Xu Yong was woken up by Harden's call.
Harden was shocked.
Because when rumors of a Westbrook trade came out after the Thunder were eliminated last season, Thunder general manager Presti clarified the matter in person and said that Westbrook was not for sale.
But before the season even started, Westbrook was traded.
"This is the NBA, James, business is just business." Xu Yong explained on the phone.
Even he was actually prepared to go to the Heat as a bargaining chip in the trade for Wade during the playoffs last season.
Then after he finished the phone call with Harden, he began to review the deal.
His first reaction was the same as everyone else's, which was that it was a bit too intense.
Paul and Kobe actually teamed up? !
And the Thunder are willing to give up Westbrook? !
And then, the Clippers' alley-oop city is gone?!
To sum up, is this deal a win-win for all parties?
There is no need to say much about the Lakers. They can form an ace combination of the league's best point guard and best shooting guard. How could it be a big deal if they were swept last season?
And the key is that the Lakers still retained Bynum and Ariza, so what else do they need?
It's just that Okafor is not easy to deal with.
Okafor was the second pick in the 2004 NBA Draft and was named Rookie of the Year, beating out Ben Gordon and Howard.
He is 2.08 meters tall and is a typical inside swingman who can dunk and shoot mid-range shots. If Howard had not skipped college and directly participated in the draft, he would have been a sure-shot No. 1 pick.
However, up to now, his skills have been finalized. He is a player who mainly plays as a center and occasionally as a power forward. He is a player who is strong in defense but weak in offense.
And he has another problem. He has a fully guaranteed contract of 40 million for three years, which is a semi-junk contract and is difficult to deal with.
This may also be the reason why the Hornets are willing to send Paul to the Lakers.
However, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Not to mention that Okafor can also play as a power forward, with Bynum's body that is prone to injuries, having a player of this type can serve as a backup.
So to sum it up in one sentence: Qin Shihuang won by squatting in the toilet!
Then there's the Thunder.
The Thunder seemed to be the biggest loser in this deal, as they sent away a main center and a potential star and only got Gasol.
But please note that Gasol is only 31 years old!
This is different from what many people think.
In addition, his playing style is somewhat similar to Nowitzki's, both are standard technical inside players, and it will take until after the 2015-2016 season for his performance to decline significantly.
In fact, thanks to the Lakers' two consecutive championships, Gasol was the league's top power forward at this time, and that was before he was injured in the London Olympics.
And it is obvious that as a Bulls player, he knows best the original intention of the Thunder to make this deal. It is obvious that they want to replicate the Bulls' success story.
To be honest, this wave of copying is not just a case of imitating someone else's mistakes.
First, Gasol is a good fit for this Thunder team. There is no need to say much about his experience. The key is that his playing style can adapt to Kobe, and naturally it can also adapt to Durant.
Moreover, he is strong in offense but weak in defense, while Ibaka is weak in offense but strong in defense. The two inside players complement each other well, and they are both teammates of the Spanish national team, so they have a tacit understanding.
Even Gasol is still the kind of inside player who can directly match up with Yao Ming on both ends of the floor;
Second, the question of whether to keep Westbrook or Harden was resolved in advance.
This is not to say that the Thunder have a forward-looking vision. After all, their vision in drafting is as good as their vision in operations. Rather, the Hornets' need is to sell tickets, so they naturally want Westbrook more.
And Harden also showed a stronger strength than in history, allowing them to make a choice, so this was a mistake, but it was solved in advance;
Third, Reggie Jackson's career is about to undergo a major change. The point guard selected by the Thunder at the 24th pick this year is definitely capable of starting in the NBA. Historically, the reason why he left the Thunder was simply because he couldn't start with Westbrook above him.
And now the Thunder have traded for Fisher, so he even has time to develop and then take over.
Fisher, Harden, Durant, Ibaka, Gasol start, Reggie, Sefolosha, Nick Collison on the bench, and this is the lineup that can be put together without signing free agents...
In terms of lineup strength alone, Xu Yong even thinks that the Thunder is more reasonable and has a chance to achieve a better record than the Lakers.
As for the Hornets, this is much more valuable than the chip they got from the Clippers in their history.
If nothing else, Westbrook is enough.
Before Westbrook was injured, his playing style as the leader would have absolutely exploded, and with the surge in ball possession, he might have been able to average a triple-double even earlier.
