In early July, the Lakers officially announced that they had reached an agreement with forward Jimmy Butler and signed a four-year, $142 million maximum-salary contract extension.
Once this news was announced, the alliance immediately became confused.
During the period when the free market opens, the Lakers' intentions should not be too obvious. They have made it clear that they want to pursue either Leonard or Durant.
The Los Angeles media even broke the news that the Lakers management had contacted the agents of two stars, and that Butler's contract extension plan was temporarily shelved.
This is obviously good news for Lakers fans.
Butler is not as good as Leonard and Durant. This is the consensus of everyone. They also have the maximum salary, so why not use the other two who are better?
Many fans have even fantasized about the Lakers gathering Wang Feng and Durant, the two strongest scorers in the league, or the super perimeter defensive combination of Wang Feng + Leonard, which seems pretty good.
But what they were waiting for was news of Butler's contract extension.
"Huh? Butler? 142 million in 4 years? Is he worth this price?"
"Forget it, he averaged 18 points per game in the regular season. In the playoffs, he only averaged 19 points per game. He just followed Wang Feng and won a championship. He actually shamelessly raised his price."
Lakers fans are quite angry because after Butler's contract extension is completed, the Lakers' salary space is completely locked, and they no longer have the ability to sign another star with an annual salary of more than 20 million.
Of course, some people are optimistic.
"It's good to be able to successfully renew Butler's contract. I think Wang Feng and Butler have a tacit understanding as partners, otherwise they won't win the championship. It's hard to say whether Leonard and Durant are willing to come to the Lakers. We can try our best to maintain
It would be great to keep the original winning lineup.”
Under such circumstances, a few days later, a local Los Angeles media broke the news that the reason why the Lakers successfully completed the contract extension with Butler was because of pressure from Wang Feng.
According to this media, they have an informant who is a sanitation staff member of the Lakers arena. He personally saw Wang Feng come to the Lakers general manager’s office a few days ago and, in front of general manager Earvin Johnson,
Called Lakers owner Jeanie Buss and said bluntly that if Butler couldn't be retained, he would be traded away from the team.
The Lakers finally chose to renew Butler's contract in advance due to pressure from Wang Feng. Originally, according to their plan, they wanted to pursue one of Leonard or Durant as much as possible before renewing Butler's contract.
Once this news was announced, it immediately aroused repercussions locally in Los Angeles and even in the league.
No one except the person involved knows whether the source of the news is true or false, but judging from the Lakers' previous behavior, it is most likely true.
There is a high probability that the Lakers will not take the initiative to disclose this kind of thing, and Wang Feng certainly will not.
From a team perspective, having one's own stars threatening the team is not a good thing in itself.
For Wang Feng, threatening the team management and forcing the team to make signing decisions that are not the management's wishes is not a good reputation.
Therefore, it is certain that the partition wall in the Lakers arena has ears. Whether the Lakers management can find and pull out this nail is the team's business and has nothing to do with Wang Feng.
But after this incident, Butler specially treated Wang Feng to a meal to express his gratitude.
Butler knew very well that if Wang Feng hadn't come forward to put pressure on him, he might really have left the Lakers.
Although with his position as a star, he will not be without a ball, and it is not particularly difficult to obtain a maximum salary offer, but the second largest city in the United States like Los Angeles, the City of Angels, is far away from him. Similarly, in other teams
It is also much harder to continue to win the championship.
Although in the Lakers, Butler's position is just a Pippen-style second-in-command, he is quite satisfied with it. After all, he has received the maximum salary. Butler, who has never valued personal data, will not play in this role.
Tangled up in these issues.
Overall, Wang Feng succeeded in keeping Butler and his relationship with Butler became closer. The advantages outweighed the disadvantages.
…
Not long after Butler completed his contract extension, the destinations of Leonard and Durant, the two biggest fish in the free market, were also settled.
Durant still chose to join the Brooklyn Nets just like in another time and space, but the difference is that he did not choose to sign first and then trade, but directly joined the Nets with a four-year US$164 million contract.
Prior to this, the Nets had signed Kyrie Irving, a free agent whose contract had expired with the Celtics, for a four-year maximum salary of 141 million.
The combination of Irving and Durant has catapulted the Nets into the ranks of the league's top teams, but it's not over yet.
Immediately afterwards, the Nets used All-Star point guard D'Angelo Russell and three future first-round picks as a price to acquire forward Paul George from the Thunder.
Russell, who was supposed to be signed first and then traded in exchange for Durant, actually became a bargaining chip for the Nets to pursue George due to the butterfly effect.
As a result, the Nets directly formed the Big Three configuration of Durant + Irving + George, and directly became the favorite to win the championship next season!
The big news is not over yet.
After Durant joined the Nets, Leonard was not idle either.
On July 11, the Los Angeles Clippers officially announced that they had signed All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard to a three-year, US$103 million contract.
James got his wish and got the strongest helper. Although the Clippers did not form the ace combination of Leonard + George like in another time and space, the ace combination of James + Leonard was obviously more successful!
Although the Clippers' lineup is only dual-core and does not meet the standards of the Nets' Big Three, it is the combination of James + Leonard after all, and the Clippers' ranking has also risen.
One day later, the Clippers once again officially announced that they would sign back former Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who was taken away by the Mavericks last season for $22.9 million in one year, for four years and $40 million.
Although Jordan's current state is no longer what he was when he was selected to the All-NBA Team and the All-Defensive Team a few years ago, his strength is still there. He still averaged 11 points and 13.1 rebounds per game last season, which can barely be regarded as a Clippers.
The third giant of the team.
After two signings, the Clippers' strength has soared and has reached almost the same level as the Nets, making them one of the favorites to win the championship in the new season.
In contrast, last season's favorite to win the championship, the five-star Warriors only renewed the contract of their own star Klay Thompson with a maximum salary. Without Durant, the Warriors only relied on the combination of Curry + Thompson + Green.
, its book strength is already significantly weaker than that of the Nets and Clippers.