Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 160 160. Contract year, annual big change
After the game, the league awarded the Finals MVP to Kevin Garnett.

Garnett performed very well throughout the series, playing a dominant performance on both ends of the offense and defense.

On the offensive end, Garnett will rub against his "Master Gooden" on the ground frantically, and on the defensive end, it will become the ultimate nightmare for LeBron James to break through to the inside.

Although the Timberwolves did not double-team LeBron James throughout the series, Garnett's excellent defensive awareness can always interfere with LeBron James, making it very difficult to attack or pass.

这轮总决赛加内特场均可以贡献24.8分18.2篮板4.6助攻3抢断以及2.5次封盖。

Garnett's comprehensiveness is suffocating, and with Garnett successfully winning the Finals MVP in the 05-06 season, Garnett has won the regular season MVP and finals MVP awards for two consecutive seasons.

Kevin Garnett is attacking the position of the number one power forward in history. If Karl Malone hadn't just retired with a championship ring, Garnett would be able to ascend to the throne of the number one power forward in history with his current honor.

Considering that Karl Malone will be kicked off the altar before he sits in this position, the fans have begun to feel sorry for Karl Malone.

During his playing period, Karl Malone basically played full-time every year. His entire career can be said to be conscientious. At the age of 40, he can still have a second spring in the Timberwolves. Karl Malone is worthy of admiration.

It's a pity that for such a tough guy, the only championship ring in his career was still won by hugging the Timberwolves' thighs.

After retiring, Karl Malone sat on the throne of the top player in history without any suspense. It turned out that he hadn't been comfortable for a year before he was kicked out by Garnett.

I have to say that Karl Malone's career is both enviable and sad.

If someone asks Karl Malone what he regrets the most in his career, Malone will definitely say that he did not meet Luke earlier.

Looking at Kevin Garnett who stood next to Luke and won the championship trophy for two consecutive years, the word "envy" has been written on Karl Malone's face!
…………

Even though this is the second consecutive year that the Timberwolves won the championship trophy, after the team won the championship, the whole Minnesota was still in a carnival.

Owner Glenn Taylor was as generous as ever, and directly allocated $200 million for the players to squander.

The benefits brought to Glenn Taylor by winning the championship this time are completely immeasurable. The current market value of the Timberwolves has doubled several times compared to when Luke first took office.

That is to say, Glenn Taylor is not short of money, otherwise Glenn Taylor only needs to change hands and sell the team, and the realized wealth is enough for the next three generations of Glenn Taylor to live comfortably!
After winning the championship, the Timberwolves will hold a championship parade in the city, but this part of Luke is still the old rule, and it is completely left to the management to plan.

The championship parade itself is a kind of celebration. In order to enhance the cohesion of the fans, as a coach, Luke only needs to show his face in the championship parade. Luke is not interested in the rest.

With the end of the NBA Finals, the current time has come to mid-June, and the annual draft will begin in half a month.

This summer, the Timberwolves have two first-round picks, the Knicks and the one in their own hands, while the second-round pick was sent to the Hornets in Magloire's deal.

As for the first-round draft pick that Bynum got from the Lakers in this deal, it will be transferred to the Bobcats in the follow-up deal about Gerald Wallace.

After winning the championship, Luke still feels a little distressed. After all, the first round pick is very valuable in Luke's hands.

But thinking that without the joining of Gerald Wallace, the Timberwolves would not be able to win the championship so easily this season, Luke suddenly felt a little dull.

In fact, the Timberwolves are the defending champions and have won the championship trophy for two consecutive years. The Timberwolves team has already stood at the top of the league.

As a result, in this year's draft, the Timberwolves still held two first-round picks, which in itself is an extremely unfair thing.

It can only be said that the Timberwolves management is operating properly, grasping the future and the present, not overdrawing the future, but also winning the present. No wonder McHale was elected as the best manager in the league for two consecutive years.

Looking back, these operations of the Timberwolves are as unsolvable as if they were turned on.

Even though the truth behind this was all done by Luke, Luke didn't mind giving it to McHale at all.

This is also the reason why Luke and McHale can get along so well, because the cooperation between the two is a win-win situation!
This year's Timberwolves' draft picks are the 30th pick in the first round and the No. [-] pick in the first round.

This pick is not considered high. According to the success rate of NBA drafts in previous years, the probability of this pick being able to select future stars is less than 4%.

However, Luke's vision cannot be calculated based on big data. For Luke, who has the eyes of God, this pick is enough to overwhelm the world!

The Timberwolves have many main players whose contracts expire this summer. In addition to the "glove" Payton who is likely to choose to retire in situ after winning the championship, there are also "alien" Kassel, Nehbar, Ariza , and Magloire et al.

After the Kassel contract expires, although the Timberwolves can get a little respite in salary space, it is really difficult to renew the contracts of these players.

Unless the Timberwolves are willing to renew Cassel's contract and pay a lot of luxury tax next season, but let's not talk about whether general manager McHale is willing, Luke is the first to be unwilling.

Kassel's state has declined seriously this season, especially on the defensive end. After entering the playoffs, he has been beaten by opponents many times. It is better to renew the contract of "Glove" Payton with the veteran's basic salary to renew the meritorious veteran.

The premise is that "Glove" Payton is still willing to continue to fight, if he does not choose to retire in situ.

If Cassel chooses to test the waters of the free market, he will definitely not worry about a contract with the championship title, and his salary will not even be lower than 600 million.

But after giving up the "alien" Kassel, Luke can find a replacement for Kassel at any time. In this case, if you spend a lot of money to renew a defensive loophole, Luke will have a headache just thinking about it.

As for Nehbar and Magloire, both of them have already achieved their worth in the Timberwolves, and they can easily get tens of millions of contracts by testing the waters of the free market.

For these two players, all the Timberwolves can do is let go.

And Ariza entered the playoffs and was completely abandoned by head coach Luke. Even if he tried the free market, it would be difficult to get a too lucrative contract. As long as Luke doesn't want to give up, it will not be too difficult for the team to renew Ariza.

The only thing the Timberwolves need to fight for at present is "Glove" Payton.

Although Payton will be 38 years old next season, Payton's competitive state is very good and he played a very important role in the Timberwolves' defensive system.

Finding a way to re-sign Payton will be Luke's top priority this offseason.

As long as Payton can be persuaded to stay in the Timberwolves with a veteran's basic salary for one year, the Timberwolves will have more room to operate this summer.

Otherwise, Luke would have to change a lot of plans just because of the tightness in the number one position!
(End of this chapter)