Besides the Cavaliers, Tang Tian also paid attention to the Spurs' dynamics because of Duncan.

Duncan ultimately chose to continue playing.

However, he opted out of his original contract and signed a new 2-year, $10 million contract with the Spurs.

The second year of this contract was a player option and included a trade veto option.

Moreover, after retaining Duncan, the Spurs successively completed two very crucial signings.

They first reached a maximum salary extension agreement with Leonard for 5 years and $95 million, with the last year being a player option.

Immediately afterwards, they signed LaMarcus Aldridge, one of the top free agents, to a 4-year, $84 million contract.

In this way, the Spurs' lineup had an additional All-Star Aldridge compared to last season, greatly increasing their strength.

Moreover, their frontcourt had a rotation of Duncan, Gasol, and Aldridge, which was definitely a top-tier configuration.

Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Aldridge, Leonard, Gasol...

Plus Green, Diaw, Baynes...

Although the average age of the Spurs' roster was a bit high, the luxury of this lineup was exaggerated.

They were once again title contenders for the new season.

However, Tang Tian was more excited than worried when he saw this.

Last season's playoff experience had shown that to win a championship, you had to be strong enough.

And to become stronger, in addition to becoming stronger yourself, another very important thing was to have strong enough opponents, the more you played, the stronger you became.

However, neither the Cavaliers nor the Spurs were the most eye-catching teams this summer.

Because the Rockets made a trade that shocked the league this summer.

Last season, the Rockets signed Bosh, creating a mini Big Three of Harden, Bosh, and Parsons.

Harden ranked fourth in the MVP race, and under his leadership, the Rockets made it to the second round.

Although they were swept by the Warriors, the Warriors only lost 3 games in total in the playoffs, which was understandable.

But this did not seem to satisfy the Rockets' management. Harden was entering his prime, and they were obviously unwilling to be runners-up year after year.

At this moment, they made a trade with the Kings.

They sent out Bosh and Motiejunas, as well as a future second-round pick, and traded DeMarcus Cousins from the Kings!

The Rockets formed a super-giant dual-core lineup of Harden + Cousins!

Cousins had a lot of friction with Karl last season, and after the season, news even circulated that Karl was going to resign.

Cousins' bad temper was known throughout the league, and it would be fine if they could make it to the playoffs, but the management couldn't stand it after missing the playoffs year after year.

This trade also sparked heated discussions among fans, and the views differed greatly.

Rockets fans felt that the Rockets had made a killing.

Cousins was a big man averaging nearly 25+12, one of the top three centers in the league!

Because Bosh was a free agent signing last season, this was simply getting Cousins for nothing!

Morey was really skillful!

Moreover, with Harden and Cousins, the Rockets also had the strength to truly compete with the Warriors and Pelicans!

Kings fans also felt that they had made a killing.

Cousins' bad temper had made the Kings like a pile of mud, unable to make the playoffs every year.

In the eyes of many fans, this was a replica of Randolph during the Knicks era, and an emotionally unstable Randolph like a time bomb.

The Kings had to break through and establish themselves in order to change, and the newly appointed team general manager Divac showed this kind of courage.

And the return they got from this trade was also very high.

Bosh had won a championship with James, and his average of 19+10 last season was not bad either.

Plus Motiejunas, who performed well last season, averaging 10 points and 5 rebounds, and a second-round pick.

They really made a profit.

Moreover, shortly after completing this trade, the Rockets signed Louis Williams from the free market with a 4-year, $24 million contract.

Williams was a strong contender for the Sixth Man of the Year, a bench bandit on the bench.

Morey knew that the team's bench strength was not enough last season, so he directly strengthened the weaknesses.

Beverley + Harden + Parsons + Cousins + Capela, plus Louis Williams and others on the bench.

The Rockets' overall strength had obviously improved compared to last season.

After Tang Tian finished watching the Rockets' two consecutive operations, he was a little surprised but not too much.

Morey was a data analysis fanatic, and he must have analyzed Cousins' and Bosh's advanced stats.

In fact, although Bosh was selected as an All-Star last season, his dominance in the paint was not as good as Cousins'.

Bosh and Love, the two All-Star big men that James had partnered with, had both continuously lost weight and changed their playing styles in order to cooperate.

This thing was an irreversible process. After losing weight and changing the playing style for several seasons, it was almost impossible to change back.

Because his transmigrated history had changed, he didn't know if Bosh would still suffer from blood clots.

But even a healthy Bosh was not on the same level as Cousins.

It just depended on whether the Rockets could control Cousins' temper.

The free market had passed more than half of its time, and the first and second-tier players had basically reached verbal agreements with other teams.

At this moment, Tang Tian received a call from someone.

Jimmy Butler, he was now hesitant.

Last season, he and Rose led the Bulls all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals, almost knocking the Cavaliers over.

With such results, it would have been logical for him and the Bulls to sign a contract extension similar to Leonard's.

But many potential factors made the Bulls' management hesitant.

Neither Butler nor Rose had three-point ability, and they seemed very incompatible.

Moreover, Butler had already regarded himself as the Bulls' core player, and his conflict with coach Hoiberg was also very big.

So now the Bulls' management's idea was to trade Butler out in a sign-and-trade deal.

Tang Tian was a little stunned when he heard this news, even more stunned than the Rockets trading for Cousins.

Making it to the Eastern Conference Finals last season and then immediately trading one of the team's dual cores?

This suffocating operation was comparable to the Thunder letting go of Harden back then!

But after recovering, he seemed to understand.

In history, the Bulls also sent Butler away directly like this, this matter just happened ahead of schedule.

Sometimes the ideas of some team management are really hard to understand.

But Butler's purpose in contacting Tang Tian at this time was only one, if he had a choice, he wanted to play with Tang Tian.

Butler's defense was stronger than Ariza's, and his offense was more versatile. More importantly, he and Tang Tian were brothers, and they had a great understanding.

If he could really join the Pelicans, then in the next season, the Pelicans would not only be able to compete with the Warriors, but would have a chance to crush them!