Moreover, the Hornets' lineup, including Westbrook, Belinelli, Aminu, David West (who will most likely renew his contract), and Perkins, is not much weaker than the previous Hornets, and they have a great chance of making the playoffs.
Of course, there are losers too. Western Conference playoff teams such as the Spurs, Mavericks, Grizzlies and Nuggets have gained two powerful competitors out of nowhere.
Then there are the Bulls. Even if they can complete a double kill against the Heat in the new season and reach the finals, it will be much more difficult for them to win the championship against the Lakers, Thunder or Mavericks than last season.
But Xu Yong's personality is such that he loves competition.
After realizing this, he got up immediately and went back to training.
It’s like, you win a championship in the park, but end up being criticized for the rest of your life.
But if they can defend their title in a season like this, it will be like the one Nowitzki won in history, and they will be praised for the rest of their lives.
So now that new goals have emerged, there is no reason to stand still.
Fans on social media are also going wild.
"Oh my god, Paul and Kobe really teamed up?! Are the Lakers going to rise again? They will be the Bulls' strongest opponent in the new season!"
"Don't ignore the Thunder. I think the Thunder will be the dominant team in the Western Conference next season. Their lineup is perfect." Comment from "KBfnas".
"The Western Conference is going to be hell next season. The Lakers, Thunder, Mavericks, Spurs, and Grizzlies, free agents, hurry up and run to the East!"
"Go to the East and get beaten by the Bulls, or the Heat? Or the Celtics and Magic?"
"It's so cool. I thought there wouldn't be much to watch in the shortened season, but now it's full. I really can't wait!"
"Yes, you read that right. This year's free agent signings haven't even started yet. This is really fucking exciting."
…
Amid the discussions of fans, the door to the free market officially opened.
The first thing that broke out was some left-behind news.
The first is Noah. After he performed well last season and became an All-Star starter, the Rockets immediately offered him a five-year, $83 million maximum salary contract extension.
Duncan executed the last year of his $21 million contract and stayed with the Spurs. Although the Spurs failed to get Leonard, Duncan had no reason to give up one man and one city at this time.
As previously rumored, Ray Allen exercised his contract option and stayed with the Celtics. It can be seen that he is ready to make one last effort with the Celtics.
The Mavericks chose to keep the roster, and they retained Tyson Chandler with a 4-year, $56 million contract.
David West also signed a three-year, $30 million contract extension with the Hornets, with the final year being a player option.
However, with West's stay, it brought about a chain reaction. Odom, who was supposed to report to the Hornets in the previous three-way trade, made an application to Demps, hoping that the Hornets could trade him to the Heat.
Odom renewed his contract with the Lakers in the summer of 2009. It was a four-year, $33 million contract. Including the next season, there are two years left in the contract, one year for $8.9 million and the other for $8.2 million.
This contract is not small, but it is not big either. There is room for maneuver if he goes to the Heat.
The reasons behind this are easy to guess. The most direct one is that West's contract extension means that he can only play as a substitute in the Hornets.
It's understandable that he plays as a substitute in the Lakers, after all, the Lakers are a championship team, but what kind of team are the Hornets? Can West be compared with Gasol?
On the other hand, he has been playing in big cities since entering the league, and he doesn't want to go to a small city like New Orleans.
As for the Heat, it is the team he once played for, and since the Big Three failed to win the championship last season, they will have a strong desire for him to join.
In fact, this is true. The Heat quickly made an offer to the Hornets, Mike Miller + Jeff Ayers + a future first-round pick.
Or it takes two to tango. Odom requested a trade, and Riley must have contributed behind the scenes.
In fact, this kind of thing is not uncommon in the NBA. When Francis was selected by the Grizzlies, he was unwilling to go to Memphis, and finally he had to be traded to Houston.
Although the league has contracts to constrain players, the players' willingness is also a key factor in the NBA. After all, with Carter's example, it would not be good for either team if both sides suffer losses.
But this time, Dempsey did not compromise.
Odom obviously didn't quite understand the situation of the Hornets. The current nominal owner of the Hornets is Stern!
How could such a trick threaten him?
So after the league gave Odom a warning, last season's sixth man had no choice but to report to New Orleans.
After the Heat failed to trade Odom, they could only turn their attention to this year's free market.
If last year's free market was unusually lively, this year's is unusually quiet.
