Leaving New York, Joe returned to Houston.

Dwyane Wade has arrived in Houston, but the deal has not yet been completed, so the Rockets did not officially announce Wade's addition at the first time.

Qiao Hai also delayed the rookie press conference.

……

On July 1, the free market opened.

In the general manager's office of the Rockets, behind the desk sat Joe Hai, and in front of him sat Ron Artest and his agent Mark Stevens.

"Here's our initial offer, Ron, and Mark, you can take a look first."

Last season, Ron Artest was the third core of the Rockets, averaging 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.1 steals per game in the regular season, and 19 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in the playoffs.

As the defensive gate of the Rockets' outside line, Ron Artest's role is still very huge.

Darryl Morey used data analysis to estimate a price.

And now, this offer is placed on the table in front of Qiao Hai.

Mark Stevens held the Rocket's initial offer and looked at it carefully, and Ron Artest also leaned in.

"42 million in 6 years?"

54 million for 6 years, an average of $9 million per year, 7.2 million in the first year, and 10.8 million in the last year, obviously, for Ron Artest, this offer is not high, but it is not low either.

All in all, it's a reasonable offer, a reasonable reflection of Ron Artest's current strength and status.

But Artey is obviously not satisfied with such a decent offer, and Mark Stevens is even more dissatisfied, if it is such a contract, as an agent, how can he prove his personal ability?

So, he started haggling.

"9 million a year is too low, Joe."

Mark Stevens shook his head and continued: "Ron was already above that last season, his defense is not statistically reflected, and he's still young and has a bright future, and I think the price should be a little bit higher. ”

Qiao Hai was silent for a while, as if hesitating, Mark Stevens was ready for a long battle, and even, he was ready to end this negotiation, and then go and wait for the offers of other teams, forcing Qiao Hai to match the offers of other teams.

"OK, let's raise the offer."

Mark Stevens' eyes widened, and this raised the offer? Didn't you coax him?

Qiao Hai took out a piece of paper and wrote a set of numbers: "60 million in 6 years, an average of $10 million per year, a starting salary of $8.8 million, and $11.8 million in the last year." ”

I have to say that such an offer is already very sincere.

Mark Stevens didn't expect Qiao Hai to directly make such an offer, with an average annual increase of $1 million, and a total salary of $6 million more.

With this level of improvement, Mark Stevens was also a little hesitant.

After another period of silence, Mark Stevens thought for a long time, and he felt that he could bargain again, and maybe force Qiao Hai to raise another million dollars.

But when he turned his head to look at Ron Artest, he noticed that Ron Artest nodded.

"Yes, boss, that's the price."

Mark Stevens was a little helpless in an instant, and then looked at Qiao Hai with some resentment.

I have to say that Qiao Hai decisively raised the offer, which satisfied Ron Artest, who was already inclined to renew his contract with the Rockets, to a certain extent.

At least psychologically satisfying.

Mark Stevens couldn't do anything, and glanced at Ron Artest with an inquiring look, but Artai still nodded insistently.

So, Ron Artest's new contract was set.

"60 million for 6 years, with a starting salary of 8.8 million US dollars, you can sign a contract."

The team's legal department prepared the contract, and Joe handed it to Ron Artest, who signed his name directly at the end of the contract.

……

Ron Artest and his agent left, and the next person to show up in Joe's office was Chris Anderson and his agent.

"There are two offers, one is 5 million for two years, the player option for the second year, and the other is 25 million for five years, how to choose depends on yourself."

Qiao Hai gave two contracts, one for a five-year contract, one for a two-year contract, and a player option for the second year.

The annual salary of a long-term contract is twice as high as that of a short-term contract, but a long-term contract is four years longer than a short-term contract, and for Chris Anderson, it was an option.

Choosing a short-term contract shows that he is confident that he will get a higher-priced contract after this short-term contract, and choosing a long-term contract is to make money first for the sake of stability.

Chris Anderson didn't hesitate and pointed to the short contract: "I choose it." ”

……

After completing two contract renewals in a row, the next renewal work is not so simple.

The first is the renewal of Ralph Alston, because of his excellent performance in the playoffs, Ralph Alston received a multi-year contract from the Raptors, the price is about 30 million for 6 years, with an average of 5 million per year.

Qiao Hai hesitated for a moment, because the Rockets have another backup point guard with an annual salary of 3 million, Muchinoris.

However, after calculating the current salary space of the Rockets, Qiao Hai decided to match the offer.

"Originally, the most expensive player in the Rockets was Steve Francis, who had an annual salary of more than 10 million, but now Francis has been replaced by Wade, who has a rookie contract."

"In this way, the highest contract in the team is Ron Artest, whose annual salary is less than 10 million for the time being, followed by Kevin Cato with 6.7 million."

"So, we have plenty of salary space to give Raff a new contract."

The Rockets chose to match the offer, but Qiao Hai's contract was a little different from that of the Raptors, he gave a decreasing contract with a starting salary of $6.5 million, and only more than $3 million left in the final year.

Ralph Alston chose to accept the Rockets' offer for the reason that Joe is a coach who knows how to use him, and he wants to stay in a familiar environment and continue to improve.

……

In three days, the Rockets completed three contract extensions, but James Posey's contract extension dragged on.

After learning that the Rockets would send him to the Pistons after completing the extension, James Posey no longer took the initiative to negotiate a contract extension with the Rockets, and he was waiting for offers from other teams.

But after three days of waiting, James Posey couldn't wait for an offer from either team.

It's understandable that James Posey is a player with obvious strengths and weaknesses, he defends well and has enough size.

But the problem is that his shooting is poor, and in the Rockets' system, James Posey is shooting just 41.2% from the field and 30.0% from three-point range.

James Posey, who shoots too poorly, is in the Rockets, and if he is replaced with other players, it is destined to affect the offense of those teams.

And after the 1999 season, after Qiao Hai's Lakers made people realize the importance of the outside defensive gate, there were more and more players like James Posey.

There are two on the Spurs team alone, one is Bruce Bowen and the other is last year's rookie Tyshaw Prince.

Even the Pistons are not short of wing defenders, and Collis Williams' defense is not bad, but as he gets older, Joe Dumas wants to find a young wing to come back and enhance the vitality of the outside defense.

So, James Posey's lack of interest is understandable.