The rest is just noise

Chapter 658: Who told me to be a loyal person?

At the end of June, the Knicks held a championship celebration just like last year.

Several players who are about to leave the team, such as Dan Marley, Ronny Sekali, Song Tao, and Joe Klein (contract expired), are all involved.

Marly and Sekali were unhappy. After all, no one wanted to leave a team with a bright future.

But they also know that leaving New York is good for personal development.

The competition within the Knicks is too fierce, and it is not Miller who is blocking Marley, but Ainge and Hornacek.

Seikali is the center substitute that the Knicks desperately need, but after Louis introduced Sam Bowie, losing Seikali is not a big problem.

Time has entered July, and the NBA's free market has officially begun.

The top player in this year's free market is the league's top center, Ralph Sampson. Perhaps, the league's top player is a more suitable title for him.

Although Ewing won the double team, MVP and FMVP last season, this is just like the period from 2015 to 2021. Although James only won two championships, he was regarded by the media as the number one player in the league every season.

Since even the revenue from the cable television broadcast contract will be shared with the players next season, this will cause the salary cap to skyrocket.

The salary cap last season was $8.1 million and will rise to $10.5 million next season.

Moreover, with the Bird Rights, he can definitely sign a salary that exceeds Ewing's highest salary in the league.

Next season, Ewing's salary is US$3.7 million. You must know that since he joined the league, he has ranked first in the league in personal salary for four consecutive seasons.

Given Sampson's strength and status, if the Celtics don't show enough respect and offer him a bigger contract than Ewing, he might really leave.

The Lakers in the West are eyeing him. They understand the philosophy of letting him join them if they can't beat him, and they calculated the salary within the team.

After Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retired, the majority of the Lakers' salaries were Magic, Pippen, and David Robinson, who was about to join the team. The total of these people only amounted to more than 6 million.

Thus, the first offer of the offseason appeared.

The Lakers offered Ralph Sampson the first contract in history worth six years and $30 million.

This is embarrassing for Louis. He originally wanted to help out, but the total salary of their current contract has reached 9.2 million US dollars. Although there is still room, there is absolutely no way to participate in Sampson's bid.

Therefore, I can only eat melon.

Currently, the Celtics have three maximum salaries.

The Bird Rights allow the Celtics to force a contract extension regardless of the salary cap, but the Celtics have always been stingy.

Neither Bird in the past few years nor Sampson in the past two years have received the highest salary in the league.

At this time, the Lakers have invested such a big contract, so they may not really want Sampson to join them.

Just disgusting Celtics.

Louis was convinced that Sampson was already a true Celtic and he did not embarrass the team's situation.

On July 4, Sampson and the Celtics reached an agreement.

He completed the contract extension at a price of 15 million for four years.

In his own words: "The people here love me, and I love it here. I am used to catching Larry's passes, and I like to play pick-and-rolls for Isiah. The most important thing is that I really hope to be a member of the Celtics."

member."

Maybe time has really changed some things, and even places like Boston can open their hands to show love to a black star.

But Louis also believed that the same words would never come from the mouth of Isiah Thomas.

He's not a heartthrob like Sampson.

Perhaps Sampson's popularity made him realize that Boston fans don't like him as much as they like Bird, and it's not a matter of skin color. Louis wonders why he has been willing to stay with the Celtics for so many years. He is really a mystery.

people.

Once Sampson's contract extension ended, there were not many exciting players on the free market.

When the Bulls showed interest in the Bullets' undrafted John Starks, Louis immediately contacted Starks' agent and discussed with the Bullets to use Doug West as Starks.

of signature exchange.

His approach directly led the Bullets to renew Starks' contract.

Unseld was originally hesitant about Starks' crazy game attributes. Louis's interest in him shows that he has great potential. If he doesn't keep such a good player for himself, can he still send it out?

Jerry Krause's first attempt at stealing a chicken failed;

Because the Knicks' roster is full of players, he has no interest in the free market.

Disgusting Klaus became the only thing he had to do now.

When Krause tried to find a tower for them to add depth inside, he targeted free agent Chuk Nevitt, who is 26 meters tall.

Nevitt is a normal 2.26 meter tall man, which means he moves slowly, has a weak lower body, and walks like a zombie. He can play in the NBA just because he is tall. No one would expect him to have a genetic mutation like Sampson.

As soon as Krause contacted his agent, he was told that the Miami Heat had signed Nevitt.

This time, Jerry Krause failed without even trying.

The Bulls' second offseason operation was ruined by Louie.

Later, the Golden State Warriors announced that team forward Reggie Williams was officially a free agent.

Williams immediately piqued the interest of many.

The Lakers, the Celtics, and, of course, Jerry Krause.

Louis was surprised that Nelson didn't want Williams. Although the opponent is very glassy, ​​he is still a good wing player.

The dignified second overall pick was actually abandoned by the home team in just two seasons. This is really rare in any era.

Williams publicly stated that he hopes to join a team that is expected to compete for the championship.

He said so and already had a plan for where he was going.

He secretly texted his senior Ewing and wanted to join New York.

Of course Ewing wanted another Hoya paranoid on the team, so he told Louie of Williams' wish, and then it was Louie's turn to have a headache.

Now that the Knicks roster is full, the only way to sign Williams is through a sign-and-trade.

Louis thought about the good relationship he had failed to achieve with Don Nelson last time.

He called Nelson directly, hoping to use Chucky Brown's signing rights to reach a deal with Reggie Williams.

Is it better to let Williams go for nothing, or to trade Williams for a rookie drafted by Little Lu himself?

There is really no need to hesitate about this kind of thing.

At the strong request of Williams' agent, the Warriors signed Williams to a six-year, $3.4 million contract.

Because Williams is too glassy, ​​if he suffers a serious injury in the Knicks, he may be directly unemployed. Signing a long-term contract is more insurance.

Louis doesn't mind, as long as Williams can play games, this contract is worth everything.

The Knicks quietly completed the signing swap with the Warriors. When the league announced it, Auerbach couldn't help complaining: "Why is he signing so many good players? Doesn't he know that there can be up to 13 players in a game?"

In addition, Tony Campbell announced that he would opt out of his contract and become a free agent.

Klaus comes again.

However, Krause had no chance to communicate with Campbell, so he turned around and signed with the Denver Nuggets.

Krause was so angry that he approached Sidney Moncrief, who was currently a free agent. He almost lost his mind and gave the latter a four-year, 7 million contract. The Bucks did not follow up. Finally,

The bull won.

This is the first signing completed by the Bulls.

Louis didn't intervene because it wasn't necessary.

As long as Moncrief can still play, the Bucks will not let go of this player of team history.

Klaus is now in a critical condition and seeking medical treatment is exactly what Louis wants to see.

For ten days, Louis disrupted five contracts with Klaus.

In the end, Krause went from the draft to the free market with almost nothing.

A dissatisfied Barkley wanted Krause to build him a good team so he could win.

As a result, the bull brought back a group of old, weak, sick and disabled people.

Now Louis finally has the pleasure of revenge. Klaus's work has angered the Chicago media. Everyone is scolding him for being incompetent. Buckley has publicly expressed dissatisfaction, even the boss has been alarmed.

Maybe the countdown to his front-office career with the Bulls has begun, or maybe he will continue to stay in that position.

When almost all the good players in the free market had been signed, Louis called Krause.

"Jerry, I hope my return gift satisfies you." Louison said coldly, "As long as you are the general manager of the Bulls, my return gifts will not stop. How can I be a loyal person?"