Pick Westbrook

Chapter 193 Alliance Earthquake
6 month 30 day.

The last day of contract renewals and quotations in advance, after the calculation of the salary cap, the last season officially ended.

7 month 1 day.

At the beginning of the new season, players whose contracts have expired officially become free agents. Each team can declare to give up the free agents that originally belonged to the team.

The league's first signing appeared, and Milicic stayed with the Timberwolves for 4 years and 2000 million.

Amir Johnson reached a five-year, $5 million deal with the Raptors.

The Cavaliers officially appointed Byron Scott as the new coach, with a new contract of 4 million for 1800 years.

The Suns signed Warrick for 4 million in four years.

The league's first super contract was produced on the first day of the trading market. Joe Johnson signed a contract with the Eagles for 6 years and 1 million US dollars.

Frye agreed to stay with the Suns for 5 years and 3000 million.

Nowitzki renewed his contract for 4 million in 8000 years. At the same time, the second overlord clause in the league after Kobe was born. Cuban gave the silver horn king the right to veto the transaction.

It wasn't until several signings appeared in the trading market that Xiao Hua left Milwaukee with the investigation team and held a press conference that day.

The Bucks did not sign any deals before the trading market opened, so the illegal contact with players is completely groundless.

Naturally, Dog Mo will not stand up and apologize at this time, and no general manager in the entire league will pity the Bucks at this time.

Because the competition has begun!
Holloway had already prepared the air tickets in advance, and after Li Lai and Hammond lifted the ban, the three immediately went to Connecticut without stopping.

"Rudy Gay is training with his juniors at his alma mater, UConn, so we'll be there right now."

Holloway said, chest heaving.

It's just that when the three of them got off the plane and arrived at the University of Connecticut, the Grizzlies and Rudy Gay joined hands in a press conference in Memphis, Tennessee.

"The Grizzlies and Rudy Gay completed a five-year, $5 million contract extension."

After Hammond took out his mobile phone and read the latest news, he said helplessly.

Li Lai let out a long breath, looked at Holloway and said, "Who is next on the list I gave you?"

Holloway flipped through the list and said, "Richard Jefferson!"

This time Hammond was smart. He chose to call Richard Jefferson in advance through his personal connections, and then informed the opponent that the Bucks wanted to sign him.

But Hammond did not get in touch with Richard Jefferson, and finally contacted his agent.

"Huh?! Sorry Mr. Hammond, why didn't you say so sooner?"

"Why didn't you say it earlier? You said it earlier!"

"The Bucks want Richard Jefferson, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Hammond's face tightened and he had already guessed the answer in advance. He still didn't let go of his last hope and said, "So Richard Jefferson has already signed with another team?"

On the other end of the phone, Richard Jefferson's manager was very distressed, and even slapped himself hard, repeating: "Why didn't you say it earlier."

beep. beep. beep.
Li Lai, Hammond, Holloway: ????
Later, the Spurs officially announced that Richard Jefferson had renewed his contract with the team with a four-year contract worth $4 million.

7 month 2 day.

Li Lai, Hammond, and Holloway, who ran around non-stop but did nothing yesterday, once again ushered in the league's second blockbuster signing.

The bully Amare Stoudemire joined the New York Knicks with a maximum salary of 5 million in five years.

Li Lai sighed and said: "The big fish in the trading market has gone to the second place."

Hammond responded: "The New York Knicks seem to be on the rise."

The Knicks, which failed to even make the playoffs last season, once again won the first place in the league's gold-absorbing team list. The Lakers and Bucks that reached the finals could only rank second and third.

This season, the Knicks ushered in the addition of Stoudemire, and the income may have to be improved again.

After losing Rudy Gay and Richard Jefferson one after another, Lilai has dropped his target to Portland Trail Blazers veteran Travis Outlaw.

But then, Travis Outlaw's agent Bill Duffy officially announced that Travis Outlaw will join the Nets for $5 million in five years.

Hammond has completely lost confidence in the continuous reinforcement of the small forward position.

"Now there are not many high-quality small forwards left in the free market. What should we do now?"

When the Bucks played against the Cavaliers last season, because James was so durable, in order to defend the little emperor, Li Lai even put Rasheed Wallace on top of the small forward to defend James, but the effect was not good. not too good.

Artest is one year older this season, and it is becoming more and more difficult for him to fight against James alone like last season, so Li Lai initially wanted to win Paul George with this consideration.

