In the 20-21 season, Russell's personal effectiveness value (PER) was 17.6;
21-22 season, value 16.3;
22-23 season, value 16.3;
In the 23-24 season, the value was 16.0.
In season 23-24, he tied with DiVincenzo, Monk and Naz· Reid for 83rd in the league and 15th in the same position.
By the very least, Russell is one of the 20 best point guards in the league today. But the Lakers give people the feeling that they can't wait to kick them away.
In fact, as early as Russell, before Russell decided whether to exercise the player option, Lakers management said that even if the option was exercised, it would be traded.
Yes!
If it weren't for the Warriors' reluctance to take over, Russell would have teamed up Curry for a second time in Klay's signing.
In the regular season of the 23-24 season, Russell averaged 18+6 per game, of which the Lakers were second only to James in scoring and second only to James in assists.
So the question is, both the basic and high-level data are relatively good, why don't the Lakers want to keep Russell at all? My understanding of this lies in two ways.
Aspect 1: Features.
So far in his NBA career, Russell has shot 46.5% of three-point shots, including 53.5% in the 21-22 season when he was still with the Timberwolves.
Obviously, Russell on the offensive end is dominated by three-point shooting. In terms of efficiency, the three-point rate is 36.9%, and the average is 2.6 shots per game.
On the plus side, a 63.1 percent three-point shooting power means Curry's three-point shooting ability; On the bad side, it lacks the top shot that a top shooter should have.
Take the second point, for example.
(1) When the defender is 0-2 feet away, there is no three-point shot;
(2) When the defender is 2-4 feet away, he makes 0.3 of 1.0 three-point shots.
It can be seen from the data that first, Russell has few three-point shots; Second, the efficiency is not high. Impact:
First, because the three-point is the main means of finishing for individuals, the existence of bias will inevitably affect efficiency. To a large extent, that's why Russell's offensive efficiency plummets once defensive intensity comes up or in the playoffs. At the end of the day, who's going to give you as many comfortable shots as you did in the regular season.
Speaking of which, we have to mention Paul ·.
At 47.6 percent, three-point shooting is also George's primary finishing method, with the difference that the defender still retains 36.5% and 34.2% three-point percentage when the defender is in a 2-4 foot close defense and a 0-2 foot top defense.
In other words, the main scoring means can still guarantee the output after the defensive intensity comes up, which is largely the main reason why the 76ers can take a big contract of 210 million this summer.
Second, the three points do not have the ability to shoot at the top, and to a large extent, they cannot share the pressure for Zhan Mei. In the '23-24 season, 59.4 percent of the shots were made by defenders within 4 feet, and James was 52.6 percent.
Obviously, more than half of Zhan Mei's shots were still completed under high-intensity defense. Potentially, the presence of Russell as a shooter is an unqualified existence. It's no wonder that if you don't have the ability to shoot top, you can't talk about pinning down defenders to a large extent.
Speaking of which, Clay has to be mentioned.
When the defender is at 0-2 feet and 2-4 feet, Klay has a 33 percent and 39.5 percent three-point percentage, respectively. With top investment and strong investment, it is not difficult why the Lakers are willing to give Klay a 4-year 80 million contract. It's just that the latter chose the Lone Ranger.
Aspect 2: Contracts.
Accompanied by the Bulls trading Caruso, DeRozan; Jazz openly peddling Markkanen; The Hawks traded Murray and others, and the number of teams that were bad in the new season is increasing.
Expiring contracts are arguably attractive for rebuilding the team when they have an unbundled effect, with the exception of Russell, who is openly peddled but never cared for.
Leave aside the value of the transaction.
Considering that James Mei is unlikely to be traded, Reaves will not make a move except for supergiants, and players such as Vincent and Vanderbilt are either not worth much or have a base salary, then the only way to strengthen is to trade Russell.
To sum up, the reason why the Lakers don't want to keep Russell at all is mainly due to the following two points:
First, the three-point point is a clear bias in the main finishing mode;
Second, expiring contracts.
Relatively speaking, the first point is the main reason, or that sentence, if they have the ability to shoot three-point tops like George and Klay, the Lakers will definitely not consider trading. After all, this is a powerful instant combat force and a large part of the pressure to share Zhan Mei's pressure.
To make a comparison:
The reason why Reaves is largely not for sale for the Lakers is that he has shown the ability to play tough games in the series against the Nuggets for two consecutive seasons.
Taking a step back, expiring contracts have played a role in facilitating it. As it stands, it's clear that Russell won't stay with the Lakers when his contract expires — rather than get nothing at that time, it's better to trade out now and get some chips back.