bestfiction Chapter 17 (6) New signings
Chapter 17 (6) New signings
Chapter 17 ([-]) New signings
On June 6, the NBA Draft was held at Madison Square Garden in New York.Compared with the previous one when the Rockets surprised the media, this year's draft was uneventful, and most of the draft picks were expected by the media (I once saw a 26 draft prediction, the top four were all correct, and the accuracy rate was extremely high).
The Chicago Bulls selected center Yao Ming from China with the first pick;
The Houston Rockets selected Duke guard Jay Williams with the second pick;
The Golden State Warriors selected Jay's college teammate swingman Mike Dunleavy with the third pick;
……
The Houston Rockets selected center Dan Gadzuric from the Netherlands with the fifth pick in the second round;
……
Then the official news broke that the Rockets exchanged the signing rights of Williams and Gadzuric, plus the first-round pick of the 76ers next year, in exchange for the signing rights of Yao Ming from the Bulls.The sports world, especially the Chinese media, went crazy for it.
The Bulls are very happy with this deal.As Yuan Fei said, the Bulls need an excellent young guard, and Jay Williams seems to be the candidate.It is enough for Dan Gadzuric to share the pressure of Chandler and Curry as a backup center, and the additional first-round pick makes Reinsdorf more satisfied.
At this moment, Yuanfei breathed a sigh of relief, and finally got Dayao done.But he still feels very regretful that there is not a single second-round pick this year.Dawson also didn't trade cash for draft picks to other teams.I watched as Carlos Boozer and Luis Scola and other good players were leaked to good positions, but I couldn't grab them.The Rockets' power forward position is still relatively weak, and Boozer and Scola are perfect complements.I don't know what kind of pick I can get in the coming year. After all, the butterfly effect caused by Yuanfei is becoming more and more obvious, and the league's ranking is completely different from the history.The second lottery drawn this time is an example.
The first two years of joining the Rockets were just a time to rest and recuperate, but the current season is a real battle.This time it is necessary to form a team with enough combat effectiveness to challenge for the championship.
But with the announcement of the salary cap, Yuan Fei was dumbfounded.The salary cap for the new season is $4027 million, which is actually less than last season.Shouldn't this thing increase every season?Stern, why don't you play your cards according to the routine!
Fortunately, Dameng signed a diminishing contract as agreed in the previous offseason. Otherwise, let alone reinforcements, players who renew their contracts in a few years will not be able to continue.After all, the Rockets have many young players.And the old man has almost retreated.
When it comes to retirement, you have to mention Curry.Although the Rockets did not hold a retirement ceremony for Dell Curry, Yuan Fei instructed Dawson to choose a more resourceful approach, hiring him as an assistant coach in the team (in history, the Bobcats hired Curry as an assistant coach in 07), under the guise of keeping the old Curry in the team.Curry readily accepted, and of course his family was able to stay in Houston, and the son of the family naturally also stayed.
The current salary status of the Rockets players is as follows:
Player/Position/Age/Salary (US$[-])
McGrady/shooting guard/23/1207.3
Olajuwon/Center/40/400
Yao Ming/Center/22/385.8 (to be signed)
Thomas/Power Forward/25/155.8
Redd/shooting guard/23/150
Magloire/Center/24/112.1
Turkoglu/Small Forward/23/133.8
Jefferson/Small Forward/22/164.3
Wallace/Forward/20/114.7
Okur/Center/23/ (to be signed)
Parker/Point Guard/20/93
Brown/Point Guard/23/ (to be renewed)
Thorpe - (retired)
Curry - (retired)
(Note: Due to the abundance of talents at the small forward position, the Rockets did not renew the contract with Williams, and he switched to his team as a free agent)
Due to the large number of rookies with low wages, the Rockets will still have more than 700 million salary space to sign free agents after completing the signing of new players.In addition, Yao Ming and Okur's joining negotiations went smoothly. The Rockets' weak inside line last season is expected to be greatly reinforced. The current team obviously needs to add a point guard. After all, the backup point guard Brown is very weak, and the main point guard Parker is only 20 years old and inexperienced.So Dawson stared at Andrew Miller of the Cavaliers and asked Yuan Fei for advice.
"Miller is a good candidate, a very good point guard. He averaged 16.5 points and 10.9 assists per game last season and played very well." Yuan Fei thought about it, but shook his head and said: "But he is not our favorite target."
"What? Isn't it good for a point guard who is the first to pass the ball and also has a certain scoring ability?" Dawson was surprised.
