Chapter 24: Four years and eighteen million! Fight in the summer league!
The NBA has strict salary management regulations for players who enter the league through the draft, which are strictly linked to their draft picks.

For example, Chen Hao is now selected with the third pick, so his salary standard is the average salary of the third picks in the previous five NBA drafts.

Above this standard, the team can appropriately reduce or increase the contract by 20% when signing the rookie.

Therefore, what Pelinka said to Ainge about increasing the contract amount to the maximum was to increase it to 20% according to the amount standard of the third pick.

In other words, Pelinka asked Ainge to sign Chen Hao for 120% of the standard amount, which is the so-called maximum floating rate.

When Ainge heard what Pelinka said, his expression instantly became stiff.

He didn't expect that Pelinka would directly offer him the highest price. It seems that the negotiations are not going very smoothly!
In Angie's opinion, Chen Hao's talent and potential are unlimited, so he deserves a very expensive rookie contract.

But as the general manager of a team, he certainly cannot just think about giving players high salaries. His job is to sign the best players at the lowest cost.

Especially for a rookie player like Chen Hao who has just entered the league, he will definitely not sign him at the highest price.

In Anji's opinion, he even wanted to sign a contract with Chen Hao at 80% of the standard price to fully exploit Chen Hao's value.

So, after Pelinka stated his request, Ainge immediately looked quite embarrassed:

“It seems that there are still differences between us!
You have to know that in order to get Chen Hao, we not only lost Al Horford, but also lost a future first-round draft pick.

So we really want to get Chen Hao and train him into something useful.

But your asking price is too high, our team simply can't afford it!"

Pelinka listened to Ainge's crying poor with a smile on his face, as if to say, "I'm just watching you show off."

Even Chen Hao couldn't bear to listen any more. This Anji was really stingy.

Chen Hao didn't say anything. After all, Pelinka was the one in charge now. He was the key person responsible for the contract negotiations, and he was very familiar with the salary situation of the Celtics players.

So, Pelinka smiled and took out a list and put it directly in front of Ainge:

“Hey, we don’t just talk nonsense, we speak with data.

You see, the Celtics' record was at the bottom of the league last season, and the only true All-Star player on the team was Paul Pierce.

Paul Pierce has the highest annual salary, making $1510 million.

The second highest is Wally Cieszko's 1178m knife.

The third highest is Theo Ratliff's 1167m knife.

The rest of the players are making several million dollars a year, far from exceeding the league's salary cap.

So, what do you mean by the team is in a difficult situation right now? "

At this time, Ainge's expression had become extremely solemn. Pelinka's professionalism is indeed well-deserved.

Now the other party has a complete grasp of the salary situation of the Celtics players, so they should not give in.

What gives Angie the most headache is that he really likes Chen Hao. This guy has unlimited potential and a promising future.

Ainge is not the kind of general manager who haggles over every little thing. Since the other party is so clear about the situation of his team now, there is no need to continue to argue.

If the dispute continues, it will have the opposite effect and make Chen Hao feel that the Celtics are a stingy team. Once this impression is formed, it will be very difficult to change.

So, Angie sighed and said with a worried look on his face: "Although the total salary of our entire team has not yet reached the league's salary cap, the operating conditions of our team are worrying.

That's why I just said that.

But since you require to sign a contract with us with the highest standards.

Then we can only agree, because we really need you.
Then sign the contract!"

Ainge finally compromised, which made Pelinka very excited. The highest standard contract was 18 million for four years!
This amount is not low. Although it is lower than Oden and Durant, it is already the third highest paid among this year's rookies!
You have to know that Oden only made 2179 million over four years, while Durant made 1951 million over four years.

Therefore, Chen Hao’s 1800 million in four years is indeed quite satisfactory.

So, under the witness of both parties, Chen Hao signed the rookie contract.

Eighteen million in four years!

The so-called four-year rookie contract, the four years refers to two years plus two years of team options. The team has the initiative before October 10 of the second and third seasons and can choose to renew or terminate the contract with the player.

If the team has not made a move by the fourth season, the player will become a restricted free agent.

Therefore, if a player performs well during his rookie contract, the team will generally choose to renew the contract with the player in advance, and the amount of the renewal contract will naturally increase.

If the performance is poor, there is a high possibility that he will be kicked out of the team after the second season.

However, for Chen Hao, these are not worth worrying about, because he knows that he can make Angie fall in love with him in the first season.

After the two parties signed the rookie contract, Chen Hao officially became a member of the Celtics.

When his rookie contract was exposed, it instantly caused heated discussions among fans all over the United States.

Especially those commentators who were not optimistic about Chen Hao were quite unhappy.

Among them was Charles Barkley, the famous basketball commentator who was notoriously foul-mouthed.

When he learned about the amount of Chen Hao's rookie contract, he immediately made a comment on social media:
"Celtics general manager Ainge is really out of his mind, spending so much effort to get a yellow-skinned player.

He didn't even look at how bad this guy's previous performance was. He was really crazy!

Just wait, this guy will definitely become a bust third pick, and Ainge will be kicked out by the Celtics owner!
Signing a Chinese player at such a high price, I don’t know what he was thinking! ”

Barkley's remarks quickly spread throughout the Dragon Country, instantly angering many Dragon Country fans.

Dragon country fans have never had a good impression of Barkley because before this, he had already discredited Yao Ming on a TV show, but in the end he was severely slapped in the face by Yao Ming.

Now this guy still hasn't learned his lesson and comes to slander Chen Hao again?

Really asking for trouble!
So, the keyboard warriors of Dragon Country took action!
At the same time, the summer league officially begins!
Chen Hao traveled with the team. The outside world, especially the fans from Dragon Country, paid considerable attention to Chen Hao's performance in the summer league.

In the first game of the summer league, the Celtics' opponent is the Memphis Grizzlies, who include Chen Hao's former teammate Mike Conley!

And Barkley has already said in advance that Chen Hao will lose himself in the summer league!

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(End of this chapter)