In 2022, the NBA Nets drew.
As part of Harden's four-way transaction and PJ- Tucker transaction, the reconstruction of the Rockets in the next few years will be closely related to the success or failure of the Nets and Bucks (the two teams will sign debts in the first round in the future). Rockets hold the first round of the Nets in 2022, 2024 and 2026, plus the first round swap rights in 2023, 2025 and 2027. At the same time, the Rockets also have the second-round-first-round swap right of Bucks 202 1 and the first-round signing right in 2023.
The lottery probability and ranking outside the lottery area of the 202 1 NBA draft have been settled by the end of the regular season, so the promotion of the Bucks will not have any impact on their ranking (24th overall) this year. However, these are just appetizers. The real bright spot is whether the star players of these two teams will seek to leave in the next few years, thus putting their teams at a disadvantage-just like Harden did against the Rockets a few months ago.
From lebron james, kevin durant, anthony davis to Harden, it is not difficult to find that superstars are rising by signing free agents or forcing the home team to trade. In most cases, this will happen when a player has not won the championship in recent seasons and his team is not regarded as the favourite to win the championship next season. But there are exceptions to everything. 20 19 Cowie Leonard, who still plays for the Toronto Raptors, is a special case-because everyone knew from the beginning that Leonard didn't want to stay in Toronto, and he was from Southern California, so it was reasonable for him to return to China.
Usually top stars don't choose to change teams after winning the championship. They usually leave because the team failed to win the championship that year. In addition, the increasing pressure to win the championship will only increase the departure of players like Harden and Davis who have never won the championship before the transaction.
So what does the situation of the Nets and Bucks mean to the Rockets? The team that wins the championship usually doesn't dissolve in the first few years. Therefore, from the value of the Rockets' draft pick, the best result is that neither team has much chance of winning. As far as the Nets are concerned, their situation is much simpler. Harden, Durant and Carey Owen can all become completely free agents in the offseason in 2022. Unless they renew their contracts in advance in this offseason, the Nets can only keep them for another season! As for the 20021offseason, it is unlikely that any of the three will try to leave, because this is only the first year of the Big Three, and their playoff defeat is closely related to the serious injuries of Harden (hamstring strain) and Owen (ankle sprain).
Harden had missed the first four games of the series, the fifth was obviously plagued by injuries, and Owen missed the last three games. Therefore, in theory, the Nets may "make a comeback" in the 20021-22 season and go further in the playoffs with better health. However, if the Nets fall short again in 2022, what will they do? From here on, things get interesting, especially Harden, who will celebrate his 33rd birthday in the second half of 2022. Under this assumption, he still didn't get the championship ring.
Considering this situation, in view of Harden's desire for the championship, as a free agent, he will at least consider other options. If Harden had won the championship in 202 1, his focus might have been different, but now we all know that he failed. If he finally chooses to leave, the value of the Nets' draft pick in the next few years will be greatly enhanced.
Twitter original:
The performance of the Nets in the 20021-22 season is very important for the future of the Rockets. After next season, james harden, kevin durant and Carey Owen all have player options. A failed season is enough to ruin everything, and a championship can lock these players for a long time. —— Clutcheefans (@ Clutcheefans) 2021June 20th
For the Rockets, the bucks' bet is not as important as the Nets', because the Rockets have the control of the Nets' draft in the next six years (exchange right+first round), while the Bucks will only have one draft in the future (first round in 2023). Of course, the Rockets also signed Bucks 202 1 in the first round, but this signing position has been locked in the 24th overall position, and there will be no change. In addition, Bucks have signed multi-year contracts with key players (Giannis Antetokounmpo, khris middleton, Zhu Holliday), which makes the potential breakup of Bucks completely different from the Nets.
Compared with Harden, Durant and Owen, the Bucks have no stars who can enter the free agent market in the offseason in 2022. But that doesn't mean that bucks can sit back and relax. If the Bucks still can't win the championship or even enter the finals before the offseason in 2022, then the letter brother of the two-time MVP winner may follow Davis and Harden and force the Bucks to trade him. Like Harden, Shingo is under pressure to win the championship.
Although Saturday's victory is good for the Bucks, if they lose to the Hawks in the upcoming Eastern Conference finals, this good memory may be greatly reduced. After all, considering the injuries of Owen and Harden, the nets won by the Bucks are incomplete, so the performance of the Bucks in the next few weeks will determine whether the Bucks will win this series or whether the nets will be remembered.
If the Bucks can't make good use of this golden opportunity to reach at least the 202 1 NBA Finals, then we have reason to wonder what the mentality of Brother Alphabet will be if his team is unfortunately out of the playoffs in July 2022. Considering this situation, Brother Alphabet may play the level of regular season MVP for four consecutive seasons, but he won't get any hard honor in the playoffs. Therefore, he is likely to consider all options to the minimum.
Twitter original:
Bucks eliminated the Nets. It's hard to say which is the best result of the Rockets' first round of signing (the first round of signing bucks in 2023, and the first round of controlling the Nets in 2022-2027), but I think the opposite result (the Nets eliminated bucks) is not much better. —— Clutcheefans (@ Clutcheefans) 2021June 20th
In addition to the threat of star transfer, physical exhaustion caused by injury and aging, or financial crisis caused by luxury tax, these factors may also weaken the strength of the Nets and/or Bucks in the next few years. However, it is difficult to predict when these factors will occur and their impact. In the early stage, the most obvious way to turn one or more draft assets into high stock selection is to let superstars leave the team.
Considering that the Bucks and the Nets just played Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, this may sound a bit strange. But think about it, Thunder has a 47.9% chance to get the fifth round swap right of 202 1 from the Rockets (the result will be announced on Tuesday) in a transaction less than two years ago. Chris-Paul-Russell-Westbrook happened in July, 20 19, when the Rockets were one of the best teams in the NBA, so no one thought the first round swap rights protected by the four draft picks had any special significance. However, when Harden chose to put pressure on the rocket in his own way in 2020, the speed at which the rocket fell was beyond everyone's imagination. If the Rockets are lucky, the same thing may happen to the Nets or Bucks.
PS: The Rockets have three draft picks this year, and the last two are the 23rd pick (Trailblazers draft) and the 24th pick (Bucks draft). The draw time for the draft is 8:30 am on June 23rd, Beijing time.