230 million salary, 150 million luxury tax! Cavaliers spend first place in the league, but it is difficult to win the championship in the new season

There are still 40 days left before the start of the regular season of the new season. According to previous practice, many teams usually gather in late September to start preparing for the new season, and then polish the lineup through the preseason, so they should start the journey of the new season. But it is embarrassing that until this stage, the Warriors' lineup was still 9+1. As long as Kumingga did not sign the qualification quotation, the Warriors would not dare to sign people, and it took more than two months to get nothing. Of course, the overall strength of the Western Conference is improving this summer. The Clippers + Nuggets + Rockets have been strengthened to varying degrees. Especially the Rockets, getting Durant is like getting an eight-fold lens, which can achieve all-round and accurate strikes without blind spots. In the east, with Tatum and Halliburton suffering serious injuries one after another, the Celtics and Pacers lost their competitiveness one after another.

First of all, according to statistics from various US media, the 10 teams with the highest probability of winning the championship in the new season account for 7 in the West, and only the Knicks + Cavaliers + Magic can make the list in the East. But what is even more embarrassing is that according to the statistics of "HoopShype", the Eastern Conference teams account for 6 teams in the top 11 league salaries in the new season! The Cavaliers Salary League is the first, the Knicks Salary League is the second, the Magic League is the fifth, the Celtics League is the seventh, the Raptors League is the tenth, and the Heat is the eleventh! It can be understood that Eastern teams are willing to spend money when their competitiveness is not fierce, but in the words of salary experts, many Eastern stars have premium contracts. To give two examples, the Raptors gave Quickley 175 million in five years, and the 76ers gave George 208 million in four years. But the most serious problem is the Knight.

Judging from the US media's prediction of winning the championship in the new season, there is no doubt that the Thunder are the first, followed by the Cavaliers and the Knicks, followed by the Western Conference. It's very simple. There is only one ticket for the finals in each division. There is the Thunder in the West as the goalkeeper, and the Cavaliers in the East and the Knicks are the goalkeepers. Last season, the Cavaliers scored 64 wins and 18 losses, and secured the first place in the Eastern Conference ahead of schedule, but stopped in the second round of the playoffs and were eliminated 4-1 by the Pacers led by Halliburton. In this round of series, the team exposed too many problems. The cornerstone Mobley lacked stable and effective offensive methods, Allen's offensive role was limited, and Garland was injured. The team could only rely on Mitchell to fight alone. Mitchell proved at the Jazz that he is a qualified playoff-level star, but only in statistics. In the offseason, the Cavaliers bid farewell to Jerome and replaced Ocro with Ball. In addition, after Galan's toe surgery, they are expected to be out of the new season for a while (the first 30 games are estimated to be). It seems that the regular season does not have much pressure on them, and they have a foundation, but what about the team's ceiling? Let’s see their salary: The Knights currently have only 13 people in contract, but the total salary is 226 million! A reporter with the team revealed that the Cavaliers do not plan to sign the 15th person. It is expected that the 14th person in the team will also have a non-guarantee contract and they have no money to sign people, because the team is expected to pay 149 million luxury tax next season, and each basic salary is signed, and an additional 20 million will be paid! Among them, Mitchell 46.39 million + Mobley 46.39 million + Garland 39.45 million + Hunter 23.3 million + Allen 20 million + Struce 15.94 million.

The basic framework of these 6 people has already earned 191 million yuan in salary, which has exceeded the luxury tax line! But how many can help the playoffs? Garland is organized, Mobley is known as the little thick eyebrows, but Garland's defense is a mess. The back line formed by him and Mitchell was beaten into a sieve in the playoffs; Mobley was elected as the best defensive player last season + selected as the second team of the best team + the first team of the best defensive team. He has beautiful data and high efficiency, but his presence is not high. He can only follow Mitchell back in key games in the playoffs. To give an example, last season's regular season, Mobley's On-Off value was +5.3, but in the playoffs, it was -23.9. The team's net efficiency value was +1.9 when he was on the court, and the team's net efficiency value was +25.8 when he was not on the court.

Of course, the Cavaliers can still believe that Mitchell's bottom line + Mobley's growth will continue to increase the upper limit, but Garland still has three years and a maximum salary contract of 127 million yuan. If Garland is not traded, the team will definitely not be able to avoid repeated luxury tax punishment in the next few years, and may even freeze the first round of picks. Previously, US media suggested that the Cavaliers' top priority should be to raise the playoff ceiling as soon as possible, including James, who was also involved in related rumors. But the reality is that Garland's market conditions are very bad, equivalent to the young version of Schroeder, who can score and organize, but the defensive shortcomings are too obvious, lack of confrontation + insufficient height, which cannot be changed at all. A salary of 20 million is indeed worth it. At the level of 40 million, no one will be the one who takes over it as a sucker.

Last season's regular season, the Cavaliers could do undifferentiated strikes when facing 80% of the league's teams, and widen the gap early to secure the victory, or some teams directly strategically give up when they see the Cavaliers (a wave of away trips to the Eastern Conference, the Cavaliers have a schedule bonus). But in the playoffs, everyone knows that as the series deepens, the Cavaliers have more and more shortcomings and there is no big threat. The salary league is the first, paying huge luxury taxes, but this lineup has always been only at the second round of the playoffs. The real pseudo-giant club in the new NBA season is embarrassing that they don’t even have the strength to change.