Legendary star

Chapter 415 Arms Race (1)

"An unprecedentedly powerful Lakers!" On June 2002, 6, two days before the draft, Mitch Kupchak, the new general manager of the Lakers who had just taken office for only one week, completed the first transaction of his general manager career. And this deal immediately changed the structure of the entire league. The shock of this deal to the entire league and the limelight it brought to the Lakers has far overshadowed the upcoming draft.

After missing the playoffs last season, Gary Payton, who has begun to slip from his peak, has completely lost patience with the Supersonics. Gary Payton, who has entered the twilight of his career, also eagerly hopes to be like Reggie Miller. A championship ring to make up for the regrets in his career.After Gary Payton communicated with the Supersonics management, Wally Walker, then general manager of the Supersonics, decided to trade Gary Payton in accordance with Gary Payton's wishes and let him chase his championship dream. The Sonics will also be rebuilt ahead of schedule.

After much consideration, Gary Payton finally chose the Lakers. Although the Lakers had just lost the Finals and experienced a round of infighting, the Lakers who managed to keep O'Neal and Kobe Bryant are still the strongest team in the league. .In addition, the personal relationship between Payton and O'Neal is also very good, so no matter from which point of view, going to the Lakers is the best choice. After Payton called and told O'Neal of his choice, Lakers general manager Mickey Kupchak was so excited that he didn't even sleep, and called Wally Walker overnight.

Payton has worked hard for the Sonics for 12 seasons. Under the leadership of Payton and Kemp, the Supersonics have successfully entered the Western Conference and reached the finals, but they lost to the bulls in full swing. The trip to the finals exhausted the luck accumulated by the Supersonics over the years. Since the 9596 season, the Supersonics have been worse every year. They have stopped in the first round for many consecutive seasons. Last season, they even missed the playoffs. When choosing to chase the championship, the supersonic management did not stop too much.

With Rick Fox, Derek Fisher and two first-round picks, the Lakers won the 8-time All-Star, the first point guard to win the best defensive player in history, and entered the best team and the best team for 8 consecutive seasons. Gary Payton of the best defensive lineup.Although Payton's physical condition and game status have begun to decline, Payton was still able to contribute 22 points, 9 assists, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game last season. He is still the top five organization in the league. guard, and the Lakers immediately upgraded from the "ok" combination of O'Neal and Kobe to the terrifying Big Three after getting Payton, so when the deal between the Lakers and the Supersonics was completed, it immediately shocked the entire league. What's more, the general manager of some teams said in a sour tone, "The championship next season should be awarded directly to the Lakers."

Although Payton has been obtained, the Lakers are still not satisfied. Mitch Kupchak publicly announced that the Lakers' signing work is far from over, and the introduction of Payton is just the beginning.In contrast, the Pacers' reinforcement work has just begun, and they are in trouble. Although they defeated the Lakers in the finals, after 6 games, the Pacers' shortcomings and shortcomings were completely exposed. , So on the second day after the finals, Larry Bird and his assistants began intense signing work.

Larry Bird's reinforcement work for the Pacers mainly has two aspects. The first is the inside line. In the 6 finals, the Pacers' inside line was completely blown up by O'Neal. Lorenzen White has little room for improvement. , and Jermaine O'Neal is still a little immature. Considering that the Pacers' defending opponent may still be the Lakers, it is imperative to strengthen the inside.

Larry Bird's first target was the Spurs center Lief LaFrentz, who got a lot of opportunities in the Spurs as David Robinson's playing time dwindled , coupled with the guidance of Duncan and David Robinson, last season, in 32 minutes of playing time, Reeve LaFrentz averaged 16 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game. After the end of the season, Lief LaFrentz, who became a restricted free agent, immediately became a favorite in the free market. Originally, the Spurs had a contract extension with Liv LaFrentz before the end of the season. Basically reached an agreement, the Spurs offered a 6-year 5400 contract extension for Riff LaFrentz. If no other team stepped in, Riff LaFrentz would become the only Second, Duncan and David Robinson's third highest salary.However, on the first day of the free market, Liev LaFrentz's agent received several offers, including the Pacers, 5 million in 5500 years. Although the period is 1 year less, the average annual salary But $200 million more.With Duncan's annual salary of 1200 million next season and David Robinson's 1000 million, Popovich hesitated in the face of the 1100 million average annual salary contract offered by the Pacers for Riff LaFrentz. The salary cap for the season is 4027 million. If it matches the contract of Lieve LaFrentz, then the Spurs will have 3 players with an annual salary of tens of millions, and there is still 1000 million left. What is there enough for?However, the crazier things are still to come, 7 million in 8000 years, this is the contract offered by the Mavericks for Riff LaFrentz, Cuban swiped his checkbook, and immediately there was no competitor, and the Spurs completely gave up In order to match Lieve LaFrentz's plan, Larry Bird could only shake his head, sighing that Cuban is really rich, and then withdrew from the competition.

After failing to sign Liev LaFrentz, Larry Bird turned his attention to another free agent, eight-time All-Star and four-time Defensive Player of the Year Dikambe Mutombo, considering last season Mutombo's state has experienced a serious decline. In addition, Mutombo is 8 years old this year, so the Pacers offered Mutombo a high salary of 4 million for two years, but this contract But was directly rejected by Mutombo's agent.Already 36 years old, Mutombo, this contract is estimated to be the last contract of his career, so Mutombo's agent directly opened his mouth to the Lions, at least 2 years, and the average annual salary should not be less than 2000 million , 36 million in 4 years?To a 1500 year old?As long as you are a clear-headed person, you won't do this, but Larry Bird didn't give up directly, but while arguing with Mutombo's agent, he called Mutombo directly. After all, he is 4 years old. Dikembe Mutombo hasn't tasted the taste of a championship yet. As the defending champion, the Pacers are somewhat attractive.

After a series of setbacks in the free market, the Pacers also got good news, that is, the first-round pick they got from the Grizzlies when they traded Al Harrington for Lorenzen White last season. It was protected by the top three, but the Grizzlies selected the No. 4 pick, so the Pacers got the No. 4 pick from the Grizzlies. Although this year is a small draft year, the value of the No. 4 pick is large enough up.

　Thank you Emperor Dongyu for your reward, thank you thank you.

　　Thank you Dharma Wang Shisheng for the two monthly tickets, thank you.

　　Thank you for the monthly pass of Xiaoyao Xinshen, thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)