Zhou Xuan went back to the hotel and called Chris Mullin, asked about the bottom line of Bledsoe's agent, the bottom line of the Knicks, and then talked about the Cavaliers.

Zhou Xuan asked, "Chris, didn't we look for James in the summer?" ”

Knowing that James could jump out of his contract, and having talked about it before, they could form a super big four, and it didn't matter if they paid the luxury tax at that time, and they would be invincible in a few years.

Mullin sighed: "I asked, and his agent made it clear that he wouldn't choose the Knicks. If he comes to you, even if he wins the championship, it will be controversial, and I think he would rather beat you than be a teammate. We don't have room for salary, if we want to bring him in, we have to sign and then change, do we want to exchange Bosh back to the Heat? ”

Barkley never wanted to join forces with Jordan in the end, and Malone didn't defect to the Lakers until the last year of his career to win the championship. If James was 30 years old and hugged Zhou Xuan's thigh, he would definitely be scolded to death by experts, and then burned by President Silva, and went to the Cavaliers' home court to scatter his ashes as magnesium powder with that classic move......

"That's right, let's talk about it later, anyway, he should jump out of the contract again in two years." Zhou Xuan smiled: "As long as we are here, the knights don't want to win the championship." ”

"If you're confident, when will you meet Eric?"

"Tomorrow."

Early the next morning, Bledsoe came to the hotel to find Zhou Xuan.

"Erik, please take a seat, what are you drinking?"

"Ice water will do." Bredsoe said lightly, melancholy on his face.

Zhou Xuan handed him a bottle of ice water, sat on the sofa and said relaxedly: "It seems that you have been very unhappy recently, and you didn't succeed in wanting a big contract, right?" ”

Bledsoe nodded and asked, "Stephen, we've been on the same team for a year and a half, what do you think of my level?" Why is there no team willing to pay me a high salary? ”

Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "With all due respect, you belong to the kind of player who falls into the void, just like Lance Stephenson." Essentially, you are in a similar situation, playing the No. 1 position with average organization and playing the No. 2 position with three points. You also have a problem with height, style like Monta Ellis, a little shorter than him. The coaching staff is also embarrassed, and if you play a two-guard with me, you might be able to play a good number, but we can't have the horrible results we did last season. To put it simply, other teams are worried that it will not be easy to bring you in defense, so they will not give you a high salary. ”

Bredsoe sighed: "I think if I played in the number two position, I would be like Iverson. ”

Zhou Xuan nodded and said: "Many scouts probably think so, so I don't dare to ask you, you should play in the right way for your height, instead of learning from Iverson." He does have a lot of popularity, winning a regular season MVP and four scoring titles, but this is based on the 76ers not making the playoffs for multiple seasons. Even when they entered the finals, the defense of Snow and Mutombo was also crucial, and replacing Iverson with someone may not necessarily not enter the finals. If you want to shoot 30+ in a game and play 20 irons, you are going the wrong way. If you want to get a big salary, you should imitate me and Paul to play. ”

Bledsoe sighed again, if he can become a super defender with more assists, why will he not transform until now?

He knew that he had a general sense of assisting, and when he called Zhou Xuan, he had actually given up asking for an annual salary of 10 million or close to 10 million, and he just wanted to sign a better contract with the Knicks, and it was better to be in the championship team when it was almost a million.

Zhou Xuan knew it, so he didn't play false, and directly picked out the words.

Bredsoe thought for a moment and said, "Stephen, I know you can talk to the management, can you help me and try to increase my annual salary as much as possible, don't give me a mini middle class?" I'll try to play, but if the money is too small, people won't be motivated. ”

The mini middle class is a special middle class regulation, generally every season NBA teams can get a middle class exception of about 5 million, with a contract period of up to 5 years, which allows the team to sign freely in the case of exceeding the salary cap, of course, provided that the contract is less than the specified amount, if the team's salary space does not exceed the salary cap, then they can choose between the salary space and the middle class exception. If a team's salary space has exceeded the luxury tax, they can only have a mini-middle class of 3 million for a maximum of three years, and the mini-middle class exception was set by the league to give the big teams a little discount during the 2011 shutdown.

Previously, the Knicks had to pay the luxury tax, and they could only open a three-year middle class, and the annual salary of 3 million was much lower than Bredsoe expected. Zhou Xuan also felt unreasonable. This year, Rubio dared to ask for a maximum salary. No matter how bad Bledsoe is, he is better than Lu Yizhong. Fortunately, the Timberwolves didn't meet Lu Yizhong's requirements, otherwise that buddy would have disrupted the market.

Zhou Xuan said with a smile: "I asked Chris, 24 million in 4 years is his bottom line, it can't be higher, more than double that of the mini middle class." I think other teams offer you the highest price similar to this, to play in a weak team, are you willing? Think about the past four years, we can win another championship together. When the contract ends, will you have a better chance of getting a high salary in your next contract if you have a lot of championship rings in your hand? You won't be old then. ”

Bredsoe is hesitating, and four years is not a short time.

