Guys there is already content on patreon, if anyone wants to become a jonnin, hogake or God Shinobi.
patreon.com/Chuga320 (Have than 50 additional chapters)
—————————————————————————————————————————————
Thompson's situation is actually somewhat similar to Wiggins'. As a bench player, his ability to score, fight for offensive rebounds, and attack the basket is very good. After all, the "Eight Sages" average 8+8 per game. As a player who plays around 28 minutes per game, that's already impressive. But the premise is that he accepted a low-cost rookie contract worth several million, and after leveraging James to force the Cavaliers to offer a five-year, $82 million deal, he became a typical example of high salary and low skill.
With Wang Chong playing just one year with the Cavaliers, Tristan Thompson is definitely a bright spot.
As for Vallejo, it's a bit like a chicken rib. If the 14-15 season hadn't been a write-off due to injury as in the original storyline, it would still have some value. But his annual salary of $9 million isn't easy to trade. Some draft picks and other assets would need to be included, and they can't recover any quality players. So, it's better to put him aside for now.
On July 7th, Paul Gasol officially announced he would join the Cleveland Cavaliers, signing a two-year, $16 million deal with an average annual salary of $8 million. Gasol doesn't have a huge contract, but it aligns well with his current value, and the player option for the second year gives Pau plenty of options.
Although Gasol's signing with the Cavaliers generated some buzz, it wasn't particularly moving.
After all, at 34 years old, Gasol has lost his position in the league. This season, Gasol averaged 17 points and 9 rebounds per game with the Rockets, and his stats can only be considered mediocre, which led to Gasol not being selected as an All-Star, much less making an All-NBA team.
It can also be seen from his renewed contract that $16 million for two years, an average of $8 million per year, is just a slightly larger mid-level contract.
Then the Cavaliers announced they would sign center Hassan Whiteside to a one-year contract, which attracted even less attention.
Who is Whiteside? Has he played in the league? This was the first reaction from many media outlets upon seeing this name.
No one believed the Cavaliers were intentional in signing such an obscure player.
These two signings weren't seen as particularly good by anyone, especially Gasol's signing. Even though it's only $8 million per year, the Cavaliers' own salary cap space is over $30 million. After Gasol's $8 million salary, the remainder would be enough to give Wang Chong a maximum salary contract.
Originally, Cavaliers fans were still waiting to see if, after signing Wang Chong, the Cavaliers could make enough salary cap space through some moves to bring in James and form the golden 03 duo for an unparalleled generation.
But with Pau Gasol's signing, this possibility is almost zero. No matter how the Cavaliers operate, it's impossible to free up another $40 million in salary space. With Wang Chong and James in key positions, their starting salaries are already at least $20 million each, and if neither of them is willing to take a pay cut, the starting salary for a max contract would reach at least $22 million.
Carmelo, also from the 03 golden class, gave them a preview first.
On July 10th, Carmelo Anthony, now a free agent, decided to stay with the New York Knicks to continue partnering with Derrick Rose, signing a five-year, $124 million extension with the Knicks, including a starting salary of $22.46 million for the 14-15 season.
Of course, Anthony's contract includes a Bird clause, so it's longer, and his starting salary is a bit higher than a normal contract.
Wang Chong, who joined the Cavaliers without the Bird clause margin, stated from the beginning that he would only sign for one year, so his contract would be slightly smaller than Anthony's.
When the Cavaliers signed Pau Gasol, James realized that his return to the Cavaliers was completely out of the picture, which made him feel extremely depressed.
The original script of returning as the prodigal son to the Cavaliers had been something he planned for a long time. Once he returned to bring a championship to the team, all the negative comments and criticism would be instantly reversed, and his image would be improved.
But all of that was eliminated due to Wang Chong's sudden move.
Now, James finds himself in a very awkward situation, because once Wang Chong actually wins a championship with the Cavaliers, his previous status with the team will be completely erased—commonly known as being rootless.
In this case, James can't leave the Heat, even if he wanted to, because once he escapes from the Heat, no matter which team he joins, he wouldn't be justified. The only option is to win a championship for the Heat now, to become the true symbol and totem of Miami. Otherwise, when he retires, there will be no main team for him.
