Chapter 40: Complete the puzzle

The NBA has a July freeze period, from July 1 to July 8, which is the period when the NBA conducts audits to determine basketball-related revenue, which can then be used to calculate the salary cap for next season, and so on. Pen Fun Cabinet www.biquge.info Since restrictions such as salary caps have not been determined, this period is a short trade freeze period, during which although the free market is open and teams can contact players, the deal will not be approved until after the 8th.

The July freeze period is also the most active period in the free agent market, and there will be more frequent contact between teams and free agents, so those players who choose to jump out of their contracts to test the waters of the free agent market will choose to jump out of their contracts before July 1.

James opted out of his contract on June 25, with two years left on his original contract, which was worth $42.7 million. Wade and Bosh chose to leave their contracts on June 29, both with two years remaining, with a combined value of $41.8 million and $42.7 million, respectively. Next, James' stay will be the focus of the entire NBA, and it has been reported that James wants to return to his native Ohio and return to the Cavaliers, and the Heat will certainly do their best to keep James.

The Heat's Big Three are on the verge of falling apart, leaving free agents who are ready to hug their thighs without a place to go.

In the NBA, hugging the thighs is also particular, and only the team that has proven that it has the ability to win the championship is the "real thigh", and this so-called proof must at least get a playoff championship in the East or West Division. For example, the Los Angeles Clippers have a good regular season record every year, Paul, Griffin and Jordan Jr. in the team are also considered the "Big Three", and the coach of the Clippers is also a famous coach Rivers, but he has never been able to reach the Western Conference finals, so he has always been called a "pseudo-strong team", not a real thigh.

In addition, a team like the Spurs is not a "good thigh". Although the odds of the Spurs winning the championship every year are relatively high, the Spurs are a team that pays attention to tactical coordination, and if the players cannot integrate into the tactical system, there is basically no room to play, and it is likely that they will not even be able to play the ball.

Before that, the Heat had the existence of the Big Three, of course, "real thighs", and now, James may leave, and the Heat are no longer the favorites to hug their thighs, but the Lakers, who have just won the championship, have become a place that many free agents yearn for.

The first person to hug his thigh was none other than the half-human, half-god Vince Carter. Carter wants a championship, which is something the whole world knows, and he joined the Mavericks for a championship ring. Now that the three-year contract signed by Carter and the Mavericks has expired, it is necessary to find a new owner.

However, Carter made two demands, the first is not to accept the veteran's base salary, his annual salary in the Mavericks is $3 million, so he also asked the Lakers for this price. Based on Carter's performance last season, he averaged 11.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game, shooting 40.7% from the field and 39.4% from three-point range, and his annual salary of 3 million is really worth it.

Another condition that Carter put forward was the promise of playing time, and it was clear that Carter didn't want to sit on the bench after coming to the Lakers. The Lakers can also agree to this, anyway, the Lakers play run-and-shoot, as long as they can run and shoot three-pointers, they will have a chance to play, not to mention that Carter also has a good three-point shooting rate.

The Lakers and Carter quickly reached an agreement, and the Lakers offered Carter a two-year mini-mid-range contract, which was the Lakers' first move on the free market.

In addition to Carter, another player, Sean Marion, who also played for the Mavericks last season, also accepted the Lakers' one-year veteran base salary.

Compared with Carter, Marion's signing was much smoother, and he made it clear in an interview that the purpose of joining the Lakers was to get another championship ring, which is equivalent to clearly saying that he was "hugging his thighs".

Marion was a starter with the Mavericks last season, averaging 10.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, which is nothing compared to his peak, but his 48.2 percent shooting percentage is much better than many of the boys.

After leaving the Mavericks, Marion defected to James and spent the final year of his career with the Cavaliers. And now, the Lakers are clearly a better option for Marion. Lakers coach D'Antoni used to be Marion's mentor, and when he was with the Suns, Marion also proved that he was good at playing D'Antoni's run-and-gun tactics.

At the same time, the Lakers' contract extension work is also mixed.

The Lakers offered Gasol a five-year contract of 85 million, although it is not the maximum salary, but for the 34-year-old Gasol, it is also a fat contract for retirement. After winning the championship this season, Gasol also planned to retire to the Lakers for the rest of his life, so he decided to accept the contract. However, the two sides will officially sign after the Lakers' recruitment is over, so that the Lakers can free up salary space to sign free agents.

Nick Young also accepted his contract that amounted to the middle class, Nick Young is an Angelena native, and the Lakers are naturally his first choice.

Bazemore and Whiteside also agreed to contract extensions. Although the four-year contract is a bit long, and the annual salary is only more than $2 million, it is already a rare fat contract for them, at least they can continue to play in the NBA for the next few years.

In addition, Ci Shiping and Wesley Johnson are both veterans who continue to receive a one-year base salary.

