CHAPTER 1275: CHAPTER 515: A BIG FISH ARRIVES! (PART 2)

The Lakers’ salary cap is in better shape. Other than the Three Giants, the others are on mid-level exceptions, and it’s rare to give long-term mid-level exceptions to veterans now. They are given to young players like Ariza and Kwame Brown. This summer, to strengthen the center position after Kwame Brown’s weight loss, they gave McDyess a two-year fully guaranteed contract. By the time Gasol’s contract expires, his base salary of $8 million, from the recently signed $27 million 3-year contract, will expire just as Garnett’s new 3-year $60 million contract starts. Kobe will most likely still earn a maximum salary, but his and Garnett’s salaries will definitely decrease, so even if Gasol takes $10 million or more, the total salary of their core four would actually decrease.

Meanwhile, the Bobcats’ three minor players plus Millsap, all aged between 20 and 30, will see their salaries increase. By 2012 or 2013, the combined salaries of their core four might incur luxury tax.

Not every team is called the Spurs. Gay’s contract extension this summer was shocking. The new contract starts in the 10-11 season with a starting salary of $10.09 million, then $11.09 million, $12.20 million, and $13.42 million over the following three years, totaling $46.8 million over four years. When the rumors of Gay’s contract extension first emerged, it was widely believed that even if Gay didn’t get the $15 million starting maximum salary under the $60 million salary cap, he would receive between $12 million and $13 million and could secure a 4-year $60 million or a 5-year $80 million contract.

Sooner or later, Zhang Yang will face the situation encountered by veteran superstars — he has to do everything himself, just like Kobe did, where he not only organized the offense but had to be the team’s scoring king.

By that time, he’ll likely be retired, with plenty of time to leave his mark on the most talented basketball players historically!

...

Kobe’s teachings made Zhang Yang a bit uncomfortable. The 35-year-old Kobe in his memory was straightforward and crude in teaching, making him memorize everything. Then he was on his own.

But the 31-year-old Kobe in front of him was meticulous in his teachings, starting from the most basic posting moves, teaching step-by-step. Even if Zhang San knew something, Kobe would have him go through it again, meticulously refining movements and having Tim Grove assist at the side to adjust them to the most suitable "standard movements."

Zhang Yang wondered what experiences Kobe had gone through over the years for his teaching style to change so drastically?

Curiosity popped up, but he put it aside and focused on learning. With Kobe and Grove’s teaching combo, he couldn’t waste such a good opportunity.

However, it also sparked his competitive spirit...

That day, Zhang Yang studied with Kobe for an hour and a half in the morning and trained under Kobe’s supervision for another hour and a half, followed by his personal shooting training in the afternoon.

Returning to Kobe’s villa at night, Zhang Yang even declined the appointment with the little thugs, Vanessa, and Kobe’s mahjong game, spending several hours preparing...

The next morning, it was Zhang Yang’s turn to teach Kobe, and he was even more detailed than Kobe!

While Kobe emphasized the standard of movements and the details, Zhang Yang wrote "lesson plans" explaining why each change in technique should occur and how to execute it in different situations.

Kobe exclaimed, "Damn," and immediately decided to work overtime that night...

Time moved to September.

Ironfist Yang and Iron Ariza maintained a training pattern of three days on, one day off, but sometimes took half a day off. However, on training days, they maintained approximately 3 hours of training time, spending five to six hours at the training center daily. This offseason, they could definitely be described as diligent.

But every time the two left the training center, they felt a sense of guilt, which came from the other two Iron Kings!

Zhang Yang trained six days, rested one, maintaining a 9 to 5 schedule. He spent 9 hours each day in the training center! Kobe had to be the first in everything, arriving half an hour earlier and leaving half an hour later, staying for 10 hours daily! Meals were delivered alternately by the little thugs and Vanessa! On training days, both averaged more than 5 hours of training daily...

Kidd was fine with it, having played for so many years and seen all kinds of people; he had encountered many hardworking individuals. However, these two stood out.

Ariza, on the other hand, couldn’t handle it... Iron Ariza: How is it different from what I imagined? Someone managed to persist under Iron Ironsmith’s teachings, and not only that, Zhang San turned around and gave the Iron Ironsmith a run for his money!

These two actually competed on who could teach better and more thoroughly!

Initially, due to losing the finals, Ariza was not fond of Zhang Yang. On Kobe’s 31st birthday, he didn’t speak to Zhang Yang, and during the first few days of training together, he hardly spoke to him. But after this period, he really had to admire him.

Indeed, people are different.

The happiest was Tim Grove, as his workload had decreased significantly...

Zhang Yang was happy learning and teaching, he found that teaching others, especially with a sincere wish to teach well, had numerous advantages. It allowed him to reconsider technique from the very basics and have someone demonstrate for him. It was still a player with full command of those related basic skills practicing for him, benefiting him greatly as well.

...

In the blink of an eye, it was mid-September, and the "Iron King Training Camp" entered its latter phase, as the offseason neared its end.

Throughout the first two weeks, other than trade rumors surrounding stars like James, Bosh, and Stoudemire who could opt out and become free agents after next season, Zhang Yang saw no trades. The trade market was quieter than in July.

Free agent signings were so sparse that some days you might not even see one. Most were minimum-salary or bi-annual exception signings, with the biggest contract being Glenn Davis re-signing with the Celtics on a $3 million annual contract with a 1+1 team option.

In April, due to Drew Gooden’s ankle injury, with the Celtics having already secured the fourth seed in the East, Gooden sat out healing, and Big Baby Davis started for a month, bursting out performances. He scored 24 points initially, then had consecutive games of 19 points, followed by two subpar games of 5 and 8 points, then another two explosive games of 22 and 21 points, ending with 12 and 14 points in the last games, averaging 16.3 points and 7.2 boards for the month.

This month’s showing inflated Big Baby’s confidence. After the playoffs, he declined the Celtics’ 2-year $6 million offer, insisting on over $5 million per year salary. The Celtics opted to exercise their qualifying offer rights to retain their first right of renewal. Big Baby entered free agency, receiving several team trial invitations. However, upon learning his asking price, teams withdrew one by one. Although averaging 16+7 in one month was correct, he averaged only 7 points and 4 boards in 76 games that season, meaning before April, he likely had performances of just 5+3. His market price could be around $3 million a year, counting on him finishing his second year and being only 23, with room for growth.

After wandering in the free market for more than two months, Big Baby scurried back to sign a renewal contract with the Celtics.

This made Big Baby a media laughingstock, but Zhang Yang thought he had guts, with a fallback, he had the condition to strive for more money, he definitely should have gone for it.

Gooden had already made it clear that he didn’t want to stay playing in Boston. The Celtics only had Josh Smith, Al Jefferson, and Glenn Davis remaining as playable inside players, with the rest like Scalabrine.

Any offer to Big Baby from other teams that wasn’t too outlandish, the Celtics would probably match. If given a larger contract, Big Baby could escape Boston. If worse came to worst, he could return and take a qualifying contract for a year... losing face wasn’t a big deal, fortune favors the bold.

Zhang Yang thought that this summer was probably just going to be like this. The biggest events of this offseason should be the Mavericks simultaneously grabbing Artest and Caron Butler, the Cavaliers stealing Jamison, and Turkoglu fooling the Microsoft magnate... But then that night, Boss Qiao’s phone call left him dumbfounded...

Big trade!

The Bobcats traded Mike Miller to the Trail Blazers and Brad Miller to the Chicago Bulls, and through a massive five-team trade, they got back — the Big Shark!