Except for some players who went to play in overseas leagues and could not come back due to the lockout, most of those who had the option chose to exercise it, because the compression of free signing time caused by the lockout made it difficult for them to get the contract they wanted.
So the main principle is first come first served.
Some of the eye-catching players in this year's free market include: Jamal Crawford, O'Neal Jr., Glen Davis, Kenyon Martin, McGrady, Prince, Mike Dunleavy, Josh McRoberts, Battier, Landry, Dalembert, etc.
Against this backdrop, the Bulls are under considerable pressure this summer.
Battier, O'Neal Jr., and Novak have all received a lot of offers.
For example, Novak received a direct offer of $15 million for four years from the Knicks.
That buzzer-beater last season really changed his career.
The Bulls did not choose to follow up on this offer.
For example, Battier, the Thunder offered him a three-year, $15 million full mid-level contract.
But in the end, Battier and the Bulls reached a three-year, $10 million contract extension.
It is worth mentioning that because the salary on the Bulls' books is already very close to the salary cap (the salaries of Yao Ming and others are all increasing), this is an above-cap renewal.
The so-called above-cap renewal means that as long as you have early bird rights or bird rights, you can reach a contract renewal of a certain amount with the parent team. This contract accounts for the salary cap but is not subject to space restrictions.
Bird rights are named after "Big Bird" Larry Bird. They mean that a player can renew his contract with his parent team after playing for the team for three consecutive years.
The early bird option shortens this period to two years.
The continuous effectiveness here means not being bought out or signing a free agent contract to change teams, but it does not include trading because the trading contract has not been terminated.
Battier had been playing for the Rockets before being traded to the Bulls, so the Bulls own his Bird rights.
As for why Battier chose the less expensive option, it was because he really couldn't find a reason to leave the Bulls.
After all, he won the championship here and Yao Ming is here, so he doesn't really care about the few million less.
But with the same rules, O'Neal's problem becomes tricky.
Because O'Neal signed with the Bulls as a free agent last season, the Bulls do not have Bird Rights or Early Bird Rights for him.
This means that if O'Neal Jr. opts out of his contract and gets a contract with an annual salary of more than 5 million, the Bulls will not be able to renew his contract.
Foreman personally visited O'Neal Jr. about this issue.
After O'Neal retired, the Bulls couldn't find a better inside player than O'Neal Jr. in the free market.
In the end, after some communication and consideration, O'Neal Jr. chose to exercise the contract option.
There are many factors involved. For example, like Battier, he can continue to win the championship by staying with the Bulls. Also, due to the lockout, there is a lot of uncertainty about the contract offers he can get in the free market.
Of course, it is not known whether Foreman has guaranteed compensation for next year's contract renewal.
After all, even if such a thing existed, it wouldn't exist.
These two signings are the two most important operations for the Bulls to maintain their competitiveness.
However, after completing these two signings, the Bulls' salary for the new season has exceeded the luxury tax.
Some people may wonder why the Bulls just reached the salary cap last season but exceeded the luxury tax this season?
Because there isn't much difference between the two.
The so-called salary cap is 48% of the league's revenue from the previous year, while the luxury tax threshold is 55% of the previous year's revenue.
Taking the new season as an example, the salary cap is 58 million and the luxury tax is 66 million, which is actually a difference of 8 million.
Last year, the Bulls used the mid-level exception to sign Korver and then traded for Battier, which actually meant they were already very close to the luxury tax.
After the super luxury tax, the Bulls no longer have the mid-level exception, but only the mini-mid-level exception.
Every team in the NBA has one mid-class exception every year. If the salary cap is not full, it is called the space exception, if it is full, it is called the mid-class exception, and if it exceeds the luxury tax, it is called the mini-mid-class exception. There are differences in the years and salaries of these three exceptions.
Under the new labor agreement, the starting salary for the middle-class exception contract is 5 million, while the mini-mid-class exception is only 3 million. The two have different appeals to players.
In the end, the Bulls chose to use this exception and signed veteran Kenyon Martin with a two-year, $6 million contract.
Martin was the No. 1 pick in 2000. He and the Nets trident of Kidd and Jefferson made it to the finals twice, but unfortunately they failed in the end.
He is already 34 years old this year. Due to the rise of Nene and the decline of his form, it has become difficult for him to get a big contract in the market.