After all, Paul George was one of the best in the Anti-Zhan League back then.

Li Lai is very clear that if there is no accident, holding James will become the Bucks' number one problem in the Eastern Conference in the future, so no matter what, he must make the team's small forward position solid, at least able to match James in terms of size. superior.

Back then, the Spurs could win the Heat with robots, and the Warriors could win the Cavaliers with Iguodala and Green. What's interesting is that those who defended James all won the Finals FMVP.

After thinking calmly for a while, Li Lai said, "No, there is another high-quality small forward player."

Hammond regained his energy and said, "Who is it?"

Li said, "Paul Pierce."

he? !

Only then did Hammond remember that as early as after the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Celtics management had already decided to rebuild, and shortly after the playoffs, Pierce also decided to jump out of the original contract through his agent.

So Paul Pierce is now completely free.

"We just beat the Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Will Pierce choose to join us?"

"After all, with his ability and experience, it is absolutely no problem to get a big contract in the trading market this year. Although we are not his old enemy, we are still opponents anyway."

"So he doesn't seem to have to choose to join us. In addition, Pierce's reputation has always been not good. I heard that he likes to do some nonsense after drinking. Choosing to sign him is also a risky thing. "

At this time, Li Lai no longer considered such risks and problems at all.

In order to strengthen the small forward position, he was almost frantic, so after confirming that the Celtics announced the reconstruction and Paul Pierce was free, he immediately decided to rush to Boston.

7 month 3 day.

Not long ago, the Celtics top star Paul Pierce, who announced that he would jump out of the final year's $2150 million contract, has completed a contract extension with the Celtics.

Due to the "36-year-old clause" in the league's labor agreement, Pierce can only get a 4-year contract extension at most, so his contract is 4 years and 6500 million US dollars, of which 3 years are guaranteed.

Hammond is already about to cry, but whoever the Bucks are going to take, this player will jump out and announce the signing of the contract in a short time.

"You say that the Celtics are really strange. Now that they have announced a complete rebuild, why do they have to pay such a high price to re-sign Pierce?"

Li Lai was also puzzled by this question.

It's just that after only a few minutes, such doubts completely disappeared, followed by shock.

The Lakers' trade reinforcement is here!

The Celtics and the Lakers jointly issued a trade statement.

The Lakers will give Andrew Bynum + Sasha - Vujacic + next year's second-round pick, traded to the Celtics' Wolf King Garnett.

The new version of the Big Three of the Lakers is here.

"Garnett is 34 years old, and Andrew Bynum is still on the rise. The Lakers are obviously a big gamble of exchanging the future for the present."

Hammond is extremely incomprehensible to the Lakers deal.

In this year's playoffs, Andrew Bynum and Gasol formed a very dominant inside combination of one defense and one offense. The two turned the teams in the Western Division upside down and obviously had the advantage , so why separate the two during the offseason?

If they continue to strengthen around this lineup, the Lakers will still be a strong team at the championship level next year, and now they are dismantled in exchange for an older Garnett. Is their desperate gamble really worth it?
"It's because of the Bucks."

Li Lai said suddenly at this moment.

Hammond paused after hearing this, and quickly figured it out.

Which team has the best defense against the Bucks in this year's playoffs?
Naturally, it is no surprise that the Celtics.

The reason why the Celtics can defend the Bucks so well is entirely based on Garnett's top defensive ability.

Only Garnett can save and recover when defending the outside offense of the Bucks. In addition, the Celtics' two defensive pioneers, Rajon Rondo and Tony Allen, combined punches Come down so that the Bucks' outside offense can be firmly held down.

If it weren't for Curry's sudden off-the-ball play that severely damaged the Celtics' defensive system, it might be difficult for the Bucks to get past the Celtics.

Li Lai also remembered the scene of Garnett falling to the ground and crying bitterly after the Eastern Conference semifinals.

He is very clear that next year's Kevin Garnett may be physically older, but in terms of competitive state and defensive ability, he is still the wolf king.

"So the Lakers specially reinforced Garnett to target us. They are completely using us as the imaginary enemy of the championship to strengthen the lineup."

Hammond said more and more nervously.

Li Lai took a deep breath.

The biggest problem for the Lakers in this year's Finals is that it is difficult for the two big men inside to switch defenses. Now that they have Garnett's top defensive ability, they will pose a greater test to the Bucks' outside offense.

"The Celtics are still rebuilding after all. They won the younger Bynum and it has shown everything."

"And what about Pierce?"

