After the All-Star weekend, the regular season games significantly gained attention, partly because the NFL season ended, and also because the NBA entered the stage of sprinting for playoff positions and competing for rankings.

During this time, the attention on young players significantly increased.

How have the rookies adapted by the second half of the regular season? What improvements have second and third-year players shown after a season and a half or two and a half seasons? Can they maintain their performance or play even better during the phase when strong teams start to exert their strength?

Although the NBA rookie contracts have no clear term limits, before the draft class of Big Dog, Kidd, and Grant Hill, the top picks generally signed 4-year rookie contracts. Most of the high picks from the ’92 draft class are in their contract year, and how they perform in the last half of their contract year...

Tonight’s game between the Lakers and the Mavericks happens to bring together many outstanding players from the ’92 to ’95 draft classes.

The ’92 draft class has Jim Jackson at 4th overall, Anthony Peeler at 15th, and Doug Christie at 17th.

The ’93 draft class has Jamal Mashburn at 4th overall, George Lynch at 12th, and Van Exel at 10th in the second round.

The ’94 draft class has Jason Kidd at 2nd overall, and Zhang Hao at 9th in the ’95 class.

Even though Jamal Mashburn was early out for the season, this game has become a focal point for many teams keen on recent years’ talented players.

Because in these years, without the mother team’s right to match offers, and since players prefer entering the free market, each summer sees rookie contract players attracting interest from multiple teams.

Teams are not just competing for top-tier players; a team mostly competes for role players. Players like George Lynch, Anthony Peeler, and Doug Christie might even have better chances on the free market, while it’s rare for top stars to change teams in these times outside of trades.

Of course, the most attention from team scouts naturally goes to the four top young players: Kidd, Jim Jackson, Zhang Hao, and Van Exel.

Zhang Hao performed well in the first half of the opening quarter, effortlessly scoring 4 points early on, then got a 2+1 back-to-basket play against George McCloud, then focused heavily by the Mavericks without any care, ending the beginning with 7 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist.

But Kidd’s performance was even more spectacular!

Teams with a ball-handling core prefer Zhang Hao, but not every team has an excellent ball-handling core. Kidd’s play style and abilities clearly make him the type of player that teams would want as a franchise cornerstone.

Scouts are amazed by Kidd’s big-picture vision, organization skills, and judgment as a second-year player... On the court, Lakers’ head coach Del Harris also feels the headache.

The Mavericks, having a player hitting an average of 2.9 three-pointers per game, seemingly certain to hit 3+ per game by season’s end, having a group of athletic forwards, and Kidd leading them in run and gun, when team offense falters, they still have the physically strong and technically complete Jim Jackson for isolation... If the Mavericks gain confidence, our Lakers might not handle them!

Before the All-Star weekend, things were smooth sailing, but after the weekend, the extreme fiery status faded; even Del Harris as the coach finds it hard to adapt.

Although he doesn’t like that rookie, he and that rookie share the same goal—60 wins!

Not only 60 wins, but Del Harris also wants to secure the Western Conference regular-season championship.

Each year there’s a regular-season champion, but not every coach gets the chance to win it, nor can every coach win it, nor does every coach have the opportunity to compete for it.

Now, the Lakers have such an opportunity.

The key is to win against these non-playoff teams.

"This old guy is tough to deal with, this crappy lineup, he really made something out of it..."

Mavericks’ head coach Dick Motta is an extremely excellent coach, this season is his 24th in his coaching career at the age of 64, his most famous pupil is Jerry Sloan.

Dick Motta excels at rookie cultivation and lineup building. At the start of the season, Mashburn’s season exit was a huge blow to the Mavericks. Originally they were aiming for the playoffs, but after half a season, Dick Motta managed to improve the Mavericks’ record by tapping into their players. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Once Mashburn returns, with a stronger small forward... Del Harris feels that the Mavericks may become the Lakers’ rival in the future!

"The focus is on Kidd! Need to disrupt Kidd’s playmaking, Nick and Anthony aren’t physically strong enough, George and Doug aren’t fast enough, Sedale isn’t tall enough... Hmm? Height, defense, speed?"

While marveling at Kidd’s abilities, Zhang Hao suddenly felt a chill.

Noticing Del Harris’s joyful eyes, Zhang Hao felt startled.

...

Good grief, is it time to defend point guards?

Zhang Hao looked at Doug Christie, George Lynch, Magician, Jason Williams, who were on the court with him.

The Mavericks sent out Kidd, Lucious Harris, Jim Jackson, George McCloud, Lauren Meyer.

After tonight, Zhang Hao truly defended all five positions.

Let’s play offense first!