Officially signed! $125 million for 1 year! The NBA's most expensive double giant is born
On October 24, Beijing time, Brother Alphabet himself announced that he had officially renewed his contract with the Bucks. According to ESPN, Alphabet and Bucks signed a three-year, $186 million early contract extension. After the signing, Alphabet Brother's contract was extended to 5 years for a total of $280 million, with the 2027-28 season being a player option.
It is worth mentioning that when Alphabet Brother completed the contract, there were less than 5 hours before the deadline for the renewal of the top salary, which was a pressing whistle! Although Alphabet Brother's own contract did not break the NBA record (Jaylen Brown's 5-year 304 million), Alphabet Brother and Lillard became the first pair of NBA duo with an annual salary of more than 60 million!
Alphabet brother's salary for the next five years: 2023-24 season, $45.64 million; 2024-25 season, 48.79 million; 2025-26 season, 57.6 million; 2026-27 season, 62.21 million; 2027-28 season, 66.82 million (player option). If the contract jumps out in the summer of 2027, Alphabet Brother will be under 33 years old by then.
Look at Lillard's salary for the next four years: $45.64 million for the 2023-24 season; 2024-25 season, 48.79 million; 2025-26 season, 58.54 million; 2026-27 season, 63.23 million. In other words, by the 2026-27 season, the combined salaries of Alphabet Brother and Lillard will exceed $125 million!
You should remember that this summer, Alphabet Brother has been pressing the Bucks, and in August publicly stated that he did not want to renew his contract early: "I hope everyone on the team is on the same front, working hard for the championship, and can sacrifice time with my family like me!" If I didn't feel that way, I wouldn't have signed it! ”
With Lillard joining the Bucks, Brother Alphabet's attitude changed 180 degrees and agreed to renew his contract with the team early! In a recent interview, Alphabet Brother said that he did not know about the big deal: "I really don't know the content of the transaction, because Holladay is my brother, and I don't want to be involved!" I was working out at the gym when the deal happened. ”
Review that big deal! Bucks get: Lillard; The Blazers get: Holladay, Ayton, Kamala, 2029 first-round swap (from the Bucks), 2028 and 2030 first-round swaps (from the Bucks); Suns get: Nurkic, Little Tel, Grayson Allen, Keane Johnson! Bucks is equivalent to 5 for 1!
Then the Blazers sent Holladay to the Celtics, of course, that's all for later. Some fans are looking forward to meeting the Green Army and Bucks in the playoffs next season to test who is more suitable for Holladay and Lillard! From the Bucks' point of view, in order to keep the alphabet brother, they can only trade, regardless of the outcome...
Some fans will be curious: Lillard designated the next home is the Heat, how did he go to the Bucks in the end? Lillard himself revealed that after applying for a trade himself, it turned into a personal feud with Blazers general manager Croning. In late September, Lillard gave up the idea of going to the Heat to attend Blazers training camp, but Cronin declined.
On September 28, the Blazers sent Lillard to the Bucks. We always said it was good to get together and disperse, but the Blazers and Lillard broke up. In the 2022-23 season, Lillard played only 58 regular-season games due to injury, averaging 32.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 0.9 steals per game, shooting 46.3%, 37.1% and 91.4% from the field.
In the 2022-23 season, Alphabet played in 63 regular-season games for the Bucks, averaging 31.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks per game, shooting 55.3%, 27.5% and 64.5% from three-point range. In this year's playoffs, Alphabet didn't make a single three-pointer, and his free throw percentage fell to 45.2%. His projection ability is indeed a problem...
The Bleachers (BR) discharged the NBA's strongest double in the new season, Jokic + Murray, ranked first; Alphabet brother + Lillard, ranked second; Durant + Booker, third; James + thick eyebrows, fourth. NBACentral did not agree, asking netizens: Lakers and Bucks, whose double giant is stronger? What do you think?