So I am the god of basketball?

In addition to these two players, Jerry West also signed this year's rookies.

The Lakers' pick this year was the 25th pick in the first round, and the player they signed was a name Meng Lang was familiar with:
The future "Coach Lue" Tyronn Lue.

However, he has just entered the league, and he looks like a small stick, and his face has not yet become "perch-like", so he does not look that funny.

With him, the Lakers' roster this season has reached 12 players.

This is the minimum number of players per team required by the league.

In this turbulent "lockout-shortened season", it is very likely that this will be the Lakers' lineup for the new season.

Anyway, Chuck Daly didn't expect any more generals to come.

After trying several lineups in a week, Chuck Daly talked to Meng Lang and said, "Dream, it looks like you have to go back to the No. 1 position!"

The system that the Lakers worked so hard to hone last season can no longer be used with the departure of Eddie Jones.

Of course, there is also good news, such as Kobe Bryant's ability to play one-on-one with the ball has obviously improved to the point where he can handle wing offense. There is no need to worry about defense. If it weren't for Eddie Jones last season, this "Best Second Team" would have belonged to Kobe.

Last season, the Lakers' team defense was ranked first in the league, and their average points allowed per game in the second half was the lowest in the league.

Jones' contribution is great, and Kobe's contribution is also indelible.

Compared with the wing offense, what is more important for the Lakers now is that they do not have a mature system.

Judging from the current situation, the core players of the Lakers in the new season must be Meng Lang and Kobe.

Both of them have the ability to attack with the ball, so Chuck Daly is not worried about the outside attack. What he is thinking about now is how to drive the inside goal.

Big Ben is just a "dunker". Apart from the ability to dunk, he does not have any scoring ability.

Divac has a certain ability to attack the basket, but his ability to assist is more important. Simply playing one-on-one with the ball in the low post is not his strong point.

Therefore, people are needed to lead.

After careful consideration, Chuck Daly knew that the "new magician" had to return to his number one position.

As for who will start on the wing.

After some thought, Chuck Daly put Rick Fox on the board.

This guy came to the Lakers not without other options.

But he, like Baron Davis later, had a Hollywood dream.

Baron Davis wanted to be a movie director.

Fox wanted to be an actor.

Even when he was dating a girlfriend, he was always working hard in this direction.

If we only talk about his performance on the court, he averaged 15.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.2 steals per game for the Celtics last season.

You can think of him as a lesser version of Andre Iguodala.

Such a player is actually very suitable for the current Lakers starting lineup.

Of course, it was Chuck Daly's intention to put Horry on the bench.

After Barkley retires, just Ben and Divac will definitely not be enough in the interior.

Ben can be a substitute for Divac, but Divac can never be a substitute for Ben.

With his mobility as a power forward, he would probably be killed by his opponents.

Another reason is that he lacks physical fitness. 28 to 32 minutes per game is the best time for Divac to maintain his form.

So in the new season, Chuck Daly plans to use Horry as a forward mercenary, from the third position as a substitute to the fifth position.

In short, even if he plays as a substitute, Horry's playing time should not be less.

After finalizing the starting lineup, the Lakers entered the joint training phase.

Chuck Daly received good news. After two years of training on the bench, Derek Fisher has acquired a steady hand in ball control, a good hand in open three-pointers, and can withstand some "tank No. 1" on the defensive end.

Facing Meng Lang's "back-to-the-basket" attack, he also performed very well.

It was getting closer and closer to the "top little fish" in Meng Lang's memory.

When facing a guard like Gary Payton, you can actually use Derek Fisher to provide unexpected defense, which can sometimes have a good effect.

As for Tyronn Lue, he is only at the level of a training match now. The most common thing Chuck Daly said to him was: "Give the ball to Dream!"

Tyronn Lue listened to this for a long time and also showed a thoughtful expression:

Is this the most powerful trick of legendary head coach Chuck Daly?
In terms of results, every time he passed the ball to Meng Lang, the latter was always able to complete the attack.

