Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 104 104. Big signing!

In the next few days, Luke finally found time to go to the summer league to watch the competitive state of Monta Ellis and Gortat.

Compared with the excessive restraint in the previous few games, Gortat, who has gradually become familiar with the environment, also ushered in a rebound in the last two games.

So far, Gortat's performance in the entire summer league can only contribute 11.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks. At first glance, this data seems to be good, but considering the level of confrontation in the summer league, this data can only be It is quite satisfactory.

However, in the last two games, Gortat averaged 18.5 points, 10 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game. His personal state is obviously getting better and better, and his confidence in the game has become stronger.

As for the prickly Monta Ellis, no!To be precise, it should be Monta Ellis, a good baby, so it goes without saying.

Monta Ellis' personality is very extroverted, and Ellis' playing style has always been like this. As long as he gets the ball on the court, he will be self-centered, and every attack reveals a confidence from the bone.

This also caused Monta Ellis to perform very eye-catchingly from the beginning of the summer league. Even in the game against the Kings, Ellis scored 38 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals, leading the team to reverse the Kings by 17 points. Take this victory abruptly.

According to the current state of Monta Ellis, if there is no accident, Ellis is very likely to win the next summer league MVP this year. Even if this award is useless, it is a kind of recognition and encouragement for newcomers !
…………

In a blink of an eye, it came to the end of July. During this period, many large and small transactions took place in the league. Among them, the Heat, who lost to the Timberwolves in last year's finals, made up their minds to make reinforcements frantically.

The Heat first renewed the 33-year-old "Shark" O'Neal with a five-year, [-] million contract.

Then through trades to get Antoine Walker from the Celtics, Jason Williams from the Grizzlies, and small forward James Posey, shocking the league in one fell swoop.

In this transaction, the Grizzlies will get Eddie Jones from the Heat. The Hornets and Jazz also participated in this transaction. This transaction involves 5 people from 13 teams, setting a record for the largest transaction in NBA history!

The Heat's lone throw goal this summer is very obvious, that is, to win the championship trophy at all costs next season, even if the team triggers the luxury tax and will pay a huge sum of money to the league.

But in front of the championship trophy, the "magic fortune teller" Riley is willing to go all out this time. In any case, he will use the last bit of dominance in O'Neal's career to strive for the championship.

Otherwise, after two years, O'Neal's contract will definitely become one of the biggest junk contracts in the league!

But knowing this, the shrewd Riley had to offer a five-year maximum salary to O'Neal, and kept O'Neal as soon as possible during the offseason, otherwise O'Neal would definitely choose to join another team, shattering Riley's championship dream ahead of time.

Especially this deal involving 5 players from 13 teams simply raised the Heat's strength to a higher level.

You know, Anthony Walker averaged 16.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists with the Celtics last season.

James Posey and "White Chocolate" Williams are also the main players of the Grizzlies. Even Luke feels a lot of pressure to join the three, and dare not despise the current Heat.

Fortunately, during this period of time, Luke also did not sit still, using his prophetic memory to swindle and cheat in the free market with his identity as the defending champion of the Timberwolves...

Pooh!It's about negotiating a strong alliance with the players!
Disrupted the Heat's reinforcement plan in advance, and brought the famous "Glove" Payton to the Timberwolves camp.

In a sense, this not only strengthens the overall strength of the Timberwolves, but also weakens the reinforcement space of the rival Heat!

After all, on the normal historical trajectory, the 37-year-old "Glove" Payton joined the Heat this summer in order to compete for the championship.

The two parties signed a one-year veteran's basic salary of only 110 million US dollars.

"Glove" Payton is willing to join the Heat with such a cheap contract for a very obvious purpose, just to taste the taste of the championship before retiring.

However, due to the butterfly effect brought by Luke, the team with the highest odds of winning this year is not the Heat, who are frantically reinforcing during the offseason, but the Timberwolves under the banner of defending champions!
So Luke contacted "The Glove" Payton a long time in advance, hoping that Payton can join the Timberwolves in the new season and jointly launch an impact on the championship again.

