All of them have more than 100 million US dollars left but they were cut! Bill lost his veto, and Lillard returned to his parent team and won again

This summer, two maximum-paid players were cut by the team one after another, and the total remaining contracts of both of them exceeded US$100 million, which also significantly set a historical record. The two players are Lillard and Bill, of which Lillard was directly cut by the Bucks, while Bill reached a buyout agreement with the Suns and gave up $13.9 million. After Bill and the Suns reached a buyout agreement, they soon reached a two-year, $11 million contract with the Clippers and officially joined the Clippers. After Bill's next home was settled, Lillard soon decided on his next home. He and the Trail Blazers reached a three-year, 42 million contract and would return to his old club.

It is worth mentioning that Lillard and Bill have a lot in common in their careers. Both of them were rookies in 2012, and they were both high-ranking rookies, among which Bill was the Tanhua and Lillard was the No. 6 pick. In addition, Lillard and Bill were both members of the club one-man and one-game club, and have been playing for the parent team for 11 years. But in the summer of 2023, Bill and Lillard left their parent team one after another and withdrew from the club one by one.

Because they have been playing for the parent team, Lillard and Bill both received maximum salary contracts, and they all took effect shortly before they were traded. So after being traded, Lillard and Bill ranked among the top in the league in annual salary. It was only because of injuries and team lineup that Lillard and Bill were cut and bought out. Otherwise, they would not have been cut or bought out, after all, their remaining salary was more than $100 million.

Interestingly, Bill also had the right to trade veto in his previous contract, which is also an important reason why the Suns could not trade him and eventually had to choose to buy out. But after reaching a buyout agreement, Bill had no veto power for the transaction. After Lillard and the Trail Blazers re-signed the contract, they obtained the veto of the transaction, and the Trail Blazers cannot trade him casually in the future. Of course, the Trail Blazers have no reason to actively trade Lillard.

After Bill lost his trade veto, James became the only player with trade veto. But as Lillard obtained the trade veto, two more players in the league have the trade veto. Generally speaking, the veto power of a transaction is just a symbol and is basically useless unless the player and the team completely break up. Players who can have the right to veto the transaction are all top players, and most players in the league cannot enjoy this treatment.