When pride still matters

Chapter 609 The B-side of the Real World

After the draft, the group most dissatisfied with the results were undoubtedly the Lakers fans.

This year may be the worst year for the Lakers since the team was founded because their cross-city rivals, the Clippers, won the championship.

However, in the long run, this year is still an improvement over the past few years. The arrival of Anthony has given the team hope.

But the Lakers suddenly traded Gasol Jr. at the draft and selected a combo guard who didn't seem to be of much help to the team in the short term.

If this is a preparation for subsequent transactions, it makes sense. After all, Gasol's ceiling has been proven.

However, the Lakers management said the reason for choosing D'Angelo Russell was that they did not want to miss the next Jordan.

It’s clear that they have no intention of making a follow-up trade through Russell.

The fans were unwilling to accept this result.

Similarly, Anthony, who wanted to team up with Yu Fei last year but ended up making the wrong choice and joined the Lakers in anger, was also dissatisfied with the deal.

Playing in a place like Los Angeles means being under full scrutiny from the media.

Soon, Los Angeles Times reporter Frank Isola reported that Anthony called his old teammates in New Jersey to express his dissatisfaction with the Gasol trade. He chose the Lakers in the hope of winning the championship quickly through this team with a deep foundation. Obviously, trading Gasol for Russell will not accelerate this process.

Later, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith broke the news on the show: "Melo wants to see the Lakers make a deal that can produce immediate results. He doesn't want to wait."

The problem with this deal is that it fails to effectively create salary cap space for the Lakers.

Even if they terminate Gasol's contract, the Lakers still cannot raise the maximum salary space as their salary cap has already overflowed.

Therefore, it is difficult for them to make any difference in the free market.

There were rumors circulating about how unhappy Anthony was, but he was not the kind of fool who would be led by others, and he quickly clarified his attitude.

He claimed that D'Angelo Russell was a "found treasure" for the Lakers.

This statement seems to indirectly state that he does not mind the transaction happening.

If this is true, then the remaining question is - what does Kobe think about this?

Does Kobe, who is already 37 years old, have the patience to wait for Russell to grow?

Kobe's reaction was more muted than many expected.

He said through private channels that he had known the deal would happen and had no objection to it.

In the end, only Lakers fans became clowns.

They seem to have no choice but to believe Russell is the next Jordan or accept that it is almost impossible for the Lakers to achieve better results than this year before Kobe retires.

What follows is the annual free market.

Although no superstar entered the free market this year, many secondary stars who were considered to be high-quality second-tier players became free agents.

Those who received the most attention included Kevin Love, the Heat's champion, Dwyane Wade, the Heat's former star, LaMarcus Aldridge, the last old man left in Milwaukee from the Yu Fei era, and DeAndre Jordan, who went to New York with Durant.

In addition to these stars who are in their prime, there are also many second-tier players with outstanding strength.

The main problem this year, though, is that most of those guys are post players.

For example, Paul Millsap, Tyson Chandler and the Lopez brothers.

This is good news for teams that want to strengthen their inside line.

Because there are indeed many types of inside players in the free market, which fully meet the needs of all kinds of people.

But for the Clippers, who also hope to strengthen their team in the free market, such a distribution of free agents is a headache.

After Danny Granger's contract expired, he quickly reached a one-year minimum salary contract with the Clippers.

Apparently, Granger didn't want to leave the defending champions.

Although it is difficult for Granger to adapt to the intensity of the NBA at present, there are still many teams willing to reserve one or two spots for the experienced veteran as long as the minimum salary is offered.

Moreover, signing Granger does not affect the Clippers' ability to spend money in the free market.

The position the Clippers most want to strengthen is the point guard.

There is only one player in this year's free agent market who meets their needs.

That was Patrick Beverley.

Beverley has played for the SuperSonics for the past few years.

Initially, Beverly was introduced as a ball point guard when Roy was injured. Later, the Supersonics got Irving and Yu Fei transferred to the Clippers. Beverly lost his leader in Seattle and could only serve as Irving's substitute.

In recent years, Beverly has done his best and has been impeccable in every aspect as Irving's substitute.

Therefore, the Supersonics also want to keep him, of course, the price must be reasonable.

The Clippers, who had plenty of money and room to spare, offered a very unreasonable price.

US$3 million over 2800 years.

