That day, there were noticeably more Lakers fans lining up at the hospital.

George, Irving, and Butler, the three All-Stars, stirred up the free market to a shocking extent.

However, their situations were similar, and it was impossible to have results so quickly. It was destined to keep the fans waiting until they were hospitalized.

Just as fans were waiting for the final result, the Thunder made the first move!

They reached a three-way sign-and-trade deal with the Clippers and the Nuggets!

After the Clippers gave Griffin a five-year, $173 million max contract, they sent him to his hometown team, the Thunder, in exchange for Gallinari and Doug McDermott.

The Nuggets signed Gallinari to a three-year, $65 million contract and then sent him to the Clippers, receiving Kanter and the Thunder's 2018 first-round draft pick.

The Thunder sent out Kanter, Doug McDermott, and a 2018 first-round draft pick, and got Griffin!

This superstar, who had explosive popularity in Oklahoma, was home!

The Thunder formed a core lineup of Westbrook and Griffin!

The news caused a stir in the league.

Although Westbrook was criticized by many last season, his triple-double average and First Team selection were real. Although Griffin had suffered a wave of injuries, he was still a top-five power forward in the league. This teaming up was explosive.

Especially Thunder fans, who were almost reaching climax on the spot.

Griffin's performance during his NCAA days was unprecedented in the area, and his popularity was not lower than Westbrook's. This was really explosive.

Tang Tian was also surprised when he saw this.

The Clippers no longer had Paul, and now they let Griffin go. The former Big Three was only left with Jordan. Were they entering a rebuilding mode?

However, this was also expected. After Griffin was injured, his performance declined, and the Clippers' management was hesitant about whether to give him a max contract.

If they didn't give it, it would be unfair to Griffin's contributions to the Clippers. If they did, it would obviously be a bit of an overpay.

Now, it was a win-win situation. Their reputation was still there, and they also got the desired return.

On the other hand, the Thunder's strength had clearly increased compared to last season.

Adding Oladipo, Roberson, and others, they would be a spoiler in the Western Conference next season.

But this wasn't the end.

Just as fans were fantasizing about how much of a threat the Thunder could pose to other teams next season, woj's disciple Shams broke another piece of news.

George, who hadn't had any news for a while, finally had some movement.

The Pacers wouldn't send George to his desired Pelicans team. They were now very close to two teams.

One was the Lakers. George was a Kobe fan, and the Lakers' new president, "Magic" Johnson, liked George very much.

According to Shams, they were trying "very, very hard" to get George.

The other team was surprising: the Thunder!

The Thunder could provide the Pacers with the chips they wanted.

The Thunder were clearly not satisfied with getting Griffin. They didn't want to be spoilers; they wanted to be championship contenders!

As for George's previous designated destination, saying that he wouldn't renew his contract if he didn't go to the Pelicans, didn't seem to bother them. They seemed to have enough confidence to keep him.

No one knew if this confidence was real, but even if they only played together for one year in the Thunder, the lineup of Westbrook + George + Griffin was enough to compete for the championship!

And if they really succeeded, then the Western Conference would suddenly have six super teams, which would be more hellish than hell!

The Rockets two years ago, the Knicks last year, and the Thunder this year.

Starting with the Celtics' Big Three, to the Heat's Big Three flourishing, and now it's embarrassing to even talk about competing for the championship without forming a Big Three.

The NBA was entering the era of the Big Three.

Except for the Pelicans, who were a breath of fresh air, this seemed to be irreversible.

With Griffin settled, James quickly reached a 1+1 renewal contract with the Cavaliers again, and Lowry also renewed his contract with the Raptors for three years at $100 million.

The big-name players in the free market gradually settled down, leaving only Hayward and Walker.

Tang Tian was browsing the news of the free market that day.

He didn't care about Demps' operations on George and Butler. His expectation was that no trades would happen, and that it would be the same small fixes as last season.

Now that the big-name players had signed, there were still plenty of small fish.

The player Tang Tian was now focusing on was Fred VanVleet, who no one else seemed to care about.

This was a very magical player. In his previous life, he was jokingly called VanJordan by fans, and he played a huge role when the Raptors won the championship in the future.

But if you didn't know this person, you wouldn't know that he was an undrafted player in last season's draft, and he had only played for the Raptors for one year.

This kind of player had good scoring explosiveness. Now that Forbes had been traded away, signing him as the third point guard would be a good choice.

As he was thinking, his phone suddenly rang.

He thought it was Demps calling, but when he picked it up, he was a little surprised. It was Stevens calling.

The season had ended, including the draft, and the coaching staff was also on vacation.

"Tang, what do you think of Gordon Hayward?"

Stevens' opening words left him a little confused.

But after some conversation, he roughly knew what Stevens wanted to do.

Tang Tian's opponent in the NCAA Finals was Butler University, led by Stevens.

That Butler University didn't have any superstars. The strongest was Shelvin Mack, a second-round pick who was now a backup point guard for the Jazz.

But the previous team had its only superstar. When Tang Tian played in the NCAA Finals, that superstar also came to the scene to cheer for Butler University.

That superstar was Gordon Hayward.

Stevens was his college mentor.

Now that Hayward hadn't decided on a team yet, Stevens was naturally asking Tang Tian what he thought about Hayward joining the team.

Hayward was a free agent. If he wanted to come to the Pelicans, the Jazz would be willing to sign and trade him rather than lose him for nothing.

Compared to George and Butler before, this should be the most likely to succeed.

Moreover, Stevens had been with the Pelicans for several years, and he knew very well who had the most say in the Pelicans.

After Tang Tian figured it out, he wasn't too surprised. In history, the main reason Hayward went to the Celtics was Stevens.

But like George and Butler before, he didn't have a clear attitude. He wouldn't provide help, nor would he stop it.

Stevens didn't get clear information from Tang Tian and could only go to Demps to discuss it.

After hanging up the phone, Tang Tian's emotions were indescribably complex.

Even though the Pelicans had completed consecutive championships, almost everyone felt that they still needed to strengthen their team.

The Big Three was really becoming a trend in the league, not just a tendency of individual players.