NBA: James wants to team up with me

The NBA preseason for the 2013-14 season begins in early October.

Unlike in the past, the Bulls were terrifyingly strong in this year's preseason.

It's not that Wang Chong even took the preseason seriously, it was entirely because even the Bulls' bench lineup was not weak.

In the preseason, the big three such as Wang Chong, Curry and Gasol naturally don't play much time. Each player only plays about 25 minutes on average. Even when they are on the court, they don't attack frequently. They are slightly brighter. The concept of personality.

The Bulls' main players in the preseason are Jimmy Butler, Isaiah Thomas and Draymond Green.

Green's level was there, and he could only play well.

But the performance of Butler and Thomas in the preseason made everyone shine.

The first is Butler. Last season, people's main impression of him was his good defensive ability. But during this preseason, Butler's offensive ability also began to gradually show, although many times he only relied on running without the ball. He dynamically cuts into the penalty area and then catches the ball and scores, but his super athletic ability makes this move feel like he is trying it all over the world. At least those players who cannot keep up with Butler in terms of speed will find it difficult to defend him effectively.

If Jimmy Butler's ability on the offensive end is surprising, then Thomas Jr. shocked people.

In fact, Thomas' performance last season was not much better than his rookie season. Even because Curry's attendance rate was good after returning from injury, his playing time and ball rights were slightly reduced compared to his rookie season. This made Thomas Neither averaged double figures in points per game.

Everyone thought that this was it for Thomas. After all, he is just a player who is 1 meters tall. It is really commendable to be able to perform like this in a basketball game that belongs to the big man game.

However, in the preseason, Thomas Jr. averaged 33 minutes of playing time per game, but his offensive firepower was fully utilized. He averaged 20 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists per game, becoming the Bulls' preseason scoring leader. Thanks to his superb scoring ability, the Bulls directly achieved a complete victory in the preseason without losing a single game.

This can't help but make the entire league shocked.

Even if everyone knows that preseason games are not important and no team will play them seriously, even so, Thomas, as a substitute player, can perform like this, which still makes all teams afraid.

You must know that even if you don't deal with it seriously, each team in the league will use their own main substitute rotation, which is similar to Thomas. This also means that in the regular season, Thomas, who is a substitute player for the Bulls, should be on the bench. After the time came on the field, we faced the same opponents we encountered in the preseason. Even if the defensive intensity was slightly improved, the results would not change much. This is definitely a strong bench bandit. The substitute time His ability to score points will never be worse than that of Jamal Crawford of the Lakers.

The strength of the Bulls' starting lineup is already so high, and there is such a number one figure on the bench. It is difficult not to feel a lot of pressure.

After the preseason, mainstream media including ESPN and TNT ranked the Bulls at the top of the new season's strength list. The Bulls' winning odds before the new season are also far ahead of all other teams in the league, even the Heat. There is also a huge gap in winning odds compared to the Bulls.

No matter how you look at it, the Bulls' defense of the championship is unstoppable, unless like in the 11-12 season, the team encounters a wave of injuries and nearly half of the main players are injured. But one such unlucky thing is enough, Wang Chong Over the years, we have always paid attention to the rotation arrangement of the main players, so that no player will be injured due to excessive fatigue.

At least in the original 13-14 season, these players in the Bulls' current main lineup basically had no serious injuries, although minor injuries and illnesses were unavoidable.

Curry played 78 games, Butler played 67 games, and Gasol had the worst attendance rate in the Grizzlies. He only played 59 games in the regular season, but in the playoffs, Gasol was very He finished the seven games of the first round in a healthy manner, averaging 17 points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. He performed well.

If under this situation, the team suffers unexpected injuries, it can only be regarded as bad luck, and Wang Chong will have nothing to do.

But Wang Chong felt that he should not be so unlucky. After all, as a child of luck who traveled through time and had a golden finger, Wang Chong felt that he would definitely not lose to anyone in terms of luck.

Before the start of the new season, there was a strong sense of self-confidence throughout the Bulls team, and they had only one goal, which was to defend their title.

