Basketball boy, starting to shine from the slam dunk

The reason why Durant left the Thunder, was branded as a defector, and took a pay cut to join the Warriors was not just for the championship ring, right?

Is he stupid?

of course not.

He knows very well that joining the Warriors is the fastest and easiest way for him to win the championship, so if he wants to win another championship, the solution is also very simple, that is to stay with the Warriors, after all, they are already a championship team.

This past season, Durant has proved with his actions that he and the Warriors are a perfect match, an invincible combination.

Therefore, if other teams want to poach Durant, they must offer chips that are attractive enough to make him excited. A super big contract is not enough to impress him.

There is one thing Pelinka did not say, that is, even if Durant wants to leave the Warriors, he will definitely not join the Lakers.

why?

First, Durant was criticized by many for joining the Warriors as defecting to the enemy. This kind of thing happened once, and it was enough. He definitely didn't want it to happen again, and it wouldn't happen a second time.

If Durant leaves the Warriors to join the Lakers at this time, it would be tantamount to surrendering to the enemy, because in the past two seasons, the Western Conference Finals have been between the Lakers and the Warriors.

The two teams almost became rivals.

Second, after last season, after Kobe retired, Zhuang Yu won the scoring title and was selected to the first team. Now Zhuang Yu has fully grown up and become a superstar. He is also the undisputed star of the Lakers. The key is that he is still very young.

In this case, if you ask the Lakers management to choose between Zhuang Yu and Durant, then the Lakers management will definitely choose Zhuang Yu instead of Durant.

So if Durant came to the Lakers at this time, just like when he joined the Warriors, he would be seen as coming to assist Zhuang Yu.

In the Warriors, Durant has had enough of this kind of talk, and he naturally doesn't want to be the second in line in another team.

From Durant's perspective, he has won the scoring title, the regular season MVP, and now the championship and the Finals MVP.

It can be said that he has all the honors he deserves.

If he wants to leave the Warriors, there is only one purpose - he hopes to lead a team to win the championship as the team's star player, team boss and leader.

So the Lakers have little appeal to him.

Zhuang Yu quickly figured this out and said to Pelinka, "Go on."

Pelinka said: "There are many strong teams in the West. We not only have to face the Warriors, but also the Spurs, Clippers, Rockets and other teams. They are all very strong, so we must strengthen the team's lineup and strength."

"There are many outstanding players in this year's free agent market. In addition to Kevin Durant, there are Blake Griffin from the Clippers, Jrue Holiday from the Pelicans, Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap from the Hawks, Joe Ingles and Gordon Hayward from the Jazz, JJ Redick from the Clippers, Kyle Lowry from the Raptors and other players, all of whom are very good."

"Some of these players are likely to renew their contracts with their parent teams."

"But I think the players of the Hawks and the Jazz have hope. Many of their players' contracts are about to expire, and they are likely to rebuild, so their players may not necessarily renew their contracts with their parent teams as long as they have enough chips."

As he spoke, Pelinka took out documents from his briefcase and handed them to Zhuang Yu, Jenny, and Jim respectively.

Zhuang Yu flipped it open and saw some players' information inside. These were obviously players selected by Pelinka who he thought could be signed.

While Zhuang Yu was browsing the information, Pelinka analyzed: "I think the Lakers' current starting lineup lacks someone who can score, such as a three-point shooter."

"Zhuang Yu, Anderson, and Deron can all pass the ball, but Anderson's shooting is not stable and he lacks sufficient scoring ability. Gerald Green was not in good shape this past season, and Deron is old."

"We need players who can score, from 1 to 4."

"Of course, the first choice must be an accurate shooter, such as JJ Redick of the Clippers. He is a stable and efficient three-point shooter who hardly takes up the ball but can provide stable scoring output from beyond the three-point line. He can convert Zhuang Yu's pass after the breakthrough into points, and can also open up space for the team. And he doesn't see the hope of winning the championship in the Clippers, I think he will be very interested in joining the Lakers. After all, they are in Los Angeles, and he doesn't even have to move."

Listening to this, Zhuang Yu couldn't help but nodded.

The team does lack a three-point shooter. The team's previous three-point shooter was Gerald Green, but as he gets older, Gerald Green's game state is gradually declining, and although he can shoot three-pointers, he is not a very good shooter.

The Lakers have a player like Zhuang Yu who can break through, pass and shoot, so it is necessary to have one or two three-point shooters around him.

Moreover, Redick's three-point shooting ability is also unquestionable. In the past three seasons, his three-point shooting percentage has been above 40%. Especially in the 15-16 season, he had a three-point shooting percentage of 47.5%, making him the most accurate three-point shooter in the league.

"Of course, Redick can only be a role player."

Pelinka continued: "If we want to beat the Warriors, we need an All-Star or quasi-All-Star player. For example, Paul Millsap of the Hawks, Gordon Hayward of the Jazz, or Jrue Holiday of the Pelicans."

There are not only three big fish in the free market this year, but these three are the ones the Lakers have the best chance of winning, and they are all very strong.

