The Godfather of Basketball

After Tang Tian had lunch at Yao Ming's manor, the moment he stepped out of the manor, he picked up his mobile phone and called Jones, asking him to get in touch with Yao Ming's team as soon as possible.

Now that it has been negotiated, it has to come to a conclusion on this matter.

After two days of negotiations, soon, a news that shocked the league again appeared.

Yao Ming and the Cavaliers reached an oral maximum salary contract agreement with a starting salary of 17.4 million and a total value of 90.91 million over five years.

And shortly after Yao Ming's verbal agreement was reached, James followed up with the Cavaliers and reached a contract extension with a starting salary of 16 million and a total value of 68.8 million in four years.

James' contract extension is 1.4 million less than the maximum salary, but because of the bird rights, the contract increase reached the highest 7.5%, and he has player options in the third and fourth years.

The 1.4 million is to keep Artest.

Just after James renewed his contract, Artest jumped out of the player option and reached a two-year 15 million contract extension with the Cavaliers.

After that, Whiteside, Stephenson, and Jeremy Lin also signed with the team one after another.

What Whiteside got was a contract similar to Green's, 4 million for 4 years, with team options for the next two years.

Stephenson and Jeremy Lin are standard second-round pick contracts, 1.49 million for 2 years.

In this way, the prototype of the Cavaliers' roster for the new season has basically emerged.

Point guard: Chris Paul (14.94 million), Beverly (800,000), Jeremy Lin (730,000)

Shooting guards: Danny Green (800,000), Lance Stephenson (730,000)

Small Forward: James (16 million), Artest (7.5 million)

Power Forward: Ryan Anderson (1.41 million), Frye (3 million)

Center: Yao Ming (17.4 million), Kwame Brown (1.31 million), Whiteside (930,000)

There are 12 people in this lineup, and the total salary is 65.55 million, which is below the luxury sharp 66.45 million.

In other words, the Cavaliers also have a full middle class (starting salary of 5 million) and a biennial exception (starting salary of 1.9 million).

They can at least add two immediate players in the free market.

When the paper lineup of the Cavaliers was released, the league was shaken and protests continued.

"This is shady!" Morey almost roared to the media.

"The league should investigate whether there is a possibility of black-box manipulation in Yao's signing. This possibility is very high!" Angie directly agreed.

"This kind of team should not appear! It's not fair to other teams!" Magic general manager Otis Smith protested.

...

Compared with James' decision in the previous life, the impact was greater and stronger.

The Big Three lineup formed by the Cavaliers is simply an explosive impact on other teams.

Paul, the league's number one point guard, ranked third in MVP two years ago.

James, the number one small forward in the league, has been ranked second in MVP for the past two years.

Yao Ming, the number one center in the league, has just completed three consecutive regular season MVPs.

The Big Three of the Celtics in 2008 are simply incomparable!

Even the Big Three of Tang Tian's previous life were far inferior to this one!

This is simply Team Galaxy!

It really exploded!

Stern's office, neat and tidy, received letters of protest from all the management of the other 29 teams in the league.

The league was forced to investigate Yao Ming's signing with the Cavaliers.

The investigation lasted for a week, and the Cavaliers and Yao Ming's teams were very cooperative.

But the results of the investigation left other teams speechless.

The operation of the Cavaliers signing Yao Ming is completely in compliance with the regulations, and there is no illegal operation!

After all, Yao Ming and the Cavaliers signed a real maximum salary contract, which is completely different from the yin and yang contract between Joe Smith and the Timberwolves.

There is no problem with Yao Ming's signing, right?

OK, then investigate James!

Ever since, under pressure from the management of the other 29 teams, the league launched another three-day in-depth investigation into James' signing.

The result was exactly the same.

Legal and compliant.

You can't say that there is something wrong with someone's salary cut and contract renewal, right?

People are willing, what can you do!

James is okay? Then check Artest's!

Artest's contract extension is 2.5 million more than his original contract...

Ever since, after more than half a month of tossing, the alliance did not investigate any problems.

All operations of the Cavaliers are within the rules.

In other words, protest is invalid!

In fact, all Tang Tian's actions were absolutely within the rules.

It's even cleaner than the Big Three of the Heat in the previous life.

After all, as a traverser, his layout had already started during the offseason of last season.

Amidst the uproar, the time came to July 12, and the freeze period for the league's signings also ended.

All those who had reached a verbal agreement before also signed a formal contract.

Yao Ming, James, Artest, Whiteside, Stephenson and Jeremy Lin all signed official contracts with the Cavaliers on this day.

After the contract was signed, the Cavaliers also held a press conference.

The scene was full of popularity, and all the local sports media in Cleveland came.

"Our goal is not one or two championships, our goal is an unprecedented dynasty."

At the press conference, Tang Tian was also full of pride.

Cleveland's already hot ball market, with his declaration, has come to an unprecedented period of explosion.

In the conspicuous areas of the small town, the road signs of Tang Tian and the Big Three can be seen everywhere, even if you go to the shopping mall, you can hear someone talking about the team's next season within two steps.

For the people of Cleveland, the Big Three of the Cavaliers have had a greater impact on their lives than anyone running for mayor.

In fact, the mayor of Cleveland was not idle. After the press conference, when he reported on his daily work, he designated July 12 as Cleveland Fans Day.

The whole city is boiling.

After finishing the press conference, Tang Tian returned to the coach's office.

The lineup of the Big Three has been formed, and now it is basically a matter of tinkering.

Gilbert is not a stingy person. Now that the football market is booming, he certainly doesn't mind spending a little extravagance.

The existence of the middle class exception and the biennial exception gives him room to use his hands and feet.

He called Dante into his office.

"What about Korver and Mike Miller hasn't progressed yet?" he asked suspiciously.

During the freezing period in the past, his energy was focused on Yao Ming and James' contract renewal, as well as dealing with league investigations, leaving Dante to do the rest.

"We shouldn't be able to sign them," Dante continued.

"What's going on?" Tang Tian frowned.

Both Korver and Miller are the most suitable players for the Cavaliers, with three-pointers and average defense.

If he remembers correctly, Korver signed the Bulls for 15 million in 3 years in his previous life, and Miller signed the Heat for 29 million in 5 years.

The Cavaliers lineup is so tempting, one of the two, the middle class, can definitely win.