As the regular season draws closer.

The media have also sorted out the most anticipated teams for next season, or rather, the teams that are in contention for the title.

First and foremost, the knights are the most eye-catching.

James announced his return to the Cavaliers this season, and the Cavaliers are also actively recruiting.

According to the original timeline, the Cavaliers would have made a price for Lefou.

However, because Su Chen entered the Timberwolves ahead of schedule and traded Lefu out, Lefu lost his former low-post dominance after weight loss, and also became a colander on the defensive end.

Such a Lefu will naturally not let the knights spend a lot of chips to bring in reinforcements.

And today's Bulls have not put Lefu on the shelf, Rose's injury has made the Bulls now in the stage of employing people, after all, Lefu has played a very good performance, and the Bulls have traded so much to naturally want to see again.

Although from the point of view at the time, it was almost just a single exchange between Lore Deng and Love, and Butler was an addition.

But now it seems that Butler is the main body, and Lore Deng has become the head.

The Bulls can't regret this deal now, so they naturally want to see what performance Lefu can play, after all, the current Lefu market is at a low point and can't trade any assets.

James' return, the Cavaliers are very eager to produce results, otherwise James will not play with them.

Before the inspection, Lefu may still be able to meet James's requirements, but after the Bulls inspection, it is obviously not enough to meet James's requirements.

While the Cavaliers' chips are sincere, many teams don't have the idea of trading their core players.

Especially for some teams with good results, they also need to produce results, and the top pick trade offered by the Cavaliers is worthless to them.

However, the Cavaliers did not come up with a single champion, in addition to this year's champion Wiggins, there is also last season's champion Bennett.

Bennett played just 52 games last season and averaged 12.8 minutes per game, all off the bench.

Although the data is not good, but given that there is not much playing time and no training, it can barely be regarded as a piece of jade that can be polished.

In addition to Wiggins and Bennett, the Cavaliers also took out the first round in 2016, which can be described as full of sincerity.

There are two teams that are still impressed.

The Hawks are willing to take Al Horford, and the Nets are willing to give out Brook Lopez.

Al Horford is already a two-time All-Star, and Da Lopez is an All-Star, and both of them can barely meet the Cavaliers' expectations.

The Cavaliers still chose the Nets.

The conclusion of this deal almost officially decided that the Nets' luxury senior battleship failed.

Elder Garnett and senior Pierce, the former Big Three members who came from the Celtics, have been playing worse and worse with the Nets.

Garnett was only able to average 6.5 points per game last season, and Pierce was slightly better, but he averaged about 13 points per game.

In addition, the strength of the elderly Delon and Joe Johnson is also greatly reduced.

Da Lopez, who is still in the prime of life, also had less attendance last season.

You must know that these five people are the top five in the salary queue, and their high-salary and low-energy performances have made the Nets' elderly battleship a joke.

Now that Da Luo has traded for two champions and a first-rounder, the Nets are almost ready to rebuild.

The trade also allowed the Cavaliers to form the Big Three of James Irving and Lopez, who became the league's newest championship contenders.

In other words, where James is there, it will enter the championship discussion.

In the championship expectation rankings, the Cavaliers have also become the most anticipated.

Even the odds are in first place.

The Cavaliers are the first, and the second is the Warriors.

The Warriors' performance last season was actually not bad, their run-in has gradually matured, and Kerr's system is still in the shadow of Su Chen, but he has also begun to show good tactical literacy.

In the first two seasons, the Warriors have already topped the championship, proving the team's ceiling.

In fact, the Warriors have also shown ferocious fighting power last season.

It was only in the semi-finals that they met the championship team.

Curry and Thompson have gone through the experience of these seasons, and in the following season, they will almost enter the official peak.

The second place on the odds list is also more reasonable.

As for the third place in the odds, it is the Timberwolves.

As the defending champion, he shouldn't have been in such a low position as third.

But the Timberwolves have weakened too much this offseason.

Not only the departure of head coach Su Chen, but also the starting champion small forward Lore Deng was also poached by other teams with high salaries.

