(Translator’s note: The author of this article is the well-known American media TA reporter Zach Harper, the content of this article does not represent the translator and the platform’s views)
We have been waiting for the NBA trade deadline this season to officially open. What we didn’t expect is that the Lakers will shoot the first shot. About two and a half weeks before the deadline of February 10, the Lakers and Wizards took the first step. In 2019, the No. 9 show eight village of the draft conference will go to Los Angeles, while the Wizards will get naen and three rounds of signing.
The Lakers’ intention is very clear. They just want to upgrade the attack line. While Wizards are more like trying to relieve salary pressure. This seems to be a deal without a clear loser or winner? Now let’s take out the judgment pen and give a rating to both parties involved in this transaction.
Lakers get: eight villages
Transaction rating: C +
The Lakers are undoubtedly upgrading their lineup. Naen is not even a really painful chip for the Zijin Legion. There is no doubt about the outstanding talent of the eight villages, but now there are several issues to consider about this deal.
Is this the position that the Lakers need to reinforce?
Anthony Davis’s health risks make the strike line always a place for the Lakers to pay attention. Thomas Bryant is in a state of explosion recently. The Lakers seem to have won the number five position they dream of, which means that heavy eyebrows can play number four more after returning, which can protect his health to the greatest extent. Eight villages and Bryant once fought side by side in the Wizards, and there was a considerable degree of tacit understanding between them. For the Wizards, their combination is not so perfect. In the rookie season of the eight villages, when he played with Bryant, the Wizards lost 1.2 points in 100 rounds, but to be honest, for the rookie, this result is definitely not bad.
The Lakers have Gabriel (the playing time is relatively stable) and Toscano-Anderson in the fourth place. Replacing them with eight villages is definitely an upgrade. However, health problems appeared again. In the past three and a half seasons, the eight villages missed 95 games in total. If the eight villages, James and Davis can keep healthy, the attack power of the Lakers will be daunting.
How good is the eight villages?
This is actually the real issues worthy of concern. How much help can the eight village team bring to the Lakers? We all know that he is good at scoring, because he has been doing that all the time. Up to now, eight villages can get almost 17 points every 36 minutes in their career. He is an excellent pitcher, has the ability to score in the basket, and also has a pretty shot. Last season, the three-point accuracy of the eight villages suddenly soared (44.7%), but this season dropped to 34%, and the three-point performance in the rest of his career was not excellent, so it remains to be seen how much help he can bring to the Lakers outside.
The eight villages are obviously not a very good defender, and it is unrealistic to expect him to make the Lakers’ defense take another floor. But Yogueta can use scoring to help the Lakers, who are currently the 19th in the league, rise to a certain position in the upper half of the league. This deal in Los Angeles is very meaningful.
Must the Lakers renew their contract with the eight villages? What exactly did they pay for the deal?
Different from our impression all along, the Lakers’ trading assets are actually not that bad. They have a lot of rounds of signing in their hands. The Bull’s second round sign sent by them this time is likely to fall in the order of 31-45, and the other two round sign positions are similar. Although people have always believed that the second round signing has little value (the value of the second round signing has increased a lot in the past ten years), due to several reasons, the second round of signing is obviously not as worthless as many people say.
First of all, although the probability is not high, you can sign a player who can make a significant contribution to the team at a super low price with a round sign, such as Raymond Green, it must be impossible for this kind of thing to happen again in the future. Well, in fact, it is impossible to pick up leaks and pursue dreams. In addition, the second round signing has always been a very effective trading chip. If you take a large number of second round signing, some transactions can be reached.
The Lakers sent out three rounds of signing in order to get the eight villages, which meant that Pelinka was indeed willing to pay some future for the Japanese teenager to some extent. This makes us believe that the Lakers must have plans to renew their contract this summer. After the end of this season, the rookie contract of the eight villages will expire and he will become a restricted free agent, the qualification quotation is about $8.4 million. But obviously, the qualification quotation is not enough to persuade him to stay in Los Angeles. No one knows what price the eight villages will expect from the free market after half a year of effectiveness. If the Lakers can’t finish the renewal with the eight villages, to be honest, losing three future rounds of signing is not a huge loss. Moreover, the Lakers have the initiative to renew the contract. What the Lakers need to do now is to use their own system to release the potential of the eight villages.
The final judgment on this deal ultimately depends on what kind of contract the eight villages will sign with the Lakers.
The Wizard got: Nunn, three rounds of signing — 2023 (bull), in 2028 (the second round sign sent by the wizard to the Lakers in the weishao trade and the lower one in the Lakers’ own second round sign) and the second round sign in 2029 (the Lakers).
Transaction rating: C
Last fall, after repeated pulling, Wizards finally failed to persuade eight villages to sign the contract extension. Therefore, the eight villages were actually traded with a warning at that time. Kuzma has performed well this season and has stabilized his position in Washington and firmly occupied a lot of playing time. Eight villages had to go to other positions to find their own roles. For him, unfortunately, Porzingis and Jiafu DE＆E were very in tune, so far, Qicai has decided that there is no need to let the eight villages stay until summer.
If the Wizards confirm that the reasonable price in their hearts can no longer persuade the eight villages to renew the contract, then instead of breaking up now, they will shift their energy and salary space to the higher priority goal-renew the contract Kuzma, it is a very normal decision. Kuzma will undoubtedly get a high salary this summer. When the Wizards identify a player, they will never give a big contract. Breaking up with eight villages now can make their summer plans clearer.
After several rounds of negotiations with the Lakers, Washington finally got three rounds of signing. Indeed, the eight villages were selected by them on the 9th of the first round. From a certain point of view, the genius actually changed three rounds with a first round sign. However, if no one in the market is willing to pay for the first round to get the eight villages, but there is no problem to firmly grasp the visible opportunities, three rounds of signing are also quite good gains.
Nunn’s contract will also expire after the end of this season. Maybe he can provide some decent depth for the rear of the Wizards during the rest of this season. However, there is a high probability that the Wizards will lose Nunn this summer, and then try their luck with the 23-year round sign from the bull.
Original: Zach Harper
Compilation: Best 15th person
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