Korean media: Where will the "Crown Prince" Brownie go in the future? Ayton joins to help James "last dance"

After missing Capela and Lopez in succession, the Lakers finally strengthened their center position as they wished, gathering the "new three" of James, Doncic and former Trail Blazers center Ayton. South Korean media "Basketball South Korea" said on the 3rd that considering that James' contract with the Lakers will expire after the end of the 2025-2026 season, the "Little Emperor" may announce his retirement. Where will the "Crown Prince" Brownie, who has benefited from entering the NBA, go?

Korean media: Brownie said that he wanted to strengthen his defense

Brownie, who is 1.88 meters tall, plays as a defender on the court, but he lacks stable long-range shooting ability. Based on his strength, this "Crown Prince" has not received much attention since his college years. Despite this, he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 55th overall pick, which is why people think he is "hard to his father". In this regard, Mr. Yang Yi, a famous domestic media person, once pointed out that as parents, it is understandable to provide children with resources within their abilities.

But the reality of the arena is very cruel, and Brownie didn't get much chance in his first NBA season. He played 27 games, averaged 6 minutes, scoring 2.3 points and 0.8 assists. His shooting percentage is only 31% and his three-point shooting percentage is only 28%. The offensive performance was completely failed. However, his performance in the Development League (G League) exceeded expectations, which made fans look forward to him. In the G League, he played in 11 games, averaging 21.9 points, 5.4 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game.

Brownie, who ended her first season in a controversy, said in an interview: "I really learned a lot, thought about how to play on the court, and realized that it needs to be more aggressive. However, when I am on the court, I need to focus more on defense, and I cannot score 15 points or 20 points in a single game. On the contrary, there are many players on our team who have strong scoring ability, and I don't need to score. To get more playing time, I have to do a good job of defense. It must be a defensive option that the team can trust, and this is my role." Due to body size issues, Brownie is easily targeted by his opponents in the NBA field, but he has also shown certain defensive abilities, but he has not yet proved that he has reached the NBA level.

Aiton helps James' "last dance"

Considering that next season is likely to be James' "last dance", the legendary player naturally hopes to end his career with a championship, and it is obvious that he cannot count on his son too much. South Korean media Spochoo pointed out that the Lakers' introduction of Ayton is actually directly related to James' "last dance". James's agent Ritchie Paul said: "James knows that the Lakers are building for the future and are eager to fight for the championship. Although he understands that winning and looking at the future is difficult to balance, he still hopes to make every remaining season meaningful."

The reason why the Lakers chose Ayton is clear: In Doncic's career, the white defender loved the inside No. 5 position who could go down in the pick-and-roll tactics, and Ayton happened to be a player of this style. On the other hand, Lopez, who was originally the first choice of the Lakers, teamed up with the Clippers. Although Lopez is an excellent shooter, it is not suitable for Doncic's preferred offensive mode.

For the Los Angeles Lakers, the center position is a difficult issue for life and death. In order to introduce Doncic, the Lakers sent Anthony Davis to Dallas and had to rely on internal resources to solve the center problem, but this operation was obviously not enough. The team failed to return in the playoffs last season, largely because of the shortcomings in the center position.

From the perspective of ability alone, Ayton is a center with verified strength. In his five seasons with the Suns, he averaged 16.7 points, 10.4 rebounds per game, shot 59.7%, and was selected for the All-Rookie Team of the 2018-19 season. Last season, he averaged 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game with the Trail Blazers, with a shooting percentage of 56.6%.

Aiton is the only player in the NBA to average at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first seven seasons of his career since Dwight Howard in 2004-05. However, he has played only 95 games in 164 games in the last two seasons, and "durability" is a variable.

Can James bring another championship to the Lakers?

In any case, the Lakers have now put together the last piece of the puzzle. Can the new three giants lineup composed of James, Doncic and Ayton bring the 18th championship trophy in the history of the Purple and Gold Dynasty? James, 41, stood there, about to start the challenge of "The Last Dance".