It stands to reason that as a champion team, there will be veterans who want to compete for the championship to join, and this part of the combat power can make up for the loss of combat power.

But what is outrageous is that the Timberwolves, as the defending champions, have no veteran willing to join with a base salary.

In fact, the situation of the Timberwolves is a bit like the Nuggets after Jokic won the championship.

After winning the championship, he lost his combat power in vain, and there was no strong veteran who was willing to join with a basic salary.

It's not that there are no veterans in the free agency this season, but they are rushing to join the Cavaliers after hearing that James is joining the Cavaliers.

This is the same as the Nuggets that season, obviously the Nuggets won the championship, but Durant's Suns have been joined by a group of strong base salaries.

Actually, this is also very understandable.

As a native of the United States, they prefer to trust superstars like James and Durant rather than international players who win in team basketball.

Besides, whether it's the plateau of Denver or the icy land of Minnesota, it is very discouraged.

Moreover, after Su Chen left the Warriors, judging from the situation of the Warriors, Su Chen's impact on the game was quite large.

Su Chen's proportion in the team is larger than expected.

Although they are the defending champions, Su Chen has left the team, and they have to find a new system.

In addition, there is the departure of a real starting small forward Lore Deng, which is not easy for the Timberwolves to defend their title in the new season.

As for the other teams.

The Spurs are no longer considered championship contenders because of another season of GDP, but Leonard's growth has kept them on their heels.

Next came the thunder.

The Thunder got Super Sixth Man Crawford and new starting center Roy Hibbert, and Westbrook and Durant are still very interesting.

The Trail Blazers, who went through a trade, and the Rockets, who had played well last season, also followed.

The new combination of Paul and Aldridge is exciting, and Harden has also ushered in another evolution.

The eighth is the Clippers.

After the Clippers went through the trade, the starting interior line has been sent out, and Su Chen has not put the big baby Glen Davis in the squad.

The interior of this team actually relies on a rookie at the end of the first round and the second round, which is the reason why they are least optimistic about the interior is too weak.

Originally, the team with Lillard and George could have been ranked a little higher, but the Clippers had too many rookies and their overall roster depth was reduced.

If it weren't for their head coach Su Chen, who has repeatedly created miracles, the Clippers wouldn't even be in the top ten.

Staples Center Arena.

No matter what the outside world thinks, the 2014~2015 season of the NBA has officially begun.

The outside world is not optimistic, but the Clippers are very concerned.

The Clippers themselves are a big ball market, Ballmer, a local tyrant who is not bad for money, bought the Clippers, and Su Chen, who has won the championship in two teams in a row.

This has made this Clippers have different expectations.

And it's a brand new lineup, whether you're a Clippers fan or not, you still want to see what the Clippers team can look like.

The league is also very face-saving, and the number of live broadcasts in the United States for the Clippers is directly the third most in the league.

Second only to the Cavaliers and Warriors, the two favorites to win the championship, they beat some teams ahead of the Clippers.

It is worth mentioning that even after winning the championship last season, the Timberwolves were outside the top 10 in the number of live broadcasts in the United States.

It can be seen that Xiao Hua is not welcome to the small ball market, especially Minnesota.

After all, the league persuaded Timberwolves owner Taylor to move from Minnesota, but Taylor refused to move, and the league obviously didn't like such a disobedient owner.

Or the owner of the small ball market.

Even though the Timberwolves are the defending champions, the number of live broadcasts in the United States hasn't increased much.

And because the Timberwolves swept the Heat last season and made the league less money, the Timberwolves' already few whistles are estimated to be even less welcome.

In the new season, you may even see Brother Alphabet rushing into the crowd and being slapped down by a group of slaps, and then Brother Alphabet sat on the ground with a puzzled expression as to why he didn't blow the whistle, but the opponent had already rushed towards the Timberwolves basket with the ball.

The Clippers' game was chosen as the first day of play.

The opponent is also quite interesting, it happens to be the Trail Blazers.