"His scoring ability is not bad, but he is basically concentrated in short and mid-range shots and the basket. If only jumpers are counted, his scoring rate is only about 40%. If he starts together with McGrady, his low long-range shooting ability and demand for holding the ball will affect McGrady's organization. And his statistics last season are very good, and his expected value must be high. The Clippers are busy). Don’t forget that we will renew Reed next year. In 02, Ma will also renew his contract. Hoarding young people will bear the pressure of renewing.”
"Then our point guard, do we still count on McGrady to help Parker share the same as last season? Or just drop a notch and consider the Clippers' McNeese?"
"Actually, I have seriously considered this issue. After all, we can't do badly this season, and at least we have to enter the playoffs, so it is necessary to reinforce the point guard, but the price in my heart should not exceed 500 million US dollars per year. I have a candidate here." Yuan Fei took out a document that he had prepared long ago.
"Chauncey Billups?" Dawson was surprised. "This player played against us a lot in the Timberwolves in the West. I'm familiar with him. Your information also says that he averaged only 12.5 points and 5.5 assists per game last season, which is much worse than Miller. He is 25 years old now, and there is not much room for growth in the future. There is another problem. He unexpectedly broke out in the playoffs this year, averaging 22+5+5 in three games. This may increase his worth. This made it difficult for us to bid.”
"His three-point shooting is very good, and his compatibility with our team is better. In addition, if I say that these three games in the playoffs are his true level?"
"This...Of course I believe you."
"Go to his agent and get him out of the free market!"
***
Billups at the moment is giving the Timberwolves a headache.He stated that the renewal must guarantee his starting position.
Billups's thinking naturally makes sense.He has just turned 25 and is just about to enter his peak age. Another point guard, Brandon, is 31 years old and is going downhill. He also suffered serious injuries last season.Even so, Billups played 28 games off the bench last season and started many games with Brandon.This does not match his expectations of becoming the team's core point guard.
Billups was selected by the Celtics in 97. By the summer of 02, he played 51 games for Boston, 29 games for Toronto, 58 games for Denver, and 159 games for Minnesota. After 6 teams in 5 years, he was very tired, but he never found a feeling of home and was never recognized by people.
The pressure on the management of the Wolves is also great. The contract of the team's top superstar Garnett will expire in 03, and the team's performance in recent years has been mediocre.If the new season can not come up with decent results to give Garnett hope, the Wolf King may choose to transfer.For this reason, the management of the Wolves agreed that they must find the best players in the free market to meet Garnett's requirements. Their targets include Andrew Miller, who was just rejected by Yuanfei.So they couldn't agree to Billups' request to guarantee the starting lineup. Some executives even believed that letting Billups go just made room for Miller.
The Wolves are not a problem, so there is still a stumbling block in front of the Houstonians. Billups was signed in history, and in 04 he formed the Pistons, which successfully won the Detroit Five Tigers.
The Pistons did tempt Billups, too.They have an obvious advantage over the Rockets-record.The Pistons ranked second in the East with 50 wins and 32 losses last season, and also reached the second round of the playoffs.With Jerry Stackhouse and Ben Wallace as the core, this team has considerable strength.And the starting point guard of the Pistons, Chucky Atkins, happens to be a relatively weak starting point guard, averaging only 30 points and 12.1 assists in nearly 3.3 minutes per game, which obviously cannot satisfy the ambitions of the Detroiters.
Just when Billups was about to agree to sign with the Pistons, a call from Texas shook him.
"Chauncey, I'm Tracy McGrady, your Raptors teammate."
"Tracey? What a surprise." Billups was just an ordinary player in the league. He never thought that McGrady, who had not had a deep friendship back then, would call.His thoughts seemed to fly back to the cold Toronto suddenly.It was 1998, and he spent a short half-season with the Raptors.He's a newcomer, and McGrady is a newcomer.He was taciturn, and McGrady often sat alone in the corner of the locker room and said nothing.He played 29 games for the Raptors, which was mediocre.He seemed to hear many fans booing him, shouting at him: "You are a parallel importer!"
In the following years, he moved to many teams, but he was always not respected and recognized.And McGrady gradually shined in the Raptors, until the summer of 00, McGrady signed with the maximum salary and transferred to the Rockets.
In the opening game of the 00-01 season, the Rockets played against the Timberwolves at home.Billups and McGrady met on the court again, but at this time they were different.McGrady, the No. 9 pick of the year, was already a shining supernova, while Billups, the No. 3 pick, was still an unknown ordinary player.
"Although the Wolves have played against the Rockets many times in recent years, I'm so jealous of you." Billups thought to himself, "I'm a No. [-] pick. I should be a superstar. But now the team won't give me a starting spot. I'm really jealous of you, Tracy. What the hell are you trying to say when you call at this time?"
McGrady on the other end of the phone suddenly said something that surprised him: "Chauncey, I want to play with you."
(End of this chapter)