A bit soon? Smart plans to come back, bringing the first person from the Lakers to leave the team has surfaced?

According to the NBA China official website: Smart participated in the team training throughout the entire period and plans to return in a certain preseason game.

What does Smart's return mean to the Lakers?

First of all, the 35%+ three-point rate in the past two seasons shows that there is an additional outside end point.

Secondly, although the defense has declined from the Defensive Player of the Year award, the experience has not. In other words, the Lakers have more experienced defenders.

In fact, in my opinion, Pelinka’s two-year, $11 million deal to sign Smart is certainly not a loss. A very important point is that the average salary of 5.5 million is only higher than the minimum salary - Paul joined the Clippers this summer for 1 year of 3.6 million US dollars. Even if it is acclimatized and abandoned, there will be no loss. Of course, judging from the fact that he and the Wizards took the initiative to buy out, he was holding his breath to prove himself.

Of course, Smart's comeback is not necessarily a good thing for Knecht in my opinion.

How to understand this?

In my opinion, Knecht will be the first person to leave the team.

Position

Rookie Ji Knect played a total of 1,494 minutes, 56% of which played in the second position. Smart has played 18,726 minutes in his career, 53% of which he played at the second position. Judging from their positions, the two are in direct competition.

To be precise, the competitive pressure faced by Knect has increased since Smart returned. Key points:

First, Knecter's role is only as a single shooter, while Smart has a certain amount of shooting and defense.

Secondly, Smart is taking the initiative to vote, not to mention giving it to the starter, but the opportunity is definitely guaranteed.

In other words, after Smart's comeback, Knect faced increased competitive pressure but did not gain an advantage. This is one of them.

Irreplaceable

First of all, compared with the 24-25 season, the main framework of the Lakers in the new season has almost no changes.

Knecter's irreplaceable value in the 24-25 season was 0.1, and among the Lakers players whose total playing time was no less than 500 minutes, it was only higher than Vincent's -0.2. In other words, whether Knect leaves the team will have little impact on the Lakers.

Speaking of which, here comes something interesting.

When Kessler failed to reach an early contract extension with the Jazz, why did the media suggest that Pelinka use Knecht + draft picks to make an offer. To put it bluntly, the latter's departure has little impact on the team, but getting Kesler is a big reinforcement for the team. Low irreplaceability, this is the second one.

Poor performance

In the two preseason games against the Suns and Warriors, Knecht only made 5 of 23 shots. Regardless of the data, just look at the game - if you attack, you can't score; if you defend, you can't defend. Poor performance, this is the third one.

To sum up, why Knecter is said to be the first person to leave the Lakers after Smart's comeback is mainly reflected in three points:

1. The competitive pressure he faces increases but he does not have an advantage;

2. The irreplaceability is low;

3. His own poor performance.

Relatively speaking, I think the second and third points are the main reasons.

First of all, thanks to his outstanding performance of 16 points and 5 assists against the Warriors, Vincent was even considered the team's "third point guard" after Doncic and James. To put it bluntly, competition is not necessarily a bad thing. As long as you perform convincingly, you will quickly stand out. But limited by his own poor performance, Knecht could not do this.

Secondly, it is poor performance that brings low irreplaceability.

When a team is dispensable, it is obvious that he is not far away from being traded, just like Russell who joined the Lakers for the second time.