The free market this year is particularly calm, with very little free agent flow at the star-level... The main reason is that few stars may leave the team after becoming free agents this year, and only the 96th or 95th rookies contracts expire.

But if you can't beat it these days, you can change teams at will. The players are all very proud and want to wait. What if the team's luck will be in a big way in the next draft?

The reason for the few star-rated free agents is that after the suspension, the teams rushed to grab players, and there are more cases of giving long-term appointments in order to grab the stars.

This leads to more transactions after the offseason starts, because some contracts are really too hasty, and players are also anxious to decide where to go.

So this summer, many teams corrected their mistakes in signing contracts when they were suspended six months ago.

On July 14, the Supersonics had another movement, sending out Vladimir Stepania, the second round pick in 2000, and obtained substitute point guard Travis Best from the Pacers.

Travis Best, 27 years old, was selected as the 23rd pick in the first round of 95th. He has been playing as a substitute. He has averaged 7.6 points, 3.3 assists and 1 steal in his career so far. He mainly focuses on defense and passes. He has a relatively comprehensive point guard. He averaged 6.5 points, 3.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game last season.

Vladimir Stepania, 213 cm, 124 kg, 23 years old, a sophomore player, averaged 15 minutes per game last season, scored 5.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1 block, and was a pure frame-protecting center. Because of O'Neal's existence, it is relatively valuable these days.

The Pacers' deal is not surprising, but the Pacers had a deal that was quite surprising a few days ago.

On July 12, the Pacers sent Antonio Davis and got the No. 6 pick Jonathan Bend, selected by the Magic.

The Magic sent Joe Nathan Bend, who won the 12th pick of the Raptors' first round rookie Trajan Langton, the 2001 first-round draft pick, and Raptors' small forward Raptors' small forward Raptors' Raptors' 12th pick.

The Raptors sent the 12th pick in the first round of the rookie Trajan Langton, and the 2001 first round draft pick, Rejae Slater, and got Antonio Davis of the Pacers.

Rejae Slater, 29 years old, lost the draft in 1992, officially entered the NBA in 1994, and has played very well with the Raptors in the past three years, averaging 8.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, and is a very high-quality substitute small forward.

This deal makes people unable to see what Larry Bird is thinking.

The Raptors have selected Carter and Odom one after another, building a lineup around the two, and have the chance to get Antonio Davis, the All-Star insider, and of course they strive for it.

The Magic are playing badly, hoarding draft picks, hoarding outside rookies that are easier to play, and hoarding high-quality role players.

But the Pacers dismantled the inside trio from the past years!

The Pacers got the 18-year-old talented high school power forward Jonathan Bend... This rookie was very interesting. After high school graduation, he ran out excitedly to participate in the draft and conquered the Magic with a free throw dunk. The Magic selected the 18-year-old genius inside line, 211 cm tall. Then, after the draft, Jonathan Bend told the media that he didn't want to play in the NBA anymore and wanted to go to college.

But because Jonathan Bend was excited to participate in the draft at the beginning, he did not take the relevant exams in his senior year of high school and could not go to college. If he wanted to go to college, he had to repeat the exam, so he had to be forced to sign with the Magic.

This has spread a long time ago. The Magic are not sure whether Jonathan Bend will enter the NBA smoothly next season, so they simply choose to send him away.

When changing teams, you may wait patiently and observe, but the Magic team is always so decisive.

Larry Bird, knowing that this situation still completed the deal, I don’t know if he saw that high school students in recent years were too outstanding and chose to take a try.

However, a few days later, people knew why Larry Bird traded Antonio Davis. After the Raptors traded Antonio Davis, they reached a five-year, $62 million early contract renewal with him, which took effect in the 2001-02 season.

The early renewal of Antonio Davis prevents Antonio Davis from jumping out of his contract and entering the free market next summer. This season and next season, the Raptors can still enjoy Antonio Davis's cheap contract of only $5 million.

It seems like a good choice to keep the All-Star inside with a high salary, but Antonio Davis will turn 31 at the beginning of the new season, and the Raptors' contract renewal risk is quite high.

Larry Bird reluctantly broke up the two Davis combination, and it seemed understandable.

Later, he used a substitute point guard to get the meat shield center Stepania, which looked quite excellent.

At this time, the Supersonics sent away the "center against O'Neal" and were criticized again.

In fact, there is no need to look at what the Supersonics operates for, the media will respect you first!

First of all, regardless of the considerations in the Supersonics lineup structure, the goals of the new season, etc.

Let me first mention the story of the Supersonics using the text Baker for Jason Williams.

This incident can still arouse the interest of fans now.

At present, no matter how you look at it, the Nets used two first rounds + one first round exchange rights, plus Jason Williams, to exchange for a top power forward at the second-tier level who was only 28 years old at the beginning of the new season. It was all the supersonics' unintelligent operations.

On this basis, we can start to analyze where the Supersonics team is not doing well again.

Travis Best, his regular time performance was OK, but it was very disappointing at the critical moment. In the Eastern Conference Finals in the shrinking season, there was one game because Travis Best was intercepted twice by Iverson at the critical moment, and he lost the opportunity to turn the tables.

When Zhang Hao saw this wave of evaluation, he didn't know what to say. We just traded a substitute point guard and came back!

...

On July 28, the Supersonics sent out substitute center Gerani McCoy and replaced Bulls substitute shooting guard Cory Benjamin.

Subsequently, two signings were completed, signing shooting guard Ruben Patterson who was abandoned by the Lakers for 1.26 million in two years, and signing Lakers substitute center Ben Wallace for 1.65 million in two years.

As expected, the Supersonics team was ridiculed by these three operations.

