One sign and one severance, the Lakers upgraded to the 15-man roster! Doncic continues to recruit new players to prepare for revenge

With one sign and one resignation, the Lakers further upgraded to the 15-man roster! The new core Doncic has made continuous efforts to recruit new players for the Purple and Gold Legion, and famous reporters have revealed that he is preparing for revenge in the new season.

22-year 11 million signings Smart

According to ESPN reporter Shams, the Wizards have bought out with Smart, who joined the Lakers with a two-year contract after the clarification period. The

contract is specifically $11 million for two years, and the second year is the player option, which will facilitate Smart to resume his free self in 26 years and seek a larger contract.

Considering that the Lakers had let go of defensive pioneer Finney Smith, this signing is undoubtedly an extremely cost-effective choice.

Smart has played 635 games so far in his career, and averaged 10.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals per game. He is one of the top backcourt defenders in the current service.

was selected into the All-First Team three times and was awarded the DPOY of the season in the 21-22 season, becoming the third defender to win this honor after Jordan and Gary Payton.

After being traded to the Wizards in the 24-25 season, Smart's shooting performance improved significantly, and he scored a career-high 39.2% shooting percentage with 3.2 three-pointers per game.

Although the sample in 15 games is small, it is still good news for the Lakers to bet on this defensive strongman.

Of course, Smart's shortcomings are also very obvious. Since he was given up by the Celtics, he has only played 54 games in the past two seasons, 20 games in 23-24, and 34 games in 24-25. This is also the core reason why he was bought out and the Lakers can buy at the bottom at a low price.

Break Milton Tennis position

Although Smart has a significant injury risk, he is still a hot item in the buyout market. In order to introduce him, the Lakers will likely have to cut two people in one breath.

Since the Lakers' 15-man roster was already full, according to Shams's subsequent reports, in order to sign Smart, the Lakers plan to sack Milton, and his $3 million contract is about to be guaranteed.

As a by-product of the Lakers' trade, Milton played a very limited role in joining the Lakers, and it is no pity to lay him off. After waived Milton, the Lakers met the roster requirements, but there were still problems with their cap space.

According to follow-up analysis by salary expert Bobby Marks, the Lakers are currently only $909,000 away from the first-tier luxury tax line, and cannot use the $5.1 million biennial special case to sign Smart, even if Milton cuts $3 million, it is not enough.

For this reason, salary expert Bobby Marks also gave a solution, pointing out that only $25,000 of Goodwin's $2.3 million contract is guaranteed, and if he is laid off, the Lakers can make room to sign Smart.

Doncic prepares for revenge

In addition to laying off players, the Lakers also took the initiative to recruit new nuclear Doncic in order to sign Smart.

According to the follow-up report of TA Lakers Dan Woike, Doncic hopes that the team will introduce centers, shooting points and backcourt defenders who can hit the basket, and for this reason the Lakers have introduced Ayton, Laravia and Smart. During

, Doncic came to the field to recruit, and it was his recruitment that allowed the Lakers to win the battle between Ayton and Smart after the buyout. The subsequent details of the famous reporter Shams also confirmed this. Doncic personally called Smart and told the latter that he wanted to fight side by side, which allowed the Lakers to win the battle against the Suns and the Bucks.

team reporter Dan Woike also revealed in the article why Doncic is so active in signings. He pointed out that Doncic has escaped the psychological impact of being suddenly traded.

Doncic is strictly controlling his diet and training plan and is fully preparing for the European Championship. He will then spend some time in Europe and prepare for revenge in the new season. James and Little Rie are also ready. Both will participate in the full training camp for the first time to learn how to cooperate with Doncic.

The new 15-man roster is as follows

After signing Smart to strengthen the defenders in the backcourt, the Lakers' new 15-man roster is as follows:

Point guards: Doncic, Vincent, Smart;

Point guards: Reeves, Goodwin (may be cut), Kneckett, Brownie;

Small forwards: Hachimura, Laravia, Adu Tiero;

Power forwards: James, Vanderbilt, Kleber;

Center: Ayton, Hays.