Chapter 1 After the Championship

After Tang Tian's successful proposal, Olsen took the two children back to the manor first.

He stayed behind to attend the post-game press conference with Davis and Stevens.

"Actually, we already won the game in Game 5, but the referee let me know that winning the game can rely on free throws in addition to scoring. They really did that, and they kept doing that."

Tang Tian had already said his words of gratitude in the arena. Now, in front of the reporters, he said everything he hadn't said before.

Davis nudged him with his hand. Tang Tian had been fined by the league for this before.

"Ad, what are you doing? Are you reminding me to prepare to pay $25,000?"

Tang Tian turned his head and said. Davis coughed a couple of times.

There was an uproar from the audience. It was obvious to anyone who wasn't blind how terrible the referee's calls in the Finals were.

"Don't worry, I can afford $25,000 many times over."

Tang Tian's next words made the reporters laugh even harder.

This was an open diss of the league and Adam Silver!

"But we won. It proves that we can play 5 against 8. Pelicans are the champions."

Tang Tian's next words made the reporters applaud. With Tang Tian's rising status in the league, he was really showing some backbone!

After the press conference, Tang Tian and Davis walked back to the locker room whistling. It felt good to openly diss like that after winning the championship.

They returned to the locker room, threw Silver and the league to the side, and joined their other teammates in the post-championship celebration.

The first championship in team history called for a grand celebration.

They celebrated in the locker room, drenching Stevens with champagne.

Stevens was smiling especially happily this time. The outside world thought that his ability as a young coach was catching up to Gregg Popovich, but the pressure he was under was equally great.

Now that the pressure was released, he also let himself go and celebrated with the players.

The celebration in the locker room was just a warm-up. After it ended, the entire Pelicans team, including the coaching staff, went to the biggest local bar.

Tang Tian had already booked the bar, and he would pay for all expenses tonight.

Inside the bar, the players let themselves go. Bojan put his arms around teammates on both sides, giving them a live lesson on how to score off the court.

This was the most enjoyable day of the entire season for them.

After the revelry, Tang Tian slept soundly in the manor the next day.

When he woke up, there was a guest at the manor: the team's general manager, Dell Demps.

He had come to discuss the championship parade with Tang Tian.

When the team was up 3-1, Demps and his staff had already prepared several parade plans.

However, after the Cavaliers tied the series, those plans were put on hold.

Now that the Pelicans had successfully won the championship, they were brought out again.

New Orleans was a port city, and a boat parade was one of Demps' plans.

Tang Tian also liked this plan.

Back in San Antonio, the Spurs had done something similar, but the San Antonio River was a small river, only about ten meters wide.

But the Mississippi River was a major tributary, not on the same level as the San Antonio River.

The two discussed it for a while and quickly refined the plan.

Tang Tian would bring out the Mars Project. The team would sail down the left bank of the Mississippi River, then sail upstream along the right bank, all the way to the port outside the arena, and finally give the championship speech outside the New Orleans Arena.

This plan included a boat ride, a street parade, and a port, which was very characteristic of New Orleans.

After finalizing the parade plan, Demps talked to Tang Tian about the team's planning for next season.

After winning the championship, the Pelicans' role had also changed. They had gone from a contender to a defending champion.

As a defending champion, their goal was the same as its literal meaning: to defend the championship.

There were many NBA championship teams, but not many were able to defend their title. The last one was the Spurs when Tang Tian played for them.

Changes in the roster itself, such as the 2011 Mavericks and the 2014 Heat, led to significant roster changes after winning the championship, and failed to defend their title.

There was also a decline in strength, such as the 2013 Spurs, who let Tang Tian go and did not make major changes to the roster, but still lost to the Heat and failed to defend their title.

Of course, there was also the rise of opponents, such as this year's Warriors, who were defeated by the Pelicans and failed to defend their title.

There were also other factors such as injuries, inflated egos leading to poor performance, and locker room problems.

