Chapter 486 Muscle Lines and a Feeling of Urgency

July 1st, the NBA free agency window officially opened.

As a result, just as the media's attention was focused on which big names were available in this year's free agent market...

Su Feng inexplicably topped the internet news headlines in both China and the United States again.

It turned out that after arriving in Las Vegas, McGrady posted a video of Carter and Su Feng playing one-on-one online.

In the video, Carter being completely dominated by Su Feng was secondary...

What fans were really paying attention to was Su Feng's incredibly perfect physique.

You see, there's a classic saying in the fitness world:

Moderate fitness attracts the opposite sex, excessive fitness attracts the same sex.

In the video, Su Feng was shirtless the entire time he was playing one-on-one...

So, who knows how many men and women let out hysterical screams in front of their computer screens the moment the video was released?

"My God! Does such a perfect body really exist?"

"Don't stop me, even if I get burned to a crisp today, I'm going to jump into Su Feng's arms!"

"Asking for a friend... Is Akira Toriyama drawing Sun Wukong based on Su Feng?"

Unlike the typical bodybuilder who comes out of the gym, Su Feng's muscles weren't the "dead, big" kind, but the kind with clear lines that made you drool just looking at them.

Plus, Su Feng's height and shoulder width were clearly sculpted by Nüwa according to the golden ratio...

So, you might not believe it.

Online, many American nerds who had previously been secretly cursing Su Feng for stealing their goddess had suddenly become Su Feng-shaped.

In the eyes of these nerds, it wasn't that Su Feng had stolen their goddess...

But that their male god had been stolen by Britney, that American hussy!

Meanwhile, at the House of Steel in Las Vegas.

When Su Feng learned that he had once again topped the headlines of major websites in this way...

Su Feng felt that the whole thing was quite absurd.

Because shouldn't people be paying attention to the fact that he had completely crushed Carter in this one-on-one?

Although on the first day of training camp, Carter had managed to win against him once or twice in one-on-one...

But this one-on-one that McGrady posted online...

It was a textbook example of basketball offense and defense!

Unfortunately.

Su Feng realized that once his strength had become widely recognized by the world, people now preferred to focus on his muscles and his surrounding gossip rather than his skills.

And this...

Maybe that's the destiny of the strong!

Let's put aside the interesting events at the Las Vegas training camp for now.

In Miami, after the free agency window officially opened, Riley immediately completed a contract extension with Haslem.

As a native of Miami, according to this agreement with the Heat, Haslem would receive a new contract worth a total of $33 million over 6 years.

In order to complete the contract extension with Haslem while over the cap, Riley used the team's mid-level exception.

And then.

Payton and Mourning also re-signed with the team smoothly.

After re-signing with the team, Payton said in an interview that he had once considered retirement after experiencing failure with the Lakers.

But now...

"I think I can definitely play for another two years!"

However, Riley encountered trouble when preparing to re-sign with Korver.

Because Riley had only chosen Korver with the Heat's second-round pick in the 2003 draft because Su Feng had mentioned Korver's name when talking to him, so in order to gain Su Feng's favor when recruiting him, Riley had given Korver a fully guaranteed two-year contract.

According to the relevant regulations for NBA second-round pick renewals, Korver would become a restricted free agent this summer.

Although, according to the Arenas Rule, the Heat could match the offer made by other teams for Korver...

But because the NBA had introduced the "super luxury tax" early in this timeline...

So after a calm analysis, Riley didn't really want to use the Arenas Rule to match the offer that the Cavaliers had made for Korver.

And when Su Feng, who was far away in Las Vegas, learned of Riley's thoughts...

Su Feng quickly understood Riley's difficulties.

In the short term, although the Heat could still keep their total salary below the luxury tax line for the first two years after matching the Cavaliers' 5-year, $35 million offer for Korver according to the Arenas Rule...

In the later years, Korver's nearly ten million annual salary would undoubtedly become a salary burden for the Heat.

To put it bluntly...

The Cavaliers' offer for Korver was just outrageous.

In this era when salaries hadn't skyrocketed yet, according to the current NBA regulations, the Cavaliers had almost offered Korver a maximum contract exclusive to second-round picks.

But...

According to the current market price...

Was it really reasonable for Korver to get such a salary?

The answer was of course no.

It was just that the Cavaliers unilaterally believed that Little Zhan Zhan was Su Feng's successor, so this summer, when strengthening the team, they focused their attention on those players who had worked with Su Feng before.

Because in the eyes of the Cavaliers' management, these players who had worked with Su Feng didn't need too much time to integrate into the team and become Little Zhan Zhan's "Pippen."

In addition, Korver's saying "I am the king of the 03 generation" after the Finals earned him many fans online, which indirectly increased his value.

