NBA: James wants to team up with me

The free market in 2012 is actually not very lively, because not many big-name stars have expired contracts, and only one player, Deron Williams of the Nets, has expired.

But as soon as the latter became a free agent, he immediately reached a new contract agreement with the Nets, worth 5 million over five years, and a proper maximum salary extension.

Although De Xiaopang has basically made no achievements in the league and has only been selected to the All-NBA Team twice, he really can't afford to eat and sleep against Paul, and his statistical performance is not bad. He played 55 games for the Nets this season. Deron can average 21 points, 3 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game. He is the absolute core of the team. Of course, the Nets will be willing to offer a maximum salary contract.

It's a pity that the Nets probably never dreamed of it. Deron, who got the big contract, immediately started to perform at light speed. Next season, which is the 12-13 season, the data dropped to 18.9 points and 7.7 assists, and then 14 points and 6 assists.

In the following seasons, Deron Williams was clearly in his prime, but his performance was tepid, averaging only about 14+6 per game, which was completely inconsistent with the value of his maximum salary contract.

Except for Deron, there are no All-Stars in the league whose contracts have expired.

However, the contracts of powerful players from various teams in the league such as Ibaka, Eric Gordon, Antoine Jamison, George Hill, Roy Hibbert, etc. have all expired.

Of course, this also includes several players from the Bulls, Garnett, Billups, Danny Green, Marcus Thornton and Jeremy Lin.

The Bulls' attitude towards players whose contracts have expired is very clear. The management directly notified Jeremy Lin and Thornton that the team will not consider renewing their contracts next season and asked them to find their next home as soon as possible.

These two players definitely have no worries about finding jobs.

In order to keep Danny Green, the Bulls had to spend a lot of money and offered him a four-year contract of 4 million yuan, with an average annual salary of 3000 million.

The previous contract renewal has been proceeding according to Wang Chong's vision.

Wang Chong's original plan was to give Garnett a two-year, $2 million contract, which could be regarded as a pension contract to thank Garnett for his contribution to the Bulls.

In the opinion of the Bulls general manager, this contract is somewhat overpriced. After all, in his opinion, Danny Green's performance in the game is mediocre and his statistics are not very good. Why should he get more than 7 million? An annual salary of around four million would be good.

The original Celtics signed a three-year, 12 million contract with Garnett in the summer of 3. With one more year, the total amount was only 3600 million more than this contract.

Thanks to the expiration of Billups' contract, the Bulls have ample salary space.

Even if Billups returns from injury in the new season, he will definitely have to step down from the starting position. Considering that he only played about 20 games in the next two years of his career before being injured for the season, Wang Chong has no intention of letting Billups. What kind of contribution Lupus can make on the field, as a veteran and the leader of the team's locker room, can teach Curry and Thomas some more defender experience, in Wang Chong's view, it is enough.

"Wang, I am already old, and my competitive level will only get worse in the future. I am very grateful to the team for offering me such a contract to retain me, but in the last few years of my career, I want to return to The place where the first dream began can be regarded as the fallen leaves returning to their roots.”

Of course, Garnett immediately gave the reason. He even made a special call to Wang Chong to explain.

Now Wang Chong figured it out.

As for Marcus Thornton, because he was on the bench for the Bulls, he failed to average 20+ points per game as he originally did. Thornton's evaluation in the league is not high, but after all, he is the main player on the bench for the Bulls. Rotating players, Thornton also performed well during the regular season. Considering the Bulls' good reputation for producing high-quality products, it is not difficult to get a contract with an annual salary of more than 500 million.

Based on Garnett's performance this season, an annual salary of 1600 million is definitely not low.

Danny Green is definitely going to stay with the Bulls. Wang Chong has said it before, how can he let go of a high-quality 3D player who has spent so much effort and effort to cultivate?

But when it came to Garnett's contract extension, something unexpected happened.

Billups will be 36 years old next season. Although with his style of play, it is not difficult to get an annual salary of three to five million from other teams, Billups still chose to return to his roots and stay with the Bulls. The team used the remaining heat and planned to eventually retire with the Bulls.

