Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 105 105. Two official signings: the lineup list for the new season;

February 8.
The official website of the Timberwolves officially announced that the team has reached a contract with free agent "Glove" Payton, and the two parties signed a one-year veteran's basic salary.

The Timberwolves did not disclose the specific details of the contract to the media, but in fact, the fans are very clear about the signing.

The reason why "Glove" Payton is willing to join the Timberwolves with such a cheap contract is that he hopes to wear the championship ring with his own hands before retiring.

When a player's career reaches the stage of "Glove" Payton, what he cares most about before retiring is not the salary of several million dollars a year, but the supreme championship ring.

The championship has always been a measure of a player's historical status, and it will also affect the chances of a player entering the Hall of Fame after retirement.

Even if "Gloves" Payton's current career experience, future induction into the Hall of Fame is a sure thing, but the championship will always make players more confident and reduce a lot of gossip after retirement.

In addition, the Timberwolves also released a second signing news on the same day, indicating that the team also signed the next contract with free agent Wang Zhizhi, and the specific amount was also not disclosed.

However, according to gossip, the Timberwolves and Wang Zhizhi signed a one-year contract of 55 US dollars.

Many fans were puzzled by this signing. Obviously, they did not expect that the Timberwolves would use the last spot to sign Wang Zhizhi, who had no ball to play.

However, when interested fans think that Timberwolves coach Luke is an Asian, this matter seems to be less strange.

One's own people help their own people, this is a drama that happens every year in the NBA.

In fact, the reason why Luke used the last spot to sign Wang Zhizhi was not only because he wanted to help him, but also because of Wang Zhizhi's excellent three-point shooting.

The Timberwolves' lineup in the new season is very neat, especially on the back line, which is simply luxurious, but the biggest flaw of the Timberwolves is the lack of inside manpower.

Once the inside suffers from an injury, it is very likely that there will be no one available, especially Eddie Griffin, who is a little bit on the court, and is likely to face a large-scale suspension in the new season. Wang Zhizhi's signing can be regarded as Intermittently reinforce the inner line.

After all, the Timberwolves have limited salary space, and there are very few inside players who can be signed at this price. In this era, big players are more valuable. Even a role center who averages 3+3 per game dares to export and ask for $200 million.

Otherwise, "Sugar Man" Olowokandi would not be able to hold an annual salary of 550 million and no one would regard it as a garbage contract.

Therefore, there are basically no inside players for the Timberwolves to choose in the free market. In this case, Luke doesn't mind giving Wang Zhizhi a chance.

As for whether Wang Zhizhi can seize the opportunity to stay in the NBA and continue to play in the future, it depends on Wang Zhizhi's own ability.

Wang Zhizhi played for the Heat last season and his three-point shooting percentage was as high as 66.7%. As a big player, his general touch is definitely soft, but he can be very useful when playing against certain teams.

Even if you look at your entire career, Wang Zhizhi's three-point shooting percentage is as high as 38.5%. In his peak season, he averaged 5.6 points and 2 rebounds per game, which is not an outstanding high-position fortress.

But the average playing time in the peak season is only 10 minutes per game. Giving him a chance to stay in the NBA and continue to prove himself is the limit of what Luke can do.

Chinese basketball has a long way to go. No matter how much Luke dislikes these guys, he can't let go of the blood flowing from his bones.

In this way, the Timberwolves' 15-man roster for the new season is completely determined.

Guard:

"The Glove" Payton, "Alien" Cassel, Monta Ellis, and Trenton Hassel.

Swingman:
"Madman" Sprewell, Borkineh Barr, John Salmons, and "Penny" Hardaway.

Up front:

Garnett, "Handsome" Szczerbiak, Mark Madsen.

Inside:

Jamal Magloire, Gortat, Eddie Griffin, and Wang Zhizhi.

This lineup can definitely be called a balanced offense and defense. Even from the perspective of defense alone, this Timberwolves is not much worse than the Pistons in the East, but the Timberwolves are obviously much better than the Pistons on the offensive end.

And the real strength of this Timberwolves lies in the help defense rotation, "Glove" Payton, Garnett, and Magloire, when these three players are on the court at the same time, it is enough for any team to have a good drink. pot.

Monta Ellis, Nehbar, and John Salmons on the bench are not good at it. Among them, Nehbar was an All-Star player in the Western Conference last season.

At first glance, this lineup of the Timberwolves does not seem to be star-studded, but if you take a closer look, it will definitely make your scalp tingle!
After all, if you really want to count this Timberwolves, a total of seven people have been selected to the NBA All-Star team, and three of these seven people will definitely enter the threshold of the Hall of Fame after retirement. This situation is rare even if you look at the entire history.

The only flaw is that the average age of veteran players is relatively high. Before the start of the new season, no one knows whether these veteran players can maintain their health and continue to maintain an excellent competitive state in the new season.

Compared with the defending threats brought by other teams from the outside world, these internal hidden dangers are what the Timberwolves should pay the most attention to.

…………

In a blink of an eye, it came to September, and the players' rest time during the offseason is coming to an end. At present, the Timberwolves have begun to call players back to the team to participate in training, mainly because of the tactical adjustment and state adjustment before the start of the new season.

Every year during the offseason, NBA stars will use these short months to squander their time. This has caused many stars to look bloated before the start of the new season, which is completely different from the muscular hunks of last season two people.

Therefore, NBA players will return to the team in September to receive devil training, and ensure that they will exercise their bodies back to their best condition before the preseason in October, so as to ensure their competitive state in the new season.

After all, although NBA players are very popular every year, the sport of basketball is still a youth meal, especially for role players, who may be kicked out of the league at any time.

In this case, it is the most sensible choice to maintain a good personal state and strive to play for a few more years in the golden age. Even if no one is available in the NBA in the future, it can be regarded as saving a family fortune.

Even though a large number of players will face the problem of bankruptcy after retiring, how to squander the money depends on the players' self-control.

Throughout September, after the players gradually returned, the first thing they adapted to was confrontation training, and the training intensity was not high at the beginning to avoid injuries caused by players during training.

As the players adapted to the training intensity, the head coach Luke cooperated with the trainers and others to make targeted deployments to the players.

For example, Garnett's training plan is mainly about mid-range shooting on the offensive end and defense awareness on the defensive end.

Madman's training plan is relatively diversified. Under the defense of the two trainers, he uses different methods to end the offense, and cooperates with bench press and other equipment to strive to maintain his personal state to the extreme in the new season.

The same is true for several other veterans. The main purpose of training is to maintain a competitive state, while young players focus on their own shortcomings and work hard to strive for further progress in their personal careers.

As for a few players such as Trenton Hassell and Mark Madsen, they only need to push iron every day. There is no other meaning, just fighting. Isn't it normal to bring a ball? !
Among them, the two rookies Monta Ellis and Gortat, who were personally selected by Luke in this year's draft, started special training early.

At the end of August, Luke recalled the two to the team in advance, and made a one-on-one training plan for each other based on their personal characteristics.

No one knows their future development direction better than Luke. With the deliberate help of head coach Luke, Ellis and Gortat can avoid many detours in their careers and realize their potential earlier in the NBA.

The next thing the two need to do is to adapt to the rhythm of the NBA game in actual combat, and strive to make more contributions to the Timberwolves' title defense in the new season!

(End of this chapter)