Eight Hundred and Fifty-Seven. Unfair Terms!

At 2 pm, the new labor agreement was reached, and the players' union representatives and league officials announced that the NBA will resume operations soon.

The new labor agreement was announced, including the share ratio, the new contract system

The salary cap, the luxury tax line, etc. were announced on the NBA official website at the same time. Obviously, the NBA officials have been waiting for the labor agreement to be reached.

Bill Duffy, who was giving a speech with Yao Ming in San Francisco, immediately took his team to Memphis on a chartered plane for 220,000 US dollars, not wanting to delay for a second.

Before receiving the email from Fisher of the Players' Union, when the news of the end of the NBA lockout came out, Sun Ce received a text message from Bill Duffy, waiting for Bill Duffy to bring people over.

At 5:30, Bill Duffy arrived at Sun Ce's house, and Sun Ce had a final discussion with the agent team.

Before boarding the plane, Bill Duffy and his team had already received the specific content of the new labor agreement, the salary cap, and other details of their work in the new season. On the plane, they had already held a meeting to study and calculate the new terms that Sun Ce could use and the highest salary he could get.

The rookie renewal terms have undergone major changes in this labor-management negotiation.

Two of the modified clauses are directly related to the Grizzlies.

The first one is directly related to Sun Ce, the 2011 version of the rookie player renewal clause.

The first-round rookie salary, which was strictly linked to the salary cap in 1995, has not changed. The second-round rookie can freely negotiate a salary if the team has salary space and the maximum period is no more than 4 years.

The parent team's matching right has not changed. The parent team has absolute matching rights for first-round rookies and second-round picks with a rookie contract of at least three years. The original Arenas clause has not changed.

But on this basis, the renewal clause after the expiration of the rookie contract has changed.

The renewal model of ordinary players' rookie contracts remains unchanged, but very good young players have incentive clauses after the expiration of their rookie contracts.

And there are supplementary clauses for second-round picks who only sign two-year rookie contracts.

Sun Ce looked at the new version of the second-round rookie renewal clause copied by Bill Duffy in colloquial language. Isn't this the original Rose clause second-round version? And it is almost impossible to trigger.

Sun Ce took a look at the specific content of the supplementary clauses for the second-round pick renewal terms. It is roughly as follows: if the second-round pick only signs a two-year rookie contract, and is selected as an All-Star starter or the best team, VP, or best defensive player at least once in the rookie contract, and renews with the parent team after the rookie contract, he will get 1 year of virtual playing experience and can trigger the incentive clause.

The player can also give up the virtual playing experience and accept offers from other teams. If he chooses to sign first and then trade, he also needs to voluntarily give up the virtual playing experience. Once he voluntarily gives up the virtual playing experience, he will no longer have it, and the parent team will continue to retain the priority to renew the contract, but it must be renewed under the Arenas clause.

If the second-round rookie signs a contract of at least three years, the renewal conditions are the same as those of the first-round pick, and the requirements for triggering the incentive clause are the same.

Sun Ce feels that this rule change is a clause set up specifically for him. Looking at the history of the NBA,

No one can trigger it except him, and no one can trigger it in the next ten years as far as he knows.

But this is obviously a good thing for him.

In addition to having 1 year of virtual playing experience when renewing his contract, he can renew his contract with the cap like a player who has played for three years and has bird rights, and can also trigger the incentive clause.

The content of the incentive clause: In the rookie contract, at least two All-Star starters or best teams, or get regular season VP, and need to not change teams during the rookie contract. After the execution of the rookie contract, you can renew your contract with a starting salary of 30% of the NBA salary cap. If you have renewed your contract in advance, you can also agree on a salary increase.

This is a clause specifically for second-round picks who sign a two-year contract, because second-round picks with three-year contracts directly have bird rights.

Sun Ce feels that this incentive clause may be triggered by only five people, including him, Rose, Evans, Durant, and Griffin, and it is unlikely for others.

He can already trigger this clause that belongs to him. He currently has 1 year of virtual playing experience, got VP again last season, and was selected as an All-Star starter for two consecutive years.

Rose was selected as an All-Star starter last season, and his popularity is at its peak. There is no problem for him to be selected as an All-Star starter in the last year of his rookie contract.

Griffin still has two years of rookie contract. With his popularity, he will most likely be selected as an All-Star starter.

