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Irving, of course, needless to say, as the thickest thigh alongside James, Irving's ability to carry on the court is quite outstanding. Even among all the current point guards in the league, he's at the top level.
Irving's main weakness is that he is also a glass player, and often gets injured. Whether it's with the Cavaliers, Celtics, or Nets, there have been instances where the team lost a series due to him missing key games because of injury.
Moreover, there are more magical brain circuits, like being a staunch supporter of the Horizon Theory and a resolute refusal to get vaccinated during the mask period, which makes people question whether his mental state is normal.
But at least at the start of his career, Irving was definitely a very good player in the point guard position.
As for Andrew Wiggins, who was supposed to be traded to the Timberwolves this summer as a bargaining chip in exchange for the King Wolf, Kevin. 14-year Lorefour champion.
As an NBA champion, Wiggins' talent is undeniable, but his career has been lukewarm. Due to his overly salty competitive attitude, he was nicknamed "Brother Goji".
But if you look closer at Wiggins' career, you'll find that he's been able to contribute 20+ points per game consistently since his second season, including 23.6 points and 22.4 points per game during his time with the Timberwolves.
However, what's interesting is that Wiggins didn't make his first All-Star selection until he joined the Warriors in the 2021-22 season.
Is Wiggins incredible? In fact, he's quite powerful, with an average of 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game in his career, and his shooting percentage can be maintained at around 45%, which is reasonable for him as an NBA champion in a normal year.
But in 2014, Wiggins was a bit undeserving of that name. After all, that year, Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, both MVP-level players, were also rookies. Embiid's MVP was still a bit fresh, but Jokic's MVP was well deserved. After all, he is the player who will become the first person in the league in the future.
In Wang Chong's opinion, trading Wiggins for Lefou is not a particularly profitable deal. Lefou's immediate combat power might be stronger than Wiggins, a first-year rookie, but it is also limited.
Lefou, who plays as a small forward/power forward, has an actual height of only 2.03 meters, with an arm span of only 2.11 meters, which actually makes him somewhat awkward to position.
Playing at the interior position, Lefou's height is slightly shorter, his ability to protect the basket is insufficient, the defensive wing always suffers, the only thing that isn't bad is the rebounding. If you play outside, Lefou's mobility is somewhat lacking. It's difficult to guard players with quicker mobility, and he's easy to be passed by.
In terms of offense, Lefou's main offensive means are catching and shooting from the outside, as well as driving and scoring inside, which is also his greatest advantage. The future league will enter the small-ball era, and interior players will be indispensable for three-point shooting skills. In this regard, Lefou, as a big forward, is a good player.
The reason Wang Chong doesn't plan to replicate the trade of Wiggins for Lefou is because Wiggins can become the starting point guard for the Cavaliers with a bit of training, and his athleticism is excellent. As long as his attitude improves, his defense can definitely reach the first-class level in the league.
Wang Chong fully trusts that after six or seven months of regular season, it should not be a problem to train Wiggins to a level close to Butler's this season, and it will be enough to reach that level.
The Cavaliers, with Wang Chong, have never lacked offensive firepower. What they need most is defensive capability and mobility to keep up with the fast-break counterattack, something Lefou lacks, and his mid-to-long-range shooting ability is more suited for James' star system.
Two last important points: First, compared to Wiggins, who has a rookie contract of only 5 million, Lefou's 15 million contract is a bit expensive, which isn't conducive to Wang Chong's subsequent recruitment moves. And secondly, Wang Chong recalls the famous scene of the Seven Samurai Jedi in the original 14-15 Finals of the Cavaliers and doesn't want to take too much risk when Irving is already on the team. Even though Lefou's injury was completely caused by the malicious actions of Celtics' Olynyk, who can guarantee that Lefou, associated with Wang Chong, won't suffer the same in the 14-15 season?
Winning the championship in the first year after joining the Cavaliers is a systematic task, with a reward that Wang Chong cannot refuse, and he cannot take this risk.
Basically, the backcourt combination of the Cavaliers for the new season is determined to be a combination of Irving + Wiggins, with Wang Chong in the front line. There are actually two vacancies in the Cavaliers' starting lineup, but these two actually have candidates in Wang Chong's mind.
For the small forward/power forward position, Wang Chong intends to bring in Paul Rockets, a power forward whose contract is expiring. Gasol.