However, he still has a certain fighting capacity and can be used as an inside swingman. In his peak period, he was also able to match up against Duncan and O'Neal.
After making the key signings, the Bulls then made some piecemeal moves.
They first signed Peja Stojakovic with a veteran minimum salary to make up for the loss of Novak.
Old Peja had already laid down and was ready to retire, but when he heard that the Bulls were interested in him, he immediately got up from the ass.
For these old guys, there is really no reason to refuse the opportunity to fight for a championship ring at the last moment of their career.
In addition, the Bulls signed point guard Delonte West with a one-year veteran minimum salary.
A little-known fact: West only entered the league in 2004, and he is actually only 28 years old this year.
His talent is also unquestionable. If he had not suffered injuries and off-court problems during his time with the Cavaliers, he would not be reduced to earning a minimum salary now.
However, the Bulls are not worried about this issue. After all, no player will make mistakes in Chicago.
Of course, it is definitely not enough to just focus on the old guy. The Bulls' last signing was Yi Jianlian with a minimum salary contract.
It's time to talk about Yi Jianlian.
After reaching the top with the Chinese team in 2010, Yi Jianlian's career has also undergone some subtle changes.
Although he was still sent to the Wizards by the Nets, he played much more confidently than before.
As the saying goes, when you climb to the top of the mountain, you will look down on all the other mountains. After seeing the scenery at the highest point, your mentality will be different.
Xu Yong's performance in the finals was somewhat influenced by this aspect. After all, I have won the world championship, so what's wrong with winning an NBA championship?
Back to Yi Jianlian, he averaged 7.5 points and 4.9 rebounds for the Wizards last season.
Although both statistics are the lowest since he entered the NBA, that is more because he played as a substitute most of the time. In fact, his shooting percentage reached 44.2%, which is the most efficient season in four years.
The only problem is that his three-point shooting percentage has dropped to 25%, a career low.
All in all, Yi Jianlian's overall performance is better than the same period in history, which makes him have certain value in the free market.
But the Wizards signed Nene, and also had McGee, Blatche and others, and there was no place for him next season, so they gave up matching this contract.
The Bulls' idea is relatively simple. They need to continue to add players in the interior. Now there is no one in the free market with a better cost-effectiveness than Yi Jianlian.
Because while they were completing the previous contracts one after another, players with high cost-effectiveness or strength had already been signed one after another.
As for the issue of Chinese players not being able to be on the same team, after last season's experience, the Bulls no longer care about this factor at all.
After completing all these signings, the Bulls strengthened their lineup in a very short period of time.
Point Guard: Rose, Hinrich, Delonte West
Shooting guards: Xu Yong, Tony Allen, Jimmy Butler
Small forward: Artest, Battier, Peja
Power forward: Gibson, Martin, Yi Jianlian
Center: Yao Ming, O'Neal, Asik
The overall strength of this 15-man roster has not changed much compared to last season. Foreman has done his best to complete these operations after winning the championship.
After finalizing the roster, Foreman then accomplished another very important thing.
Before this matter, we should mention the "Rose Clause", which is the origin of the "super contract".
The new labor agreement stipulates that when a player is elected MVP during his rookie contract, or has been selected to the All-Star Game as a starter twice in the All-Star voting, or has been selected to the All-NBA Team twice (regardless of which team, including the defensive team), he is eligible to sign a super maximum salary contract with his parent team with a starting salary of 30% of the salary cap.
Simply put, before this, the starting salary for rookie contract renewals was restricted by the maximum salary rules, and for players with 0 to 6 years of service, it could only be 25% of the salary cap.
The Rose Clause raises this starting salary to 30% of the salary cap for players with 7 to 9 years of service.
Because Rose was the first person to meet the clause, it is also called the Rose Clause, just like the Bird Rights are also called the Larry Bird Clause.
However, Rose is not the first person to enjoy this clause. Durant is the first.
Durant signed a contract with the Thunder last summer, but it was not implemented until this season.
Because he meets the Rose clause, his contract will be automatically adjusted, which means that he will have more than $2 million more pre-tax income in the new season than before.
Rose is the second person to benefit from this clause.
In comparison, Noah just signed a 5-year, $83 million contract with the Rockets, while Rose's early contract extension with the Bulls is for 5 years and $94 million, which means the entire contract has increased by $11 million.
Xu Yongze has basically booked the next one.
