Healthy basketball, starting from eating the old Lakers F4

After the Bulls management completed the contract renewal with Durant and Curry, it does not mean that they can sit back and relax this summer.

In the previous finals, the team's fourth-in-command Wiggins' performance was also remarkable, and the new season is Wiggins' contract year.

This means that this summer, the Bulls management can consider rewarding Wiggins, the championship hero, with a suitable contract at their discretion.

Of course, there is no rush for Wiggins’ contract. It won’t be a big problem if he gives it to him next summer.

The next more critical and tricky issue is whether to match the contracts of White and Dillon.

After winning this year's championship, fourth-year rookies White and Dillon officially graduated.

If the Bulls management cannot appeal to White and Dillon with emotion and reason before the free market opens.

Then White and Dillon, two important rotation players of the championship team with extremely rich playoff experience, will leave Chicago and start the next stage of their NBA career.

To be honest, the Bulls management cannot offer a very big contract now, and can only offer a mid-class contract at best.

After all, the Bulls' salary cap space has been locked. The four maximum-paid players alone have locked up the salary cap space!
Among them, Durant and Curry's contracts are super-large contracts that are among the top five in the league, Jokic's contract is also among the top 30 in the league, and Wiggins' contract is a maximum salary contract that is among the top 50 in the league.

With the contracts of these four players alone, the Bulls have already exceeded the luxury tax line in the new season.

Therefore, the remaining 11 players of the Bulls in the new season can basically only be rookies or veterans with minimum salaries.

Of course, the Bulls still have several mid-level exceptions to strengthen their roster.

Dillon and White are both rookies selected by the Bulls themselves, so there will be no problem in renewing their contracts as long as the Bulls are willing to pay the money and the luxury tax.

But the problem is that the Bulls have won too many championships in recent years, and the entire team is no longer very interested in competing for the championship.

As of the end of last season's finals, the Bulls once again achieved two consecutive championships.

In the past two years, affected by external factors, the Bulls have had an extremely difficult time and are exhausted both physically and mentally.

If it weren't for Duane and Curry's sudden inspiration last year to support Jokic to take the position.

After Jokic took over, he indeed demonstrated his unique strength in the league, and then led the Bulls to win the championship very easily.

Then, as early as last season, the Bulls should have taken the initiative to give up the idea of ​​fighting head-on with other teams, slowed down the pace of the game, and allowed the players to recuperate and restore their physical and mental state by clocking in and out in three quarters and taking frequent rests.

NBA players are at least millionaires. It is impossible for them to work like slaves and drain their last drop of blood for the capitalists day and night.

So, this time, not only the Bulls management wants to give up, but even the Bulls players are ready to give up.

If they don't do it now, some of the players on the Bulls might rise up in rebellion!
However, there are no factions within the party, and there are all kinds of opinions.

Not everyone in the Bulls locker room thinks this way.

Jokic only came to power in the middle of last season, and just won the All-Star MVP, regular season MVP, and Finals MVP, the trinity that has brought him to the top of the league's highest throne.

With Jokic's strong personality and the ambition of a primary league ruler, he naturally wants to lead the team to continue to play one unique battle after another and win one exciting victory after another.

In addition, Wiggins won the championship just half a year after joining the Bulls. He finally did what a No. 1 pick in a draft year should do. He regained his confidence and himself.

The new season is Wiggins' contract year, so naturally he wants to perform more.

And don’t the rookies on the Bulls want to get more playing time and more statistics in the game?
In the past few seasons, they spent most of their time on the bench.

Now that the season has finally come for the team to play badly, the veterans have no desire whatsoever.

At this time, these rookies who want to improve, especially Ohashi, Big Head, and Lowe who are in the contract year, naturally want to contribute more on the court, get more stats, and strive to have the best performance of their careers in the new season.

So, the new season of the Bulls is somewhat similar to last season. It has been made clear that they want to give up and take a break.

Some players secretly have their own little thoughts. Maybe someday, everyone's thoughts will be unified and they will work together in the same direction...

However, for White and Dillon, two players who are in trouble for contract renewal and confused about their career direction, this has little to do with them.

Of course, it’s not that the Bulls abandoned them. Instead, it was they themselves who finally chose to leave Chicago, where they had struggled for four years.

Basketball is just a job, but family and life are the most important things in life.

White and Dillon, who already have no shortage of honors, both chose to take bigger contracts and work and fight in advanced places.

The Bulls management had no choice but to wish them well on social media and invite them to participate in the new season's championship ring presentation ceremony and championship flag-raising ceremony.

Most of the players who leave the championship team will receive their championship rings when playing away games in the new season.

White is different from Dillon. On the one hand, he is a rookie selected by the Bulls themselves. On the other hand, this year's championship ring is his second consecutive championship ring, and it is also the third championship ring in their four-year rookie career.

