"I give it an 8. "Tang Shuai didn't explain too much this time, Batum is the only defensive guard on the outside of the Lakers, and he is important to the team, but the importance is relatively less important than Noll.www.biquge.info

"I give a nine, and if I can, I think the current squad is good enough." Westbrook said more.

"Okay, I know what you guys think." Billups doesn't explain much.

Tang Shuai and Westbrook came out of the coach's office, their brows furrowed, obviously not very understanding of the team's planning.

"Don, I know you have a good relationship with Mickey, why don't you ask?" Westbrook was particularly uncomfortable with this feeling of uncertainty.

"I don't think Chauncy would be willing to tell us anything, and I shouldn't be able to ask." Tang Shuai thought for a while and said.

Westbrook was stunned for a moment, and then didn't say anything, he has been in the league for so long, of course he knows that players are commodities, and his instinctive reaction just now is just because he just experienced Durant's departure not long ago.

Tang Shuai and Leonard are hooked up, but there is still a way to go before they have a private friendship, and the packaging will not be completed in a while.

After the All-Star break, the Lakers' opponents are still clinging to this weakness, and the team's record is unstable, and the 2-2 record is still very problematic.

On February 22, US time, the 2017 NBA trade deadline came as scheduled, and the arrival of this day also made the entire league feel an unprecedented sense of shock.

The three strongest teams in the East and West all made reinforcement trades on this day.

The Warriors signed Boris Dior, who was cut by the Jazz, on a base salary contract, making one of the strongest additions to the team's interior line, and the Warriors became the last stop of Dior's career.

Compared with the small moves of the Warriors, the recruitment of the Lakers and Cavaliers is shocking.

The Cavaliers and Knicks made a 1-for-1 deal in which they traded Love for Anthony without any additions or draft picks.

It was a big gamble for the Cavaliers.

The Knicks performed quite well last season, but Anthony's form has declined significantly this season, after all, he is 33 years old, and his peak is basically over, in exchange for a 28-year-old All-Star player who is in his golden career, it is obviously a no-loss deal.

On the Cavaliers' side, Love is important to the team, but in fact the role is not so indispensable, in exchange for Anthony, James's friend, on the one hand, to expect their chemistry on the court, and on the other hand, it is also a response to the Lakers and Warriors.

The Cavaliers' trade was shocking enough, and the Lakers' trade wasn't bad at all.

Cousins will hardly renew his contract with the team next summer after falling out with Divac, and at this point the Kings are in a hurry to make a move, and his trade value has dropped with it.

Kupchak stepped in at this point, sending Batum and Noll in exchange for Cousins, Afflalo, Ariza and the Kings' 2019 first-round pick.

After the deal was completed, the Lakers immediately announced that they had cut Afflalo, because the latter's contract is completely non-guaranteed, and the Lakers do not have to pay any salary for it.

In doing so, the main body of the trade is Batum and Noll in exchange for Cousins and Ariza, as well as a 2019 first-round pick.

From a trade perspective, this deal is very beneficial for the Lakers, and Tang Shuai's contract can be extended early next year, while Ariza's and Cousins' contracts are both expiring next summer, so there is a lot of flexibility to operate.

Batum's role, Ariza and Mike Dermott can be basically replaced, and this deal is equivalent to directly upgrading Noll to Cousins, making a lot of money.

However, the hidden dangers of this deal are also very big, Cousins' personality problems, whether he can play calmly when he comes to the Lakers, and whether he can accept to become a three-leader other than Tang Shuai and Westbrook, are all questions that need to be marked with a big question mark.

Obviously, this was another big gamble by Kupchak, and it was deliberate.

Tang Shuai learned the news in his villa, although he was surprised, but he didn't show too much surprise, Billups asked them to talk about that topic, in fact, it was to vaccinate them in advance.

And going deeper, this trade is inseparable from him, and the team's recent performance.

The Cavaliers traded out of fear of the Lakers and Warriors, and the Lakers' intentions are the same, with the team's recent poor performance making them eager to make changes.

"DeMarcus ......" Tang Shuai looked at Cousins' bitter and hateful face in the news, and couldn't help but have a headache.

In the more than two years of his career, the star who will join the team next is estimated to be the most difficult one to get along with.

