A new season of sports
There is one of the more controversial topics these days, and that is trading James.
The reason for the incident was that a reporter broke the news that the Lakers had the idea of trading James, and the reporter had accurately revealed James' key decisions many times before.
At this time, some people asked, will the Lakers really trade James?
In addition, during this time, James posted an hourglass symbol on social **, as if to say: "There is not much time left for the Lakers." "But actually, unless the owner of the team is crazy, the general manager would not dare to have this idea. In NBA history, few top supergiants have been sent away by teams. These top supergiants basically have 'death-free gold medals'. As the so-called 'signature star', in addition to the star, it is the signboard. In addition to this, top stars are also the basis of the team's operations. For example, the general manager of the Lakers, now Pelinka. The meaning of Pelinka's existence is based on James playing for the Lakers. At least until James retires, Pelinka may be fired, but the Lakers won't let James go.
The NBA is a commercial league, so to speak, and the Lakers won't let James go to another team until they've 'squeezed' the last shred of his value. James is a key factor in the Lakers' ticket sales right now, and unless he really can't play on the court and is really reduced to a fringe player, the Lakers won't change the way the team operates. For a star of James' level, there is basically no time when he can't play at all, so the Lakers naturally won't have any idea of sending James away. But we can't deny that James is more tired this season than any past season. On the surface, James is indeed healthier, having played 45 games so far this season, resting only six and never missing in a row.
Since winning the championship in 2020, James has missed 20, 8 and 13 games in a row, and has never played a full 60 games in the past three years. The reason why James seems healthier now is that he has begun to allocate his physical strength in a planned way, even for some games, and has a planned choice to go all out or let it go. Today, for example, the Lakers defeated the Knicks 113-105 at Madison Square Garden. This is a key game for James and the Lakers, and it must be won. And the last time he was absent with Davis, the game against the Celtics was obviously going to be released, but unexpectedly, the rest of the Lakers won the game in one go.
Some people may want to say that Boston is also a big-ball city, and the Celtics have the first record in the league, so why should they rest against the Celtics and play against the Knicks? The reason is simple, the Celtics and Knicks are both strong teams, and they are both away from home, so there is no need to play at such a high intensity for two consecutive games. Madison Square Garden, on the other hand, has always been a place of great aspiration, and winning here is a morale-boosting experience. What's more, during this time, the Knicks have won nine consecutive wins, but the core Randle and Anunoby have missed three consecutive games, and today only Brunson led the team, and the interior line is still relatively weak, so it is a good opportunity for the Lakers.
As he got older, James couldn't play an entire season at full strength, and this was a change that had to be made. Although James' physical fitness is historic, it is impossible to be full at this age. The purpose is to avoid a tragedy like Embiid, who is at his peak, is a continuous high-intensity game, resulting in an injury to the meniscus. One might ask, why can the rest of the Lakers players stay on the line? The reasons are simple, one is young, and the other is that role players take on a lot less pressure than the core. Reaves, for example, is to share the pressure of dominating the ball for James. Prince, for example, is to defend as much as possible, as well as spot shooting.
For example, Davis, although he is one of the core of the Lakers, what he has to do is to defend the restricted area, grab rebounds and help the team launch a fast break. After these are done, there is no need for Davis to even turn over the sea on the offensive end, otherwise his body will not be able to hold up. That was the case against the Knicks today, grabbing 18 rebounds and back-to-back blocks at the end. On the offensive end, even if he faced Harden, Davis didn't take the initiative to play, and if it wasn't for the final tactical free throw, Davis might not have scored in double digits. What the Lakers have to do now is to avoid core injuries due to fatigue. Because if the Lakers want to make a trade, they don't have much capital, and they still have to rely on Zhan Mei in the end.
As for whether the Lakers will trade James, they certainly know better than anyone else.