Billups is very open-minded. His career is actually very complete. He can win four championships with the Bulls. This is something he never dared to dream of before.

But Wang Chong was resolute, and other teams also offered an offer of 7 million, so the Bulls could only follow the price.

Speaking of Billups, he finally decided to stay with the team and signed a one-year veteran's minimum salary contract with the team.

Wang Chong knows very well that Garnett only has one year left in his peak period at most. Instead of giving him a longer multi-million contract, it is better to shorten the contract period, which is a good thing for both parties.

Needless to say, Jeremy Lin, who also played a shocking performance in the Bulls, is a hot commodity in the free market. Once he tests the free market, many teams will definitely compete for him. Of course, Jeremy Lin's upper limit is there. Can he be like this? As in history, getting a four-year contract worth around 4 million yuan was a pretty good result.

But to Wang Chong's surprise, Garnett actually chose to reject this contract.

It was also 2012, and Garnett's state of mind was completely different.

Although Garnett in the Celtics also won the championship as he wished, he only had one, and the three giants won it as a team, which was somewhat lackluster.

But Garnett was different in the Bulls. The first four-consecutive championship dynasty after the NBA merger, the best record of 73 wins in the regular season, Garnett experienced it all with the team, and he was still the only player in the team. Second to the honors Wang Chong has received as the second-choice player, his career has been complete. Even if he wins one or two more championships with the Bulls, it won't change much.

When a player gets everything he wants, as he grows older, he can't help but feel proud to return to his hometown.

Just like Garnett originally chose to let the Nets trade him back to the Timberwolves in the 14-15 season, the old Wolf King wanted to go home.

On July 7, the Minnesota Timberwolves officially announced that they had signed Kevin Garnett for 7 million in three years. The old wolf king returned to the Timberwolves.

For a moment, Minnesota fans were in tears. Regardless of how much success Garnett still has left, as long as he is willing to return to the Timberwolves, Minnesota fans will definitely welcome him.

Garnett himself immediately published a long post on his personal social media, solemnly thanking the Bulls and the players and coaches, saying that although the Bulls really wanted him to stay with the team, he now wants to go home and work with the Bulls. The five years he spent will always be remembered in his heart.

Almost at the same time, the Bulls officially issued a statement thanking Garnett for his contribution to the Bulls' four consecutive championships. The team owner stated that he would retire the No. 5 jersey Garnett wore with the Bulls in the future.

As a result, even the media with some conspiracy theories trying to gain attention can't describe Garnett's departure as a drama of antagonism due to contract negotiations.

But whether it's a quarrel or a peaceful breakup, the result is the same.

Teams across the league breathed a sigh of relief.

This time the Bulls are out of luck.

The two main contributors during the four consecutive championships, one was looking for his hometown and returned to Minnesota, and the other only signed a veteran's minimum salary contract with the team and was about to retreat to the background. The Bulls suddenly lost two generals. Now only the three giant configurations are left.

It's just that except for Wang Chong, whether it is Stephen Curry or Marc Gasol, the giants are slightly insufficient, at least not comparable to the Big Three of the Lakers and the Big Three of the Heat.

Especially during the opening period of the free market, people from the Bulls kept leaving the team. After Garnett went to the Timberwolves, Jeremy Lin and Marcus Thornton soon signed contracts with other teams.

Jeremy Lin was snatched away by the Rockets just like in the original time and space. The Rockets, relying on Dayao to eat a lot of money, really wanted to have a drama of two Chinese players on the same stage.

Marcus Thornton joined the Sacramento Kings.

The Bulls continue to lose existing players, while the Lakers and Heat are constantly reinforcing. Especially the Lakers. With the Big Three, the Lakers' salary space is still very healthy. This is entirely due to the trade of Paul and the Heat at that time. Howard's operation perfectly vacated all the big contracts in the team. This is why some people always say that the Lakers' trade is like robbery.

The wealthy Lakers spent money wildly in the free market. They first signed the best sixth man Jamal Crawford for 4 million in four years, then signed Antoine Jamison with the veteran's minimum salary, and finally signed Signed power forward Carl Landry for 2100 million over three years.
After some operations, the entire alliance was stunned.

