The four old Lakers players are winning the championship! Caruso + Randle + Hart + Tobu showdown, who is the most regrettable to let go?

The Lakers bid farewell to the playoffs early, but there must be an old Lakers player this season, because there is currently a former Lakers player among the top four teams in the league. The Thunder have Caruso, the Timberwolves have Randle, the Knicks have Hart, and the Pacers have Thomas Bryant, among which Caruso and Tob have both won the championship.

In this year's playoffs, Randall shined and became a good helper around Edwards, playing as an All-Star inside player. Caruso also performed well, especially in the Western Conference semi-finals, where he made great contributions to defeating the Nuggets, including the tiebreak battle, and Bald Mamba restricted Jokic very successfully.

Hart is one of the five starting points of the Knicks, and he played an offense and defense performance. The team made an indelible contribution to the Eastern Conference Finals. Tobu is the Pacers' inside substitute and plays diligently. The Lakers did not cherish these four players. Randall was the No. 7 pick chosen by the Lakers in 2014. He played for the team for four seasons and allowed him to leave in 2018. He signed with the Pelicans as a free agent.

Randle actually played well in his last season with the Lakers, averaging 16.1 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game, and his shooting percentage was 55.8%. However, Pelinka, who has become the Lakers general manager, still did not leave him behind. Randall signed with the Pelicans with a low-cost code of $18 million for two years, and thus ushered in a counterattack in his life.

Randall averaged 21.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists in the Pelicans, and then grew into an All-Star player in the Knicks. This season, Randle was in a state of great shape in the playoffs, averaging 23.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game, shooting percentage of 50.9%, three-point shooting percentage of 34.5%, and free throw shooting percentage of 88.9%.

Recently, former Lakers player Lonzo Ball criticized the Lakers for disrespectful Randle in a show. "The Lakers were so disrespectful to him back then. Now you can see how good he performed. He can do anything. He really can do everything. The most ridiculous thing I heard when I was in that team was like this. At the beginning of the season, the team let us all sit together and talk about everyone's roles, tasks, etc. in the locker room. When it was Randle's turn, they actually said, 'You're responsible for rebounding, pick-and-roll, don't do anything else'." Ball said.

Bauer emphasized that he spoke for Randle at that time and hoped that the team would give Randle a burden. It has to be said that the Lakers did get lost in Randle and lost an All-Star player in vain. It was even more a pity for the Lakers to let Caruso go. In the summer of 2021, Caruso became a restricted free agent and the Bulls offered him a four-year, $37 million contract. Caruso was determined to keep the Lakers at that time. His team discussed a three-year, $30 million contract with the Lakers, but the Lakers were only willing to give a contract with an annual salary of $7 million. After the Bulls issued that contract, the Lakers could have matched the contract and kept him, but still let him go. That summer, the Lakers chose to sign a three-year, $32 million contract extension with Horton Tucker. In the Western Conference semi-finals, Jokic played 12 minutes and 44 seconds against Caruso's defense, making 4 of 12 shots, with only 33.3% shooting percentage. Westbrook played 18 minutes and 26 seconds against Caruso's defense, making 4 of 11 shots, with a shooting percentage of only 36.4%. In the tiebreak battle, it was Caruso's candy-style defense against Jokic that made the MVP center very uncomfortable. Caruso scored 11 points, 3 assists and 3 steals in the tiebreak battle, with a plus-minus value reaching +40. The Lakers' reporter Trevor Ryan even further commented: "It was unreasonable for the Lakers to let Caruso go, and as time went by, this decision only seemed to get worse and worse!"

US media will defend Caruso against Jokic, similar to Barria defending James in the finals. Josh Hart was one of the bargaining chips that the Lakers had for the Black Brow. Hart averaged 13.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game in the Knicks this season, making him an all-round fighter. He scored a triple-double in the sixth game of the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

Thomas Bryant played for the Lakers twice in the 2017-18 season and 2022-23 seasons, and was abandoned twice. Among them, in the mid-2022-23 season, he was traded by the Lakers to the Nuggets. Tobu also won the championship as the Nuggets because of this. Tobu is now the Pacers' inside substitute, averaging 9.9 minutes per game in the playoffs, scoring 2.7 points and 1.9 rebounds. Nothing can be done again. In recent years, it has been rumored that the Lakers produce must be a fine product.