The Lakers have had a poor record in the past two years. Although they have formed a massive “360” connection (referring to the back numbers of Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and Russell Westbrook), there is no way for these three ace players with outstanding achievements to be combined. Turning benefits into actual results, even if David Ham is replaced as the head coach this season, the Lakers are still some distance away from the playoff challenge.
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Due to the salary space, the Lakers must put the remaining resources on the draft and two-way, non-guaranteed, basic-salary players to dig treasures. We know that the Lakers found Austin Reaves, a fast-growing guard, in last year’s draft. We also know that the Lakers found Stanley Johnson, a once-highly anticipated lottery player, and then he played well in the Lakers system. The Ronin player nicknamed “Archangel” by Taiwanese fans has become an important rotation for the Lakers inside.He is Wenyen Gabriel from South Sudan.
Gabriel was the undrafted pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. He mainly played as a center forward. He was a five-star high school student in high school.The highest ranking was 14th in ESPN’s 2016 Top 100 Rookie Echelon, and played in the Jordan Brand Classic (JBC, Jordan Brand Classic, is an exchange game for young players with potential in the United States and around the world)it can be seen that its potential and talent are quite optimistic.
With a height of 6 feet 9 and a wingspan of 7 feet 1, Gabriel entered the 2018 NBA draft following two years at the University of Kentucky (also AD’s alma mater), but was not selected by any team. In the same year, Gabriel represented the Kings in the Summer League and signed a two-way contract with the Kings in the summer, but did not represent the Kings in any game at the NBA level.
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After that, Garbiel lost his glory as a five-star high school student like an angel with broken wings, and kept wandering in various teams.In less than three seasons, Gabriel has represented the Trail Blazers, Kings, Pelicans, Nets, and Clippers. Looking at his statistics, it is not difficult to imagine why other teams will not keep him in the team for a long time: rough ball skills, easy to foul(In the 19-20 season, he averaged 7.8 minutes per game and swallowed 1.3 fouls, and in the 20-21 season, he averaged 11.5 minutes per game and swallowed 1.5 fouls)and therefore Gabriel might not become a stable rotation force, and soon became a Ronin player.
Then Gabriel came to the City of Angels and found his belonging.
After the “360 Connection” was formed last season, the Lakers recruited many experienced veterans and former Lakers players to join, such as Dwight Howard, “Melo” Carmelo Anthony, DeAndre Jordan, Trevor Ariza and others who are now playing in Taiwan, but obviously Injuries and age have dragged down this Lakers team. Coupled with the continuous injuries of Davis and James, and the poor running-in of the “360” connection, the Lakers gradually withdrew from the competition in the middle of the season. They can only look to the future and Find ways to dig out treasures from young, rogue players, and Gabriel is one of those guys.
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Gabriel, who signed a two-way contract with the Lakers on 2/28 US time, brought the energy the team desperately needed.In the whole season, 19 games (including five starts) can be replaced by 14.4 points and 9.8 rebounds in 36 minutes.The then head coach of the Lakers Frank Vogel mentioned in an interview,
I love the energy Wenyen brings to the team. He plays hard, has a clean attitude, is big and athletic. We need that size and athleticism at the forward position. Although Wenyen is inexperienced due to being a young player, I absolutely love his energy.
more importantly,Gabriel has a career average of 33% from 3-point range, although the sample size is small (31-93), but obviously Gabriel’s outside shooting can be developed. Coupled with his wingspan and size, Gabriel can bring the team higher mobility and defensive energy, so that he not only has the opportunity to play to grab points, but also can use his size advantage to play his defensive ability.
Before the end of the last season, the Lakers broke up with the old player Trevor Ariza (coincidentally, Ariza was once a bargaining chip with Gabriel and was traded to the Trail Blazers by the King), and the position left can allow the team to sign a partially unavailable player. Guaranteed player, Gabriel is the one to fill out the roster. Gabriel earned his place in the lineup with his hard work and energy on both ends of the floor, combined with his size.
When the new Lakers head coach Ham took office, he chose to let different players in the same position compete for the opportunity to play. This season, we see that Gabriel is in the current head coach Ham’s rotation lineup. He has obviously surpassed the backup center Damian Jones to become the player that Ham trusts more. The only big man other than Davis to get consistent minutes.