On July 12th, James finally made the decision to stay with the Heat for two years and $42.1 million.
Upon hearing this news, Heat fans finally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, all of James' signals before had shown he wanted to leave the Heat urgently, and with the Cavaliers' previous experience, it wasn't surprising that James would escape with a bucket.
But now, James has chosen to stay, at least to ensure that the current status of the Heat's Big Three hasn't changed. Now the Bulls, missing Wang Chong, have seen their strength collapse, and the Cavaliers with Wang Chong can't see any competition for the championship—this is the best time for the Heat to win the championship!
Of course, James still held onto some of his small "nineties," signing a 1+1 contract with the Heat, not a long-term 4-year deal, and can leave anytime if the situation doesn't improve after next season.
The day after James announced he would stay with the Heat, Wade also officially announced through his personal Twitter that he had reached a new contract with the Heat.
Wade signed the same 1+1 two-year deal, but unlike James' $42.1 million over 4 years, Wade's two-year contract totaled only $30 million, $12 million less than James. That's an average salary cut of $6 million per year.
The honest Wade was still hit by Pat Riley's PUA.
Although Wade hasn't played well due to injuries in the last two years, after all, he is still an All-Star level player, averaging close to 20+5+5 per game. Given his past contributions to the Heat, a two-year, $30 million deal feels like an insult.
But who can blame Wade for being honest? When James renewed his contract, Riley found Wade, crying about how tough things were for the team now. They wanted to remain competitive but couldn't afford the luxury tax, playing the family card with Wade and promising that once the two-year deal expired, they'd definitely give Wade a decent retirement contract.
Wade was moved by Riley's true feelings and resolutely signed a contract he would regret for a long time in the future.
In this way, the Heat's Big Three was saved, and because Wade only signed for two years and $30 million, the Heat was able to squeeze in a mid-level contract to look for a good player in the free market.
The Heat's strength hasn't increased significantly compared to before, and with Wade being a year older, it might be a bit weaker than before. But due to Wang Chong's departure from the Bulls, the Eastern Conference's former dominance is no longer strong, and the Heat, who have kept their Big Three, have immediately become one of the biggest favorites to win the championship in the new season.
On July 14th, Wang Chong finally completed his official signing with the Cavaliers, with $42.1 million for 2 years, almost the same as James.
In no way, despite winning seven championships, Wang Chong still has to sign according to the rules set by the league. He has been in the league the same amount of time as James and Anthony, so the maximum salary he can receive is exactly the same.
Just like Jordan in the past, his salary ignores the team salary cap, and his salary alone even surpasses the total salary of many NBA teams, which is a special situation in a special period. Even though Wang Chong is now on par with Jordan, he still can't participate in that kind of specialization.
With Anthony, James, Wade, and others signing with their respective teams, the number of big-name stars on the free market has plummeted.
Chris, from the Lakers. After shopping around the free market, Bosh realized that the offer from the Lakers was the best fit, and next season, he'll be refunded by Kobe Bryant, becoming the Lakers' sole core. So, he signed a four-year, $90 million extension with the Lakers.
The Lakers didn't keep Bosh for his attractiveness—Bosh played decently this season, but it was just decent. The Lakers, used to superstars, really aren't fond of a player of Bosh's level.
But the Lakers' current situation truly has no other choice. They need enough time to settle and prepare.
Additionally, Kobe Bryant, who was refunded this season, also re-signed a 2-year, $48 million contract with the Lakers. This is considered a salary cut, as Kobe's salary for the 13-14 season was $30 million. But given his age and the serious injury he suffered, this 2-year, $48 million deal can be seen as a high-priced contract.
On July 16th, the Cavaliers, who had signed Wang Chong, made another move. But this time, the Cavaliers didn't sign free agents, they made a trade.
The Cavaliers sent shooting guard Dieng Vitesse and last year's champion, Anthony Bennett, to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for backup point guard Luiz Williams.
The trade confused many.
Luiz Williams, as the Hawks' sixth man, had a mediocre performance this season, averaging 10.4 points, 2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 24 minutes per game, shooting only 40% from the field.