First of all, the Supersonics no longer have the "center against O'Neal", which has been widely published by the media.

Gerani McCoy, 208 cm, 118 kg, last season's rookie averaged 5.1 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game per year, with a large tonnage. After three seconds of the NBA's defense, he had little effect except for O'Neal.

Corey Benjamin was described by the media as an arrogant and domineering second-generation football player.

It's a bit interesting. The Bulls played badly last season. No matter how well they played, Corey Benjamin was used by the Bulls as a shooting guard. I don't know how many passes from McGrady and Kukoc were wasted.

Ben Wallace, who signed two contracts, was fine. He played power forward in part last season and played substitute for O'Neal most of the time. He averaged 21 minutes per game, scored 4.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. The Bulls also provided him with a contract of 840,000 US dollars a year. The Lakers also wanted to keep him for 770,000 US dollars a year.

This is a very good operation and a very good addition to the center position. Although Ratliff is good, he is always injured.

But there are also some criticisms that rely on Zhang Hao's interpersonal relationship to win the players.

Another signing, the Supersonics team directly spiraled into the sky...

Reuben Patterson, the second round pick in 1998, went to Europe for a few months due to a suspension. When he returned to the NBA, the signing rights had been traded to the Lakers and signed a partial guarantee contract of 1+1.

Last season, Ruben Patterson played 20 games for the Lakers, and his performance was not good, but there were many troubles. When the Lakers and the Supersonics completed the deal and Payton brought Dale Ellis and Billy Owens to join the Lakers, Ruben Patterson, who could average 10 minutes per game, was demoted to guard the water dispenser, and even fought with Dale Ellis, who "grabbed" his playing time, and was suspended from the team until the end of the season. Before the offseason, the Lakers did not implement their team options and became a free agent.

Signing such a player with a history of fighting within the team, and with the Supersonics selected Artest, a player with a rich history of fighting in colleges, the Supersonics team has been described as a "dire land."

...

The second generation of ball came to my house...

Zhang Hao didn't expect the team to bring back Corey Benjamin and Ruben Patterson.

Ruben Patterson came to their Supersonics to try out not long ago. He knew that he was taken to the Summer League and performed well, but the team signed it like this... It's also good, Kobe Terminator.

Cory Benjamin played 47 games in the rookie season, including 39 of which, averaging 20 minutes per game, scoring 7.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists.

The summer league was pretty good, playing 8 games for the Bulls, averaging 16.5 points per game, having athletic ability, and a certain level of three-pointers. It seems that there has been some improvement after spending the rookie season.

The feedback received from management is because the market conditions of Gerani McCoy are far less than Stepania, who is 213 cm tall, which is much better than McCoy, who is only 208 cm tall.

Also, this is a transaction made to build a management relationship network.

Corey Benjamin is the real second generation of ball.

Anyway, it's okay to be the fifth or sixth guard, but at least it's not that bloated in the inside line at the moment.

Moreover, the benefits brought by the relationship network were immediately revealed. The salary of $1.43 million per year signed former Rockets defender Vernon Maxville during the two consecutive championships!

Vernon Maxville, 34 years old, 193 cm, averaged 17.2 points and 4.1 assists per game at his peak.

He played 46 games with the Kings last season, averaging 10.7 points per game. He originally planned to join the 76ers, but the coach of his alma mater, the University of Florida, recommended him to play with the Supersonics. Anyway, at the end of his career, he was just looking for a city with a better living environment and enjoying basketball, so he came.

The media’s remarks... Zhang Haocai didn’t care what they said, they had all the 15-person list!

Point Guards: Kassel, Travis Best, Vernon Maxville.

Scoring guards: Dell Curry, Ruben Patterson, Corey Benjamin.

Small forward: Artest, James Percy.

Power forwards: Jason Williams, Lewis, Schramf, Sam Perkins.

Center: Ratliff, Ben Wallace.

Zhang Hao looked at Qi Huo's 14 teammates...

"Our management is still inexperienced, and the 15-person list is just gathered, without considering the issue of flexible adjustments.

But it's OK. Percy can play two positions: small forward and shooting guard, Schramf can play three positions at the center, Jia Giant can play two positions at the inside, Lewis can play two positions at the front line, many players in the team have hidden dangers of injury, and most of them are veterans, which is an advantage... etc.

What to do with our offense!

Is it me who put two Miai together?"

...

...

"Ben, how is it here?"

"This house is too big!"

“Is this house not good?”

"It's not the problem. My wife and I have three sons. Will it be too extravagant to live here?"

"It's okay, I've talked about the price for you, and there is a very good kindergarten nearby..."

Speaking of this, Zhang Hao was angry!

The landlord was not a penny when he was charged his rent. He heard that he was his teammate, so he lowered the price to a price similar to that of a large apartment in the city.

As early as two days after the offseason, Ben Wallace came to Seattle to complete the meeting. Among the three options of staying with the Lakers, going to the Sixers and coming to the Supersonics, Ben Wallace decisively chose to join the Supersonics. His agent was Henry Thomas. He discussed playing time and other issues and reached an oral agreement.

The signing of the contract was not officially announced until the Supersonics trade and other matters were completed.

After Ben Wallace officially signed the contract, he first came to Seattle to find a place to live. Originally, this was Henry Thomas's job, but Zhang Hao saw that he could help, so he took it on his own initiative. He had a rich woman, Loli, so there was no need to find a house slowly.

I signed a two-year contract worth $1,000 a month, without any penalty, and when I don’t want to live there, I can just cancel the lease... Ben Wallace visited the house carefully, and the more I looked at it, the more I felt satisfied.
To be continued...