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Chapter 307 Epilogue - Seven Years - Five

The new television broadcasting contract officially came into effect.
This made the summer of 2016 the most exciting summer in the NBA in nearly a decade.

The salary cap, driven by the surge in television broadcasting contracts, has given many teams aspiring to rival the Warriors hope of assembling a "super team" to thwart the Warriors dynasty.

The prospect of high-caliber stars becoming free agents this summer makes this hope possible.

At the end of June, at the draft held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, strong recommendations from the GOAT led the Warriors to ultimately select Ivica Zubac from Croatia with their 30th overall first-round pick.

Although he is a young center with an incredibly long development cycle
Qin Yue didn't expect Zubac to realize his potential as quickly as Jokic.

But you should know
This young player, who was later jokingly called "Zunier" by fans, was already one of the five best centers in the NBA in the future.

In addition, the Golden State Cavaliers' upcoming retirement this summer means they must prioritize strengthening their frontcourt in this year's draft.

of course
Qin Yue strongly recommended that the Warriors select Zubac during the draft.

This is also related to the fact that Zubac is one of the few centers who can directly challenge Jokic in the future.

In Qin Yue's view, as long as the Warriors can keep Zubac, he doesn't even know how many centers in the league will be able to compete with Jokic in the future.

Do not ask.

The question is about Jokic, his "closed disciple".
From the moment Qin Yue decided to bring him in, he was already prepared to close the door for his potential competitors.

In July, after holding a grand farewell party for Andre Varejao, Drew Gooden, David Lee, and Mo Williams, who had achieved great success in San Francisco, the Warriors turned their attention to the free agent market.

It's worth mentioning that at this farewell party, Varejao and others who decided to officially end their professional careers did not forget LeBron James, who had once led them in their NBA battles, during their interviews.

But, if possible.
James clearly did not want Varejao and others to use him to highlight Qin Yue's greatness.

"In my home country of Brazil, there is a proverb that says, 'A pride of lions led by a sheep can never defeat a flock of sheep led by a lion.'"

At his farewell party, Varejao said, "In my opinion, the biggest difference between Messiah and those stars who rely on commercial marketing is that he will always say to us 'Follow me,' instead of 'Go for it.'"

Regarding this, Gooden, who felt the same way, said: "When I recently learned from the news that his fans still see him as a young player, to be honest, I can only describe it as incredibly shocking."

"It has been proven that great people are often born with a great aura. On the other hand, a hopeless case will always remain a lump of mud."

"You ask me what my deepest feeling is about working with Messiah on the Warriors?" Mo Williams said. "You might not believe it, but it wasn't until I was teammates with Messiah that I realized that a star player can be responsible for making key plays on the court."

Despite the fact that mocking "young LeBron" has become politically correct in the NBA since LeBron James' "fairy tale" collapsed in New York.
But at this moment, James's status in the NBA can only be described in a few words:

They all look down on me, and I'm not good enough for them.

Without anyone to support my lofty ambitions, I cannot climb to the top myself.

Everyone laughs at me, but I'm the funniest one.

The strong never complain about their circumstances, but I am the weak one.

I not only resent the environment, but I also resent the powerful.

I won't fight those who can defeat me.

If I had even a little bit of real skill, I wouldn't be completely without any.

……

In mid-July, before entering the free agent market to begin their "bargain hunting" phase, the Warriors first offered JR Smith a three-year, $5000 million contract extension.

Based solely on JR's contributions to the Warriors over the years, he deserves such a high-salary retirement contract.

just
In response to the Warriors' contract extension offer, JR Smith said: "You guys are underestimating me! Do you think I, JR Smith, am the kind of person who plays for money? Take this contract back right now, I just want a veteran's minimum salary!"

Fortunately, after being persuaded by Qin Yue, JR finally signed the contract with tears in his eyes.

Because no matter how much JR has earned off the court with him over the years, in Qin Yue's view, JR has no need to save money for the Warriors.