This performance disappointed the Hawks' management. Even without the Cavaliers, Williams would have been traded by the Hawks and sent to the Toronto Raptors.
But the Hawks never expected that after joining the Raptors, Williams would immediately average 15.5 points per game and win the best sixth man award in the 14-15 season.
The reason the Cavaliers made this deal was at Wang Chong's request.
Although the Cavaliers already had Curry at point guard, Wang Chong still wanted to take precautions—who knows if Irving will miss the Finals due to an injury like in the original 14-15 season.
With Luiz Williams, even if Irving does get injured, the Cavaliers won't be left without options. Anyway, the positioning and playing style of the two players are relatively close. Williams' three-point shooting is insufficient, and his offense is not stable enough, especially in critical moments. He can't make the final decision through personal ability like Irving. But these aspects themselves don't need to be considered by Wang Chong. Wang Chong's ability to make clutch shots is stronger than Kobe Bryant's or Irving's. Why would he need others to help him in critical moments?
The pieces the Cavaliers gave were Dieng Vitesse and Anthony Bennett, both of whom were high picks. One was the 4th overall pick in 2012, and the other was the 1st overall pick in 2013.
Bennett, known as the most overhyped champion in history, won't be commented on for now. Vitesse's trade value remains good. After all, in the recently concluded 13-14 season, as the second main player for the Cavaliers, he averaged 15.9 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists per game, and was the most effective helper around Irving.
Given that he's only 23 and has a very promising future, the Hawks happily accepted this deal.
With the completion of this trade, Wang Chong's vision of the Cavaliers winning the championship has basically been fulfilled.
Starting lineup: Point guard Curry Irving, shooting guard Andrew Wiggins, small forward Wang Chong, power forward Paul Gasol, center Hassan Whiteside.
The height of this lineup is quite impressive. Except for Irving, who is 1.88 meters, all the others are over 2 meters, with guards Wiggins at 2.01 meters, Wang Chong at 2.11 meters, and both Gasol and Whiteside at 2.13 meters.
While their height is enough to suppress the entire league, the mobility of the Cavaliers lineup is also good. Irving is the fastest guard, and the talented Wiggins is certainly no slouch. Not to mention Wang Chong—among current forwards over 2.3 meters tall, very few are faster than him.
As for Pau Gasol and Whiteside, they are also the type of interior players with impressive speed, and when facing a small-ball team with a very fast offensive pace, the team can also adjust formations. The Cavaliers' bench will be useful in this situation.
The number one player on the bench, and naturally the future best sixth man, Luiz Williams, can be promoted directly to the starting lineup if necessary. Irving can play point guard, Wiggins can move to small forward, and Wang Chong can shift back to power forward. The center in this lineup, naturally, wouldn't be Tristan Thompson—it would be someone else.
Tristan, who is 2.06 meters tall and weighs over 100 kilograms, is brilliant with his rebounding and agility and can keep up with perimeter players.
With him as center, the Cavaliers can also switch to small-ball mode. Although they're far from the Bulls' small-ball lineup in terms of three-point shooting, they excel in mobility and athleticism.
Overall, the Cavaliers' lineup is certainly not comparable to the Bulls' in terms of sheer power, but the Bulls have weakened significantly with Wang Chong's departure.
Since the free-agent market opened, the Bulls haven't made any major moves. Although the Bulls' salary cap space has freed up by over $20 million due to Wang Chong's departure, the team wants to re-sign Gasol Jr. So, their theoretical salary cap space isn't as exaggerated.
After all, Wang Chong's contract extension with the Bulls could trigger the Bird clause and the team extension within the salary cap, but other players in the free-agent market can't do that.
Therefore, the Bulls' actual salary cap space is just over $10 million, and at that price, finding a suitable replacement for Wang Chong on the free-agent market isn't easy.
End of this chapter
Note: Hi if you really like NBA novels, you can support me either in this pg with stones, reviews etc, or in patreon since the niche of sports and specially NBA is very small is Webnovel since people prefer to read Naruto, Pokemon, comics etc.