Whether it is the players or the team's coaching staff, when asked about their goals for the new season in interviews with the media, they will firmly state the title defense without hesitation.

On October 2013, 10, the regular season opener began.

The Bulls' first game is an away game against the San Antonio Spurs, their opponent in last season's finals.

At the home court of the Spurs, the Bulls won 107:95, ushering in a good start to the new season and easily defeating their opponents in the finals, once again proving the Bulls' determination to defend their title in the new season.

Like the past few seasons, the start of the new season means the beginning of the Bulls' winning streak.

The Bulls, who defeated the Spurs in the opening game, were full of momentum. In the following games, they defeated strong opponents such as the New York Knicks, Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz and Boston Celtics, directly winning a wave of five consecutive victories. The strong start made everyone They all feel the Bulls' determination to win and defend their title in the new season.

The most intuitive manifestation of these five games is that the Bulls' dependence on Wang Chong has decreased.

In three of the five games, Wang Chong clocked out in the third quarter. The game lost suspense early and there was no need for Wang Chong to step forward to save the game.

The result is that after five games, Wang Chong averaged just over 26 points per game and failed to even enter the top five in the scoring list.

No one would think that this is a decline in Wang Chong's offensive ability. On the contrary, the Bulls are so strong that they don't need Wang Chong to exert his full strength.

Curry's performance is stable and efficient, averaging 24 points and 8 assists per game, which is very close to Wang Chong. Gasol's frequency of inside offense has obviously increased this season, and his current average of 18 points and 7 rebounds per game is also a career high.

In addition to the Big Three who scored a total of 68 points, the Bulls also had two players who scored in double figures, namely Jimmy Butler and substitute sixth man Isaiah Thomas.

Butler finally averaged double figures this season. Although it was only 12 points and 5 rebounds, this data is already very good for a functional player who is mainly defensive for the time being.

Compared with Butler, Thomas' performance in the new season is amazing, averaging 15 points and 4.4 assists per game, and has truly become the most terrifying scoring weapon on the Bulls bench. Although there have only been 5 games in the regular season, Thomas's amazing scoring ability still cannot cover up his fatal flaw in the black hole on the defensive end. But who would demand that a substitute sixth man be comprehensive? Even if the only advantage is scoring, it is enough for Thomas to secure his current position.

The rise of Thomas Jr. has also made many teams in the league ready to make moves.

As a second-round pick, Thomas's rookie contract with the Bulls is only three years. Next year is Thomas's contract year, and his rookie contract will expire at the end of this season.

Although as the parent team of Thomas, the Bulls have the right to match the contract offered by any team for Thomas, but the question is how big a contract can they offer Thomas?
You must know that with Curry re-signing with the Bulls with a maximum salary, the Bulls have very little salary space left.

This season Wang Chong is worth 2300 million, Curry is worth 1600 million, and Gasol is worth 1700 million.

The combined salary of these three people alone is as high as 5600 million.

Wang Chong and Gasol both renewed their contracts with the team in 2010. They both signed four-year contracts. That is to say, in the summer of 4, their contracts will also expire. The Bulls still need to find ways to renew the contracts of these two people, especially Wang Chong, a guy who has brought five championships to Chicago. The Bulls must keep them no matter what the cost.

Whether it is Wang Chong or Gasol, the new contract will be bigger. Wang Chong's new contract's starting salary will be close to 2500 million, and Gasol can reach at least 1900 million.

In this case, how much contract can the Bulls offer Thomas? After all, no matter how well Thomas plays, he is just a substitute player. There is a better Curry around him. He is by no means irreplaceable in the Bulls. As long as he offers a high price that the Bulls cannot accept, he will definitely be able to Grab little Thomas.

As for whether Thomas is worth poaching at a high price, that is no longer a question for them to consider. As long as it can affect the strength of the Bulls, they are very happy to do things even if it is harmful to others and not beneficial to themselves.

November’s schedule flies by in the blink of an eye.

