Ayton’s significance to this Lakers is far from as simple as averaging 15+8 per game.

Everyone who has played basketball must understand the simplest principle of basketball:

When you are fighting against a larger opponent, to gain an advantage, you must jump higher, run faster, make decisions faster, and move more accurately in order to take the initiative.

The core idea of ​​small-ball formations that have become popular in recent years is to speed up the pace and open up space, so that the team's stars or the strongest offensive points can gain the greatest matchup advantage, destroy the opponent's defense, and thus take the initiative in the game.

But the price paid is that

the "little guys" on the field need to consume more physical energy and put in more strength to make up for their natural shortcomings in body size.

This is a huge wear and tear on the players' physical strength and health. Therefore, even the teams that have relied on small-ball lineups to win championships in recent years have the following three characteristics while having the "extreme five small players".

First, there is at least one big man who serves as a "pseudo starter" for a large amount of time.

Secondly, there is at least one "physical monster" who can cope with infinite dislocation.

Third, and very counter-intuitively,

their small ball formation is not used as much as they think.

Take the three most typical teams as an example.

The Bulls' core lineup for the last three consecutive championships is Jordan-Pippen-Rodman-Kukoc-Harper (or Cole), but the starting center is usually Australian center Longley.

And Jordan, Rodman, and Pippen are all dpoy-level defensive locks who can mark at least four positions.

During the two consecutive championships, the Heat's core five-man lineup was the Big Three with Shane Battier + Ray Allen (Chalmers), but there were also various types of big men such as Haslem, Cole Anthony, and Birdman as backup.

LeBron, at his peak at that time, was truly a matchup monster in the league who could defend Rose to a small extent and Hibbert to a large extent.

For the Warriors who won three championships in four years, Cole’s favorite team was Curry-Klay-Iguodala-Durant-Chasing Dream, but centers Bogut, Pachulia, and McGee have never stopped playing. What's even more frightening is that except for Curry, the other four can play against almost every position.

On the offensive end, not only are they supported by the top stars of their respective eras, but on the defensive end, they also have top single defense and highly flexible switching defense and assist defense, so that they have the capital to defend the title.

Finally, announce the playing time of these lineups.

In the 1996-97 season, Jackson only used five players for 13.2 minutes per game.

In the 12-13 season, LeBron's version of the five players only played 18 minutes per game.

In the 16-17 season, the Warriors' version of the death five players played 13.1 minutes per game.

Coaches who know how to play all know to use sparingly, because once the time is extended and the players are exhausted, the "Five Deaths" will lose its due power. Instead, it will be full of loopholes. In the end, it will either fail miserably or the core will be injured (liked by the 2019 Warriors).

So, in the first round of last season in G4, Redick was able to use Zhan Dongli's eight-fan set for 24 minutes in the second half, which was a suicidal gamble in itself.

Among the five people, there is a 40-year-old man, two white players who are not known for their physical fitness, and at least three of them (Doncic, Reeves, Hachimura) are not known for their defense.

In the end, not only did they not win, they also ran out of energy. Not only did they fail to win G4, but they also ran out of gas in G5 (James and Reeves both played with injuries), and were eliminated 4-1 and went home.

Therefore, during the offseason, the Lakers' most immediate need is a center, a big man who is at least capable of starting a playoff team (top 15 in the league), and an inside man who can last at least 20 minutes in high-end games and give the five young players enough physical strength to fight for the bayonet in the final period.

So, DeAndre Ayton came. Although it was a bargain buyout, he signed 1+1.

I won’t go into details about Ayton’s previous characteristics here. I’ll just look at the changes he brought to the team after his arrival, both good and bad.

In the new season, he averaged 15 points and 8 rebounds per game. This was achieved despite the fact that he was repeatedly criticized by some fans for being weak and hygienic, and he did not have a single rebound in the last game due to injury.