The Supersonics positioned Beverley as a substitute, and they hoped to renew Beverley's contract with a multi-year mid-level contract.

However, a player's value is often determined by the market.

The Clippers offer an annual salary of 900 million, which is more than the average middle class.

That's a bit too expensive for the Sonics.

They struggled for a few days and then made a decision that would not surprise Yu Fei.

They decided not to match the contract.

This is the Clay Bennett that Yu Fei is familiar with.

That's how he let DeAndre Jordan and Chris Bosh go.

After Beverley left, who was the most angry? Naturally, Irving.

Although Beverly plays the same position as him, their tactical positions and development potentials are incomparable, and Beverly gradually became his bodyguard.

Outside, Irving also said that he would protect Beverly under his wing.

Well, now the team has decided to replace Beverley with a more reliable wing.

Irving expressed strong dissatisfaction with this.

“If you don’t care about my opinion, then one day I won’t care about yours either.”

This is what Irving tweeted after Beverley was signed by the Clippers.

In order to appease Irving, the Supersonics hope to gain something in the free market.

However, when top players receive offers from the SuperSonics, they will think of what happened to Chris Bosh in Seattle, and that even the GOAT could not spend the rest of his life in the SuperSonics.

If even the GOAT and top mercenary couldn't have a good ending in Seattle, why should I?
The consequences that were sown back then are now gradually showing their harmful effects.

The first person to reject the SuperSonics was Wade. His reason was simple: "If I go to Seattle, how are you going to arrange Brandon Roy?"

Sam Presti responded: "We're going to resolve this properly."

However, Wade directly rejected the Supersonics' proposal.

After what happened with the Heat, what he hates most is those teams that think they can "properly settle the heroes."

What they thought was a proper handling of the matter was ultimately a betrayal of the veterans.

Then, DeAndre Jordan also rejected the SuperSonics.

He gave the Sonics an unanswerable question: "You didn't want me back then, why do you want to sign me back now?"

In the end, the Sonics had to invest heavily in two inside players.

The first is Paul Millsap, a veteran who is already over 30 years old. The Supersonics offered him a full four-year maximum salary, which other teams could not match due to their fear of Millsap's age.

Next is the much-questioned young center Greg Monroe.

He chose to sign a qualifying contract with his parent team last summer and played well in his fifth season, but his problem is that his style of play is retro, his shooting ability is average, and his defense is poor. Despite his obvious shortcomings, he is only 24 years old and averaged 15 points and 9 rebounds per game last season. You know, Yao Ming, a center in the first team last season, averaged only 17 points and 7 rebounds per game.

The SuperSonics decided to take a gamble on Monroe and offered him a maximum salary.

Monroe signed the contract happily.

After some operations, the Supersonics finally spent the money.

Strangely, even though they signed two top-paid centers, the outside world still isn't optimistic about their return to the playoffs next season.

"The signing of the Supersonics is like an adult buying candy to a tantrum kid. We don't know if Kyrie is happy with it, but if this is all they can do in Kyrie's last rookie contract season, we can only say that these things are of very limited help."

Brandon Roy then announced that he would exercise his player option.

In recent years, Roy's injuries have become more and more serious, and his contract has become a burden to the Supersonics to some extent.

However, his contract expires in the last year of Irving's rookie contract.

Therefore, this is acceptable.

But this also means that if he fails to live up to his value in the new season, this will be his last big contract.

What followed was a string of restricted player renewals.

Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Jimmy Butler, Chris Thompson, Chris Middleton... these young players who have proven their worth have all received big contracts.

As these extensions were finalized, the inventory in the free market gradually became clear.

The player currently being sought after by various teams is LaMarcus Aldridge.

This inside player who can play both the four and five positions is not only able to serve as the spearhead of the offense, but also developed the three-point shooting after the pick-and-roll early on. He is the top inside player who best suits the contemporary style.

The Knicks, Heat and Cavaliers all made offers to Aldridge at the same time.

Aldridge first rejected the Cavaliers.

He then weighed between the Knicks and the Heat.

On one side is the world's largest market, and on the other side is a tax policy and living environment that is friendly to the rich.

In the end, Aldridge chose the Knicks, who seemed more promising.

This decision means the Knicks are about to say goodbye to DeAndre Jordan.

