Chapter 822 Lakers’ Candidates

The Olympics matter is over.

Seeing that the new season was only a few days away, Li Shengli finished handling domestic matters and quickly returned to the United States. After returning to Greenville, he originally wanted to contact West, but he did not expect West to do so. He was so down-to-earth that he moved the Lakers general manager's office directly to his base camp.

In fact, most of the time when Li Shengli was away, the base camp was managed by uncles Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Thompson. So if West came over, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would naturally not say much. After all, everyone knew that the Lakers had reinforcement plans in the near future. , and the summit in a few days is the best time.

…

"Jerry, is there any news?" Li Shengli found West as soon as he came back.

"Oh, Li? You are finally back!" When West saw Li Shengli, his brows relaxed a lot. He pulled Li Shengli to sit down and said, "The performance in this Olympics was good. To be honest, no one expected it. The improvement of your national team will be so great, and your contribution is not small."

"Okay, don't talk nonsense, let's get down to business. Has the person in position 4 been chosen?" Li Shengli went straight to the point. This matter is what he is most concerned about at the moment.

"This... hasn't been decided yet, but we have a goal."

"Is there a problem with the transaction?"

"Of course, but that's about it. Let's talk for the last time in these few days. Do you want to guess who it is?"

"Let me guess?" Li Shengli glanced at West and said, "No guess, it's boring. Unless you find Tim Duncan or a No. 4 player of the same level for me, I won't even blink. .”

Duncan?

Or the same level?

Damn, how much fake wine did you drink? I have to be able to do that!

West rolled his eyes and sweated after what Li Shengli said. You must know that transactions involving superstars are rare and big transactions. It is impossible to have no warning before, so he only thinks that Li Shengli is... a crazy man. Delusional, of course he also knew that Li Shengli was joking.

In fact...a thousand pieces of gold are easy to get, but a huge amount is hard to find!

Take the Celtics, who currently have the most domineering lineup, as an example. This team just worked hard to form a super combination of O'Neal + Garnett. As for Pierce, he is a potential rookie who is a native player of the team. Being able to form the current Big Three lineup involves some luck.

On the other hand, look at the Lakers.

Objectively speaking, Li Shengli came from the air after he achieved league status. Kobe is strictly a native player of the team. Kobe's rapid formation makes the Lakers' luck look better. It's just that after the two cores are ready, they can choose the third core. It's a bit troublesome, because there are many problems involved, the most serious one is...the league's official principle is not to allow superstars to get together, at least not in their prime.

Want to find superstars to join?

Even if all obstacles are eliminated and all superstars in the league are selected, the official will not approve the transaction.

Looking for potential prospects through the draft?

This is not cost-effective for the Lakers. On the one hand, there is no high-ranking pick, and on the other hand, there is uncertainty about the performance and strength of the rookies. Therefore, there is no need for the Lakers to sell their blood and bet on the quality of the high-ranking pick. This year's draft is They just signed the 29th pick of the post player, Mark Madsen, nicknamed "Mad Dog".

…

However……

To be honest, 'Mad Dog' Madson cannot meet the team's requirements. After all, his NCAA performance is only in dogged defense rather than offense, so it is impossible for West to bet on whether a 29th overall pick can do it. Li Shengli's qualified assistant.

Superstar, no!

Rookies may not be reliable!

What West really pays attention to is the players in the two ranges, and currently... the target choice in the optimal trade case is the "Cobra" Horace Grant who currently plays for the SuperSonics.

Horace Grant?

Li Shengli knew this person.

It is estimated that Phil Jackson played a lot of role in this choice, because Horace Grant was previously a member of the Bulls' triangle system and was the third core besides Jordan and Pippen. He was very familiar with and adapted to Phil. -Jackson's tactical system may even be Phil Jackson's proposal.

Secondly, Horace Grant played in the Magic.

When they partnered with O'Neal, the Magic were also a team that advanced to the finals. It is estimated that West's team took into account Horace Grant's experience in partnering with super giant centers, and made this choice to find a suitable helper for Li Shengli.

…

Adapt to the triangle tactical system.

Has experience partnering with super giant centers.

He once made it to the All-Star Game. He is not a first-tier player but is still better than the average role player.

It can be said that West and his team have taken great pains to set the goal here, and back to Horace Grant's own strength...a standard power forward template, an excellent supporting player, with rebounding assistance, and The mid-range can open up space, and his physical fitness is better than Green's. He averages 30 minutes per game and can play more in the playoffs.

Although up to now, the state has dropped a lot from the double-double averaged at the peak, but last season with the SuperSonics, he averaged 8.1 points and 7.8 rebounds in 31 minutes per game...

On a team like the Lakers.

Li Shengli's support and assist abilities are the ceiling for a center, so West doesn't have to worry about Horace Grant's offense. With Li Shengli around, there will be amplification. What he is really happy about is that Grant's stable time and rebounds can help Li Shengli. Save some energy, especially since Grant is a standard power forward template and can do the dirty work of blocking positions well.

If you want to talk about the weakness, it can only be that the defense is a bit lacking.

You know, in the past few years when the inside fight was the craziest, Grant had data to test, and there was no way to defend top power forwards like Barkley or Malone alone. But the problem is that the former inside madman has declined, and the newly emerged power forwards Forwards don't have the violent style of Barkley and Malone.

More importantly...even if they can still encounter opponents with this style, West signed Madson, who is good at defense, in the draft to make up for this problem, and Artest can also be used On defense at the fourth position.

So if he really wants to compete with the Celtics, an old rival, Garnett won't be as comfortable as he was last season.

After West explained all the pros and cons, Li Shengli felt that his ability to manage the team was still good. Although this time it was not a mistake, it was the best reinforcement plan at present. From any angle, Grant was suitable. .

…

"Okay, this is the best plan. The new season will have a good start!"

"Of course, although this transaction has not been finalized, there are only some details that need to be dealt with. I believe you will hear the good news soon, and the rest... is time to deal with Shaq and the others. .”

Li Shengli and West talked for a while. In fact, West asked for Li Shengli's opinion more. After all, all the current plans are centered on Li Shengli. If Li Shengli disagrees, it will be all in vain. Li Shengli does have this in the Lakers. Portion.

Then we talked about the new season for a while, and Li Shengli's phone happened to ring. West looked closer and saw that it was O'Neal. The two of them started to laugh unconsciously, but after answering the phone... Li Shengli couldn't be happy anymore. .