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For various reasons, Wang Chong doesn't plan to make any moves in the 2013 draft. In fact, even after the subsequent free agency market opens, the Bulls won't make any significant moves. With Curry, the current lineup of the Bulls can easily win another four consecutive championships as long as they stay healthy, and there's no need to consider reinforcements.
With the core trio of Wang Chong + Curry + Gasol, high-quality players like Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green will continue to grow and strengthen. Honestly, nothing seems to be missing.
The overall progress of the draft wasn't much different from what Wang Chong remembered. The Cavaliers once again secured the number one pick, whether it was a secret operation by the league to support the Cavaliers without James or whether the Cavaliers were genuinely possessed by the European Emperor, the result was the same. No matter how it happened, there was no real difference.
Winning the number one pick three times in four years, but the only one who truly deserved the title was Kyrie Irving. Not to mention Anthony Bennett, the best number one pick in NBA history, even next year's number one pick, Andrew Wiggins, didn't live up to the reputation as the first overall selection in the NBA.
Among the rookies from the same class, Joel Embiid, the third pick in the first round, and Nikola Jokic, the second-round pick, were countless times better than him. Especially the latter, even if Wiggins and Embiid were combined, they wouldn't be as practical as Jokic.
As the number one pick in the NBA, Wiggins has the physical aptitude and talent that makes many people envious, but he simply can't play. It seems like he can average over 20 points per game every year, but in reality, he's always so lukewarm. He even made it to the All-Star Game for the first time in his career during the 2021-22 season. At that time, he was already 26 years old and had spent eight seasons in the league.
Only one of the three number one picks was Irving, and the opponent was a psychotic kid. The Cavaliers had no chance of turning things around until James returned.
As for Antetokounmpo, Giannis Antetokounmpo was selected by the Bucks with the 13th pick in the first round. The Bucks, who were two spots above the original pick, chose Antetokounmpo. Clearly, they weren't satisfied with the static situation. Close to Wang Chong, Durant was very excited about the prospects of the Greek player. Although Antetokounmpo's skills were rough, he was definitely worth developing.
The only thing that surprised Wang Chong a bit was that Rudy Gobert was selected by the San Antonio Spurs at the end of the first round.
The Spurs, who had originally given away their 2013 draft pick, actually intercepted Gobert, the future best defensive player. This was undoubtedly a strengthening of the current Spurs lineup, allowing them to gather the best defensive combination with Duncan, Leonard, and Gobert. Even if Duncan retired later, if the Spurs could form a team around Leonard and Gobert as the core of the team's internal and external defense, they would still become one of the powerhouses in the Western Conference.
Of course, the premise is that Leonard won't choose to leave the Spurs as he originally did.
As for the Bulls' draft picks, they were entirely based on the subjective initiative of the team's general manager. They selected two point guards, Archie Goodwin and Eric Green, in the first and second rounds, respectively.
It's not surprising that the Bulls chose two point guards. After this season, Billups would also officially retire. In fact, he had already retired from the team's main rotation due to injuries at the point guard position, divided between Curry and Thomas.
However, at the shooting guard position, the Bulls' setup was slightly weaker. There was only a Danny Green at small forward who could serve as an emergency shooting guard when needed, but the Bulls' management obviously hoped to have more options. Even a rookie at the end of the first round might have some success.
Unfortunately, they clearly made the wrong bet.
Whether it was Archie Goodwin or Eric Green, they were players Wang Chong had no recollection of. For him, players whose names he couldn't even remember certainly had no value.
In fact, this was the case. Neither of these players played in the league for more than four years, meaning they couldn't even get a contract offer after their rookie deals expired and had to be forced out of the NBA.
But it didn't matter; there were no suitable prospects in this draft anyway, so they were just used to fill the bench.
Once the draft was completed, free agency began on July 1.
By the end of June, the league was already in crisis and underground currents were beginning to surface.
There were plenty of big names in the free agency market this year. The contracts of Paul and Howard from the Lakers and Curry from the Warriors had expired. Even aside from these three, there were others like Josh Smith, Monta Ellis, Andrew Bynum, Andrew Bogut, and other free agents.
