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Shams：威少得知湖人要換Hield後向巫師老闆求情

by the morning of the NBA Draft on July 29, with seemingly no trade for West
brook available, Rob Pelinka, the Lakers vice president of basketball operat
ions and general manager, appeared to have no choice but to move on. The Lak
ers’ brass had spent considerable time on a backup plan to net Sacramento’
s 28-year-old marksman Buddy Hield. He addressed the team’s shooting needs
if not exactly their thirst for another star.



That day, a telltale moment occurred: Westbrook received a tip. Not only cou
ld the Lakers not break through with the Wizards, but also they were on the
cusp of trading Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell players whose salaries would
 be required to execute a Westbrook trade — to the Kings for Hield.



“That set Russ off,” one source said. “All he wanted, by any means, was t
o be a Laker.”

這激怒了威少，消息人士稱無論如何，他想要的就是成為一名湖人球員。

Westbrook had been telling those around him for weeks that he was finally co
ming home, but now those dreams seemed to be slipping away. So shortly befor
e noon on July 29, he asked his billionaire boss, Ted Leonsis, for a persona
l favor: Find a way for him to land with the Lakers. That passionate plea se
t off a chain of events that resulted in the Lakers assembling one of the mo
st star-laden and veteran teams in league history.



DeMar DeRozan He took part in two such meetings at James’ home and had sepa
rate ongoing phone conversations with James. His conversations with the Lake
rs co-stars had gone well There was genuine excitement shared in the player
meetings about how DeRozan would fit.

DDR在詹姆斯家中參加了兩次會面，並與詹姆斯進行過電話交流，他和湖人明星們的談話
進行得很順利，在球員會議上，大家都對DDR的加盟計劃感到興奮。

Sources said Pelinka and his front-office group strongly considered executin
g a sign-and-trade for the 32-year-old DeRozan, giving up Kuzma and Caldwell
-Pope in the process, but couldn’t come to consensus terms with the Spurs i
n free agency or a suitable contract number for DeRozan. What’s more, sourc
es say the DeRozan option never advanced to the point that it was presented
to Buss.



While she has long since empowered Pelinka to be the final front office deci
sion maker, the impact of her family’s legacy remains strong. And the Westb
rook deal, quite clearly, was seen as the kind of move that would make her l
ate father, legendary Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, smile. If only they could
 get it over the finish line.

雖然珍妮早已授權Pelinka成為管理層的最終決策者，但她認為相比DDR，威少顯然是能
得到自己已故的父親認可，只要他們能奪冠。

Even if Hield was a more natural fit for their structure, the Lakers believe
d Westbrook made them a more dangerous team in the postseason.

儘管Hield更適合湖人的球隊架構，但湖人相信威少能讓他們在季後賽中成為一支更危險
的球隊

It was, in essence, the decision between a player they believed could be the
 difference-maker in a 16-game title run vs. one whose talents had only been
 utilized in the regular season.

從本質上來說，這是一個他們認為可以在16場季後賽比賽中發揮關鍵作用的球員和一個
只能在例行賽發揮才能的球員之間的選擇。

The decision left Sacramento management steaming, sources said. The Kings ha
d no idea they were even competing with a Westbrook deal

消息人士稱，這一決定令國王管理層非常憤怒，他們甚至不知道他們是在與威少競爭

Not only did the Lakers trade away Caldwell-Pope and Kuzma in the Westbrook
deal, but also they had failed to retain Alex Caruso after the Chicago Bulls
 offered him $37 million over four years, an offer the Lakers chose not to c
ompete with. That cost-saving decision frustrated many within the organizati
on who had seen the Lakers develop Caruso from a G League player into one of
 the NBA’s top role players and best backcourt defenders.



With Westbrook aboard, sources said Davis has emerged as the expected starti
ng center, clearing the way for a likely starting five of him, Westbrook, El
lington, Ariza and James, according to sources. Third-year guard Talen Horto
n-Tucker, a rising, young talent for the Lakers, is also expected to compete
 in camp for a possible starting role.

隨著威少加盟之後，AD將成為先發中鋒，搭配詹姆斯、威少、Ellington和Ariza，三年
級的THT也有望在訓練營中競爭一個可能的先發位置。
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