Hello friends who follow the NBA! On the second day of free agency, teams are busy reinforcing each other. Although James came forward to recruit Klay and the Lakers gave more, Klay still chose to join the Mavericks, which is the second year in a row that the Lakers have been cut off by the Mavericks when they introduced star players, the last one was Irving. Relatively speaking, the four major teams of the Lakers, Warriors, Suns, and Clippers have not had much reinforcement in the past two days. Fans ridiculed that the Warriors collect shorties, the Lakers collect old men, and the Clippers collect problem teenagers. Let's take a look at the operation of these 4 teams.
1. Lakers
Contracted:
According to ESPN's Woj, 21-year-old Max Christie intends to sign a four-year, $32 million contract extension with the Lakers to stay in Los Angeles, and the Lakers plan to make Christie a rotation player next season.
Players who are interested in bringing in and who are likely to leave:
Russell opted to exercise the player option to stay with the Lakers, but the Lakers are seeking to trade him. In fact, Russell's overall performance last season was still good, and he had many performances of hitting multiple three-pointers in a single game, and it was only 18 million, which was really not expensive. On the contrary, Reaves, who was regarded as a treasure by the Lakers management, could not be said to have performed well last season.
According to Yahoo Fame's Jake Fischer, the Lakers could send Russell to a third-party team to get DeRozan.
According to Lakers reporters, the Nets were interested in Russell before the trade deadline and are now willing to work with Russell again.
James released rumors of a salary cut, targeting Harden, Klay, and Wallan, but Harden stayed with the Clippers, Wallan signed with the Wizards, Klay went to the Mavericks, including the Lakers' favorite Murray went to the Pelicans, and Paul signed with the Spurs.
At present, it seems that James is likely to sign with the Lakers with the highest salary, because James wants to let the Lakers introduce star players through salary cuts, and the Lakers are not effective in recruiting them, so James naturally has no need to reduce his salary.
On the issue of bringing in Klay, the Lakers made an offer of 80 million for Klay over four years, and wanted to exchange Russell and the Warriors for Klay, but this plan was rejected by the Warriors. Klay then opted for the Mavericks' three-year, $50 million offer, citing the fact that Texas has less taxes and that the Mavericks are closer to a championship.
So far, the Lakers' biggest offseason move has been to swap Ham for Redick and then select Bronny, getting nothing in terms of reinforcements. The Lakers have made initial contact with DeRozan, and this is the most likely reinforcement for the Lakers to bring in.
In addition, according to Wen Fat, the Lakers are focused on developing young players, and James wants to be strong, and he still wants to catch up with Jordan in the number of championships. So far, the Lakers and James have not shown the same priorities.
2. Brave Warrior
Contracted:
According to Shams, guard Melton plans to join the Warriors for 12.8 million in one year. It is worth mentioning that Melton is a Zhan Hei.
Left:
Haynes of The Athletic reports that free agent Paul signed with the Spurs for one year, $11 million.
According to Warriors reporter Monte Poole, the Warriors traded Klay for a second-round pick to the bottom of the 2025 Nuggets and 76ers and a second-round pick to the Mavericks in 2031.
Warriors fan comment: In the last year, we traded Jordan Poole and Klay Thompson for two second-round picks and a trade exception.
Last summer, the Warriors exchanged assets such as Poole + first-round + Baldwin for Paul, and Paul left as a free agent this summer, and the Warriors changed air. The Warriors then traded Klay for two packets of chips.
In fact, the Warriors' purpose is clear, and that is to reduce expenses. Cutting Paul without paying wages will reduce the salary space by 30 million at once, and Klay will also significantly reduce the team's salary in exchange for a draft pick.
Players to be introduced:
According to Brian Windhorst, some team executives believe the Jazz are likely to trade Markkanen, with both the Spurs and Warriors interested in Markkanen.
Focusing on Klay's situation, I think the Warriors have done their best and really don't owe Klay.
Marc Stein said: Before last season, the Warriors offered Klay a two-year, $48 million contract extension, but he turned it down. It is said that a few months after Dream signed a four-year, $100 million contract extension with the Warriors, Klay felt that the contract was not respected.
The Warriors don't owe Klay, they've paid Klay what he deserves. In 2019, the Warriors extended Klay's contract early with a five-year, $190 million contract extension amid an injury, but Klay missed two full seasons due to a torn cruciate ligament and an Achilles tendon injury.
According to Stein's follow-up report, the Warriors created a trade exception of less than 16 million through the Klay trade, which can be used for more operations in the future. There will definitely be a follow-up operation for the Warriors, but the Warriors' dynasty is really over.
Former NBA player Jennings said on the show: The Warriors dynasty ended since Dream Boxing Poole came to an end, which cost the team dearly, and they have been in poor form ever since.
3. The sun
Contracted:
According to Woj, full free agent Royce O'Neal plans to return to the Suns on a four-year, $44 million contract.
