818: An Irresistible Offer (Fourth Update)

On the first day of free agency, the biggest news was undoubtedly Link re-signing with the Grizzlies for the maximum contract—five years, $93 million.

Link had played four years for the Grizzlies. By normal standards, he was no different from a player who had just completed his rookie contract.

Usually, when a player who had just finished his rookie deal signed a max contract with his team, even if the maximum salary was not particularly high, it was still enough to match his worth.

For example, Irving, the "Uncle Drew" and fellow first overall pick from Link's draft class, could expect a contract worth between $85 million and $90 million if he re-signed with the Cavaliers that summer—roughly the same as Link's.

Although Irving had tremendous potential, he was still immature. A price tag of $85 million to $90 million, short of $100 million, was quite fitting for his value.

But when news broke that Link, who had entered the league in the same draft class as Irving, had signed with the Grizzlies for $93 million, people were stunned.

Everyone seemed to arrive at the same conclusion: Wasn't Link being paid too little? Why was his contract only slightly higher than Irving's?

The reason people felt that way was easy to explain. Never in NBA history had a player won two championships within his first four professional seasons while also completing the grand slam of two First Team selections, an MVP, an NBA Finals MVP, and a Defensive Player of the Year award!

Though Link, like Irving, was technically equivalent to a player who had just finished his rookie contract, his accomplishments were already beyond comparison with those of any such player!

Link and Irving could not even be mentioned in the same breath. The gap between their hard achievements