The Lakers have no trades, and the Warriors have not yet strengthened! The two overrated teams in the NBA are difficult to enter the playoffs

The NBA has entered a long offseason. This summer, the West has launched a fierce arms race. In addition to the three parties of the Clippers + Nuggets + Rockets, the new season includes the Timberwolves, Mavericks, Spurs, etc., which should not be underestimated. The Timberwolves have entered the Western Conference Final for two consecutive seasons, and have changed from Towns to Randle. It turns out that Edwards' upper limit is not low, but he urgently needs to develop more offensive means, but the team's overall combat power is also the top four levels in the West. The Mavericks won the No. 1 pick Flag, and signed Russell to temporarily replace Irving. With Dark Brow as the core, the Mavericks' lineup is not afraid of any team in the Western Conference. However, the two traditional giants gradually fell into loneliness during the offseason, namely the Lakers and the Warriors, which are difficult to enter the playoffs in the new season.

ESPN ranked in the latest NBA strength list, the top ten Western Conference ranked seven. In this championship rank, the "tail of the crane" are the Warriors and the Lakers, let's start with the Lakers. From the perspective of management, the Lakers have achieved their goals this summer. In order to satisfy Doncic, they signed Laravia + Ayton + Smart. Doncic finally completed a three-year, 165 million maximum salary renewal with the Lakers. Everything is natural. But what was more surprising was that James implemented a player option worth $52.6 million, and James had the right to veto the deal. From the Los Angeles media to the person involved, Pelinka, he actually had a clear attitude towards James and continued to cooperate with James, but only for one year. The Lakers do not plan to renew James' contract. With a new love, they don't need an old love.

In fact, the Lakers' problem has never been an opposition between James and Doncic, nor is the management's reluctance to pay to strengthen the team (the book salary of the Lakers in the new season has exceeded 193 million), but the team's entire lineup is not solid! Theoretically, the Lakers' starting lineup in the new season is: Doncic + Reeves + James + Hachimura + Ayton, and the bench: Vincent + Vanderbilt + Laravia + Smart + Hayes + Kneckett, which is pretty good, but the starting lineup focuses on offense. The substitute players either only have offense or only defense. Among them, those who tend to attack are Knector + Laravia + Vincent, and those who focus on defense are unable to open up space at all. More importantly, the Lakers' defense gate Finney Smith also left directly last season! The best result, just like last season, the Lakers reached the top three in the regular season (the actual record is consistent with the fifth Clippers), but in the playoffs, the weak ring without defense was infinitely magnified. Ayton was a good reinforcement, but not the best option in the center position. In Los Angeles media, ideally, Doncic needs inside players of Gafford, Turner, Kessler, and Ayton is at best a consumable for the Lakers when they transition from James to Doncic. In addition, according to famous reporter Matthew, the market conditions of several Lakers' role players of tens of millions are not good (Vanderbilt 11.57 million + Vincent 11.5 million + Kleber 11 million), and the Lakers are not expected to continue trading before the start of the new season!

This means that the Lakers have no trades throughout the summer and can only wait for Hachimura Shizuo + Vincent + Cleber's contract to expire tomorrow summer is talking! The situation of the Warriors is even more complicated. The Warriors were dragged down by Kumingga throughout the summer, and the final result was actually both sides suffered losses (the Warriors closed all transaction negotiations of Kumingga, and Kumingga spoke through people around him, tending to accept qualification quotes and not wanting to sign a contract friendly to the Warriors). This means that the worst result is: Kumingga will accept the qualification quotation until October 1st! The Warriors don’t have to worry about not being able to fill the lineup. According to the Bay Area media confirmation, the Warriors have basically locked in signing in advance: Horford + Payton Jr. + Curry Jr. + Melton + Brogdon, it’s no problem to gather 15 players.

But the Warriors' problems are even more serious! The three core members of Curry will be 38 years old next season, Butler will be 36 years old soon, and Green will be 36 years old next season! Horford joins to replace Looney, but Horford will be 40 years old next season! The Warriors' entire combat power framework is comparable to the Clippers, too old! But what makes the Warriors worse than the Clippers is that the team does not have a stable second scoring point. If Butler followed the standards of last season and averaged about 17 points per game, Curry would be very tired. Don’t forget that Butler had a conflict with the Heat last season. After a long rest, he immediately reflected his value when he came to the Warriors. But in the playoffs, Butler deteriorated more seriously. There are 82 games in the new season. First of all, I have to pray that Butler will not be injured easily!

And the biggest instability factor in the Warriors' new season is still from Kumingga. Once Kumingga accepts the qualification quotation, it will be difficult for the Warriors to deal with it. If he is not used, the Warriors will lose their combat power in vain, which may cause more problems in the locker room. If he is used, he is likely to be a time bomb, and it is certain that he is unwilling to leave any valid assets for the Warriors! To put it bluntly, playing 82 games in the regular season, only 6 teams in the West can get direct tickets to the playoffs. Compared with other teams, the Lakers' defensive shortcomings, the internal contradictions and age issues are difficult to easily solve. If you don’t break or establish, these two teams should be facing reconstruction.