According to Woj, sources have revealed that free agent Bol Bol plans to return to the Suns on a one-year contract.
Suns reporter Gerald Bourguet reported that Plumlee joined the Suns for $3.3 million a year.
Suns guard Damion Lee has turned down a $2.85 million player option for next season, but he expects Damion Lee to return to the Suns, where he can renew his contract with a slightly higher base salary after opting not to exercise the player option.
Free agent guard Colin Gillespie has agreed to sign a two-way contract with the Suns, according to Woj.
Players to be introduced:
According to reports, the Suns are not interested in Payne and Bullock, and are interested in Dunn, Monte Morris and Lowry, with Dunn being the Suns' first choice, but Dunn has signed with the Clippers.
The general manager of the Suns has been relatively idle this offseason, because the Suns' salary space is full of the Big Three, and there are no draft picks, which can be said to be a pool of backwater. All they could do was fire Vogel and bring in Budenholzer. Then pick up the leaks in the free market, and basically the same team will compete in the new season.
4. Clippers
Contracted:
According to Shams of The Athletic, Harden plans to sign the Clippers to a two-year, $70 million contract extension with a player option for the second year, which is fully guaranteed.
According to Yahoo Sports reporter Jake Fischer, the Clippers are expected to reach a contract extension with center Zubac, sources said.
According to Shams of The Athletic, free agent Derrick Jones Jr. signed with the Clippers for 3 years and 30 million.
Batum returns to the Clippers on a two-year, $9.6 million contract, according to a new report from Woj.
Free agent Mohammed Bamba signed to the Clippers on a one-year contract, which is a base salary contract, according to Woj of The Athletic.
Free agent Chris Dunn has joined the Clippers, according to Haynes of The Athletic.
According to Shams of The Athletic, 24-year-old guard Kevin Porter Jr. joins the Clippers on a two-year contract with a player option for the second year, which is a fully guaranteed base salary contract. With the addition of Kay Jones and Primo before them, the Clippers have three problem teenagers.
Left and will leave:
George decided not to exercise his $48.79 million player option for the 2024-25 season to enter the free agent market. Then after a day of waiting, George signed a four-year, $210 million super-cap contract with the 76ers.
The 76ers sent Harden to the Clippers at the end of October last year, getting Morris Jr. + Batum + Covington + Kenyon Martin Jr. and the Clippers' 2028 first-round pick + 2 second-round picks + 2029 draft pick swap rights + 1 first-round pick from a third party. And just eight months later, with the Clippers still reluctant to offer a four-year contract, the 76ers managed to get George.
To sum up, the 76ers traded George + Morris Jr. + Batum + Covington + Kenyon Martin Jr. + 2 first round + 2 second rounds.
Because the Clippers offered George a 3-year non-maximum salary contract, plus George didn't know about the contract extension of the small card in advance, he and the fans knew it at the same time, so he felt that he was not respected, so he chose to leave the Clippers, and of course the 76ers also gave him the contract he wanted.
George's departure means that the Cajun combination is officially dissolved, George and Jr. earned a total of 368 million during the five years that the Clippers teamed up, but only won 13 playoff games.
Will Shoin also leave the Clippers. Although Willis exercised his 4 million player option, the Clippers have been looking to trade him, and even if the trade doesn't go away, they will cut him. At present, it is more likely that Wei Shao will go to the Nuggets, Jokic likes Wei Shao very much, and Wei Shao is also willing to play for the Nuggets.
In the same situation as Westbrook, Tucker also chose to exercise his $11.5 million player option, and the Clippers also want to trade him, but it is estimated that there is no market.
The salary caps for the new season are as follows:
salary cap – $140.588 million;
Poor ghost line - $126.529 million;
luxury tax line – $170.814 million;
The first tyrant line (hard cap) - $178.132 million
The second local tyrant line is $188.931 million.
After two days of operation, collective bargaining agreement expert Marks calculates that this is the first time since the start of the 2019-20 season that the Warriors and Clippers are below the luxury tax threshold at the same time.
The two teams have paid a total of $951 million in luxury tax fines in the last four seasons (starting from the 2020-21 season), including $371 million for the Clippers and $579 million for the Warriors.
Fan comment: The Warriors have won the championship in 22 years, and at the same time, the luxury tax is mostly paid for the championship in 17 and 18, and the Clippers are really not worth it.
At present, the Lakers and Warriors should have follow-up trades, the Suns are unlikely to make big moves, and the Clippers will not make any moves except to send away Willis and Tucker. Overall, the Warriors had the best operation, followed by the Clippers, the Lakers third, and the Suns last. Both the Warriors and the Clippers chose to reduce expenses, James wanted to win the championship but the Lakers failed to recruit enough, and the Suns locked themselves up and couldn't move.
#乔治#