Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 878 878 540 Who Else Has Dreams_2

?Chapter 878: Chapter 540: Who Else Has Dreams_2 Chapter 878: Chapter 540: Who Else Has Dreams_2 However, for a big guy like Yao Ming, could he keep up with training conditions in Miami?

You wouldn’t want to be discarded by the Rockets and the national team, only to have Riley run you into the ground in Miami.

Yu Fei offered a non-committal suggestion.

On one hand, he had to admit that Yao Ming and the Miami Heat were a match made in heaven. On the other, Yu Fei harbored doubts about whether the Miami Heat’s so-called “hardest-working, best-shaped, most professional, most selfless, toughest, dirtiest, least likeable team” culture was right for Yao Ming.

“You need to think it through,” Yu Fei said, “Going to Miami might bring you closer to a championship, but conversely, it could also shorten your sports career. I don’t think they’ll cut you any slack. Of course, you can make it clear before signing that for health reasons, you must keep your training within certain limits.”

Upon hearing this, Yao Ming laughed merrily and said, “It seems you care about me even more than my wife does. She’s actually itching to move to Miami right away.”

“Why?”

“There’s no state income tax there.”

What happened afterward was very cliché.

Despite the Rockets expressing confidence at new head coach Kevin McHale’s press conference that the team could keep Yao Ming, the news everyone in Houston least wanted to hear still broke a few days later.

Yao Ming signed with the Miami Heat for a discounted four-year, $50 million contract.

In theory, he could have commanded a full max contract of four years, $60 million, but now he had taken a $10 million pay cut.

Yao’s Team publicly stated that Yao Ming hoped to create cap space for the team to sign more players by taking a pay cut.

That was what they said internally as well.

However, by taking a lower salary, Yao Ming, who had yet to play a game for the Miami Heat, had already become a meritorious contributor. He would have some of the privileges that Wade could expect.

For example, while he respected the team culture of the Miami Heat, he had his own training regimen for many years. The way he trained in Houston was how he’d train in Miami.

Riley had no objection, and the Miami Heat understood that at 220 centimeters tall, being able to play at an All-Star level at age 30 was already unprecedented.

They couldn’t expect such luck to continue under the ferocious training regimen of the Miami Heat.

Therefore, to protect Yao Ming, they had to accommodate his training needs, especially since he had taken a pay cut—an indication of his team spirit. They must ensure he was well-protected.

Following Yao Ming’s decision, veteran Shane Battier, who entered the NBA the same year as Yu Fei, followed in Yao’s footsteps.

He joined the Miami Heat on a three-year, $9 million contract.

In essence, the $10 million that Yao Ming cut from his salary went to him.

That’s the benefit of taking a pay cut.

The Heat acquired a championship piece coveted by all major contenders.

Moreover, they still had a full mid-level exception.

They could use the mid-level exception to further strengthen their team.

Eventually, the mid-level exception was spent on Darko Milicic from the famed ’03 draft class.

The Miami Heat believed Milicic could effectively lighten Yao Ming’s burden.

The rest, like the Brooklyn Nets, could only fill out their roster with minimum salary players.

With Yao Ming moving East, the emergence of a second powerhouse in the Eastern Conference greatly accelerated the pace of free agency.

There were still plenty of talented players available.

Guards like Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, and Kevin Martin, all All-Stars, were around, but they had missed the chance to join a super team.

Joe Johnson accepted a max offer from the Golden State Warriors.

Deron Williams had hoped to join a big-market contender.

But the Brooklyn Nets, Lakers, and Knicks were all out of cap space.

He didn’t fancy the rebuilding Bulls or 76ers, so he settled for a competitive team instead.

Turning to the Milwaukee Bucks, who had been seeking a chance to climb back to the top, he joined them.

Although the Bucks fell into the lottery before the lockout, that was due to injuries.

Now, with Granger and Aldridge both healthy and a core point guard like Deron joining, the Eastern Conference had another strong team.

Deron’s decision determined the fate of the other two players in Milwaukee.

One was Kevin Martin; the other was Pau Gasol.

Under the pressure of the super luxury tax, a team like the Bucks, which struggled to even make profits, could not dream of a fourth star.

The max contracts of Deron, Granger, and Aldridge nearly filled the salary cap, and they would save where they could.

Martin chose the Houston Rockets as his next team.

Big Pau Gasol, deemed too slow to play power forward and not tough enough to play center in the modern era, became the consolation prize for the Spurs.

Or rather, for the Spurs, Big Pau might have been a better tactical fit than Yao Ming.

The only issue was that Big Pau had not developed a reliable three-pointer before the lockout, unlike Yao Ming.

Being able to shoot threes was a crucial indicator of whether a traditional big man could adapt to the new era.

With Pau Gasol joining the Spurs, the League’s landscape became even more uncertain.

Before the lockout, it was the Supersonics and Lakers vying for dominance.

Because they were the only teams with more than three All-Star players.

Now, although the Lakers still had the Kobe-Shaq duo, due to the one-year lockout, Antawn Jamison’s contract had expired, and the Lakers had no intention of keeping him.

Additionally, Ron Artest’s contract had also expired.

The Lakers didn’t retain him either.

Even with the loss of two key players, the Lakers’ existing contracts still put them over the salary cap.

So, apart from signing players to minimum contracts, they only had an incomplete mid-level exception to use.