This year's free agent market is a world apart from last year's.

Last year was full of big names, but this year the biggest free agent is DeRozan, followed by Hayward and Siakam (restricted free agent), and then players like Gallinari and Lowry.

The two discussed it for a long time, and finally had a general idea.

The salary cap for the new season is 116 million. Davis and Durant together already account for about 80 million, leaving only about 35 million in space for the Pelicans.

However, the Pelicans have many expiring contracts that are renewed above the cap. In other words, their operational space can be calculated up to the luxury tax of 141 million, which means a total of about 65 million in so-called elastic space.

So the general idea is actually clear: use a 25 to 30 million contract to sign Holiday, and use the remaining 35 to 40 million to consider strengthening the center and point guard positions.

Alexander has grown up last season, and Brogdon can be considered not to be retained.

There are not many high-quality players on the free market. After giving up Brogdon, there seems to be a lot of space, but the difficulty of reinforcement is not small.

Tang Tian took a look at the free agent list, and finally his eyes stayed on one person's name.

"How about signing back Rose?"

Dempsey nodded when he heard Rose's name without much thought.

Rose performed well after arriving at the Timberwolves, and in his contract year last season, he averaged 18.5 points per game.

Alexander's characteristics are defense and organization, and scoring explosiveness is not his strength. Rose can just make up for this.

Moreover, Rose only won his first championship of his career when he signed with the Pelicans. Now, as a completely free agent, the Pelicans would be his ideal choice.

Most importantly, Rose is already 32 years old, and his contract price will not be too high. The Pelicans still have room to strengthen the inside line.

The inside line, this year's inside line is quite scarce. In terms of popularity, the most well-known is Westbrook's former center Adams.

Adams' positioning and rebounding are first-class, and the Thunder were tanking last season, and Adams' various data have declined, which will make the signing less difficult.

Dempsey also suggested Adams.

Tang Tian also agreed. Durant and Davis need someone to do the dirty work, and Adams is quite suitable.

However, he also gave Dempsey a salary cap. If it exceeds 20 million, it would be inappropriate. Although Adams is only 27 years old, he has been injured before, and his explosiveness has declined a lot. There is a risk of a big contract becoming a garbage contract.

In addition to Adams, Tang Tian also gave Dempsey an alternative, Tristan Thompson.

As a short inside player, Thompson's positioning and defense are not inferior to Adams, and the key is that his contract will definitely be much cheaper.

There are few big names in this season's free market, and there are also few high-quality players. The Pelicans don't completely want to bet on the present, but can focus on next year.

The core targets are these few, and the rest is just minor adjustments.

In this list of minor adjustments, Tang Tian also specifically mentioned a person, Iguodala.

Iguodala was basically in a semi-retired state with the Grizzlies last season, but there is still gas in his tank.

He can play both the two and three positions, which is very suitable for the Pelicans.

With Tang Tian's instructions, Dempsey began to contact the target players after the free market opened.

The first signing announced in the free market was Drummond, who jumped out of his contract option and directly renewed a 5-year, 190 million super contract with the Pistons.

This was also expected. After so many years of hard training, Drummond is now a super star on par with Embiid and Jokic.

Lowry also renewed a 2-year, 60 million short contract with the Raptors, which is basically the rhythm of ending his career in Toronto.

DeRozan reached a 4-year, 150 million renewal contract with the Suns. DeRozan performed well after arriving at the Suns, and the Suns once entered the playoffs, but they didn't stabilize in the end. Their goal for the new season is still firm.

It is worth mentioning that Monty Williams, the former Pelicans coach who they hired in the second half of last season, performed well, and they are very confident in the new season.

Siakam also reached a 4-year, 120 million quasi-max renewal contract with the Mavericks.

It is reported that Siakam's national teammate Embiid played a key role in the renewal.

The Mavericks' future salary space is exploding, but it can be predicted that Embiid, Siakam and Harris will be their future three cores.

On the guard line, Holiday was traded last season, and Conley may be cleared out at most next season.

Hayward renewed a 4-year, 130 million contract with the Bucks, and the Bucks continue to maintain their core lineup.

……

Just as the few big names on the free market were signing one after another, the Pelicans also made progress.

Holiday took the lead in reaching a 4-year, 140 million renewal contract with the team.

Holiday's first sentence after reaching the agreement: This doesn't require much consideration for me, this is my home.

Just like he said, after experiencing a period of wandering in Dallas, Holiday finally returned home again.

The Pelicans also gave him enough respect, and a long-term contract allows him to end his career with the team.

After Holiday, Rose also agreed to return to New Orleans and reached a 3-year, 45 million contract with the Pelicans.

Considering his age, this is likely to be the last big contract of his career, and it is possible that he will end his career in New Orleans.

On the inside, Adams fully embodies the point that things are valued when they are scarce.

Originally, his market price was less than 20 million, but in the end he reached a 2-year, 42 million signing contract with the Clippers.

Obviously, Doncic's growth exceeded expectations, and the Clippers management didn't want to wait any longer.

Adams didn't sign, and the Pelicans finally signed Tristan Thompson, and the two sides reached a 3-year, 42 million contract.

Thompson once faced a buyout last year. He must thank this year's free market to a certain extent for being able to get a contract of tens of millions again.

Pau Gasol announced his retirement, and Marc Gasol followed in his brother's footsteps, joining the Spurs for 3 years and 40 million.

The Spurs will become even more terrifying next season.

In the process of minor adjustments, Dempsey also successfully signed Iguodala with a one-year veteran minimum salary.

In addition to Iguodala, former Warriors player McCaw and shooting center Len were also recruited by the Pelicans.

As the free market signings continue, the lineups of each team are settled, and the Pelicans' lineup for the new season is basically set.

Point Guard: Alexander, Rose, Patrick McCaw

Shooting Guard: Holiday, Ding Yanyuhang, Keldon Johnson

Small Forward: Durant, Ariza, Iguodala

Power Forward: Davis, Kuzma, Henry (26th overall pick in 2020 draft)

Center: Tristan Thompson, Mitchell Robinson, Alex Len