After the Fila Summer League ended, the Chinese team trained on the spot to prepare for the Atlanta Olympics, while the NBA summer league teams were disbanded.

Before preseason training camp arrives, these NBA-to-be players have a full summer vacation to prepare for the new season.

Louis returned to Los Angeles. As the team's president and head coach, he also had to find ways to strengthen the Lakers.

Especially after losing David Robinson, there is an urgent mentality within the Lakers. They want to seize the big fish in the free market.

In addition to Robinson, who is already famous and has an owner, there are several eye-catching center players on the free market.

Among them, the ones receiving the most attention are the 24-year-old super centers Shaquille O'Neal and Ralph Sampson.

O'Neal is the biggest fish on the free market.

Although he has not yet won a championship, he is only 24 years old this year. When Sampson, Ewing, and Olajuwon retire, O'Neal will still be a dominant force in the league.

If you get it, you will get the future, there is no doubt about it.

Although the Magic did some stupid things during the season that hurt their relationship with O'Neal's camp, when they recovered, they will naturally realize how important keeping O'Neal is to the team.

West also didn't think about recruiting O'Neal, because with the Lakers' existing salary space, they obviously can't include this shark in the lineup.

After Pence signed a 100-million-dollar contract extension, a "mediocre" 6-year, 100-million-dollar contract extension could no longer satisfy O'Neal.

He wants the biggest contract in the league.

At this time, the New York Knicks had an idea and secretly applied for a special exception from the league, hoping to satisfy the players' huge contracts in the form of partial salary space + commercial endorsements⑴.

In this life, Stern is troubled by super teams. How could he give the Knicks a chance to sign O'Neal?

Stern clearly rejected this opportunistic approach.

As a result, O'Neal's window to join a super team has actually closed.

Where O'Neal will go is up in the air, and another super center on the free market, Ralph Sampson, has made his own decision.

Louis initially wanted to invite Sampson to join Los Angeles, but he was not interested in the idea of ​​playing for the Lakers.

Mainly, he didn't want to join forces with Benjamin Wilson.

Because Wilson was the key figure on the Knicks team that destroyed the Celtics in 1988.

Joining forces with him would be tantamount to betrayal of Boston.

His thoughts made Louis speechless, because... Larry Bird, the flagship figure of Green Kai in 1988, was an assistant coach with the Lakers.

Did Bird betray Boston?

Sampson has his own reason. He believes that Bird did not betray Boston because Bird has retired.

Coaching and playing are two different things.

Well, since Sampson is so loyal to Boston, Louis can guess where he will go.

The only gentleman who left Boston for two years finally decided to end his career in Boston.

Sampson rejected offers from other teams and instead signed a four-year contract with the Celtics with player options.

It is understood that the contract is approximately US$60 million over four years, with a player option in the third year.

Bostonians were excited.

They never blamed Sampson for leaving.

In their view, if Sampson does not leave, it will be difficult for the Celtics to start rebuilding. Now, they have acquired young talents such as Grant Hill, Rasheed Wallace and Ratner, who are currently missing.

A respected old superstar teaches young people by words and deeds.

Sampson's return comes at the right time.

It can be said that this is the most touching story that happened in the professional basketball world in 1996.

Mr. Only returned to the place where the dream began.

Heat president Lewis Shafir said: "We fully understand and support Ralph's decision. No matter where he is, he will always be a member of the Heat."

Sampson has decided on his next club, and Danny Manning has also started contract renewal negotiations with the Heat as the winner of the court battle.

As a result, both sides were once again in trouble.

The lions in Manning's camp opened their mouth and asked the Heat for a super-large contract of US$140 million over six years.

Shafir yelled at Manning when he contacted Louis on the phone.

"What a shameless person! Ralph is a hundred times better than him!" Shafir said filial piety, "This price is too much for him to say! Why doesn't he want 200 million in six years?"

Louis joked: "How about you pack him back home and not renew the contract?"

Shafir said with a bitter face: "We have lost Ralph. If we can't keep that bastard, Mr. Arison will kill me."

Lui Dan smiled and said: "It seems you have no way out?"

"Yes, there is no way out." Shafir said with a bitter smile.

