The Warriors currently have only two centers, one is Lopez and the other is DeAndre Jordan.
Lopez is both offensive and defensive, and the most useful thing is that he can shoot three-pointers, which is a perfect match for Curry.
Jordan is almost boring. His advantage is that he is good at defense, but his disadvantage is that his skills are rough. On the offensive end, he can only make a living by alley-catching.
However, with his excellent physical fitness, Jordan's defense is better than Lopez's.
In this era where insiders are the main players, Jordan's market is still very large.
Especially in the past two years with the Warriors, Jordan has successfully increased his worth.
If Jordan is allowed to enter the free market next year, he will be able to get at least 10 million US dollars in annual salary!
Due to system requirements, Deng Fang cannot keep Jordan next season.
Of course, Deng Fang didn’t want to keep Jordan.
Pure defensive centers like DeAndre Jordan are still very popular in the current league.
Although the emergence of Curry and the Warriors' championship can change some of this situation, Jordan is still very marketable in the short term.
But that won’t be the case in another year or two.
How good it is to sell at a high price!
Deng Fang knew this in his heart, but the other teams didn't!
Deng Fang called Tim and gave instructions to sell Jordan to the Clippers.
Can only be sold to the Clippers!
Of course, the Clippers didn't know this.
For the Clippers, this is what they want!
Seeing DeAndre Jordan's performance with the Warriors, the Clippers general manager regretted it.
Why should I send such a good player away?
It would be great if history could repeat itself...
After receiving a call from the Warriors general manager, the Clippers general manager was overjoyed!
A big gift from the Warriors is coming!
Why don't you agree to such a good thing quickly!
The price Tim gave is two first-round picks!
Jordan performed very well and was one of the best defensive centers in the league. However, his annual salary last season was only 850,000, and next season it will be less than 1 million!
Cheap and good quality, where can I find such good things?
Judging from Jordan's performance, he deserves at least 10 million!
Even if you offer an annual salary of 10 million, people may not sign a contract with you!
And now that DeAndre Jordan has been traded, he has the priority to sign DeAndre Jordan!
This is very important!
The Clippers are short of a center, and the Warriors can be said to be a timely help!
After bargaining, the two teams reached an agreement. The Warriors sent DeAndre Jordan, and the Clippers offered two first-round picks, one unprotected and one with top-three protection.
Deng Fang was very satisfied!
Deng Fang has a target in next year's draft, and he can't do it without draft picks.
Without DeAndre Jordan, the Warriors will only have Lopez as an orthodox center, which is no good!
You still need a meat shield.
If there were no system restrictions, Deng Fang would have many players to choose from.
But it won’t work due to system limitations.
In the end, Deng Fang selected a player: Robin Lopez!
That is, Little Lopez, the twin brother of Big Lopez!
Lopez was selected by the Nets with the 10th overall pick in the first round of 2008, while Lopez was selected by the Suns with the 15th overall pick in the first round of 2008.
The two are twin brothers, about the same height and weight, and not much different in order.
Of course, Big Lopez is obviously much better than Little Lopez.
Lopez has excellent offensive skills, can play inside and outside, and is also good defensively. Although his speed is slow, his shot-blocking ability is very strong.
Lopez Jr.'s defense is okay, but he is a rough guy on the offensive end and can only score by relying on alley-oops.
Even on defense? Lopez is worse than Jordan.
But it's still good to use as a meat shield.
What if Lopez gets injured?
You can use Wuxiao, but you can't use it all the time. It will consume a lot of money for Kirilenko, Tucker and others.
If you consume too much, you will be easily injured!
Another advantage of bringing Little Lopez here is that it can appease Big Lopez!
Lopez performed very well? But his annual salary is very low? It is still a rookie contract, only more than two million per year.
Lopez's contract will expire next summer? He can renew his contract with the team in advance this summer.
But Deng Fang will not let the team renew Lopez's contract.
Because Lopez must leave next summer? He has to go to the Nets!
In this case? Why bother renewing the contract in advance?
If the contract is renewed in advance, Lopez's annual salary will be at least 10 million!
That's not good news for the Warriors!