Among the other players, Carman knows that he will not get a contract extension and has already started to negotiate contracts with other teams. Meeks insisted on a big contract with an annual salary of more than 8 million, and Famar wanted a middle-class contract, and after Kupchak made it clear that it was impossible, the two began to look for other next homes.

As for Jordan Hill, a lion opened his mouth and asked for an annual salary of tens of millions!

Nash's retirement, Kobe's salary is also 5 million less than last season, the Lakers are theoretically able to free up 15 million salary space in addition to the normal contract renewal, Jordan Hill's agent is looking at this salary space, not to mention that Carman left, the Lakers only have Gasol and Whiteside left inside, which is also the capital that Jordan Hill relies on. 、

The Lakers' rookie Jokic selected in the second round obviously did not make Jordan Hill's agent feel the pressure, and it is still a question whether an overseas player can gain a foothold in the NBA, so the agent believes that it will not pose a threat to Jordan Hill.

The matter of re-signing Jordan Hill has reached an impasse, and Kupchak has made another move, signing former All-Star center Jermaine O'Neal with a one-year veteran base salary.

O'Neal Jr. averaged 7.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game with the Warriors last season and was the team's starting center during Bogut's injury. Although O'Neal Jr. is not as good as before, and the offensive aspect can basically be ignored, the body is still there, and the low post defense can also deal with the league's top interior players.

The Lakers' choice of O'Neal Jr. is also to a certain extent prepared to give up Jordan Hill. For the current team that can't shoot three-pointers, it's enough to have Whiteside and O'Neal Jr., and there's no need for another Jordan Hill.

……

Los Angeles Times reporter Brad Turret revealed that a well-informed source revealed that the Kings reached a deal with guard Darren Collison. Collison is leaving the Clippers to sign a three-year, fully guaranteed contract with the Kings worth $16 million. There has been a lot of speculation that the Kings signing Collison means Isaiah Thomas will leave Sacramento? ”

When Zhang Guan saw the news, he immediately dialed Kupchak's phone.

"Did you see the King's signing of Collison?" Zhang Guan asked.

"Well, I found out two days ago. When Collison jumped out of his contract, the Kings had already started to make contact with him. In Los Angeles, there's nothing to hide from us. Kupchak began.

"Can we quote Thomas?" Zhang Guan then asked.

"Thomas? What's the use of him, he's too short. Kupchak began.

"He's very good at scoring...... Forget it, let's have an interview for the specific situation, I'll go to your office. Zhang Guan put down his phone after speaking.

……

In addition to the Big Three of the Heat who jumped out of the contract, such as Nowitzki of the Mavericks, Anthony of the Knicks, Duncan of the Spurs, Ruel Deng of the Bulls, Randolph of the Grizzlies, and Lowry of the Raptors will all become free agents. In the restricted free agent market, the first-round rookie in 2010 and the second-round rookie in 2011 will become restricted free agents.

Many of the rookies in 2010 have signed contracts with the team in advance, such as Wall, Cousins, Paul George, etc., and they have all received a large contract of 10 million yuan. There are also players who have yet to be renewed, such as Bledsoe and Hayward, who are now restricted free agents, allowing other teams to make offers, and their owners are clearly looking to drive down the price.

Less than half of the 2011 second-round rookies are still in the NBA, and only two of them are worthy of an offer from other teams, one is Parsons of the Rockets and the other is Thomas of the Kings.

Parsons of the Rockets originally had one year left on his contract, but the Rockets did not execute Parsons' final year of contract and voluntarily made Parsons a restricted free agent. The Rockets originally wanted to free up salary space to sign Bosh, but Bosh chose to stay in Miami, and Parsons was poached by a big contract from the Mavericks.

And Thomas, the Kings, is the real contract expiring.

Thomas was drafted with the 60th pick in the second round, which is the penultimate pick. There are two main reasons why the team is not optimistic about him, the first is that Thomas's height is only 1.75 meters, which is a little too short for the NBA; The second point is that Thomas only participated in the draft after graduating from college, and he is an older rookie, which also lowers his draft pick.

But Thomas has proven himself, and he played very well for the Kings last season, averaging 20.3 points and 6.3 assists per game, like an All-Star guard.

But even so, the Kings still have no intention of keeping Thomas, they still use Cousins as the core of the team, so as early as December last year, Thomas was put on the shelf.

In the offseason, he signed Collison in the past, Collison's technical characteristics are similar to Thomas, and his shooting percentage is on par with Thomas Jr., but it is 8 centimeters higher than Thomas Jr. This was apparently telling the whole league that the king was not prepared to keep Thomas.

