"How did the Lakers acquire Antawn Jamison and Mike Miller without losing any of their top seven players?"
Experts and journalists concluded that this trade ended the suspense for the season.
The presence of Jamison and Artest turned the Lakers' power forward position from a weakness into a strength. For offense, they used Jamison, and for defense, Artest.
Adding Jamison and also acquiring Miller, a sharpshooter who had a three-point shooting percentage of 40%, meant that even if the SuperSonics were to play small ball, the Lakers could respond.
The only painful loss for the Lakers was Luke Walton, a substitute forward who was fluently used by the Zen Master, but considering the reinforcements they obtained, this loss was not a problem at all.
The hopes for a three-peat by the SuperSonics disappeared.
Yu Fei's dream of seven championships in eight years seemingly ended there.