For Zhuang Fei, Pierce's successful contract renewal also means that the Timberwolves' three core Garnetts will stay with the Timberwolves in the next three years, Nash and Pierce will stay with the Timberwolves, Nash is currently a 4-year 20 million contract, the contract expiration date is the summer of 2003, the total annual salary of the three is 37 million, the annual salary of 37 million is not high for the three All-Star players, and the average is only about 12 million per person, of course, This is more because Nash's salary is low after all, and if Nash's contract expires, it is clear that it will no longer be an annual salary of 5 million.

The core lineup of the Timberwolves is stable, but it is difficult to say for the role lineup of the Timberwolves, the departure of Lewis and Mobley in exchange for Reed and Crawford, although these four people in the Timberwolves are all rookie players, but Crawford is the No. 4 pick, with an annual salary of nearly 3 million, and his salary alone is the sum of Mobley and Reed, plus Reed's one million, it can be said that the total salary of the Timberwolves has increased because of the arrival of Reid and Crawford, These two plus Xiao Ao's 6 million contract has a total of 10 million, and the total salary of the six Timberwolves alone has reached 47 million. According to NBA official projections, in ...... The luxury tax system implemented at the beginning of the season, the salary cap that year was about 43 million, so the trigger bottom line of the luxury tax was 54.6 million, and the six people mentioned above were ...... The season is reborn with a guaranteed contract, so to speak...... The Timberwolves' salary guarantee for the season is 47 million, which is only 7.6 million from the luxury tax trigger bottom line, in addition to these six people, Glenn Taylor has left 5 million salary space for Wang Zhizhi. In other words, Zhuang Fei and the Timberwolves only have a maximum salary space of 2.6 million to renew Jackson's contract.

If Jackson signs a contract extension with $2.6 million, the Timberwolves will be in ...... Lost Ginobili after the season. Bowen, Dean Garrett and other players.

This is the current dilemma of the Timberwolves renewing Jackson, Stephen Jackson did not score much last season and only averaged more than 8 points per game, but he can contribute more than 1 steal and block per game, which is a member of the league's defensive second team last season, for such a player, the minimum annual salary of more than 3 million is required, if Jackson does not renew his contract with the Timberwolves and directly becomes a free agent, he can even get a salary of about 5 million.

In fact, Stephen Jackson's requirements are really not high, the former Captain Jack is a very interesting player, and he is the only one of all the players in the Timberwolves who does not have an agent, and according to his own words, he does not want to waste his money on an agent. And he always thought that Zhuang Fei would not treat him badly. He has great respect for Zhuang Fei, you must know that Zhuang Fei directly picked him up from the garbage heap, and Zhuang Fei made a 3-year 5 million full guarantee contract, which is the treatment of a rookie in the lottery area, it can be said that Jackson believes that Zhuang Fei will not treat himself badly. So when McHale discussed a contract extension with him, the defender with personality said something that made McHale laugh and cry.

"I will sign whatever contract the coach gives me, that's all I want"

Stephen Jackson trusts Zhuang Fei very much, and even trusts Zhuang Fei to the point of no return, Stephen Jackson's fanaticism makes Zhuang Fei very happy, but it also makes Zhuang Fei very difficult, Zhuang Fei now has no idea what kind of contract to open to this player who trusts him so much. He only has a salary space of 2.6 million in his hand, and for Jackson, if Zhuang Fei really gives him an annual salary of 2.6 million, he will happily accept it, even if he will get a contract with an annual salary of 5 million based on his ability. Jackson is willing to accept it, but Zhuang Fei can't take it, the 2.6 million is for Jackson, Ginobili and Bowen, not for Jackson alone, if the 2.6 million is really given to Jackson, then Ginobili and Bowen will all be free to leave after the contract expires. Moreover, Zhuang Fei also felt that 2.6 million was too low for Jackson, and how could there be an important player contract of a championship team with less than 3 million. …,

