Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 163 163. Stormy Storms: Offseason Operations;
As the Timberwolves selected Rondo with the No.20 pick in the first round and Millsap with the 30th pick in the first round, this year's draft came to an early end.

The Timberwolves' two draft picks have been exhausted, and Luke is not interested in the next second-round pick.

The only Millsap who could catch Luke's eyes in the second round has already been obtained, so Luke simply raised his ass and prepared to leave. After saying hello to general manager McHale, he left the scene first.

Next, Luke still has a lot of things to think about, whether it is to renew the contract of "Glove" Payton and Ariza, or participate in this year's trading market and free market, all of which require Luke to make suggestions.

In July, the league will open the trading market, and each team can operate crazily.

At present, the Timberwolves have many high-quality chips in their hands. If they want to get a foot in the trading market, the Timberwolves fully have this ability.

Even if everyone knew that the Timberwolves had vicious eyes, they still couldn't refuse the temptation.

In addition, the expiry of the contracts of the "alien" Kassel, Magloire, and Nehbar also released part of the Timberwolves' salary space, allowing the Timberwolves to operate in the free market.

And "Penny" Hardaway has only one year left on his contract, and Hardaway's contract amount in the last year will be as high as $700 million, which is really a burden for the Timberwolves.

Luke has to find a way to negotiate a buyout with "Penny" Hardaway, and then re-sign him back to the team with a veteran's basic salary after the buyout.

In this way, the Timberwolves can release nearly 600 million US dollars in salary. As long as Luke operates properly during the offseason, it is not difficult to sign a star with the remaining space.

The Timberwolves won the championship for two consecutive years and are not short of money. Owner Glen Taylor is also willing to spend money. What the Timberwolves currently lack most is salary space.

As long as the team's salary cap allows, the temptation of the Timberwolves to attract players to join is simply too great, and there is no need for the Timberwolves to humbly ask for a conversation. The signboard of "quasi-dynasty" is the best reassurance.

The league has not yet changed the rules regarding buyouts, so Lu Kesao's operation is flying.

Once he can successfully buy out "Penny" Hardaway, Luke's goal will be very clear, and the Timberwolves' operating space this offseason will also be as wide as the sea.

These few things are not big things, but in a sense, they involve the future of the Timberwolves.

Luke still pays more attention to this, and strives to settle these matters as soon as possible to avoid unnecessary troubles.

…………

Time entered the beginning of July, and the league trading market opened simultaneously with the summer league.

The summer league is purely a game for training newcomers. Luke will disappear for a period of time at this time every year and hand over the work of the summer league to the assistant coaches.

Luke felt more than once that entering the offseason, not only did he not get a rest, but he was even more exhausted than when he played in the regular season.

Luke had already talked to "Glove" Payton and others before, and Payton was willing to sign another year's veteran's basic salary and continue to stay in the league.

Although "Glove" Payton's personal level last season, it is not difficult to test the free market and get an annual salary of 500 million, but at Payton's stage, it is no longer so important to get a few million more salary. Champions are the most valuable thing.

So when Luke found Peyton, Peyton basically agreed without thinking.

For this kind of verbal promise, Luke is not afraid of "gloves" Payton's late rebate, because Payton has no reason to regret it.

As long as Payton wants to stay in the league and doesn't want to retire and enjoy life ahead of schedule, the Timberwolves are definitely Payton's best choice.

As for "Penny" Hardaway, it is also going well. Regarding the signing of the buyout, it will be implemented in the next two days.

After all, the Timberwolves are a full buyout. As far as "Penny" Hardaway is concerned, the money he gets will not be less, and he can even get an extra salary. Hardaway will not refuse such a thing at all.

The Timberwolves' operation seems to mean that people are stupid and have a lot of money, but in fact they can release a lot of salary space for the team.

At present, the team has achieved two consecutive championships. As long as they win another championship next season, the Timberwolves will officially establish a dynasty and become the fourth dynasty team in NBA history after the Celtics, Lakers and Bulls.

