Take Curry, for example. After the Warriors drafted him in 2009, he signed a four-year, $12.7 million contract.
That worked out to just over $3 million a year.
In his first season, he averaged 17 points and nearly six assists per game.
In his second season, he averaged 18 points and six assists per game.
Based on his first two seasons alone, a salary of just over $3 million a year was absurdly low.
Of course, Curry had recurring ankle injuries during his first few seasons, so even with those performances, his next contract wasn't particularly large.
After all, everyone at the time thought signing him was a huge risk. The Warriors offered him a four-year, $44 million contract, and given his physical condition back then, that was already an incredibly generous offer.
Of course, Curry later proved through his play that the Warriors had really struck gold.
Forget four years and $44 million—based on his eventual performance, even a four-year, $100 million contract would have been worth every penny.
The Warriors were willing to take a risk and trust Curry, and Curry repaid that trust with his performance.
Normally, the NBA didn't allow teams to void their contracts with players.
If you wanted to terminate a player's contract, you had to pay a buyout.
No matter how well a rookie played or how much value he provided, teams generally wouldn't void his rookie contract and give him a new, lucrative one.
After all, if you had a bargain contract like that and chose not to honor it, then insisted on giving the player a huge new deal, would the owner be an idiot?
You could always give him a big contract when it was time to renew his deal.
But if Wang Yi spoke to the Mad Tiger on