According to a report from ESPN, Major Will will exercise his 4 million player option to stay with the Clippers next season.
Then TA Clippers reporter Law Murray followed up with a report that sources revealed that although Willis exercised the player option, it is uncertain whether he will eventually appear on the Clippers' roster for the new season, and there are still some negotiations between the two sides in the pipeline.
For Wei Shao, this summer is likely to be a long one.
Let's talk about the player option first, the reason why Wei Shao did this is not necessarily because he wants to stay with the Clippers, but more out of helplessness, and to put it mildly, he expected that he would be cold in the free market this year.
Here are two examples to consider.
One is Reggie Jackson, Reggie bought out with the Pistons in the 19-20 season, and then joined the Clippers with a base salary, and then in the 2020 offseason, he and the Clippers renewed his contract for one year with an initial salary, and then the next year, that is, in the 2021 offseason, after playing for two years to meet the early bird, Reggie signed a two-year 21.6 million contract with the Clippers;
The other is Batum, Batum joined the Clippers with a base salary in the 2020 offseason, and in the next 2021 offseason, due to the limited salary space of the Clippers, Batum can only sign a 1+1 base salary, and in the 2022 offseason, after also meeting the early bird, he also signed a two-year 22 million contract with the Clippers.
On the other hand, Wei Shao, Wei Shao bought out with the Jazz in the 2022-23 season, and then joined the Clippers, last season also had limited salary space and playing time, and he only renewed his contract with the Clippers for 1+1 base salary;
Originally, Wei Shao's plan was to wait until this year to meet the early bird, and then, like Reggie and Batum, signed a 10 million contract with the Clippers, but unfortunately, the result was not satisfactory.
And if you want to talk about the reason, it is nothing more than a lack of ability.
Last season, Wei Shao played a total of 68 games for the Clippers, including 11 off the bench, averaging 22.5 minutes per game, scoring 11.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists, looking at the data is very good, but Wei Shao's efficiency is not good, the three-point shooting rate is only 45.4%/27.3%/68.8%, and the true shooting rate is only 51.4%.
If you remember, the reason why the Clippers were able to take off in the middle of last season was because they started off the bench, and both he and Harden needed to hold the ball, and Tyronn Lue sometimes even dismantled the two and didn't let them play together.
In the playoffs, Wei Shao's performance was even worse, in the first round against the Mavericks, he only averaged 19 minutes of playing time per game, and his statistics fell to 6.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists, shooting 26.0%/23.5%/61.5% from three, and his true shooting percentage was as low as 34.1%.
Wei Shao's advantages are obvious, his impact is very strong, he is good at pushing and converting, and he plays with passion, but his shortcomings are more obvious than his advantages, he needs the ball, he makes many mistakes, he is easy to get on the head, and the most lethal point is that he can't play without the ball at all without shooting.
is also because he can't shoot, Wei Shao has been empty by opponents countless times on the court, and Wei Shao has been infinitely targeted in the series against the Mavericks - Kidd is the best at doing this kind of thing, so that in the last two games of the series, Tyronn Lue only gave Wei Shao 16 minutes and 9 minutes of playing time respectively, and Wei Shao did not disappoint Kidd, with a total of 4 of 18 and 4 of 4 three-pointers in the two games, adding up to only 12 points.
At the age of 35, it is actually very rare for Wei Shao to maintain this kind of physical condition, explosiveness, and speed, and occasionally seeing his breakthroughs and dunks still makes people's blood boil, but today's league has entered an era where it is impossible to survive if you can't shoot, not to mention veterans, even young players;
For example, Giddey of the Thunder, who is only 21 years old, is a tall point guard and has All-Star potential, but also in the series against the Mavericks, Giddey's shortcomings of not shooting were magnified by Kidd, and then in the offseason, the Thunder was sent to the Bulls by the Thunder and exchanged for Caruso.
Back at Westbrook, as we've said, he exercised the player option more because he didn't expect to do well in free agency and had to stay with the Clippers, but it's hard to say if he will be able to wear a Clippers jersey at the start of next season.
On the one hand, Wei Shao may not be willing to stay with the Clippers, especially if Harden renews his contract with the Clippers, as Harden's backup, his playing time will be very limited, and he will not be able to play his own style at all;
On the other hand, the Clippers don't seem to particularly want him to return, after all, Wei Shao is a 75 superstar and a future Hall of Fame, even if he has a base salary, it is impossible not to give him a chance to play.
It's just embarrassing that there is no team in the league right now? A 35-year-old veteran who needs the ball and doesn't shoot, even if he has won many honors, when he can't help the team, he will face a situation where no one wants him - Wei Shao has a total of 199 triple-doubles in his career so far, and in the future, can he see his 200th triple-double?