The Godfather of Basketball

The carnival of New York fans lasted a whole day, but their carnival was far from over.

At the awards ceremony held not long after, George overwhelmed Durant and Curry and was elected the regular season MVP of the 2018-2019 season.

In other words, George has become another player to win the double MVP after Yao Ming.

Also under Tang Tian's command, this honor is really priceless.

At the same time, Wade announced his retirement, along with Manu Ginobili of the Spurs and Dirk Nowitzki who retired with him, the basketball youth that belonged to many people came to an end.

"The NBA isn't as much of a concern to me anymore."

After this series of events, many people have expressed this view.

Tang Tian retired, the former stars retired, coupled with the small ball era and the referee's penalty, they really didn't feel so much about the NBA.

Fans' perceptions are changing, but the NBA remains the same.

The footsteps of the new season came quickly and quietly.

The two teams that played against each other in the finals last season will face tremendous pressure in the summer.

Thompson of the Warriors expires, Green still has one year left, and Durant's 1+1 contract also expires, a careless disintegration.

The Nets are also facing pressure to renew the contracts of Irving, Butler and Yi Jianlian.

While the league's super salary cap puts pressure on the teams to renew their contracts, it has finally begun to balance the strengths of the teams.

Unless hundreds of millions of dollars in luxury taxes are paid, it will be difficult for the Big Four's superteams to survive.

After winning the championship, Tang Tian stayed with his family in the manor. The job of coaching was handed over to Frank, and the management was handed over to Jones. The company also had a professional manager to take care of it all the time. He began to enjoy the life of a real boss.

But neither Frank nor Jones will report to him on the progress of the team.

This year's draft is a small year. The team only selected a fallen combo guard Cole Anthony at the end of the first round, and the rest are reserved for reinforcements after the free agent market opens.

Jones also came to Tang Tian's manor after the draft.

Wade retired and Stoudemire couldn't use it anymore, and Irving, Butler, Yi Jianlian, and Mbah a Moute whose contracts expired are now on the team's roster.

Point guard: Murray, Sexton

Shooting Guard: Mitchell

Small forwards: George, Porter

Power Forward: Anthony

Centers: Jokic, Mitchell Robinson

8 people, the total salary is around 80 million.

The league's salary cap for the new season has not yet been announced, but it is expected to be $108 million, and the luxury tax is expected to be $123 million.

In other words, the Nets are now only $28 million away from the salary cap and 41 million away from the luxury tax trigger line.

"We can't renew the contracts of Carey and Jimmy at the same time." The first sentence Jones said after sitting down was his purpose of coming to Tang Tian.

Irving and Butler have different performances, but with their abilities, they will definitely get the maximum salary in the free market after opting out of the player option this summer. The Nets need at least 60 million space for the two to renew their contracts. In other words In other words, if the contracts of two people are renewed at the same time, the total salary of the 10 players of the Nets will reach 140 million, which will already trigger the super luxury tax.

Not to mention renewing Yi Jianlian's contract and making up the rosters of the other four teams, what the Nets have to pay is at least 100 million in luxury tax.

So Jones had to find Tang Tian.

Tang Tian nodded after listening.

In fact, he has already anticipated this situation. Leaving aside the issue of Yi Jianlian, he has not yet figured out who will stay with Irving or Butler.

"Tell me what you think." Tang Tian was not in a hurry, he took a sip of coffee and looked at Jones and said.

"I can only talk about the pros and cons." Jones thought for a while and said.

Tang Tian nodded for him to continue.

"Let me talk about Jimmy first. His defense is very important to us, almost indispensable. His and George's front line is the key to our ability to compete with the Warriors and 76ers, and he can play the second and third positions, even The fourth position of the fifth junior is also very versatile."

Tang Tian nodded. This is indeed Butler's characteristic. If it weren't for George's existence, he would almost definitely renew his contract.

"But his shortcoming is his short height, coupled with the existence of George, especially Mitchell also needs a starting position for growth."

Jones didn't go any further when he said this, and looked up at Tang Tian.

"Tell me about Carey." Tang Tian nodded, what Jones said was basically what he could think of.

"Kyrie's situation is a little different. Kyrie's offensive ability is nothing to say, it is super giant level, but his defense, although it is constantly improving, is still easy to be targeted by opponents. In theory, he is very important. , but the importance is less than that of Jimmy."

Tang Tian also nodded after listening. Irving is indeed not as versatile as Butler, but his scoring explosiveness is also very important to the Nets. Of course, Butler is indeed more important than the team.

It seems that there is already an answer.

"So this is your suggestion?" Tang Tian looked at Jones.

Jones hesitated and shook his head.

Tang Tian looked at him suspiciously.

"There are two points that are off the court," Jones continued.

Tang Tian signaled him to continue.

"At the beginning we paid a lot of chips in order to trade for Kyrie, and Jimmy signed as a free agent, so in terms of return on investment, it was a bit of a loss for us to let Kyrie go for nothing." Jones said.

Tang Tian shook his head, indicating that this is not important.

"Also, if we let Kyrie go, he's probably going to Boston."

What Jones said next caused Tang Tian's expression to pause. After thinking about it carefully, he nodded.

While considering the team's own lineup, it is also necessary to fully consider the opponent.

Walker's contract with the Celtics expires this summer, and a contract extension is a possibility.

But once Irving enters the free agent market, then they will definitely give priority to Irving.

Walker is good enough, but Irving is definitely better than him.

And if Irving finally signs with the Celtics, he adds Hayward, and Smart, Jaylen Brown, Tatum, Zhou Qi and other young and powerful players, the Nets may really be in trouble.

And if Butler is let go, neither the 76ers nor the Celtics, or even the Rockets and Warriors in the West, can't sign him.

Jones' advice seemed to be their best answer.

"The other one is also off the court. I know that Jimmy played for the Cavaliers and came to the most difficult time for the Nets. As far as I know, he also hopes to finally renew his contract with the Nets. , emotionally speaking..."

Jones paused when he said this, which is why he didn't continue talking.

Emotionally, Butler is obviously a better choice than Irving.