Zhou Xuan continued: "Wesley (Matthews) has gone to the Trail Blazers, so we are now below the luxury tax, and the new ones are all base salaries, as well as rookie contracts, and the middle class will be given to you, you can think about it." Whether you want to win the championship, or go to a bad team to get a few million more, play a bad record, and play more playing time. Think about how Ben Gordon got the big contract, he has a similar style to you, what it was like when he got to the Pistons, and now he can only get a base salary after the contract ends, and he is not too old. You don't have to rush to reply, there is still time before the start of the new season. ”

Bredsoe said: "What will the manager do if I don't renew my contract? ”

Zhou Xuan said: "Find a No. 2 position with a height of more than 195CM, there is no suitable person in the free market, probably a middle-class player will be traded, and it will be used for about two years, and then poached people in the free market." Chris likes to keep his salary around the luxury tax. ”

Bledsoe asked: "Is there a player option?" For example, you can jump out of the contract in the final year. ”

Zhou Xuan shook his head and said, "No, this contract is the same as the contract when the Cavaliers poached Kyle Lowry in 2010, when the Rockets matched the offer." Truth be told, Lowry is better organized than you. You didn't count as much last season as he had in that contract year. ”

Lowry was very efficient that year, 9. 1 point 4. 5 assists and only played 24 minutes. Bledsoe 18 mins 8. 5 points and 3 assists, with a high shooting percentage, and the previous season was also slightly better, but this number is very unconvincing, and it is a bit whimsical to want to get an annual salary of 10 million.

Considering Bledsoe's talent, a lot of teams will want to take a gamble. The Knicks use him as Ellis in the system, and without him as a striker, the offensive ability to play double guard will decline. So Mullin didn't want him to go, and he didn't want to stay with Augustine with an annual salary of 3 million, which showed enough sincerity.

Bledsoe thought about it for a while, called his agent, and said that if the other party offered a four-year contract, it would be acceptable, which was already the largest contract he could get so far.

Zhou Xuan smiled and said, "Congratulations on making a smart choice, let's win the championship again." ”

"Do you think I might start in the number 2 position?" Bredsoe didn't want to be idle.

"Depending on what team you play, if you're afraid of a fast attack, you'll definitely get more playing time. You're also an important substitute in the number one position, and I guess your playing time next season should be around 25 minutes. ”

Zhou Xuan's analysis is always very accurate, and Gordon and Harrington will definitely not be able to compete with Bledsoe.

"It's not the starting minutes, but it's better than this season." Bredso smiled bitterly, he finally went to a big matter. If the Knicks bring in another person, he's going to go crazy if he loses his place like Copeland.

The two chatted for a while, and Bredso took his leave. He invited Zhou Xuan and his black brothers to the beach to play motorboats, but Zhou Xuan politely declined. He was a little afraid of water, and he felt that playing that was risky. If he wanted to go, he would prefer to go with Kolo Moretz and play a slower one.

A day later, the Knicks officially announced the news of Bledsoe's contract extension, completing the final signing of the summer.

The key rotation players for the new season have been confirmed, and then looking for someone to play in the preseason is to look at Marshall. Only this position is still a bit variable. With Bledsoe re-signing the mid-range, the Knicks will continue to pay a small luxury tax this season.

The only big name left in the free market is Greg Monroe.

Monroe, who has been unable to reach a contract extension agreement with his parent team, has attracted the attention of more and more teams. As a restricted free agent, Monroe is in a very bad situation, and some experts have analyzed that he is likely to follow David Lee's example, eventually signing a one-year contract with the team and then leaving Detroit next summer.

Monroe averaged 14 points and 9 rebounds per game in his career, and this summer Stan Van Gundy took charge of the team management and took charge of the team, but at this time, it was rumored that Monroe declined the Pistons' "maximum salary contract". It will be interesting to see if the combination of the Pistons and Monroe in the new season can have the desired chemistry and lead the team to the Eastern Conference playoffs.

In fact, the Pistons don't look bad on the surface, the problem is that it's unreasonable. The worst option would be to bring in Josh Smith as a small forward.

Smith is better suited to play power forward, he is athletic, can defend breakaways, and is good at helping to block on the side. On the offensive end, he can shoot in the middle, he can cut in the air, he can also play alone in the low post, and he can turn around and throw with his left hand to a certain efficiency. By all accounts, if he plays the No. 4 position, his efficiency will be at least similar to that of the Thunder's Ibaka. But playing small forward, he has poor organizational skills, bad three-point shooting, and he must attract defense on the perimeter, and he can shoot when he has the opportunity, which has become a cancer of play.

Pistons Drummond and Monroe have only one person suitable for starting, if Monroe is let go and Drummond is retained, then the Pistons can't expect to rise in recent seasons, and it will be a success to make the playoffs. With no one on the perimeter shooting threes, the opponent can shrink as much as he wants, and he can foul Drummond in the low post to send Drummond to the free throw. The only trade the Pistons made for the system was to bring in Jodimeks as a pitcher, but it was too costly. Augustin, who can shoot three-pointers, may also play off the bench, and Cancer Jennings is still on the team.

The Pistons don't have much future, and Monroe is leaving, which is quite wise.