At this juncture, owner Glenn Taylor will naturally not think about saving money, not to mention buying out "Penny" Hardaway in full, and offering him a veteran's basic salary of 60 US dollars. Taylor throws 2000 million to make a fool of himself, and Taylor doesn't even blink.

Once the Timberwolves successfully establish a dynasty, Glen Taylor will undoubtedly benefit the most, and the overall market of the Timberwolves will once again rise like a cornucopia.

At that time, Glen Taylor's harvest will not only be as simple as tens of millions of dollars, it is conservatively estimated to exceed [-] million dollars.

It was Ariza who encountered the biggest resistance in the whole process. This summer, Ariza's rookie contract expired, and Ariza, who was testing the waters of the free market, received contract offers from multiple teams.

The amount of these contracts is not very large, the most lucrative sum comes from the Bobcats, Ariza is a 3-year 1400 million US dollars.

Ariza's average data last season was not very good. As a 3D player of the Timberwolves corner terminator, Ariza's role is more reflected in defense.

The Bobcats contract is already lucrative enough. If it wasn't for Luke's persuasion to stay, I believe Ariza would have already fallen into the Bobcats' arms.

Luke wants to catch a big fish in the free market in the summer, so big that if he joins the team, the whole league will be frightened.

In this case, every contract for the player must be cautious, and the salary space is calculated to provide quotations.

The Timberwolves will definitely not match Ariza's contract. This contract is too burdensome for the Timberwolves, but if they give up the striker 3D Luke for no reason, they will not be reconciled.

So Luke offered Ariza a suggestion, which is the so-called 1+1 contract.

Luke hopes that Ariza can renew his contract with the team this summer. At that time, the team will provide Ariza with a 1+1 contract, of which the second year is a player option. Ariza can choose to jump out of the contract to test the free market.

The salary of this contract will definitely not be too high, but Luke verbally promised to Ariza that he will provide Ariza with a lot of playing time in the new season, and bring Ariza's average data to the standard of a large contract.

It is guaranteed that Ariza, who is testing the waters of the free market again, can reap a lucrative fat contract. While making up for the salary he earned this year, it can also make Ariza's future more magnanimous.

Faced with Luke's remarks, Ariza was obviously a little moved. After staying in the Timberwolves for a whole season, Ariza knew exactly what kind of person Luke was.

At present, Ariza needs to make a choice between the two, whether to directly accept the Bobcats' three-year 3 million contract and choose to be stable, or take the risk of injury and sign a 1400+1 contract with the Timberwolves to win a future.

For Ariza, who just ended his rookie contract, the first bifurcation in his life has appeared, no matter which Ariza chooses, the result will not be too bad.

But if you choose the right one, Ariza's career will definitely get better.

.........

After resolving these matters, Luke intends to let McHale release some rumors, indicating that the team will take out Andrew Bynum to seek a deal during the offseason, and interested teams can bring their own prices to negotiate.

Bynum joined the Timberwolves last season and ushered in a career explosion. During this period, he averaged 14.6 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.

坐稳球队首发后拜纳姆的场均数据更是上涨到了16.1分10.2篮板以及2.4次封盖，其中投篮命中率为55.2%，禁区终结率同样高达70.8%。

From any point of view, the young Bynum is a perfect cornerstone of the team. I believe that after the news of the Timberwolves, half of the league will start a frenzied battle for talent.

Especially those big teams that have not been able to find the cornerstone of the team for a long time, they will definitely not miss this opportunity.

As for why Luke took out Bynum, who performed well last season, to seek a deal, it is natural to pave the way in advance for the next signings and further upgrade the team lineup.

Now there is still a month before the free market starts, but Luke is confident that he will come out on top in this competition, and he is also looking forward to the ups and downs among the teams during this offseason!
　Ask for a monthly ticket, ask for a recommendation ticket, ask for a ticket, thank you, third child!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)