When pride still matters

Chapter 539: The Wind Rises in New Jersey
"Honestly, I'm just thankful that I didn't have to be involved in this year's vortex," Sonics general manager Sam Presti said in an interview with a local TV station in early July.

He was referring to the 2011 offseason.

Due to the lockout, there was no offseason in 2010, and because the lockout caused the cancellation of the previous season, personnel moves in both offseasons were piled together at the same time.

Although this year's free market is dominated by inside players, there are also a large number of outside players looking for their next home.

Leading the outside free agents are Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Manu Ginobili.

Including the inside players, this year's free market will welcome an unprecedented double-digit All-Star player.

The choices these people make will determine the outcome of next season.

Logically speaking, Yu Fei, who is also a free agent, should have been the biggest fish, but the Supersonics won three consecutive championships under his leadership. Although the league experienced a lockout, the Supersonics stayed in Seattle and the new arena in the city center has also been started. As a city hero, he has no reason to leave the team.

Therefore, no one considered him as the top target this offseason.

7 April

Yu Fei and his agent Arn Tellem began negotiations with Presti in Seattle.

Since the rules have been perfected, given Yu Fei's status and position, there is no need for the two sides to argue.

The SuperSonics only have to offer the theoretical maximum contract.

Because under the new labor agreement, the players' union's share of profits dropped from 57% to 50%, so despite the new larger television broadcast contract, the salary cap has hardly changed compared to last season.

Under the current salary cap, Yu Fei can get an annual salary of 1800 million US dollars if he fully activates the Yu Fei clause.

Presti offered Yu Fei a four-year maximum salary, but Yu Fei only accepted a 4+2 contract.

The two sides immediately reached a consensus on a three-year, $3 million contract, with the third year being a player option and including a no-trade veto.

But Yu Fei did not sign the contract immediately. Instead, he asked the team to sign Kwame Brown before he would sign.

This put Presti in a difficult position.

Brown was replaced by Jordan in the 2010 Western Conference Finals. For the team, his only value now is to enrich the depth of the interior and it is not worth using the mid-level class to sign him.

But if Brown knew that Yu Fei was backing him up, there was no telling what kind of contract he would offer.

"We still have a part of our limited salary space to use in the free market," Presti said honestly, "We can't offer Kwame a big contract."

"He won't ask for a big contract." Yu Fei said confidently, "Just contact him."

Presti interpreted Yu Fei's words as meaning that he and Brown had already greeted each other.

Brown will accept the minimum salary.

He couldn't help but wonder, does Frye need Kwame Brown?

In other words, in this era of space basketball, blue-collar centers without offensive skills must have talents like DeAndre Jordan to play a role, and Brown is seriously behind the times.

Presti heard that he played in China last year and was cut less than halfway through the season.

This shows to what extent his hard power as a player has declined.

It is hard to say whether Yu Fei's "promotion" of Brown is good or bad for him.

If Yu Fei wasn't there, would he have a stronger sense of crisis? Would he become better in the sense of crisis and keep up with the times?

Presti has no way of knowing the answer. He only knows that Brown will enjoy his old age in the NBA under Yu Fei's wings.

That's the power of a superstar.

As long as Yu Fei is willing, he can provide two or three players with a long-term guarantee of 100 million to 200 million US dollars per year.

Presti contacted Brown as Yu Fei instructed, and learned that the other party was on vacation in Miami and was not in a hurry to sign the contract.

Moreover, he did not hide at all what he and Yu Fei had already agreed on privately in advance.

"Basic salary, no problem for me." Brown said, "Just send the contract to me, um, I'll take a look and sign it."

Presti did so.

But he was not so hasty as to mail the contract to Brown. Instead, he instructed his assistant to take the contract documents to Miami for Brown to sign.

In just two days, Brown signed a two-year, $2 million minimum contract with the Supersonics.

On the same day, news came to the public that Yu Fei and the Supersonics had reached a three-year, $3 million verbal agreement.

This is the most important thing for the Supersonics in the offseason.