Because he was selected to the All-NBA Team last season and was also an All-Star starter, he only needs to meet one of these two conditions to meet the requirement.
There is still uncertainty about the best lineup, but as the record-breaking vote-getter last season, the probability of him not being an All-Star starter is too low.
The free market is still going on, and the Bulls' "old players" such as Xu Yong and Yao Ming are also training in the training camp while accepting new players to join.
Today they catch up with Peja, tomorrow they have a chat with their old rival West, and the day after tomorrow they chat with Martin, the old veteran.
Of course, the happiest thing was when I saw Yi Jianlian in the last few days of the training camp.
To be honest, neither Xu Yong nor Yao Ming could have imagined that the Bulls would sign Yi Jianlian.
It can only be said that after tasting the sweetness last season, Foreman has become more and more confident in Chinese players.
Of course, it's not just the Bulls. The Knicks also signed Sun Yue with a minimum salary contract during the offseason.
Although Sun Yue did not get many opportunities with the Warriors last season, this is the impact of the Chinese market being fully developed.
You don't think there's no social etiquette in the NBA, do you?
If you think so, Antetokounmpo's brother and Pippen's son will have something to say.
Yi Jianlian himself is very introverted and shy, but he can relax a lot when he meets Xu Yong and Yao Ming.
It is no exaggeration to say that at this moment he felt like he was not on the Bulls team, but on the national men's basketball team!
People who are not introverts may not be able to resonate with Yi Jianlian at this moment. The feeling of no longer being alone in a foreign country makes him really happy.
"Brother Lian, have you found a place to live?" Before the training began, Xu Yong asked Yi Jianlian with concern.
Yi Jianlian is different from Yao Ming. Yao Ming's personality is that he doesn't need help from others, but Yi Jianlian is the complete opposite.
"Just call me A Lian." Yi Jianlian said hurriedly. Although he was older than Xu Yong, he felt a little uncomfortable being called that by Xu Yong.
Xu Yong didn't care and asked again using a different name.
Yi Jianlian shook his head.
His joining the Bulls was actually very hasty.
Because he returned to the Guangdong team to play during the lockout, the Bulls only recently contacted his agent, and then he rushed to Chicago.
Currently, he is still living in a hotel in Chicago.
"I plan to find a place to live in the city in a couple of days. My agent told me that the traffic in Chicago is very congested," Yi Jianlian continued.
"You can change your agent."
"Ah?" Yi Jianlian was stunned.
"Didn't he tell you how bad the security situation in downtown Chicago is?" Xu Yong asked.
"He didn't mention this because he is indeed a bit busy right now." Yi Jianlian said with an awkward smile.
His agent is Dan Fegan, a well-known agent in the league. Now that he is not doing well in the NBA, he has naturally become a small client there.
"How about this, I rent two houses in the city. I live in one, and Jimmy and Little Tiger live in the other. But there are two rooms on the second floor. If you don't mind, you can live there first and move out when you find a more suitable one." Xu Yong suggested.
"Will this trouble you?" Yi Jianlian felt a little embarrassed.
"No trouble. It's empty anyway. You can just pay me the rent when the time comes." Xu Yong waved his hand.
"Okay, you decide the price." Yi Jianlian was relieved when he heard the rent.
"We'll talk about the money later. I'll take you to see it after the training." Xu Yong said with a smile.
After hearing this, Yi Jianlian nodded vigorously.
After the training, Xu Yong drove Yi Jianlian and Butler back to their residence.
When he was about to enter the door, Butler looked at Yi Jianlian with a smile. Yi Jianlian was a little confused for a moment.
However, after Xu Yong led them in, he realized why Butler did that.
Because there was a little white axe wandering around in the yard. When it saw them coming in, it lifted its legs and walked up the stairs, then ran towards Xu Yong.
If you look closely, you can tell it is a tiger, but if you look from a distance, you might think it is a big white cat.
"...Can tigers be raised?" Looking at Xu Yong who was already petting a tiger, Yi Jianlian was a little dazed. He originally thought that Little Tiger was someone's nickname.
Moreover, he has been in the NBA for so many years, and of course he has heard his teammates talk about their experiences of raising pets, but this is the first time he has heard of, no, seen, a tiger.
"Everything can be petted as long as it is small." Xu Yong said with a smile.
In fact, they were now at the house that O'Neal had rented before.
