Chapter 694: Paul Gets Traded! (First Update!)
The preseason is about to start.
At this time, the Pelicans official announced the news that Stevens had joined the Pelicans.
The two sides signed a 6-year 24 million contract.
The annual salary of 4 million belongs to the absolute upper middle level among the salaries of all coaches.
There are only a few people with higher annual salaries than Popovich, Rivers, Stan Van Gundy, Carlisle, etc., which are higher than Qiansheng coach George Karl and Cavaliers head coach Blatt. one level.
And Popovich, Rivers, and Van Gundy, who hold tens of millions of levels, all also serve as the team's president of operations.
These fully illustrate the importance the Pelicans attach to Stevens.
This also verifies the causal relationship between performance and investment. Although the Pelicans did not win the championship last season, the distance is very close. Benson has no reason not to spend money.
This wave of official announcements also attracted a lot of heated discussions among fans on social media.
"Stevens led the Celtics to the playoffs last season. Mind you, they traded Rondo last season and he played 22 games before leaving;
They also traded away the team's leading scorer, Jeff Green, who played in 33 games;
Their final core is Thomas Jr. who played 21 games at 1.75 meters.
Avery Bradley, Jared Sullinger, Brandon Bass, Tyler Zeller, Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart…
Among these people, you may be most familiar with Bradley, a rookie who has experienced the Celtics Big Three period. This is really a team that has always been a role player, but Stevens led them into the season. Playoffs, and also won two games against the Eastern Eagles.
So when he coaches Tang Tian, Davis, Jokic, Holiday, Ariza, etc., guess what will happen? "
"I'll eat shit if the Pelicans don't win this year! o(≧mouth≦)o"
"Haha, brother, you are setting a flag for yourself. You can't say this! But Stevens is in charge, and the new season of the Pelicans is really exciting!"
"Think about the Warriors, what Cole made that team into, I'm not belittling Cole, but Stevens as a legendary NCAA coach, and referring to his coaching in the Celtics, he is really better than the Celtics. Cole is better!"
"Aren't you exaggerating too much?! But it's so cool for me!"
"Let's start the new season quickly, I can't wait to watch the Warriors and Pelicans play against each other!"
...
Cole's Warriors are a second-rate team, but Stevens' Pelicans are a first-rate team that reached the Western Conference Finals last season.
The expectations of the fans are really revealed between the lines.
However, when the fans were discussing Stevens joining the Pelicans, a news broke by Woj pulled their attention suddenly.
After a long summer of negotiations, the Clippers and Rockets have reached a final deal!
And in this deal, the Grizzlies will participate as a third party.
The specific transaction plan of the three parties is as follows:
Rockets trade Chandler Parsons, Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, three future unprotected first-round picks, one future second-round pick to Paul and Chris Anderson;
Clippers send Paul, get Beverley, Lou Williams, Decker, Lance Stephenson, 3 unprotected first rounds from Rockets, 2 lottery protected first rounds from Grizzlies ;
The Grizzlies traded Lance Stephenson, Chris Anderson, two lottery-protected first-round picks for Chandler Parsons and a future second-round pick from the Rockets.
The deal caused shock in the league.
The Grizzlies strengthened their always weak third position through this transaction.
Although Parsons did not make the All-Star, he is also a close player, and their strength will go further in the new season;
The Clippers also got their best return when they couldn't keep Paul.
Beverley can be the starting point guard, Williams is the bench gangster, and young rookie Decker, of course, the most important thing is 5 first rounds!
They got the future and kept the team's competitiveness.
Of course, these are still within the acceptable range.
What really shocked them was the Rockets. They got Chris Paul, the league's number one point guard!
Plus Harden, who was fourth in the MVP rankings last season, and Cousins, the top three center in the league.
The strength of the Big Three is the closest to the existence of the Big Three of the Heat!
And they also left the big man Capela who performed well last season in the transaction!
And this season they also invited the famous coach D'Antoni!
"Please call God Mo Lei, his operation this summer is simply superb!"
"No amount of words can describe Morey's magic. I am really convinced. I think this is the strongest lineup in the history of the Rockets!"
"This new season is more fun, Warriors, Pelicans, Spurs, Rockets, is this not giving other teams in the West a way out? Oh, by the way, there are also Grizzlies, Clippers, Mavericks, tsk tsk, The other teams don’t need to play, let’s play badly in place!”
"And the Thunder." A statement from a Godfather fan.
"Yes, there is also the Trail Blazers. It's over, there are nine teams..."
"This is destined to be a crazy season!"
"As a Lakers fan, I am trembling, what should I do?"
"There is no other way, I can only eat cold salad. These nine teams have to fight for eight spots. The remaining teams really can only eat cold salad."
"I feel sorry for my department."
...
Tang Tian was also very surprised when he saw the news.
Even this ratio operation is not at all Morey-esque.
You must know that although the Rockets kept Capela, the Beverly, Louis Williams, and Parsons sent out are all important.
And more importantly, they also sent 3 first rounds and 1 second round, and got Anderson's garbage contract.
This is a big gamble that overdraws the future and locks up the present.
But thinking about it, it seems worth it.
The Rockets have been up and down for many years, and Harden's growth into a super giant is their best opportunity since the Yao Mai period.
But because Harden played for the Thunder for 3 years and is a relatively old super giant, they can't afford to delay.
In fact, the moment they got Cousins, they became the only way apart from forming the Big Three.
And to be honest, role players such as Beverly and Williams can be found slowly, but the Big Three may only have one chance.
Just in this way, the Pelicans have one more main competitor in the new season.
However, the more Tang Tian thought about it, the more excited he became. After a crazy season, the team that broke out from the Western Conference and won the championship in the end, the gold content is definitely leveraged.
It is no exaggeration to say that the gold content of this one championship can even surpass the two in ordinary seasons.
It's really exciting to compete for such a championship!
Thanks to Xi_ren, Xingfeng Xiaoye, and Zhuchuancan for their rewards.