Paul, who was traded by the Clippers, is obviously unhappy, and now the Trail Blazers' lineup is not weak after the trade, and even because the roster structure is more reasonable than the Clippers, they are more optimistic than the Clippers.

Paul is also an influential player in the league, and he is also a player in public affairs, and he also has a large number of CP3 fans off the court.

Not only is it revenge for Paul, but for Lillard, it's also about proving it to his former club.

The players are definitely not convinced by the fact that they understand that it is part of the business.

After all, when the team trades you, they think you are inferior to others, so they will trade you.

Even if you don't get angry, but this kind of direct dialogue transaction, which player plays poorly will be discussed by the fans.

Something like, 'Management didn't make the wrong choice, this guy just isn't as good as so-and-so'.

Therefore, there are often players who will go crazy against their old club, and most of their teammates can understand that game to give him the ball.

Of course, the premise is that there is a certain coffee position, and not so many people care about your feelings when a small role is traded.

The Staples Arena was filled with spectators.

This arena is shared by the Lakers and Clippers, and if the two teams play a game, they will change the floor with whose logo they have.

Ballmer has actually been mindful of this, and is already preparing to spend money on a new arena for the Clippers.

Speaking of which, there is another interesting thing.

The Clippers have a grudge with the Lakers, and in a playoff game between the Clippers and the Suns, Lakers fans strategically bought tickets to the Clippers' home court in this game.

After the game started, they switched sides to cheer for the Suns.

I think this is also the reason why Ballmer thought about it in advance, so he wanted to build his own arena.

But anyway, this is also a big ball market, and the Clippers also have their own fan base.

As a heavyweight match, this match was directly scheduled to be broadcast live across the United States.

The gold medal commentary team is naturally in place.

"It's a new season again, but why is Su Chen standing in front of us as soon as the game starts."

Barkley said with a laugh.

The last game they commented on was the one in which the Timberwolves eliminated the Heat.

At the beginning of this new season, although it is not the Timberwolves or the Heat, it is Su Chen who remains the same.

"It's been three teams in three years, what do you think Su Chen's results will be this season?"

Johnson asked the crowd at this time.

This question is actually a hot topic among fans in the offseason.

There are all sorts of answers.

At this moment, the viewers watching the live broadcast heard Johnson ask this question, and they also cheered up one by one, obviously they wanted to see what the people of the gold medal commentary team would think.

"I want to say that they can only barely make the playoffs, but last season Su Chen won the championship with such a team that is worse than the current configuration, and I don't know how far this Clippers can go."

Kenny Smith waved his hand and refused to answer the question.

"The first round or the second round of the playoffs, their current lineup is unreasonable, I don't care if Su Chen only talks about the present in the past two seasons."

Barkley said directly.

Nicknamed Big Mouth, he is not afraid of being slapped in the face if he says something wrong, anyway, he is used to being slapped in the face.

His current thoughts are to express them.

"On paper, it's good to be in the playoffs."

"If Su Chen can replicate the feat of last season this season and win the championship with this kind of lineup, then Su Chen's championship gold content is too high, I think he can already compare with the greatest coach in history."

O'Neill spoke his mind.

Three years with three different teams to win the championship, and none of the three teams is a strong contender for the championship.

The accumulation of honors is not enough, but the gold content of this kind is not much higher than the gold content of some championships won by super teams.

Although championships are never the work of a player or coach, great players and coaches usually complement each other.

But it is undeniable that with a team that has reached the level of a galaxy battleship, it is easier to win the championship than an ordinary team.

Su Chen's first championship was won by the Warriors.

The Warriors weren't a weak team at the time, but they weren't championship contenders either.

But Su Chen's second championship, the gold content came up.

Before the game, the Timberwolves were not even a playoff team, but they won the championship.

This is enough to prove Su Chen's super strength.

For Su Chen, this third championship is more of a proof that his first two championships are not by touch.

To prove the strength, the second Timberwolves championship has been proven.

Regarding O'Neill's statement, the rest of the people also nodded in agreement.

