There are also people who haven't had anything good all year, such as Luke Wharton, a fringe man for the Lakers. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Wharton has been training with the team and rarely gets a chance to play, averaging 1.2 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 5 minutes per game.

In order to increase exposure, Wharton took the initiative to propose to decentralize the development league, but Yang Rui refused, on the grounds that he could not practice skills in the development league, so it was better to stay with the Lakers.

Then Wharton was tragic, he could only be responsible for the team's appearance, and he couldn't play. While a handful of female fans think he's quite prominent among the memes, Wharton feels his future is bleak.

There is no data, and if the Lakers do not extend his contract in the summer, Walton guesses that he will have to go to the summer league and work hard. If you're lucky, you'll play preseason for a team and fight for a base salary after some competition.

He doesn't feel that he can stay with the Lakers next season, he is not as good as Iguodala and Dio on offense, and not as good as Ariza on defense, because of his height and speed, he is not suitable for playing point guard, and can only play forward.

After thinking about it, Wharton decided to invite Yang Rui to dinner and give gifts and bribes, just to get some performance opportunities in the garbage time of the playoffs.

This social phenomenon is found in every country, and it is often the poor who give gifts.

Because when the poor go to the rich family, they usually ask for help, and the rich are in a favorable position, and they will weigh the pros and cons whether they help or not. The richer the person, the more he will measure whether it is worth it for him to do something for you. In this case, the conditions of the two sides are not equal, the strong have the right to choose, and the weak can only be chosen.

Many people feel unfair, helpless, and angry, but this is the reality. There are some opportunities that you have to fight for.

The Lakers now only have Odom injured and can't play in the first round, but Odom is definitely going to be on the roster and will play when he returns from injury.

Wharton's goal is to play longer than first-round rookie Brian Cook, who entered the NBA in the same year as him, Ariza this year's second-round rookie, and center Diop to be the team's 10th man in the rotation.

Yang Rui and his girlfriend Stana Cartick went to the appointment in the evening, and Wharton also brought his girlfriend, Bill Ladd, a women's volleyball player at the University of Arizona.

After ordering, Wharton gave out a small gift that he had carefully purchased and said his request.

Yang Rui smiled. "Luke, I'm going to give you a chance to perform in this playoffs. But it's not because of the gift, it's because you have the quality to help the team. ”

Wharton breathed a sigh of relief.

Yang Rui continued: "You don't have to worry about renewing your contract, I will propose to the team to renew your contract in the summer." With a two-year contract and a second-year team option, you have plenty of time to prove yourself, but you have to work your three-point shot, and as long as you can make sure you can shoot from three-point range, I'll give you more minutes than Dior, and that's where you're training. ”

That was probably the best outcome, and Wharton smiled.

He was a bit surprised because he was just a fringe guy and had never been taken seriously in the team.

The reason why Yang Rui wants to renew Wharton's contract is because he knows that it will be difficult for Dior to stay in 2006. As long as he has a ring, Dio will definitely not want to stay with the Lakers as a substitute, and then there will be teams that bet on his talent with high salaries.

Wharton asked, "Jerry, what else do I have to focus on besides shooting?" ”

"Organising the passing and confrontation ability, I hope you can train your muscles more and play power forward."

"Huh?" Wharton didn't think about one day becoming a "devil's muscleman", he defined himself as a technical player.

"You play small forward, you don't have any physical advantage, you don't move fast, you don't jump high, your strength is average, and you suffer from the swing man who is good at breaking through. If you switch to playing power forward, the speed can keep up with 90% of the power forwards, and you can prevent breakouts, interfere with shots, and defend blocking and dismantling better than ordinary power forwards, but the strength suffers and the basket protection is slightly worse. On the offensive end you also have a technical advantage, a better ability to evacuate, you can think about it, just like Jordan did in 2003. ”

"Don't think about it, I'll listen to you." Thinking of Jordan, who won the championship with the Wizards at the age of 40, what else did Wharton hesitate about?

He is 203CM tall and weighs 106 kg, which is taller than Jordan, and it is no problem to be a short power forward. Dio is of the same size as him, and he mainly plays power forward in the team, and there are examples.

In the 2003 playoffs, Jordan's cameo as a power forward was a highlight. The Lakers have Yao Ming, even if one side leaks, it doesn't matter, Yao Ming can block most of the restricted area by standing under the basket.

Many players have an almost blind sense of trust in Yang Rui, because he has cultivated too many excellent rookies, and the undrafted rookies can become All-Stars, and Wharton's goal is also to become a star, and he has ambitions.

Wharton's father, Bill Wharton, is a star, he has been a second-generation star with a halo since he was a child, and now he is like this, he can't get over his face, and he has the motivation to move forward.

In Yang Rui's previous life, Wharton on the basketball court performed averagely, and he was lucky to experience the Lakers' two consecutive championships; After retiring, he became an assistant coach to the Warriors with his golf quotient, won a championship with the Warriors, and became the head coach of the Lakers in 2016.

Yang Rui knows the future, so he is more optimistic about Wharton, and it is an attempt to let him change to power forward, and he doesn't know how far Wharton can go. Playing small forward, his ceiling is not high, with a peak of 11.4 points, 5 rebounds and 4.3 assists, and the Lakers were out in the first round of the playoffs that year.

Playing small forward, Wharton's wing defense is not very good, otherwise the Lakers would not use a premium contract to poach the supersonic "ski man" Radmanovic.

Later, Wharton signed a 6-year, 30 million long-term contract, but his position in the Lakers was marginalized and became a bad contract, and the No. 3 position could not compete with Ariza and Artest.

The big forward is different, and now the Lakers have two strongmen, Rashid and Odom. But Rashid's form can't be maintained for a few years, and Odom wants to leave after this season because his tactical position with the Lakers is too low, and his stats have dropped significantly.

Odom is a high-pick rookie, favored as soon as he enters the league, and he is not very old. As long as he has a ring, he definitely hopes to go to a team that can play better to his strengths, strive to be selected as an All-Star, and sign another big contract in the future.

Stay with the Lakers? Odom can't even make three masters, and in two years he will be a pure substitute, and the four masters are not counted.

Yang Rui has been causing the butterfly effect, and the main reason why Odom wants to leave is Iguodala. After winning the dunk queen, Iguodala's popularity has increased significantly, and many experts are optimistic about his future and believe that he is worth cultivating.

In short, from all accounts, the Lakers have to renew Wharton's contract to buy cheap insurance for the future, and he also has some potential to tap. As long as Wharton practices three points, Yang Rui will consider asking the management to renew his contract in 2007.

He also wants to see if he can cultivate a reliable star with his own ideas.

On the 22nd, the Lakers confirmed the 13-man roster for the playoffs.

The veteran Divac was left out, he didn't suffer from it, he was self-aware, he was cut at the worst Bobcats, and he couldn't keep up with the pace of the game.

Even if Divac wins the championship by holding his thigh in his last years, he will not be highly praised by the media, but it is better to have a ring than not to have it, which is enough for some veterans to envy.

Center forwards: Yao Ming, Diop, Odom.

Power forwards: Rashid, Dio, Cook.

Small forwards: Iguodala, Ariza, Wharton.

Shooting guards: Kobe Bryant, Hojborg.

Point guards: Damon Jones, Mor Williams.