And
If Qin Yue can't even secure a retirement contract for his staunch little brother JR, how can he, as the older brother, possibly make a living in the NBA in the future?
That summer, the Warriors finally signed Emeka Okafor, Gerald Green, and Joe Johnson in the free agent market. As one of the interior players Qin Yue most wanted to play with in his early NBA years, Okafor, who was about to turn 34, was no longer the ideal player Qin Yue had in college.

However, as an experienced veteran with solid fundamentals, Qin Yue still strongly recommended that the team offer Okafor a veteran's minimum salary.

Even if "Lian Po" is old...
Lian Po can also pass on his experience to young players like Zubac.

As a supplement to the Warriors' forward and guard positions, Gerald Green, the "Nine-Finger Dunker" with fuel still in the tank, wins in terms of cost-effectiveness.

After all, in this era where players often have to offer tens of millions of dollars in annual salaries to acquire new players, there are not many players as down-to-earth as Green.

However, with Gerald Green joining the team...
The new season will surely drive many Chinese fans crazy.

Because currently, there are three players named Green on the Warriors' roster.

As for "Isolation Joe" who first joined the Lakers and then the Warriors?
Do not ask.

The question is, what's wrong with "defecting to the enemy" if it's all for the championship?
Does this mean the Lakers won't allow Joe Johnson to play for another team?

In his previous life, Qin Yue was like Johnson, who never won a championship ring until his retirement. In this life, after experiencing the taste of a championship with the Lakers, he simply can't stop.

"I don't care what Lakers fans think of me," Joe Johnson said on the day he signed with the Warriors. "Because I just want to retire with as many championship rings as possible."

With this, the Warriors have completed all their summer recruitment efforts.

Although the Warriors did not make any big moves that summer compared to other powerhouses.

But in Qin Yue's view, this "4.0" version of the Warriors is already strong enough.

Jokic, who is about to be released from the bench, only needs one opportunity to unleash his full potential.

There's also "Iron Bull," who was named to the All-Defensive First Team last season.

In order to hold onto his starting position, Tie Niu had already started practicing three-pointers during the offseason without even needing Qin Yue's reminder.

Add to that Jimmy Butler, who is increasingly resembling Michael Jordan.
And Stephen Curry, who has officially entered "God of Three-Pointers" mode.

To be honest, in Qin Yue's opinion, even without him, this Warriors team still has the potential to compete for the championship in the new season.

Of course, this applies to external audiences.
Qin Yue could not possibly reveal the truth.

After all, even the most outstanding GOAT needs marketing and packaging.

In this summer, some are happy and some are sad.
The funniest guy in the entire NBA has once again unexpectedly become a trending topic in the basketball world.

The cause is...
Although the Clippers' front office has been actively recruiting players throughout the summer to help Blake Griffin, who is in his prime.

But for the same reason
By September, the Clippers, owned by Steve Ballmer, had not recruited any strong new players.

So now comes the problem.

Why did the Clippers encounter so many obstacles in their recruitment efforts this summer?
Is it
Just because they have LeBron James in addition to Griffin on their roster?
"These people are going too far. How can they say that those superstars don't want to join the Clippers because they don't want to play with LeBron?"

San Francisco, California.

Regarding the fact that most Clippers fans online blamed LeBron James for the Clippers' poor recruitment performance, even Qin Yue spoke out in defense of James.

However, in response to GOAT's protest, GOAT's head GM Ronnie Evans delivered the decisive blow with just one sentence.

"So if, I mean if, the Warriors traded Jimmy Butler for LeBron James, would you agree?"

"."

……

P.S.: Here comes the postscript, two days late. (Not trying to elicit sympathy, but after the Golden Core flared up a couple of days ago, Ah Qiao really never expected that just because she drank a couple of extra sips of ice water and ate a couple of bites of iced watermelon, this sudden bout of acute gastroenteritis almost sent her to her death.)
(End of this chapter)