Faced with Luke's invitation, Payton "The Glove" did not hesitate at all. It took only one afternoon to reach a verbal agreement with the Timberwolves, saying that he would join forces with him in the new season to help the Timberwolves achieve consecutive championships and establish a dynasty.

At present, the Timberwolves are the team with the highest odds of winning the championship in the entire league. "Glove" Payton wants to take a shortcut to get the championship ring. The Timberwolves are definitely Payton's best choice.

Especially when the head coach Luke has taken the initiative to invite, Payton has no reason to refuse.

The reason why Luke is so concerned about Payton "Glove" in this year's free market is that apart from wanting to weaken the Heat's reinforcement space, the main reason is that Payton is too suitable for this Timberwolves.

Signing Payton with only a veteran's basic salary contract is no different from giving away for nothing.

The Timberwolves have never had an excellent defensive blocker on the back line. "Alien" Cassel has excellent offensive ability, but the defense is too hip.

If Payton can be signed, this Timberwolves will be promoted from both offensive and defensive ends to a terrifying presence.

Even as long as the players can stay healthy, Luke has the confidence to lead the Timberwolves to use this lineup to challenge the Bulls' best record of 72 wins and 10 losses next season!
"Glove" Payton is definitely the best point guard defensive player in NBA history. There is no dispute about this, let alone add one later!

"Glove" Payton has been selected to the All-Star team nine times in his career, and he has been selected to the All-NBA Team nine times. What's more powerful is that Payton has been selected to the NBA's All-Defensive Team for nine consecutive years.

In the 95-96 season, "The Glove" Payton was awarded the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the only point guard in NBA history to be elected the best defensive player.

And that season "Glove" Payton was elected as the league's steals leader as always, which was a defensive nightmare for all point guards at that time.

So there's no disputing that "The Glove" Payton is the best defensive point guard in NBA history.

This is where the term "glove" comes from. Payton's defense is like a glove on the hand, making it impossible to get rid of it.

Excellent defensive ability paired with the most vicious trash talker in the league. At that time, even Michael Jordan hated Payton.

In addition, Payton is not as biased as those outstanding defensive players in history. Payton not only has excellent defensive ability, but also is very powerful on the offensive end.

At that time, the famous point guard "Magic" Johnson commented on "The Glove" Payton: "He is the most defensive point guard in history, and his offense is also better than most stars."

"Whether it is in personal defense or team defense, Payton is impeccable. On the offensive end, Payton can shoot well, and his low singles are a great stunt."

In the 20s, Payton was definitely the one with the most distinctive personality among the point guards. He abused trash talk all the time and swayed his head and harassed trash talk, which also made "Glove" Payton the title of "king of trash talk .

It was also the player that all point guards most wanted to kill at the time!
上个赛季“手套”佩顿在凯尔特人宝刀未老，36岁的年纪在进攻端依然可以贡献11.5分3.2篮板6.1助攻以及1.7次抢断，且投篮命中率为47%，三分球命中率同样达到33%。

As for the defensive end, needless to say, the reason why the Celtics became a dark horse in the East last season was because of "Glove" Payton's excellent defensive ability.

Otherwise, relying on Pierce and Antoine Walker alone, the Celtics' defense would have been blasted to pieces by the opponent.

Signing the "glove" Payton is definitely the most important reinforcement of the Timberwolves this offseason. This signing also means that the Timberwolves can truly achieve the ultimate defense in all directions and without dead ends in the lineup.

Garnett's defense ability in the interior is considered the top in history, and "Glove" Payton's defense ability is also the top in history as a guard.

When these two people are used to build a defensive system with one inside and one outside, the Timberwolves' defensive efficiency will definitely shock all teams!

Even Luke himself can't imagine what stage the Timberwolves can evolve in the new season with the combination of these two on the field, coupled with the defensive thinking of assistant coach Lambiel and Raymond.

But no matter what level the Timberwolves' defense can reach, there is no doubt that the trash talk of the Timberwolves in the new season will definitely make the opponent vomit blood!

And it's still an embarrassing scene where I can't spray it, and I can't beat it...

　Ask for a monthly ticket, ask for a recommendation ticket, thank you!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)