warrior godfather

After the awards ceremony, the Warriors broke out the deals of Leonard and Green one after another, attracting the attention of the entire league.

In fact, at the same time, Paul jumped out of the contract, signed first and then joined the Rockets, which was also a big deal that was enough to disturb the league structure.

In order to get Paul, the Rockets sent Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Decker, Harrell, Kyle Welzer, DeAndre Liggins, Darren Hilliard, a 2018 first-round pick (top 3 protected) and $66.1 in cash.

This is a 7-for-1 deal, but compared with the Celtics' big money, it still falls short.

After all, Paul is signing first and then changing, the Clippers can't ask for too many chips, the shrewd Morey will not stud for a certain star, and Danny Ainge will not hold back as long as he sees a chance to win the championship.

And Paul's sense of presence is getting weaker and weaker, and he can't compare with Leonard at all.

When Paul joined the Clippers, it caused a shock in the entire league. Everyone believed that the combination of Paul + Griffin + Jordan was enough to set off a storm, and the Clippers became the favorite to win the championship overnight.

Later, the Clippers did not hesitate to pay the price of a first-round pick, invited Rivers from the Celtics, and signed Iguodala and Redick to form the strongest starting lineup in the league on paper. Warriors, aiming at the O'Brien Cup.

The Clippers fans are extremely excited. They have waited so many years and can only live in the shadow of the Lakers, and now they are finally about to stand up.

But what people didn't expect was that the Clippers, the league's top Clippers on paper, never showed their true strength.

In the playoffs, either Paul was injured, or Griffin was injured, or Paul and Griffin were injured together. The Clippers were greeted with endless reversals and overturns.

The only time to hold the lead was when Iguodala stood up, and the Clippers narrowly beat the Rockets in a tiebreaker.

Without Iguodala, without the Warriors' small ball lineup, the Clippers were almost reversed by the Warriors, and then they were reversed by the Rockets to complete a 1:3 deficit, completely reduced to a laughing stock.

But winning the Rockets only allowed Paul to touch the floor of the Western Conference Finals, and then he was swept cleanly by the Warriors, ending sadly.

Paul was not injured this year, but Griffin was injured. The two cores of the Clippers took turns watching from the sidelines, and a year's hard work was in vain.

Paul was completely disappointed with the Clippers, and the Clippers were also dissatisfied with Paul's ability to lead the team, and the two sides parted ways.

The Rockets seized this opportunity, made a decisive move, and exchanged a bunch of scraps for the "God of Point Guard".

This is a win-win deal. The Rockets have completed the upgrade of the lineup, and the Clippers have not suffered a loss. Paul was about to leave, but now he can get back a bunch of assets and stop losses to the maximum extent. Paul retains the bird rights. A contract can be renewed for a veteran maximum salary.

The operation of signing first and then changing also allowed Paul to get the understanding of the Clippers fans, and he did not speak ill of him.

The Clippers were eliminated by the Rockets this year. There is no problem with Paul joining the Rockets in terms of rules, but in the eyes of the fans, it is a real defection to the enemy, which is the most spineless behavior.

If Paul joins the Rockets as a free agent and leaves nothing to the Clippers, he will definitely be cast aside by Clippers fans.

After all, since he joined the Clippers in the past few years, the Clippers have strengthened every year and equipped Paul with the best lineup, but he failed to lead the team to a championship. The mess is no different from the enemy of the Clippers.

Of course, the Clippers fans can be so generous because most people, including them, are not optimistic about Paul's prospects in the Rockets.

Harden is the core player with the ball, and Paul is a traditional point guard who needs the ball. There is a conflict between the two in terms of play, and they both need the ball. Is a basketball really enough?
Moreover, in order to get Paul, although the Rockets did not move the core lineup, they also sent out more than half of the rotation lineup. There were not many young people left in the lineup, and the depth of the lineup declined seriously. Only Harden, Paul, Gordon, Capela, Ariza , Anderson, and Tucker are fighting the world, won't they be on the old path of the Clippers again?

Paul's "tradition" of losing the chain in the playoffs every year cannot be ignored. In his career, except for a few seasons, he always suffered injuries in the playoffs, resulting in an extremely strong lineup on paper. At the critical moment, the lack of a leading star can only be helpless.

How many seasons can he maintain his health in the Rockets?
Only time will tell.

……

At the same time that the three major deals of Leonard, Paul, and Green were completed, the Pacers and Thunder also completed a deal that shocked the league.

The Thunder sent Oladipo and Sabonis in exchange for Paul George from the Pacers to form the Big Three of Westbrook, George, and Gobert.

After the deal was completed, everyone realized that the arms race had officially begun.

Stephen-A-Smith said on the show:
"The departure of Leonard and Green made other teams realize that now is the weakest time for the Warriors, and they scrambled to start an arms race to challenge the Warriors."

