Chapter 34 The Ripple Effect

The preseason was about to begin.

And at that time, the Pelicans officially announced Stevens's joining the team.

The two sides signed a 6-year, $24 million contract.

An annual salary of $4 million was absolutely above average among all coaches.

Currently, only Popovich, Rivers, Stan Van Gundy, Carlisle, and a handful of others earned more, even exceeding the salaries of thousand-win coach George Karl and Cavaliers head coach Blatt, placing him on par with Kerr.

However, Popovich, Rivers, and Van Gundy, who earned tens of millions, also served as the team's president of operations.

This fully demonstrated the Pelicans' emphasis on Stevens.

It also validated the cause-and-effect relationship of performance driving investment; although the Pelicans didn't win the championship last season, they came close, and Benson had no reason not to invest.

The official announcement also sparked a wave of heated discussions among fans on social media.

"Stevens led the Celtics to the playoffs last season. Note that they traded Rondo last season, who played 22 games before leaving;

They also traded their leading scorer, Jeff Green, who played 33 games;

Their final core was Isaiah Thomas, who played 21 games and was 1.75 meters tall.

Avery Bradley, Jared Sullinger, Brandon Bass, Tyler Zeller, Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart...

Among these people, the most familiar to you may be Bradley, who experienced the Celtics' Big Three era as a rookie. This was truly a team mainly composed of role players, but Stevens led them to the playoffs and even won two games against the top-seeded Hawks in the East.

So when he coaches the likes of Tang Tian, ​​Davis, Jokic, Holiday, and Ariza, what do you think will happen?"

"If the Pelicans don't win the championship this year, I'll eat shit! o(≧口≦)o"

"Haha, brother, you're setting a flag for yourself, you can't say that! But with Stevens joining, the Pelicans are really something to look forward to in the new season!"

"Think about the Warriors, what Kerr turned that team into. I'm not belittling Kerr, but Stevens, as an NCAA legendary coach, and considering his coaching in the Celtics, he's really better than Kerr!"

"You guys are overhyping it, aren't you?! But I'm enjoying the hype so much!"

"Let the new season start soon, I can't wait to see the Warriors and Pelicans play each other!"

……

Kerr joining the Warriors turned them into a second-tier strong team, but Stevens joining the Pelicans turned them into a first-tier strong team that made it to the Western Conference Finals last season.

The fans' anticipation was truly revealed between the lines.

However, just as fans were discussing Stevens joining the Pelicans, a piece of news that Woj dropped abruptly pulled their attention away.

After a long summer of negotiations, the Clippers and Rockets reached a final trade!

Moreover, the Grizzlies would participate as a third party in this trade.

The specific three-way trade plan was as follows:

The Rockets sent Chandler Parsons, Beverly, Louis Williams, Sam Dekker, as well as three unprotected first-round picks and one future second-round pick, to get Paul and Chris Andersen;

The Clippers sent Paul to get Beverly, Louis Williams, Dekker, Lance Stephenson, three unprotected first-round picks from the Rockets, and two lottery-protected first-round picks from the Grizzlies;

The Grizzlies sent Lance Stephenson, Chris Andersen, and two lottery-protected first-round picks to get Chandler Parsons and a future second-round pick from the Rockets.

This trade caused a shockwave throughout the league.

The Grizzlies strengthened their always-weak small forward position through this trade.

Although Parsons hadn't made the All-Star team, he was close to it, and they would be even stronger in the new season.

The Clippers also got their best return given that they couldn't keep Paul.

Beverly could serve as the starting point guard, Williams was a bench bandit, and there was also the young rookie Dekker, and of course, most importantly, five first-round picks!

They got the future and maintained the team's competitiveness.

Of course, these were all within acceptable limits.

What really shocked them was the Rockets getting Chris Paul, the league's number one point guard!

Plus last season's MVP fourth-ranked Harden, and a top-three center in the league, Cousins.

The strength of this Big Three was the closest to the original Heat's Big Three!

Moreover, they also retained the promising big man Capela from last season in the trade!

And they also hired the renowned coach D'Antoni this season!

"Please call Morey God, his operations this summer are simply godlike!"

"No amount of words can describe Morey's magic, I'm really convinced, I think this is the strongest lineup in Rockets history!"

"The new season is going to be more fun now, Warriors, Pelicans, Spurs, Rockets, are they not giving the other Western teams a chance to survive? Oh right, there's also the Grizzlies, Clippers, Mavericks, tsk tsk, the other teams don't need to play, just tank where they are!"

"And the Thunder." A comment from a Godfather fan.

"Right, right, and the Trail Blazers, damn, that's nine teams already..."

"This is destined to be a crazy season!"

"As a Lakers fan, I'm trembling, what about my Kobe?"

"Nothing can be done, just cold salad, these nine teams have to fight to the death for 8 spots, the remaining teams can only be cold salad."

"I feel bad for my Kobe."

……

Tang Tian was also very surprised when he saw this news.

This operation wasn't even Morey-esque.

You know, although the Rockets kept Capela, the Beverly, Louis Williams, and Parsons they sent out were all very important.

And more importantly, they also sent out 3 first-round picks and 1 second-round pick, and took in Andersen's garbage contract.

This was mortgaging the future and locking up the present, a real gamble.

But thinking about it, it seemed quite worthwhile.

The Rockets had been in a position of not going up or down for many years, and Harden's growth into a super giant was their best opportunity since the Yao-McGrady era.

But because Harden played in the Thunder for 3 years, he was the kind of relatively older super giant, and they couldn't afford to delay.

In fact, from the moment they got Cousins, forming the Big Three became their only option.

And speaking honestly, role players like Beverly and Williams can be slowly found, but the opportunity for the Big Three may only come once.

It was just that in this way, the Pelicans had one more major competitor in the new season.

But the more Tang Tian thought about it, the more excited he became. In a crazy season, the team that ultimately broke through the West and won the championship would definitely be worth its weight in gold.

It was no exaggeration to say that the value of this championship could even be worth two ordinary seasons.

Competing for such a championship would be truly exciting!