basketball hero

Chapter 356 Formal Signing
In addition to the recruitment team sent by the Raptors, several other recruiting teams sent by teams interested in Xiong also fully demonstrated the advantages of their teams.For example, the big market advantages of the Lakers and Knicks, such as the special relationship between the Rockets and China and the relationship between Yao Ming, such as the talent of the Clippers and so on.

After meeting with the recruiting teams of each team, Ying Xiong already made his own decision in his heart.He told his two agents about this decision, and asked the agents to negotiate with the team and deal with the details of the contract.

On December 12th, shortly after the start of the NBA free market, Yahoo sports reporter Woj broke the news: Ying Xiong, a completely free agent from China, reached a verbal agreement with the Toronto Raptors on a four-year, $9 million fully guaranteed contract. 4 years as a player option.

As soon as this news came out, it immediately triggered a huge discussion online and offline.Many experts and reporters who look down on Ying Xiong believe that the Raptors are "recklessly seeking medical treatment". Even if they can't get big fish in the free market, they shouldn't give such a long fat to a 3D player from China. about.Instead of this, it is better to focus on cultivating young players and see if they can cultivate enough players to serve as the backbone of the team.Betting on an outside player from China is likely to lose everything and eventually affect the team's reconstruction work.Many Raptors fans don't understand why the team will give such a big contract to a Chinese player who averaged less than 20 points per game last season. Could it be that the team management wants to sign an Asian player to stimulate the ball because of their poor record? city?But the price seems to be too high...

Of course, many supporters of Yingxiong believe that the Raptors' management has "wisdom and insight", which is the most correct thing the team did during the offseason.As soon as the news that Ying Xiong and the Raptors reached an oral agreement came out, Ying Xiong's fans clicked on the Raptors' official website in large numbers, causing the official website to be paralyzed due to too many visits.Ying Xiong's super popularity, no matter in China or in the United States, is an extremely powerful existence.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and general manager Nelson Jr. both called Ying Xiong immediately to congratulate him on getting a big contract.Although the Mavericks did not provide him with a bigger contract, Ying Xiong enjoyed and was grateful for his season with the Mavericks, and he was also grateful for the adult beauty of the boss Cuban.If it wasn't for the trade to the Mavericks, he got a certain opportunity and won the championship with the team, plus the boss Cuban made himself a free agent.Otherwise, it is impossible for me to get the favor of so many teams and get such a big contract.

People related to Yingxiong sent blessings one after another, which made him feel the joy of success.In the NBA, how much contract a free agent can sign can best reflect the player's strength and potential. No team will offer a fat contract to a person who is insignificant to the team. This is a business league, and everything depends on strength!
A week later, accompanied by two agents, Ying Xiong signed his name in the contract provided by Raptors general manager Ujiri.

After officially signing with the Raptors, Ying Xiong said in an interview with ESPN basketball reporters that the size of the contract is only one aspect, and it was the words of the new Raptors coach Devin Casey that made him finally decide to join. .The relationship between Casey and Ying Xiong is known to everyone in the circle, so his explanation is completely reasonable and makes sense.

Ying Xiong himself knows that if the strength and configuration of a single-round team, the Raptors are the worst among the five candidate teams he picked out.But the contracts they offer and the performance in the recruitment process are the most sincere, and they can provide everything they want.Of course he knows that the Raptors already have an outside potential stock DeRozan that needs to be cultivated, but he is not worried at all.Because he believes that his own strength will never lose to the opponent.

Shao Ziqiang, who was far away in China at this time, was very satisfied with Ying Xiong's choice.He knows that his lover is not a money-grubbing player. The reason why he chose a big contract is largely influenced by himself.It was I who asked him to choose a big contract when signing the contract, because the contract is far more practical than the promise.Only when the team spends a lot of money to sign you can they really reuse you. On the contrary, they can be marginalized at any time because the loss is not big.

In Shao Ziqiang's view, the Raptors are a young team with a lot of waste to do. There are no superstars and bosses in the strict sense. Although the overall strength is insufficient, they are highly malleable and have a lot of room to play.The newly joined coach Casey is a very capable coach. He understands Ying Xiong and can better play Ying Xiong's strength.

The Raptors held a special press conference for several newly joined players including Ying Xiong, showing off their respective new jerseys.Ying Xiong still chooses No. 25 as his jersey number. He does not want to change the number. This number has been with him for some years. He hopes to continue to fight side by side with it and create his own brilliance.

Since Ying Xiong joined the Raptors, fans of the Raptors have grown exponentially in China.Not only that, the number of CCTV broadcasts of the Raptors in the new season has also created a record high, which shows Ying Xiong's great influence in China.

Shortly after officially signing with the Raptors, Ying Xiong bought a villa in the suburbs of Toronto for $250 million.This villa has an independent basketball court, swimming pool, fitness center, and entertainment room. It is a building integrating residence, entertainment, and fitness.The advantage of this mansion is not limited to this, it is very close to the training hall of the Raptors, and it can be reached in less than half an hour by car.Canada is sparsely populated. Even in a big city like Toronto, housing prices are still incomparable with big cities like New York and Los Angeles in the United States.

After Ying Xiong bought the mansion, he also gave himself a stable residence in Toronto.Whether in Milwaukee or Dallas, he rented a house.Firstly, there was no current financial resources at that time, and secondly, there were not so many demands.It's different now. As his Chinese agent, Li Jianwu would come to the United States from time to time, and it was somewhat inconvenient for him to live with him in a rented apartment.In addition, he expected that he would not have time to go home, so he could bring his parents here to live for a while, which would be another way to reunite with his family.Otherwise, if my parents or Sun Jing came to the United States to visit me, it would not be a good idea to let them stay in hotels all the time. After all, they would not be as comfortable as my own home.

Another reason why Ying Xiong chose the Raptors is that compared with other NBA teams, the Raptors, as the only NBA team with their home court overseas, have always been more open and accepting of international players. Players also don't have the kind of discrimination with colored glasses.Ying Xiong likes this kind of atmosphere, and he doesn't want to affect his performance because of some off-court factors.

(End of this chapter)