The strongest unicorn in basketball

Chapter 18
Oklahoma City is the capital of the state of Oklahoma and the largest city in the state, with a population of approximately 50 in the urban area and approximately 120 million in the metropolitan area.

For China, 120 million people may not even have the population of a county, but for Ugly Country, it is not a small city at all.

At least this place is not like what people in the country think, it is a remote place, and coming here is like a place of distribution!

The streets are clean and tidy, lined with green plants, and it looks very quiet, without the hustle and bustle of big cities at all.

This was Li Pu's first impression of Oklahoma City.

Shortly after the draft, Li Pu received a call from Presti, inviting him to come to Oklahoma City on July 7 to formally sign the contract.

Along with Li Pu, there are Lin Shuhao and... Bai Ade!

Seeing Li Pu standing in front of him, who hit him so nauseated in the training match, Bai Ade felt nauseous for a while.

It's obvious that I have a higher ranking than him, but in front of him, why don't I feel superior at all?

When he thought that he would have to compete with him for playing time in the future, Bai Ade felt inexplicably guilty.

This guy is just like a monster. Being a teammate with him, I really don't know if it's a blessing or a curse!
"Welcome everyone to join the Thunder family. After today, we will be one team!"

Presti received the three of Li Pu in the team's conference hall.

Although the Thunder only selected three rookies this year, they were accompanied by agents, assistants, lawyers and other entourage, as well as team staff, so the conference room, which was not too small, was packed with people.

Presti didn't say much, and after finishing his welcome speech, he handed over the contract, and after careful inspection by lawyers and agents, the contract finally came to Li Pu's hands.

The material of the contract feels no different from ordinary paper, at best it is harder.

Well, sure enough, every point that is hard is expensive!
After receiving the contract, Li Pu first glanced at the other two, and found that they had already read the contract seriously, while Li Pu was more cautious and directly chose to sign.

After several days of surprise training, Li Pu's signature is still very stiff, but his flamboyant signing technique still attracted the camera of reporters.

"Shua, Shua, Shua!" Almost instantly, Li Pu completed the signing.

"Don't you even take a look?" Lin Shuhao asked Li Pu in a low voice.

"Since neither the agent nor the lawyer sees any problems, I'm sure I can't see it either! Don't worry, just sign!"

Although Lin Shuhao knew that Li Pu was right, he still couldn't control himself.

It's no wonder, who made his contract more chill than the other two?

In fact, not only Lin Shuhao's contract, the contracts of the three of them are different.

Among them, Aldridge, who is a lottery pick, naturally has the best contract, 1010 million for four years, and the fourth year is a team option, all guaranteed.

Li Pu is the 18th pick, with 742 million for four years, of which 2012 and 2013 are team options.

As for Lin Shuhao, since he is the No. 51 pick, his contract is only 96 for two years, some of which are guaranteed.

It can be said that three people are three grades, among which Lin Shuhao is the worst, not a guarantee contract, as long as he does not perform well, he will be fired at any time!
Regarding this point, Lin Shuhao is of course also very clear, but being selected is already a surprise, how could Lin Shuhao refuse?
Therefore, after carefully studying for a while, I finally signed my name with a pen.

After completing the signing, a press conference was held immediately, and at the meeting, the three of Li Pu showed their respective jerseys.

Cole Aldridge chose No. 45, Lin Shuhao chose No. 7, and Li Pu chose No. 88.

Eighty-eight to send!

I'm sorry, it's not that Li Pu is vulgar, it's that he's almost crazy at the moment.

It seems that there are many contracts with more than 700 million yuan, as if financial freedom has been realized at once, but in fact it is only 149 million in the first year.

And these are not all he can get.

He also has to pay federal taxes, local state taxes, union escrow funds, 401K pension plans, and brokerage fees. These add up to almost half of the total. It can be said that what Li Pu can get in a year is only 75 yuan. Dollar.

More importantly, the current him can't get a penny!

Although the NBA will not default on players' wages, it does not pay in full as soon as the contract is signed.

Don't look at how many of them signed the contract on July 7st, but the salary payment time is usually November 1th.

Because the regular season does not start until the end of October or early November, the offseason team will have many players recruited in training camp or summer league. These players will not decide whether to implement the team option or not until the regular season starts. Non-guaranteed parts of the contract.

Then it will be paid on the 1st and 15th of each month. Generally, 10 salary installments will be paid, and the remaining part will be settled in June.

In other words, even if Li Pu signed the contract now, he still didn't have a penny.

Considering that he would buy a house in Oklahoma City, systematic training in the summer, health maintenance and other expenses, Li Pu suddenly felt that the money he earned was not enough to spend.

When he thought that he would owe 10,000+ or ​​even hundreds of thousands of dollars on his credit card in the future, Li Pu felt extremely heavy in his heart.

Why can't I get rid of the life of being a worker in debt even after I have entered the NBA?
I have to pay off my credit card before entering the NBA, and after entering the NBA, I have to pay off my credit card, so why am I not in vain?

Of course, this is just saying. If he really didn't make it to the NBA, which bank would lend him $10,000+ without blinking an eye?

After completing the signing, it is time to participate in the summer league.

The Summer League is not a league, but a collective name for multiple leagues. There are only two Summer Leagues that will be held this summer, namely: the Orlando Summer League and the Las Vegas Summer League.

Compared with the Las Vegas Summer League, which has many teams and more attention, the Orlando Summer League is obviously relatively shabby. This year, only 8 teams participated, and the holding time was shorter, from July 7th to July 6th. day, just five days.

And Li Pu's Thunder team belongs to the Orlando Summer League.

Li Pu doesn't care much about the league's attention. After all, no matter how good your summer league is, it can't compare with the regular season. However, Li Pu attaches great importance to the number of matches.

Compared with other players who have played since childhood, Li Pu's game experience is not too little, but almost none.

Unless the field field is also counted as game experience...

With the good platform of the Summer League, Li Pu can adapt to top competitions faster, and Li Pu naturally hopes to participate in more.

In this way, after signing the contract, Li Pu didn't even have time to look for a house in Oklahoma City. He only stayed in the hotel for one night, and flew to Orlando the next day to join the team participating in the summer league.

With Li Pu officially completing the contract, there was no disturbance in the United States or even in Oklahoma.

But this seemingly inconspicuous news crossed the ocean, causing a hurricane on the other side of the ocean.

Following Li Pu's interview at the draft and reports of signing with the Thunder, almost instantly, Li Pu's name spread across the country.

Although the fame has not been out of the circle, almost all fans who watch the game and pay attention to the NBA know that another Chinese has entered the NBA!

And the pick is second only to Dayao and Dakongyi!

(End of this chapter)