In short, because the NBA regular season spans nearly a year, there were many factors involved, and defending the title was not an easy task.

Fortunately, as Tang Tian said in his post-championship speech, the Pelicans won the championship after three years of honing, avoiding many problems.

The Pelicans were a team mainly composed of young players, so there was no question of a decline in strength. Moreover, the core had won the championship after three years, so there was no inflated ego, and the team atmosphere was harmonious, with the core getting stronger every year. Their probability of defending the title was actually very high.

So, completely opposite to the situation after the 2011 Mavericks won the championship, what the Pelicans had to do this offseason was to try their best to retain the championship roster, and then make minor repairs.

Demps handed Tang Tian the team's contract list.

The team's contract situation at the end of this season:

Tang Tian: 4-year, $44 million contract signed in the summer of 2013, expiring in the summer of 2017, salary of $14.86 million next season;

Davis: Rookie contract from 2012, expiring this summer;

Jokic: Rookie contract from 2014, expiring in the summer of 2018, salary of $1.19 million next season;

Holiday: 4-year, $41 million contract signed in the summer of 2013, expiring in the summer of 2017, salary of $11.29 million next season;

Ariza: 4-year, $40 million contract signed in the summer of 2014, expiring in the summer of 2018, salary of $10.21 million next season;

Bojan: 3-year, $10.11 million contract signed with the Nets in 2014, expiring in the summer of 2017, salary of $3.73 million next season;

Dinwiddie: Second-round rookie contract from 2014, 3 years, $3.1 million, expiring in the summer of 2017, salary of $1.1 million next season;

Stephenson: 3-year, $27.5 million contract signed with the Hornets in 2014, salary of $9.5 million next season, but it's a team option;

Aminu: 2-year, $6 million contract signed in the summer of 2014, expiring this summer;

McGee: One-year minimum salary contract signed last year, expiring this summer;

Biyombo: 2-year, $6 million contract signed in the summer of 2015, expiring in the summer of 2017, salary of $3 million next season;

Harrell: Rookie contract from 2015, expiring in the summer of 2019, salary of $1.09 million next season;

Joe Harris: 3-year, $2.33 million contract signed with the Cavaliers in 2014, expiring in the summer of 2017, $810,000 next season, but it's a team option;

Metta World Peace: One-year minimum salary contract signed last year, expiring this summer;

Bryn Forbes: Undrafted rookie from 2015, signed a 3-year non-guaranteed contract, expiring in the summer of 2018, salary of $530,000 next season;

"Metta has already told me that he will choose to retire in the summer."

Demps said.

Tang Tian nodded. Metta World Peace had revealed this idea more than once in the locker room before. This was expected.

Now that the team's locker room has Bojan, they also have a new locker room leader.

After reading the list, if they don't exercise Stephenson's contract option, the Pelicans' salary next season will only be $47.81 million.

Even if they add Davis' max contract (starting salary of $22 million), which is basically confirmed, it's only $69.81 million.

This is far from the league's recently announced salary cap for the 2016-2017 season ($94.143 million) and luxury tax ($113.2 million).

It's even far from the luxury tax threshold of $84.72 million.

The Pelicans' salary structure is really healthy, so healthy that other teams are envious.

But they also have a problem: too many of their players are in their contract year.

Tang Tian, Holiday, Bojan, and Dinwiddie are all core rotation players on the team.

The NBA is a business league, and the ultimate goal of most players is to earn a big contract, especially after winning a championship.

Having already made a name for themselves, players will definitely perform in their contract year to fight for their next big contract.

Especially for young players like Bojan and Dinwiddie who have never earned a contract worth more than $10 million.

This would be a huge ticking time bomb.

In history, the 2018-2019 Celtics underperformed due to having too many players in their contract year.

To solve this problem, what the Pelicans need to do is to extend their contracts early.

"We want to extend your contract early."

Demps was planning the Pelicans' future with Tang Tian. Of course, as the general manager, the first thing he had to do was to take care of the most important Tang Tian.