unfinished glory

Chapter 289 The Lively Grizzly

Whether the new king of the Rockets can take the throne is still uncertain, but the two founders of their last glory have chosen to retire.

Not many people paid attention to Marion's retirement. Everyone's attention was attracted by the retirement of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.These two teammates who hated each other in the Rockets chose to leave the NBA in the same year.

It's just that McGrady left with regret, while Yao Ming's career was complete.The Lakers also announced immediately that they would retire his jersey in the near future.

Although the Lakers are very strict about retiring their jerseys, Yao Ming is a stable Hall of Famer, and there is no need for them to be annoying.Since they were able to retire their jerseys immediately after O'Neal retired, Yao Ming, who helped the team win three championships, can naturally follow the rules.

The loss of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady in one summer has already made the league a little sad, and then something even more shocking happened.

Popovich announced his retirement!

Like Coach Sloan, Popovich retired because of the players, and it was Leonard who was at odds with him.This season is Leonard's last rookie year, and he looks forward to getting a maximum salary contract.

The Spurs are naturally willing to give him a maximum salary, but the maximum salary contract also varies. If it meets the "Ross Clause", he can get 20% more. Among the three ways of the "Ross Clause", he has no hope of starting the All-Star, MVP is impossible, and only the award of the best team will determine the size of his next contract.

He entered the best team in the 2013~14 season. As long as he enters again this season, even if it is three teams, it is enough for him to activate the "Ross Clause" and sign a contract that accounts for 30% of the team's salary cap (a 5% increase from the old contract). maximum salary contract.

In order to avoid this situation, save money, and seduce big-name stars to join, Popovich and the uniform team resorted to tricks. During the regular season, they arranged for Leonard to take turns on the grounds that he was unwell.In the end, Leonard played only 56 games, which was not enough to participate in the statistical rankings.And because the core players didn't play much, the Spurs' record fell to the bottom half, and they almost didn't make it to the playoffs.

With such a fierce competition for the best team, this situation is impossible to impress the judges.In the end, Leonard didn't even make it to the third team, and missed the extra points for being selected to the best team twice during the rookie contract period.

This made Leonard's team very dissatisfied. After the All-Star Game, they began to get emotional and refused to sign a contract extension for a time.Leonard's uncle came out in person. When facing the media, he said angrily: "I heard that Popovich said that if Duncan retires, he will retire. Now that Duncan has left, why is he still in the position of head coach? ?”

The intensification of the Spurs' contradictions is difficult for Holt to deal with.But as a businessman, he will choose whoever can bring the greatest benefits.Missing Li Chongxiao last time has already caused him a huge loss. The team's market value has been reduced by at least one-third. This time he will not repeat the same mistakes.

There is a choice between the core of the team and the head coach. Even if the head coach is Popovich, he has to leave.

It's just a pain for Aldridge. He originally came for Popovich, but now that the contract has been signed, Popovich has left.

……

The stage turned to the Grizzlies.

After the opening of the free market, under the behest of owner Ellison, the Grizzlies completed multiple transactions.

The first is the departure of Gobert, who overlaps with Drummond.Although the two often play together, their offensive abilities are more urgent, and they need to be close to the basket to make a difference.

The Grizzlies now have no shortage of inside defensive players, what they need is inside offense.Gobert entered the NBA a year later than Drummond, but one year older than him.From the perspective of potential, as long as Drummond is on the team for a day, it is impossible for the team to fully train Gobert.

Instead of letting Gobert, a player with great defensive potential, mold on the bench, it's better to replace some useful players.

In the market, high-quality insiders with great potential like Gobert are very sought-after, and most of the leagues have tentatively quoted prices.Like the Lakers who have just lost Yao Ming, they can't wait to put all their chips on the table except Kobe and Paul.

The team that ultimately won the battle for Gobert was the Bucks.After losing the insider Larry Sanders, Jason Kidd made a bold move, and he did not hesitate to send away Jabari Parker, the second place pick last season, before switching to Gobert, a high-quality insider.