With the opening of free agency on July 1, teams around the league were eager to contact their favorite players, make offers, and various commitments, all striving to achieve their goals.
The defending champions, Chicago Bulls, seemed a bit out of place in this almost crazy group of teams.
Wang Chong was already in Los Angeles on vacation with Jessica and the princess, ignoring the judicial matters.
The Bulls' management had no intention of making a trade. Even the statement to the outside world and the media was that "the team believes the current lineup is perfect enough and there's no need to make any moves that might destroy the good chemistry."
Indeed, the Bulls did nothing. They reached a contract extension with Stephen Curry for 95 million over five years, keeping the point guard who had made great contributions to the Bulls' championship run.
95 million over five years, an absolute maximum salary extension. Among players from the 2009 class, only Griffin from the Thunder and Harden from the Clippers received the same maximum salary.
However, unlike Curry, Griffin and Harden renewed their contracts with their teams ahead of time. Only Curry found himself in a special situation. The hidden injury risks had kept his evaluation low. It was because he was with the Bulls. Due to the team, Curry from the Warriors could only sign a four-year, 44 million dollar contract.
It can be said that this "child labor" contract was one of the key factors for the Warriors' future rise. The star player of the team had only a 10 million annual salary, giving the Warriors a significant amount of salary cap space that could be used to sign contracts to strengthen the team. In the summer of 2016, the Warriors could even directly sign free agent Kevin Garnett.
With the Bulls, Wang Chong had no intention of treating Curry unfairly. For his part, Curry, as the second-in-command, was destined not to reach his future heights. It would be too much to keep suffering financial losses.
Moreover, the money didn't come from Wang Chong but from the Bulls' owner, so there was no need to feel bad.
It was just that even though the Bulls had already announced early that they would definitely re-sign Curry with the maximum salary, when the deal was completed, many media outlets were still talking about it, thinking that the Bulls had given a trash contract.
"How can Curry be worth 95 million over five years? This is definitely a premium contract, it might even be a trash contract. Don't forget Curry's injury history over the past seasons. As a veteran with extensive experience, it's extremely risky to keep a player with potential injuries on a long-term deal."
"The Bulls' management is obviously too arrogant. They could have used the funds for Curry's extension to pursue Chris Paul. If they can get Paul, Wang Chong and Paul together, they could win three consecutive championships. It's entirely possible to create a second dynasty."
"It's said that the reason the Bulls renewed Curry's contract with the maximum salary was due to Wang Chong's pressure. Under Wang Chong's pressure, even if the management wasn't willing to give Curry the maximum salary, there was nothing they could do. After all, how much more would Curry be paid each year? A million-dollar salary is better than offending Wang Chong, but if Wang Chong is so unscrupulous and forms a clique, something will happen sooner or later, and then the Bulls will collapse!"
Regardless of how the outside world criticized the Bulls for re-signing Curry with a maximum salary, that couldn't change the fact that the defending champions successfully retained their championship-winning lineup and continued to keep their original roster intact.
Many teams that had hoped to capitalize on the situation and try to steal Curry from the Bulls with a high salary had no choice but to give up.
Since it was impossible to dismantle the Bulls from within, the next step was to strengthen the team and defeat the Bulls through sheer force.
As former champions, the Los Angeles Lakers became the target of a brutal dismemberment.
Due to conflicts between Kobe, Howard, and Paul, the two superstars had no plans to renew their contracts with the Lakers once they expired.
The first to leave was Chris Paul. A gentleman doesn't push a dangerous wall, and a clever player like Paul had already found a suitable place to go.
Paul didn't leave Los Angeles. He chose to join the nearby Los Angeles Clippers and teamed up with James Harden to form the league's strongest defense. He would continue to compete in Los Angeles for the new season.
Seeing Paul leave so smoothly, Howard didn't need to miss him anymore. His happiest moments with the Lakers were playing pick-and-roll with Paul and all the alley-oop dunks that lit up the atmosphere. It's even... there was no reason to stay.
