The last big fish! The Lakers poached DeRo in favor of the key to the championship, and the name: he was on the list of James Royal's salary cuts

Li Xilin's basketball lore

2024-07-02 17:05Creators in the field of sports

The Lakers' thinking of several signings have all finalized new contracts, and none of them have come to the Lakers. The free agent market opened for two days, and I saw that the Western giants have brought in reinforcements to strengthen the roster. The Lakers have nothing but renewing Christie's contract. James is willing to take a pay cut if the Lakers can bring in influential players, but Harden renews his contract with the Clippers, Valanciunas goes to the Wizards, Paul joins the Spurs, and in the end, Thompson would rather choose a lower annual salary to go to the Mavericks.

What else can the Lakers do? Obviously, the Lakers' current roster will not be able to break through from the West, and may even be able to play in the play-offs like last season, let alone the championship?

The last big fish left in the current free agent market is DeRozan. Back in the summer of 2021, the Lakers were interested in DeRozan, but then the Lakers chose to bring in Westbrook, and DeRozan went to the Bulls.

DeRozan was re-named an All-Star with the Bulls. Over the past three seasons, DeRozan has been consistent and has a high percentage of appearances, playing 76, 74 and 79 games respectively, and he is healthy. In the 2023-24 season, DeRozan averaged 24.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 48.0% from the field, 33.3% from three-point range, and 85.3% from the free throw line.

DeRozan was in better form than Thompson last season. If DeRozan can be introduced, it may have a better effect than the introduction of Tang Shen. DeRozan may not be good at three-point shooting, but he has excellent mid-range shooting and is one of the best mid-range shooters in the league. DeRozan can play off-ball offense, and the defense is at a mid-table level and won't be a hole.

If the Lakers can get DeRozan, they will undoubtedly create a Big Three, and he can share a lot of offensive pressure on James and the thick eyebrows.

Chris Haynes broke the news that the Lakers approached DeRozan's agent. "The Lakers missed out on Thompson, and the Lakers felt they had a chance to get Thompson, but now they have to turn," he said on the show. So who is still the right choice? James is looking for a star-caliber player for the upcoming season, and DeRozan is the biggest free agent at the moment. The Lakers want to get DeRozan either by signing or creatively clearing out salary space. I know there was communication between the Lakers and Goodwin, DeRozan's agent. They either sign a one-year contract or sign a three-year contract in exchange. ”

Another journalist, Windshorst, said: "I think there's more than three [on the list], and I think DeRozan is among them, maybe there's another name." It was previously revealed that James was willing to take pay cuts for Harden, Valanciunas and Thompson.

DeRozan has also decided to leave. Bulls reporter Joe Cowley revealed that the Russo trade was the "last straw" for DeRozan's decision to leave the team, and he will sign with another team as a free agent. When Caruso was traded for Giddey, DeRozan realized he wasn't in the Bulls' plans and he didn't want to play for the Bulls anymore.

For the Lakers, if they can't get DeRozan, then this offseason can only be repaired and can't affect the pattern.

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