Therefore, it is also because of these reasons that Zhuang Fei did not give Jackson a contract extension. If Zhuang Fei has an extra 10 million salary space, he believes that he can keep all the players such as Ginobili and Jackson Bowen, but Glenn Taylor has no intention of paying the luxury tax for the team, the Timberwolves hit 20 million last season, and the Timberwolves earned close to 30 million this season, and before the time, the Timberwolves basically didn't make money every year, and there were not many teams that could make money in the NBA, it stands to reason that Zhuang Fei's arrival earned 50 million for the Timberwolves in two years, No matter what the team owner says, he should take out a part of it to invest in the team, even if he doesn't take it out completely, only half of it will not be so tight for Zhuang Fei, in fact, after the Timberwolves won the championship in the finals, Zhuang Fei specially talked to Glenn Taylor, but no matter how Zhuang Fei scolded and how fierce, this boss was unwilling to take out an extra penny, and in the face of any anger from Zhuang Fei, he was greeted with a smile, and he was submissive to Zhuang Fei.

In Glenn Taylor's eyes, Zhuang Fei is a gold mine, which can bring him a profit of 20 million US dollars a year, and such good results also bring him a political future, in Glenn Taylor's heart, Zhuang Fei is closer than his own father, Zhuang Fei doesn't matter to him, as long as Zhuang Fei doesn't leave the Timberwolves, Zhuang Fei is basically completely disappointed in this big boss like an iron rooster, so he now wants to use no more than the luxury book to trigger the bottom line to be able to leave Jackson, Ginobili and Bowen, etc., But no matter how much he thought, he didn't come up with a solution.

Zhuang Fei frowned when he looked at a 4-year 8 million contract that had been prepared for Jackson on the table, 4 years and 8 million, this is a contract that Zhuang Fei worked on for a long time to draft, and Jackson will come to sign it later, but Zhuang Fei saw how the amount on the contract was not a taste, and finally Zhuang Fei actually gritted his teeth and directly tore the contract to shreds, and at this time Stephen Jackson also pushed the door in, obviously the guard saw Zhuang Fei's move to tear the contract, But he didn't know what Zhuang Fei was tearing. Just a little doubtful, after Zhuang Fei threw the contract into the trash can next to him, Zhuang Fei motioned for Jackson to sit down on the chair in front of him.

"Stephen. I originally asked you to sign the contract today, but now it may not work" Zhuang Fei shook his head with a wry smile, as soon as Zhuang Fei finished speaking, Jackson's face immediately changed, he was very excited when he received Zhuang Fei calling him to sign the contract extension, his family is very poor, and he has a family to support, the reason why he used to play basketball is also because he can better support his family, for many black players, their first purpose of playing basketball is for money, but now, he feels that the purpose of playing is not just for money. More importantly, he hopes to be able to stay under Zhuang Fei all the time. He's not Mobley or Lewis, he doesn't have much ambition for himself, Zhuang Fei has no problem with whatever role he plays, he has always considered himself a hard-fought player, and if it wasn't for Zhuang Fei to save him from the CBA, he wouldn't be where he is today. So he knows how to be grateful more than other players, and he has always thought that as long as he follows Zhuang Fei, Zhuang Fei will not let him suffer, and Zhuang Fei has indeed never let him suffer, so with the coming of the contract renewal time, he has been looking forward to Zhuang Fei's contract renewal, and today he is extremely happy to come here, but Zhuang Fei's words made his heart tighten.

"Stephen, the ones I tore up just now are the contract extensions that I originally prepared for you" Zhuang Fei looked at Jackson, who had an ugly face, and Jackson looked at Zhuang Fei with his mouth wide open and didn't know what to say.

"Stephen, you don't have to think about it. For me, you are still an indispensable player for the Timberwolves, but I can't provide you with a contract that matches your value now" Zhuang Fei said with a wry smile, Jackson is not a stupid person, Zhuang Fei understood a little as soon as he finished speaking, it is obvious that the head coach tore up the contract because the offer of this contract was too low, in fact, Jackson also knew about the disintegration of the Timberwolves, which has been rumored to be in the outside world recently. He knows that the team has a salary crisis because the owner is unwilling to pay the luxury tax, he knows it very well, and he also knows that his contract will definitely not be high, but he doesn't care about these, he believes that his judgment will not be wrong, as long as he keeps following Zhuang Fei, he can get everything he wants, even if it is really a low-cost contract, he is willing to sign. …,

"Coach, in fact, I have no problem at all, for me, 4 million, 3 million is no problem, if necessary, 2 million is fine" Jackson looked at Zhuang Fei a little more relaxed and said, which confirmed that Zhuang Fei did not want him or wanted to abandon him.