Just after running away from his brother Mark, Gasol immediately set his sights on his brother Paul. Gasol, perhaps a little of that.
But even Wang Chong has to admit that the Gasol brothers are really fantastic.
Gasol Jr. is already a former teammate, so let's not mention him for now. Let's talk about Paul Gasol.
For the 2014-15 season, Paul Gasol is 34 years old, and generally, the vast majority of interior players start to decline significantly at this age, while the best players like Duncan, Garnett, and Nowitzki can maintain their competitive form for a few more years due to their great strength.
Paul Gasol was not a favorite at this stage, so in the summer of 2014, Gasol, who became a free agent, signed a 3-year, 22 million contract with the Bulls, with an average annual salary of only 7.33 million.
Although before joining the Bulls, Gasol rejected a 2-year, 23 million contract offered by the Lakers, his market price was still only 11.5 million, which can only be considered a very normal level in a league with annual salaries of tens of millions.
But who would have thought that after joining the Bulls, Paul Gasol actually recovered in the second spring of his career, playing 78 games for the Bulls during the regular season. Gasol was averaging 18.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game, replacing Carlos Boozer as the new pillar of the Bulls' front line.
This performance raised Gasol's market price, and even in the next season (15-16), Gasol, who was one year older, slightly dropped, with his average stats per game in the regular season dropping to 16.5 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists. But when he didn't exercise his player option to opt out of his contract, he was still persuaded by many teams, and ultimately signed a 2-year, 30 million contract with the Spurs, and after a year, he opted out of the contract again, and signed a 3-year, 48 million contract with the Spurs.
At this point, Pau Gasol must be the most cost-effective player in the free-agent market, and also extremely good and outstanding.
Paul Gasol was not as happy as he used to be with the Rockets, and it was better when he and Da Yao formed the twin towers inside at the beginning, but with the retirement of Da Yao, the Rockets' lineup declined, and Da Gasol couldn't hold on. The Rockets were already planning to rebuild, so naturally, there was no idea of keeping the veteran.
Unlike the original Gasol, who won two championships with the Lakers alongside Kobe, Gasol hasn't won a championship so far. Even his younger brother, Mark Gasol, who entered the league several years after him, now has six championship rings.
Saying that Pau Gasol doesn't want a championship is false.
Wang Chong did not go through the official Cavaliers' direction but contacted Gasol directly privately, and the latter immediately agreed and accepted without hesitation when he learned that Wang Chong invited him to join the Cavaliers to compete for the championship.
Although the outside world has mixed opinions about Wang Chong's sudden choice to join the Cavaliers, no one will deny that the Cavaliers, after obtaining Wang Chong, have directly become one of the strongest teams in the East. Even those media who are not optimistic about Wang Chong only refer to the evaluations of the Bulls and the Cavaliers' lineups, and no one doubts that the Cavaliers won't enter the playoffs under Wang Chong's leadership.
Paul Gasol, of course, also knows this, because his younger brother Mark Gasol has been playing alongside Wang Chong since he entered the league, and knows Wang Chong a bit better than other ordinary players, and knows very well that if anyone can help him win a championship, it's definitely Wang Chong!
Therefore, in response to Wang Chong's invitation, Da Gasol agreed directly without any hesitation, and also promised Wang Chong that to ensure the success of the Cavaliers' next recruitment, his signing with the Cavaliers would be postponed for a few days to facilitate the Cavaliers' business operations.
After securing Big Gasol, for Wang Chong, the reinforcement work is basically halfway done.
And during the time Wang Chong was busy with the team's recruitment work, James finally couldn't sit still.
The news that Wang Chong suddenly joined the Cavaliers greatly surprised him, and it took him two or three days to digest the news.
Although he couldn't understand the significance of Wang Chong's move, this was an opportunity!
The current salary space of the Cavaliers, as long as they tighten the belt a bit and trade some players with relatively large contracts, such as Vallejo and others, they are totally capable of signing him and Wang Chong at the same time!
At this moment, James suddenly felt that Wang Chong might want to unite with the Cavaliers. After all, who in this league didn't know that the totem of the Cavaliers was him, LeBron. James? Previously, he had also been using the media to build momentum for his return home, and the momentum was quite strong.