Paul Millsap averaged a career-high 18.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game last season and was selected to the All-Star team.

Moreover, he is about to become a free agent. The Lakers have the strength to challenge for the championship and can afford a high enough contract, which is still very attractive to Millsap.

For the Lakers, the addition of an All-Star level power forward can really improve the team's strength.

Gordon Hayward averaged 21.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game last season and was selected to the All-Star team.

He is also a power forward. If he joins the Lakers, he can replace Gerald Green, and he is also a free agent.

As for Jrue Holiday...

Pelinka explained: "He is not an All-Star player, and his personal statistics are not as good as Millsap and Hayward. But he is younger than Millsap, better at defense than Hayward, and has good organizational skills. If he joins, I think he can replace Deron. On the offensive end, he can share Zhuang Yu's organizational tasks, and on the defensive end, he can also lead the opponent's star guard. With Zhuang Yu, Holiday, Lopez, and Anderson, no matter who the last player is, we will have strong enough defensive capabilities."

Listening to Pelinka's analysis, Zhuang Yu nodded secretly.

No wonder Aunt Jenny wanted to fire Kupchak. Pelinka is indeed something, not just a person with connections.

At least Zhuang Yu was very interested in the people he mentioned.

Whether it is Millsap, Hayward or Holiday, they all have sufficient strength, are suitable for the Lakers, and can help the Lakers.

Zhuang Yu would welcome any of these three to join the Lakers.

Of course, it would be great if Pelinka could sign two of them.

"If that's the case, I'm afraid Aunt Jenny won't be willing to bleed." Zhuang Yu thought to himself.

The contracts of these three people are not small.

Among them, Millsap's contract should not be too big because he is almost 33 years old, but he is an All-Star player after all. At most, the contract period will not be that long, and the average annual salary will definitely not be small, probably around 3000 million.

Hayward is only 27 years old and was selected to the All-Star team last season. He will most likely ask for a four-year or five-year maximum salary contract with a total value of hundreds of millions of dollars, and his average annual salary will reach more than 3000 million.

Holiday is slightly cheaper, but only slightly cheaper.

Zhuang Yu saw from the information given by Pelinka that some teams had already made offers to Holiday, with the highest offer being 1.25 million for five years, with an average annual salary of 2500 million.

If two of these three players are to be signed, their annual salaries will exceed 5000 million. Adding Lopez's 75 million annual salary, the contracts of the three will occupy 80% or even % of the salary cap. Adding the contracts of Zhuang Yu, Anderson and Clarkson, there will be basically no salary space.

This does not include the other role players on the team.

What else can we use to sign Redick?

You know, Redick's annual contract salary is estimated to be 2000 million.

This is because the rookie contracts of Zhuang Yu, Clarkson and Anderson have not expired yet. The rookie contracts of the three of them will expire next year. Zhuang Yu's annual salary is expected to exceed 3000 million. Clarkson has won the best sixth man award, so his salary will be at least 1000 million. Anderson's salary can be as low as 500 million.

Then by next year, the annual salary of Zhuang Yu, Clarkson and Anderson alone will be close to 5000 million, and the team's overall salary will explode.

I'm afraid that paying the luxury tax would make Aunt Jenny bleed.

So, why do so many people scold Durant?

It's not just his behavior of joining the enemy, but also because he actually took a pay cut to join the enemy. If he didn't cut his salary and insisted on a five-year super-max contract, do you think the Warriors would dare to sign it?

Pelinka then mentioned some other players.

These are to supplement the Lakers' bench lineup and expand the team's bench depth. After all, bench depth is also very important if you want to compete for the championship.

These include Mike Carter-Williams, Tyreke Evans, Jose Calderon, Jeff Green, Marcus Morris, etc.

Although these were only intended to expand the depth of the lineup, Zhuang Yu still listened carefully, read their detailed information carefully, and put forward some of his own opinions.

What made Pelinka happy was that Zhuang Yu seemed very satisfied with his "reinforcement plan" and did not raise many objections.

Jenny and Jim were also very satisfied.

The reason why Zhuang Yu was invited here today was to discuss the change of general manager and the team's subsequent reinforcement plan. They promised to respect Zhuang Yu's opinions, but deep down they naturally did not want Zhuang Yu to make decisions about the team's reinforcement, as that would embarrass them and make them feel that their power was falling into the wrong hands.

Fortunately, Zhuang Yu did not do that. He just asked some questions and expressed his own opinions without interfering arbitrarily.

Everyone is happy.

Jenny stood up and said to Pelinka: "Rob, your reinforcement plan is great, but the most important thing is to make it a reality. I don't care about paying luxury taxes, I just want a championship team."

This is a reassurance to Pelinka, and at the same time it is also a statement to Zhuang Yu, indicating that their Bass family is not "Grandet" and they will do what they promised Zhuang Yu.

Pelinka quickly said, "Thank you. I will do my best." Then he looked at Zhuang Yu and said seriously, "Please believe me."

Since he proposed this "reinforcement plan", he must have some confidence. He cannot become the general manager of the Lakers by bragging, and he won't be able to stay in the position for long.