Chapter 920: The Current Situation of the Supersonics and the Turbulent 2009 Draft

"Jose really had a very hard time last season."

Looking at Barea's back as he left, Nelson, the team's head coach, sighed.

As the team's head coach, he likes players like Barea very much.

He is hardworking, responsible, and not a troublemaker. More importantly, his strength is indeed very trustworthy.

Whether it was the Western Conference Finals with the Suns in 2007, the championship in 2008, or this year's championship, JJ Barea always stood up when the team needed him. He is a key man who has proven himself.

It can be said that he is one of the best substitutes in the entire league.

Such players are very rare in the entire league.

So, after Barea played very well in this year's finals, many teams wanted to get him.

Barea played very uncomfortably in the Supersonics last season, and even a blind person could see it.

With James Harden's style of play, he didn't have the ball in his hands, and he had to take the blame for James Harden's sticky balls and buzzer passes. No one would feel comfortable playing.

If this person is not Barea, but replaced by another excellent sixth man in the league, the team clearly wants to focus on training other substitute players. Although they did not take away their sixth man position, the team obviously prefers James Harden as the future sixth man. In this case, James Harden has to take the blame. This is not directly explosive, not to mention a season, even a month is unbearable.

However, due to his trust in the team and Yes, Barea did not explode. He worked diligently in the substitute lineup and was pitted by James Harden for a season. In the finals, when the Sonics needed points the most, he still stood up.

Although this year's finals was a 4-0 sweep, it is certain that this year's finals were very difficult. If it were not for Rondo and Barea's outstanding performance in the middle, if they lost the third game, everything would be unknown.

Therefore, for Barea, whether it is old Nelson, Yes, or other Sonics management and even fans, they are very grateful.

Even Yes is a little guilty.

In order to train James Harden, Barea's sacrifice is indeed very, very great.

So regarding Barea's future, although Yes and Nelson didn't say anything, they both had a hunch that sooner or later there would be such a day...

Barea is a veteran of the Seattle Supersonics.

He was one of the core players who came to the Supersonics with Yes in 2006.

Tucker, Millsap, Rondo, Barea, Milicic, these five Supersonics veterans have a very special status in the Supersonics.

Among them, Barea is even the leader of these five people.

No one wants Barea to leave, but everyone has a hunch that Barea is likely to leave after the end of this season.

Barea, Millsap, Tucker, these three players who came to the team in 2006 and signed a 3-year 2 million contract with the team, all have expired this year.

There is no problem with the renewal of Millsap and Tucker.

Millsap is now the team's starting power forward, and his position is very stable.

As for Tucker, his position is not so stable now because his offense and other abilities are still being honed, but neither he nor the team intends to leave. Tucker enjoys the life of the Seattle Supersonics, and the Seattle Supersonics also need a player who can rush up and "fight" with others at any time.

Therefore, both Millsap and Tucker reached a contract extension agreement with the Supersonics long before the end of the finals.

Millsap and the team reached a 5-year, 55 million contract.

Tucker, on the other hand, has a 5-year, 15 million contract.

In the environment where the NBA salary cap is likely to exceed 80 million this year, the contracts of Millsap and Tucker are actually not high.

It's hard to say for Tucker, but if Millsap is willing to go to the free market, his contract can be slightly larger.

But because Milicic's contract is 60 million for 5 years, when Milicic signed the contract, the league's salary cap had not risen sharply. Although it was a maximum salary at that time, it is not a maximum salary now.

Although Milicic himself doesn't care much, in order not to make Milicic feel bad.

Millsap took the initiative to ask for his contract extension not to be larger than Milicic's.

Based on Millsap's performance in the past few seasons, whether he stays in the Supersonics or leaves the Supersonics, it is actually very simple for him to get a contract higher than Milicic.

It's just that Millsap simply thinks that his strength and contribution are not as good as Milicic. If it were Durant and Rondo, it would be fine. His contract is higher than Milicic, which really destroys the unity of the team and his friendship with Milicic.

The players who are willing to stay in the Seattle Supersonics always put the unity of the team and the friendship between the players first. Even the players who leave, when their own interests conflict with the interests of the team, they also choose to sacrifice their own interests.

Such a team atmosphere.

This makes old Nelson, who has been in the NBA for thirty or forty years, feel a little incredible.

It can be said very clearly that he has never seen a team like the Seattle Supersonics in the NBA.

Because it always feels like it just ended, many people are moved by the fairy tale of the Seattle Supersonics. Durant and Yes even let each other win MVP in the finals.

Such touching and shocking, as a witness of this team, is even more felt.

Barea's contract is a 3-year, 2 million contract signed in 2006.

Although the contract has expired, the Seattle Supersonics still have the priority to renew Barea, and Barea is a restricted free agent.

So for the Seattle Supersonics, Barea's contract is valuable.

As long as the Supersonics are willing, they can reap good benefits from Barea's contract.

But whether Presti, Yes or old Nelson do not agree to trade Barea's contract.

A player who sacrifices so much for the team, other Supersonics players are watching, such a player is worth the Supersonics' sacrifice.

Barea has the right to choose a team he likes, and he also has the right to choose a team that deserves him.

Barea is now in the free market, and there are many teams that want to get him. As long as Barea is willing, the Seattle Supersonics will not set any obstacles for his departure.

So now Barea can enjoy the treatment of the entire NBA tour.

As an important player of a two-time championship team, he is also qualified.

The 2009 NBA free market is not as good as last year.

Although this year's free market has Kobe, the biggest fish, but even a fool knows that Kobe ended his contract early this year and jumped into the free market, not to threaten the Lakers to leave, nor did he really want to leave, but simply because the current salary cap has risen sharply, he wants to jump out and get a bigger contract.

