LeBlanc celebrated his 38th birthday. So far this season, he has contributed 28.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6.6 assists, 1.0 steals; Ten years ago, in the 2012-13 season, 28-year-old LeBlanc averaged 26.8 points 8.0 rebounds 7.3 assists-ten years of flick, you will be surprised to find that LeBlanc’s stability has exceeded the time, the 38-year-old man even scored more than ten years ago.
LeBlanc’s salary this season is 44.47 million dollars, ranking third among all players. He handed over this salary: the 8th average score of the league, he is the only player over 35 years old in the top 20 in the scoring list; He has 8.1 rebounds in the game, ranking 30th in the league. Among these 30 players, only East Chech, Hart and LeBlanc are not pure insider; the average assists were 6.6 times in the game, ranking 16th in the league. Everything was fair. The 38-year-old top star was still online.
LeBlanc’s career averaged 27.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 38th birthday averaged 28.5 points, 8.1 boards, 6.6 assists. His performance this season is worthy of his salary, still playing the peak performance that meets the average level of your career, you can’t ask a 38-year-old veteran to do more.
Heavy eyebrows suffered stress injury on the right foot, and their return was uncertain. LeBlanc carried the Lakers forward with 30 + performances for 7 consecutive games. He scored 32.1 points in nearly 9 games. He had already scored the top three points in the league, but the situation of the team was difficult to say: the Lakers have 14 wins and 21 losses, ranking third from the bottom in the West. The Lakers who are determined to compete for the Championship are in the same echelon as the Thunder, Rockets and Spurs of Wen Banya Ma, what is worse for the Lakers is that Pelicans still have the right to exchange the first round draft in 2023.
Internal and external troubles make it difficult to step forward. Leblanc at this age is the most helpless.
The Lakers have suffered injuries for three consecutive years since winning the championship, especially the core eyebrow injury has seriously weakened the Lakers’ combat power. They are out in the first round of a year and have no chance to play in a year. This year’s prospect is even less optimistic.
LeBlanc said in an interview after the Lakers lost to the heat: “From the perspective of the team, I can play at this level at present and do not want to end my career. I still want to compete for the championship. If the squad is appropriate, I know that I can bring the proper performance to any team.”
LeBlanc reached a two-year 97.1 million-year advance renewal contract with the Lakers during the off-season this year. This contract restricted James from being able to be traded within six months of signing the contract, and the trading qualification could not be unlocked until February 18, 2023, the trading deadline is February 9, which determines that LeBlanc cannot be traded this season, and it is more about expressing personal dissatisfaction with the current situation.
The data and performance of LeBlanc’s season to date are obvious to all. The contradiction is that his performance does not match the current lineup of the Lakers, and the combination of the two cannot win the championship.
The status quo of the Lakers is clear at a glance: the majority of defenders are short and small in size, and the defense resources are limited. The Lakers hit 10.4 three-point goals on average, ranking 28th in the league and three-point shot percentage 33.9 percent in the league on average, the projection ability is insufficient, and role players can’t open up offensive space for the stars-even if the Lakers send up the four-guard team and fill up their space, they still can’t get into the defense, the construction and use of the entire rosters are deformed.
The advantage of LeBlanc is that the body of the tank holds the ball and the singles break out, but the current configuration of the Lakers cannot maximize LeBlanc’s threat.
He averaged 25.3 points and 10.2 assists in the regular season when the Lakers won the championship, with the passing level of the league’s champion. At that time, the Lakers also had Danny Green, pop, Caruso and Kuzma; 18 Zhan’s playoff game averaged 34 points 9.1 Board 9.0 help, he has loafers, JR-Smith, George-Hill, Corwall, Jeff-Green, Clarkson, Calderon and so on, with a group of shooters beside him, the opponent did not dare to attack him without scruple.
Now, even if LeBlanc played the center with four defenders, Schroeder, wistor and Beverly were all strategically released. LeBlanc could attract the attack, but the periphery could not reach three points.
