The Fifth Point Guard

When O'Neal's deal shocked the league, no one noticed that Steve Nash was waived by the Dallas Mavericks, became a free agent, and signed a five-year, $65 million contract with the Phoenix Suns.

This time, Cuban didn't give Nash any chance. Even though Nash said he could choose to take a salary cut in order to stay, the Mavericks still let go of the All-Star guard.

STO's old club, the New Jersey Nets, were not idle either. After Jefferson grew into the team's top scorer, they believed that Martin was no longer important to the team.

The Nets, who have lost Shentong, believe that they cannot stand out in the Eastern Conference with only the trio of Kidd, Martin, and Jefferson, especially after the Heat introduced O'Neal.

Martin's inside-oriented style of play gave the Nets other ideas.

However, the Nets did not make things look ugly like the Mavericks did.

They signed and traded, signing a seven-year, $90 million contract with Martin to show respect for Martin, and then traded three first-round picks with the Denver Nuggets.

Nuggets fans are very satisfied with this deal. The forward combination of Anthony and Martin has made the fans full of expectations.

Nets fans are dissatisfied. After losing two All-Star players, Shentong and Martin, for two consecutive years, they directed their anger at the team's general manager, Bernard King, believing that his operation of the team in the past two years has been poor. Just terrible.

The Spurs, who have been consistent over the years, remain very low-key.

Instead of dipping into this year's frenzied transfer market, they first signed Manu Ginobili to a six-year, $52 million deal and then signed Seattle SuperSonics free agent Brent -Barry signed a 4-year, $22 million contract, which is very pragmatic and low-key.

As many Lakers players fell apart, Derek Fisher also chose to leave.

As a free agent, he did not choose to stay and support Kobe, but signed a six-year, $37 million contract with the Golden State Warriors.

As time went on, the Cleveland Cavaliers also made a small trade.

They traded two players, Derrick Brown and Kevin Ollie, who did not play much playing time with the Philadelphia 76ers, to acquire point guard Eric Snow.

This deal should be a reinforcement for the point guard position, and the team finally has a pure point guard.

On July 24, the Detroit Pistons, who defeated the Lakers F4 in the Finals last season, announced that they had signed a five-year, $57 million contract extension with free agent power forward Rasheed Wallace.

After the Roaring God came to Detroit, this team truly became a championship team.

Meanwhile, Rashid claims he feels at home here.

By renewing a five-year contract, the Pistons retained their championship lineup and set their sights on defending their title in the new season.

Although they haven't made drastic changes in the player market like other teams, the Pistons' sophistication and composure have made people compare them to the Spurs in the West.

On July 30, the Nets made another cool deal.

They sold Kidders, who filled the vacancy of STO last season and played well, to the Los Angeles Clippers at a low price in exchange for only a second-round pick, which was almost a free gift.

Now the fans were completely angry.

The Nets management is simply treating themselves like monkeys!

Some fans even set up a website to "denounce the Nets management", and nearly 2,000 signatures were collected in just one day.

However, the Nets officials did not provide any explanation or explanation to the fans.

On August 6, the low-key Spurs signed a contract extension with Robert Horry in a low-key manner.

The New Jersey Nets also finally introduced a player, Eric Williams, who was frustrated with the Cavaliers last season.

But Nets fans didn't buy it.

Some fans directly expressed their ridicule to the Nets management: "They made such a big move and thought they were going to re-sign STO from Cleveland. Who knew it was just Eric Williams? It's really disappointing." .”

On August 19, the Wildcat quartet received good news.

Loren Woods, who became a free agent, received an olive branch from the Toronto Raptors.

According to Woods, in addition to being satisfied with his workout, Carter's recommendation was also the reason why the Raptors signed Woods.

After all, they have trained together for a while, and Carter knows that Woods' current level has improved greatly compared to last season.

An excited Woods said in front of the media that he would do his best to help Carter and help Toronto win more victories.

What neither he nor Carter expected was that the two did join forces, but not in Toronto.

On August 25, just as the door to the transfer market was about to close at the last moment, the NBA made two blockbuster transactions in a row, which directly ignited the entire league and Chinese fans.

The Nets, which have been attacked and ridiculed by fans, have made a turnaround.

They very suddenly completed a big 5-for-2 deal with the Raptors!

The Nets gave away Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and two first-round picks, and acquired Vince Carter, one of the most popular players in the league, and Vince Carter, who had just been signed by the Raptors. Loren Woods below.

Although Martin and Kidders are gone, the team has welcomed a heavyweight star Carter.

This transaction immediately turned the originally angry fans into joy.

Kidd, Carter, and Jefferson, this outside trio has renewed people's expectations for the Nets' new season.

After O'Neal traveled east, it was logical to give up Martin on the inside and focus the offense on the outside.

Some fans even believe that the Nets, with Carter in his prime and Jefferson who has grown to 20+ points, are better than the previous Nets that reached the Finals twice. After all, STO was not the league's scoring leader at that time. .

New Jersey fans believe that the only team worthy of being called the "Lob Team" is the Nets.

After losing Shentong, Jefferson regained another Wildcats teammate - Woods.

Another blockbuster deal came from Carter's cousin Tracy McGrady.

Originally, STO thought that this transaction might not happen in this time and space, but who knew that the transaction still happened just before the door closed.

It is said that Yao Ming did not agree with the deal at first, but the tough attitude of the Rockets management made Yao Ming finally choose neutrality.

The Houston Rockets and the Orlando Magic completed a massive trade involving seven players.

The Rockets received Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Rhys Gaines, while the Magic received Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kevin Cards. Trust.

According to Barkley, both the Rockets and Magic are winners.

The Magic got Francis, who can rebuild the team with the No. 1 pick Howard, while the Rockets have the inside and outside partnership of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.

After O'Neal and Kobe Bryant achieved success and separated, the combination of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady attracted the attention of the league.

Although Francis was confirmed to have been traded by the team, Yao Ming still rushed to Francis' home and attended a party that he had promised him before to bid farewell to his enlightenment brother and mentor.

The Magic did not make Francis feel wronged. They promised that Grant Hill could recover and play in the new season, and the team's strength could meet Francis' needs.

The crazy player market for the 2004-05 season finally came to an end on September 1st.

No one expected that the league would undergo such big changes before the start of the new season.

The battle for the championship has also become more suspenseful.