He had to admit that Chuck Daly was Chuck Daly, and the legendary head coach's tactics were always so simple and clear.

Chuck Daly didn't need to shout afterwards, he looked for Meng Lang the first time he got the ball.

This is also practiced...

Slowly, the Lakers' new lineup developed a tacit understanding.

Of course, this is definitely not a lineup that is good enough to defend the title.

But in fact, the Lakers last season also had the hidden danger of not necessarily winning the championship. But in the end, they still overcame all difficulties and completed the defense of the title.

The situation in the new season is even more special. The Lakers have experienced retirements and departures of key players, and other teams also have various problems.

So far in the new season, the Heat is recognized as the team with the strongest fighting power.

They retained last season's "overall runner-up" lineup, and on this basis, they snatched Eddie Jones.

The Heat's lineup for the new season is: Tim Hardaway at No. 1, Eddie Jones at No. 2, Mashburn at No. 3, PG Brown at No. 4, and Shaquille O'Neal at No. 5.

In terms of the luxury of the lineup alone, it is no less than the Lakers when Meng Lang first came to Los Angeles.

They are also very lucky. The contracts of Tim Hardaway, Mashburn, and PG Brown were signed four or five years ago. At that time, three or four million was considered a high salary.

So much so that the combined contracts of the three of them are only around 1100 million.

Of course, luck has a time limit. Next summer, the contracts of the three Heat players will expire. Among them, Mashburn and PG Brown have at least a mid-level contract value. This means that the combined contract of the two of them must exceed 1 million. Not to mention Tim Hardaway, the maximum salary contract between 9 million and 1 million is the minimum.

This year's Heat, like last year's Lakers, have reached the welfare deadline.

Therefore, even Shaquille O'Neal, who usually doesn't look serious, said at the first media day of the new season: "Whether it is for me or the entire Miami, the best chance to win the championship has come, and I don't know when the next one will be!"

Below the Heat, the other teams, including the Lakers, have similar chances of winning the championship according to the media.

The SuperSonics have the salary cap space and have not made any reinforcements this summer.

As for their lineup last year, not only are all the players a year older, it is still unknown whether they can still make the same breakthrough as last year.

The first effort was strong but then it declined!

The Lakers also need to be mentioned. The depth of the lineup has further declined. The departure of Barkley and Eddie Jones means that their tactics last season are invalid and they need to develop new tactics. A few new players can't make up for the departure of two people.

The defending champions have seen some decline in strength.

The Jazz need not be mentioned. Being swept in the playoffs again last season means that this team will never have the opportunity to interpret the spirit of veterans again. "Glider" has announced his retirement, and "Death Ray Gun" is said to be on the Jazz's sales list.

The Warriors were also in last year's Western Conference semi-finals.

As a former "youth army", several core players have reached their peak, which is a major reason why they are favored. But Nelson has left the Warriors, and it is still unknown what Adelman can bring to this team.

Below the Western Conference top four, the Timberwolves, as the new "youth army" representative, basically have no room for further growth after giving Kevin Garnett the contract that shut down the entire league.

You know, Kevin Garnett's contract for the new season is as high as 1400 million.

This season, the salary cap for the entire league is only 3 million.

He took nearly half by himself.

No matter how outstanding the general manager is, he cannot make major reinforcements under such circumstances.

More media believe that the Timberwolves have succeeded in keeping Ray Allen. This is definitely a difficult task. Even if Ray Allen is regarded as the "second in command" and he is willing to be the "second in command" of the team, his salary cannot be much lower than Kevin Garnett's, right? At least...

1 million?

And Garnett's salary next year will reach a terrifying 1 million...

In other words, even if Ray Allen only gets 1 million, the two of them together would get 2600 million.

Otherwise, why do people say that the Timberwolves have no future?