Anyway, he is also preparing to train Antetokounmpo with all his strength, and even Brandon Knight has been sent away, so what a pity for an injured Jabari Parker.

Sending Gobert away is not the end of the deal. It is not Conley who has an average performance in the playoffs, but Thompson, the team's No. [-], who leaves immediately.

Just because of his poor performance in Game [-] of the Finals, Ellison had a very bad impression of Thompson.He was unwilling to give the maximum salary Thompson asked for.Anyway, there is a cheaper and useful Butler in the team, it is better to send Thompson away, out of sight, out of mind.

Compared to Gobert, Thompson's value is much greater.Such a player who shoots accurately, has a good defense, and does not occupy the ball is the second or third leader that every team dreams of.

In the era when the salary cap is soaring, two maximum salaries, sometimes the team can afford it.

After signing James, the Knicks, who wanted to do something big, came to them immediately.In James' championship season, Ray Allen and Mike Miller were so useful, not to mention the stronger and younger Thompson.

The Lakers, who are also in desperate need of reinforcement, are also salivating for Thompson.

Bryant tried to come back in the second half of the regular season, but the effect was not good.The Achilles tendon injury did not recover well, and the shoulder injury struck again.An old car can still be driven while there is still some fuel in the fuel tank. Once it is left for too long after the engine is turned off, various problems will come out.

Kobe still wanted to struggle a bit, unwilling to leave in disgrace.So he flew around, looking for various medical methods, and prepared to fight for another year and play for [-] seasons.

But if there is no reinforcement in the new season, with him and Paul, they will not be able to support the old and weak Lakers.

And from the perspective of long-term development, Kobe will have no successors after he retires.Next summer, the Lakers will be able to clear a lot of space, but relying on Paul as a superstar and thinking about making a difference in the highly competitive West is basically a fantasy.

But the Lakers have no good bargaining chips. They are either veterans or rookies at the bottom of the draft.The same Knicks can only send Porzingis plus draft picks at most.

There are also some bargaining chips from other teams, and the Grizzlies also look down on them.He wanted Rose from the Bulls and no one else would give it to him, and he looked down on Harden.

The ultimate winner is the Warriors.After a sign-and-trade, the Grizzlies traded with the Warriors for Draymond Green in exchange for Thompson.Ellison believes that Green's organizational skills can make up for Conley's shortcomings.While defending tough, he also has a three-pointer.

After Li Chongxiao learned about the deal from the news, he laughed angrily.This is a fairy operation, exchanging a top pitcher in the league for a system player.And it was changed, and it was given to the Warriors, the biggest competitor in the West.

Seeing this situation, Carter was also disheartened, did not implement the player option, and defected to his nephew Curry.Ed Davis also jumped out of the contract and signed with the Trail Blazers for 2000 million in three years.

Basically, they can go, they are all gone, only Azeri, Taylor Zeller and Hairston are left in their rookies.On the Grizzlies' bench, except for Jabari Parker, who still doesn't know if he can play, no one can provoke the mainstay at once.

The Grizzly Supermarket has a big sale, and the repercussions in the free market are great.Many teams are ready to move, and some teams even tentatively ask Li Chongxiao's price.Unexpectedly, the Grizzlies were silent for a moment before ambiguously stating that Li Chongxiao was not for sale.

This made many teams excited. The Knicks directly put Anthony on the table, the Bucks did not train Antetokounmpo, and the Timberwolves said that including Wiggins, the double champion can be packaged.

For a while, the league regenerated. After all, this is a player who can rely on his own strength to let the lottery team win the championship.Through various channels, there are many people who have contacted Li Chongxiao.

Li Chongxiao didn't want to think about anything else at this time, the child was still young, so he didn't bother to move.So he called directly and told the Grizzlies, don't forget the terms in his contract.

Seeing Li Chongxiao's resolute attitude, the Grizzlies had to reiterate that it was impossible to trade Li Chongxiao this season, so everyone died down.

Otherwise, according to Ellison's temperament, if Li Chongxiao didn't have the right to veto the transaction, he would probably have been sold to the Knicks or the Timberwolves.

(End of this chapter)