With the end of the NBA Summer League, basketball fans have officially entered the most boring stage of the year. At this point in time, even the NBA trading and signing have almost come to an end. However, then, the men’s basketball World Cup is about to start. The men’s basketball training teams in all countries have basically assembled and started preparing for the next World Cup. Obviously, the American men’s basketball team and the Canadian men’s basketball team are the two popular teams to win the World Cup, while the American men’s basketball team, although it seems that the lineup is not full of stars, is actually very outstanding as long as it is in place. 4 years, 53.8 million yuan, back to the Lakers, Pelinka’s operation is commendable, and being scolded by all parties can prove your strength.
Previously, the American men’s basketball team had been fully assembled, and the official also showed the dynamics of players wearing American jerseys. Among them, the Lakers official specially showed the photos of Austin Reeves’ arrival report to share with the fans. Reeves’ new style not only appeared to be mature, but most importantly, his resume of entering the American men’s basketball team this time was amazing, and if you think about it carefully, Reeves’ whole career experience was enough to make a documentary. You know, up to now, Reeves is just a young player who has only experienced two years of NBA career. At this time two years ago, he was just a draft loser, signed a two-way contract with the Lakers, and his future was in doubt. Whether he could stay in the NBA was also uncertain. Two years later, Reeves has become the core of the Lakers, joining the American men’s basketball team and going to the World Cup.
Of course, you can also think that Reeves was selected for the American men’s basketball team because the strength of this American men’s basketball team is not good enough and there is a lack of top stars. Otherwise, he would not have caught the last bus of the American men’s basketball team. However, look at their potential starting lineups, such as Halliburton, Edwards, Ingram, bridges, and Jahn Jackson Jr. Who is not the core of their respective teams? Who is not a star with a market value of about $40 million? In the eyes of many people, there are indeed many players who deserve to be selected more than Reeves, but to some extent, Reeves has not received enough respect, at least in the eyes of the industry, he is good enough.
Cole is the first sign that Reeves entered the national team. The reason he gave is very simple. In the series between the Lakers and Warriors, Reeves beat the Warriors for six consecutive games. In Cole’s eyes, Reeves is a player who can hold the ball, handle the ball, attack, have outstanding defensive awareness and make no mistakes. The American men’s basketball team needs such an all-round player. Choosing Reeves is a decision that does not need to be considered at all. In addition to being affirmed by opponents, including Beverly and Russell, players who have worked with Reeves, they all praised Reeves in the podcast program. Beverly bluntly said that Reeves’ players are in the top 10 in the league, and Russell even called Reeves a "killer".
But this player who averaged 20+5+5 in the Western Conference finals proved his player on the highest stage, but he was not recognized by the fans. In addition to Lakers fans, other fans made all kinds of cynicism about Reeves, especially when he won the free throw. Reeves was considered to be in the Lakers, so he got so many free throws and gave him some negative nicknames, and he was always reluctant to recognize Reeves’ ability and his performance. In fact, Reeves contributed nearly 17+4+5 per game in the playoffs. His shooting percentage and three-point percentage reached 46.4% and 44.3% respectively, and he made only 3.6 free throws.
But from another angle, only the strong will have a bunch of skeptics. If one day no one talks about Reeves, this is the real sorrow. If someone likes you, someone will hate you. Reeves has become a player with high attention, and his business value has improved rapidly. A very simple example, Reeves’ annual salary of the sneaker endorsement contract exceeds that of the new FMVP Jokic. He is another player in the league who has a personal signature sneaker, and only more than 20 people in the whole league have this treatment. Similarly, Jokic has not yet owned his own endorsement sneaker.
In this offseason, the operation of the Lakers has been unanimously recognized. The most crucial thing is that Reeves has returned to the Lakers lineup with a four-year contract of $53.8 million. Before this contract extension was reached, the Lakers kept releasing news that no matter how big the contract other teams gave Reeves, they would choose to match it, which made those similar Spurs and Rockets who wanted to compete for Reeves retreat. Because once they offer Reeves $100 million for four years, the Lakers will not only match, but also wait until the last moment of the match, almost pressing the whistle to match, locking up this part of their opponents’ salary space and affecting their signings. Pelinka’s strategy was a great success. Reeves was considered as a value-added contract for the next four years, and his highest annual salary was only $14.9 million.