Once this is done, Presti can look to the free market.

However, in view of the fierce conflict over the previous labor-management agreement, some media people released the current total salary of the Supersonics online.

With Yu Fei signing the contract and Kevin Durant's maximum salary contract taking effect in the new season, the Supersonics will have four maximum salaries.

The combined salaries of these four maximum-salary contracts alone have reached $7000 million, which is $2200 million more than the luxury tax threshold.

Considering that they still have several rookie contracts, the reinforcements they need to make to maintain their competitiveness, and the mid-level exception waiting to be used, the total salary of the SuperSonics in the new season is likely to exceed $9000 million. The luxury tax threshold for this season is $7000 million. Since it exceeds the threshold by $2000 million, the SuperSonics will directly activate the super luxury tax.

According to the super luxury tax clause, teams that exceed the tax line by more than $2000 million will be fined at a ratio of 1:5 for every dollar over the tax. In the end, in addition to paying more than $9000 million in salary, they will also have to pay more than $1 million in luxury taxes.

"We all know that the only reason Clay Bennett is willing to keep the SuperSonics in Seattle is that this team can make him a lot of money. However, at this cost, he will face a luxury tax bill of $100 million every year before the SuperSonics move into the new arena. This is an unbearable pain." The Seattle Times commented sharply, "Perhaps we are about to enter a dynasty syndrome. The terrible super luxury tax will undoubtedly send a team striving for the top to hell!"

No one has interviewed Clay Bennett.

Few people have seen him since the new collective bargaining agreement was passed.

As the most hated boss during the lockout, he got a collective bargaining agreement that broke him.

Now, with the team's payroll sitting there, he faces a choice.

He gritted his teeth and made the decision that might tear apart the relationship between him and Yu Fei.

That was the right decision for him, but Yu Fei was destined not to forgive him.

After all, it’s just like the attitude Yu Fei expressed during the labor-management negotiations.

He never got a cut of the Sonics' profits, so why would he consider it?
However, Bennett had to consider it.

How do superstar privileges come about?

Why did the team give Yu Fei special privileges? Why could he act according to his own wishes and make all kinds of demands on the team?

To put it simply, Yu Fei can make the boss money.

This position of power was obtained by the baseball god Babe Ruth in the first half of the last century.

He could get all the privileges he wanted during his peak period, but after his decline, his ending was no better than Jordan's during his time with the Wizards.

Ruth set a benchmark for how superstars can influence management at their best, but also how they lose that influence when they decline.

In modern times, the ability to generate revenue by attracting traffic and selling goods is the benchmark for measuring super giants.

Yu Fei's performance was almost perfect, but the league's anti-monopoly tactics had exceeded the limit of what the stars could resist.

Bennett is willing to spend an extra $100 million in the new season to help Yu Fei chase the only four consecutive championships in the modern NBA.

After all, with the momentum of four consecutive championships, perhaps the money earned in the end can offset the bill brought by the super luxury tax.

However, no one can expect him to keep the team competitive for a long time while carrying a luxury tax of nearly $1 million.

If it really comes to that, there is only one way for him to go.

With the opening of the free market, the NBA's most chaotic and lively free market year has arrived.

The summer of 2009 was hailed as the largest free market in history because James and others became free agents, but even that free market, which was eventually swept up by "The Decision," was no more attractive than this year's.

Several veteran stars were the first to announce that they would stay with the team.

Duncan and the Spurs reached a three-year, $3 million contract extension.

This is definitely a favor. Although Duncan is considered to have obviously deteriorated in recent years and has entered the state of an elderly star, given his status in the world, it would be easy for him to get a full four-year, $4 million retirement contract if he wanted.

However, Duncan decisively chose to take a pay cut, showing that he regarded money and fame as dirt.

This touched Ginobili so much that he also signed a contract below the market level: 3 years and $3600 million.

This seemingly humane contract is actually the largest contract Ginobili can sign at the moment.

Even if he were put on the free market, the most he could get is this price.

Duncan's pay cut is the key.

