NBA: LeBron James wants to team up with me

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In reality, the free-agent market in 2012 is not very active, as not many big-name stars have expiring contracts, and only one player, Deron Williams from the Nets, has an expiring contract.

But as soon as this player became a free agent, he immediately reached a new contract deal with the Nets worth $98 million over five years and a suitable maximum salary extension.

Although De Xiaopang has basically achieved little in the league and has only been selected twice to the All-NBA team, he is very good at eating and sleeping against Paul, and his statistical performance is not bad. He played 55 games for the Nets this season. Deron averaged 21 points, 3 rebounds, and 8.7 assists per game. Of course, the Nets were willing to offer him a maximum salary contract.

It's a pity that the Nets probably never imagined this. After securing the big contract, Deron immediately began to perform at lightning speed. The following season, 2012-13, his stats dropped to 18.9 points and 7.7 assists, and then to 14 points and 6 assists.

In the following seasons, Deron Williams was clearly past his prime, but his performance was lackluster, averaging only 14+6 per game, which was completely inconsistent with the value of his maximum salary contract.

Apart from Deron, there were no All-Stars in the league whose contracts had expired.

However, the contracts of powerful players from various teams in the league, such as Ibaka, Eric Gordon, Antoine Jamison, George Hill, Roy Hibbert, etc., had expired.

Of course, this also includes several players from the Bulls: Garnett, Billups, Danny Green, Marcus Thornton, and Jeremy Lin.

The Bulls' attitude toward players whose contracts have expired is very clear. The management directly notified Jeremy Lin and Thornton that the team would not consider renewing their contracts next season and asked them to find their next home as soon as possible.

These two players definitely have no concerns about finding work.

It goes without saying that Jeremy Lin, who also had a breakout performance with the Bulls, is a hot commodity in the free-agent market. Once he hits the market, many teams will definitely compete for him. Of course, Jeremy Lin's ceiling is there. Can it be like in history, where he secured a four-year contract worth around 28.8 million yuan? That would be a pretty good outcome.

As for Marcus Thornton, since he was on the bench for the Bulls, he didn't manage to average over 20 points per game like he originally did. His evaluation in the league wasn't very high, but after all, he was a key player on the bench. For a rotational player from the Bulls, Thornton also performed well during the regular season. Considering the Bulls' reputation for producing high-quality products, it wouldn't be difficult for him to secure a contract with an annual salary of over 5 million.

Danny Green will definitely stay with the Bulls. Wang Chong had said before, how could they let go of such a high-quality 3D player who had put so much effort into developing him?

To retain Danny Green, the Bulls had to spend a lot of money and offered him a four-year contract worth 30 million yuan, with an average annual salary of 7.5 million.

In the opinion of the Bulls' general manager, this contract is somewhat expensive. After all, in his view, Danny Green's performance in games is mediocre, and his stats aren't great. A salary of around four million per year would have been sufficient.

But Wang Chong was determined, and other teams also offered a 7 million deal, so the Bulls had no choice but to match the price.

Thanks to the expiration of Billups' contract, the Bulls now had plenty of salary cap space.

Speaking of Billups, he ultimately decided to stay with the team and signed a one-year veteran's minimum contract.

Billups has a very open mind. His career has truly been quite complete. He has won four championships with the Bulls, something he had never even dared to dream of before.

Billups will turn 36 next season. Although with his playing style, he could have easily secured a salary of three to five million from other teams, Billups chose to return to his roots and stay with the Bulls. He used the remaining energy to eventually retire with the Bulls.

Even if Billups returns from injury next season, he will definitely have to leave the starting position. Considering he only played about 20 games in the next two years of his career before being injured for the season, Wang Chong had no intention of letting Billups contribute significantly on the court. As a veteran and leader in the locker room, he could teach Curry and Thomas more about defensive experience. In Wang Chong's opinion, that was enough.

The renewal of the contract was done according to Wang Chong's vision.

But when it came to Garnett's contract extension, something unexpected happened.