"Since the Cavaliers are so confident that Kyle deserves such a contract...

Then we can only wish each other the best and go our separate ways!"

In the House of Steel, after letting out a long sigh, Su Feng said to Riley.

"That's what I think too." Riley nodded on the phone.

In addition to Korver, Alston was also confirmed to be leaving this summer.

There were quite a few teams willing to offer Alston a mid-level exception contract.

In the Heat these past two years, Alston had not only grown from a streetball king into a qualified starting guard, but the "strong team buff" given to him by the Heat also made many teams in need of a point guard willing to offer him a big contract.

Emotionally, Alston of course wanted to stay with the Heat more.

But as a professional player who made a living off of his youth, after winning a championship ring this year, Alston didn't have the same strong desire to build a dynasty with this Heat team as Mourning, Payton, and O'Neal did.

Friends come and go, only the championship banner flies in the wind.

In the NBA, a business, how could players like Alston and Korver have the power to decide their own destiny like Su Feng?

And after Riley successively completed contract extensions with other players, looking at the Heat's general lineup framework for the next season...

In Su Feng's opinion, as long as the Heat could help the three rookies, Lou Williams, Iwa, and Johnson, quickly integrate into the NBA, then the Heat would still be the most dominant team in the entire league.

However, looking at O'Neal and Butler's contracts that were about to expire next summer...

While harboring beautiful hopes for the future, Su Feng also knew that once the Heat failed to defend their title next season...

Then what awaited him would most likely be a collapse.

This was the NBA under the control of the "super luxury tax."

Even someone as strong as Su Feng...

Felt the almost suffocating sense of urgency this summer.

Philadelphia.

The 76ers' management, who would be punished by the "super luxury tax" if they couldn't sort out the team's salary space this summer, had been busy these days.

Klaus, who had become the person in charge of Philadelphia, was on the phone almost all the time during these three days from the 1st to the 3rd.

The scene of the championship banner rising over Philadelphia was just yesterday...

But now...

If they couldn't help the team avoid the "super luxury tax" penalty...

Then Klaus and his 76ers would receive a huge fine from the league.

Without a doubt.

This was a fine that all the owners in the league, including Old Buss, didn't want to receive except for James Dolan.

And fortunately, in this moment of crisis...

The Los Angeles Clippers.

This team, known to the world as the savior of the NBA, stood up once again.

Uh...

To be fair.

This time, Baylor wasn't really trying to screw over the Clippers.

Because last year, if it hadn't been for Baylor's strong recommendation, how could the Clippers have drafted Iguodala?

It was just a pity that in the 04/05 season, Iguodala, who was favored by Baylor, performed unexpectedly poorly for the Clippers.

Because Old Dunleavy, the Clippers' head coach at the time, in order to protect his son Little Dunleavy's starting position, Iguodala only got less than 20 minutes of playing time per game in the past season.

In addition, Iguodala's shooting was very unstable during his rookie period (it seemed that it didn't stabilize much later either), so under Old Dunleavy's tactical system, Iguodala was always out of sync with this Clippers team.

As a result...

Due to years of poor performance in the draft, even Baylor began to suspect that he had misjudged this time.

So, when the 76ers proposed that they could send Christie and Coleman, as well as the team's second-round pick in the next year, Old Dunleavy immediately found Baylor.

"This is a great trade!

Doug and Derek are both championship players, they are experienced.

If we had such veterans on the team last season, we would have made the playoffs long ago!"

Hearing this, Baylor, who felt that Old Dunleavy was right, immediately agreed to the trade.

For the Clippers, who were only one step away from having the opportunity to make the playoffs last season, judging from the trade chips with the 76ers, they did earn in the short term.

Because in this timeline, Christie's condition was well maintained, and he still had second-tier defensive standards last season.

But when Su Feng learned of the news that the Clippers had sent Iguodala to Philadelphia...

Su Feng felt that Little Yao and his Answer brother...

Were probably going to fight him to the end of time in this timeline.

Because through this trade, the 76ers not only successfully got rid of the super luxury tax, but also, Iguodala's joining gave this team a completely different future.

Although in the short term, Iguodala, who needed time to grow, couldn't replace Christie, but...

What about a year or two later?

Moreover, with the "Ay Yo" strong combination to guarantee the team's lower limit...

In addition to not having the story in his memory where Klaus left sadly because he couldn't obtain most of the 76ers' equity, this 76ers team would definitely be among the top teams in the league for a long time.

"Brother Feng, Brother Feng, Andre said he's your fan, can I let him come to the House of Steel too?"

This day, after Iguodala was traded to Philadelphia, Little Yao lowered his head with an embarrassed look and said to Su Feng.

Hearing this...