Evans is likely to be triggered by the best team. In the next two years, Evans of the 76ers will most likely be selected for the best team.

Durant has been selected twice in the 2009-10 season and the 2010-11 season. Although he had already renewed his contract in advance in the 2009-10 season, he can agree with the Thunder to increase his salary.

Another clause Sun Ce looks very interesting, and it is related to Jason Williams, who has announced his retirement after the lockout.

Because the Grizzlies bought the Magic's second-round draft pick with cash last season, and then used this second-round draft pick to trade for Jason Williams. This brain-opening operation can be regarded as taking advantage of the loopholes in the NBA rules.

This matter is not big, but it is not small either. The NBA's trading system does not allow cash trading of players.

Therefore, a new clause was added to the official NBA rules, which specifically prohibits the use of cash to purchase draft picks after the end of the previous year's draft and before the trading deadline of the new season.

This clause is not very practical. For example, last season a team only had 2.2 million US dollars in cash to use in transactions.

But in order to plug this loophole, the NBA still imposed restrictions to avoid some special situations.

It is the same as when Big Z was traded to other teams and refused to report, and finally returned to the Cavaliers to sign a new contract.

Other changes to the terms have little impact on Sun Ce, who is more concerned about his salary.

Sun Ce looked at the salary cap, which was more than 60.39 million US dollars.

The new version of the labor-management agreement was reached, and the share ratio was finally reduced, with a maximum of no more than 53%, and a flexible share of 47% to 53%.

Why did Bill Duffy, a senior agent with more than 20 active players, not receive the news of the labor-management agreement in advance?

Because the labor-management agreement was passed very suddenly, it was basically considered that the players and executives compromised, so Fisher sent an apology email to all players registered with the players' union.

Many players can no longer afford to delay. Nearly 70 players who played in the NBA last season left the NBA to play overseas, including the Nuggets' best sixth man candidate Wilson Chandler, who is a big spender. He prepaid his salary almost every season and joined the CBA early.

Even Kobe and Sun Ce received offers from the CBA. Some local sponsors of the team wanted to pay Kobe 20 million US dollars and Sun Ce 18 million US dollars.

Under such pressure, the bigwigs of the players' union could not bear it. They were not short of money, but they were about to catch fire behind them, so they had to agree.

It seems that the share of 53% is only four percentage points lower than the previous 57%, but through Bill Duffy's analysis, Sun Ce understood what this means, that is, if there are really many bosses who are stingy, all players can only get a minimum of 47% of the NBA's total annual income.

And the highest can only be 53%, and the players' trusteeship salary has also increased from the previous 10% to 20%. The excess will be deducted from the trusteeship salary of all players in proportion and the remaining salary will be paid.

In other words, the bosses won in the end.

However, there is good news for players who already have contracts, that is, the previous contracts will remain the same, and the original contract salary will not be reduced in proportion to the reduction in the share ratio.

It’s just that the salary cap of more than 60 million is a little different from what Sun Ce remembered. He remembered that the NBA salary cap broke 60 million in 2014, three years ahead of schedule. At that time, it was said by some unreliable media that it was an epoch-making year. As a result, the salary cap was more than 90 million two years later.

The salary cap is almost one million higher than the expected 59 million. This is definitely a good thing for Sun Ce, making up for the loss of the reduced salary increase ratio in the new version of the labor agreement.

In the previous labor agreement, the annual salary increase of players without bird rights in the contract can reach 10%, and the annual salary increase of players with bird rights in the contract can reach 12%. Now the maximum for those without bird rights is 8%, and the maximum for those with bird rights is 10%. If calculated based on a starting salary of 20 million, starting from the second year, the salary will be reduced by at least 400,000 US dollars each year.

Sun Ce discussed with Bill Duffy and Bill Duffy's lawyers, finance, etc. for half an hour. At 6 pm, the first time the NBA officially resumed operations, the phone rang.

Sun Ce took out his phone and saw that it was the team owner calling. He saw the time was 18:00:03, which means that the team owner Robert Pera had been ready to call and pressed the dial button as soon as it was 6 o'clock.

Sun Ce answered the phone and made an appointment to meet at the FedEx Arena in an hour.

Bill Duffy also received a call from the team's general manager Chris Wallace, and the agreed time was the same as Sun Ce.