This is the situation of the Western Conference powerhouses.

It can be seen that all teams are in a declining stage and no team has made major reinforcements.

Looking at the Eastern Conference, the situation of other teams below the Heat is similar.

Jordan renewed his contract with a three-year maximum salary of $3 million, with the final year being $1300 million. His renewal stabilized the Bulls' morale, and the original "fire sale" did not happen.

Rodman continued to stay with the Bulls.

Last season's lineup was preserved.

However, during the regular season last season, Rodman's condition declined, and the playoffs completely exposed his shortcomings on the offensive end.

So even if McGrady has made greater progress in the new season.

But if the decline of others is taken into account, it will not be something that he alone can make up for.

Don't forget, the Bulls are an old team. Even if Jordan can maintain his form, others can't. They don't have the same ruthlessness as Jordan. In the last stage of their careers, they are motivated to fight on the court. It is impossible to expect them to toss their old arms and legs off the court like they did when they were young.

Not to mention the Pacers, given how old their two core players are.

Larry Bird should have realized this and traded for O'Neal Jr., a high school student who was also selected in 96, from the Trail Blazers.

However, the deal happened earlier than originally planned.

The original O'Neal came to the Pacers after 00.

Of course, after the Blazers changed their owner, it would not be surprising if any transaction happened sooner or later in these turbulent years. After Paul became the new owner of the Blazers, just like Ballmer later, he spent money on various things.

With the help of "superpowers", Pippen went from Toronto to the Trail Blazers.

But the trade didn't turn the Blazers into a championship contender.

Pippen's one year in Toronto directly destroyed his own value.

Many media outlets viewed the arrival of O'Neal Jr. as a signal from Larry Bird that the Pacers are likely to enter a rebuilding period in the new season.

But even without reconstruction, Reggie Miller and "The Dream" alone are now unable to compete with Shaquille O'Neal and the Heat.

The Pistons are the only team in the Eastern Conference that is still improving. The situation of this team is somewhat similar to that of the Warriors, and their players have also entered their peak period.

But given Detroit's difficult fans, this may be their last season together.

If the Pistons can't perform better than last season, they will inevitably fall apart next summer... Last season, the Pistons made it to the Eastern Conference Finals... That means this season, the Pistons' only goal is the Finals.

It is still difficult to achieve this with the Heat blocking the way ahead.

There is another team in the East that has caused heated discussion, and it is none other than the Philadelphia 76ers, who have "double No. picks".

Philadelphia media is very confident about the "double No. 76 pick", while other media believe that the Philadelphia ers need a trade to become a real powerhouse. ESPN said: "Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan's talents do not need to be proven. But Stackhouse is obviously no longer necessary in this team. He is a high-quality trading asset. With Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan both on their rookie contracts, Philadelphia has the opportunity and capital to gamble. If they miss these two years, they will soon become one of the many "young troops" that have appeared in history!"

The 76ers are actually a bit similar to the Heat.

The Heat reaped the benefits of old contracts, with all of their talented players only asking for three or four million.

The Philadelphia 76ers have benefited from the new regulations:

Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan, two rookies who reached All-Star level last season, have a combined salary of only around 6 million. Philadelphia is fully capable of bringing in another top-salary player.

And this lineup can be maintained for at least two years.

This situation is only possible in this chaotic period. This is an opportunity that is difficult for other teams to replicate.

As the saying goes, the speaker has intention, and the listener is more attentive. The Philadelphia 76ers soon made a big move. They sent Stackhouse, George Lynch, Anthony Parker, the 1999 first-round pick, the 2001 first-round pick, the 2002 second-round pick, and the 2004 second-round pick to the Hawks to get Mutombo, the "African Mountain" who won the "Best Defensive Player Award" last season.

As a result, the Philadelphia 76ers had a lineup of Allen Iverson on the outside, Tim Duncan and Mutombo on the inside, and the outside world was immediately shocked... (End of this chapter)