The Kings obviously made a mistake, Cousins did not bring good results to the Kings, and was eventually traded to the Pelicans, and the Kings also entered a rebuilding period, but at the same time, Thomas Jr. led the Celtics to second place in the East, averaging 29.4 points per game ahead of Harden, second only to Westbrook, and he himself is also the favorite for the regular season MVP.

The most important thing is that Thomas Jr.'s salary is not high, although Thomas Jr. performed well last season, but due to his height, it is difficult for him to get a big contract, and in the eyes of many team managers, Thomas is not even a qualified starting guard. In the NBA, where there are too many point guards, Thomas's average of 20+6 per game is difficult to exchange for a 10-million-level contract for him.

Zhang Guan knows Thomas's potential, and he feels that Thomas should be poached, which is for the future of the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant has two years left on his contract, and Zhang Guan himself is ready to leave the NBA after another season, because he will prepare for the Rio Olympics in 2016, and there will be someone to support the Lakers' guard line, and Thomas Jr. is obviously a good candidate.

After Zhang Guan leaves and Kobe Bryant retires, the Lakers have Gasol and Whiteside on the inside, Thomas on the outside, and potential stocks like Jokic, the lineup is still very strong, and when the time comes to sign a superstar, such as Durant, the Lakers will have another championship-winning lineup.

……

Zhang Guan persuaded the management of the Lakers, and the Lakers offered Thomas Jr. an offer of 40 million for five years.

Truth be told, that's a bit more than Thomas Jr. is worth at the moment. Historically, Thomas Jr. only got a four-year contract of 27 million this season, and the average annual contract was less than 7 million. And now the offer of 40 million in 5 years makes many people think that the Lakers are stupid and have a lot of money.

"The Lakers are really generous, 40 million in 5 years to offer Thomas Jr.! Such a short player, at most the second Nate Robinson! No, Thomas Jr. isn't as physical as Nate Robinson. Nate Robinson can fly past Howard for a dunk, and Thomas Jr. is afraid that it will be difficult to even complete a dunk! Someone on the Internet immediately talked about it.

The Kings have seven days to consider whether to match the offer. There is no doubt that the Kings will not be a match, and they have already signed Collison to replace Thomas, so Thomas has long been out of the Kings' plans.

As for Thomas, he has long been eager to join the Lakers. Thomas's father is a Californian, a die-hard Lakers fan, influenced by his father, Thomas has always wanted to play for the Lakers, and when the draft was held that year, Thomas also participated in the Lakers' rookie camp. However, due to his short height and age, the Lakers didn't care about Thomas at all.

……

With the addition of Thomas, the Lakers' roster has reached 14 players, which means they have one spot left. In terms of salary space, the Lakers can also offer a contract of about 4 million and sign a good role player.

The Lakers originally intended to give Rashad Lewis, a big man who can shoot threes, and was also an important helper for the Big Three last season with the Heat. However, Lewis did not pass the final medical examination, and his knee had a hidden problem, which required surgery, and it would take half a year to recover at the earliest. The Lakers obviously couldn't wait half a year, so they had to give up signing with Lewis.

In the end, the Lakers and free agent Chris Humphries agreed to a three-year, 11 million contract.

Humphries, who just finished a two-year, $24 million contract, averaged eight points and six rebounds in 20 minutes per game with the Celtics last season.

This player has a high presence off the field, and in previous years, he often appeared in the entertainment news in the United States, and was often feared by the paparazzi because he married the American entertainment socialite Kim Kardashian. However, the marriage only lasted more than two months, and Kardashian generously gave Humphries a breakup fee of $10 million. Humphries was also very backbone, and didn't ask for a penny.

However, the player's presence in the field is very low, and even the playing time is inconsistent at times. As a power forward, his height of 2.06 meters suffers when he is in the opposite position, but if he is put in the position of small forward, his speed cannot keep up with the opponent. He's got a lot of power, he's got a decent mid-range shot, he's got three-point range, but he's almost zero in the low post. In terms of strength, I'm really sorry for the annual salary of 12 million.

However, based on an annual salary of 4 million, Humphries is a great value. His three-point shooting ability is also what D'Antoni needs.

In fact, the Wizards also took a fancy to Humphries, and he offered Humphries an annual salary of 13 million for three years, which was 2 million more than the Lakers. But Humphries finally decided to join the Lakers, and the championship ring and the appeal of Los Angeles were not something that could be exchanged for just 2 million.

Subsequently, the Lakers used the Bird clause to sign Gasol to that five-year contract. At this time, the Lakers' salary exceeded the luxury tax threshold again. But for the Lakers, paying the luxury tax is a normal thing.

So far, the Lakers have also made up a 15-man squad for next season, which are Zhang Guan, Kobe, Gasol, Nick Young, Bazemore, Whiteside, Ci Shiping, Johnson, Carter, Marion, Thomas, Rodney Hood, Jokic, O'Neal Jr. and Humphries.