Jordan, who was once again backstabbed by the team due to functional issues and poor cost-effectiveness, fell into a rage and vowed to make the Knicks pay the price.

As his good friend, Durant expressed his "anger" to the team through other channels.

Considering that the man who replaced Jordan was Aldridge, the sincerity of this anger remains to be seen.

DeAndre Jordan is set to join the Heat.

However, after the Heat failed in their pursuit of Aldridge, they turned to comfort Love.

This made Jordan see a tragic reality: if the Knicks failed to sign Aldridge, they would not choose to renew their contract with him, but would turn to pursue Love. They would only consider him when both Aldridge and Love turned to other teams.

This is the price of personal style going against the times.

In the end, Wade and Jordan, the two frustrated men, decided to join the Chicago Bulls together after discussion.

This is an option Wade can accept. He regards Jordan as his second father, and playing for the Bulls is like realizing his childhood dream.

Jordan Jr. followed Wade's footsteps for no other reason than that he didn't want to leave the East.

He must stay in the East and play for a strong team before he can take revenge on the Knicks.

While Jordan Jr. signed with the Bulls, the Heat also kept Love.

As a result, the Cavaliers became the biggest loser of the offseason.

Just like every year.

The big fish in the free market have expressed interest, offering whatever they have, almost willing to sacrifice their souls.

But the problem is that the Big Fish not only look down on Cleveland's money, but also dislike Cleveland's environment.

Since James' return, the Cavaliers have exhausted all their chips and have nothing left except salary space.

Right now, James has one year left on his contract with the Cavaliers, and if they can't do something this summer, the decision moment will come.

Driven by the idea of ​​"we must do something", the Cavaliers seemed to have unlimited salary space. After failing to pursue Lopez Sr., they offered Lopez Jr. a three-year, $3 million contract.

Then they offered veteran Joe Johnson a three-year, $3 million contract, forcibly poaching him from Golden State.

This reckless spending pattern shows their madness, but just like the Supersonics, they spent money but still could not change the team's situation.

This is a lively free market, with teams signing contracts continuously and big and small fish running around.

On the contrary, the trading market has become much quieter.

Because teams with high-quality resources have no demand for trades, all their needs are in the free market.

The Clippers remained as calm as ever.

They haven’t made any moves since signing Patrick Beverley.

They are waiting.

Because they no longer have enough salary space, if they want to sign useful players at this time, they must rely on the appeal of the defending champions and the geographical advantages of Los Angeles.

To get these, strong players must be willing to take a pay cut.

Just as teams were signing contracts, Los Angeles media suddenly reported that Yu Fei and free agent Brandan Wright attended a celebrity golf tournament.

The Los Angeles media couldn't help but speculate: "Is Brandan Wright the next signing for the Clippers?"

Wright was drafted in 2007, the same year as Durant. At the time, he was like Anthony Davis before Anthony Davis, playing the skinny-rebounder-terminator-shot blocker style.

Once this style evolves, he will become another Kevin Garnett.

However, the success of Garnett and Davis is not only due to their own talents, but also to the basic skills they accumulated as point guards when they were young. Wright did not have this experience, so his potential was not able to be unleashed.

He has always been like this, but because his confrontation failed to improve, he gradually became a representative of excellent blockers but poor defense.

However, the miniaturization of the inside line in the small ball era has to some extent concealed his shortcomings, making him a very suitable power forward in the contemporary era.

When Wright was asked if playing golf with Yu Fei meant further cooperation between the two sides, he said: "You know, I'm not the one who makes the decision."

When Yu Fei was asked a similar question, he replied: "With our current salary space, we need to complete a robbery-style contract to sign Brandon."

Shortly after, Wright tweeted: "I'm easy to rob."

Clippers fans began calling on Arn Tellem to take action on social media.

In the context of a big city, driven by the honor of defending the championship, the loss of millions of contracts can be easily made up off the court.

So, on July 7, the Clippers announced that they had signed Brandan Wright to a three-year, $10 million contract.

It is reported that this is at least $300 million lower than the price Wright expected.

"You know, the Clippers are a great team with a great history, and Frye is the greatest player ever. It's a dream come true to work with him. I can't wait to be a part of the great history of the Clippers!"

Brandon Wright said this in a press release.

This is the B-side of the real world. When you succeed, even the shameful development history of the past 30 years can become part of greatness.

(End of this chapter)