On June 18, 2004, Kobe Bryant announced that he would jump out of the contract and become a free agent, and then the next day the media broke the news that O'Neal forced the management of the palace to ask the Lakers to renew the contract in advance, when the NBA salary cap was only 43.87 million US dollars, theoretically the Lakers used the Bird clause to still have the opportunity to sign the two at the same time, of course, the price was close to 10 million US dollars in luxury tax, when the Knicks luxury tax was 39.9 million, the Mavericks 25 million, the Trail Blazers 28.9 million, the Timberwolves 17.6 million, and the Kings 13.1 million, Obviously, the Lakers owner did not have such courage, and finally on July 14, the Lakers sent O'Neal to the Heat, and then signed Kobe Bryant with a maximum salary of $136 million for 7 years on July 15!
Under the dual stimulation of internal and external, Kobe Bryant took the initiative to apply for a deal in 07!
Kobe Bryant was only 26 years old when the OK combination broke down in 04, when he was arrogant and in the prime of life, but he led the team to be repeatedly frustrated, but the "opponent" O'Neal won another championship in Miami, plus O'Neal's big mouth kept criticizing in front of the media, for example, O'Neal's remarks that he could win the championship with a guard came from that period, and it is conceivable what Kobe Bryant's mood would be when he heard this.
In those two years, the Heat O'Neal and the Lakers Kobe Bryant went toe-to-toe on and off the court
External O'Neal kept stimulating, and the internal Lakers management did not give enough support, from 04 to 07, the Lakers made a total of three transactions in addition to the draft, the first was to send Karim Rush in December 04 in exchange for two second-round picks, Rush averaged 0.9 points and 0.7 rebounds per game as a Kobe Bryant bench in the Lakers, and as a result, after trading to the Bobcats, he quickly scored 11.5 points and 38.6% three-point shooting, and one of the draft picks in exchange for selected a guy named Vaughan Weaver, Weaver had 1.3 points and 0.3 assists with the Lakers, and then joined the Rockets with 9.7 points and 1.8 rebounds to get the title of Wetter King.
After Maddie's injury, the Rockets once relied on Wei Bat King to carry the outside flag
The second deal was in August '05 with Butler and Atkins in exchange for Kwame Brown. In the 04-05 season, Butler played 15.5 points and 5.8 rebounds, when Butler was facing a contract extension in his third year, when Butler asked for $50 million for five years, and after the trade, Butler and the Wizards signed five years and 46 million, when the Lakers did not have O'Neal, but in the 06 and 07 seasons, they had to pay Bryan Grant a buyout fee of $14.34 million and $14.85 million, plus Odom 11.47 million, so the salary pressure is still very tight, and trading Butler in addition to strengthening the interior line, avoiding luxury tax is also one of the reasons.
The third trade was the signing of free agent Rademanovic in '06, and in July '06, the Lakers and Rademanovic agreed to a five-year, 31 million contract, which was the only pure reinforcement deal for the Lakers.
The kind qualities of the Chinese influenced Yao Ming's choice
Of course, the Lakers management is not not working hard, in 05 Yao Ming and the Rockets renewed their contract was once on hold, the Rockets hoped to renew Yao Ming for 3 years and 30 million, the Lakers management immediately contacted Yao Ming to send the top salary after hearing the news, and finally the Rockets also sent the top salary Yao Ming still stayed in Houston, at that time Phil Jackson also lamented why Yao Ming refused Kobe Bryant refused to win the championship!
After Kobe Bryant requested a trade in '07, what chips did the Cavaliers, Pistons, Mavericks, and Bulls give?
First of all, the unreliable Cavaliers, the Cavaliers gave an offer of Larry Hughes, Damon Jones, Gibson and the 09 first-round pick, the salary can be matched, but these are not attractive to the Lakers, and then the Cavaliers said that the whole team is up to the Lakers except James, and the Lakers' idea is that Kobe Bryant and James are swapped one-on-one, so the two sides naturally cannot reach an agreement.
Assuming that Kobe Bryant and James swapped in 07, can James partner Gasol win two consecutive championships
The second is the Dallas Mavericks, the chips sent by the Mavericks are Josh Howard, Devin Harris, Diop, Crohill and two first-round picks, after the deal is completed, the Mavericks will form a trident combination like Kobe Jason Terry Nowitzki, Howard and Harris have some potential, but the Lakers don't want Kobe to lead another Western team to rise, so in the end, it ended up in nothing, and then the Mavericks exchanged Harris, Diop, Hassel, Van Horne and others for the Nets Jason Kidd, Three years later, they won the championship as well.
followed by the Detroit Pistons, the Pistons were full of sincerity at the time, for example, Rockets fans should remember that the Pistons wanted to trade Billups for Maddy at that time, but the Rockets had too much appetite and hoped that the Pistons would add Hamilton and the deal fell through, and the follow-up Pistons used Billups and McDyce to trade Iverson from the Nuggets in a declining period, Maddy and Iverson are already such chips, can you imagine Kobe? However, the Lakers were satisfied with this deal but were unwilling to do so, after all, after Billups and Hamilton left, Kobe Bryant was also alone in the past, and the three parties failed to achieve a balance during many communications.
The Rockets were missing the No. 2 spot at the time, and Hamilton was needed even more
Finally, the Chicago Bulls, the Bulls tried to win Kobe Bryant in 04, and the Bulls' offer in 07 was Ben Gordon, Noah, Thomas and two first-rounders, so that after the deal was reached, Kobe still had reliable teammates such as Rohr Deng, Hinrich, Duhon, Nocioni and Ben Wallace, but the Lakers were not very satisfied, they asked the Bulls to add Rohr Deng to the deal, and the Bulls' concession was Thomas for Nocioni, and the final deal between the two sides was not reached!
Kobe Bryant and Garnett, two defensive gates on the outside and inside
Of course, there is also the Lakers' deal with the Timberwolves, but the deal did not enter the negotiation stage, in the summer of 07 Garnett also tried to leave the team to compete for the championship, it is said that Garnett called Kobe Bryant for the first time after the free market opened, but Kobe Bryant has not answered the reason for the time difference in Europe, during that time the media predicted a series of Lakers with Bynum, Grant, Radmanovich, Vujacic and other chips to trade Garnett's assumptions, Gasol can do everything Garnett can do, And Garnett's addition also means that there will no longer be a big three in the league, so that the Lakers are likely to win three consecutive championships, but such a deal was ruined because of a phone call!