The first of the SuperSonics to announce his departure was Kevin Willis, who did not get a contract extension from the SuperSonics and then joined the Spurs as a free agent.

Elden Campbell, the second to leave, who, like Willis, did not get a contract extension from Whitcht and chose to leave and joined the Hornets as a free agent.

The two veterans' annual salaries last year were not low, Willis was 3 million, El was 7 million, Whithit will definitely not renew his contract, he needs to bring in younger players, while leaving room for the team's current young people to renew their contracts.

The third to announce his departure was Lewis, and the Magic finally got their wish and made a deal with Whithit, only to sign after the freeze period expired.

The Magic promised Lewis the main power forward position, and at the same time promised a contract with an annual salary of 10 million yuan at the end of the contract.

The SuperSonics paid for Lashard Lewis, the Magic paid for the '04 unprotected first-round pick, and the '00 first-round pick No. 5 Mike Miller.

Mike Miller is 203 cm, a swingman at the front, the position overlaps with Maddy, the Magic chose to use him as a chip, just as Bowen and Mason are leaving, Cory Magetti's height is still a little shorter to play a small forward, and the SuperSonics also need a small forward.

However, in this way, Arenas will have to continue to play as a substitute, and the main position in the second position will have to be given to Cory Magetti.

Tekken, Big Ben, Mike Miller, Corimageti or Arenas are still short of main power forwards, as are backup power forwards.

Now add at least three power forwards, plus Ben Wallace and two meat shield centers, and it will take six men inside to deal with the Spurs' Duncan and David Robinson, as well as the Lakers' O'Neal.

Whithitt wants to trade Bowen and Mason for a major power forward, which is estimated to be a bit difficult, and the trade value of the two is not too great.

The Spurs have always wanted Bowen, but there is no supersonic want of chips other than Tim Duncan, and Whithitt does not want to cheap Spurs, the Spurs are very strong and are a strong competitor for the supersonic championship next season.

On the Lakers side, Ben Wallace was not poached, and he announced that he had signed with Karl Malone, held a press conference, and the postman joined the Lakers for the championship base salary.

This news shocked both the Spurs and the SuperSonics.

"Big Shark + Postman, the strongest inside combination in history." New york times.

"The Lakers are aiming for a championship!" Los Angeles Times.

Whithitter was very glad to have listened to the words of the Iron Fist King and kept Ben Wallace, otherwise unless a top defensive center like Mutombo was brought in, the supersonic interior line would have no ability to resist under O'Neal and Karl Malone.

But the inside combination of O'Neal + Karl Malone still makes him feel a lot of pressure, and the superSonics do not have a main power forward.

He's looking for a defensive power forward now, and he's going to have a tough style, a power forward like Rashard Lewis, who is afraid he'll cry in front of the big sharks and the postman.

In this way, although the offensive ability of the interior has declined, the offense still has the Iron Fist King to carry, and the most important thing now is to increase the strength of the interior defense.

On July 2, Whithitt suddenly received an offer from the Knicks, who wanted to trade Ratriel Sprewell for Arenas and Bowen and Corry Magetti.

"Crazy, huh?"

He asked people to check Sprewell's data, the second scoring point of the Knicks in the regular season last season, averaging 19.4 points per game, but only 40.4% shooting, accounting for so many points, but the efficiency is so low, no wonder the Knicks didn't even make the playoffs, the more this guy scores, the worse the Knicks lose, and such a person has to be one for three?

He flipped through the Knicks' roster and was a little moved when he saw Coat's name.

Coatthomas is a blue-collar power forward, 206 cm, 30 years old, played in 82 games last season, started 82 games, averaged 34 minutes per game, 14 points, 9 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block, shooting 49.8%.

Single offensive means, mainly relying on a precise shot, strong ability to evacuate, nearly two points and two points, far two points have a hit rate of more than forty percent, this shot is already very good, the postman, the king of shots, is also this hit rate.

But the reason he likes Coater Thomas is that Thomas is good at low post defense, has a tough style, can carry Duncan and Garnett, and has good rebounding, which is the main power forward that the SuperSonics need.

He looked at the Knicks' quote and then at the Knicks' roster, thought about it for a while, picked up the pen and crossed out Sprewell's name on it and replaced it with Coat-Thomas, and then crossed out the names of Bowen and Arenas.

Kerry Maggeti traded for Kort Thomas, and in his opinion, the SuperSonics will suffer a little, because Kerry Maggeti has star potential, and Thomas is just a blue-collar player, and he asked the Knicks to add a future second-round draft pick.

After the quote went back to the Knicks, it came back a little later, and the Knicks sent in a new offer, and they agreed to use Cote Thomas as a bargaining chip, but instead of Cory Margetty, they wanted Arenas and Bowen.

Whithitt was a little strange, Arenas was okay to say, he showed his star potential in his rookie season, and he played more playoff minutes than Lewis, but what did the Knicks want Bowen to do?

Now that this Knicks is no longer the iron-blooded Knicks built by Pat Riley, why is he so obsessed with a blue-collar small forward who can't attack but only defend?

But the Knicks couldn't make it to the playoffs in the East, and they didn't have any competition with the SuperSonics, so he dropped those ideas and started considering the offer.

Arenas has potential, but his real position is point guard, so the SuperSonics' demand for Arenas is not very high, and the renewal of Arenas' contract in the future is basically impossible to keep, and it is okay to trade now.

Bowen, in fact, he has never liked this player very much, only defensively, the open three-point is not very accurate, often throws open balls passed to him by the Iron Fist King, and the shooting rate was only 41% last season.

In that case, let's trade, take two teams who are not very needed, and change the main power forward that one team needs.

