The Lakers were eliminated in the first round. How should they operate in the offseason? Strengthening the center is not the first priority!

Speaking of the Lakers' offseason goals, everyone's first reaction must be: center!

Center is obviously the biggest problem that the Lakers need to solve, but before discussing the center, we need to first understand what kind of resources the Lakers have, what kind of center they are looking for, and what problems they need to solve in addition to the center problem.

After all, you have to talk about the basic law when dreaming, and you cannot fantasize about the literary group Yama everywhere.

In fact, the center issue is certainly the most important, but it is not the problem that the Lakers must face and solve first. The first problem the Lakers have to solve is: Finney Smith will have 15 million player options this summer.

Will he jump out? It may be very likely, and it is highly likely that it will be a contract with a higher annual salary. The Lakers will have 11 guarantee contracts on their salary slips next season, with the guarantee amount reaching 189 million yuan. It has exceeded the salary level of this season before any signings, and the salary pressure is considerable. Renewing the contract with Finney Smith is the first problem that the Lakers must solve.

There is good news for the Lakers: James will also have a player option this summer, and it is a player option of up to 53 million.

Will he jump out? If you simply consider yourself, there is no need for James to jump out. Breaking out of the contract will not make him a higher annual salary. But that's the good news for the Lakers - James can jump out of contract and cut salaries to help players sign ups. While it's not clear whether he would choose this way, this at least provides a solution for the Lakers.

However, even if James is willing to cut his salary, this is enough to show and show that the Lakers' operating space is limited. In addition to James, Doncic, Reeves and Finney Smith, Hachimura occupies 18 million, Vanderbilt accounts for 12 million, Vincent accounts for 11 million, and Kleber accounts for 11 million, and the four people occupy a total of 52 million salary space. If the Lakers want to be stronger, they'd better start to deal with some of these contracts.

The good news is: among them, Hachimura, Vincent and Kleber's contracts totaling 42 million yuan are all contracts for expiration next season, and it is not difficult to deal with. It can even be regarded as a front contract for other teams to reduce their salary. The bad news is: expiration contracts tend to have greater value in the middle of the season, but the Lakers almost have to solve the lack of centers during the offseason. In this case, these contracts can only be used as balanced wages.

Will they delay operations in order to maximize transaction value? Will they miss opportunities because they wait for the transaction value to be maximized? What choices will they make in the fleeting free agent market?

This tension brings some embarrassing and charming uncertainty to the Lakers' offseason operation.

For the Lakers' starting center candidate next season, there are already relevant odds in the market, and the number one candidate is Lopez. Daluo has projection, size, projection ability, and even background in the Lakers, which looks quite wonderful. However, this ignores the most important question - what kind of center the Lakers want?

Pellinka made this very clear: the Lakers want a center with athleticism.

When Doncic first came to the Lakers, Pelinka talked with Doncic about the team building plan, and Doncic personally expressed his desire for an athletic center. This is his wish and indeed his need. Doncic is not so good at using space to directly attack the basket, but prefers to stop the ball at mid-to-close distance. At this time, a center with athletic ability can provide a deep threat to open up mid-to-close operation space for Doncic, which is completely different from James's favorite center with a projection to open up the breakthrough space.

The Lakers are already Doncic's team, and the Lakers' signings should be centered on Doncic.

In addition, Pelinka also stated in the Marvel trade that the Lakers want a young center who can partner Doncic for a long time.

After all, Ma Wei's deal is enough to show what the Lakers' favorite choice is.

What kind of center do the Lakers have a chance to get?

The names of some centers have been circulating in the trading market for a long time: Kessler, Pearl, Ayton, Clarkston, Mitchell Robinson, Wagner, Valan...

Among them, Kessler is perfect, but Jazz General Manager Danny Angie will probably never trade him to the Lakers in this life; Pearl, Wagner and Valan do not meet the requirements of "(young) athletic centers"; Ayton's "cleanness" is not a problem for the Lakers, but the Trail Blazers may not want to trade him much; Clarkston's contract is still long, the Nets are not in a hurry to trade, and Clarkston's attendance rate is also something that makes people Worry (but judging from the contract amount, the risk is not high)...

Mitchell Robinson is an interesting candidate. He is relatively young, has good figure and athleticism, and has strong defense. Moreover, his current position in the Knicks is very awkward. He has no playing time in the playoffs. The Knicks are currently facing great salary pressure. Even if the New York boss is rich, he will inevitably want to deal with his thoughts. The question is what can the Lakers provide for the Knicks, and Miro's attendance rate in the past two seasons is very unsatisfactory. Will the Lakers be willing to deal with his contract renewal in his contract year?

In addition to the trading market, there are also some notable names in the free agent market, but most of them are unlikely to leave the parent team: For example, Turner, Naz Reed, Portis, Horford, Rooney...

Capela is an interesting name. Everyone should be familiar with him, but what everyone is not familiar with is that he is only 30 years old, and he is actually very young, even two years younger than Little Nance. It's like Reeves is actually one year older than Doncic.. Capela is a bit awkward in the Hawks now, but it may not be the price the Lakers can afford; although his teammate Nance is a little older and shorter, he can still jump, support and switch defenses, and not only has he played in the Lakers but also has been teammates with James.

The names of the next level include: Deron Sharp, Drummond, Paul Reed, Biyonbo, Abussele, Plumley, Isaiah Jackson, Achouva, Bamba, Kay Jones, Mamu, Boucher, Thomas Bryant, Jordan Jr., Bagley, Wiseman...

If the Lakers want to go further, besides the center, they'd better find a low-end version of Finney Smith.

In this year's playoffs, we can already see that when the Lakers play in a small lineup, they don't have a useful fifth player. As a helpless choice, Hachimura's shortcomings are too great. He cannot defend against singles from outside, cannot protect rebounds, and his shooting ability and tactical ability are not enough to target the opponent's big center.

And his contract is as high as 18 million.

If the Lakers can turn him (and Vanderbilt/Vincent/Klebert/Kneckett) into a low-end version of Finney Smith, the Lakers' five-squad will be much stronger and they will have better lineup flexibility when there are any injuries.

It is worth mentioning that generally speaking, rookie players will make relatively obvious progress in the second year. If it goes well, Kneckett and Brownie will have the opportunity to enter the rotation in the middle and back sections. Their technical characteristics meet the needs of the team but the completion level is insufficient in the first year. Their growth is still very important for the Lakers.

After all, in the new year, James will grow older and fall a lot.

This time, it may really be his last season.