Rockets Trade for Bosh and Acquire...

Besides the Cavaliers, Tang Tian also kept an eye on the Spurs because of Duncan.

Duncan ultimately chose to keep playing.

However, he opted out of his original contract and signed a new two-year, $10 million deal with the Spurs.

The second year of the deal was a Player option, and it also included a no-trade clause.

After retaining Duncan, the Spurs went on to complete two more crucial signings.

They first reached a maximum extension with Leonard: five years, $95 million, with a Player option in the final year.

Immediately afterward, they signed Aldridge, one of the three top-tier Free Market prizes, to a 4-year, 84 Million contract.

With that, the Spurs had essentially added an All-Star in Aldridge to last season's roster, greatly boosting their strength.

Their frontcourt now had a three-man rotation of Duncan, Gasol, and Aldridge—an absolutely elite setup.

Duncan, Ginobili, Parker, Aldridge, Leonard, Gasol...

Along with Green, Diop, Baynes...

The Spurs' roster was a little old on average, but its sheer luxury was downright absurd.

They were once again among the top championship favorites for the new season.

But when Tang Tian saw this, he was not worried. He was more excited than anything.

Last season's Playoffs experience had already shown that a team had to be strong enough to win a championship.

And besides improving oneself, another important way to grow stronger was to have sufficiently powerful opponents. The more you played, the stronger you became.

Yet this summer, neither the Cavaliers nor the Spurs were the teams drawing the most attention.

That was because the Rockets had made a league-shocking trade that summer.

Last season, the Rockets signed Bosh and formed a Mini Big Three of Harden, Bosh, and Parsons.

Harden ranked fourth in the MVP Ranking, and under his leadership, the Rockets