Offense and defense are worth 20 million each! Without defense, Trae Young will be disliked!

The Trail Blazers have completed contract extensions with Sharp and Kamara respectively. Both of them have annual salaries exceeding 20 million. Kuminga's previous salary was similar, and Rivers of the Lakers expects an annual salary of 40 million. Will the Lakers satisfy him? It's hard to say, after all, the Lakers front office is unpredictable. So, how much salary does the Lakers management give Rivers before it is considered a loss?

Previously, the Lakers offered Rivers a contract extension worth $89.2 million, but he rejected it. Rivers said the contract amount was not appropriate, but he also made it clear that he was not pursuing an astronomical figure.

According to reporter Woike's report, Rivers' next contract salary is expected to exceed 35 million. He also said that according to insider speculation, Rivers' future annual salary may exceed 40 million.

Not long ago, reporter Brian said that if Rivers' annual salary exceeds 40 million, the possibility of renewing his contract is 0%. It can be seen that different reporters' assessment of Rivers' value varies greatly.

So, considering the overall situation of the NBA, how much is Rivers worth? Let’s look at a few examples first.

1. Dortmund of the Thunder only averaged 10.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game, but has an annual salary of nearly 18 million. Looking at the data alone, he is obviously not worth the price, but he was selected to the All-Defensive Team.

2. Jaylen Way of the Thunder averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game in the regular season. After the team won the championship this year, he completed a contract extension and his salary soared from 6.58 million to 41.5 million, and in the last year it was as high as 51.46 million. He was named to the All-Star and All-Defensive teams this year.

3. The Trail Blazers' Sharp, today the Trail Blazers completed a contract extension with the 22-year-old. He averaged 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game in the regular season. His contract extension is 4 years and 90 million US dollars.

4. Kamara of the Trail Blazers, 25 years old, averaged 11.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. He reached a four-year, $82 million contract with the Trail Blazers. Last season, he was one of seven players in the league to get 100 + steals and 50 + blocks, and was also selected to the All-Defensive Second Team.

Judging from the above renewal situation, the Trail Blazers' Sharp data is better than Kamara, but the renewal price is not much different. Similarly, the Thunder's Dortmund team has poor statistics and can get an annual salary of nearly US$20 million. This shows that as long as he averages about 10 points per game and has excellent defense, he is worth about 20 million; conversely, if he has poor defense but strong offensive ability, this type of player is also worth about 20 million.

The Thunder's Jaylen Way is different. He is good at offense and defense, so he is worth two 20 million, and his annual salary will naturally exceed 40 million. Overall, simply being strong offensively or defensively is worth about 20 million.

Looking at Rivers' data, he averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.8 assists per game last season. Offensively, Rivers is slightly better than Sharp, worth more than 20 million; defensively, he does not contribute much; however, he has excellent organizational skills and can score extra points. On the whole, it is more appropriate to give Rivers an annual salary of 30 million, and any higher will exceed his value. Even the Eagles star Trae Young, due to poor defense, the team refused to give him a maximum salary, let alone Rivers. This also fully proves that players who do not defend well are very unpopular as the core of the team.

But the final salary given to Rivers depends on the decision-making of the Lakers management. Under normal circumstances, Rivers should not be given an annual salary exceeding 30 million. However, judging from the past, the Lakers management has unique ideas. They often do not consider the players suggested by fans and often make unexpected choices. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Lakers management will give Rivers an annual salary of 40 million.

But this will be extremely detrimental to the Lakers' competition for the championship. Doncic's annual salary is more than 50 million, and Rivers' annual salary is more than 40 million. Their combined salary reaches 100 million. Theoretically, the Lakers can still introduce a star, but it is basically impossible to combine offense and defense, and it is difficult to find one on the market. If offensive players are introduced, the team's defense will have big holes and there will be no hope of winning the championship.

There is another possibility to use the remaining funds to introduce defensive players, but with the defensive capabilities of Rivers and Doncic, 4-5 strong defensive players may be needed, just like the Mavericks, with defensive gates on the inside and defensive heroes on the front line. However, such a configuration is almost difficult to copy. It is equally difficult for the Lakers to win the championship. Coupled with the rise of the Western Conference heroes, the difficulty has only increased compared to the year when Doncic entered the finals.

Therefore, the wisest thing for the Lakers management is to trade Rivers for chips, introduce an offensive and defensive star, and then reasonably supplement the lineup to have hope of winning the championship. But judging from Pelinka's resume in the past few years, his abilities are limited, and it may be difficult to achieve this. In addition, the team has struggled to train newcomers in recent years. Without the rookie bonus, competing for the championship may be just an ideal.

Rivers can earn up to 30 million! Attack and defense are each worth 20 million! Without defense, Trae Young was disliked!