Su Feng always felt that Little Yao was asking him to help him train his successor's future opponent.

Because if this Iguodala comprehended the Dao early...

Then how would Little Zhan Zhan lead the team to meet with him in the conference finals in the future?

What does this mean...

In the short term, this Little Zhan Zhan could only transform into a black-clad masked man to steal a conference finals berth?

Look at the hateful faces of this group of Zhan haters!

Was it possible that in this huge league, only he, this big brother, felt sorry for Little Zhan Zhan?

The next day, when Iguodala arrived in Las Vegas, watching James who took the initiative to communicate with him about defense...

Su Feng always felt that this Little Zhan Zhan was still too young.

And Boston...

These days, in addition to occasionally visiting Auerbach at the hospital with Karl, Bird's main energy was also focused on how to avoid the Celtics from being punished by the "super luxury tax."

Not long after the free agency market opened, the Celtics completed a contract extension with Parker, who had played like a star guard last season.

However, counting Duncan and Ray Allen's contracts...

Right now, after finishing Randolph's rookie contract benefits, the Celtics were also facing the same dilemma as the Heat this summer.

In a situation where they were definitely unable to keep Randolph, in order to preserve the Celtics' hope of competing with the Heat next season, after several twists and turns and door-to-door sales, Bird successfully persuaded Rivers.

Through a sign-and-trade, plus the team's draft picks next year, the Celtics brought back Rasheed Wallace from Motor City.

And Detroit, on the other hand, would welcome an interior player who, in Rivers' eyes, could barely compete with O'Neal.

In this timeline, because the Pistons' "F5" failed to win a championship, the contract that Wallace signed with the Pistons in the summer of 04 also became a little smaller.

Therefore, after taking in Wallace's contract, Bird only needed to reduce the Celtics' bench lineup, and the Celtics' total salary could be suppressed below the luxury tax line.

Bird, who felt heartbroken when he traded Marbury for Parker last summer, was now really feeling good about it.

Because Parker, who had just finished his rookie contract, put the length of the contract in the first place when negotiating a contract extension with the Celtics, and didn't ask for the highest salary increase.

As a result, although the contract that Parker got in this timeline was bigger than the historical period in Su Feng's memory, in terms of the cost performance of this contract of 6 years and 74 million...

Not to brag, even if you searched the league, you wouldn't be able to find a second point guard with a salary comparable to Parker's, but with a greater impact.

In addition, Duncan also took the initiative to lower his salary increase when signing a contract extension with the team in advance.

Because he felt that he had let down Auerbach's expectations of him, in Duncan's opinion, he didn't deserve to get an absolute maximum contract.

As a result...

Because Duncan's "honest man" image had been deeply rooted in people's hearts for a long time, online, many fans began to feel sorry for this simpleton who had missed the Eastern Conference Finals due to injury not long ago.

Of course...

Compared with the salary cuts that Little Zhan Zhan and his good buddies took together in Su Feng's memory, Duncan's salary cut this time was actually not as exaggerated as the netizens said.

Overall, Duncan's salary cut this time would not exceed $6 million.

And such a salary gap...

Wasn't even as big as the loss Su Feng suffered from changing teams from the Raptors to the Heat.

Because according to the relevant regulations of the NBA, when changing teams, players would lose their Bird rights...

So when signing a new contract with a new team, you naturally wouldn't be able to get the salary increase bonus from the Bird rights.

Therefore, without obtaining the "Su Feng Rule," the 6-year long contract that Parker signed with the Celtics was also the theoretical maximum contract that Parker could get this summer, excluding a small portion of the salary increase.

In Su Feng's previous life, the reason why many fans were dissatisfied with the Heat's Big Three choosing to take a salary cut was mainly because, in terms of the league's salary cap at the time, if your team already had a superstar, and the other two superstars also chose to take a salary cut to help the team strengthen its lineup, it would easily make people feel that you were destroying fairness.

And because Duncan and Parker were already on the team's roster before signing contract extensions with the team, plus one was because he felt that he didn't deserve it, and the other was to ask for a 6-year contract extension and player options for the last two years, so for the fans, they would not only not feel that these two were destroying fairness, but would instead feel that they were sacrificing for the team.

To put it bluntly...

Just like how Su Feng was well received when he decided to leave the Raptors that year.

Different "visions" are destined to create different outcomes.

July...

The NBA teams' trades were still ongoing.

And Las Vegas...

While following Su Feng to learn about the "big picture," Little Zhan Zhan was also growing rapidly.

The future had already begun to riot in this hot summer.

The rookies were eager to get ahead.

And the veterans...

Were working hard to find a boat that could carry them to the new world.

……

ps: Happy Children's Day! To all my little reader friends!