"Antetokounmpo has been selected to the best team, and no one knows how far Jaylen Brown and Markkanen can grow. No one dares to take risks and wait. Next season is their best chance to compete for the championship. ,none of them."

"With so many stud teams, it will inevitably lead to extremely fierce competition next season. The Warriors, Rockets, Thunder, Celtics, Cavaliers, Bulls, these six teams are the first echelon of the championship, the Raptors, The Blazers also have the possibility of contending for the title. The Warriors' title defense
The road will encounter the biggest obstacle. "

"However, I still think the Warriors will win the championship. Curry is the king of this league. He is surrounded by Klay, Antetokounmpo, and Wiggins. Under the leadership of Coach Z, they won five championships. Why can't it get the sixth? I believe the Warriors can do it, because Stephen Curry is the Michael Jordan of this era!"

Smith's view has been agreed by many people, especially the Warriors fans who are gradually calming down.

When the news of Leonard and Green's trade broke out, under the panic atmosphere created by the media, Warriors fans were a little panicked and pessimistic, feeling that the Warriors dynasty had collapsed.

But with the passage of time, especially Zhang Yu's statement in the interview, they regained their confidence and strengthened their faith.

We still have Coach Z, and Stephen, and Clay, and Giannis, and Andrew, and Bogdan, and a large number of role players that Coach Z fancy, what is there to be afraid of?

Before we fell, we were the defending champions, and we were still a dynasty.

No matter how others look down on us, we can’t look down on ourselves. Even if we really fail to win the championship in the end, it’s a big deal to start all over again.

Except for those fans who can only watch the Warriors win but not lose, most fans firmly support the Warriors and are not frightened by the arms race of other teams.

It's all about fighting, what's there to be afraid of!
At the same time, the Warriors' outstanding performance in the Las Vegas Summer League further increased the confidence of fans.

The Warriors have never sent so many players to participate in the summer league before, even enough to form two starting lineups. Among them are veterans such as Aminu and Jerebko, which have dealt a blow to other teams.

In the first game of the summer league, the Warriors faced the 76ers. The veteran Brogdon, the tough Caruso, and the energetic Connaughton taught the champion Fultz a good lesson.

Under the blockade of three guards, Fultz made 16 of 5 shots, scored only 13 points, sent 5 turnovers, and performed extremely poorly.

If the Warriors are only strong in the backcourt, Fultz can still play a role, but the defense of Jaylen Brown and Aminu is very tough, and the inside line Zhou Qi is also blocking the sky. Fultz felt the NBA level in advance The confrontation is completely unable to adapt.

In the end, the Warriors bloodbathed the 117ers with 91:76, ushering in a good start to the summer league.

In the subsequent games, the Warriors advanced all the way, never lost a game, averaged more than 15 points per game, and finally won the summer league championship.

The Warriors are all soldiers, and Jaylen Brown's performance is particularly outstanding, and he was elected as the summer league mvp.

He averaged 19.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. He integrated offense and defense, showing a terrifying talent, scoring like a bag, and defending like death.

Warriors fans are all rejoicing, thinking that the Warriors have picked up a treasure at this time, but many people don't take it seriously.

Jaylen Brown played as a substitute for the Celtics last season, and his performance was mediocre. As a No. [-] pick, he was only selected to the second team of the best rookie in the end.

Now it's just a summer league, playing a hero on a bunch of marginal people, so what if you play well?
The outstanding performance of the Warriors players was dismissed as useless by them.

Markkanen shot accurately from long range and shot 42.3% of his three-pointers, but he became a flashy softie who could only shoot in the summer league.

Brogdon's stable field control, efficient performance of 12.5 points, 7.7 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals has turned into insufficient scoring ability, and he can't even score stably in the summer league.

Zhou Qi gained 8 kilograms in one year, and his confrontation ability has been greatly improved. He averaged a double-double of 10.2 points and 11.3 rebounds per game, but his skills have become rough, and he can't even play low singles in the summer league...

The list goes on and on.

The performance of other Warriors players is also very impressive. Caruso's defense has become tougher and he has gradually practiced three-pointers; Accurate shooting, and the ability to support with one hand; Aminu is tough defensively, can play singles with the ball, and can also shoot three-pointers on the spot.

It's just that their statistics are relatively mediocre, so they haven't become the targets of others.

On the contrary, Boucher, who performed the worst, was ignored.

Like Zhou Qi last year, he lacks confrontation and can't even adapt to the intensity of the summer league. However, his excellent static talent and good three-pointers still give people hope for his future development prospects.

Warriors fans are very satisfied with the summer league and feel relieved about the strength of the new aid. However, some people criticize from various angles.

People are very surprised by this, but O'Neal pointed out why these people even belittle the Warriors' summer league:
"They finally saw the hope of defeating the Warriors, but the Warriors have been too strong in the past few years, which left them with a heavy psychological shadow, so they used all means to prove the weakness of the Warriors. In fact, they are more afraid of the Warriors than anyone else. !"