The Nets were swept by the Green Army, causing themselves to become the laughing stock of the whole league, Durant, who averaged only 26.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game in the series, was questioned by major media, the management's decision to trade Harden in the middle of the season was stupid, and the boss Tsai Chongxin lost nearly $100 million this season, in exchange for a dismal ending of four consecutive losses in the playoffs.
According to normal thinking, when a team fails to meet season expectations, it should think about how to solve the core contradictions and rekindle the team's hopes next season, while the Nets are caught in a deeper quagmire, and it is reported that Irving will not execute the player option, which means that the Nets can only choose to renew his contract, and Irving's ideal contract is as high as 5 years and 250 million.
On the one hand, if the Nets do not renew their contracts, it is equivalent to letting go of a star in vain, which not only seriously affects the team's book strength, but even reduces the market valuation; on the other hand, Irving once claimed that if the Nets trade him, he will retire immediately, which makes other teams dare not take over easily, and the Nets want to get rid of the passive situation, only "the hero breaks his wrist".
Here Irving's matter has not yet been settled, did not expect the Nets to open the "suicide mode", there are media reports that they may give up center Clarkston in the offseason, because the latter wants to get a 4-year 56 million contract extension, but the Nets are difficult to accept under the pressure of the huge salary, they are likely to give up the physically talented blue-collar interior.
If the Nets really lose Clarkston, it will be worse for their already weak interior line, because drummond has publicly stated that he will not stay in the Nets, and in the case of the team without any spare tire, losing two interior defenders in a row, the Nets will not be able to attack the championship again in any case.
Clarkston wants a contract with an annual salary of 10 million yuan, he averaged 8.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game this season, shooting 67.4% from the field, and went further in the playoffs, averaging 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game, shooting a terrifying 79.2%, which is an absolute inside defensive backbone.
Recently, the Hornets expressed their willingness to send a 4-year, 45 million contract for Clarkston, and also promised a starting position, if the Nets really renew Irving, there will be no room for Zhao Si, and they can only accept the empty state of the interior line.
The Nets have come to this step, from the moment Cai Chongxin bought the team has laid the groundwork, Cai boss is a venture capitalist, only know how to invest in money and do not understand the operation of basketball at all, he chose to use Nash as the head coach, at the expense of paying hundreds of millions of luxury taxes to introduce Durant, Harden and Irving three giants, these three stars have not completely proved themselves, and there is a common shortcoming, that is, the defense is far from the top, so the final unhappiness is an inevitable trend.
Now that simmons will be able to play is still unknown, the Nets are likely to become the wronged head to pay for his mental problems, in this environment, the offseason reliable free agents will also be discouraged from the Nets, because the latter has no potential to tap, the only thing they can do is to constantly overdraft Durant, let him continue to carry the team forward at the tail of the peak.
Arguably, the Nets have gradually reached a dead end, and they don't have any way to turn back, if they just want to have a good popularity and topic attention in the future, then renewing Irving seems to be a good choice, but if they want a real championship trophy, then thinking about rebuilding early may be the right way.