In the NBA, players always choose where they fit, and if a free agent wants to join a team, the first thing he probably thinks about is whether the team can win or how much the team will pay me and what my future holds. If neither of these two aspects is accounted for, maybe this player will not join, which is also the main reason why many weak teams can't sign stars in small ball markets, because people don't want to come at all.
And there was a strange thing in this offseason, generally speaking, it is easy for a big ball city like the Lakers to win stars, but they were rejected one after another, first the team chased Klay, and as a result, Klay gave up the Lakers' 4-year 80 million and chose to join the Mavericks, and then the Lakers broke out that they chased Hield, and as a result, Hield took a pay cut to join the Warriors and did not come to the Lakers. In a recent interview, DeRozan talked about the Lakers who also pursued him, but he did not join.
I think the reason why the Lakers are not attractive now is due to the operation of the team, James and thick eyebrows still have good abilities, which has been proven last season, but they have a lot of premium contracts, and it is difficult to trade in exchange for the right immediate combat power, in addition, the team has also introduced a rookie coach, in this case, it is difficult to win more games or win more games, and if you join the Lakers, it is okay to play well, and if you don't play well, you have to take the blame, so many stars don't want to come.
Klay rejected the Lakers because he thought the Mavericks could win a championship, and the Mavericks made it to the Western Conference finals last season and looked like they did have a good chance of winning the championship in the new season. Hield joined the Warriors in the hope of playing better stats, after all, his style of play is similar to Klay's, and he can replace Klay's tactical position in the team. I think there are two reasons why DeRozan didn't want to join, the first is what he said, he sees a winning prospect for the Kings.
Although the Kings did not make the playoffs last season, it was mainly because of Monk's injury at the end of the regular season that caused them to fall all the way from sixth in the West to the Western Conference play-offs, and finally lost to the Pelicans, and in 22-23 last season the Kings were the third team in the West, their stars are younger and healthier, and it does seem that they have a better chance of winning more. The second reason is that the Lakers gave up Azan for the sake of Wei Shao, and Azan has always been dissatisfied with this.
The Kings can win DeRozan is indeed too profitable for them, first of all, DeRozan's positioning can adapt well to the King's system, he plays the No. 3 position, and the position does not conflict with Fox and Sabonis, Azan's offensive ability is much better than the previous Barnes, he has the ability to hold the ball and play alone that Barnes does not have, especially Azan's mid-distance, one of the strongest middle-distance masters in the current service, and he is still very good at playing critical moments.
Everyone knows that Monk and Fox are very strong in key moments when Kentucky plays two shots, and now the Kings have changed from double insurance to three insurance, DeRozan's key ball is stronger, and now Azan is no longer a garbage brother, he almost won the title of the league's best key player last season, it is worth mentioning that in the past 5 years, the player who scored the most points in the last quarter of the league was DeRozan, and Azan is the real king of the last quarter.
Although he is 35 years old, DeRozan's health and condition are maintained very well, a player like him who has a technical flow has not consumed much of his body before, so he can also maintain his peak for a long time, at least in the next 2 years I think as long as there is no major injury, he will still have the level of a top star, and Azan's attendance rate is also extremely high, he can be described as an iron man, the best thing about a technical flow player is that he is healthy enough, DeRozan has only missed 15 games in the past 3 years, There's not a season where you have played less than 74 games, which is amazing.
In the offseason, the Kings signed Azan with a 3-year 76 million contract, so the Kings are not at a loss, with DeRozan's performance last season, he took a 3-year 100 million contract is more than enough, after all, attendance and performance are well guaranteed, in last season DeRozan averaged 24 points, 4.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game, with a shooting rate of 48%, his offense can ignore the offensive environment, that is, the middle distance, you know how he plays, but there is still no way.
"I've thought about Philadelphia before, Philadelphia is definitely an option, the Lakers are an option, the Clippers are an option, and the Heat, these are all teams that I've really considered, and they're interested in me, but realistically, I want to earn respect, I want to be a competitor, to be a winner, not to make a lot of money, and I want to be respected when I step on the court," you can see that DeRozan doesn't just want to win, he wants more tactical positions.
Speaking of which, what do you have to say about the current DeRozan and the King? Welcome to leave a message to discuss.