If he doesn't renew his contract in advance, Lopez will have other ideas.
If both brothers came and played on the same team, Lopez would be more satisfied.
Winning a championship? Can I still be with my brothers, who can also gain experience on a championship team, and sign a big contract together next year? How great!
Lopez's contract expires next year, and the same goes for Lopez Jr.
Lopez's annual salary next year will be more than two million? It would be great to have two cheap contracts for another year!
Deng Fang instructed general manager Tim to negotiate with the Suns to trade Lopez Jr.
This trade is not difficult? Because Lopez's current status in the Suns is not high.
Historically, Lopez left the Suns after his rookie contract expired? The Suns did not retain him.
For a player that doesn't attach much importance to him, as long as the chips are about the same, the team will let him go.
The result was as expected, the Warriors only gave a second-round pick and an expiring contract in exchange for Lopez Jr.
One by one, the Warriors are equivalent to using DeAndre Jordan and a second-rounder to get DeAndre Lopez and two first-rounders!
Although Lopez is weaker defensively, it is still worth earning two first-round picks!
And due to the presence of Kirilenko and Tucker, Deng Fang is more willing to use a five-small lineup, and Jordan's role in the team is getting weaker and weaker.
In this case, why not ship at a high level!
In addition to these two transactions, Deng Fang also took a fancy to a player.
Ariza!
Ariza of the Hornets!
Ariza is 2.03 meters tall and weighs 98 kilograms. He is 26 years old this year. His three-pointers are accurate and his defense is great. He is a very useful 3D player and is the type of player Deng Fang wants most.
He is 26 years old, capable of both offense and defense. Where can he find such a player?
The boss of the Hornets is Paul. There was news a long time ago that Paul wanted to leave, and the team's second-in-command, David West, was also dissatisfied.
In such a precarious time, a role player like Ariza is insignificant.
The Warriors acquired Ariza at no great cost!
With an expiring contract, the Warriors will add Jeremy Lin to their first round this year!
In this way, Deng Fang completed everything he had to do.
All that's left is to land Klay Thompson in the draft!
That's all!
This matter is very simple and there is no suspense.
…
On June 24, 2011, the NBA Draft was held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and was broadcast nationwide by ESPN.
In the end, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the No. 1 pick and selected point guard Kyrie Irving from Duke University.
The Warriors selected Klay Thompson with the 11th overall pick!
The Splash Brothers are finally reunited!
The Warriors are now even stronger than last season!
Two point guards: Curry, Lowry, and Livingston!
Three shooting guards: Azubuike, Laga Bell, Klay Thompson.
Small forward and power forward: Prince, Hayward, Tucker, Kirilenko, Ariza!
Center: Lopez, Lopez, Yi Jianlian.
There is only one Belinelli whose contract has expired and has not yet been signed.
There are already 14 players on the Warriors roster, with only one more player left.
Deng Fang was very satisfied with the lineup and no longer wanted to make any adjustments.
These are the people next season!
Now that the player list has been decided, Deng Fang feels relieved.
In terms of abilities, Deng Fang has nothing to worry about.
Before the third game of the Finals, Deng Fang only had 32 ability points in his hand because he treated Curry twice.
The big victory in the third game allowed Deng Fang to gain 64 ability points!
After the fourth game, Deng Fang gained another 64 ability points!
In total, Deng Fang has a total of 160 ability points!
Of course, it cost Deng Fang 20 ability points to treat James afterwards.
But 140 ability points are enough.
In the regular season, you only need 20 ability points to treat a disease once!
This is still a serious injury that requires more than a month of rest!
So Deng Fang has nothing to worry about.
…
After the finals, team owner Cohan approached Deng Fang again and discussed re-signing the contract with him.
Annual salary 15 million!
The most expensive head coaching contract in NBA history!
Sign for 5 years at a time!
This kind of treatment can be said to be unprecedented and unprecedented!
However, Deng Fang refused.
How good it is now!
Earning so much money in one season and getting 10% of the shares, who would give up such a beautiful thing?
Deng Fang disagreed, and Cohan had no choice but to give up.
