The invincible kryptonite of basketball

Chapter 727 Paul was traded! (First update!)

The preseason is about to start.

At this time, the Pelicans official announced the news that Stevens had joined the Pelicans.

The two sides signed a 6-year 2400 million contract.

The annual salary of 400 million belongs to the absolute upper middle level among the salaries of all coaches.

There are only a few people with higher annual salaries than Popovich, Rivers, Stan Van Gundy, Carlisle, etc., which are higher than Qiansheng coach George Karl and Cavaliers head coach Blatt. one level.

And Popovich, Rivers, and Van Gundy, who hold tens of millions of levels, all also serve as the team's president of operations.

These fully illustrate the importance the Pelicans attach to Stevens.

This also verifies the causal relationship between performance and investment. Although the Pelicans did not win the championship last season, the distance is very close. Benson has no reason not to spend money.

This wave of official announcements also attracted a lot of heated discussions among fans on social media.

"Stevens led the Celtics to the playoffs last season. Mind you, they traded Rondo last season and he played 22 games before leaving;

They also traded away the team's leading scorer, Jeff Green, who played in 33 games;

Their final core is Thomas Jr. who played 21 games at 1 meters.

Avery Bradley, Jared Sullinger, Brandon Bass, Tyler Zeller, Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart…

Among these people, you may be most familiar with Bradley, a rookie who has experienced the Celtics' Big Three period. This is really a team that has always been dominated by role players, but Stevens led them into the season. Playoffs, and also won two games against the Eastern Eagles.

So when he coaches Tang Tian, ​​​​Davis, Jokic, Holiday, Ariza, etc., guess what will happen? "

"I'll eat shit if the Pelicans don't win this year! o(≧mouth≦)o"

"Haha, brother, you are setting a flag for yourself. You can't say this! But Stevens is in charge, and the new season of the Pelicans is really exciting!"

"Think about the Warriors, what Cole made that team become, I'm not belittling Cole, but Stevens as a legendary NCAA coach, and referring to his coaching in the Celtics, he is really better than the Celtics. Cole is better!"

"Aren't you exaggerating too much?! But it's so cool for me!"

"Let's start the new season quickly, I can't wait to watch the Warriors and Pelicans play against each other!"

……

Cole's Warriors are a second-rate team, but Stevens' Pelicans are a first-rate team that reached the Western Conference Finals last season.

The expectations of the fans are really revealed between the lines.

However, when the fans were discussing Stevens joining the Pelicans, a news broke by Woj pulled their attention suddenly.

After a long summer of negotiations, the Clippers and Rockets have reached a final deal!

And in this deal, the Grizzlies will participate as a third party.

The specific transaction plan of the three parties is as follows:

Rockets send Chandler Parsons, Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, three future unprotected first-round picks, one future second-round pick to Paul and Chris Anderson;

Clippers send Paul, get Beverley, Lou Williams, Decker, Lance Stephenson, 3 unprotected first rounds from Rockets, 2 lottery protected first rounds from Grizzlies ;

The Grizzlies traded Lance Stephenson, Chris Anderson, two lottery-protected first-round picks for Chandler Parsons and a future second-round pick from the Rockets.

The deal caused shock in the league.

The Grizzlies strengthened their always weak third position through this transaction.

Although Parsons did not make the All-Star, he is also a close player, and their strength will go further in the new season;

The Clippers also got their best return when they couldn't keep Paul.

Beverley can be the starting point guard, Williams is the bench gangster, and young rookie Decker, of course, the most important thing is 5 first rounds!

They got the future and kept the team's competitiveness.

Of course, these are still within the acceptable range.

What really shocked them was the Rockets. They got Chris Paul, the league's number one point guard!

Plus Harden, who was fourth in the MVP rankings last season, and Cousins, the top three center in the league.

The strength of the Big Three is the closest to the existence of the Big Three of the Heat!

And they also left the big man Capela who performed well last season in the transaction!

And this season they also invited the famous coach D'Antoni!

"Please call God Mo Lei, his operation this summer is simply superb!"

"No amount of words can describe Morey's magic. I am really convinced. I think this is the strongest lineup in the history of the Rockets!"

"This new season is more fun, Warriors, Pelicans, Spurs, Rockets, is this not giving other teams in the West a way to live? Oh, by the way, there are also Grizzlies, Clippers, Mavericks, tsk tsk, The other teams don’t need to play, let’s play badly in place!”

"And the Thunder." A statement from a Godfather fan.

"Yes, there is also the Trail Blazers. It's over, there are nine teams..."

"This is destined to be a crazy season!"

"As a Lakers fan, I am trembling, what should I do?"

"There is no other way, I can only eat cold salad. These nine teams have to fight for eight spots. The remaining teams really can only eat cold salad."

"I feel sorry for my department."

……

Tang Tian was also very surprised when he saw the news.

Even this ratio operation is not at all Morey-esque.

You must know that although the Rockets kept Capela, the Beverly, Louis Williams, and Parsons sent out are all important.

And more importantly, they also sent 3 first rounds and 1 second round, and got Anderson's garbage contract.

