Although Willow exercised his $4.03 million player option for next season, the Clippers did not intend to keep him, but instead looked for an opportunity to trade him. At the same time, Hayes also revealed that if the Clippers are not able to send Willow away, they will cut him before the start of the new season. This is the cruelty of the NBA, in addition to human affection, it is more about whether the star's combat power can help the team play a better record.
Admittedly, the Clippers were able to get Wei Shao last year, and George's inseparable, the two used to work together with the Thunder. This is one of the few favors in the NBA, just like the Mavericks still keep the average Morris in the lineup in order to stabilize Irving's mentality. But now that George has left the Clippers, it's only natural that his brother Will Shao can't stay. In addition, the Clippers management did not offer George a super long-term contract with a maximum salary, and the core reason is that George did not play as top-notch as Leonard in the playoffs in the '23-24 season.
Of course, Wei Shao, who was not in his prime, is not without team interest, and Shams reports that the Nuggets are considering bringing in Wei Shao, and the two sides are mutually beneficial.
After joining the Clippers, Wei Shao played in a total of 89 games, including 32 starts, 57 off the bench, averaging 12.2 points, 5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, and played 11 games in the playoffs, including 5 starts, averaging 14.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. Judging from the data, Wei Shao is still a good substitute player, and he can still play the role of a catfish as a member of the bench.
What should the 35-year-old Wei Shao do?
In the past, Wei Shao was a young man who was high-spirited and majestic, and he never felt tired running back and forth on the court, like a horse on the grassland, which was really enviable.
Even though he has entered the late stages of his career, Ke Wei Shao's heart is still wild, and he needs a piece of land to release the horse in his heart. And the Denver Plateau, where the Nuggets team is located, can let the young master's wildness unleash, because Jokic has a mind like the sea and a character as soft as water.
In addition to a strong starting lineup, the Nuggets in the championship season have a jack-of-all-trades like Brown on the bench, which brings a steady stream of vitality to the team in the transition period. And in the 23-24 season, the Nuggets were eliminated by the Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals in large part because there was no one available on the bench and no one to bring energy to the team when they needed it like Brown. Obviously, the current Wei Shao can play the role of Brown in the past, and the energy in his body is enough to take on the heavy responsibility of the sixth man, making the bench more energetic and full of fighting spirit.
You may be worried about Wei Shao's hot-headed scene in the game, but that's the old man; Wei Shao has played for six teams in the past seven seasons, which can be described as a displacement, and even a little like a bull that has been hammered. Moreover, the leaders of the Clippers are not good at communication, but Jokic is a star with high emotional intelligence, who can fully accommodate Wei Shao's incompleteness, and can communicate in a way that is acceptable to his teammates, and I believe that Wei Shao's hot-headed moments will slowly decrease.
Whether it's the Raptors, Bucks, or Nuggets, the strength of the team will decline with the loss of players after winning the championship, and this is the status quo that the small ball market must face - after the role players win the championship, they naturally have to strike while the iron is hot and chase a contract with a higher annual salary.
If the Nuggets want to rise again, in addition to using players like Wei Shao, on the premise of not attracting big-name stars, they must more often tap the potential of players from the inside, so as to keep the team prosperous while Jokic is healthy.