Hammond said curiously.

Li Lai thought about it calmly for a while, and suddenly remembered that the general manager of the Celtics team is Angie, who is extremely cold-blooded, so everything can be easily understood.

"The Celtics are planning to sign first and then trade to squeeze out the last trace of value in Pierce, the soul of the team, so if there is no accident, Pierce's follow-up trade may come."

really.

Hours later, the Celtics announced a second deal.

The Bulls and Celtics completed the league's first blockbuster one-for-four deal.

The Bulls gave John Salmons, who averaged 18 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists last season, + CJ Watson + next year's first-round pick, and traded for 33-year-old Paul Pierce of the Celtics.

At the same time, the Bulls announced that they had reached a sign-and-trade deal with the Jazz for Boozer.

The Jazz will get a $1300 million trade exception and a protected second-round pick.

And Boozer and the Bulls reached a five-year contract with a total amount of 5 million US dollars.

"So the next starting lineup for the Bulls is Rose + Pierce + Luol Deng + Boozer + Noah."

After seeing this lineup, Li Lai heaved a long sigh.

The young Fengchen Rose has brought the Bulls to the playoffs for two consecutive years. The Bulls' management is finally convinced that they have found the right person, and believes that Rose has the ability to lead the Bulls to the championship.

"So, next season's Bulls will make every team in the league drink a pot."

Li Lai even smelled a bad sign in the direction of the Bulls' reinforcements.

In the process of trading for Pierce, they gave up the better offensive John Salmons and chose to keep the better defensive Luol Deng. This seems to be deliberately targeting the Bucks' outside offense.

The Big Three of the Celtics have gone to the second, so Ray Allen, who is no surprise, is about to leave.

However, Ray Allen can be regarded as the only one who escaped from Angie's reconstruction layout.

Ray Allen, whose contract had already ended, did not choose to renew his contract with the Celtics, but was looking for a subordinate team himself.

"Ray Allen doesn't worry about leaving home in the entire league. It just depends on where he wants to go, whether he wants to go to a championship team or a team that is on the rise."

Of course, the young Rajon Rondo is still in the Celtics team building plan, so his trade is not involved.

The reinforcement of the Bulls and Lakers has given Li Lai a head-on blow.

Because of him and the Bucks' rise in the Eastern Conference and their success in winning the championship, the Celtics were broken up ahead of schedule, the Bulls completed their reinforcements ahead of schedule, and the direction of the Lakers' trade was even more clear. here.

Plus the little bully Stoudemire traveled east.

In the past, the situation where the west was full of powerful and powerful people has finally improved, but the east has become a mess.

7 month 5 day.

Melon Anthony travels east to join the New York Knicks!
He joined forces with the bully Stoudemire to form a new super lineup.

The specific transaction details are that the Knicks reached a three-way deal with the Nuggets and Timberwolves.

The Nuggets get Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov from the Knicks and Costa Koufos from the Timberwolves. The Knicks' 2014 first-round pick, 2012 and 2013 second-round picks.

The Knicks got Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Anthony Carter, Reinaldo Balkman, Sheldon Williams from the Nuggets and Corey Brewer from the Timberwolves.

The Timberwolves got Eddie Curry and Anthony Randolph from the Knicks.

This big deal involved a total of 13 players from three teams, and the number of trades created the first record in NBA history.

Carmelo Anthony officially joins the Knicks from the Nuggets!

"The Knicks are probably the team with the most successful signings this offseason."

These two transactions also let Li Lai understand that the New York Knicks will become one of the new strong teams in the East. After all, the combination of Billups + Anthony + Stoudemire has enough book strength to make people look forward to.

"Strike players in the trading market this year have inexplicably become popular, but the value of inside players in the trading market is somewhat deserted."

"Eddie Curry has decided to implement the contract option for next season, and his total salary for the season will reach 1100 million US dollars."

"Before, the Knicks had discussed with him the issue of buying out the contract, but Eddie Curry would not accept any concessions and insisted on getting his full salary."

"It seems that he also knows that this year's market conditions are not here at all."

Li Lai nodded. This is why the Knicks wanted to recruit the Timberwolves to participate in the trade. It was because Eddie Curry's contract amount was too large and did not conform to the NBA's next tactical direction.

At this time, Li Lai didn't dare to continue to focus on the small forward position. If he continued to stare at this position, the Bucks might have nothing to gain in this offseason.

"We can only strengthen the team from other directions!"

　Add more tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)