Because the Lakers signed Thomas Jr. not because of Westbrook's short absence, but because Westbrook's poor performance this season failed to meet the requirements of the Lakers. If Westbrook is an all-star performance this season, even if he misses for a short time, the Lakers will not sign a guard again, because Rondo is still in the lineup. Thomas Jr. was signed because Russell Westbrook's poor performance has completely lost its value in the trading market, so it is almost impossible for the Lakers to strengthen their lineup through trading. At this time, they can only sign Thomas Jr., a completely free agent.

Whether Thomas Jr. can help the Lakers depends on two aspects. The first is whether Lakers coach vogel trusts Thomas Jr. and can provide Thomas Jr. with enough playing time. The second is to see how small Thomas's personal strength is now. These two points determine whether Thomas Jr. can help the Lakers and achieve the Lakers by going up a storey still higher.

First of all, I think it is to watch the playing time. Little Thomas will get enough playing time. Thomas Jr. will not only make up for the short-term lack of lineup, but also make up for those expectations that Westbrook failed to meet, so Thomas Jr. will get enough playing time. In terms of personal strength, I don't think there is much problem. He has been training and playing some low-level games since he left the nba, so his feeling about the game is still there.

He is healthy now, which is very important. Healthy little Thomas is very strong. Considering that he still wants to stand in the league, Thomas Jr. may give people a bright performance this time. I even have a vague feeling that Thomas Jr. will definitely crowd out Westbrook's starting position when he joins the Lakers this time. There is little difference in defense between the two men, but Thomas Jr.' s three-pointer without the ball is much better than Westbrook's.