Legend of Tomorrow

The Suns' operation in the free market can only be described as low-key. They first announced the signing of Payton for two years, and then extended the contract of veteran Kukoc for two years, both with the veteran's minimum salary.

Payton praised Guo Xu at the press conference when he joined the Suns, expressing his belief that the team will successfully defend the title next season.

The two met in Los Angeles. Guo Xu invited guests to dinner and talked about the future with Payton, which made him feel very comfortable. Once he felt comfortable, he couldn't control his big mouth.

Payton sparked a conversation by saying Jason Guo is the hardest player I've ever seen.

The reporter then asked: You said Jason is the hardest to guard, but what about Jordan?

Payton responded: Jordan is extremely talented and can do anything on the court, but he is always irritated by my trash talk. Jason is not like this. He is too fast and keeps running. It is difficult for me Talk trash to him. In fact, there was a time when I would drive him crazy when I guarded Jordan. In the 1996 Finals, if I had guarded Jordan in the first game, maybe the result would have been very different.

During the interview, Payton was also asked about the hot topic, which is O'Neal leaving the Lakers and Kobe Bryant taking over.

Payton commented: After the Lakers won three consecutive championships, the management has been making wrong choices. They let two key players go. Kobe is very strong, but he is just a little brother. He cannot lead like Jason. The entire team cannot dominate the penalty area like O'Neal, and the Lakers will face a difficult period, so I chose to leave.

Now that he has switched to the Suns, Payton will not be stingy in praising Guo Xu. Who makes Guo Xu the team leader? First of all, he has shown that he is the strongest player in the NBA and is no worse than Jordan. Payton's support will not be so embarrassing.

Kukoc is also planning to play with the Suns until he retires, and is having a great time in Phoenix. He can adjust the atmosphere in the locker room and has a good relationship with his teammates. Everyone regards him as a big brother and mentor.

Although several black players cannot develop his skills to play like a small forward, Kukoc can teach them how to attract the defense to protect the basketball and move to the appropriate position as quickly as possible.

Don't underestimate the skill of passing, the internal tactics that can be coordinated are huge. In the first year, the Suns were still terrible at moving the ball inside. In the second year, Haslem, Stoudemire, and Nene could occasionally provide assists. They could also quickly distribute the ball after grabbing offensive rebounds, instead of He forced his way into the crowd and gave him a hat.

They were often blocked in the first year, but they were much better last season. Kukoc played an important role in making the ordinary appear extraordinary.

Guo Xu also called Kukoc after seeing the signing news. Congratulations to Kukoc. He can build a dynasty with everyone and look at the picturesque green mountains and green waters together...

Kukoc is smart;

It's a trivial matter for him to earn less than a few million. Staying in the Solar System and gaining more honors is the key. He doesn't want to leave even if other teams give him more money.

Now he has four championship rings. If he can build a dynasty with the Suns, he will definitely leave a glorious mark in NBA history. His six rings are the same as Jordan and Pippen.

Robert Horry of the Spurs may not be luckier than Kukoc. As long as Kukoc retires with six championships, even if he is not elected to the Hall of Fame, he will be one of the best foreign players in NBA history. There is no dispute.

At this time, the Suns' lineup for next season has been determined. There are strong players in every position and there is no need to poach anyone. After letting go of Kirisek and veteran Gugliotta, the Suns roster only has three spots. Now their 15-man quota is full, and there is no need to find anyone for trial training in the preseason.

Center: Diop, Nene, Stoudemire.

Power forward: Varejao, Haslem, Kukoc.

Small forward: Marion, Ariza, James Jones.

Shooting guards: Laga Bell, Joe Johnson, Josh Howard.

Point guard: Guo Xu, Steve Blake, Gary Payton.

In the eyes of the outside world, the Suns lineup mainly relies on the Trident and Joe Johnson, and the rest are role players. In Guo Xu's view, the depth of this lineup is simply explosive, and it is good at offense and defense. Ariza and Varejao had little chance to perform in the first season and could only serve as marginal substitutes.

The most amazing thing is that the Suns' total salary is below the salary cap, which is actually 5 million lower than the previous Suns in the 2004-05 season.

In the previous life, the Suns signed Nash for six years and 65 million, which was not the maximum salary, but the management poached Clippers forward Quentin Richardson, and the team also had Howard Ellis with a bad mid-level contract.

As the defending champion, the current total salary of the Suns is only 39.6 million, which is not much above the poor line. It will be the team with the lowest total salary in the league next season, lower than the Clippers and Hawks. This made the media and basketball experts unanimously exclaim - is there a mistake?

Brian asked Guo Xu about signings in the free market. Guo Xu made it clear that there was no need to bring in stars. He was confident that he could lead the Suns to successfully defend the title, and there was no need to poach someone at a high price.

Originally, the Jazz had the lowest salary in the league, with only $38.77 million last season.

After the free market opened, the Jazz management made a big move and poached Pistons center Memet Okur with a six-year, $50 million premium contract. As soon as the news was announced, countless people said it was a bad contract because Okur was a marginal player in the Pistons last season.

Coach Jerry Sloan is very optimistic about Okur and believes that his style of being able to resist people in the penalty area and pull out to play pick-and-rolls is very suitable for the Jazz. He has formulated a difficult training plan for him. As long as Oku obeys and follows the instructions, he will definitely become stronger.

Then the Jazz poached Clippers swingman Quentin Richardson for 45 million in 6 years, and signed Suns abandoned player Kirisek for 4 million in 2 years to strengthen the weak wings, and the salary suddenly increased.

At this time, a big change occurred in the league. Because the Jazz selected power forward David West with a similar style, they did not offer a high salary to poach Cavaliers power forward Carlos Boozer.

Fortunately, the Jazz did not dig Boozer again, otherwise there would be a hidden danger. If their record improves significantly next season, they will not be able to select future star point guard Deron Williams. It's a blessing in disguise. If the Jazz get a strong man too early, things will be completely different.

In this life, Boozer's agent is not Pelinka who encouraged him to become a rebellious boy, but Happy Waters. Happy suggested that he choose a low salary of 700,000 to play for the Cavaliers for another year, work hard to improve his statistics, and strive to directly sign a maximum salary next year.

The Cavaliers offered Boozer another condition: to skip his contract this year and then sign a six-year, 41 million contract with the Cavaliers. Isn't this just deceiving fools? Last season, Boozer averaged 15.5 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2 assists per game, and shot 52.3% from the field. As the second-leading player on the team, is he worth this much money?

In his previous life, Boozer was angry and accepted Pelinka's suggestion. He first verbally agreed to renew his contract with the Cavaliers at a low salary, but then broke his promise and signed a six-year, $68 million contract with the Jazz. Boozer's behavior triggered a big discussion about integrity in the NBA. An ESPN poll showed that more than 70% of people believed Boozer's behavior was cheating.

Now that the Jazz have not given Boozer a premium contract, he can only choose to stay with the Cavaliers for one year.

This triggered a series of butterfly effects. The Cavaliers not only kept Boozer, but also selected an outstanding blue-collar inside man Biedrins. They did not need to sign Drew Gooden as Boozer's replacement.

If the Cavaliers had chosen to re-sign Boozer in 2005, they would have had no room to sign the famously bad contract of Larry Hughes in his previous life.

Guo Xu had a hunch that this knight would be much stronger than in his previous life...