Finally, after a brief discussion on how to negotiate, Sun Ce's domestic agent He Zhengkai and the lawyer he brought, Bill Duffy's finance and lawyer were all preparing.

Bill Duffy asked Sun Ce: "Noah, I won't say if we really want to renew the contract like this. Is that kind of clause really good?"

"Does the NBA have a rule that such a clause cannot be included?" Sun Ce asked back with a smile. He liked that kind of clause very much.

"No, they are happy to see it. All the owners of small-city teams will not refuse it, and the owners of big-city teams will not dare to say it is wrong. But for us and you, of course, your public opinion will become better because of it."

"That's it. I like to finish what I start."

"Ok, I know that even if I ask you again, you will not change your mind. What I admire most is your character. It's just that the people in the team asked me to persuade you to cancel it."

Sun Ce listened to Bill Duffy's words. The words were good, but why did it feel like he was scolding him?

Sun Ce was waiting for Bill Duffy to come to his home and wait for the team to contact him after the NBA resumed operations. During the four hours, the Internet had exploded.

The suspension was finally over and the NBA was finally coming back.

Fans wanted to know the specific agreement reached by the NBA, see what changes were made, and see how much impact these changes would have on the NBA.

The media certainly catered to their wishes. A large group of experts began to analyze the various clauses. Major portals and forums were occupied by analysis posts, and fans were also very enthusiastic about discussing.

Most of the clauses are actually weakening the treatment of players, such as the longest contract is reduced from 6 years to 5 years, and the salary increase of new contracts is reduced.

The players' "victory" is that the salary cap system is preserved, which is still a soft salary cap, that is, they can renew their contracts by using various clauses, and there is a flexible share ratio.

Such a flexible salary cap makes it less likely that players who can get high salaries will renew their contracts with a salary cut. After all, the share ratio has been reduced. Who knows whether the total salary of players will exceed 53% of the total income.

There is also the birth of the Arenas version of the amnesty clause. Each team has the full power to cut a player and remove his salary from the total salary, limited to contracts signed before the new version of the labor agreement is signed.

Most of the clauses have not changed much, but as long as there is analysis, there are still many people discussing it. After all, the last labor agreement was reached in 2005. Most fans have long forgotten what the terms of the labor agreement are. Moreover, many fans started watching football after 2005 and the discussion was very heated.

The most popular one is the change of the rookie renewal clause.

Two new clauses have been added to the rookie renewal clause: the incentive clause and the two-year clause for the second-round pick. These two clauses, especially the officially named two-year clause for the second-round pick, made all the fans who saw the content of this clause think of Sun Ce at the first time.

Moreover, apart from thinking of Sun Ce, no one else can be thought of.

This clause can be triggered by no one except Sun Ce.

The incentive clause is okay, Durant can already trigger it, and it is not exclusive to Sun Ce. Like Sun Ce's analysis, Rose, Evans, and Griffin are all considered candidates who have the opportunity to trigger the new clause.

But the new clause of "two-year clause for the second-round pick" is like it was set up specifically for Sun Ce alone.

In China, the commentator of the official media Chaoting Station directly named this clause as the "overlord clause" on social media, while in the United States, the media combined the labor-management agreement with this clause and the incentive clause, and summarized it as the "lord agreement."

This clause is amazing in the eyes of fans.

After Jordan's first comeback, the league and the owners of each team gave the Bulls a special clause that allowed Jordan to renew his contract outside the salary cap, not on the salary cap, but outside the cap, that is, it is not counted in the team's salary, and there is no luxury tax, and there is no upper limit, as long as the Bulls are willing to pay.

The overlord clause is similar, such as the league and the owners collectively giving the Grizzlies the green light, allowing Sun Ce to have bird rights one year in advance, allowing the Grizzlies to renew Sun Ce with a much higher offer than other teams can offer.

In anyone's opinion, this is a renewal that cannot be refused.

3 million can be less, 5 million may also be gritted and held on, but more than 10 million is still US dollars, which makes it impossible to refuse the renewal.

After this clause was announced, fans were waiting, waiting for the NBA to resume operations, waiting for the news of the Grizzlies and Sun Ce's renewal.

