After four consecutive victories, many people began to predict whether Guo Xu could break Chamberlain's record of 50 in 7 consecutive games, and this season he is likely to average more than 50 points per game, creating a new player's single-season scoring history.

Scoring points is the most attractive to fans. Guo Xu only took four games to consolidate his "throne" after his return.

His No. 58 new jersey has amazing sales, and all fans want to buy one to collect.

Nike has also prepared his new combat boots, which are planned to be launched during the All-Star Weekend and will definitely sell them well.

Many fans believe that the Lakers can win the championship this season, and experts have also begun to change their tone, saying that the Lakers are the four major seed teams that compete for the championship.

Only a few experts poured cold water on the Lakers' defensive issues.

"It is impossible to win the championship by offense. Lakers role players must work harder to achieve a balance between offense and defense."

"The Lakers can play well in the regular season with Guo Xu's personal ability, but their wing defense and pick-and-roll defense are too poor, which can be seen from veteran Vince Carter on the go. If this weakness is not made up for, their overall strength is not as good as the Suns in the 2006 season, and it will be difficult for them to break out in the West."

This is the real expert. Through overall data analysis, we can see the hidden dangers of fighting the Lakers, rather than following the crowd and winning a star.

Guo Xu won the championship in 2006, which was related to the team's overall defensive efficiency. The same was true for the 76ers in the 20002001 season. If it weren't for the super defense of the role players, how could they be brought into the finals by a single core with a real hit rate of 48 in the playoffs?

Only the Clippers are the playoff teams in the Lakers' four games, while the other three teams are not strong. If they meet the Spurs and Warriors, their chances of being killed by their opponents are indeed quite high.

The Lakers flew back to Los Angeles. The opponent in the next game was the weak Nuggets, and they would definitely win easily.

Not every player in the team is happy. Some people benefit from tactics, while others have worse data than last season due to tactical changes.

Defender Jordan Clarkson submitted a deal application to management with his agent, and his need was "to play on a weak team, the sooner the better."

If he plays for the first half of the season, Clarkson's chance of getting a big contract will be even lower. He has no data in the first half of the season. How much can he win even if he plays a life-long game? He is now determined to pursue a big contract.

Who will trade Clarkson is a big question. The Lakers don’t need draft picks. What they need to compete for the championship is immediate combat power.

Kupchek's idea is to change to a power forward who is good at defending pick-and-roll, a character player similar to Haslem's style.

Horford has hidden dangers of injury and the time he plays is not suitable for too long, so there will be problems with his defense once he rests.

Harrell and Boozer are both defensive black holes at present, and Horford is not very good at defending pick-and-roll. He is actually more suitable to be a center in small ball tactics, which can completely open up space.

The trouble is that although Clarkson's data was good last season and could attract some teams, he was just a second round rookie. The contract he signed was too small, and it was impossible to exchange for any strong man just by using him as a bargaining chip.

The Lakers don’t have any players to pack. Nurkic is quite attractive. If they are exchanged for one person to achieve salary equality, the Lakers will definitely lose money.

Kupchek could not make a decision to package a certain player without authorization, let alone Nurkic was also the team's center. So after training, he invited Guo Xu to the office, talked to him about his ideas, and expressed two trading intentions to see which one Guo Xu liked.

When trading Clarkson, Guo Xu had no objection. This teammate had no future and had defects in playing any position. He was different from famous sixth men such as Louis Williams, Jamal Crawford, and Ginobili, and his shooting was unstable.

He wants to leave himself, and the Lakers have no reason to block the wealth.

Kupchek's first choice is quite reliable. The Pistons' Marcus Morris is a power forward with good mobility. He can shoot three-pointers and is good at opening up space on the offensive end.

However, Marcus is a person with strong offense and weak defense. He is just as good as a power forward and can't play center, and his ability to grab rebounds is too poor.

The second choice was to trade with the Knicks in exchange for the famous parallel player Derek Williams.

When Derek was selected, he claimed to be a double-powered forward who could be both inside and outside. As a result, he was not tall enough to play as a power forward and seemed bulky as a small forward. He had poor shooting, average defense, and poor rebounding.

Derek has participated in the slam dunk contest and has excellent athletic ability, which is an important reason why he became the second place back then. Kupchek feels that letting such a person play with Guo Xu may make progress.

Guo Xu shook his head: "Don't think about it, he can't play. I'm not a god, so I can't let such a player practice shooting well. I can only attract double-teams to divide the ball into the open space. People who can't shoot in the open space can't save them."

Kupchek asked: "Then what do you think of Marcus? His defense is not outstanding. If we want to find a strong defensive man, we must send someone with potential out of the team to pack it. Do Nurkic want to stay? I think he and Horford are not working well."

Guo Xu smiled and said, "He is good, stay. When he meets a team with poor insider confrontation, he can become an important offensive point and there should be room for performance in the playoffs. I don't feel that the two people you mentioned are of much use."

Kupchek sighed, he guessed that this might be the result. Guo Xu’s words make sense. It doesn’t help the team very much, so why make this deal?

Guo Xu thought for a while and said seriously: "I have a candidate. You can try to dig him. Maybe you can dig into the team, Jazz's P Tucker."

"He is too short? Can he play power forward?" Kupchek has always been following the NBA, and he knows who Guo Xu is talking about without looking up information.

Tucker, the second round rookie in 2006, was cut after playing 17 games for the Raptors. Since then, no one has ever been interested and forced to leave the NBA to work hard in Europe. At that time, his registered height was 198m, and his actual height was only 193m. As a small forward, he suffered a loss in height and his shooting was not stable enough.

After staying in Europe for many years, Tucker made a three-pointer and returned to the NBA, and received a contract with the Bulls in 2012.

In 2014, he joined the Jazz freely, and was unable to get a big contract due to his limited height. He performed very bravely in the Jazz, was not afraid of any confrontation, and was also very active in fighting for rebounds.

Tucker is a reliable bottom corner three-point shooter, able to play multiple positions, he can defend anyone, and even let him defend his opponent's inside line if necessary.

It is still because of his height that he doesn't play much time. He averaged 5.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game in 25.3 minutes last season, and his shooting percentage is only 41.1.

After the end of this season, he is a completely free agent, with an annual salary of 4 million yuan. As a bad team, no one is a non-selling product. They will definitely welcome players like Clarkson who can join.

The two have unequal salary, so the Lakers just need to add a second-round draft pick. After the salary increases, the draft pick is more valuable.

Guo Xu said: "You trade him. I have rich experience in playing small balls. When he played with Robertson, the forward position was blurry, so he could live to beat the power forward. It was enough to defend against pick-and-roll and speed to keep up with the defender."

Kupchek thought for a while and nodded, "Okay, that's him."

Kupchek believes that there is no need to find scouts in this matter, and the manager assistant and others have a meeting.
Chapter completed!