For them, this is a championship ring that symbolizes the triple crown dynasty and is of great significance!
Only by receiving this championship ring can their rookie career be considered complete.

The Bulls management took the initiative on social media to invite them to participate in the new season's championship ring awarding ceremony and championship flag-raising ceremony, which was also a recognition of their many contributions to the Bulls in their four years as rookies.

He also said that in addition to Dillon and White, two rookies who have already graduated, the Bulls still have several veterans to thank.

Howard, Iguodala, and Noah all came together two years ago. Now that their two-year veteran minimum contracts have been fulfilled, it is time to say goodbye.

On the one hand, the Bulls are a bit disgusted by their age and declining competitive level. On the other hand, it is also to save money. After all, no matter how small the veteran's minimum salary contract is, it is larger than the two-way contract and the minimum salary contract of the undrafted player.

The Bulls' luxury tax is too high now! By bidding farewell to three veterans, the Bulls can save 20 to 30 million in luxury tax.

However, the Bulls chose to keep Anthony, who came with Howard and the other three.

The Bulls management did not choose to renew Anthony's contract entirely for Durant's sake.

It’s because Anthony had the idea of ​​retiring after the finals.

However, it is impossible for a historical scorer like Anthony to retire so easily.

Anthony is now a hot topic because of his brotherly basketball with Durant.

In addition, he won two championship rings with the Bulls, and his historical status has increased a lot, basically ranking in the top 30 in history.

As the list of 75 superstars was about to be announced, the Bulls management held a small meeting to discuss the matter and finally decided to renew Anthony's contract for one year and then organize a retirement tour for Anthony in the Bulls.

NBA executives also fully support this.

Anyway, it is the Bulls who pay the luxury tax, while they are just reaping the benefits.

Of course, the Bulls themselves will not lose money either. They can make more money from home ticket sales and sell more Anthony jerseys.

As for other teams in the league, why not give Anthony a little face, make a fortune in silence, increase the price of tour tickets, and earn millions?

Also because of the contract extension with Anthony, the Bulls' starting lineup in the new season is somewhat distorted.

Curry, Wiggins, Durant, Anthony, Jokic, the lineup can only be arranged like this.

But if he wants to ensure that he is competitive as a starter, Dunn needs to lose some weight.

Otherwise, if they encounter a fast double guard or small forward on the outside, they will be like a sieve.

In addition to the many areas that need to be adjusted on the defensive end, the offensive end also needs to improve shooting.

In recent years, Dunn has increased his low-post offense and mid-range shooting, and his three-point production and hit rate have declined significantly.

He will play the power forward position in the new season, so his three-point shooting ability undoubtedly needs to be improved.

As for relying on Anthony, it is definitely impossible.

Although Jokic can shoot three-pointers, you can't expect him to shoot ten three-pointers in a game.

Wiggins is in a similar situation, he can shoot three-pointers, but his output is not high.

As Curry gets older, his physical fitness declines, and his three-point shooting stability decreases, it is impossible for the Bulls to entrust all the three-point shooting responsibilities to Curry alone.

Of course, in the new season, Duane can do nothing and nothing at all.

But the thing is, Dunn is ambitious.

At the same time, Duane also wants to give his good brother Anthony a more perfect career.

"You led me to win the NCAA championship, now I will give you a three-peat in the NBA!"

Having said that, the Bulls have determined the starting lineup, but the rotation lineup cannot be determined for the time being.

Now only three people can be confirmed, namely Daqiao, Datou and Luowei.

Fortunately, the mid-season trade last year allowed the Bulls to obtain a lot of draft picks.

In the recent draft, the Bulls made a big move, using the 14th pick in the first round that they traded for to get Alperen Shin-kyung and the 25th pick in the first round to get Cameron Thomas.

The three picks in the second round included Herbert Jones, Aaron Wiggins and Austin Reeves.

21 is a big year for the draft. Under the guidance of Duane, the five rookies selected by the Bulls management this year are all very promising.

However, it is obviously unrealistic for the Bulls to win the championship and achieve three consecutive championships in the new season by relying on the strength of their first-year rookies.

At the end of the day, the only ones who can play are the starting five and three fourth-year rookies with rich experience in the finals: Ohashi, Big Head and Lowe.

Even if we continue to streamline, Anthony can be excluded.

As a result, the Bulls' playoff rotation in the new season will basically be 7-8 players.

The strength is pretty good, but it will be very hard to fight.

Moreover, I am afraid of some injuries.

The Bulls' main players have not had a rest in recent years, and the risk of injuries is already quite high.

It is for this reason that even if the Bulls want to win the championship in the new season, they will face many difficulties and their future is uncertain. (End of this chapter)