16.6 million in 2 years! 11 million in 2 years! The Lakers 14-man roster is released, and James accepts reality

The NBA is one of the most successful sports business leagues in the world. With the 2011-year, US$77 billion TV broadcast contract, players' salaries have risen, and it has become the norm for teams to spend money to win the championship, but the new version of the labor-capital agreement is extremely strict, and the window period for the championship will not be open forever. Take the defending champion Thunder for example. They were a non-luxury tax team last season, but they had to give the big three Alexander (4-year, US$285 million), Jaylenway (5-year, US$287 million) and Holmegren (5-year, US$239 million) this offseason. It can be foreseen that it is only a matter of time before the Thunder’s salary has exploded. If they fail to defend their title, the team’s championship team will inevitably be difficult to maintain.

The champion Celtics crazily broke down the team after Tatum's Achilles tendon ruptured, sending away two meritorious deeds, Holiday and Posses, and it is difficult for Horford to return to the team. This can also tell the defending champion Thunder from the side: competitive sports will succeed and lose the bandit, and the NBA will be a business after all! During this offseason, many teams from the East and West have a careful calculation. They seem to be crazy about signing and encircling the Thunder, but in fact, every transaction and every signing is calculated to the extreme. The teams competing for the championship do not raise idle people, and every penny has to be spent on the blade. The Rockets, Clippers, Nuggets, and Bucks are all like this. In this process, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Western Conference giants, have also been using the principle of "spend small money to do big things" to make strong upgrades and transformations of the lineup.

The Los Angeles Lakers could be described as mixed last season. Fortunately, Luca was aerialized in Los Angeles, and the Lakers achieved a record of 50 wins and 32 losses, ranking third in the West; worryingly, the Lakers were swept out by the Timberwolves Gentleman 1-4 in the first round of the playoffs, and were tragically defeated by the Black Six. This is the first time James and Luca has cooperated. The team's lineup also has serious shortcomings. They don't even have a genuine starting center. In the words of fans, the Lakers' loss to the Timberwolves is not unpopular, but if the Lakers want to build a championship lineup with James and Luca as the core, there is a long way to go. After all, the Warriors have suffered the loss of "winning both in the present and in the future." Before the free agent trading market opened, James quietly decided to implement the player option of 52.63 million US dollars in the last year, which was an uproar! This is the first time James has implemented a player option in his career. If something goes wrong, there will be something wrong. It is most likely that the Lakers refuse to provide James with a satisfactory new contract. After the free agent trading market was opened, the electric fan was poached by the Rockets. The Lakers did not move much, but each move was very targeted. First, the Lakers signed Laravia with a two-year, $12 million contract; then, after Ayton was bought out by the Trail Blazers, the Lakers brought his No. 1 talent to Los Angeles with a two-year, $16.6 million contract; finally, after Smart was bought out by the Wizards, the Lakers signed him with a two-year, $11 million contract!

The Lakers signed three players with 3 bargain contracts, not like a giant, but they were playing a big game. Lakers' team reporter Dan Woike pointed out incisively: Luca has expressed his need for a pie-type center, outside projection resources and defensive support, and the Lakers' response to this is to sign Ayton, Laravia and Smart to fill Luca's needs. The implication is that the Lakers' series of operations are all about building a more competitive team around Luca, and what they lack will be made up for! There is another detail that can also prove this: Laravia, Ayton and Smart signed 1+1 contracts. In this way, when James' last contract is executed, the Lakers will have a huge salary space to ensure flexibility.

As of now, the Lakers' 14-man lineup roster is released, as follows: back line - Luca + Smart + Reeves + Vincent + Brownie; forward line - James + Hachimura + Laravia + Van derbiao + Kleber + Kneckett + Thiero; center - Ayton + Hays. Compared with myself last season, the Lakers' lineup has indeed improved to a certain extent; but compared with competitors Thunder, Nuggets, Rockets, and Clippers, the Lakers' lineup may still not be enough to break out of the West! NBA executives pointed out incisively: James is a wrong decision to implement the player option, and if he jumps out of his contract and returns to his hometown team, the Cavaliers, may be able to return to the finals.

This is Lao Zhan’s own choice. No matter how hard or difficult it is, he must persist. According to Lakers' team reporter Dan Woike, Pharaoh and Reeves will have a complete training camp to learn how to cooperate with Luca. Lao Zhan himself also said in a podcast program: Don’t take shortcuts, the results of enjoying the process will be more wonderful! Rather than saying that James chose to lie down, it is better to say that James accepted the reality: no one can be young forever, the NBA will eventually belong to the young man, and handing over the Lakers' torch to Luca is the last decent situation in the new season! Fans, what do you think about this? Let me leave me a comment and discuss it.