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Ayton was bought out? It seems difficult to understand, but it actually kills two birds with one stone! The Lakers may be lucky in disguise

9:11am, 2 July 2025【Basketball】

Well, the operations of each team are really becoming increasingly difficult to understand. When the Mavericks traded their leading stars to the Lakers, it caused an uproar. Then in the draw, the Mavericks won the No. 1 pick with an extremely low probability. The transaction that seemed unreasonable on the surface suddenly became traceable. The Lakers completed the reconstruction work of James' upcoming aging, and the Mavericks won the No. 1 pick and re-formed the three No. 1 pick combination. On the surface, some difficult-to-understand transactions were indeed unexpected, but nothing can be seen only on the surface, just like Ayton was bought out by the Trail Blazers.

On the surface, the operation of the Trail Blazers is indeed difficult to understand. In any case, Ayton's identity as No. 1 pick is not fake, and the average 16+11 per game is not fake. The most important thing is that Ayton's contract has the last year left. This high-quality asset is the target of the competition between various teams. Why do the Trail Blazers give up Ayton? Just like the monk from Feng said, don’t look at the surface of anything, you need to consider it comprehensively from all aspects.

Let's first look at the background of the buyout, which easily reminds people of Yang Hansen being selected by the Trail Blazers in the 16th pick. For Yang Hansen, it is his luck to be selected by the Trail Blazers, but on the other hand, the Trail Blazers are not interested in the Chinese market behind him. From the beginning of joining the Trail Blazers to the subsequent operations, it can be seen that the Trail Blazers attach great importance to Yang Hansen, but there is a detail that needs to be paid attention to, that is, the Trail Blazers do not expect Yang Hansen to produce excellent data, but instead give Yang Hansen enough room for growth.

Please savor. The Trail Blazers need to slowly train Yang Hansen. The person who should give the position is Ayton. The Trail Blazers' record is always at the level of the middle and lower reaches of the West for many years. In other words, in the next few years, the Trail Blazers are likely to be in a bad state. The growth of young players takes time. The Trail Blazers need to use such opportunities to strengthen their talent reserves. For Ayton's transaction, you can directly issue a good person card to the Trail Blazers, but in less than an hour, the Lakers released the news and expressed their interest in Ayton.

Finally, let's experience the league's operations. The Mavericks gave up Doncic and finally got the No. 1 pick. The Trail Blazers' almost-clear way of letting go of Ayton. If they add their own bad performance, will they win the top three picks next season? So on the surface, the Trail Blazers gave up an excellent center who averaged 10+10 per game, but in fact it was the league's strategy of killing two birds with one stone. It not only allowed the Trail Blazers to train the young Yang Hansen to expand the Chinese market, but also allowed the largest market to gain the center they like.

Now all teams know that the Lakers want center, and everyone thinks of the Lions. In fact, it is similar to Durant's deal. The whole world knows that Durant is leaving the Suns, but the Rockets are sure that their chips are attractive enough, but they don't let go. In the end, the Rockets got Durant almost in a way that is close to robbery, and the Lakers are the same. Everyone knows that the Lakers want center, and they just wait to bite the Lakers. With the current salary structure of the Lakers, it is difficult to get a satisfactory center, but it is just such a coincidence that the Trail Blazers bought out Ayton.

Is this a coincidence? Obviously not. The Lakers' market is big enough to create enough value for the league, and James' popularity is big enough to attract a lot of popularity for the league. Doncic's future is enough to make the league spare no effort to operate offline. This is the reality. The championship that other teams have not won for decades may be so easy for the Lakers.