Anthony the Reborn

Chapter 225 The eve of the opening of the free market

Visiting the Great Wall was the last stop of the trip to China. After Anthony finished the activity arrangement, he got on the plane back to the United States. After returning to the United States, he was busy again not because of anything else, but because of With the arrival of July 7st, the door of free market players is wide open. For the Nuggets, this must be a turbulent offseason.

The three cores of the Nuggets, Anthony, Brand and Williams, as well as the rookie Nene selected by the Nuggets, are all in the contract period now, and there is no team renewal situation. The season is a rookie contract. As a third pick, his contract next season is 347 million US dollars. The other two cores, Brand has a big contract. His salary next season will reach 1206 million US dollars, which is also the highest in the country, and the contract is a new one. It will last until 08. As for Williams, his contract for the next season is 688 million US dollars, and the contract will not expire until next season. The third year of Nene’s rookie contract, the contract amount is 226 million US dollars. His performance in the team, the team naturally chose to implement his contract.

In addition to these four starters, the other main rotation contracts of the Nuggets, such as Diaw and Korver, are still rookie contracts, but the situation of the two is not the same. Diao is a first-round rookie, so the contract is mandatory. In [-], the team only had team options in the third and fourth years, so if he is not traded next season, he will definitely stay in the Nuggets.

And Korver's situation is more complicated, because in the second round of rest, the 76ers signed a two-year contract at that time. The team can renew the contract in advance this season, and the contract can be signed for a maximum of five years. , but if he chooses to become, his salary next season will be 62 U.S. dollars, and the salary space he occupies will be very limited.

In the same situation as Korver, there are Wang Zhizhi and Bell, but the difference is that they are not rookies. Wang Zhizhi signed a contract with the Clippers for two years, and the contract amount is very small. This season's salary is only 53 U.S. dollars , next season is only 75w, and Bell's contract is relatively larger, this year's contract is 69w, but next year's contract is 132w.

Even Mutombo and the Knicks signed a two-year contract at the beginning. With his excellent performance this season, if he wants to renew his contract, he must be close to the middle class.

Because they are all the main rotation players of the team, and Bell is even a starting player, such a collective outbreak of renewal years is quite a headache for the team to renew.

In this situation, if you don’t find a way to renew some contracts this season, the situation will become the same as the Clippers last season by next year. A lot of new stars are waiting to renew their contracts, and most of them have left the team. , The team's record also plummeted.

So before the arrival of this free agent market, for the team's general manager Vandeweghe, the Nuggets can make him lose a lot of hair.

Not long ago, the league announced the salary cap for next season, $4378w, and the trigger point of the luxury tax is $5460w. The maximum amount of the contract is 100w US dollars.

For the current Nuggets, apart from players who may renew their contracts, the only ones who can be sure to stay in the team are the team's four major starters. The total salary is 2467w US dollars. Mbo's $2000 million contract this season will also take effect. In this way, the Nuggets have more limited contracts to renew. Bell, Korver, Dior, and Wang Zhizhi, four people have to share the 450 million salary space, but very Obviously, this is not enough points, because free agents are signed through the team's salary space, that is to say, if all four people renew their contracts this season, then the team's operating space in the free market will be limited become very small.

Now Vandeweghe will face a choice, who to renew in advance, and who to renew next season, because like Wang Zhizhi and Bell, they are not rookies. If they don’t renew their contracts, they will become completely free agents next season. It's not something the Nuggets can control.

And the most important point is that the free market is also very attractive to the current Nuggets.

Previously, there had been an earthquake-level trade in the league, that is, the Lakers sent O'Neal to the Heat in exchange for Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Brian Grant and a future first-round pick Quan, plus Payton turned to the Celtics, Malone returned to Salt Lake City to announce his retirement, the "ok combination" was disbanded, the "F4 combination" fell apart, and the Lakers can be said to be on the verge of collapse.

At this time, Kobe Bryant became a free agent and will enter the free agent market, but everyone in the league knows that the Lakers have reached a contract extension agreement with Kobe, otherwise they would not dare to trade O'Neal to the East.