Therefore, James still couldn't help it and asked his agent to take the initiative to contact the Cavaliers, expressing his desire to return to the Cavaliers and bring the championship back to the team. He even expressed his willingness to accept a pay cut to ease the load on the team.
James took the initiative to approach the door, which should have thrilled the Cavaliers' management.
But it backfired. David Griffin's face was tangled. He didn't forget the three conditions in Wang Chong's agreement to join the Cavaliers. He was unwilling to play with James, so the Cavaliers could not sign James.
This condition was accepted by the team owner Gilbert. How dare the general manager violate it?
"I'm sorry, Mr. Richie, it's an honor that LeBron is willing to play for his hometown team, but unfortunately, the Cavaliers have no plans to sign LeBron for the new season..."
On the other end of the phone, James' agent, Richie. Pablo was stunned.
What did he just hear? The Cavaliers actually rejected and turned down James? That's LeBron. Oh, James! The chosen one, two-time MVP winner, the superstar emperor that other teams can't even trade for, even if they use all the players on their own team as trade chips! The Cavaliers' general manager rejected him without even thinking about it?
Wait for Richie. When Pablo incredulously conveyed this matter to Santiago, Santiago was stunned and immediately thought of a possibility.
"It must be Wang Chong's request! Only that kind of person does things like this!"
James has not forgotten that in the summer of 2010, he had the idea of joining Wang Chong in Chicago, but when he called Wang Chong to express his intentions, the latter actually scorned him and even ridiculed him, nearly angering James.
At that time, James secretly swore to defeat Wang Chong in the Heat and show him how powerful he was.
Unexpectedly, four years passed in an instant, but after four years in the Heat, he never crossed Wang Chong's obstacle again, and once again, he licked his face and wanted to hug Wang Chong's thigh.
"Don't want to unite with me, thinking the rest of the alliance doesn't want to? I can build a super team whenever I want! I'll beat you on the court! Win the O'Brien Cup!"
James' desire to return to the Cavaliers and hug Wang Chong's thigh has come to an end.
Wang Chong's recruitment work continues.
Paul Gasol can serve as the main interior player for the team, but Da Gasol still belongs to the interior with little confrontation ability. With his increasing age, Wang Chong must be prepared for both hands in case a lot of games during the regular season cause Da Gasol to get injured in the playoffs. Wouldn't that be as tragic as the original 14-15 Knight Jedi Seven Knights season?
Wang Chong's candidate is Hassan, who is 2.13 meters tall and plays as a center. Whiteside.
The famous Huaishen rose in the 14-15 season.
Whiteside, who entered the league through the 2010 draft, didn't have a smooth career. At one point, he had no ball to play and had to play overseas, and in September 2014, Whiteside, who returned from the CBA qualification, returned to the NBA and signed a non-guaranteed contract with the Grizzlies, but the result was still unsatisfactory, and he was eventually cut by the Grizzlies.
In November 2014, the Heat signed Whiteside, and then Whiteside showed amazing rebounding and interior defense ability with the Heat, averaging 11.8 points, 10 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks in less than 24 minutes per game, becoming the Heat's main center.
In the next season (15-16), Whiteside's average playing time increased to 30 minutes per game, and his stats also increased to 14.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks.
His outstanding performance marked the beginning of a big contract, 98 million for 4 years.
Whiteside, who obtained a superstar contract, also marked the beginning of a statistical explosion, and his average data per game in the 16-17 season skyrocketed to 17 points and 14 rebounds per game.
However, this is also the only highlight of Huaishen's career. With the increasing competition, Whiteside's various deficiencies were exposed, such as his lack of offensive moves, his defense ability, though outstanding, is far from the top level, and most importantly, as a worker's style player, a nearly 25 million annual salary is too luxurious.
However, none of the above is entirely absent for Wang Chong, after all, the current Whiteside is still just a nobody whom no one cares about, and no one pays attention to. The Cavaliers only need a base salary contract to easily bring him in.
After getting Big Gasol and Whiteside, the Cavaliers' interior players are basically enough, because the Cavaliers themselves also have interior players like the famous "Wise King of the Eight", Tristan. Thompson and Vallejo, and in addition to Wang Chong, they can also play the small forward/power forward position. The Cavaliers are more than enough inside.
End of this chapter
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