However, what they waited for first was not Sun Ce's contract renewal, but the Thunder announced that at 6:30 p.m., Durant's previous contract with a starting salary of 13.7 million US dollars and a total of 82 million US dollars for 5 years, which was based on the salary cap of the 2008-09 season, was canceled, and a new contract with a total of 93 million US dollars for 5 years was signed.

When the Thunder opened the curtain of the contract renewal, the signings of various teams came one after another.

During the suspension period, the teams were not idle and had already started looking for candidates. After resuming operations, the uniforms of each team immediately contacted the free agents they liked and quickly reached an agreement. The training camp was about to start on the 10th, and they were given only 84 hours.

Fans waited and waited, wanting to wait for the news of Sun Ce's contract renewal, but they didn't wait.

The media were also speculating and analyzing, but none of them were really reliable.

On the morning of December 7, there was finally news about the Grizzlies' signing.

But it was not Sun Ce, or even the contract renewal news of Gasol, Yi Jianlian, and Battier, but a substitute inside player was signed.

The Grizzlies signed Marreese Speights, the 2008 first-round pick who gave up his fourth-year rookie contract with the 76ers, for two years and $5.4 million, bringing the number of players on the team and those who are about to renew their contracts to 14.

Finally, at noon, the Grizzlies had new news.

The Grizzlies officially announced that Gasol Jr. would renew his contract with a starting salary of $12.92 million and a total of $57.5 million for four years.

At the same time, Yi Jianlian reached a contract renewal with the Grizzlies for a three-year, $12 million contract, and Battier renewed his contract for three years and $9 million.

At noon, the Grizzlies held a press conference for the five new players Nash, Neal, Klay Thompson, Jimmy Butler, and Marreese Speights.

It has been 18 hours since the NBA resumed operations, and more than one-fifth of the "free market" has passed. Sun Ce has not yet reached a contract extension, which makes the media and fans can't help but wonder if Sun Ce is making trouble.

Rose, Griffin, and Evans have reached an early contract extension, and the agreement has been made that the incentive clause can be triggered after the conditions are met.

The reason for the early contract extension is that even if the incentive clause is triggered, the contract can be calculated based on this year's salary cap, like Durant is a special case.

Finally, after waiting and waiting, the Grizzlies opened the training camp early as the media found out, that is, on the morning of December 8, and the fans finally waited for the news of Sun Ce's contract extension.

The Grizzlies officially announced that Sun Ce will renew his contract with a starting salary of US$181.17 million for a total of US$3804.57 million over two years, with a special option for the second year.

When the Grizzlies official Twitter and official website announced the news, not to mention the fans, even the media and players from other teams who saw it were shocked.

It’s actually the 11th contract renewal

Only lasted two years

Is Sun Ce crazy or is the Grizzlies crazy?

Then they noticed that the second year was not a player option or a team option, and it was not a no-option, but a special option.

Later, Grizzlies owner Robert Pera announced on private Twitter: Lord's contract is a player option, but he will never leave Memphis until he brings the O'Brien Cup to Memphis, and it has been written into the contract. We will re-sign a maximum salary contract with the Lords based on the salary cap every year. If the salary cap is not as expected as the previous year, the player option will be implemented and the contract will be extended for one year.

Robert Pera announced the news, and Sun Ce also liked it

Then Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace revealed the details with a look of helplessness in the interview: "The special clause actually means that our team will always retain the contract matching rights of the Lord if it does not win the championship. We did not want to restrict the Lord in this way. We hope to give him the greatest degree of freedom. Even if he really wants to sign a one-year contract, we will not make such a request, but he must join.”

Fans, media and other players who were paying attention to Sun Ce's contract extension were stunned by this magical operation. It was simply unbelievable that any player would renew his contract like this.

NBA championships are so easy to win. Olajuwon only won two championships. Garnett, Pierce, and Ray Allen formed the Big Three, and they only had one championship. Malone and Stockton even won it for life. No crown

Everyone who paid attention to this matter had only one thought at this time: Where did this guy get his confidence?

If Sun Ce wants to stay forever, he can just sign a long-term contract, but with this clause, unless the Grizzlies take the initiative to trade him, he may really have to stay in Memphis for his entire NBA career.

Of course, some fans and media commented very positively that Lord is using his sincerity to give back to the team and fans.

Obviously, this clause greatly increased Sun Ce's reputation.