If Su Chen can win his third consecutive championship, it will be of great significance.

This is even more legendary than the same team building a dynasty.

"Let's talk about this separately, the current Su Chen is still in the playoffs."

"In this game, I think both Lillard and Paul are under a lot of pressure, and whoever loses will be said to be inferior to the other party."

Johnson brought the topic back to the game at this time.

"It's a really good game, but the problem with the Clippers is that they may not be able to match the Trail Blazers on the inside."

"These two rookies have a first-round pick and a second-round pick, and they will be very difficult to match against Aldridge."

For the Clippers' two rookie interior players, O'Neal shook his head.

"The Clippers' top priority right now is to trade for a top-notch center before the mid-season trade deadline."

"What level of center they can trade is the key to whether they can go further in the playoffs."

Barkley also nodded.

Their views on the Clippers are that they feel that the Clippers' interior line is too weak.

In the middle of the conversation, the Clippers' player entrance ceremony also ended.

Players from both sides were on the pitch.

Su Chen walked into the arena and looked at the other side.

The coach of the Trail Blazers is still Terry Stottes.

At this time, Terry Stouts also saw Su Chen, but Terry Stottes did not make eye contact with Su Chen, but looked at his team's camp.

Terry Stouts is still more serious today.

Last season, he was swept by Su Chen's team, which made him very uncomfortable.

Even the team management was a little dissatisfied with him, after all, the Timberwolves were not favored at that time, and being swept by the Timberwolves made them think that Terry Stotters was very good.

However, after the Timberwolves won the championship, the management of the Trail Blazers did not anger Terry Stottes.

After all, the Heat were swept away, and they were swept like the overall runner-up, which made the Trail Blazers think about it a little.

The Trailblazers, who had no plans to move the team, also began to look for opportunities in the trading market.

In particular, Aldridge has reached the prime of life, and he also said that he wants to strengthen the team and not waste his peak.

So when the Clippers offered Paul a trade, the Trail Blazers hit it off.

If it weren't for Su Chen's sweep of the Trail Blazers last season, maybe the Trail Blazers wouldn't have traded so simply, and Lillard still belongs to his own equipment.

Turned Lillard from a non-sale item for the Trail Blazers into a tradable bargaining chip.

In particular, Paul can be regarded as a superstar, and Paul leads the team to partner Aldridge, which makes the Trail Blazers management immediately moved.

For today's fight, Terry Stottes is still looking forward to it.

Working with Paul made him feel very relaxed.

Sometimes Paul can be considered a coach on the court, and the team's offense is much more fluid than when Lillard was there.

However, Su Chen didn't pay attention to so much.

At this time, Su Chen was looking at the virtual panel of the system and fell into thought.

"In this starting lineup, the striker bond has not been triggered."

Su Chen touched his chin.

[Striker Bond (Grade A): When the team has 3 strikers with a height of 2.01 meters or more on the field at the same time, 10% offensive and defensive organization improvement will be obtained, note: Only for frontline personnel, the ability to organize sports shooting must be above the passing line to take effect. 】

Only George and Batum in the starting lineup are considered to be the strikers who fit the bond.

Although Jokic can organize and make three-point points, he is still considered an interior lineman, and he is not considered a forward.

Lillard needless to say, Reggie's height is also a guard and can't trigger.

In fact, in the substitute lineup, it is a forward line that meets the requirements.

Kyle Anderson, Matt Barnes, Marcus Morris, Jerami Grant, Torrey Craig, can all put together a five-forward lineup on the bench.

"If you need to make a forward effort, you can consider the previous person to start to replace Reggie, but this one will be counted first."

Su Chen thought about it and closed the list.

That's when the game begins.

Su Chen walked to the middle and shook hands with Terry Stottes.

When Su Chen shook hands, he smiled at Terry Stottes, which made Terry Stottes stunned.

However, Terry Stouts quickly regained his demeanor and did not talk to Su Chen much.

At this time, the referee also walked towards the middle of the field with the ball.

The starters of both teams enter the stadium.

