NBA’s aging star system

The day after the game against the Spurs, Walton went to see the team's current general manager, Rob Pelinka.

"Rob, our team's interior defense currently has some problems. Do you think we can strengthen the interior defense through trade?"

Pelinka nodded. He was naturally aware of the team's inside problems exposed in the last game, but there are not many useful and cheap inside players now.

"Luke, I also know that you need an inside support, but there is no suitable player right now." Pelinka said.

Walton hesitated and said, "How about Tyson Chandler? Although he is a bit old, he should still be able to use it."

Pelinka pondered for a while and said: "I will consider this matter carefully, but Luke, I want to remind you that our team's bench and those undrafted players are all personally selected by Su Tian himself. Rather than trading, you might as well see if you can tap into those stocks with potential.”

When Pelinka said this, Walton was obviously stunned. The biggest surprise for Walton this season was the bench. The undrafted players showed strong hard work.

I just didn't expect that these were all recommended by Su Tian.

"Okay Rob, thank you for the reminder, I will pay more attention."

After leaving Pelinka's office, Walton quickly looked through the reports of the team's interior players.

Now, in addition to Nance, the team's insiders include Wood and Boucher.

Wharton turned over the two people's reports and read them again and again.

"Digging? How to dig this? A guy who was an undrafted player in 15 and a guy who was just laid off. Is there still potential that can be tapped?"

However, no matter what, this matter cannot be solved in a day or two.

On October 10, the Lakers went to Phoenix to play against the Suns away from home.

The Suns used the No. 1 pick this year to win a center, forming an inside-outside combination with Booker, but it's unclear what kind of strength this combination can produce.

The Suns' starting lineup, Isaiah Cannan, Booker, Ariza, Ryan Anderson, Ayton.

The Lakers' starting lineup is Su Tian, ​​Butler, Ingram, George, and Nance.

The Suns' first offensive point was against Butler, and Su Tian could only pray for Booker.

In the past two days, Butler has made a lot of efforts to quickly integrate into the team, especially on the defensive end. Now Butler's defensive state is very good, and he directly defended DeRozan until he lost his way in the last game.

Soon, the game begins.

The Suns got the right to attack first, and Cannan advanced to the frontcourt with the ball, trying to pass the ball to Booker, but the ball was intercepted by Su Tian as soon as it was released.

"Steal! Just in the first round, Su completed the steal!!"

Su Tian directly launched a fast break after stealing the ball. Many people did not react. Only Butler followed Su Tian closely.

The two of them walked all the way to the basket. Su Tian threw the ball on the backboard. The basketball bounced back. Butler jumped up immediately and dunked!

The two cooperated very well and contributed a rebound and alley-oop at the beginning.

"Although I know that the Lakers' perimeter defense is very good, it is still a bit incredible to steal directly in the first possession." Kenny Smith said.

"What's unbelievable about this? I think it's quite normal now. After all, these are three players at the All-Defensive Team level." Barkley said.

At this time, the Suns' head coach gestured towards the court, signaling to Cannan to slow down the rhythm.

Kannan nodded after seeing it and advanced to the frontcourt with the ball again. This time Kannan and Booker cooperated with each other and completed their task safely.

Booker gets the ball and immediately wants to break through Butler. Although Booker knows that Butler is very strong, Booker is a young man after all. Booker feels that after an offseason of strengthening, he should be able to break through Butler. Defended.

So Booker headed to the right and directly launched a breakthrough.

Butler did not rush to steal, but kept confronting Booker. The two came to the basket, and Booker collected the ball and prepared to take three steps for a layup.

But the moment Booker collected the ball, Butler quickly took action.

Snapped--

Butler had quick eyes and quick hands and slapped the ball directly from Booker's hand.

"Steal again! This time it's Jimmy Butler! The Lakers completed two steals in a row!!"

Butler regained control of the ball and passed the ball directly to George on the side.

George got the ball and started a fast break. When he reached the midfield line, he passed the ball directly to Su Tian in the frontcourt. Su Tian received the ball and dunked with both hands.

4-0

"The Lakers started with two steals! I feel like the Suns players are confused now." Kenny Smith said.

"Although I really don't want to admit it, I have to say that I didn't expect that the Lakers' perimeter defense was really strong when they had two consecutive steals at the beginning." Barkley sighed.

At this time, the Suns' head coach wanted to call a timeout, but after thinking about it, he didn't call. He signaled Booker to step forward to catch the ball and advance with the ball.

So this time Booker advanced with the ball by himself, and the Suns began to conduct the ball normally. No more problems occurred, and the Suns head coach breathed a sigh of relief.

The Suns' head coach is the new head coach this season. He has also heard that Su Tian directly fired the coach and resigned. Now he does not want to make the same mistake again.

After a while of basketball passing, it was given to Ayton inside.

Ayton is the team's rookie No. 1 pick, and the paint happens to be the Lakers' weakness, so this attempt by the Suns is very reasonable.

After Ayton got the ball, he started to hit Nance with his back constantly. Nance fought hard to hold it up. It seemed as if the two were equally matched in strength.

So Ayton collected the ball directly and prepared to turn around and shoot the hook shot.

But just after collecting the ball and preparing to turn around, Paul George suddenly appeared from the side and directly stole the ball from Ayton's hand.

"Another steal! Su, Butler, and George started the game with one steal each!!!"

After George stole the ball, he passed the ball directly to Su Tian on the outermost perimeter. Su Tian got the ball and started a fast break. No one on the Suns team could keep up with Su Tian's speed, so Su Tian took the lead and went to the basket in the frontcourt. One-handed chop and dunk, scoring again.

6-0

The Sun called a timeout.

"It's incredible, it's incredible, three people steal it at once!! It looks like a movie!" Barkley said.

"Yes, it's like it was agreed upon by the three of them. You see, the three of them are still high-fiving each other to celebrate. It seems that they are also very satisfied with these defenses."

The Lakers' defense made the Suns feel suffocated, but it was not without loopholes, and that was the inside.

Walton found Nance and said: "Larry, you just performed very well, keep it up, I don't need you to get me many blocks or steals, you just need to withstand him! Do you understand?"

"understand!"

"Paul, Brandon, you two should pay attention to help prevent interference at any time, and give that champion a lesson!"