2 years 24 million renewal! The luxury tax is going to explode! His billion-dollar contract was lost by the league's first hit?

According to ESPN, the Clippers and Covington Generals reached a contract extension for $24 million for 2 years.

Covington's last contract was signed in Philadelphia in 2017, 46.88 million, effective from 2018, and the salary for this season is 12.42 million, which ends just this summer.

We can compare the performance of Covington's two signing nodes: in 2017, he played 67 starts in Philadelphia, averaged 31.7 minutes per game, had 12.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.9 steals and 1 block, shooting 39.9% from the field and 33.3% from three-point range.

It can be seen that Covington of that year, called 3D, actually mainly rely on defense, three points in general, so what about this year?

This year Covington played 71 games, including 42 starts, 29 bench games, and 21 of them after coming to the Clippers. He averaged 27.3 minutes per game, 8.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.3 blocks, 42 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from three-point range.

With playing time and shots slipping, Covington's efficiency improvement doesn't seem like much, but it's mainly because he dragged his feet back in the Blazers' performance in the first half of the season.

Coming to the Clippers, Covington's bench can get 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds, shooting and three-point shooting to 50% and 45% respectively!

It can be seen that after switching to the bench, his performance has improved significantly, and the atmosphere of the Clippers' team defense has also made him more comfortable. It's worth mentioning that Covington is the only player in the league this season to have completed at least 90 steals and 90 blocks.

Long before the end of the season, Covington had said he was willing to return to the Clippers to play, and now he has made good on his promise. Covington's stay keeps the Clippers' forward lineup still in the main structure, and when Leonard and George return healthy next season, they will still be a championship-level team.

Considering various factors, Covington's 2-year 24 million contract is very cost-effective - the price of the main 3D player this year is at least 15-18 million, and the age is just locked in 2024 with George Leonard's contract.

Probably the only problem is the luxury tax, which the Clippers rose from 17.8 million to 54.9 million after Covington signed, according to salary expert Bobby Max. So it seems that 12 million signed Covington, but in fact 37.1 million in taxes were paid.

Of course, 37.1 million is just a sprinkler for Ballmer, but 5490 is not the end of the Clippers luxury tax, but only a starting point.

Because even if Covington returns, the Clippers have only 11 people in the lineup, and even if You add Kofi and Skubu, who have the team options, they will only have 13 people, and there are no Batum and Hatten in those 13 people.

Batum's contract also has a final-year player option, but only $3.33 million, and with Batum's performance this season, he can completely jump out of the contract to sign a middle class, so whether he will execute his own player option is a question.

Without Batum as an adhesive, the Clippers' forward lineup could be uncomfortable. But if Batum is given a mid-class of about 9 million, the Clippers' total salary will exceed 180 million, which will bring a huge luxury tax.

But even so, the Clippers are only 14 people, one is still one away from the 15-man roster, so should Harten stay? Not to mention that Hatten has really played well this season, let's say that he left who gave Zubac a substitute?

Although Ballmer has money, the money is not blown by the wind, so it is very likely to optimize the lineup, in fact, the contract of little Morris can be managed to deal with it. He's paid around $17 million for the next two years, and his main function is singles on the offensive end, with Leonard and George back, with both of them on the back, and the defensive end being made up by Covington.

If you can exchange Xiao Mo for something back, and then deal with it, you can avoid a big wave of taxes. Of course, if Ballmer didn't care about this little bit of money, when I didn't say anything.

Having said that the signing was successful, let's talk about a player who may encounter resistance to signing a contract, Jaylen Bronson of the Lone Ranger.

Bronson played extremely well in the first round against the Jazz, averaging 27.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4 assists per game, shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 36.3 percent from three-point range. And he also led the Lone Rangers to a 2-1 lead over the Jazz in Doncic's absence of the first three games.

It is also in this case that the US media generally believes that Bronson can get a contract with an annual salary of 20 million yuan this summer.

But when the Suns were encountered in the second round, the Lone Ranger had no way to fight back, and Bronson also lost the magic of the first round, only 13 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists on 6 of 16 in the first game, and only 3, 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in the second game.

So there's another voice that says Bronson's 5-year billion contract was cut in half by the Suns, so why is that?

The first is because the Jazz don't have a defender to play against Bronson: Mitchell has poor defensive habits, Conley is old, Bojan and O'Neal are both forward defenders, and Bronson is a fast and strong little guard type, so no one in the Jazz can catch him.

The Suns are different, Coach Monty put Booker directly in front of Bronson, and Booker's defense has improved a lot in the past two years. Booker is 196 cm taller than Bronson and not slower than him, and the confrontation is not a loss, while Booker is willing to give him some mid-range shots, And bronson's best breakthrough is not enough, he is very uncomfortable.

Secondly, the Suns' overall defensive coordination and jazz are not a level, Bronson wants to break through Booker, there are forwards on both sides, and there is Ayton on the inside. Instead of being like the Jazz, everyone swept the snow in front of the door, and the inside line exhausted Gobert could not make up for it.

Third, after the first round, Bronson's excellent performance must have attracted the attention of the sun, and it was not so easy for him to listen to the thunder in the silence.

In fact, this may be a good thing for the Lone Ranger, this year's lineup of the Lone Ranger is not prepared for the championship, and it is already completed to reach the Western Half. Even if Bronson plays well and doesn't have an inside line to support them, it's hard for them to beat the sun.

But in that case, they'd be hard to keep Bronson, and now the two sides may be able to sit down and have a good talk.

Thanks for reading it all!