NBA: Who did the good deed? Neither of them could survive in the Eastern Conference, but now they are placed in the Western Conference

The new NBA regular season has begun for some time. The current situation in the Western Conference is:

The Thunder stand out, followed by the Spurs, Nuggets, Lakers, Rockets and other teams, followed by the Pelicans, Mavericks, Kings, and Clippers.

Here, the Pelicans are already in ruins, the Mavericks are due to injuries, and the Clippers are due to aging. They have at least won in the playoffs before, but the Kings are a regular at the bottom of the Western Conference. The last time they won in the playoffs may have been more than 20 years ago.

So, who is in the Kings’ lineup?

In addition to Sabonis and Westbrook, who are familiar to fans, the Kings actually have two outside stars-DeRozan and Zach LaVine. Yes, these are the two Kobe Bryant disciples, and they are working together again.

However, their career and team leadership abilities are inherently controversial. LaVine was not even the core of the team during the Timberwolves period, and his role was far lower than his on-court statistics. DeRozan was one of the garbage brothers during the Raptors period. Although the Raptors had a good record in the regular season, they always fell behind in the playoffs.

Coincidentally, after DeRozan left the Raptors and was replaced by Leonard, the Raptors immediately won the first championship in team history.

In this way, two players whose leadership abilities have not yet been proven collaborated together for the first time in the Bulls!

In August 2021, DeRozan was traded from the Spurs to the Bulls. Together with LaVine, who joined the Bulls in 2017, they formed a dual-core outside team. The two parties worked together with the Bulls for 3 seasons. They only made the playoffs once and were eliminated in the first round.

Both are strong in offense and weak in defense. Both lack the ability to prove themselves at critical moments, and their desire to win is not that strong. In the relatively weak Eastern Conference, their inability to lead the team further shows their leadership ability.

In July 2024, DeRozan was signed and then traded to the Kings. However, with the Kings, DeRozan once again missed the playoffs.

Interestingly, in the middle of the season, the Kings also traded LaVine from the Bulls! I don’t know what the king thinks.

DeRozan + LaVine + Vucevic cannot even make the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference. Is it possible to expect DeRozan + LaVine + Sabonis to make progress in the Western Conference?

It must be said that there is a reason why the king has been so bad for so many years.

With a powerful management team, the players they trade can match each other and produce chemical reactions, thereby achieving a qualitative leap. For example, the Lakers traded for Gasol, and the Spurs traded for Diaw, etc.

Conventional management and trading players are at least unknown. There may be a chemical reaction or failure, but at least there is hope.

Weird management, trading players, others will fail at a glance. For example, with the Kings, DeRozan + any star may succeed, but DeRozan + LaVine has proven that it won't work, and the Kings are still trading.

Of course, the Lakers traded Westbrook. The whole world knew that Westbrook and James were incompatible, but the Lakers had to trade.

I have to say that if we think about winning, then DeRozan and LaVine will undoubtedly fail and suffer.

But from another perspective, if they were just playing basketball, if they were just making money, then DeRozan and LaVine would still be successful, but it would just be a pain for Kings fans.