NBA’s aging star system

Just before Leonard's drama came to an end, the Warriors also broke a big news.

On July 7, Pelicans All-Star center Cousins ​​joined the Warriors for 3 million a year!

As soon as the news about Cousins ​​came out, no one discussed George's matter anymore. Everyone accused Cousins ​​of retaliating against society.

Although he suffered a serious injury from a ruptured Achilles tendon last season, Cousins ​​was a super insider who averaged 25.2 points, 12.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game before the injury!

No matter how serious the injury is, many people think that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. Cousins ​​is still worth an annual salary of 20 million. Even if it is only a short contract of one or two years, it is necessary to check his recovery status.

In fact, the contract offer provided by the Pelicans to Cousins ​​was a two-year, 2 million contract extension.

With Cousins ​​joining the Warriors, the Warriors have truly formed a lineup of five All-Star players, and a veritable five-star Warriors has been officially formed.

The entire Internet is filled with pessimism about the arrival of the NBA finale.

The Warriors are already strong enough. They have just won two consecutive championships. They are led by two regular season MVPs in their prime. Now they have even added an All-Star center who scored 25+12+5 last season. This makes other teams stronger. How else is the team playing?

Even Johnson was furious when he heard the news. This is an All-Star center. If he could come to the Lakers, how luxurious the Lakers lineup would be!

Su Tian, ​​on the other hand, seemed extremely calm after hearing the news.

"Cousins ​​going to the Warriors is not necessarily a good thing for the Warriors."

The Warriors fell short in the 18-19 playoffs, not just because their teammates frequently suffered injuries. Although injuries are a very important reason, the trigger is huge psychological pressure.

With such a luxurious lineup, the Warriors cannot lose in the playoffs no matter what, otherwise they will inevitably be nailed to the pillar of shame.

With such a psychological burden, Warriors players work extremely hard on the court, especially in the playoffs, because they are afraid of failure.

Because of this, Durant and Thompson suffered injuries one after another in the playoffs. Durant, who was unwilling to fail, forced his comeback in the finals, and then suffered a serious injury that ended the season!

Sometimes, it's the last straw that breaks the camel's back.

While everyone is attacking the Warriors, the Cavaliers are quietly poaching the Lakers.

Last season, the Lakers' stable three-pointer from the outside, Pope, was signed by the Cavaliers for 1200 million a year, and then the Lakers' young guard Jordan Clarkson was acquired by the Cavaliers with a four-year, 4 million contract.

The departure of the two was within the expectations of Su Tian and Johnson. After all, the Lakers really couldn't stay.

However, the Cavaliers' consecutive moves made Su Tian more vigilant, because at this time, James still has not announced his intention to opt out of his contract, which means that James may still stay in Cleveland next season.

Then these two people are likely to become James' help to reach the finals.

The exodus of Lakers players was not over yet. Immediately afterwards, the Clippers made an irresistible offer to Zubac, so Zubac went to the Clippers.

There are very few players left in the Lakers' lineup, and Lakers fans can't stand it anymore.

"What are the Lakers doing? It's not like there's no room for renewal, so why not stay?"

"That's right, it's okay to keep one or two at least. These are all good young players."

"But keeping Randall has made a difference. After all, it is good to win George, but there is the Golden State Warriors in the West. The Lakers did not reach the finals last season. Can it be done this season? "

"I guess, although George is good, there is still a gap between him and Durant."

"Kevin Durant can only win the championship by working together as a team. If he is left alone, he will not be able to make any profit."

Although the Lakers' management was angrily criticized by netizens on the Internet, in reality the Lakers' work did not stop. Johnson found all the players on Su Tian's list to try out with the Lakers.

Su Tian was very satisfied to see the team slowly getting on the right track, so he stopped caring about the team's affairs and started his own trip to China with Bill Duffy.

Just when Su Tian boarded the plane back to China, the matter of Leonard's whereabouts also fell into place.

With Leonard's consent, the Spurs traded him and Danny Green to the Toronto Raptors in a package, in exchange for All-Star shooting guard Jamal DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl and A protected first-round pick.

As for the Lakers' proposal of Lonzo Ball + Kuzma and a first-round pick, they wanted to get Leonard, but the Spurs naturally rejected it and instead asked for Ball + Ingram + Kuzma. conditions of.

All of a sudden, the three youngest and most promising players on the team were traded away for Leonard. Even the excited Lakers couldn't help but hesitate.

If Leonard makes it clear that he is willing to play for the Lakers and renew his long-term contract in advance, the Lakers will definitely not hesitate.

There has never been a shortage of talented players in the NBA, but it is not that simple to completely convert talent into strength. You will definitely not lose money by exchanging three potential rookies for a top superstar with a mature style.

But the problem is that Leonard's current attitude is ambiguous, and his contract is only for one year. If Leonard doesn't plan to stay with the Lakers next year and just leaves at the end of the season, wouldn't the Lakers lose everything?

In fact, this risk also applies to the Raptors.

Leonard has not promised anything to the Raptors, but the Raptors management, which has been suppressed by James in the East for many years, has completely lost patience with DeRozan, and they want to give it a try.

In another time and space, they made the right bet.

Leonard really helped the Raptors pass all the way in the Eastern Conference and reach the finals, and killed the remaining Warriors and won the 18-19 season championship.

After that, Leonard faced the Raptors' warm invitation to stay and switched to the Los Angeles Clippers without hesitation. However, trading DeRozan for the first championship trophy in team history was a surprise even to a bystander like Su Tian. Come and make money.

Just assume that if the Raptors fail to win this championship, then after the end of the season, they lose Leonard, DeRozan, and even a first-round pick. That would be true. So miserable.

This is what the Lakers are afraid of, so they dare not really let out all three potential rookie players, which will cause Leonard to travel east to the Raptors.

However, fortunately, the Lakers only tried it. Seeing that recruiting Leonard failed, the Lakers returned to their original plan, continued to examine the list provided by Su Tian, ​​and contacted Jimmy Butler's team by the way.

Su Tian only found out about these things after the plane landed.

"Leonard is still going to the Raptors. The Raptors this season are not that simple."

Returning to the land of China, Su Tian felt inexplicably at ease.

"Bill, have we arranged our next schedule? How many days will it take?"

Bill Duffy glanced at the schedule and said: "If everything goes well, it will be over in two weeks, but just in case, the plan is to make a 20-day plan."