Eight Hundred and Fifteen: The New Favorite to Win the Championship

The latest website: The summer of 2014 was extraordinarily human compared to previous years.

First of all, Randolph took the initiative to take a salary cut of 6 million in order to retain the team's championship framework.

Just when people thought that the 6 million award was enough, Dirk Nowitzki came up with a more ruthless one.

Nowitzki, who was still earning an annual salary of 22.72 million in Dallas last season, decided to take the initiative to cut his salary to give the Mavericks room to operate in the free agency market. The new contract he signed with the Mavericks is only 7.97 million a year!

Originally, Cuban offered Dirk a one-year contract worth $20 million. After all, Dirk still averaged 21.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 49.7% shooting and 39.8% three-point shooting last season.

Although he is old, he is still an indispensable and important fighting force for the Dallas Mavericks.

However, Dirk justly rejected Cuban's double-team, and he had never been a manager to bargain with Cuban for the first time. Of course, unlike others, Dirk didn't bargain for a higher salary, but to hope that Cuban would take less for himself.

In the end, there was a contract that was only $7.97 million.

7.97 million a year, which is undoubtedly a serious incompatibility with Dirk's ability. He is equivalent to taking a voluntary pay cut of $12 million, twice that of Randolph!

You know, even Garnett, who has no more fuel in the tank, just signed a one-year, 12 million contract with the Nets.

Dirk's 7.97 million makes people feel incredible.

However, these things that do not conform to the laws of business and do not conform to the principles of business do happen.

Randolph, Nowitzki, including Duncan, who took the initiative to cut his salary last summer, all told everyone that the NBA is far more than just business.

Of course, those who are willing to take a pay cut and stay in the original team are only a small number of people after all. Most players in the free agency market still make choices that are more in line with business rules.

On July 12, 2014, one month after the Miami Heat lost in the finals, LeBron James ended the biggest suspense of the summer.

James rejected the five-year contract offered by the Heat and Pat Riley, and chose to return to Cleveland,

Signed a 2-year, $42.18 million 11-year contract with the Cavaliers.

In an instant, the news of Randolph and Nowitzki's salary cuts was suppressed by James. No one thought that James would choose to leave again after reaching the finals for four consecutive years in Miami and being able to fight side by side with his good brother!

"Before no one cared where I played, I was a kid from northeast Ohio. This is where I walked out, this was where I ran, this was where I cried, this was where I bleed , it will always have a special place in my heart. My connection to Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball, something I didn't recognize four years ago, and now I do."

This time, although James did not do any live broadcasts in the United States, he still published a seemingly touching text on social media.

Four years ago, he was extremely angry at James' departure, and even "revenge society" because of it, which upset Paul and Kobe to join forces with the possible Cavaliers owner Gilbert, and immediately licked again after learning that James was back, "Welcome back. Home, King James! I'm so happy for the fans and people in Cleveland and Ohio State, no one deserves a championship more than them."

Although it has been experienced once, but watching James and Gilbert sing along on social media, Link thinks this is really a nonsense farce, which is more nonsensical than Randolph's 6 million salary cut.

Hometown basketball? Trapped? For Cleveland?

Link dare not say that these are fake, but these are by no means the main reason why James returned to Cleveland.

The main reason for James to return to Cleveland is very simple-staying in the Heat can no longer beat Link, and he must find stronger and younger helpers to defeat Link and the Grizzlies.

However, the most real reason for this is packaged under the seemingly lofty words such as "hometown basketball".

The fans are not fools, they know better than anyone else. Miami fans, in particular, are finally getting the feel of the Clevelands four years ago.

So what happened in Cleveland four years ago is now being repeated in Miami.

Extreme Heat fans burned the Heat No. 6 jersey worn by James in the street, and abused the jersey while burning the jersey. At this moment, they think that James "betrayed" themselves.

In addition, on North 29th Street near Miami Boulevard, a giant mural of a family photo of the Heat has James' face blacked out by fans.

And those Cleveland fans who burned James Cavaliers jerseys four years ago are kneeling and licking like Cavaliers owner Gilbert.