This gives the Spurs the space to sign a star in the free market. With two old players and two hungry lottery rookies, the Spurs not only want to have the future, but also the present.

No one knows what the ceiling of Paul George and Kemba Walker is. Instead of pinning their hopes on the future, it is better to strive for better results while Duncan and Ginobili can still play.

Dirk Nowitzki made the same choice as Duncan.

However, Nowitzki is not as "sensible" as Duncan, or in other words, Cuban favors him.

Nowitzki signed a full four-year, $4 million contract.

This contract is enough to allow the Mavericks to withdraw from the free market competition early.

After the veteran stars returned to their positions, the free market drama officially began.

The subsequent impact of the lockout is that the conflicts between stars and teams have been put on hold.

For players like Howard and Paul, there were rumors before the lockout that they were at odds with the team and wanted to leave, but because they had contracts, it was inconvenient for them to leave.

The cancellation of last season directly allowed them to skip the contract year and enter the free market.

So, Paul tested the free market, while the Hornets fell into a predicament of poor management at the same time. The team was placed under the trusteeship of the league. Currently, it is looking for a buyer while maintaining operations, and its state is half-dead.

Since Paul is a completely free agent, the "basketball reasons" incident will not happen. He can go wherever he wants.

The same goes for Howard.

Howard kept jumping back and forth between leaving and being loyal in the last years of Orlando, and finally won the nickname of "Howard Loyal". Even though he seemed to be unspeakably loyal, he was still sent to the Lakers in the summer of 2012. But in this world, the precedent of Yu Fei signing a short-term contract with the Bucks has influenced the younger generation in all aspects.

Paul signed 2+1 at the beginning.

Howard is better, having signed a 3+1 contract, but now, coincidentally, their contracts expire at the same time.

Howard's reputation has not been damaged by the memorial, and he has now become the most watched player in the free market.

As the top center in the Eastern Conference, Howard's requirements for his new team are simple.

First of all, he needs to be happy, and secondly, he needs to have a star defender who can pass the ball to him and take over the game at critical moments.

When Paul heard Howard's request, he couldn't help but think: This is exactly talking about me!

Under the new labor agreement, each team is very cautious about signing players.

No one wants to trigger the luxury tax due to reckless operations.

Except for one team.

New Jersey Nets.

To be precise, the one who ignored the luxury tax like shit was the Nets owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, a gold supplier from Russia.

Prokhorov's current net worth is 150 billion US dollars, which is considered to be one of the richest among the NBA owners who are full of rich people.

Prokhorov, who has been a die-hard basketball fan since he was a child, dreamed of owning an NBA team. This wish came true on the eve of the NBA lockout. He completed the acquisition of the Nets in May 2010, but before he could spend a lot of money in the NBA, the league was shut down.

The canceled 2010-2011 season left the Nets with no big-money contracts.

They are like people who come to a buffet on an empty stomach and then see one heavenly dish after another on the table.

Prokhorov's idea is to sign two or three top stars this summer to form a Big Three, and then directly enter the championship race and compete with the Knicks with hard power.

The Nets offered Howard and Paul four-year, $4 million contracts respectively.

As the two biggest fish inside and outside the free market, New Jersey's most attractive point to stars is that it is backed by the New York State market.

At the same time, the boss doesn't look like the kind of poor guy who would spend a penny as if it were two dollars.

The main difficulty encountered initially in this signing was that Howard wanted to wait until Paul signed before signing.

Paul thinks the same way. He will only sign if Howard signs.

The Nets' general manager Billy King had no choice but to drag it out.

But Paul didn't want to delay. He remembered how his good buddy James made the decision before, so he contacted Howard privately to find out if he was interested in joining forces.

"Man, what can I say?" Howard said to Paul, "Of course I'm willing to join forces with you!"

On the third day of the free market, the Nets became the biggest winner of this summer.

They signed Howard and Paul consecutively, which can be said to have directly booked a spot in the divisional finals.

Nets general manager Billy King said proudly: "Our original plan was to form a Big Three, but now it seems that two Big Three are not bad either."

