There is nothing wrong with reducing salary and renewing contracts, and there are many examples in the league, but there is a certain standard for reducing salary.
Like the Heat's Big Three in 2010, Durant, who joined the Warriors last year, all chose to cut their salaries, but the extent of their salary cuts was only around a few million dollars.
If Wang Feng renews his contract with the Cavaliers with a salary cut, based on the Cavaliers' current salary space, the loss may exceed 20 million or more.
No matter how rich the star is, it is impossible for him to do this.
The reporter from Oakland knew this very well. The reason why he brought it up was to disgust the Cavaliers and prevent them from being so happy after winning the championship.
"If you want to go back to Cleveland, don't show off your power on our territory. Wait until Wang Feng leaves the team next year and see how we beat your Cavaliers!"
…
That's right, after winning the championship, the first thing the Cavaliers had to consider was how to renew Wang Feng's contract.
After all the players returned to Cleveland, the team began preparing for the championship parade.
As this city's first four major league trophies, the whole of Cleveland attaches great importance to it. From government departments to every street store, they give maximum support.
On the day of the parade, countless fans took to the streets, and the scene was unprecedented!
As a small city that is nicknamed the Gram Village by Chinese netizens, the scene during the championship parade was actually more lively than the Warriors in Oakland, which is indeed commendable.
Among the bustling crowd, you will occasionally see banners held up by fans.
"LeBron our KING, thank you for fulfilling your promise!"
"Wang Feng, please stay, Cleveland needs you."
Cleveland fans are indeed very enthusiastic, especially for Wang Feng, the savior who parachuted into the Cavaliers, saved James' career, and also saved the Chinese players in Cleveland. They all very much want to keep him.
But in the bursts of cheers, no one mentioned Love, and no one mentioned Irving. Maybe there was, but the voice was too small and was drowned out by other cheers, making it inaudible.
As Irving stood on the Cavaliers bus, the smile on his face disappeared little by little. He looked thoughtful as he listened to the fans trying their best to retain Wang Feng.
…
A few days later, the draft started.
The Philadelphia 76ers used the No. 1 pick to sign Markelle Fultz, the Lakers used the No. 2 pick to select guard Lonzo Ball, and the Celtics used the No. 3 pick to select forward Jayson Tatum.
The Cavaliers did not make any moves in the draft because they had already overspent all their draft picks in the next few years in order to form the Big Three lineup two years ago and compete for the championship. Therefore, they could only watch other teams play in the draft.
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After the draft competition ended, the free market also opened, and all major teams began work on contract renewals and transactions in full swing.
The first thing the Cavaliers did was to reach a contract extension with the team's core player, LeBron James. The two parties signed a three-year contract extension with a total amount of 98 million, of which the third year is a player option.
This is the first long-term contract that James has signed since returning to the Cavaliers. Although it is only one year longer than the previous 1+1 contract, it is already very sincere for a top star like him across the ages.
Renewing the contract will at least guarantee that he will be in Cleveland for the next two years, and Cavaliers fans are quite satisfied.
After successfully completing James' contract extension, the Cavaliers immediately started discussions on Wang Feng's contract extension.
However, when they contacted Wang Feng's agent, Bill Duffy, the response they received was unexpected.
"Sorry, everyone."
"I have had in-depth discussions with my employer and we have agreed that it is time to say goodbye."
"Wang Feng was very happy during his year with the Cavaliers, but now he wants to take on more responsibilities and go to a team that can serve as the core of the team."
As soon as these words came out, the general manager of the Cavaliers suddenly felt cold.
If Wang Feng only wants a maximum-salary contract, they can still think of a way.
The Cavaliers management, head coach, and even James have had secret discussions in the past few days and decided to try to trade Love to free up the team's salary space so that they can complete Wang Feng's contract extension.
Although Kevin Love is a very outstanding player, he was born in 1988 and is now close to 30 years old. Even if he wins the championship this season, Love's performance has been ups and downs and seems to be struggling.
In fact, in the first two seasons, when the Cavaliers were unable to win the championship, Love was the player who was involved in the most trade rumors. It is not that the Cavaliers have never considered trading Love.
It's just that there aren't many players better than Love on the market, and the chips required are quite high.
Now, in order to keep Wang Feng, trading Love is not something that needs to be entangled.
But if Wang Feng doesn't want to stay with the Cavaliers at all, then the situation will be completely different.
After learning the news, James immediately called Wang Feng.
"Wang, I hope you can think about it again. Our partnership is really a combination that can create miracles. We can win many, many championships. And I am almost 34 years old now, and I only have a few years left in my peak period.
Time, as long as you stay, when you fully grow up, I can smoothly give up my position to you and create a legend."
James' words were sincere, but Wang Feng knew very well that this old BT, who will be 38 years old in 2022, can still average 30.3 points per game, although by that time his dominance is no longer enough to drag down James on his own.
As the team enters the playoffs, he is still one of the top ten players in the league in terms of personal ability!
"LeBron..."
Wang Feng was silent for a moment, and then said: "Let me put it simply and straightforwardly. What you said is not what I want."
"As long as I'm on the same team as you, I will never have the opportunity to challenge you. What I want is not to inherit everything you have when you get old, but to defeat you head-on while you are still in your prime.
!Prove that I am the better one!”
There was silence for a long time.
James finally understood Wang Feng's ambition. He was not satisfied with being a prince who inherited the throne, but wanted to become a separatist prince who rose up with the trend, aiming to dominate the world.
"Is this what you think? Okay..."
James was silent for a long time and said: "No matter what, thank you for helping me defeat the Warriors and win this championship. The next time we meet on the court, it will be the time for you and me to really compete!"
"You're welcome." Wang Feng shook his head and said calmly. "I chose to join the Cavaliers just to defeat the Warriors and prove that the two championship rings I got with the Warriors were not obtained by hugging each other. We are just each other.