For example, in the past 5 games, his data should be 16.0 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 62.7%, ranking ninth in the league. However, among the top 8 players, the only ones who scored more than him were Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jaylen Duren of the Pistons.

After being fed up with Hayes and Kroc having almost no stable finishing methods except dunks last season, Lakers fans can finally appreciate the silky inside finishing in their team. After all, they have enjoyed six years of thick eyebrows with a stable 25+10 performance regardless of lows and highs. The second half of the first half of the season is indeed torture.

Ayton is incomparable to Big Eyebrow, but he also has his own merits. His finishing radius exceeds that of most inside players in the league, and his firepower range extends to the free throw line. His finishing from 0-3 feet (under the basket) is not outstanding (2.0 per time), but his finishing from 3-10 feet (from the basket to below the free throw line) reaches 3.0 per game.

Invisibly, it also increases the Lakers' offensive space and three-dimensionality.

Take the above round as an example. He and Reeves followed the short pick-and-roll and hit a throw just after crossing the free throw line. Gobert could only lift up, and there was no one under the basket at this time. If Knecht and Hachimura on the weak side can actively cut inside, there is a high probability that they will not only rush down the offensive rebounds.

Then the following two goals were brought. The first was after Ayton received the ball on the left waist, Gobert left the basket where he had the greatest influence, and Hachimura cut inside and completed a dunk.

After acquiring Doncic last season, as long as Hayes, Van Der Biao and Kolok left the basket, they were almost invisible on the offensive end. The opponent's center could unscrupulously defend five and four..

After Ayton arrived, centers like Gobert squatting at the basket became uncomfortable when facing the Lakers.

The second one is Reeves' buzzer-beater against the Timberwolves.

In this defensive round, Gobert was full of mistakes and made at least three mistakes, two of which were related to Ayton.

① As soon as the round started, he was thrown away by Ayton and did not immediately organize a pick-and-roll defensive formation with Maidan, allowing Reeves to start easily.

② He was passed by Reeves with a huge change of hands, and the Timberwolves' first two lines of defense were broken.

③After being passed, he still had the ability to block Reeves with his long arms, but because Ayton was also cutting in strongly at the same time, he chose to return to the basket in a flash, allowing Lee to take the shot easily.

It was precisely because of fear of Ayton's finishing power that Gobert gave up interfering with Lee. Just imagine how Gobert would handle it if Van Der Biao or Hayes were still on the court?

We have always emphasized that the real strength of Doncic (including Reeves this year) lies in his "trinity" offensive ability.

You can not only rely on your strong personal touch to conduct one-on-one military training, but you can also find three-point gaps outside the three-point line by moving the ball in a wide range.

But last season, due to the limited ability of inside players, another basic finishing option - the big man's downward finishing effect was very unsatisfactory. Hayes, the only one with certain finishing ability, was trapped on the bench due to lack of ability. Van Der Biao's inside finishing as a small-ball fifth position was not even as efficient as his own three-pointer.

This also left the Lakers' top ball-handlers without an offensive option when facing the Timberwolves, and the pick-and-roll threat was greatly reduced. At that time, the Lakers' best pick-and-roll player turned out to be LeBron James?

The arrival of Ayton made up for this key link.

The Lakers currently rank first in the league in field goal percentage of 52.3% per game. Although Dongzi and Xiao Li have exploded one after another, the improvement of the Lakers' spatial quality due to the existence of Ayton is also an invisible factor.

Let’s talk about offense today. The main reason is that Dunbao’s significance on the defensive end cannot be demonstrated with data and short clips compared with the offensive end.

To sum up, the big men in today's league are getting closer and closer to the version answer.

After the Lakers acquired Doncic, although they are destined to follow the route with the outside as the core in the future, although it is difficult to obtain an inside partner with thick eyebrows, if they want to go far in the playoffs, Ayton is already the lower limit of the inside configuration for championship teams.

I also hope that Dunbao can make a comeback with the Lakers this season and prove himself again.