Annual salary of 50 million and a top-level lineup! If Leonard doesn t win the championship, he may be abandoned

The NBA is in a long offseason. At present, in the free market, only a few players such as Westbrook, Simmons, Brogdon have not found their next home. Although the Warriors have not made any operations all summer, they are trapped by the matter of Cumingga. They are close to reaching an oral agreement with Horford + Melton + Curry + Payton Jr., and wait for Cumingga's signing problem to be resolved, and the Warriors will be able to announce it officially. The competition in the West is even more intense in the new season. Judging from the official strength list, the top ten Western Conferences in the league have seven teams. In addition to the championship Thunder last season, the Rockets + Clippers + Nuggets are still the favorites to win the championship. The Rockets + Clippers + Nuggets work together to encircle and suppress the Timberwolves in the West for two consecutive seasons, and the Spurs and Mavericks are also in good momentum. The two veteran powerhouses of the Lakers and Warriors will retreat if they don’t advance.

It is not difficult to find clues from last season's playoffs. As the champion Thunder, the most difficult series is to play against the Nuggets. The Nuggets have fought all the bullets until the tiebreak. Before the Thunder, the Clippers were forced into a desperate situation. The two teams also fought hard for 7 games. Simply put, these three teams are equally strong. In comparison, the Timberwolves in the other half of the area did not encounter much pressure. During the offseason, the Clippers sent Powell away for Collins, signed Lopez, and Bill bought out the Suns and also joined the Clippers. With Paul's return, the Clippers' management created a star-studded lineup. The only disadvantage is that they are too old, experience is an advantage, but physical fitness is a disadvantage. As the core of the team, Leonard may be his last chance to win the championship.

starts with two data. First of all, Leonard will earn $50 million next season, ranking 14th in the league. When Leonard signed this contract, he would have cut the salary and contract years (from 212 million in 4 years to 150 million in 3 years), with the goal of freeing up Harden's salary space. But Harden renewed his contract with the Clippers for two years this summer (1+1 player option has partial guarantees) to lay the groundwork, because the team guaranteed only 13 million in the second year. In the words of the Clippers reporter, the Clippers can easily free up more than 50 million in salary space next summer. Even with part of the guarantee, Harden signed. In order to make the team more competitive, he contacted Bill and his agent many times to facilitate joining the Clippers. So how strong is the Clippers' lineup on paper in the new season?

Starting: Harden + Bill (starting promise) + Leonard + Collins + Zubac; Substitutes: Paul + Dunn + Bogdan + Derek Jones + Batum + Lopez, 11 players rotate, ensuring that at least one substitute is the battle power in each position. But the biggest disadvantage is that it is too old. Only Jones Jr. + Zubac + Collins are under 30 years old, and the average age reaches 33.2 years old! Being younger is the trend of the NBA's development, because the rapid offensive and defensive transformation + accelerated pace + improved confrontation requirements are all based on physical conditions! Then why did the Clippers go against each other? To put it bluntly, the Clippers management is doing their best to build the strongest lineup next season without paying too much luxury tax. This season, as long as you can, if you can, you will be disbanded!

Leonard recovered for more than half a year last season, and Harden led Powell + Zubac + Jones to maintain a 60% winning rate (top six in the West), but Harden was very tired because he did not have a substitute. After Leonard returned last season, he averaged 21.5 points per game in the regular season and 25 points per game in the playoffs. This data has also dropped a lot compared to his peak period. The main reason is that he wants to play the fourth position he doesn't like, and the third position is occupied by Powell. Paul joins, Harden has a substitute; Collins joins, Leonard has a peace of mind to go to the third position. The most important thing is that, except Leonard, the remaining 10 players have a rotation framework, and it is easy for Harden to lead the team to ensure the top four in the West. The rest is left to Leonard, who is the only candidate to raise the upper limit in the playoffs.

Leonard spent the first six seasons with the Clippers. In the first year, the team was reversed by the Nuggets because of his special strife with George. In the second year, the cruciate ligament was torn in the semi-finals. In the third year, Leonard was reimbursed for the season. In the fourth year, he only played 2 games in the playoffs and had knee problems. In the fifth year, he attended 68 games in the regular season. He had a mysterious injury in the final and only played 2 games in the playoffs. Last season was the sixth season. He was resting for so long in the regular season. He was indeed healthy in the playoffs, but the fourth position was not his favorite position (most of the time he was fighting against Gordon)! Basically, there are problems every year. Are there any problems in the new season? Of course, the Clippers did not try their best to strengthen, but this is the biggest measure for management to trust Leonard, and the management seems to be tired of it!

So Harden's contract is partially guaranteed, because once Leonard loses trust, Harden's guaranteed lower limit is meaningless. Therefore, Collins' contract expired for 26.58 million yuan, and the Clippers do not intend to renew the contract in advance, including the team options of Bogdan + Daluo + Batum + Dunn. Once this lineup cannot win the championship next season (the lowest bottom line is at least the Western Conference Finals or the Western Conference Championship), the Clippers can break up the team at any time! As for Leonard himself, in the last year of contract, the Clippers have a variety of operating methods, which must include exchanging him for reconstruction of assets! What the team asked Harden to do, and Harden could meet the requirements; as for Leonard, he always disappointed in the first six seasons.