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On the 2nd, the Lakers and Hawks also announced the trade of Boris Diaw and Devin George.

Then, the Lakers signed Mo Williams for free with a two-year minimum salary, and the second year was a team option. Yang Rui made a mistake before. Mo Williams only signed a one-year minimum salary contract with the Jazz and is a free agent.

Kupchak signed a short-term contract with Mo Williams, and Yang Rui raised no objection. At this time, Williams showed no potential except for showing the characteristic of "not passing". If the Lakers directly sign a long-term contract with him, all the media will think that the Lakers management is a group of lunatics.

On the 3rd, the Lakers mid-level team signed Damon Jones, who scored 7 points and 5.8 assists last season. He shot 40.1% from the field and 35.9% from three-point range last season, both of which were career highs.

Jones' agent couldn't believe it when he got the call and immediately said yes. Jones is also willing to join the Lakers and play in Los Angeles.

Just one center Yao Ming was not enough. Yang Rui also proposed a trading target and let Kupchak operate it.

The Lakers sent veteran Robert Horry and received Cavaliers blue-collar center Desaguena Diop and 300,000 cash compensation, reaching salary parity.

The Cavaliers are interested in veteran Horry's ability to withdraw. In this year's draft, they selected two insiders, Rafael Araujo and Anderson Varejao, to replace Diop.

Diop averaged 13 minutes per game last season, scored 2.3 points, 3.6 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 0.9 blocks, and shot 37.8% from the field.

The previous season, Diop shot 35.1% from the field, averaging 11.8 minutes, 1.5 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

His rookie season was even worse, playing 6.1 minutes, 41.4% shooting, 1.4 points and 0.9 rebounds.

Such data was actually produced by the 8th overall pick in the first round of 2001. He was actually played by a heavy center who is 213cm tall and weighs 136kg.

Diop's performance made the Cavaliers management want to curse. Although the Cavaliers knew that Diop had no shooting ability when they drafted him, they naively thought that Diop would be able to develop a low-post offense with his weight and strength. He can be dominant, but in the end he is not even as good as Rockets center Kevin Cato.

Yang Rui was deeply impressed by Diop in his previous life. The peak statistics of this strange career were in the 2007-08 season, averaging 2.9 points, 5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He had never scored more than 3 points in any season in his career.

However, he played 12 seasons throughout his career. He played an average of 14 minutes, shooting 42.7% from the field and 46.7% from the free throw line. On the offensive end, he was the best in history, scoring 2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 0.4 assists, 0.4 steals and 1 block.

Being able to play for 12 seasons like this is certainly something special. Diop signed a big contract with the Mavericks, worth 32 million in five years.

Diop has only one advantage: he is good at defending the penalty area.

O'Neal produced the worst statistics of his career in the 2006 Finals, leading many people to believe that Wade led the team to win the championship alone. The Mavericks' defensive strategy is for Diop and Dampier to support O'Neal, without the need for outside teammates to double-team.

As a result, O'Neal did not score more than 20 points in six games. In the second game, he made 2 of 5 shots and 1 of 7 free throws. He only had 5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. In the sixth game, he made 4 of 11 shots, 1 of 4 free throws, and scored 9 points, 12 rebounds and 1 assist. Throughout the series, he averaged 13.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.83 blocks and 3.2 turnovers per game, which was simply appalling.

Diop is such an alternative center who can prevent O'Neal from entering the penalty area.

After the transaction was completed, Yang Rui called Kupchak and smiled: "Okay, the Lakers' championship lineup is basically complete."

"You still want to win the championship with this crappy lineup, are you kidding me?"

Having just turned 50, Kupchak, who has always been serious, couldn't help but complain. "Jerry, stop making trouble. Now you can tell which star you are going to sign in the free market, right? If you act slowly,

It would be troublesome if someone poached you. "

"I never said I wanted to recruit stars. It's enough to find a veteran. This is the Lakers' lineup for the new season. We will train our own stars." Yang Rui said with a smile.

"What? We still have a lot of salary space now. George and Fisher are gone. Our total salary is less than 50 million and has just reached the salary cap!" Kupchak said, "The boss said he doesn't mind. Paying luxury tax, let alone luxury tax, the total salary ranks among the lowest in the league. Is this still the tradition of the Lakers?"

"Come on, is it the tradition of the Lakers to spend money randomly? Haha." Yang Rui was indeed joking and said with a smile: "Mitch, let's get down to business. Sign Rasheed Wallace."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier? The free market has been open for several days, and other teams have already contacted him. He is the big fish in this year's free market." Kupchak said angrily.

"Didn't the news say that this guy came to Los Angeles? He almost stayed at my house the past few days and would go wherever I told him to join." Yang Rui said proudly.

"..."

Rashid is a player with a lot of character and often plays his cards against the rules.

After leaving the Trail Blazers, Rashid's goal in choosing a new club was to see if he could win the championship. He didn't want to wait until he was old and unable to play before going to a strong team to win the championship. That would not be taken seriously. He wants to win the championship first, and then fight for a big contract at the end of his career, and vice versa.

In the opinion of Rashid, who has always been unruly, the team coached by Yang Rui has the best chance of winning the championship. As early as 2003, when he represented the Trail Blazers against the Wizards, he specifically asked Yang Rui for his phone number. At that time, He felt that the Blazers had no future.

At the end of June, Rashid took his manager to Los Angeles to treat Yang Rui to dinner and ask for help.

He is very shrewd, thick-skinned, and very proactive. He is willing to cut his salary appropriately, provided that the contract period is shorter and there is a player option in the last year.

Rasheed's current situation is different. The Pistons are coached by Jeff Van Gundy. He wants to train Milicic and reuse Okur, but has never thought of trading Rasheed.

In Yang Rui's previous life, Rasheed was first traded from the Trail Blazers to the Hawks, and played only one game before being sent to the Pistons. This was obviously an insider transaction. At that time, the Pistons had the strength to rush to the championship, but the Trail Blazers were unwilling to "assist" them, so the Pistons used a trick and roundabout tactics.

Brown is good at doing this kind of illegal stuff, so his team was suspended twice in the NCAA.

After Rasheed joined the Pistons, he became the last piece of the championship puzzle. The Pistons successfully won the championship in 2004. Later, Rashid signed a five-year, long-term contract with a high salary of 57 million, and was selected to the All-Star twice with the Pistons.

If the Lakers sign Rasheed, the price will definitely be cheaper. His reputation is not good, and many people regard him as a cancer.

In fact, Rashid is very strong. He is 211cm tall, weighs 104kg, and is good at both offense and defense.

On the offensive end, he is proficient in low post plays, high post breakthroughs, baseline dunks, and open three-pointers. The entire three-point line is within his offensive range. His best skill is the straight-arm turnaround fadeaway jumper from the left and right baselines. The backward angle is large and the release point is high, making it difficult for opponents to block shots.

On the defensive end, he has excellent height and wingspan, strong mobility, and first-class defensive awareness. He is good at switching pick-and-rolls and assisting defense. However, because of his light weight, he is not outstanding when defending the inside alone, so he has not been selected for the best defensive team.

Kupchak felt that rebuilding was difficult, but it became easier once Yang Rui came. This is the magic of the reborn.

Yang Rui made a few random suggestions, and the Lakers formed the "Big Four" without having to pay luxury tax on their total salary. As long as he develops a few more potential newcomers, the Lakers can directly rush to the championship in the new season!