"No, Stephen, I won't put a garbage contract in front of you" Zhuang Fei looked at Jackson's trusting eyes and secretly made a decision in his heart, and then continued: "This is the end of your contract renewal negotiations, you don't have to think too much, I will try my best to get a reasonable contract for you"

"But, coach" Jackson saw Zhuang Fei's resolute attitude, and stopped talking. Seeing this, Zhuang Fei directly waved his arm to Jackson to signal that his love would leave first, and finally Jackson could only sigh and leave Zhuang Fei's office.

Looking at the back of Jackson's departure Zhuang Fei was also a little distracted in the end, in the eyes of the outside world, Jackson has always been Zhuang Fei's biggest and most iron-clad henchman, in fact, in fact, this guard on the court almost does all the dirty work of the Timberwolves, the five players of the Timberwolves except Jackson The other four are players with stronger offensive desire than defensive desire, Jackson is the viscous agent of the Timberwolves, he can not only knock Kobe Bryant but also Chris Webber, he can play a connecting role for the Timberwolves' defense inside and outside, Although this viscous agent is inconspicuous, it is extremely important.

"It seems that the 3-year 5 million contract given to him back then really didn't lose anything" Zhuang Fei finally sighed in his heart, many people were unanimously criticized after Zhuang Fei gave this defender this almost 'sky-high' contract, and now it seems that it is really not a loss.

When Zhuang Fei drove Steve Jackson away from his office, Zhuang Fei never mentioned Jackson's contract renewal again, for Zhuang Fei, now is not the opportunity to mention the contract, and he will naturally have a showdown with Glenn Taylor when he finds an opportunity in the future, for this disciple who trusts him, Zhuang Fei must strive for some due benefits for him at this time.

On July 1st, when the news of the renewal of the Timberwolves and Pierce came out, almost all Minnesota fans were boiling, Pierce's influence in Minnesota was really high, and the Timberwolves fans loved the swingman no less than Garnett and other Timberwolves players, and a large number of Timberwolves fans poured into the press conference where the Timberwolves and Pierce signed, and there were many fans who couldn't get in all gathered in the Timberwolves' administrative building. It was arguably the biggest fan rally since the Timberwolves' championship parade.

Recently, after the Timberwolves won the championship, many media bookmakers said that the Timberwolves would disband sooner or later, Nash, Pierce will definitely go one, Nash will naturally not go now, because Nash still has a long contract, so the one who will go will naturally be Pierce, for the recent statement Timberwolves fans are naturally unwilling to believe it, so some time ago when Glen Taylor held a speech, many fans asked Glen Taylor about it, although Glenn Taylor promised to leave Pierce, But before the contract was actually renewed, these Timberwolves fans were still full of worries, and now their worries are gone.

When the reporters and fans at the scene knew that Pierce's contract extension was only 6 years and 70 million, it caused a commotion, obviously this contract is unreasonable for anyone, and everyone can see that Pierce has made a great sacrifice, but the Timberwolves' leading player did not show any displeasure at the press conference, but was very happy to talk about the upcoming Sydney Olympics this year.

Although Pierce renewed his contract, some experts in the media the next day still did not let the Timberwolves go.

"Congratulations to the Timberwolves on their successful contract extension with Pierce. Pierce is a great player. He sacrificed a lot for the team. However, because of his contract extension, the Timberwolves' salary space will be completely locked, and there is no possibility of renewing or signing a contract in the future."

Zhuang Fei doesn't have time to care about these now, after the end of Pierce's contract renewal press conference, Zhuang Fei, Pierce, and Garnett have all flown to Los Angeles, and the U.S. team is about to train out. (To be continued) RQ