Bishop of the Devil

Paying wages to players like Milicic is a very important matter for any team.

Because Richard was not the boss before, he didn't have to think too much about these things. He only needed to submit the player contracts. Whether to sign or not was the boss's business.

Richard's previous bosses were Paul Allen and Davidson Sr. They all valued Richard very highly. As long as Richard submitted a contract, they would definitely sign it without saying a word.

But now Richard can't be so willful. He must discuss Milicic's contract with Jordan.

"Maximum salary, definitely maximum salary, what else is there to discuss?" When Richard asked Jordan, Jordan replied without saying a word.

In Jordan's view, Milicic is a treasure, so young, with such good statistics, and quite versatile on the court. If such a player is not given a maximum salary, can he live up to his conscience?

Richard waved his hand and signaled Jordan not to make a decision too hastily, because he had a better plan than the maximum salary.

"Michael, I am now planning to buy out Darko's contract first and then re-sign a contract." Richard said with some hesitation.

He still doesn't know if doing this will violate the league's regulations.

Jordan was stunned, buying out Milicic's contract? No kidding, this approach is simply too risky.

Milicic's current contract has less than one season left. If Richard buys out, Milicic will become a completely free agent.

By then, if Milicic is hooked away, who will the Pirates look for to reason with?

"No, Li, this behavior is too risky. I know what you want to do, but I hope you can think about such a risky behavior again."

"Unless you are sure that Milicic will not be signed by other teams after being bought out." Jordan said with a frown.

"You don't have to worry about this, Milicic will not leave, absolutely not." Richard said with a smile.

Now Richard's idea is to buy out Milicic's contract first and then sign a new contract with him.

This new contract is not a maximum salary, but the total amount will be consistent with the contract Milicic signed after this season.

The general idea is to let Milicic get more salary this year and less in the next few years to free up some salary space...

In this way, Milicic will not suffer a loss, and the Pirates actually won't suffer much either. They just paid a little more buyout money, and then they can free up about four to five million US dollars in salary space per year in the next few years.

…

During the previous offseason, the Pirates could actually use the team option to not execute Milicic's fourth-year contract and directly start renewing Milicic's maximum salary in advance.

But if they do this, the Buccaneers can't free up salary space...

Unless Milicic is willing to cut his salary, Richard doesn't want his players to suffer.

…

According to the normal progress of NBA history, in fact, at this point in time, Richard may not be able to operate like this.

The reason is simple, because Payton's Law has been introduced...

Under normal circumstances, Payton joined the Greencaps and was then traded to the Hawks.

As soon as he arrived at the Eagles, he was bought out, and then he packed up and returned to Green Kai.

This is why Payton's Law was born. After buying out, you cannot join the original team.

But now because Payton has not joined Green Kai, this Payton Rule has not been born.

However, Richard thought that if he really did this, Stern would probably come up with a Milicic Law.

…

Hearing Richard's confident words, Jordan was relieved. Since Richard was confident that Milicic would return to the Pirates after the buyout, he could still give it a try.

He has also been in the league for many years, so he naturally understands the importance of salary space for a team.

As the league's salary rules become more and more stringent, his situation of exceeding the team's salary cap by himself will definitely never happen again.

"Li, you should take care of this matter. You are much better than me in terms of lineup construction..." Jordan said with a smile.

"Okay, then I will have a good chat with Darko in the past few days."

…

In the afternoon of the next day, as soon as the team finished training, Richard called Milicic into his office.

At present, Milicic's temperament has become a bit more cheerful, but he is still not very talkative. Even when facing Richard, he rarely speaks.

"Dake, on behalf of the team, I came to you to discuss early contract renewal." Richard said straight to the point.

Milicic was startled, shouldn't he contact his agent about this matter...

But then I thought about it, my agent is Golden Dragon, and it doesn’t matter whether I contact him or not.

"Coach, you can handle this matter. You won't cheat me anyway..." Milicic said shyly, scratching the back of his head.

He has an inexplicable dependence on Richard. Although he doesn't communicate with Richard very much, he knows very well that Richard is like an old father in his heart.

How can an old father cheat his son...

No matter what kind of contract Richard gives, Milicic feels that he will sign it without hesitation.

If Richard hadn't always been optimistic about himself and cultivated himself, I probably wouldn't be able to survive in the NBA now.

"We're prepared to buy out your contract and then sign a new one."

Upon hearing Richard's words, Milicic was confused. Why did he still want to buy out? This was the first time he had heard of such an operation method in a contract.

"Mainly to save salary space. Based on your strength, after the end of this season, you will probably be able to get a five-year maximum salary contract of more than 70 million US dollars, but this year your contract is 5 million US dollars. In total, it is Six years, seventy-five million dollars.”

"After buying out your contract now, we are going to provide you with a five-year contract worth 52 million U.S. dollars. When this contract ends, you will be able to get the maximum salary. The starting salary at that time should be 18 million U.S. dollars. Above, including the US$5 million buyout, it is also 75 million in six years.”

"So, do you understand?" Richard patiently explained to Milicic.

Including this year, Milicic has been able to earn a salary of US$75 million for a total of six years, so he has not lost much.

The Pirates will be able to clear an average salary space of about 4 million starting next year.

Don't underestimate the salary space of 4 million. It may give the Pirates one more opportunity to sign a maximum-paying player.

Milicic was stunned for a while. He couldn't figure out what was in Richard's head and why he could come up with such a plan.

"Coach, you don't have to pay so much. If you sign for 30 million in five years, I'll be satisfied."

"We're not with the Pistons now, this is your team, and I want to save you some more money."

"Besides, 30 million US dollars is already a lot. When this contract ends, I will be less than 26 years old, and I may still be able to sign two maximum salaries..."

Milicic said to Richard sincerely.

He is a grateful person, which may be why Richard always values ​​him so highly.

"No, Darko, actually you should know that I am not short of money. This is my job and my career. Of course I don't want to make my career more difficult."

"But I don't want to lower the difficulty, as that would make me feel quite unfulfilled."

Richard looked at Milicic with satisfaction and said with a smile.

…

In the end, Milicic had to wipe out a small change and signed a five-year, $50 million contract.

"By the way, coach, can the league agree to this?" Milicic asked doubtfully.

Richard waved his hand, "It doesn't matter whether he agrees or not, let's cook the rice first. Even if he doesn't agree, they have already signed the contract and there is nothing they can do."

"At most, some kind of Milicic Law will be introduced by then to limit the recurrence of this kind of thing in the future."

…

Early the next morning, the Pirates issued an official announcement announcing the buyout of Darko Milicic's contract.

This kid directly shocked the entire NBA circle. Fans and teams were stunned...

The teams were naturally excited. Although they didn't know what Richard was planning, if Milicic was bought out, they would have a chance to get involved with Milicic.

But before they could contact Milicic, the Pirates issued another official announcement at one o'clock in the afternoon.

Milicic signed with the Charlotte Pirates on a five-year, $50 million contract.

Every team was shocked, $50 million in five years? Are you kidding me?

Last season, Milicic averaged 19.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 7.1 assists per game. He had 27 triple-doubles in a single season and was the season triple-double king.

This season, Milicic continued to perform well, even better than last season because of his more mature style of play.

As a result, such a player only has an annual salary of 10 million? !

This is simply a cabbage price among cabbage prices. Is Milicic crazy? Why would he sign such a cabbage-price contract?