Duncan's retirement was met with a wave of emotion, and just as fans were still immersed in their sadness, another event quickly grabbed their attention.

To ensure that Durant successfully re-signed with the Thunder, Westbrook had already opted out of his player option.

But Durant and his team hadn't responded positively.

According to Woj's latest report, Durant stated that he was open to returning to the Thunder, but he would also test the upcoming free agent market!

These words sounded familiar. Anthony had said something similar before, and in the end, he returned to the Knicks.

But Durant and Anthony were clearly different.

The main reason Anthony chose to return to the Knicks was money.

But Durant obviously didn't care as much about money, as could be seen from his previous re-signing with the Thunder.

On the contrary, the information given by this sentence might be the opposite of what Anthony said back then.

Given the relationship between Durant and the Thunder, if he were to stay with the Thunder, there would be no need to go to such lengths. He could have reached an early renewal agreement before the end of the season, just like last time.

The fact that this news broke indicated that he was likely to leave the Thunder.

The free market door hadn't even opened yet, but the news revealed by Woj had already made the various teams eager to move.

It was no exaggeration to say that, apart from the Pelicans, the other twenty-nine teams all wanted to get Durant.

Durant was currently one of the top two small forwards in the league, and everyone would definitely be fighting for a superstar of this level.

Time flew by quickly, and it was soon July 1st.

The 2016 NBA free agent market opened as scheduled.

Because the new collective bargaining agreement came into effect this season, the league's salary cap soared by more than twenty million, which became an opportunity for many free agents.

The surge in the salary cap raised the poverty line, and many teams would naturally offer more in order to fill it.

In addition, with the rumors surrounding Durant, this year's free agent market became particularly eye-catching.

On the very first day of its opening, there were multiple signings, and the contracts were all astonishingly large.

After opting out of his original contract, DeRozan re-signed a 5-year, $139 million max contract with the Raptors.

DeRozan had only entered the 7th year of his career. According to the previous collective bargaining agreement, the max salary starting salary was only $19 million.

But after the salary cap soared, his starting salary immediately increased to $26 million, and the total contract amount also increased by more than $40 million.

DeRozan's contract was typical of this year's free market.

Pistons' Drummond had just finished his rookie contract, and he also reached a 5-year, $130 million contract with the team, also earning more than $40 million.

Similar situations included Bradley Beal and Batum, whose renewal contracts were $128 million for 5 years and $120 million for 5 years, respectively.

These were contracts that only superstars could get in the past.

After the salary cap soared, the money in the free market seemed to have turned into a pile of numbers, which were arbitrarily squandered by the general managers of various teams.

And the result of this was that many obviously overpriced contracts appeared.

Tyler Johnson, who had briefly played for the Pelicans, performed well for the Heat last season, averaging 8.7 points and 3 rebounds per game.

As a result, on the first day of free agency, he received a 4-year, $50 million offer from the 76ers.

The same situation also included Loul Deng and Mozgov, who were offered 4 years and $72 million and 4 years and $65 million respectively by the Lakers!

Even Solomon Hill, a small forward who averaged only 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game for the Pacers last season, received a 4-year, $52 million offer from the Kings!

This series of offers was astounding.

And such a situation not only did not decrease on the second day, but intensified.

The Trail Blazers re-signed Allen Crabbe for 4 years and $75 million, who only had an average of 10.3 points and 2.7 rebounds last season.

The Hawks re-signed Kent Bazemore for 4 years and $70 million, who had 11.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists last season.

The Magic re-signed Evan Fournier for 5 years and $85 million, who averaged 15.4 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists last season.

A main theme of this year's free agent market was that it seemed that as long as you played decently, you could get a multi-million or even a max contract!

Money was really worthless!

Among the signings of free agents, the reinforcements of several powerhouses were particularly eye-catching.

The Spurs re-signed Pau Gasol for 2 years and $30 million. With Duncan's retirement, the Spurs' inside line would be Gasol and Aldridge.

Because of Harden, the Rockets were a popular candidate for Durant's next home.

Cousins' contract was very small (5 years and 80 million signed in 2013, with a salary of only 17 million in the new season), and they now had the space to take on the Big Four!

This made other teams in the league feel uneasy. If Morey really assembled the Big Four, then the other teams in the league wouldn't have to play at all.

The Warriors also suspended the renewal of Barnes and Ezeli, and were working hard to persuade Durant to join.

The Cavaliers were also actively pursuing Whiteside of the Heat in order to strengthen the inside line.

The three teams defeated by the Pelicans last season were determined to seek revenge in the new season, and what they did was to continue to strengthen!

And not only them, according to Woj's revelation, the Mavericks and Grizzlies were getting very close to free agent Conley!

The Knicks were fully pursuing Al Horford of the Hawks!

The arms race in the new season was even fiercer than last season!

While the powerhouses were vying to strengthen, the Pelicans were the most stable team.

After the free market opened, they reached a 5-year, $130 million max renewal contract with Davis, similar to Drummond's.

This was expected, but the next few early renewals were unexpected.

After renewing Davis, they then reached a 3-year, $70 million early renewal contract with Tang Tian.

The contract would take effect from next season, and the third year was a player option.

And not only that, they immediately reached a 5-year, $75 million early renewal contract with Holiday, and a 3-year, $30 million early renewal contract with Bojan Bogdanovic.

All of a sudden, the Pelicans maintained their championship core lineup until at least 2018!

This was the biggest reinforcement!

And the team also exercised the team option of $9.5 million for Stephenson's contract next season, which left them only about $5 million away from the poverty line.

And signing a short-term point guard, their summer reinforcement seemed to be more than half completed.

However, neither the signings of these other teams nor the Pelicans' stability were the most eye-catching in this year's free agent market.

On the third day after the free market door opened, Durant announced his decision.

He had narrowed down the teams he would be joining to seven: the Knicks, Rockets, Warriors, Clippers, Spurs, Heat, and Thunder.