Grumpy, the most important thing is that he will have brain fever from time to time on the field, this kind of player is a realistic version of O'Neal when he is calm, and when he is angry, he is actually not as good as a Kwame Brown, let alone Knoll.

He put down Duffy's tablet and got up to call Westbrook, the team has changed so much, he needs to talk to another team core.

To his surprise, Westbrook was a little excited to learn that it was Cousins who had been traded, and even looked forward to the combination of the three of them.

Putting down the phone, Tang Shuai remembered that Westbrook and Cousins are actually very similar from a certain point of view.

"Don, actually, I think Lance should be more difficult to get along with than DeMarcus, right? Don't you get along well? Duffy looked at Tang Shuai with a sad look on his face and said with a smile.

"Go, that's different." Tang Shuai knew that Duffy was making fun of him, so he waved his hand as he spoke.

Stephenson is more of a joke, but from the depths of his personality, he longs to be recognized, because Tang Shuai recognizes him, so he blocks Tang Shuai as a close friend, but Cousins is different, that's a paranoid, you want him to do what you think, that's really not an easy thing.

"Forget it, I'd better call Nicholas and Nolens first." Tang Shuai said and picked up the phone again.

Although they only played together for the Lakers for one and a half seasons, as the core of the team, the scene of them breaking into the playoffs together last season is still vivid, and several people also get along well, and now that they are traded, he is somewhat reluctant.

Batum behaved very calmly, after all, he had been in the league for ten years and had long been used to trading, but it was Noll, and his mood seemed very low.

In fact, it's normal to think about it, I just signed a big contract with you this offseason, saying that I want to treat you as the core of the team, but I will trade you away immediately, and I can't feel good about changing to anyone else.

Tang Shuai didn't know what to say, just comforted him and persuaded him to have better prospects for development in the Kings.

After a burst of persuasion, it didn't seem to have the desired effect, and Tang Shuai hung up the phone helplessly.

It was not an easy night for the Lakers players.

The next day of the team's training session, Tang Shuai met Batum and Noll, and after saying goodbye one by one, the team officially ushered in the era of the Big Three.

Because of the speed of the medical examination, Cousins and Ariza arrived at the team that afternoon.

"Hey, everyone!" Cousins seemed to be in a very good mood, and when he saw his new teammate, he moved his tower-like body and greeted him directly.

He should be in a good mood, from a team that can't make the playoffs for several years, to a team with championship strength, he should wake up with a smile in his dreams.

"Hey, DeMarcus." Tang Shuai stepped forward to greet him, and Cousins laughed and gave him a hug.

Compared to Noll, Cousins's body is obviously much stronger, and if it weren't for his character, this would definitely be a copy of O'Neal.

After greeting his teammates one by one, this violent center is officially joining the Lakers family.

"Trevor, welcome." Cousins was greeting the rest of his teammates, and when he saw Ariza, he walked straight over to say hello.

"Hey, Don, long time no see." Reporting to the team with Cousins, he had long been ready to be put aside, and now Tang Shuai took the initiative to come over to say hello, and he was suddenly a little flattered.

"Let's go, I'll take you over and get to know the team." Tang Shuai's earliest memory of Ariza is when he first went to the NBA to try out for the Rockets, when Ariza easily defended him, and now more than two years have passed, no one would have imagined that they would be teammates one day, and their status in the league has changed so much.

Now Ariza, who is 32 years old, relies on defense to eat, he is a lot slower in footwork, and his projection has dropped a lot, even in the Kings, he can only be used as a substitute, this Cousins trade, his actual role is just to balance the salary.

Both teammates reported, and Billups and Xiao Shanlong arrived at the scene, and after a brief introduction, they immediately began training within the team.

Cousins showed his dominance in the team's training, Gasol, Yi Jianlian, and Zubac couldn't withstand his offense at all, purely in terms of strength, Cousins is indeed a notch better than Noel.

However, everyone knows that quality is not the point, the focus is on whether he can make a positive contribution to the team when he is on the field.

On February 24, U.S. time, two days after the trade deadline, the Lakers hosted a home game against the Knicks.

This game is Cousins' first official game for the Lakers, and it is also Lefou's representative for the Knicks, two new signings, corresponding to two teams, making the game attract enough attention.

The Staples Center arena was crowded on this day, and fans came to the arena early to witness such a matchup.

PS: Thank you for the 20,000 prizes of Bingyi in the south!

(To be continued.) )