Besides, he didn't say anything final.

If there is an opportunity to bring in a third star, the Nets are open to all options.

That means Gordon Hayward, Jimmer Fredette and future draft picks are all tradeable.

The speaker may not mean it, but the listener does.

Carmelo Anthony, who has been trying to escape Denver since the spring of 2010, is now trying to atone for his youthful recklessness.

When Yu Fei set the precedent of short-term contract renewal, he was criticized by the whole United States. Although everyone criticized him, they all followed suit consciously.

But Anthony thought he had personality, so he signed a five-year maximum salary contract until the summer of 5.

Now, this long torture is about to enter its final year. The Nuggets also know that forced melons are not sweet. The Nets have unique advantages. Except for two newly signed maximum salary contracts, there are no contracts in the team. Hayward and others only have signing rights.

Therefore, they can definitely take on Anthony's contract.

When the Nets, who were aiming to compete with the Knicks, heard that the Nuggets were interested in sending Anthony over, Billy King went completely crazy.

If he can get Anthony, he is willing to personally send Hayward and Fredette to the airport and wish them all the best in the future.

Then, King first confirmed Anthony's intention. After getting the other party's promise to renew the contract, the Nets traded Carmelo Anthony from Denver with the signing rights of Hayward and Fredette, plus the first-round picks in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

When Anthony was traded, he announced on Twitter that he couldn't wait to renew his contract with his new team.

This series of news instantly set off social media.

"New Jersey BOOM" became a trending hashtag on Twitter.

"Can the Big Three of Dwight, Chris and Carmelo challenge Seattle's dominance?" Simmons wrote on Twitter. "I don't know. The only thing I know is that their personnel composition is far more reasonable than Los Angeles. Even with Melo, CP3 and Dwight, they still have $300 million in space and a complete mid-level exception. You have to know that this year is the deepest free market in history, so they have a considerable chance to fill the lineup depth with minimum salary. I don't know if Seattle's four consecutive championships will be blocked, but the suspense in the East is gone. As long as they stay healthy, New Jersey is unstoppable."

To the outside world, the shock of the New Jersey Big Three is no less than the combination of No. 23 and No. 24 two years ago.

From the perspective of strength, this is a combination of the league's No. 1 center, the league's No. 2 point guard (if Yu Fei is a point guard) and the league's No. 3 small forward.

At the time of the incident, Yu Fei was attending the premiere of his movie "The Chosen One" with his new girlfriend Elizabeth Olsen.

Many Hollywood entertainment media were present at the premiere ceremony.

Although quite a few people did not like Yu Fei's performance, the film itself did not have many literary scenes, but his performance in the professional basketball-related scenes was impeccable, so most media gave it a score of more than 7 points.

When the end credits came on, Yu Fei was still immersed in the joy of playing the leading role in a Hollywood movie for the first time in his life. The flash lights on the scene lit up and Olsen snuggled up to him.

Yu Fei's name as the lead actor appeared on the screen.

Every Hollywood person dreams of this moment.

The compliments from the on-site media will make you feel like you are in heaven.

When this vibe reaches its peak, it feels like it will last forever.

This is the Hollywood trick to deceive people.

Because Yu Fei has dated many Hollywood girlfriends, he knows that the most fatal thing about Hollywood starlight is that it may disappear at any time.

Yu Fei knew very well where his real battlefield was.

So, when he and Olsen came outside for an interview, a sports media outlet interrupted at an inopportune time and asked Yu Fei what he thought of the New Jersey Big Three.

"I'm happy for Melo." The spotlight is on Fei, who said it like he was talking about a junior. "He can be a real big shot in New Jersey."

"At the same time, he will understand it completely and thoroughly."

“What it costs to be somebody.”

"What is it, Fry?"

The reporter asked further.

Yu Fei and Olsen smiled at each other and replied calmly: "For example, a reporter will inexplicably break into his life and give him a boring basketball question when he least wants to hear it."

(End of this chapter)