Pelinka, Redick and Doncic should be responsible for the Lakers loss to the Timberwolves, James doesn t have to take the blame

The Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated 1-4 by the Timberwolves, which exceeded the imagination of many fans and media. Because the outside world is more optimistic that the Lakers can defeat the Timberwolves, especially when the Lakers enter the playoffs with the third place in the West. Analyst Sharp even boldly said that the Lakers can resolve the battle in five games and eliminate the Timberwolves to advance to the second round of the playoffs.

The Lakers did end the first round of the series in only five games, but the Lakers, not the Timberwolves, were eliminated. When the Lakers were playing against the Timberwolves, their lineup was not perfect, the coach was incompetent in command and tactical style, and there were many loopholes in defense. If we want to discuss who should be responsible for the Lakers being eliminated, the team's general manager Pelinka, head coach Redick and player Luka Doncic need to be responsible. As for the 40-year-old LeBron James, he doesn't need to take the blame for the Lakers' defeat.

Pelinka's trading reinforcement has huge problems

Pelinka trades Anthony Davis in the 2024-25 season for Luka Doncic, which is a very bad choice. Anthony Davis is the top three inside players in the league. Although he has a high annual salary, when he has LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers only need to strengthen their outside shooting and point guard position.

However, after obtaining Luka Doncic, the Lakers' inside weakness was infinitely magnified, which is undoubtedly to tear down the east wall and repair the west wall. The back line has been strengthened and the inside line has been hollowed out. The Lakers need LeBron and James to play as the center position is the best proof. Moreover, Luka Doncic's defensive ability is indeed not good. He has been rostered by Edwards and his success rate is very high. His speed response was too slow to prevent Jaden McDaniels and others. The

deal won Luka Doncic and won the future. There is nothing wrong with this. However, in the final trading window, they did not make the choice to strengthen the center position, which was Pelinka's biggest problem. It could have been traded for Mark Williams, but in the end it rejected the deal, resulting in no reliable center in the inside. Neither Ryan nor Hayes met the team's expectations and did not get more opportunities to perform in the playoffs.

Redick has limited coaching ability, lack of experience, and is stubborn

Some people always say that Ham is not as good as Redick. After all, Ham led the team to the Western Conference Finals in his first season. Even when facing the Nuggets, they were leading the double digits many times and were eventually reversed by the opponent. On the other hand, Reddick coaches the Lakers, his defense is not good, his three-point shooting is not good, and he can't hit the inside. Moreover, he cannot trust more players and let them share the offensive and defensive pressure of the starter.

As a rookie coach, he lacks experience, and many believe his extraordinary basketball IQ and unremitting efforts will make up for it. It turns out that he is still too young on a stage like the playoffs. Letting 40-year-old LeBron James play center lead to excessive consumption of the opponent, which is a huge failure. Redick still has a long time to learn and train himself, and he will become a good head coach in the future. However, for LeBron James and Luka Doncic, every failure of a season is a missed opportunity to make themselves even greater.

Luka Doncic's defensive performance did not meet expectations

Luka Doncic's offensive performance, without any problems. Can play in five positions, but only on the offensive end. His performance on the defensive end is too bad. If the Lakers want to win the championship, they need a defender with both offense and defense. The defender combination composed of Luka Doncic and Reeves does not have enough defensive strength to help the Lakers limit the Timberwolves and others. He averaged 30 points per game, 45% shooting percentage, and averaged 41 minutes of playing time per game.

In fact, Luka Doncic has held the ball for too long, which is not conducive to activate his teammates. He needs to play occasionally without the ball like LeBron James, so that his teammates can participate more in the offense and give himself more time to save physical fitness. Otherwise, in the final quarter, he will never be able to keep up with his physical fitness like this round of the series.

LeBron James does not need to take the blame

LeBron James was almost seriously injured many times in five playoffs. As a 40-year-old veteran, he averaged 40.7 minutes per game, averaged 25.4 points, 9 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2 steals and 1.8 blocks per game. The shooting percentage is 48.9% and the three-point shooting percentage is 35.7%. After reading LeBron James' data, it is definitely at the MVP level. In fact, LeBron and James really tried his best. At this age, he was placed in the center position and told his opponent that there was no one in the inside and he was bullied at will.

The only point that LeBron James should be criticized is his behavior of talking and laughing with his opponents. In such a fiercely competitive game as the playoffs, LeBron James did not keep fighting all the time, and smiled with his opponents, which would have a big blow to the team's fighting spirit and morale.