The Lakers are going to heaven! What kind of magical player are they signing?
Jamal Crawford serves as a shooting guard and is best at scoring points off the bench. In the 2009-10 season, as the sixth man off the bench for the Hawks, he averaged 18 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game, and was elected as the Sixth Player of the Year. people.

This season, Crawford also averaged 14 points and 3 assists per game. The main reason for the low score was insufficient playing time, averaging only 26 minutes per game.

The Lakers signed Crawford, obviously to reduce the burden on the aging Kobe, and also to allow Paul and Howard to have some other changes in their pick-and-roll tactics.

Antoine Jamison is only stronger than Crawford. As an All-Star power forward who averaged around 20+8 per game for several consecutive seasons during his peak period, Jamison's scoring ability is quite outstanding, even this season. Already 35 years old, Jamison can still average 17 points and 6 rebounds per game. The most important thing is that Jamison signed a veteran's basic salary when he joined the Lakers. The annual salary of US$135 million is not too good.

Finally, Carl Landry serves as a power forward like Jamison, and he can work with Jamison to fill the Lakers' power forward position. Landry, nicknamed the Divine Bird, has quite good physical fitness and can run and jump. This season He also averaged 12.5 points and 5 rebounds per game with the Hornets.

Generally speaking, the three players signed by the Lakers are all capable players with a very good level. With a little running-in, they can become the most powerful right-hand men around the Big Three, enriching the strength of the Lakers' bench rotation.

Once the three signings were reached, it immediately caused a small stir in the league. Many media exclaimed that just looking at this lineup, the Lakers are bound to defend their title next season.

Although the Heat, who are equipped with the same Big Three next door, are not as exaggerated as the Lakers, their actions are not small. After all, they have once again stopped in the Eastern Conference Finals and lost to the remnant Bulls. No one can swallow this breath, even if they have to pay Some luxury taxes must also improve the overall strength of the team!

The Heat also reached three signings during the free market, including Rashard Lewis and Jermaine O'Neal, who were signed with a minimum salary, and Jordan Hill, who was signed for 3 million in three years.

Although the first two were both former All-Star players, they are old after all and no longer as brave as they once were, so let’s not mention them.

The Heat signed Jordan Hill with a very obvious intention. Jordan Hill is 2 meters tall and plays a center role. He has good physical fitness and is a standard blue-collar center. He can block positions and defend, and he can also do dirty work. Although There is almost no means of independent scoring on the offensive end, but it is obvious that the Heat did not sign him to let him score.

The biggest purpose of signing Jordan Hill is to deal with Bulls center Gasol and Lakers center Howard.

Of course, the Heat don't expect Jordan Hill to be able to guard these two to death, but as long as they can cause some trouble for the opponent, it's not a loss.

The Heat's three signings have been rated very highly by the media. At least the team is strengthening based on existing needs. With limited salary space, such signings are already quite good.

However, Wang Chong knew that the Heat missed the biggest gain in 2012, which was Ray Allen.

Affected by the butterfly effect, the Celtics' Big Three were not formed, and Ray Allen was not squeezed out by Rondo and the Celtics management during this period, so he had no idea of ​​joining the Heat.

Although Ray Allen doesn't even have a championship at this time, he is still one of the main players in the Thunder, and his position in the team is second only to Westbrook and Griffin. Why should he leave?
Without Ray Allen, even if the Heat can get past the Bulls in the playoffs and face the Spurs in the finals, without Ray Allen's life-saving three-pointer, they will still have to kneel down.

Others don't know what the Heat missed, so they think these signings are very good.

Of course, compared with the Bulls, the Heat's trade signings are indeed very good.

After the free market opened, the Bulls let go of Jeremy Lin, Marcus Thornton and Kevin Garnett, leaving only Billups and Danny Green behind. This was a serious loss of talent.

Under such circumstances, a normal person would definitely sign a few more players in the free market to supplement their strength, but the Bulls have always been quiet and don't know what they are doing. (End of chapter)