Although Deng Fang wanted to take away part of the profits, that was what others deserved.
Before Deng came to the Warriors, Cohan didn't make much money every year!
In some years, you might even lose money!
After Deng Fang came, the Warriors became Cohan's cornucopia!
The best result is when everyone makes money!
As a boss, Cohan still knows this!
Deng Fang’s achievements deserve his treatment!
The draft is over and Deng Fang can finally rest for some time!
Not a period of time, but a long period of time!
Why?
Because the NBA is on hiatus!
The NBA is a business league, and the owners of the teams are the owners of the league.
But in the NBA, the status of players is also very important.
The boss is equivalent to the employer, and the players are the labor.
Labor and management have always been in opposition and unity.
Only two parties can make money by cooperating, but each party wants to make more money, so there will be conflicts.
When employers face financial pressure of losses, they hope to maintain overall operations by reducing salaries.
But workers definitely hope for better treatment and are not willing to sacrifice their own rights and interests.
If labor and management cannot reach an agreement, they may face a situation where employees are unwilling to continue working for the employer, or employers are unwilling to let employees return to work, which may cause the alliance to shut down.
The incident began on February 11, 2010, which was the All-Star Weekend two seasons before the lockout. The foreshadowing had already been laid.
At that time, the league took advantage of the All-Star Weekend to announce the new agreement offer.
The reason why the league chose to announce it at this time is because the labor agreement signed every six years is about to expire before the start of the new season in 2011. At this time, both labor and management must draft a new agreement.
If both parties reach an agreement on salary and benefits, the players' contract matters must be implemented in accordance with the new agreement in the next six years.
The new version of the agreement announced in 2010 made the players at the time very dissatisfied because the players' income would be cut.
Just because there is still some time before the agreement is officially signed, the players' backlash has not yet expanded.
In addition, a major event happened last summer, that is, the Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh united in Miami.
This makes the management of each team dissatisfied with the existing agreement and believes that the league should prevent this kind of star team-up from happening.
The players are dissatisfied with the original agreement, and the team owner also hopes to formulate more stringent terms, so the two parties will definitely not be able to reach an agreement.
Later, representatives from both labor and management met several times.
Although the meeting was amicable, there was no progress at all in terms of agreement.
Time came to February 29, 2011, which was the All-Star Weekend of the season before the lockout. At this time, representatives of the labor and management parties held negotiations again. The process was also said to be friendly, but in fact it was not very satisfactory.
Because at that time the league claimed that "the league had a deficit of US$300 million every year" and 22 teams were in the red, it hoped to balance the books by reducing players' salaries by 40% and imposing a hard salary cap.
The reason why the league targets players' income is because player salary expenditures account for 57% of the league's total revenue. The league hopes to lower this number to less than 50% so that the pressure on the deficit can be alleviated.
Of course the players are not willing to reduce their income.
Moreover, they had rejected the same agreement during the All-Star Weekend a year ago, and a year later the league proposed the same content. This made the players and the players union very dissatisfied and refused to sign the agreement.
On June 30, 2011, the day when the old version of the agreement was about to expire, the two parties conducted another negotiation. However, there were huge differences in opinions between the two parties after the negotiation, which officially broke down the negotiation.
On the second day, July 1, 2011, the NBA officially entered a lockout.
During the lockout, NBA players will not receive salaries, and NBA teams cannot negotiate with players, nor can they sign or trade players.
At the same time, players cannot use the team's training facilities for any reason, and the team cannot hold any summer training camps, exhibitions, team meetings and coaching gatherings.
In addition, NBA team websites can no longer use the images of players and cannot use players as representatives for promotion.
During the lockdown period, the league, the players union, and the teams also conducted many negotiations. There was some optimistic progress in the middle, but in the end no agreement was reached.
The lockout has affected many teams, but Deng Fang doesn't care.
Because Deng Fang made several transactions in advance, everything that should be done and wanted to be done was done!
It would be better to rest more. The Warriors have played a lot of games in the past two years!
Many defending champion teams fail because of lack of rest and lack of physical fitness, which ultimately leads to injuries!
It is precisely for this reason that three consecutive championships have always been rare!