However, when Howard planned to simply slap his rear like Paul and leave without leaving any assets for the Lakers, the Lakers' management found Howard and made him a very exciting proposal.
On July 7, 2013, a week after free agency opened, the Lakers officially issued a statement confirming Howard's whereabouts.
To everyone's surprise, Howard decided to sign with the Lakers for 90 million dollars over four years.
However, after renewing his contract with the Lakers, Howard didn't stay in Los Angeles. Instead, the Lakers immediately traded him to the Miami Heat as a bargaining chip. The Lakers got Chris Bosh, one of the Big Three. The Heat, in addition to Udonis, Joel Anthony, and a first-round pick for next year.
Once this news was announced, it immediately caused a sensation in the league.
No one thought that the Lakers and the Heat would actually reach such an agreement.
Many teams hoping to wait for Howard to test the free agency market and then buy the league's top center for free couldn't help but hit their chests.
Trading Bosh for Howard was definitely a gain worth making. You have to know that the Howard of today isn't the same Howard who suffered a severe back injury and had his explosiveness drastically reduced. Although he has been very unsatisfied with the Lakers this season and hasn't won all the honors, he is still the Warcraft who claims to be able to replace James on his own.
Even if the Heat also got Haslem and a first-round pick in addition to Bosh, this deal was still profitable for the Heat.
But in fact, for the Lakers, this deal wasn't a loss. After all, they originally had to lose Howard for nothing and wouldn't gain anything.
In fact, they had already made those preparations, but the Heat's general manager, Pat Riley, took the initiative to approach them and made this proposal.
For both teams, a win-win situation was achieved.
The Heat got rid of Chris Bosh, the scapegoat, and welcomed the top center in the league, Howard. Their strength had qualitatively improved. At least when facing the Bulls next season, the Bulls wouldn't be easily defeated.
As for the Lakers, only one operation allowed them to get All-Star Chris Bosh and a first-round pick, which they should have been left with empty-handed. This can be considered a bit of a stop to the bleeding.
The key to this deal lies in Howard's intention. If he didn't agree to this, then as a free agent, no one or no team could influence Howard's thoughts.
But joining the Heat, teaming up with James and Wade's conditions, still made Howard's heart race.
Now Warcraft was not lacking in money or personal honors. What he wanted was the same thing as James: an NBA championship.
Especially after the Lakers won a championship, all the credit went to Kobe, which made Howard want to win another championship without Kobe showing his worth.
But how easy can it be to win the championship? With so few stars together, who can overcome the Bulls?
There is no doubt that teaming up with James and Wade is the simplest and most intuitive choice in the current league.
In fact, joining Paul and Kobe on the Lakers wouldn't have been worse than joining the Heat. However, Kobe and Howard's personalities were truly incompatible. Simply winning a championship was already a huge fight.
So when the Lakers approached him and made the proposal, Howard agreed after only a slight hesitation.
Due to the salary cap issues of the Big Three, the Heat couldn't compete even if Howard became a free agent. However, with this sign-and-trade method, they could smooth the salary gap and get Howard.
Even if the Lakers got Bosh, they were destined to withdraw from the championship race. With the combination of Kobe + Bosh, and even less in the finals, it would be hard for the Thunder and other teams to beat the Spurs in the Western Conference.
But the Heat acquiring Howard compensated for the weakness of their interior line and really had the capability to challenge the Bulls.
Even Wang Chong never expected the plot to develop to such a result.
But one thing is that after being surprised, Wang Chong didn't panic too much.
Does the James + Wade + Howard Big Three 2.0 look strong?
There's no doubt that Howard is stronger than Bosh, but that doesn't mean Bosh is truly useless on the Heat.
After all, the Heat have James and Wade on the outside, both of whom are masters at ball handling. Bosh, who is good at mid-range shooting, can help expand the space to cover both of them on the team.
But what about Howard? Howard's lack of shooting ability could greatly improve the Heat's defense, but the team's offensive firepower would certainly be affected.
With each rise and fall, it's uncertain whether the Heat's strength has improved or weakened.
End of this chapter
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