Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

Another example is the Rockets.

Last season, the Rockets had the best record in the league and successfully entered the Western Conference Finals, but lost to the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

They have proven their strength and the competitiveness of that lineup.

So this summer, the Rockets renewed Paul's contract with 4 million US dollars for 1.6 years, and signed Gerald Green whose contract with the Lakers ended. In addition, they renewed Clint Capela's contract with 5 million US dollars for 9000 years and signed James Ennis with a two-year contract.

In addition, they sent away Ariza, Maggies Chriss and Brandon Knight.

Of course, these are just to retain their existing main lineup.

The most important thing the Rockets did this summer was to sign Carmelo Anthony to a one-year minimum salary.

He was once one of the league's top small forwards, a superstar who was selected to the All-Star Game 10 times and won the scoring title once.

Although Anthony is not as good as he was in his prime, he still averaged 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game for the Thunder last season.

It's just that he didn't have a good time with the Thunder.

On July 7, Carmelo Anthony was traded from the Thunder to the Atlanta Hawks.

Ten days later, he reached a buyout agreement with the Hawks and then joined the Rockets on a one-year veteran minimum salary.

Anthony's joining further improves the Rockets' lineup.

Last season, the combination of Paul + Harden + Capela + Tucker + Eric Gordon has proved the strength of the Rockets.

With the addition of Carmelo Anthony this season, many fans are looking forward to the Rockets' performance in the new season.

There have also been some changes to the Spurs.

Last season, the Spurs had a poor record due to Kawhi Leonard's injury.

After that, news came out that Kawhi Leonard was not getting along with the team. During the offseason, the Spurs unexpectedly sent Kawhi Leonard to the Raptors in exchange for DeMar DeRozan from the Raptors, and sent the team's meritorious player Tony Parker to the Hornets.

The current Spurs team is centered around LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan.

In addition, they renewed the contracts of Rudy Gay and Davis Bertans, and signed Marco Belinelli and Jakob Poeltl. Their overall strength is actually not weak.

The Thunder also renewed Paul George's contract with 4 million for four years, renewed Jerami Grant's contract with 1.37 million for three years, signed Nerlens Noel with a two-year contract, signed Raymond Felton with a one-year minimum salary, and acquired Dennis Schroder and Luvaldo Cabaro through a three-way trade.

Overall, it can only be considered minor repairs, but the team has players such as Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Steve Adams, etc., so the basic foundation is guaranteed.

As for some other teams...

The Trail Blazers signed Stephen Curry's younger brother Seth Curry to a two-year contract, signed Joseph Nurkic to a four-year, $4 million contract, and signed Nik Stauskas to a one-year minimum salary.

The Nuggets first renewed Nikola Jokic's contract with a maximum salary of 5 million for five years, then renewed Will Barton's contract with 1.48 million for four years, renewed Monte Morris' contract with 4 million for three years, and signed Isaiah Thomas, who had been injured for a season with the Cavaliers, and Isaiah Whitehead.

Compared to teams like the Rockets, Clippers, Spurs, and Warriors, the Trail Blazers and Nuggets are just small fry.

The current situation is that there are many strong teams in the West.

There are the Warriors with a super luxurious lineup, the Rockets with a further upgraded lineup, the Clippers led by James, the Spurs with changed core players, the Thunder with two giants, the Trail Blazers with two stars in the backcourt... and of course, the defending champion Lakers.

Western Conference teams are all strengthening their teams this offseason, which is actually related to the Lakers.

The strength displayed by the Lakers last season shocked everyone. Even a lineup like the Warriors was no match for the Lakers, so they had to strengthen their team.

Of course, the Lakers have not been idle either, and their lineup has also undergone some changes...

First, they cleared out some contracts that were not cost-effective, such as letting go of Gerald Green, Wesley Johnson, Tyreke Evans, and Nick Young. In addition, Deron chose to retire, which means that the Lakers suddenly lost several people.

However, the main cast has been retained.

随后湖人以3年5200万续约大洛佩斯，在2015年大洛佩斯以3年6000万签约湖人，18年到期。

Lopez was selected to the All-Star team in both seasons. He could have asked for a maximum salary contract, but he is 30 years old after all and did not want to test the free agent market, so he finally chose to renew his contract with a pay cut after discussing with the Lakers management.

He wants to stay with the Lakers and fight to defend his title.

Then, the Lakers renewed Kyle Anderson's contract for 4 million over 4100 years. Kyle Anderson could have renewed his contract in advance last year, but the Lakers did not do so.

In the past season, Kyle Anderson performed very well and was one of the contributors to the team's championship, so the Lakers management offered him a four-year, $4 million contract extension. Although it is not as good as Zhuang Yu, an annual salary of tens of millions is already very good.

In addition to Lopez and Anderson, the Lakers renewed McCaw's contract with 1 million for one year and chose to exercise the team option for Jodie Meeks' final year.

In this way, the main lineup of last season was retained, but the Lakers' total salary was close to the luxury tax line.

Zhuang Yu renewed his contract with the Lakers last year, signing a four-year, $4 million maximum contract that will take effect in 1.6, with an annual salary of more than $18 million. Clarkson renewed his contract last year for four years and $3000 million, which will also take effect in 4, with an annual salary of more than $5200 million.

Lopez's annual salary is over 1500 million, Anderson's annual salary is 1000 million, Korver's annual salary is 900 million, Holiday's annual salary is 2700 million...

As for Nance Jr., Kuzma, Zubac, McCaw, Meeks, and Samuel, their combined salary exceeds 1500 million.

These add up to more than 1.1 million US dollars, and the NBA salary cap for the 18-19 season is 1.018 million US dollars.

The luxury tax trigger line is 1.237 million US dollars.

In other words, if the Lakers do not want to pay the luxury tax, they will only have 10 million left to strengthen the team.

However, the Warriors and Rockets are both strengthening their teams, and with the addition of a brand new Clippers after James joined the team, the Lakers cannot stand still.

So the Lakers still made reinforcements, but in Zhuang Yu's opinion, it was a drop in the bucket.

In the past period of time, the Lakers signed free agent Daniel Hamilton and Dante Cunningham, who played for the Nets last season.

Both of them are small forwards, because the Lakers now have Lopez, Nance, Zubac in the interior, Kuzma and Anderson can also play the 4th position. There are also Zhuang Yu, Holiday, Clarkson, McCaw, and Jodie Meeks on the outside, and the only thing missing is the 3rd position.

After Gerald Green left, there was only Korver left at the No. 3 position, so the two players added were both small forwards.