The Godfather of Basketball

"The head coach of the season from 2016 to 2017 is... Mike D'Antoni."

Xiao Hua announced the ownership of the best head coach. Like his previous life, D'Antoni won the second best head coach honor of his career.

There was a burst of whistles and cheers, and Tang Tian and Popovich also extended their hands to applaud.

The Rockets lost Howard last season and did not sign Gordon in the same way as in the previous life, but they still have a record of 55 wins. D'Antoni is indeed more worthy of this honor than other coaches.

Although they failed to win the championship, they won the best sixth man and the best head coach successively. After so many years after Tang Tian left, the Rockets finally wanted to rise again.

After the head coach of the year, several other new awards were handed out one after another.

These awards are quite interesting. For example, Nowitzki won the best teammate award in the league. Carter presented him with the award. The scene was very warm; Westbrook also deserves his name.

After all the miscellaneous awards have been awarded, the finale is the season MVP award.

Harden, Westbrook, and Leonard were shortlisted.

The final result was the same as in the previous life. Westbrook, who averaged a triple-double in the second season in history, was honored with the MVP award, and Harden of the Rockets became the most regrettable person at the awards ceremony.

The awards ceremony ended and the 2016~2017 season was announced to be completely over.

The Nets had nothing at the awards ceremony.

But Tang Tian didn't care at all. In the past season, the most important thing for the Nets was the growth of Booker and Jokic. A few small awards were irrelevant.

After the awards ceremony was over, Tang Tian also set his sights on the free agent market that followed.

Before the start of the free market, Tang Tian was also anxious to have a regular meeting with the core management staff to discuss the future plans of the Nets.

Traded Gordon, gave up Justin Hamilton, and before signing a rookie, the Nets' current lineup:

Point guard: TJ McConaughey, Dejounte Murray

Shooting guard: Booker, Brogdon

Small forwards: Butler, Tucker, Jefferson Jr.

Power Forward: Yi Jianlian

Center: Jokic, Oden

There are 10 players on the roster, and only 3 people have a contract of more than 10 million. Butler is 19.3 million, Yi Jianlian is 12 million, and Tucker is 10 million. Counting other rookie contracts and basic salary contracts, the total salary of the Nets’ 10 players is about 53 million. .

The league announced that the salary cap of the league from 2017 to 2018 is 99 million, the luxury tax threshold is 119 million, and the minimum salary line is 89.18 million.

In other words, the Nets are still 46 million away from the salary cap and 66 million away from the luxury tax. Even if they want to reach the minimum salary line, they still need to make up about 36 million US dollars.

After Deron's contract expires, the Nets' cap space is healthier than ever.

And this kind of space also makes them aggressive in the next free market.

They can even take into account Jokic's contract renewal next year, and eat two top-salary players in the free market.

"What we need to strengthen now is the point guard and the forward line."

At the meeting, Tang Tian proposed the next direction for the Nets to strengthen.

Deron's contract expires, whether it is to renew the contract or go other ways, this position must definitely dig an All-Star or even a superstar star.

As for the striker, last year and the Warriors have proved that their existing striker group is still difficult to compete with the Warriors.

"We can try to chase Gordon Hayward. He is a completely free agent. If he has a maximum salary contract, his starting salary is also within 30 million. Moreover, his college exchange Stevens is Don's subordinate. It is also easy for us to contact him. Convenient." Frank said first.

"Yes, Hayward is the best striker in the free market, or Paul Millsap is also a good choice, he is a former student of Don." Rogers echoed.

"Millsap can't do it. He is too old and has played in the league for a long time. Even if the salary is cut, it is estimated that it will cost 30 million a year, and he is more inclined to the fourth position. This is not suitable for us." Jones denied. Rogers' proposal, as the general manager, will give more consideration to the future.

"This is the most troublesome thing. We can chase Hayward on the front line, but the point guard, the point guard on the spot market, Curry will definitely renew his contract with the Warriors, Paul may jump out of the contract, Deron's contract expires, These three are in the first tier. What we can do is to choose one of Paul and Deron, but Paul is 32 and Deron is 33. Their strength is definitely worthy of a maximum salary or a maximum salary contract, but signing After a long-term contract, the future space is directly locked."

The words of the deputy general manager Joseph directly silenced the conference room.

Tang Tian nodded, this is indeed the most troublesome point.

The NBA’s maximum salary is related to the length of time a player has played in the league. Both Deron and Paul have stayed in the league for more than ten years. The starting salary for their contracts is 35% of the salary cap, which is close to 35 million. If the starting salary is increased by four years, even if it is a four-year contract, the salary in the last two years will exceed 40 million US dollars.

Such a contract is really a huge burden on the team.

But the Nets must choose one of the two, and the signing of other second-tier stars will make the overall strength of the Nets significantly decline.

"Case, contact Hayward's economic team and try to sign him. Then let's discuss whether to renew Deron's contract or sign Paul." Tang Tian said after a long silence.

"I suggest renewing Deron's contract. He is more familiar with the team system, and if the price is similar, he may also be willing to accept a partial salary cut." Frank gave him a suggestion.

"I also think Deron is more suitable. He has an advantage when facing Curry. This has been proven in the finals. As long as we can win Hayward, we can compete with the current Warriors." Rodgers echoed road.

Tang Tian nodded. Frank and Rogers belonged to the coaching staff of the team, and they still knew the situation of the team very well.

Seeing that Jones didn't speak, Tang Tian looked at him.

"I think we may need some changes. Paul played very well under Don's hands. It shouldn't be a problem for him to adapt to tactics. He is also better defensively than Deron. After Deron gets older, his movement speed The decline is still relatively obvious, and Paul will sign a contract with us for up to 4 years, so that our future salary burden will be smaller." Jones also gave his suggestion at the end.

Tang Tian nodded thoughtfully after listening.

Jones' words reminded him that Paul's struggle in the West in recent years has a lot to do with his knee injury.

But he had put an iron knee on Paul at the beginning. If he returned to him, wouldn't he be happy to recover from his injury?