakers traded Westbrook to reduce the burden on Zhan Mei, but Westbrook and James and the unsuitable match caused Westbrook to be difficult to integrate into the lineup, and Vogel is a defensive coach, he prefers to use some well-defended players, Westbrook's defensive habits are not good, which also makes it difficult for him to be reused under Vogel. Instead, DeRozan, who was entangled with the Lakers in the offseason, regained his second spring this season, not only playing the best performance of his career, but also leading the Bulls back into the playoff queue, which also caused many fans to be very frustrated that the Lakers missed DeRozan in the offseason.
At one point in the offseason, the Lakers faced a choice between Buddy Hield, Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan, with the Lakers choosing Westbrook, and LeBron and Davis being involved in that choice to some extent. However, it was revealed that DeRozan, one of the Lakers' reinforcement candidates, has never reached the point of near success, because the Lakers are reluctant to provide him with a three-year contract, which is also his final new contract with the Bulls for 3 years and 81.9 million US dollars. To be honest, at that time, such a choice was indeed not wrong, Westbrook led the team to the playoffs in the Wizards, and once again played the average triple-double data, how to see Westbrook will be the choice to replace James as the team's main ball carrier, and DeRozan in the Spurs Although the data is good, and Popovich has developed a certain organizational ability, but DeRozan's technical characteristics are indeed eliminated by the times.
This season, DeRozan has averaged 28.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, shooting 51.7% from the field and 34.3% from three-point range, ranking fourth in the league in scoring and a new career high. DeRozan is still using the middle distance as the main offensive means, although the three-point shooting rate this season has reached the league average, but he will not try easily until he has to, and his playing style has not changed, but he has polished his skills more delicately in the league for many years. As a 32-year-old veteran, it is not easy for DeRozan to continue to improve, which is what no one could have imagined, DeRozan actually has such an efficient performance this year, at the Spurs he is more of a team organizer, and this year because of the presence of Ball and LaVine his scoring instincts have been released again.
Many people have always felt that the Lakers missed DeRozan is a very regrettable decision, but to know that DeRozan is now in the Bulls, his use rate and round share are the first in the team, 30.7% of the round share is 12th in the league, the one before him is James, and when the Lakers DeRozan will have so much ball rights? Will he still play like this? Obviously impossible, DeRozan and Wei Shao are players who need to hold the ball in hand to play their strength, to the Role of deRozan of the Lakers and Wei Shao are similar, in the no-ball end DeRozan and what kind of performance will be no one knows, so now in the Bulls DeRozan is the best of themselves, come to the Lakers will not necessarily have the current effect, and the Lakers will not necessarily be better than the current lineup, see DeRozan's current performance can only be an afterthought.
And at that time, not only the Lakers team was hesitant to choose DeRozan, but even the Knicks, who were interested in DeRozan, thought that he was close to being eliminated by the league, rather than becoming an All-Star, so DeRozan's performance this year was to justify himself, and he was still one of the best players in the league. Can only say that DeRozan came to a team that can take him as the core, and then gave him a chance, and to the Lakers he can only be the third choice, his performance is likely to be worse than before, at that time, not only the management of the Lakers and Knicks, almost all the teams in the league are cautious about giving DeRozan a maximum salary contract, and the Bulls are right this time, more importantly, the offensive system created by the Bulls is more suitable for DeRozan to play his strengths in it. The Lakers will never let DeRozan be the team's first offensive choice and possession player, and this miss is a blessing for DeRozan.
The Lakers are now better to consider the present than to tangle with the missed stars, especially after Davis was injured again, the Lakers have fallen to the ninth place in the West, and James has to play a large number of team centers after the All-Star Game, there is no gain in the trading market, and there are not many players worth signing in the buyout market now, and the Lakers will usher in the most difficult schedule. We've all seen the impact of Davis's absence on the Lakers, and if the team doesn't change anything, then the Lakers will most likely fall out of the playoffs, and then the Lakers' big three will become the laughing stock of the whole league. Originally, the Lakers should have moved before the trade deadline to change the team lineup, but now everything is impossible, and the only expectation is the recovery of Westbrook in the second half, after all, Westbrook has played a more efficient performance in the second half.
And the Bulls got tristan Thompson to join, the team once again strengthened the weakest link in their lineup, DeRozan played the highest season of his career, and now it is included in the MVP discussion, basketball is how there will always be some miracles, Lakers fans will not see the excellent DeRozan eyes, sometimes the state of the players will be different, DeRozan adapted to the Bulls, and the Lakers may not necessarily be like this. It's just that the Lakers management needs to polish their eyes, choose some players who are suitable for the team lineup, and do things more courageously, after all, James and Davis are increasing in age, and the window for winning the championship will only get smaller and smaller in the future.