Including the games in October, there were a total of 10 games. The Bulls achieved a record of 15 wins and 14 loss. The only game they lost was back-to-back away games. The main center Gasol lost one game due to knee discomfort.

With a super-high winning rate of 93%, the Bulls continue to occupy the first place in the league for many consecutive years.

The schedule came to mid-December, and the Bulls and the Heat, who had newly formed the Big Three, finally met for the first time.

The 2.0 version of the Heat also performed quite well after the start of the new season. The record against the Heat was 15 wins and 4 losses, second only to the Bulls with 17 wins and 2 losses in the Eastern Conference.

In these nearly 20 regular season games, the Heat's new Big Three have all performed brilliantly.

James' statistics are very luxurious as always, averaging 26 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists per game, which is extremely efficient.

After Howard joined the Heat, his life was obviously much more relaxed and happy than when he was with the Lakers.

Although James and Wade are both masters of breakthroughs with the ball, they are not good at long-range shooting, and they cannot compete with Howard in the one-star, four-shooter system that he was best at when he was with the Magic. However, both of them are masters of pick-and-roll breakthroughs. The set of blocking and splitting the ball is also very smooth, not much worse than Paul. In addition, the Heat's best full-court press and counterattack fast break tactics make Howard feel like a duck in water.

You must know that Howard in this time and space is not the original self who has suffered a serious waist injury and his explosive power has plummeted. His athletic ability is no different from that of the Magic team. He even deliberately deliberately played in the summer because he knew the Heat's tactics. Reduce weight and improve mobility.

This makes Howard not inferior to the Heat's original Big Three Chris Bosh in terms of mobility.

Of course, this is not enough for Howard to rush to the front line with James Wade during the Heat's fast break counterattack. After all, there is still a gap between the speed of the inside players and the outside players, but as long as Howard can ensure that he can keep up in the second time, it will be enough. , because once James or Wade fails to score in a fast break, Howard, who follows up in time, can grab the offensive rebound and complete the second attack.

This makes Howard average 4.9 offensive rebounds per game this season, a career high. Although the Pistons' Andre Drummond has the most offensive rebounds this season, averaging 5.4 offensive rebounds per game, Howard Currently averaging 14.1 rebounds per game, ranking first in the league, higher than Drummond's 13.2 rebounds.

Heat fans were almost crying with excitement. How many years have they not fought such a rich battle?
Since the formation of the Heat's Big Three, rebounding has always been a pain in the hearts of Heat fans. In the past three years, the team has not had a player averaging double figures in rebounds per game. Now it is finally looking forward to a super insider with the rebounding king level. I was almost overjoyed.

The only thing that makes Heat fans a little disappointed is Wade's decline in form.

There is no way around it.

Although he is in the same class as James and Bosh, Wade is the oldest among them. By the 13-14 season, Wade is already 31 years old. Coupled with the accumulation of various injuries, his style of play relies heavily on With the type of speed and explosiveness, a decline in form is inevitable.

This season, Wade averaged only 19.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5 assists per game. His scoring average dropped below 20+ for the first time since his rookie season.

However, Wade has obviously carefully considered how he will play at the end of his career, so his field goal percentage reached 54.5%, which is a career high. The decrease in scoring was mainly affected by the decrease in the number of shots and free throws. However, with the support of James and Howard in the team, Wade's lower data did not have any impact on the team. On the contrary, the improvement in efficiency made the Heat's offensive rhythm smoother.

But even so, the Heat and Bulls still lost the first game of the new season. The game was very stalemate. As expected by Heat fans, Howard had a huge impact on the Bulls' inside line. Howard scored 24 points and 19 points in the entire game. In terms of rebounds, he grabbed 7 offensive rebounds alone, which was so overwhelming that Gasol couldn't even lift his head.

Seeing the Bulls, who had been bullying their own team inside in the past, being beaten in turn, the feeling of getting revenge made the Heat fans feel so happy.

But after fighting, the Heat inexplicably lost again.

Obviously, in the first three quarters of the game, the Heat have been steadily taking the initiative in the game, and their lead was as high as 15 points.

What exactly is this for? (End of chapter)