Because the house has a large backyard, after accepting the "gift" from O'Neal, Xu Yong rented the house.
This house is slightly bigger than the one he lives in, but it is also a standard American wooden house with two and a half stories.
The bottom floor is for the keepers to live in, and the second floor, as he mentioned before, has two rooms with bathrooms. One is for Butler, who has been living here for a few days, and the remaining one is for Yi Jianlian during his transition.
"Is this a Bengal tiger?" Yi Jianlian walked closer and took a look and asked.
The little tiger sensed a strange breath and turned his head to make an "aww" gesture towards Yi Jianlian.
Yi Jianlian stopped subconsciously.
Xu Yong reached out and stroked its head, then let it lie down again.
"Yes, O'Neal gave it to me. I named it King." Xu Yong turned the little tiger over and rubbed its belly. It lay comfortably with its four legs facing the sky.
"Ah?" Yi Jianlian was stunned for a moment.
"The king of beasts, to the point." Xu Yong explained.
"Okay." Yi Jianlian nodded.
Although, he always felt something was odd.
The next morning, when Xu Yong got up for training, Butler was already waiting for him at the door.
Although Butler doesn't talk much, he is not shy at all. On the contrary, he is very proactive and knows what he needs.
After learning about Xu Yong's training plan, he also joined in.
After the morning training was over, they ate and chatted.
Because Christmas is coming soon and the new season is about to begin, ESPN's annual strength prediction list has come out.
The attention to the list in previous years may have been average, but this year due to the tight schedule and too much news, many fans regard it as a summary of team changes, so the attention is higher than in previous years.
This is also what Xu Yong and Butler are talking about at the moment.
And ESPN is also making progress. This year, they even used a very humanized scoring method to make it easier for users to read.
I have to say, this trick is really intuitive.
1. Chicago Bulls (99 points)
The Bulls have retained their core lineup to the greatest extent possible during the offseason, and as the defending champions, they will be the strongest team this season.
Unless there are injuries, it will be difficult for any team to stop them.
Expected starting lineup: Rose, Xu Yong, Artest, Gibson, Yao Ming;
Expected rotation: Hinrich, Allen, Battier, Martin, O'Neal Jr.
2. Miami Heat (96 points)
Last season's experience did not defeat this team. The ball possession issues between Wade and James were resolved in the summer, and James will become the new leader of the Heat.
They renewed Chalmers' contract with a 4-year, $16 million cap, and he will become the new starting point guard of the Heat.
Although it was a pity that they failed to trade for Odom, they immediately signed DeShawn Stevenson with a two-year, $6 million mini-mid-level contract.
Stevenson was the Mavericks' starting shooting guard last season. He is a qualified 3D player with remarkable performance. He is the type that the Heat urgently need.
Expected starting lineup: Chalmers, Wade, James, Bosh, Joel Anthony;
Projected rotation: Norris Cole, Stevenson, Mike Miller, Haslem, Jeff Ayers.
3. Lakers (95 points)
This may be the strongest backcourt combination in NBA history, Paul and Kobe as a team, which is a team that cannot be formed even in 2K.
And they also signed players like Josh McRoberts with a mini-mid-level exception in free agency, which was an underrated signing.
McRoberts is an all-around player similar to Odom, and he can partner with Bynum/Okafor on the court when the Lakers' offense is in trouble.
At the same time, veteran Grant Hill also gave up the contract offered by the Suns and joined the Lakers at a minimum salary to pursue the championship in the final moments of his career.
Expected starting lineup: Paul, Kobe, Ariza, Okafor, Bynum;
Projected rotation: Blake, Grant Hill, Matt Barnes, McRoberts, Troy Murphy.
4. Thunder (94 points)
The Thunder were the most underrated team this offseason, making one of the boldest trades of the past five years.
Westbrook's departure will also give Harden more opportunities to show himself, and he is expected to become the team's point guard in the decisive stage.
It is also worth mentioning that they also brought Nick Young from Washington to Oklahoma with a three-year, $15 million full mid-level contract.
It is obvious that the Thunder are building their team exactly as the Bulls did last season.
Expected starting lineup: Fisher, Harden, Durant, Ibaka, Pau Gasol;
Projected rotation: Reggie Jackson, Sefolosha, Nick Young, Nick Collison, Nazir Mohammed.