Wang Chong's original plan was to offer Garnett a two-year, $32 million deal, which could be considered a pension contract to thank Garnett for his contribution to the Bulls.

The Celtics originally signed a three-year, $36 million deal with Garnett in the summer of 2012. With one more year, the total amount was only $4 million more than this contract.

Wang Chong knew very well that Garnett only had one year left at his peak level. Instead of giving him a longer multimillion-dollar contract, it would be better to shorten the length of the contract, which would be good for both parties.

But to Wang Chong's surprise, Garnett decided to reject this contract.

According to Garnett's performance this season, an annual salary of 16 million was definitely not low.

Of course, Garnett immediately gave his reasoning. He even made a special call to Wang Chong to explain:

"Wang, I'm already old, and my competitive level will only decline in the future. I'm very grateful to the team for offering me a contract like this to keep me, but in the last years of my career, I want to return to the place where my first dream began. It's also the place where fallen leaves return to their roots."

Now Wang Chong realized.

It was also 2012, and Garnett's mindset had completely changed.

Although Garnett also won a championship with the Celtics, he only won one, and the three giants won as a team, which was a bit anticlimactic.

But Garnett was different with the Bulls. He experienced everything with the team during the first dynasty of four consecutive championships after the NBA merger and the best regular-season record of 73 wins. Garnett was still the only player from the team, having shared the honors that Wang Chong received as the second overall pick. His career was complete. Even if he won one or two more championships with the Bulls, it wouldn't change much.

When a player gets everything they want, as they grow older, they inevitably feel proud and want to return to their hometown.

Just as Garnett originally decided to let the Nets trade him to the Timberwolves in the 14-15 season, the old "King Wolf" wanted to go home.

On July 7th, the Minnesota Timberwolves officially announced that they had signed Kevin Garnett for 30 million over three years. The old "King Wolf" returned to the Timberwolves.

For a moment, Minnesota fans cried.

No matter how much success Garnett has left, as long as he is willing to return to the Timberwolves, Minnesota fans will definitely welcome him.

Garnett himself immediately posted a long message on his personal social media, thanking the Bulls, the players, and the coaches. He said that although the Bulls really wanted him to stay with the team, he now wanted to return home and work with the Bulls. The five years he spent there would always be remembered in his heart.

Almost at the same time, the Bulls issued an official statement thanking Garnett for his contribution to the four consecutive championships of the Bulls. The team owner declared that they would retire Garnett's number 5 jersey, which he wore with the Bulls, in the future.

As a result, even the media with some conspiracy theories trying to attract attention couldn't describe Garnett's departure as a drama of antagonism due to contract negotiations.

But whether it was a fight or a peaceful separation, the result was the same.

Teams across the league breathed a sigh of relief.

This time, the Bulls were out of luck.

The two main contributors to the four consecutive championships, one was seeking his hometown and returned to Minnesota, and the other had just signed a veteran's minimum contract with the team and was about to take a step back. The Bulls suddenly lost two generals. Now only the three giant configurations remained.

It's just that, aside from Wang Chong, whether it's Stephen Curry or Marc Gasol, the giants are slightly insufficient, at least not comparable to the Lakers' Big Three or the Heat's Big Three.

Especially during the opening period of the free agent market, people from the Bulls kept leaving the team. After Garnett went to the Timberwolves, Jeremy Lin and Marcus Thornton quickly signed contracts with other teams.

Jeremy Lin was snatched by the Rockets, just like in the original timeline. The Rockets, relying on Yao Ming for a lot of money, really wanted to have a drama with two Chinese players on the same stage.

Marcus Thornton joined the Sacramento Kings.

The Bulls continued to lose existing players, while the Lakers and Heat kept strengthening. Especially the Lakers with their Big Three, the Lakers' salary space remained very healthy. Howard's trade perfectly left all the important contracts of the team vacant. This is why some people always say that trading with the Lakers is like a robbery.

The wealthy Lakers spent a lot of money in the free-agent market. First, they signed the best sixth man, Jamal Crawford, for 21 million over four years. Then, they signed Antoine Jamison with a veteran's minimum contract, and finally signed power forward Carl Landry for 15 million over three years.