Clippers starting lineup: Nikola Jokic (C), Nicolas Batum (PF), Paul George (SF), Reggie Jackson (SG), Damian Lillard (PG)

Trail Blazers starting lineup: Robin López (C), LaMarcus Aldridge (PF), Aaron Afflaro (SF), Wesley Matthews (SG), Chris Paul (PG)

This starting lineup was thought of by Su Chen in the offseason.

But it's not settled, after all, this starter didn't trigger the striker, even if the follow-up striker played well, you can also consider mentioning a striker.

George can go to the SG position, and in any case, George's defense can still be believed to be suitable for the number one to three positions.

The forward line that comes up can directly play the normal small forward.

Jokic started the game, and Su Chen also directly used the [Ability Value Fix] skill for Jokic.

In this way, Jokic has 80% of the attributes at its peak.

Unlike 80% of his brother, Jokic's 80% is more about strength.

Brother Alphabet's peak is largely relying on his body to play, 80% of the value has been improved, but there is no improvement in Brother Alphabet's body.

Jokic is different.

Whether it's Jokic at his peak or Jokic now, it's all pork belly.

Gaining weight is easier than gaining muscle, and Su Chen has already allowed Jokic to reach his own peak weight.

Coupled with the effect of the S-class building [Summer Training Camp], Jokic's body size is actually not much different from his body size when he was at his peak.

Jokic is the easiest to reach his own peak size.

Like other rookies, such as Capella who plays off the bench, he needs standard muscle-building and running and jumping training.

This kind of is the same as Brother Alphabet, it can't be increased quickly for a while, and the growth of pork belly is too simple.

Milosevic is the coach of the original timeline of Jokic, and with Milosevic's guidance, Jokic's growth trajectory has not deviated from the course.

In addition, Su Chen made a request to Milosevic, and the direction he gave Milosevic was the direction of Jokic's peak.

This actually made Milosevic take a lot of detours.

Because even according to the original trajectory, Milosevic slowly found a direction that really suited Jokic through training and practice.

After all, the current league is already advocating a faster, higher, and spacey route, and Jokic's path as a center is to cross the river by feeling the stones.

In the past, although there were also organizational centers, but now the times are different, and Jokic's route has no template to refer to.

Now it means that there is less of the tedious process of training and practice, and you can directly find the most correct direction.

Su Chen is also looking forward to what Jokic's first game will be like.

However, the Trailblazers' lineup is also quite competitive.

Although Lopez Jr. is much less talented than his brother, he can still be a blue-collar center with an average passing line, and can meet Paul's basic blocking requirements.

Aldridge has good basket ability, as well as range, and he has a saying for him and Paul to play pick-and-roll.

Compared to Griffin, Aldridge can have more different ways to attack.

Afflaro is a good 3-and-D, while Matthews is an upper-mid-level shooter.

Chess for Terry Stottes, it's still good.

"The Clippers' starting center, why not the Capela who has good physical measurements, his running and jumping ability and defense are very good."

Barkley said with some confusion.

"The Clippers are now the starting center, Jokic, his physical data is like a matchbox bouncing, and the speed is too slow, can he really keep up with the NBA's offensive and defensive rhythm?"

Kenny Smith also frowned.

Obviously, they are still more optimistic about Capela, who is more in line with the interior line of this era, who can run, jump and defend.

"Hey, do you look down on fat people?"

O'Neill questioned the two of them at this time.

"Hahaha, Shaq, you're a fat man, he doesn't look very dexterous."

Barkley laughed.

"Lopez Jr. jumped to the ball."

Johnson gave a live commentary at this time.

"Hahaha, he bounces like a matchbox so that little Lopez can jump over him."

Barkley continued to tease.

Lopez Jr.'s mediocre talent is something that many people in the league know.

But in front of Jokic, Lopez Jr. has a bit of a sense of talent, running fast and jumping high.

Of course, this is against Jokic.

Compared with others, he is still the blue-collar interior line with ordinary talent.

As soon as Matthews picked up the ball, he handed it to Paul.