"I think you can stabilize him first and see the effect. Once he signs the contract, the initiative in the future will actually be in your hands. You can do whatever you want with him then," Louis said.

This opened Shafir's mind.

Shafir hesitated no longer.

"That's right, Coach Lu, no matter what, you have to keep that guy first. I won't do anything like that!"

Louis said angrily: "You bastard, are you laughing at me? (About the Lakers letting David Robinson go for nothing)"

"Haha... Coach Lu, um... it's late. Let's talk next time."

Shafir was resolute and determined, so he decisively gave Manning a six-year, $130 million contract, and then gave Drexler, who had no intention of leaving Miami, a three-year, $24 million contract extension.

Subsequently, Shafir renewed Jaylen Rose's contract in advance for 5 years and 28 million.

He retained former Knicks player John Salley for 2 years and 4 million.

After doing this one by one, the Heat's salary for the new season has seriously exceeded the cap.

But there are still people who need to renew their contracts.

Joe Dumars wanted a three-year pension contract worth $18 million, but Shafir hesitated.

In terms of qualifications, Dumars is the veteran with the most say on the Heat.

In terms of dedication, when Drexler joined the team, it was Dumars who took the initiative to give up the starting lineup so that the Heat's most talented players could fill up the starting roster.

Now the team has won one championship in two years, and Sampson, Manning and other key players have gained both fame and fortune. Dumars is just a bastard in the eyes of the fans, a dispensable person. He just wants a decent pension contract.

But Lewis Shafir couldn't give Dumas the dignity he wanted, because in addition to Dumas, he also had Reggie Lewis who needed to renew his contract.

When Shafir reduced the price of Dumas's pension contract to $10 million over three years, this gentleman known for his good temper broke his defense on the spot.

Shafir maintained his apparent coolness and said to the irrational Dumas: "Joe, if you can't accept this contract, I can only say goodbye to you."

Shafir's notoriety spread.

Much later, the truth of the matter was revealed.

Shafir wants to make sure his boss is satisfied with him.

Mikey Arison, the owner of the Heat, believes that old bastards like Dumars are not worthy of a high-paying contract extension, so Shafir can only rely on the boss's will and ignore Dumars's contribution and sacrifice to the team.

, made an insulting offer that the other party will never forgive him for.

For a player like Dumars, it is difficult for people to see his value in a super team.

In the two seasons of Cosmos Fever, Dumars averaged 19 minutes per game and scored 8 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. He was basically a role player.

No one noticed that Dumars increased his three-point shooting percentage to 37%, and no one noticed that he was the only offensive and defensive guard in the Heat who conformed to Billy Donovan's philosophy.

Regarding his departure, the Miami media and Heat fans had no feeling at all, as if he was really a dispensable bastard.

Then, after Louis said hello to Shafir - saying something like "I'll take Dumas' offer" - he contacted Wilson and asked him to call Dumas.

Wilson then used his charisma and made a personal phone call to Dumas. He started with, "Dude, I'm sorry about what happened to you."

"Zombie, that's why I didn't listen to you and join Miami", and ended with "Come to Los Angeles, let's do something big together".

Dumas' blood surged, and his fingers trembled with anger: "Okay, I will join Los Angeles, and I will prove what wrong thing that bastard did!"

"But, JD, our cap space...you know."

"money is not a problem!"

"Great, JD, on behalf of the Lakers, I welcome you!"

When Wilson called Louis to report the results of the victory, he could not hide his excitement and complacency.

Louis couldn't help but sigh: "Fortunately, I have you, Benj. Patrick will never be able to do something like this. He is quite good at making people dislike him, but he can't do things like recruiting players at all."

.”

"Coach, don't say that about Patrick. Apart from having few friends and being too domineering... (omit a dozen words)..., he is still a very good person."

⑴First of all, this is a very long footnote, and I’m sorry for asking you to spend money to read this. I want to say another thing specifically for this. I don’t know if you have heard of such a saying, the Bulls’ last three consecutive games are strongly praised by the league.

Yes, because Jordan's 30 million contract does not take up salary space. Let me ask a question first, do you believe it? I don't mean any harm, but I really feel that many people have been misled.

I have a definite conclusion about this matter.
To be continued...