The NBA playoffs are in full swing, and this year there are many fewer old faces, although there are still 37-year-old Paul and 34-year-old Curry to support the veterans, but overall, it is more of a young man's world. In the past, the league could be said to be dominated by small forwards, but now James, Durant and Leonard have no chance. Comparatively speaking, old Zhan and Xiao Ka don't have much to prove, but Durant's championship has always been questioned for not having a high gold content, and he urgently needs to win another title to make himself convincing, but his situation seems to be getting more and more difficult.
The Nets have paid nearly $100 million in luxury taxes this season, and because they've all overstepped the tax line in the last few years, it's time to double the penalty. Looking at the whole league, their luxury taxes are only less than those of the Warriors. This is the strategy and philosophy of Boss Cai, since joining the Nets, he has not stopped spending money, the home stadium Barclays Center said to buy, in the case of the rules allow, the big contract signing superstar, even Joha such a role player, the salary is close to 18 million. In order to achieve the goal of winning the championship as soon as possible, surpass the Knicks to become the new owner of New York. 247 million in 5 years, 108 million in 3 years! The Nets are easy to send god, and Durant is overrated
So in a short period of time, the Nets have put together the big three and become the most competitive team. Unfortunately, the Nets plan could not catch up with the changes, and one blow after another made the Nets farther and farther away from the goal of winning the championship. The first is Harden Irving's back-to-back injuries in last year's playoffs, which left the Nets in a good situation with a 2-0 lead over the Bucks, and Durant's step on the line is really painful. Then there are Irving's various unprofessional behaviors, which not only make the team's combat effectiveness decline, but also shake the hearts of the military. Harden's departure has a lot to do with Owen.
Then Harden changed back to the players, Curry Jr. and Zhuang Shen are just role players, the most important Simmons, should have quickly become the new main force, he is young and energetic and defensive, the overall situation is good, is exactly the player that the Nets need. But Simmons, citing so-called psychological disorders, hasn't played for the Net in half a season. He still has a big contract of 3 years and 108 million, does not know how many games he can play, and it is difficult for the Nets to send him away, and the value of the transaction has plummeted.
Irving only has the player option left in the final year, but he is eligible to renew his contract early with the Nets, with a maximum contract of 245.6 million for 5 years, which is a super contract with an average salary of nearly 50 million. This put the Nets in a dilemma, and the team's contract extension to Irving in the presence of Durant and Simmons meant a huge luxury tax every year and could not be reinforced. If you want to sign Irving first and then send him away, you can only go to exchange with other garbage contracts, because other teams are also worried about Irving disrupting the dressing room. The Nets are really easy to ask for now, and both Simmons and Irving are difficult to deal with.
But more worrying is Durant, who is indeed overrated and may be the top of the league in terms of personal strength, but he is completely unqualified as the boss of the team. Unable to control Irving or appease Harden, Simmons could not persuade him to play for a few months on the team. The next opportunity for Durant to prove himself is less and less, the Nets' mess needs his firm heart to clean up, and now Durant should understand that he won the Championship in the Warriors, in what a good environment, Curry is a good teammate and team boss.