“If the squad is right, I know I can bring the performance I deserve to any team.” The implication is that the current squad of the Lakers is really inappropriate. Even if the strong eyebrows are healthy, the opponents can still beat Zhan Mei unscrupulously, it is clear that the threat of bullying others is limited, and the Lakers’ lineup construction does not conform to the trend of the small ball era.
The way for the Lakers to break the game is only trade. The picks in 2027 and 2029 are the only picks for the Lakers in the next seven years. The Lakers are also eager for a deal to change the situation, but they have no market at a price and stay put.
What the Lakers really need is not a star like Bill or Lavin. Even if they get another star, they cannot fundamentally solve the problems of the Lakers’ defense, projection and frequent injuries of heavy eyebrows, what the Lakers really need is a set of relatively reasonable competition lineup-a set of reliable lineup with defense, three points and meat shield formed around Zhan Mei, which is reasonably stable and infinitely close to the 2020 championship lineup.
When the contracts of players such as Ming Xia weishao, Beverly and Nunn expired, the Lakers were able to reorganize the competition team around Zhan Mei, completely releasing the salary space, and at the same time leaving the selection rights in 2027and 2029for major transactions to reinforce, this is obviously the most reasonable way for the Lakers to build a team in the future. The price is to sacrifice this season and waste the peak state of LeBlanc this year.
The heavy eyebrow injury makes the prospect of the Lakers this season less optimistic, that is, using the only two first rounds to trade, the Lakers can not ensure that they will win the four rounds of the series 100%.
After all, healthy warriors, Clippers, nuggets, and the hard power of the Sun are there. The rising pelicans, Grizzlies, and lone warriors are not good. The eastern Bucks, Green Army, basketable nets, 76 people have the strength to compete for the championship-sending off the two first rounds may be beaten this season. The difficulty of winning the championship is actually the most realistic issue that the lakers have to consider whether to trade this season.
In the winning season, the salary structure of the Lakers was relatively reasonable. Zhan Mei’s two big contracts were matched with the contracts of Danny Green, pop and others, with zero overall and relatively flexible; After the transaction got weishao, the three giants completely locked the salary space, which determined that the Lakers could only build teams by fighting, gathering, pandering and picking up for two consecutive years.
The wrong decision of the Lakers to introduce Wei Shao not only completely locked the team’s salary space, but also hurt Wei Shao. Both sides did not gain more than they lost, the decision to form the Big Three also made the Lakers’s lineup completely deformed for two consecutive years.
From the perspective of the management of the Lakers, the team has the confidence of trial and error: The Lakers got a strong eyebrow in the shuttle deal, and the Zhan Mei team has already won a championship, even if it has not made any achievements for three consecutive years, the results in this four-year cycle are even more successful. Mingxia weishao, Beverly and Nunn have more than 65 million expired contracts in total. The Lakers can reorganize their lineup around Zhan Mei and start a new sweet cycle of winning the championship again.
If we only look at the last three years, the Lakers will undoubtedly fail; But with a championship, the boss Jenny buss and Pelinka’s work in the past four years can be summarized as concealing their shortcomings, the Lakers just lost their injuries and luck for three consecutive years, “one crown covers the ugliness”.
Although there are differences between the current situation of the Lakers and the individual demands of Le Blanc for the championship, it is not a crack that is difficult to repair.
After all, LeBlanc has four championships + 4FMVP. He has brought a championship to the Lakers. Pursuing the fifth championship is his natural belief as a professional player, which is understandable. Even if he didn’t have the fifth championship before he retired, the top score in history and the first person in history of “4+1+1” can add icing on the cake to his personal career.
The Lakers now have two first-round signing as a reinforcement hope. They can reorganize the lineup in the next summer. The Lakers have cards and hopes for the future championship of LeBlanc. Ten thousand steps back, as long as LeBlanc can play in a healthy way, the accumulated honor of personal data, the hope of winning the championship, and the future of the competition between father and son on the same stage will follow.
Although the Lakers are suffering now, fortunately, they can reshuffle next summer.
Old and strong, will you move your head? Poverty and strength will not fall into the spirit of youth. LeBlanc is still racing against the years at the age of 38, and he can see and cherish it!
(Driver)
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NBA in the eyes of uncle Gao Leng in the driver column