Isn't this a farce?

But in any case, James' return to Cleveland has indeed greatly improved his probability of winning the championship.

After James decided to return to the Cavaliers, the famous bookmaker Bovada updated the winning odds for the new season. The Cavaliers' winning odds soared to 4 to 1, leading the league! The defending champion Grizzlies are only 5 to 1 to win the championship. And the worst is undoubtedly the Heat, whose title odds plummeted to 50 to 1 in an instant, tied for 16th with the Pelicans.

In an instant, the Miami Heat went from a title favorite to an insignificant team. And the Cavaliers instantly changed from a team contending for the top spot to a favorite to win the championship.

At this point, Link also had to admit James' influence. No matter which team James goes to, he makes that team an instant championship contender.

Link watched James join the Cavaliers according to the original historical development trajectory, and was also full of expectations for the new season.

A younger, stronger challenger? It looks like the finals won't be a boring 4-0 anymore.

Of course, aside from other teams, not everyone within the Grizzlies itself is as great as Randolph.

Nick Young, who has won two championship rings and was very happy with the Grizzlies, chose a bigger contract and left Memphis.

When Nick Young joined the Grizzlies, he was at a low point in his career. Therefore, he signed a very cheap contract with the Grizzlies.

In the past two years for the Grizzlies, Nick Young undoubtedly made his mark. He not only won two championship rings, but also let people see his strong strength. Whether it's the regular season or the playoffs, Nick Young's scoring explosiveness is no less than that of a superstar once he gets his hands on it.

As a result, the Los Angeles Lakers signed "Yang Shaoxia" with a four-year long-term contract worth $21.5 million. Last season, his annual salary in the Grizzlies was less than $1 million...

Although Nick Young was gone, Link and the rest of the Grizzlies sent their blessings instead. Randolph's salary cut of 6 million is indeed great, but you can't use Randolph's standards to restrain other people. Nor can anyone blame him for not learning from Randolph.

Everyone has the right to choose. It would be stupid to tear everyone's face because Nick Young left.

Nick Young was able to make a fortune in the past two years with the Grizzlies, which can be considered a success.

Nick Young also posted a long post on social media thanking the Grizzlies, Memphis fans and teammates, and especially Link.

"You let me know what a professional attitude a professional player should have, which inspired me a lot." This is Nick Young's statement that Link gave him the biggest gain.

As usual, even if the Grizzlies have players left, most of them are "peaceful breakups." Of course, with the exception of Mayo and Guy, the two "old almanac".

After Nick Young, the old Miller also joined the Cavaliers with a two-year, $6.5 million contract and returned to James. He knew the Grizzlies were tight in cap space and couldn't meet his salary demands. Therefore, they also chose to break up peacefully.

"I still love the fans here, love this city, and thank you for everything it brings to me. I will always love Memphis." Mike Miller also didn't complain, and Link and the others also blessed Miller.

However, after leaving Nick Young, a "convulsive" and Miller, a sharpshooter who can shoot 44% of his three-pointers in the playoffs, the Grizzlies' shooting ability from beyond the arc has inevitably caused people to worry. up.

The Grizzlies' remaining perimeter Conley, Dellavedova, Tony Allen, Jimmy Butler, Andre Iguodala and others are not long shot experts. There is no shooter to open up the space, in this day and age, it can be said that it is impossible to move an inch.

A shooter may not need to get many points, but the tactical significance is irreplaceable. Old Miller and Nick Young averaged only a few points per game, but when they made a stop outside the three-point line, would Wade dare to double-team Link?

And now, the Grizzlies are suddenly missing two of those 3-point stunners. The impact on tactics is still huge.

Chris Wallace must have hated the Cavaliers right now and hated them for cutting Joe Harris, the sharpshooter, in the draft. He'd already said that the Grizzlies would need a player like Joe Harris.

Looking at the entire free agency market today, it seems that there are no affordable three-point shooters to choose from.

Just as Wallace was at a loss, Link's chain of personal relationships came into play.

He recommended an "invisible" three-point shooter for Wallace.