NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 503 Retains the Framework for Winning the Championship

Besides these star players, players like 58, Capela, and Cousins ​​are also likely to choose to stay with the team.

After acquiring two guards and a wing in the draft, the Clippers already have enough guards and wings. Their current roster offers ample options at points guard, shooting guard, small forward, and center. However, at power forward, they only have Danilo Gallinari as a reliable option. While they could move players like JaVale James or Paul George to power forward, the long regular season would be too taxing, and Gallinari has never been a very durable player. Therefore, strengthening the power forward position this summer is a necessary step, both for the team's talent pool and for future development.

Of course, the most important thing right now is to retain the championship-winning roster. Many teams dismantle their rosters after winning a championship, only to fail the following season; there are countless examples of this. Dismantling a roster after winning a championship is a major taboo, especially for a young roster like the Clippers'. Minor adjustments are sufficient; dismantling the existing roster requires further integration and introduces a lot of uncertainty.

On June 28, Jia Fei specially invited Pao Jiao to go to Las Vegas.

After a lively discussion, Jia Fei said to Paul George, "I know many teams have contacted you, and I hope you can stay. I'd like to relive last season's experience. What do you think?"

Paul George is a straightforward man. He smiled and nodded, "Indeed, many teams have contacted my agent, including the Lakers. Ja, to be honest, I never thought about leaving. We won the championship last season, I'm very happy here, I really like the atmosphere of our team now, and I really enjoy supporting you. Before, in Indiana, they made me the leader, but now I realize that I'm not suitable to be the team leader. You are the best player in the league, and I don't feel ashamed to support you!"

Jia Fei was surprised that everything went so smoothly. He stretched out his hand and said, "Let's continue to create new team records! Keep it up, hometown basketball!"

"Continue!" Paojiao grasped Jia Fei's hand.

After securing Paul George, Jia Fei felt the possibility of the team breaking up was a thing of the past. George was a crucial player; while somewhat inconsistent, he was more than capable as a second option. He possessed excellent shooting ability, the ability to defend multiple positions, and when he was on fire, he was unstoppable. This type of player isn't suited to be the core player, but he's perfectly adequate as a second or third option.

The strength of the Jia Fei and Paul George combination lies in the fact that both are wings, capable of defending multiple positions, handling the ball, and shooting. Their excellent defense means they don't need other role players to cover for them; in fact, they can cover for individual players. This makes the Clippers' roster very flexible, accommodating both traditional big lineups and small lineups.

The Clippers' current roster is as follows:

Inside players: Olynyk, Art Mayork, Boban, Harrell, Hartenstein

Wings: Jia Fei, Paul George, Dillon, Gallinari, Bridges, Wesley Johnson

Guards: Beverley, Lou Williams, White, Brunson, Bruce Brown, Dillon Wallace

Last season, the Clippers had only 14 players from the beginning to the end of the season, but this season, they now have 17 players on their roster due to the addition of 3 rookies.

Since a team can only have a maximum of 15 players, the Clippers need to reduce their roster to 15 before the start of the season.

According to Jia Fei's line of reasoning, Wesley Johnson and Dillon Wallace will not be renewing their contracts. Both players only signed one-year contracts, which expire at the end of the season, and they would have to sign new contracts if they wanted to renew them.

With the addition of Bridges on the wing and the additions of Brunson and Bruce Brown at guard, the Clippers won't have time to give Wesley Johnson and Dillon Wallace in the new season.

This is why Jia Fei insisted on not offering long-term contracts to the two players when negotiating with Logo Man last season. Because these two are completely replaceable, giving them long-term contracts would require sacrificing valuable assets for trades, impacting the team's flexibility.

Harrell and Paul George's contracts are also expiring, and the Clippers own their Bird rights, so there's no need to worry about not being able to renew them.

Paul George has already agreed to a contract extension, and Harrell and Lou Williams have performed very well, so contract extensions are highly likely as well.

Furthermore, Harrell's contract extension won't be very large. While his offense is indeed formidable, his defense is also problematic. His style isn't suited for starting; he can only play as a substitute, and if he plays as a substitute, it's unlikely he'll get a substantial contract extension.

Everything is under Jia Fei's control, and he now has a plan for the power forward position. But the problem now is that even if Wesley Johnson and Dillon Wallace are not re-signed, the team's roster still has 15 players, and there is no room to sign new players.

Aside from the core players, rookies are the future of the team and cannot be left unsigned, so the only thing that can be adjusted is a few role players.

In the era of small-ball, the wing position is king. After not re-signing Wesley Johnson, the Clippers currently have five wings, and they cannot afford to give up any of them. Furthermore, apart from Beverley and Lou Williams, all of their guards are rookies, and adjustments are unlikely. Therefore, the only area for adjustment is the frontcourt.

In the Clippers' frontcourt, Olynyk is the team's main center in the five-outside lineup and is still under contract, so the team can't give him up; Harrell is the team's main backup frontcourt player, and the team will most likely re-sign him; Art Mayork is also a rotation player, and his special relationship with Jia Fei makes his position very secure; Hartenstein is the team's rookie, and it wouldn't be worthwhile to give him up; so the only player they can move on is Boban.

Boban Marjanovic barely got any playing time in the Clippers' roster last season; he was essentially a third center, ranked only slightly ahead of Hartenstein.

Replacing Boban with a power forward would make the Clippers' roster more balanced.

This requires the efforts of the Logo Man and his team. Boban is still relatively easy to work with; there are still teams willing to take him. His contract isn't that big, so they can just give him away for free.

The annual NBA free agency market officially opened on July 1st!

Sure enough, Running Man decided to test the free agent market, and his determination to leave the Cavaliers seemed so firm!

The Clippers acted immediately; they've been in talks with several teams about a trade involving Boban. In fact, they started doing this a day before, but today they're openly discussing it.

The Logo Guys will show you what professionalism is!

On July 2, they completed the deal involving Boban.

The trade involved the 76ers, and the trade was as follows: the Clippers sent Boban Marjanovic to the 76ers, who in turn sent their 2019 second-round pick.