In addition to Kobe, there will be a lot of big fish in this year's free agent market. For example, the Nets' All-Star power forward, Kenyon Martin, who averaged 16.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.26 blocks per game last season , the hero of the Pistons, who averaged 16 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.79 blocks last season, Rasheed Wallace, the Mavericks point guard, averaged 14.5 points and 8.8 assists Steve Nash, the Clippers shooting guard, this season "Big Q" Quentin Richardson, who averaged 17.2 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists, is the only four players in the league to average a double-double, Dampier, who averaged 12.3 points and 12 rebounds per game, and the Spurs' Ginobili, Crawford of the Bulls, Camby of the Clippers, Okur of the Pistons, Miles of the Trail Blazers, Brent Barry of the Sonics, Daniels of the Mavericks, Bowen of the Spurs, The King's veteran Divac and so on, it can be said that this is a free market with very rich players.

Because there are many players to choose from, Vandeweghe also found Anthony, and the two discussed it.

"Melo, this is the situation we have now, I have analyzed it, because Korver and Diaw are rookies, next season we can let them become restricted free agents, so that even if they are over the salary cap, they can be signed. But Wang and Bell, because they signed ordinary contracts, if we don’t renew their contracts this season, although they have early bird rights next season, they cannot renew their contracts if they exceed the salary risk.”

"Based on the performance of Wang and Bell, if we want to renew the contract, it is basically a middle-class contract. Renewing the contract at the same time will cost us close to 1000 million salary space. Then we only have 500 million salary space. In the free agent market It’s really relaxing to be able to do things.”

After Vandeweghe finished speaking, he then looked at Anthony. He knew that Anthony was very discerning in players, and what he said was relatively straightforward. If they want to sign free agents in the free market, then they must I made a choice between Wang Zhizhi and Bell. One contract was renewed, and the other will be released in next year's free agent market. May leave the team.

Anthony understood what Vandeweghe meant, and he didn't answer right away, but stared at the list of free agents. On this list, Kobe, Kenyon Martin, Rasheed Wallace, Ginobili , Daniels and these guys have basically decided to renew their contracts with their home team.

Of the remaining players, only Richardson, Nash, Dampier and Crawford are the big names. Anthony also knows these players very well. The "big Q" has an excellent performance in the Suns , but it is largely due to the credit of Nash, and Dampier, who has played a bright performance this season, Crawford is a good choice, but with his contract last season, the price must be Not low, the only reliable one is Nash who has been in contact before.

But the bad news is that during Anthony's previous trip to China, it was reported that Nash and Richardson had agreed to go to the Suns together, and they were only waiting to sign with the team on July 7.

So there are indeed many difficulties facing the Nuggets now.

Seeing that Anthony was also silent, Vandeweghe was even more entangled in his heart, and he sighed after a while. In terms of players' cognition, Anthony did have extraordinary talent, but after all, he is not a professional manager. With such a complicated team contract structure, it is really difficult to make the most favorable choice.

Just when D'Antoni was about to say no, Anthony suddenly raised his head and said, "Kiki, I think we can choose to trade and trade Wang to another team in exchange for a first-round pick."

Hearing Anthony's words, a surprised look flashed across D'Antoni's face.

Anthony went on to say: "Bell is the team's starter. Although he has limited offensive performance this season, his defense is a very important component for the team. To be honest, Wang, with his performance this season Progress and strong performance, as well as excellent performance in the playoffs, I don't think a middle class can keep him, so my suggestion is to trade him with other teams for a first-round pick, and find a replacement in the draft its players."

"And to be honest..." Anthony said helplessly, "Our substitute salary seems a bit too high. Dikembe is close to 500 million. If Nash is signed, Williams is also close to 700 million. So my suggestion is that if it is really possible Signing Nash, we can try to dispatch Korver to the position of the small forward substitute, and let Diaw serve as the substitute power forward position, so that even if the rookie we selected does not perform very well, it will not cause too much damage to the team. big impact."

After listening to Anthony, Vandeweghe showed a look of shock on his face. It has to be said that Anthony's series of analyzes made him feel enlightened.

(End of this chapter)