After the free agent market opened, the Los Angeles Lakers gave up offering contracts to guard Kent Batesmore and guard Jordy Meeks, and both became unrestricted free agents.
On July 12, Kendall Batesmore reached a signing agreement with the Atlanta Hawks. According to relevant media speculation, the contract is worth approximately 4 million yuan over two years.
Kent Batesmore is just an insignificant member of the Lakers' bench. The reason why he caused a few splashes in the outside world is entirely because he is a member of the Lakers.
In contrast, Jody Meeks is different.
Last season, Jody Meeks, who was in his sixth year of debut, had the strongest season of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He played in 65 of 77 games for the Lakers, averaging 12 points, 1.8 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game.
During the time when Steve Nash was injured, he became the Lakers' fourth scoring point behind Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Nick Young.
Like Kent Batesmore, Jordy Meeks, who became a free agent, quickly found a new home and reached a signing agreement with the Detroit Trainers in early July. The contract is expected to last for three years and be worth 16.25 million yuan.
Therefore, as Jordy Meeks and Kent Batesmore left Los Angeles, Nash became one year older, and there was news of retirement, the outside world has been speculating on who the Lakers will choose to be the next player in the offseason.
The main number one position this season.
After all, although the Black Mamba is one year older, judging from last season's performance, this guy is still at the end of the peak of his career, and his offensive firepower is still at the top of the league.
Don't think too much, as long as Kobe's strength has not completely deteriorated, the Lakers will not stop for a moment. Their goal is always to launch an impact on the championship!
as expected.
On July 15, the Lakers first used an unprotected first-round pick and two second-round picks in 2015 as a starting point, and then used striker Wesley Johnson as the core bargaining chip, plus Jordan Farmar, from the Celtics
The Celtics acquired Celtics championship point guard Rajon Rondo.
At first glance, the Celtics obviously lost money in this transaction, while the Lakers completed another naked blow.
However, this is actually Rondo's current value.
As early as February, during the All-Star period, ESPN's famous reporter Mark Stein confirmed that Rajon Rondo had been put on the shelf by the Green Army management, and that the Mosaics were indeed actively chasing the All-Star point guard at that time.
Privately, the two sides have already had negotiations to discuss Rondo's offer. In other words, the two teams are actually not too far away from completing the deal.
Sources told that Mo G, who is good at digital analysis, served as the vice president of the Celtics before entering the Mosaic management. This means that he has worked with Danny Ainge, the current general manager of the Green Army, and the two have the same relationship.
The close relationship also makes the communication between the two very smooth.
In order to get Rondo, the Mosaic team agreed to send two future first-round picks, plus Donatas Motiejunas, Terrence Jones and Beverley, who just won the championship with the Trail Blazers.
one.
At the time, it seemed like a sincere offer, but unexpectedly, Danny Ainge's appetite was greater than Mo G had imagined, and the former insisted on wanting Parsons.
In the end, the negotiation came to nothing.
Everyone knows what happened next.
In the past 2013~2014 season, due to those damn injuries, Rondo only played 30 games. Both on-field efficiency and performance were the worst in the past five years, which led to Rondo's...
Trading prices plummeted.
Coupled with the value of Rondo's signing in the 2009-10 season, the 55 million yuan five-year contract extension only has the last year left. No one can say whether Rondo will be able to maintain his peak period after recovering from injury next season.
of success.
As a result, the Green Army management came up with the idea of reconstruction.
Never doubt Danny Ainge's cold-bloodedness and decisiveness. I am afraid that what this guy is most upset about now is that the Celtics did not trade Rondo in advance and failed to maximize the latter's transaction value.
From the current point of view, the Celtics are very satisfied with the performance of rookie Marcus Smart, and may hand over the power of the No. 1 position to this rookie in the "post-Rondo era".
The Lakers, on the other hand, have exactly the opposite idea to their old enemy.
The Lakers management wants to take advantage of Kobe's final peak and seize the last chance to win the championship!
Now, Nash is about to retire, Kobe Bryant's offensive deterrence is still there, and his defense is not as good as before. In order to let Pau Gasol see the team's hope of multiple championships, as soon as the free market door opened this year, the Lakers quickly locked in the reinforcement target, that is
Point guard.
And because Kobe is here, they don't expect the reinforced No. 1 position to have strong offensive capabilities. They just want him to have reliable defensive and organizational skills.
After taking these factors into consideration, Rajon Rondo, the 15th captain in the history of the Celtics, who had just been retired for the season and caused a decline in trade prices, became their first target.
so……
The Celtics management was worried about Rondo's poor condition next season and to avoid letting Rondo's last year of more than 12 million contract go to waste, they decisively chose to give up the final champion and embrace a broader future.
The Lakers management didn't want to waste Kobe's final peak, so they decided to take a chance and turn their bicycles into motorcycles.
In the end, Rondo's joining and the persuasion of his best friend Kobe Bryant made Pau Gasol, who had originally decided to leave, make up his mind and sign a two-year contract worth 23 million yuan with the Lakers.
Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Rajon Rondo!
No one expected that not long after the free market began, the Lakers quickly formed a Big Three combination.
The biggest question now is how much success Rondo can maintain at his peak after returning from injury next season.
Of course, the Lakers management does not expect Rondo to return to his best first-defense form during his peak All-Star period, and just maintain the best second-defense level.
As for organization?
Come on, point guards are the brains of a team. Unless they suffer a devastating career injury during their peak period, their passing skills and field control abilities will not necessarily decline.
What's more, a top organization master like Rondo.
Speaking of which, it seems that the point guard position has the most players who become more sophisticated as they get older.
The two major field control masters since the new century are the most typical representatives of neither attacking nor defending.
On the 15th, when the Lakers management announced the signing contracts of Rondo and Pau Gasol, the entire Angel City went into a boil.
Following the Bulls fans not long ago, countless Lakers fans now feel that it is time to shout that slogan: