The Lakers operate perfectly! With three points and defense, he can perfectly replace Finney Smith, the key contract is not big

Is it a pity for the Lakers to lose Finney Smith?

From an offensive perspective, the real offensive plus-minus value in the 24-25 season playoffs is -2.0, ranking fifth in the team. To put it more, except Doncic and James, the other Lakers players who play the game have the real positive and negative offenses, are both negative.

From a defensive perspective, the real plus-minus value of defense during the same period was 0.6, ranking third in the team.

To sum up the two points, we can understand that the Lakers have lost a player who has performed well on both offense and defense than the whole team. In other words, it's a pity, especially on the defensive end.

First of all, unlike Hachimura who moves slowly and Vanderbilt is thin, Finney is both mobility and confrontational and can lead and defend large forward players, such as Antetokounmpo and Siakam. Even in key games such as the Nuggets and the Knicks, you can swing your leads upward to defend Jokic and Towns.

Secondly, the injuries of Vincent and Vanderbilt, the poor mobility of Hachimura and the aging of James brought about by the Lakers as a team with poor defensive resources.

1. It accounts for 46.9% of the defender, with a limit of 39.4% of the shooting rate;

2. It accounts for 36.6% of the defense line, with a limit of 47.5% of the shooting rate;

3. It accounts for 16.5% of the defense line, with a limit of 57.6%.

Judging from the data, there is indeed a gap between Finney, a top defensive versatile player like Anunobi and Bridges. But the problem is, as I just said, the Lakers are a team with poor defensive resources. Subtext, Finney's arrival invisibly enriched the Lakers' defensive system.

Furthermore, unlike Vanderbilt, Finney has projection ability. A large sample, the three-point rate in 591 games in NBA career so far is 36.2%. A small sample, the three-point rate in the 43 games that joined the Lakers played was 39.8%.

Of course, unlike Curry, Halliburton and others, Finney's three-pointers were mainly taken in the 24-25 season - 303 of the 314 three-pointers were taken from the ball after running without the ball, with a shooting rate of 41.4%. This doesn't matter to me, what's important is to be able to seize when opportunities arise. Even, it is not even a slap by the opponent like Vanderbilt, so that the team is in a "4-on-5" situation on the offensive end.

To sum up, we can understand Finney as an extended version of Caruso. To be precise, there are three-pointers on the offensive end (no ball, open space), and the defensive end can lead and defend players from multiple positions - enriching the team's diversified offensive and defensive tactics, while also improving the team's combat effectiveness.

Fortunately, the Lakers quickly took remedial measures after losing Finney Smith. After the NBA free agent market opened, Pelinka signed Jack Laravia for two years and $12 million.

At the same time, according to the NBA China official website, Laravia signed with the Lakers, Langzo Ball was traded to the Cavaliers, Tyame Jones signed with the Magic, Jay Heff was traded to the Pacers and Luke Cornett signed with the Spurs, the five transactions were rated as underrated signings.

For Laravia, I think it would be a perfect replacement for Finney Smith.

Reason 1: Body. Laravia's career is 203, weighs 106 kg, Finney is 201, weighs 99 kg. In terms of size, the former is obviously taller, and he will not suffer any losses when facing power-type fronts such as Tatum and Leonard.

Reason 2: Position. In the 2569 minutes of his career so far, Lila Lavia accounts for 43% of the third position and 47% of the fourth position. Finney has accounted for 47% of the 16,521 minutes so far, and 48% of the 4th position. In other words, both of them are swaying people on the front line.

Reason 3: Attack. Laravia's three-point shooting accounted for 50.2%, with a shooting rate of 37.1%, and Finney's two-point shooting 61.8% and 36.2%. Obviously, both of them ended with three points and had little difference in efficiency.

Reason 4: Defense. In the 136 games so far, Laravia's real positive and negative defense value is 0.3, while Finney's real positive and negative defense value is 0.1 in 591 games so far. It is not denied that the former is not very sampled, but from another perspective, it has a good defensive foundation.

To sum up the above four points, we can understand that Laravia is a copy of Finney, and what we lack is nothing more than experience. But with a good foundation, experience can increase over time. Otherwise, like Reeves, I am afraid that the whole career will not be able to achieve any achievements on the defensive end - the real positive and negative value of defense in my career has been -0.4, and no season is positive.

Consider that Finney joined the Rockets for 4 years and $53 million, while Laravia joined the Rockets for 2 years and $12 million. In my opinion, the Lakers completed a very perfect operation, and this body shape is in two aspects.

First, the average salary is smaller, and relatively more room for subsequent operations. Whether it is a subsequent contract renewal or potential transaction.

Second, the years are shorter, and it does not affect the so-called 27-year plan of the Lakers management.

In summary, with similar figures and characteristics, Laravia may not have the effect of Finney on the Lakers at the beginning of the season, but as the field deepens and the team's tacit understanding increases, I firmly believe that he can achieve the latter effect.