After some operations, the entire league was stunned.

The Lakers are going to the sky! What kind of magical players are they signing?Jamal Crawford serves as a shooting guard and is best known for scoring from the bench. In the 2009-10 season, as the sixth man for the Hawks, he averaged 18 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3 assists per game and was named Sixth Man of the Year.

This season, Crawford also averaged 14 points and 3 assists per game. The main reason for his lower scoring was the lack of playing time, averaging only 26 minutes per game.

The Lakers signed Crawford primarily to ease the burden on the aging Kobe and to allow Paul and Howard to make some additional changes in their pick-and-roll tactics.

Antoine Jamison is just as powerful as Crawford. As an All-Star power forward who averaged around 20+8 per game during several consecutive seasons at his peak, Jamison's scoring ability is quite impressive. Even this season, at 35 years old, he still averaged 17 points and 6 rebounds per game. The most important thing is that Jamison signed a veteran's minimum contract when he joined the Lakers. His annual salary of 1.35 million dollars isn't too bad.

Finally, Carl Landry, like Jamison, serves as a power forward and can work with Jamison to occupy the Lakers' power forward position. Landry, known as the "Divine Bird," has great physical conditioning and can run and jump. He also averaged 12.5 points and 5 rebounds per game with the Hornets.

Overall, the three players signed by the Lakers are all very capable. With a little more time to mesh, they could become the most powerful backup for the Big Three, enhancing the strength of the Lakers' rotation.

Once these three signings were reached, they immediately caused a small stir in the league. Many media outlets exclaimed that just looking at this lineup, the Lakers would surely defend their title next season.

Although the Heat, equipped with their own Big Three, didn't make as exaggerated moves as the Lakers, they didn't stay idle either. After all, they had stopped in the Eastern Conference Finals again and lost to the remaining Bulls. Even if they have to pay some luxury taxes, they need to improve the overall strength of the team!

The Heat also made three signings during the free-agent market, including Rashard Lewis and Jermaine O'Neal, who were signed with a minimum salary, and Jordan Hill, who was signed for 10 million over three years.

Although the first two were former All-Stars, they are now old and not as powerful as before, so let's not discuss them.

The Heat signed Jordan Hill with a very clear intention. Jordan Hill is 6'9" tall and plays as a center. He has good physical condition and can block positions and defend, as well as do dirty work. Although he almost doesn't have any offensive moves, it's clear the Heat didn't sign him to let him score.

The most important goal of signing Jordan Hill is to negotiate with the Bulls' center, Gasol, and the Lakers' center, Howard.

Of course, the Heat don't expect Jordan Hill to defend these two indefinitely, but as long as he can cause some problems for the opponent, it's not a loss.

The three signings of the Heat were highly regarded by the media. At least the team was strengthening according to their current needs. Given the limited salary space, these signings were already pretty good.

However, Wang Chong knew that the Heat had missed the biggest gain of 2012, which was Ray Allen.

Affected by the butterfly effect, the Celtics' Big Three didn't form, and Ray Allen wasn't pushed out by Rondo and the Celtics' management during this period, so he had no intention of joining the Heat.

Although Ray Allen hadn't won a championship at this point, he was still one of the Thunder's key players, and his role on the team was only surpassed by Westbrook and Griffin.

Without Ray Allen, even if the Heat can surpass the Bulls in the playoffs and face the Spurs in the finals, without Ray Allen's game-winning three-pointer, they would still have to kneel.

Others don't realize what the Heat missed, which is why they think these signings are great.

Of course, compared to the Bulls, the Heat's signings are really very good.

After the free-agent market opened, the Bulls let Jeremy Lin, Marcus Thornton, and Kevin Garnett go, leaving only Billups and Danny Green. This was a significant loss of talent.

In such circumstances, an ordinary person would definitely sign some more players in the free-agent market to complement their strength, but the Bulls have always been silent and seem to not know what they are doing.

End of this chapter

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