This is a big gamble that overdraws the future and locks up the present.

But thinking about it, it seems worth it.

The Rockets have been up and down for many years, and Harden's growth into a super giant is their best opportunity since the Yao Mai period.

But because Harden played for the Thunder for 3 years and is a relatively old super giant, they can't afford to delay.

In fact, the moment they got Cousins, they became the only way apart from forming the Big Three.

And to be honest, role players such as Beverly and Williams can be found slowly, but the Big Three may only have one chance.

Just in this way, the Pelicans have one more main competitor in the new season.

However, the more Tang Tian thought about it, the more excited he became. After a crazy season, the team that broke out from the Western Conference and won the championship in the end, the gold content is definitely leveraged.

It is no exaggeration to say that the gold content of this one championship can even surpass the two in ordinary seasons.

It's really exciting to compete for such a championship!

Chapter 728 Sports Illustrated magazine cover (second update!)

The new season is getting closer and closer, and each team has begun to hold their own media meetings.

The history of competitiveness in the West this year is rare, and the attention it has received is unprecedented.

Especially the Rockets' press conference is the focus of media attention.

The big three of Paul, Harden and Cousins ​​made their appearance together, attracting the attention of the media.

Following the appearance of the Big Three are Capela, Brewer, and the team's new aids Tucker, Anderson, West and others.

After the Rockets formed the Big Three, Morey showed off his small trading ability.

He first renewed a three-year 3 million contract with Brewer, and then he made a deal with the Suns.

The Rockets sent Terrence Jones and Kostas Papanikolaou and traded PJ Tucker from the Suns.

The Suns are rebuilding now, and an older role player like Tucker is not suitable for them.

Papanicolaou is a non-guaranteed contract. Direct layoffs after the transaction can clear up salary space, and Jones is a potential rookie.

This is tantamount to replacing Jones with Tucker, and by the way, the space is cleared, which is not a loss for the rebuilt Suns.

Jones performed well in the Rockets last year, but he was dubbed the little prince of abuse by fans, saying that he could not fight tough battles and his defense was poor.

Cousins' defense is not good, and the Rockets have found a defensive swingman for him.

After that, Morey signed Terry and Mbah a Moute, David West, Andre Miller and others with a basic salary in the free market.

Morey's skill is really good. With the Big Three, there are veterans to shoot. The Rockets' lineup is quite competitive.

Such a lineup also made D'Antoni high-spirited at the media meeting.

"I know it's not appropriate to say that, but this team has no other goals than the championship."

This rhetoric was reported by many media as the headline, and it also attracted a heated discussion among fans.

Rockets fans are high-spirited, but there are also many fans who complain about D'Antoni's big mouth.

This is indeed a bit of a shame, but it is understandable that D'Antoni would say such a thing.

In the past few years, he first went to the Knicks to save the field, and then moved to Los Angeles after failing;

I thought I would be able to succeed in one fell swoop until F4, but I didn't expect the conflict between Howard and Kobe to make it look like a cloud.

Now that the Rockets finally have a chance to show their ambitions, it is not surprising that he would say such words.

In addition to the Rockets, the media conferences of the Warriors, Pelicans, and Spurs, the top echelons of the Western Conference, have also attracted much attention.

The Warriors' lineup has basically not changed much this year. Cole led the team to win the championship in the first year of coaching. There is no need for this team to change at all.

Defending the title is their only goal in the new season.

The lineup of the Spurs has not changed much, but with the addition of an All-Star Aldridge, Spurs fans have enough confidence to win again.

In contrast, the Pelicans have received a lot of attention.

Of course, it is not the players that attract the attention of the media. After all, the Pelicans have the same lineup as the Warriors, which has not changed much from last year.

What caught their attention was the Pelicans coaching staff.

The handsome Stevens, Monty Williams who went from the head coach to the first assistant, the topic of this coaching staff is absolutely leveraged.

"I won't say that I must win the championship, because it would be a bit of a loser, but I know this team will go further than last year."

Stevens is still very humble in front of the media, but his words are neither arrogant nor humble, very artistic.

"We are ready."

Tang Tian's speech was more concise.

This sentence can be understood in many ways, it can be understood as being ready for the new season, it can also be understood as being ready to win the championship, or other understandings.

But no matter which one it is, it exudes a kind of confidence.

This kind of confidence is not only reflected in Tang Tian's words, but also reflected in the faces of every member of the Pelicans.

It really came out from the heart, and the media reporters can deeply understand it.

After the media meeting, the Pelicans also took a set of makeup photos of the players.

In addition to individuals, there are also some combinations.

For example, the dual-core team of Tang Tian and Davis, the trio of Tang Tian and Davis, Jokic, and the starting five tigers of the Pelicans.

Tang Tian sat and rested at the side after filming.

Over there, Bojan and Harris are taking pictures of the new aid, and they look very interesting.

The personalities of the two team rookies are exactly the same as those shown on Twitter.

Bojan is the kind of joking and cheerful personality, while Harris is very shy, a bit like Leonard in his rookie period.

"Don."