One Thousand Two Hundred and Ten: Bizarre Signing

The big fish in the free agent market have basically been fished out. After the madness in early July, the situation throughout the offseason has calmed down.

Although there are still several signings every day, the signings are completed by people who are indifferent.

Just then, an incredible piece of news suddenly appeared.

"Dwight Howard joins the Memphis Grizzlies with a non-guaranteed contract of only $2.6 million a year! The former super center will assist Link!"

This news broke the calm of summer and once again aroused heated discussion among everyone.

Of course, Howard no longer has the influence he had back then, and he is no longer a giant player. His joining the Grizzlies is not a major personnel change.

The reason why this matter is so high-profile is because this signing is so bizarre!

First of all, 2.6 million a year is simply a bargain for a former super center like Howard. What's more, we are still in an era of skyrocketing salary caps.

Howard's annual salary in his rookie season was 4.18 million. Last season with the Wizards, Howard, who has fallen from the altar, received an annual salary of more than 5 million.

But now, just one year later, he has only received less than 3 million!

The most important thing is that Howard's 2.6 million is still a "summer contract."

The so-called summer contract means that not a penny in Howard's contract is guaranteed. Starting from the start of the regular season, Howard settles his salary in "days".

In other words, if the Grizzlies tell Howard to get out the next day, he will not receive all wages for the second day and thereafter.

Such a contract gives the Grizzlies the absolute initiative.

If Howard gets injured or disrupts the locker room or performs poorly, he can pack up and leave at any time.

If he is given up before the regular season, he won't even get a penny.

And if the Grizzlies want to lay off Howard, they will have to pay almost nothing.

Under normal circumstances, if a team lays off a player, it must continue to pay his remaining salary.

But if Howard's non-guaranteed contract is waived, the Grizzlies only need to pay him $6,000.

Not 60,000,

It’s not 60 million, it’s 6,000.

$6,000 is a lot, but for professional players it is a negligible amount. After all, Link's salary in the Development League was not calculated in thousands.

Howard's contract is, to put it bluntly, no different from a ten-day short contract, or even worse.

After all, the NBA stipulates that a team can sign a player to a ten-day contract at most twice. If you still want to sign a contract after two times, it must be a guaranteed long-term contract.

This is how Link stayed with the Grizzlies.

As for Howard, it is possible that he will be in a non-guaranteed state for the entire season, and may be unemployed at any time throughout the season.

It's hard to imagine that this kind of contract, specially prepared for undrafted and undrafted players, would actually be used on former super centers.

What's even more unimaginable is that Howard happily accepted such a demanding contract!

And on social media, Howard also said that he was very happy to get this opportunity and would cherish it.

If you don’t know, you thought the Grizzlies and Howard signed you for 20 million.

In addition to the bizarre price of this contract, Howard joining the Grizzlies is also a bizarre thing.

It's no secret that Link and Howard don't get on well.

Although Howard has disappeared over the years, he has not had any conflicts with Link for a long time.

But during the Rockets era, Howard and Link were old enemies.

Every time the two sides met, they would talk trash at each other, or serve each other with an iron elbow at worst.

Link has never been a "good person", and he is not that tolerant.

In this context, the Grizzlies actually signed Howard, which is as incredible as having Durant and Link call each other brothers!

This bizarre signing made many fans complain.

"The Grizzlies signed Howard? Hahahaha, wait for the Grizzlies locker room to explode next season!" Clippers fans were happy, and they gloated in advance.

If there is a problem in the Grizzlies' locker room, they themselves will collapse from within. As a result, the Clippers' chances of winning the championship will definitely be greatly improved.

"Howard is of no use to the Grizzlies. What else can he do now? Maybe he will be waived soon." Some fans disagree with this matter. They think the Grizzlies are just trying to find a horse by riding on the donkey. .

Sign Howard as a backup first, and then cut him when you find a better one. Anyway, you don't have to pay.

"The Grizzlies are so desperate that they want to sign Howard. It seems like they really won't be able to make it out of the Western Conference next season." Naturally, there are also some yin and yang voices.

It's not just fans elsewhere who are complaining, even some local Memphis fans can't understand this signing.

"This is really an incredible signing. Howard joins the Grizzlies? Are you asking him to fight with Link?"

"What a stupid signing. I can already imagine Howard refusing to pick and roll for Link next season, and then standing in the paint. Fortunately, it is a non-guaranteed contract!"

"It's really helpless. It would have been nice if the Grizzlies could have taken Cousins ​​earlier. Cousins ​​and Link have a very good relationship, and they will definitely have a good chemical reaction. Oh, what a pity."

This is a very rare situation where even Grizzlies fans are not optimistic about their team's signing.

It's obvious how depressed Howard is now. He has almost become a street rat that everyone yells at.

No one believes that Howard will play honestly and be a blue-collar player.

Some fans even held a poll online: "When do you think Howard will be waived by the Grizzlies?"

Among them, more than half of the people voted for the option of "being laid off within one month after the start of the game".

Only 1.3% of fans chose "Howard will play until the end of the season."

So, people joked that these 1.3% are all Howard's trumpets...

Back in Brooklyn, Durant felt offended.

In short, no one is optimistic about this signing now. The former "Warcraft" has already exceeded people's expectations for him.

However, Howard has never updated his social media account except for the "very happy to get the job opportunity" update.

There are no commercial activities, eating, drinking or having fun.

After Howard signed with the Grizzlies, he immediately started his training this summer.

He believes that as long as he can perform, these voices will disappear.

The 34-year-old veteran is as diligent as a 24-year-old undrafted player.

Link is also preparing for this summer's training camp, but has not invited Howard.

Although Howard is very humble now, his strength is not yet up to the requirements of Link's training camp.

In fact, among the new players who joined the Grizzlies this year, Link only invited Rose and JaMychal Green.

Even for teammates, Link’s training camp invitation system will never open a back door.

But training camp is always in late July. These days, Link is still on vacation.

After finishing the free agent signing, Link can finally spend time with his family, take them out to play, and enjoy a real vacation life.

Of course, business activities are also indispensable.

Due to the relationship between the Basketball World Cup and Japanese rookie Rui Hachimura, the NBA will move many commercial activities to Asia this summer.

Link also went to China. In addition to promoting sneakers, he was also preparing for the training camp that he and Kobe discussed a few years ago.

Looking at the crowd of Chinese fans cheering for him, Link couldn't help but sigh.

Originally, he was probably one of this group of people.

But now, he is standing at the top.

Finally, Link returned to the United States and participated in an ESPN talk show before the start of training camp.

This is Link's first TV appearance this summer, and fans will definitely want to know the answers to a lot of questions from Link.

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