freenovelworld Chapter 133 Preliminary Offers from Each Team
Chapter 133 Preliminary Offers from Each Team
Jia Fei was looking at the offers he received from various teams. These were preliminary offers, not final offers, but they showed how interested the teams were in him.
How can you tell how interested they are? Don't look at how great the general manager says you are, but rather how sincere the contract they offer you is.
The Raptors offered a three-year, $15 million contract, with a player option for the third year. This is roughly equivalent to an average salary of $5 million per year, which, based on last season's salary cap, is roughly a mid-level exception contract.
This contract is quite substantial; it's more than double the Thunder's $250 million per year.
Jia Fei was wondering who was on the Raptors' roster. He thought there were DeRozan and Lowry, the Trash Brothers, and Valanciunas.
He continued to cut his second offer.
The second offer came from the Hawks, a four-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $30 million over four years, with a player option for the fourth year!
This contract is bigger than the one with the Raptors, averaging over $7 million per game, and includes a player option. This contract made Jia Fei's heart race – 30 million over four years! He'd be earning close to ten million a year. Considering his mediocre stats, the Hawks' decision to offer him such a long-term contract clearly demonstrates how much they value him.
Jia Fei hadn't realized that the Hawks would offer him such a contract. After all, the Hawks were from the Eastern Conference, while the Thunder were from the Western Conference. They had only faced each other twice in the regular season, and he didn't remember them well.
Who are the Hawks' players? In Jia Fei's memory, there are players like Horford and Teague, who are not very famous but have good skills.
With each contract bigger than the last, Jia Fei's mood improved. It was like being set up on blind dates, each one more gentle and beautiful than the last. As a man, wouldn't you feel excited?
Jia Fei felt increasingly relieved and continued reading...
The third contract was with the Kings, a two-year, $9.5 million deal with a player option for the second year.
Jia Fei doesn't care about the length of the contract. He is confident in his abilities and believes that even with a short contract, he can demonstrate his value through an outstanding performance in one season and may be able to earn more money for a big contract.
But having a team option for the second year shows a lack of sincerity. They seem unwilling to offer a long-term contract, fearing a season where they might not perform well, and want to maintain control. This way, I can choose not to sign with you!
Jia Fei continued reading...
The Pistons offered him a four-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $16 million, with a player option for the final year. While the total value of the contract isn't high, the long duration and player option, combined with his stats last season, make it a fairly average deal.
The Grizzlies' contract is a minimum salary. Jia Fei would never join them, not even for a multi-million dollar annual salary, let alone a minimum salary. Joining a team you can't beat is something Jia Fei would never do!
The Rockets' contract is a two-year, $5 million deal, with the second year being a team option. It's even worse than the Thunder's contract. Not only is it a 250 (meaning utterly worthless), but it's also a team option! Morey, your whole family is worthless!
The Hornets' contract is for 3 years and $10 million, with a player option for the third year. It's average, not particularly high.
The Wizards' contract is similar to the Hornets', a three-year, $10.5 million deal with a player option in the final year.
The Suns' contract is for four years and $11 million, with the final year being a team option. This contract is not as good as the previous two.
The Mavericks' contract is for two years and $8.5 million, with a player option for the second year.
His last contract was with the Clippers, and it was a minimum salary contract.
Jia Fei is unlikely to join the Clippers unless Chris Paul is willing to give him his number 3 jersey. It's said that Paul also wanted to join the Heat back then, but his condition was that Wade give him his number 3 jersey, which is obviously impossible.
If Paul were to give up his number 3 jersey to Jia Fei and wear number 58 himself, Jia Fei might consider joining the team. But that's clearly impossible. Therefore, Jia Fei is unlikely to join.
After reviewing all the offered contracts in one go, Jia Fei had a general idea of his market value. His current market value was the mid-level exception, and some teams, considering his growth potential, would offer him contracts exceeding that. He felt this offer was reasonable, considering he hadn't consistently started and delivered outstanding performances for extended periods. He appreciated that a team was willing to offer him a contract exceeding the mid-level exception.
However, this doesn't mean Jia Fei can immediately choose to join the team he wants. According to the rules, if the Thunder offer him a qualifying offer before free agency opens, he will become a restricted free agent. In that case, no matter how high a contract other teams offer him, the Thunder, as his parent team, have the right to match it.
Whether they'll be matched is another question...
Ideally, the Thunder would not offer a qualifying offer, making Jia Fei a free agent. This would free him from the Arenas exception and allow him to negotiate contracts with other teams.
As Jia Fei was reviewing contract offers, Kemba Walker asked, "Jia, have the Bobcats made you an offer?"
Jia Fei shook his head.
Kemba Walker sighed, looking quite dissatisfied: "I've already recommended you to them, but they still won't offer you a contract."
"It's okay, Kemba. You should know how bad MJ's judgment was. The reason they didn't offer me a contract isn't because you didn't work hard, but because they lacked vision. That's my opinion anyway!" Jia Fei said confidently.
"Sigh, I still want to play with you!" Kemba Walker still felt a little regretful.
“I’d like to too, but things aren’t always perfect. Let’s consider joining forces when we have the opportunity in the future!” Jia Fei said.
"Hmm!" Kemba Walker didn't say anything more. Everyone in the world knew how bad Jordan's judgment was. Apart from being great at basketball, he lost terribly in other areas, such as the draft and gambling.
So God is fair; He won't make you the strongest in everything, otherwise the world would be too unbalanced.
Jia Fei sent a message to Jeff Schwartz, telling him that he had finished reading it.
Jeff Schwartz immediately replied, asking if Thunder general manager Presti could speak with him in person.
Jia Fei agreed; he's currently in Miami.
A day later, at the hotel where Jia Fei was staying in Miami, he had a detailed talk with Presti. Because of this talk, he didn't go to watch the Spurs vs. Heat Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Kemba Walker and Art Mayork went to watch Game 7 so that Jia Fei and President Pu could have a proper talk without worrying about being disturbed.