5. Spurs (91 points)
6. Mavericks (90 points)
The Mavericks retained their core lineup, but with their average age one year older, their status in the new season remains unknown.
However, keeping Tyson Chandler was their most successful signing of the offseason.
Although they lost Barea, they still have Rodrigo Beaubois, a small man who is also known for his speed and once served as the starting shooting guard last season. Like Butler, he also missed last season's playoffs due to injury.
Cuban's trade in the draft can be considered a gamble, and Kawhi Leonard's performance will determine their ceiling.
Expected starting lineup: Kidd, Carter, Marion, Nowitzki, Chandler;
Projected rotation: Beaubois, Jason Terry, Kawhi Leonard, Brandan Wright, Ian Mahinmi.
7. Grizzlies
8. Celtics
9. Indiana Pacers
10. Magic
…
When discussing this list, there are two areas that they talked about the most.
The first one is naturally ranked first, which is only one point away from breaking 100 with a score of 99.
ESPN doesn't try to belittle something, but instead just gives it a wave of praise and jinx.
This year, the Lakers and Thunder are clearly not weaker than the Bulls on paper.
Then it was the Heat team. When they saw James as the new core of the team, Xu Yong and Butler smiled at the same time.
During the lockout, entertainment media such as TMZ once reported on Wade and James' yacht party, which was very immersive.
It was said that the Big Three all took their wives out to sea, and then Wade once again took the initiative to propose that James be the boss, and hoped that there would be no more conflicts in the team in the new season.
James was surprised, but was finally moved to accept Wade's advice and said that they would always be brothers and he would definitely help Miami win the championship.
I don't know if the story is true or not, but it is very vivid.
After all, Wade is not Jordan or Kobe, and his understanding of the team is biased.
Teamwork is about making concessions to each other, but if you make concessions and accommodate each other blindly, that would be indulgence.
Whether in history or now, Wade brought this upon himself.
After breakfast, Xu Yong and Butler went to the training hall.
There are only two days left before the start of the season.
Thibodeau gave a speech to the players before training.
The content is mainly about the upcoming season.
A shortened season doesn't just mean fewer games.
In fact, the competition time is about two months shorter than before, but the number of games has only been reduced from 82 to 66, only 16 games less.
The direct result of this is an increase in back-to-back games, and even back-to-back games.
This intensive schedule can easily lead to player injuries.
In fact, the league has anticipated the possible situation and increased the activation list from 12 to 13 players.
The main content of Thibodeau's speech...is not that he also wants to expand the rotation, but that the young players should be prepared for more playing time.
The young players on the team subconsciously weakened their legs after hearing this, and the experience of last season's playoffs seemed like just yesterday.
However, Xu Yong's body trembled when he heard this.
He had been doing physical training for the entire summer just for what Thibodeau said.
This time, even if Thibodeau played him for 44 minutes in the regular season, he said he could have continued for another minute.
After the training that day, Yi Jianlian found Xu Yong.
"I saw Butler getting up early these days. I just asked him, and he said, do you guys train before breakfast?" Yi Jianlian asked curiously.
After seeing Xu Yong nod in confirmation, he immediately asked again: "Can I come with you?"
Xu Yong didn't expect Yi Jianlian to make such a request. After thinking for a while, he smiled and nodded.
In fact, his care for Yi Jianlian was somewhat selfish.
After next season, it will be the London Olympics, which he and Yao Ming attach the most importance to.
Although they won the World Championships before, as a player, who wouldn’t want to prove themselves on the Olympic stage?
Especially, that was Yao Ming's last dance in the national team.
But the strength of the Dream Team 10 is definitely much stronger than that of the Dream Team 9. Even if the original team from the World Championships goes to play, they have almost no chance.
In order to have a chance, they all have to become stronger.
He needs to become stronger, and so does Yi Jianlian.
So, on the last morning before the competition, the three of them trained together on the first floor of Xu Yong's residence.
After two years, Xu Yongzao had transformed this place into a fully functional training room.
Training is boring, but if there is someone to do it with, the boredom will be much less.
Just after the training, when the three of them were sitting at the dining table eating breakfast, Xu Yong suddenly felt that the scene before him seemed familiar.
By the way, among those stories about him and Jordan, there was a very famous "Breakfast Club". Did they do a 2.0 version of it?
This feeling made him feel dazed and a little strange.