In addition to Kobe, Carlos Boozer and Okur of the Jazz, Turkoglu of the Lakers, and Odom of the Magic are already big fish in this year's free market.

In fact, in addition to Kobe, there is another super big fish in the NBA free market, the Rockets' star Tracy McGrady.

It is rumored that McGrady has rejected the Rockets' contract extension and is ready to jump out of the contract.

But McGrady's attitude is very ambiguous.

He did opt out of the contract, but he didn't explicitly refuse.

Many teams contacted McGrady, but none of them were championship contenders.

Many people doubted how much strength McGrady still had after a season of serious injury.

McGrady is not that old, he is only 30 years old.

But there are many hidden dangers of injury.

It is difficult for competitive teams to put a maximum salary on McGrady.

Besides, McGrady's current strength is still in doubt.

And McGrady doesn't like those bottom-ranked teams.

According to many experts, McGrady and the Rockets are in a game stage.

The Rockets hope that McGrady will not opt ​​out of the contract and play for another year. As long as his physical condition is fine, he will renew his contract with a maximum salary next season.

McGrady obviously doesn't want this. Either he renews his contract this season or he loses me.

In the end, will McGrady end up with a bottom-ranked team or renew his contract with the Rockets with a maximum salary?

This depends on the result of the game between McGrady and the Rockets.

Before the finals, many people believed that the Rockets did not dare to bet the future of the team on McGrady.

According to the current salary cap, McGrady's playing age, he can get 35% of the salary cap in the Rockets. The salary cap is 80 million, and 35% is a starting salary of 28 million. McGrady's contract renewal with the Rockets is of course a five-year contract. Five years means 160 million US dollars!

5 years and 160 million US dollars, this will be the largest contract in NBA history.

Now many people are watching whether the Rockets will satisfy McGrady's appetite.

There are also many people watching who will become the player with the largest contract in NBA history between McGrady and Kobe.

These two super giants are too expensive for ordinary teams to chase, so there are only a few big fish left in the free market this year.

And for these, the Seattle Supersonics have no suitable ones after going around.

They can't even find a player to fill the vacancy left by Barea.

The Seattle Supersonics' task of defending the title next season is already very difficult, and it is already very difficult to find a player who can enhance the team's strength.

Now with Barea's departure, this task has become even more difficult.

It is difficult to find players in the free market who can make up for the loss of the Supersonics and enhance the strength of the Supersonics.

As for the trade, the Seattle Supersonics do not want to lose the existing players.

If the Supersonics are willing to lose Harden, Ibaka and Gasol, they can get Ginobili and Parker from the Spurs.

But it is obvious that the Seattle Supersonics cannot do such a thing.

In the end, after a round of thinking, Yes and the Seattle Supersonics found that they still couldn't make a big splash in the free market this year, and they could only stare at the draft market.

This year's NBA draft market is still called a big year for the draft.

Griffin, Curry, Rubio, Chen Jianghua, Evans, Jordan Hill, this year's NBA draft market is generally believed that although it can't reach the quality of 2006, 2007 and 2008, it can still be regarded as a big year for the draft.

But it is obvious that the Seattle Supersonics' draft pick this year is only the 21st pick in the first round, which is not a draft pick that can take the initiative.

Besides, because the Western Conference playoffs were so intense this year, the Seattle SuperSonics had no time to organize a training camp for rookies and examine their quality.

For example, the starting five of the University of Washington and those Chinese players, although the SuperSonics knew them very well, these players were either not needed by the SuperSonics or they were impossible to select.

For example, Curry, who is now very despised in the draft predictions, is highly regarded by the Seattle SuperSonics.

But no matter how underestimated Curry's ranking is, he has not fallen out of the top ten.

For example, the SuperSonics also highly value Klay Thompson, but Klay Thompson's ranking has always been in the lottery zone.

It can be said that the Seattle SuperSonics can only rely on their feelings in this year's draft to see if they can have a chance to pick up leaks.

In the eyes of many people, this year's draft is a performance stage for Jerry West and the Warriors.

After the Warriors sent away the entire team's combat power last season, emptied the team, and got the No. 1 pick under the leadership of Beasley.

In this year's draft, the Warriors hold their No. 1 pick, the Nets hold the 10th pick, and the Mavericks hold the 28th pick. It can be said that they are the biggest predators in this year's draft.

Moreover, these three draft picks are not controlled by the idiot general manager, but by Jerry West!

And more importantly, the Thunder's No. 2 pick is Griffin from Goose City University, and Griffin is the first favorite for the No. 1 pick.

What does this mean?

The whole world knows that this means an opportunity to rob!

Just like the Bulls were robbed last year and the SuperSonics in 2006!

With the miserable situation of the Bulls last year, many people even joked that Goose City will usher in Griffin and lose Chris Paul.

Of course, Jerry West is not a crocodile like Pat Riley and Danny Ainge.

But in the face of absolute interests, some established things will be changed.

The Seattle SuperSonics have already set their sights on the draft.

And the draft is now very lively.

The Warriors and Jerry West are ambiguous and are holding the Thunder's soft spot.

The Thunder are now holding Chris Paul and watching Griffin trembling.

The third pick is the Charlotte Hornets. There are news reports that Jordan and Larry Brown have had conflicts over draft picks more than once.

The fourth-placed Pacers and the fifth-placed Jazz are shopping around for players.

The sixth-placed New York Knicks are happily watching Curry's draft ranking continue to decline.

Of course, Curry himself is also happily watching his draft ranking continue to decline.

The more it declines, the greater his chance of going to the New York Knicks.

This year's rookies do not have a large-scale water injection like Yes, but this year's draft is still quite treacherous.

On June 25, 2009, as a member of the family and friends group of rookies such as Curry, Klay and Chen Jianghua, Yes came to New York.

And the 2009 draft also kicked off...