Paul is now the team's point guard and deserves the ball to him.

It is also Aldridge, the original team boss, who is an inside lineman, otherwise I don't know who this ball will be given to before it is really established who is the real boss of the team.

Aldridge was the original boss of this team, but his position as the boss is not so secure, after all, his personal glory cannot reach the superstar level.

On the other hand, Paul, although he is an outsider, Paul is above Aldridge in terms of honor and league influence.

The Players' Guild is a bad dealer, which makes many people not offend Paul.

With Paul's identity, even if he is from outside, it doesn't seem appropriate for him to be Aldridge's second leader.

But Paul now wants to play better than fight for power.

At least not now.

After all, against the Clippers who traded him, Paul needs to play a good game to save his face.

After Paul got the ball, he took a look at the person who was defending him, and it happened to be Lillard.

So he directly signaled to pull it away.

Paul's first ball is to go straight to Lillard.

After Paul dribbled continuously, Lillard clearly didn't want to let Paul's shot, and Paul chose to break through after making a shooting feint.

Lillard misjudged and had to chase after him.

Looking at Paul as he rushed towards the basket, Jokic was forced to step forward to protect the frame.

But at this point Paul threw himself into the sky.

Lopez Jr. put the basketball in the air from a position in the back.

This ball is a little higher, mainly because Paul has become accustomed to cooperating with the talented monster inside like Griffin Jordan Jr., and forgot for a while that Lopez Jr.'s talent is not so good.

But the ball went in anyway.

Clippers 0:2 Trail Blazers.

There's nothing to say about this ball, it's just Paul's individual ability.

Lillard was not strong on the defensive end, and Paul's ball-holding singles could still be used to support the game.

Clippers offensive round.

Lillard was beaten up by Paul and looked a little upset.

After all, because of the offseason trade, he and Paul are often compared by the media, and Lillard doesn't want to lose.

He called Jokic to do a pick-and-roll for him, and then went straight to the three-point shot.

But Paul also did his homework, and knowing what Lillard was best at, he thought about Lillard being beaten up and maybe going to pick his own best offense.

Paul made defensive anticipation, bypassing Jokic's pick-and-roll early to interfere with Lillard.

Lillard was interfered with by Paul and forced the arc up to ignore Paul's interference.

But when the arc of this ball is raised, the difficulty skyrockets.

Clang!

Three-point iron.

Aldridge took the rebound.

Batum didn't rush for the rebound, and he and Aldridge still have a difference in height and reach.

Aldridge is also a 20+10 level insider, and he can still do it for rebounding protection.

Batum, as Aldridge's former teammate, naturally understands it, so he chose to retreat quickly.

And he is also a little unaccustomed to playing power forward.

The last time he played power forward was in the playoffs last season, when Terry Stouts arranged for him to defend his brother.

Back to the Trail Blazers' possession.

Paul has now mastered Lillard's psychology, and instead of calling it a pick-and-roll, he called it a one-on-one tactic.

Paul called out the singles tactics and glanced at Lillard's expression.

Sure enough, as he thought, Lillard was a little angry and a little impatient.

Seeing Lillard's reaction, Paul smiled smugly.

After back-to-back cross-step dribbles, Paul did a crossover that went straight past Lillard.

After Lillard was passed, he was unwilling to chase after him.

At this point, Paul clicked and made a throw.

Lillard's running and jumping ability is not bad, and he just wants to jump up from behind and risk this throw.

But this ball is just a feint.

It wasn't until he lit up Lillard that Paul really made a move.

Honk!

Lillard was whistled for a foul.

Brush!

The ball Paul throws out, and it goes in.

It's a 2+1.

Paul walked to the free throw line and hit the free throw.

Honk!

Su Chen called a pause with an expressionless face.

When Paul passed by Su Chen, he gave him a defiant look.

Obviously, Paul said that he didn't care about Su Chen trading him as soon as he came, but he actually minded a lot.

By doing so, Paul seems to be saying, "Well, you don't choose the same person as he is."

(End of chapter)