However, he swapped the offer a bit, swapping Arenas for Corey Magetti and giving the Knicks a chip to replace power forward Osela Hanington.

Margeti is a breakthrough guard swing man, shooting ability is average, the shooting rate of the last two points is only 27%, the middle two points are only 38%, and it is also unstable, last season was only 26%, far two points are better, barely close to forty percent, the overall shooting rate last season was 45%, mainly relying on breakthrough layup scoring to increase the shooting rate, only relying on outside shooting, the efficiency is very low.

It's also because of his poor shooting, Cory Magetti doesn't play much role when playing teams like the Lakers and Spurs, because he can't break through.

He felt it would be better to keep Arenas, who had three-pointers and pull-up jumpers, as well as breakaways, had more potential and was better suited to play next to Tekken than Margeti.

Soon, the offer was rejected by the Knicks, who stuck with the previous offer, and a deal was made shortly after, with Arenas + Bowen in exchange for Cotter Thomas + Hanington.

After the deal was completed, Whithitt wrote on a blank sheet of paper the list of the main lineups for next season, which were Ben Wallace, Cotter Thomas, Mike Miller, Korima Getty, and Zhou Quan.

Ben Wallace + Cote Thomas's main combination of the interior, low post defense and rebounding are no problem, and Thomas also has a good ability to pull the air, which can provide space for the outside to break through.

Mike Miller, the best rookie of the 00/01 season, can only be said to pass the defensive ability, not good, lack of offensive ability with the ball, no speed, not strong breakthrough ability, inaccurate shots, if it is a draft year, may not be eligible for the lotto show.

But he has an accurate three-point hand, which is considered an open shooter, and the supersonic guard line has Cory Magetti and Zhou Quan, who don't need a small forward to hold the ball and break through the offense, and the mid-range shot also has Zhou Quan and Cote Thomas, who doesn't need his mid-range shot, and Miller's open three-point shot is just right to stay by the side of the Iron Fist King.

At the same time, Mike Miller's three-point shooting ability and Cott Thomas's mid-range shooting ability can also make up for Corimagetti's lack of three-point shooting and inaccurate shooting.

On the whole, the matching attributes of this main lineup are okay, and they can use each other's strengths to fill the shortcomings of their teammates.

Inside, weak offense and strong defense, strong rebounding ability, lack of low-post offense, ability to pull short, mid-range shot, and ability to play secondary offense.

On the outside, the defense is not as good as last season, the defense of Cory Magetti and Mike Miller is only qualified, only the Iron Fist King, the strongest gate in the history of the outside line, has to bear more outside defensive pressure.

But the offense is stronger than last season, and the ability to use open space is also stronger than last season, with breakthroughs with the ball, as well as outside fixed-point three-pointers and mid-range shots, and there are no obvious weaknesses on the offensive end.

In terms of the bench lineup, there are two meat shields in the fifth position, which is enough, but there is only Ossela Hanington in the fourth position, and Mike Miller can only temporarily top it.

In the No. 3 position, Desmond Mason is the No. 1 substitute. There is also only one substitute in the back line, Shamond Williams.

There are ten people in total, and there are still two people left in the twelve-man squad, so they need a defender and a striker who can play the No. 4 position.

Soon, management informed Arenas and Bowen that they were traded.

Arenas was furious when he learned the news from his agent, and he felt abandoned by the team and betrayed.

"I'm going to let them know it's the wrong decision, the most wrong decision." He said angrily to his agent, Dan Fagan.

Dan Fagan advised, "Forget it, Gilbert, the Big Apple is the best city, and you should be happy." ”

"Alright then, I'm going to make a name for myself in New York and let the SuperSonics and Tekken see." Arenas said unwillingly.

As for Bowen, he has already submitted a trade request, and it is right for him to go to the Knicks.

The day after completing the trade with the Knicks, the Knicks suddenly made a deal with the Spurs, trading the newly arrived Bowen for the Spurs' All-Star guard Steve Smith.

"Damn it!"

Whithitt was a little depressed when he got the news, and the Spurs had always wanted Bowen, and now they finally got it.

Bowen was once again informed by his agent that he was going to play for the Spurs next season, which made him a little disappointed, after all, the Big Apple is the world's number one metropolis he most aspires to.

On July 5, the Wizards completed a three-way trade with the Pistons and Knicks, and then Arenas went to the Wizards, Hamilton went to the Pistons, and Jerry Stark House went to the Knicks.

Arenas was traded again, and a proud heart was about to die of depression, and the Knicks, like the SuperSonics, became the team he would take revenge on in the future.

Next, Whithitt successively signed forward Jonathan Bender and shooting guard Ragabel from the free market with base salary.

Bender is the No. 5 pick in the first round in '99, the same pick as Mike Miller, 211 cm tall, can play the fourth or fifth position, and is physically talented, but the height of the center can complete the change of hands at the free throw line like a guard, and even shoot three-pointers, and is very accurate.

It's just that he has an injury problem, and that is his knees, which were detected during the NCAA with severe cartilage wear and tear in both knees.

The Raptors drafted and traded to the Pacers, who forfeited it after two seasons with a serious knee injury.

When Bender's injury was severe, it was difficult to get upstairs, playing only 24 games in his rookie season, averaging 5.4 minutes per game, and in his second season, he only played 59 games, averaging 7.9 minutes per game.

Whithitt signed in with a base salary and only as a marginal person, and he didn't expect his cartilage to grow back, and he didn't give him much time.

Ragabel was undrafted in '99, and Philadelphia gave up after two years, with no strength or potential, and he was signed as a marginal person.

(End of chapter)