NBA: Starting with $20 billion, buying the Knicks

Chapter 270 Three: Big changes in the free market, who can't sit still first, Warcraft or the Knicks?
"What? Did I hear correctly?"

The Knicks here are all a little confused by Yao Ming.

After all, he came later, so I don't know much about Jiang Chao's naturalization at the beginning of last season.

But in fact, Turk Drew and assistant coach Clifford all know something about the Knicks' recruitment of Howard.

At the beginning of the season, Jiang Chao and Howard chatted, and Sean Marks went to chat with Sparks from time to time when the Magic lost.

Coupled with the fact that Carter must leave the Magic now, and Sparks didn't even break into the Eastern Conference Finals this year, it seems reasonable to leave the Magic.

Even Sparks fans found a good reason for Howard. James left his hometown team so easily. Howard did enough for the Magic.

Compared with the Cavaliers, the Magic is completely incompetent in the management. It is stupid to send away Turk Drew, who is the best match with Howard, at the beginning of last season! !
And the Magic doesn't have many team favorites, because the Magic management has a tradition of sending away big centers, and it was a must not to give O'Neal a maximum salary...

Jiang Chao and Dayao said in Mandarin:

"Really, they won the No. 03 pick in 04, and I have to get the No. pick in , haha."

"Haha, okay, with him here, we are invincible inside."

Speaking of the champion, the giant Yao also straightened his chest. Who is not the champion? I haven't said anything about the champion in 02.

He was actually a little unhappy at the beginning, what do you want Howard for? Howard, in his opinion, is a center forward who is not serious about playing the game, and has a rough technique. When he meets Howard, he basically abuses him once.

But after thinking about it, he can get a lot of rest time when he and Howard are the heavy tank centers in the team. After all, he is almost 30 years old, and it is impossible for him to be full-time like he was in the Rockets a few years ago.

So it seems that the combination of the two top center forwards seems to be a good choice?

And although Dayao can defend him, Howard's defensive area is very strong. The best defensive player in 09 and 10 is simply not too strong! !

So what Yao Ming said about being invincible is really not an exaggeration. If the Knicks play against the Twin Towers, the opponent will be unable to play.
Don't even think about the breakthrough team on the opposite side!
"Don't be too sad, Brother Yao, you have to obey your old age and think about your own body. Don't worry, I will let you play comfortably."

Jiang Chao worried that Dayao was thinking too much, patted him on the back and smiled.

"I won't. My dream now is only to be a champion. Everything else is just floating clouds."

"Well, listen carefully to Dr. Carter, we will make a comeback next season!"

When Curry, Harden and other players were discussing passionately, Jiang Chao had already taken Sean Marks and others to the conference room for a meeting.

Everyone on the court is not in the mood to play, just kidding, Stud Howard!
Ibaka and Beverly jumped up and down, okay?

No. 04 pick in 07, All-Star starter in 10-08, champion of the 3 Slam Dunk Contest, best defensive player for two consecutive years, best team for 3 consecutive years, best defensive team for 3 times, rebounding champion for years, two consecutive seasons in the first two seasons Shot block king! ! !
Active first center! !
Who else? ?

And now there is no need to distinguish who is the first and second center in the league, the former first center is also in the team! !
"Do you think the boss can really get it?" Curry ate some popcorn off the court.

Mills: "There is enough space. It depends on whether he comes and whether the Magic will match the offer."

Matthews is a little excited, the sparks are all their inner idols:
"It is estimated that there will be a price to pay, otherwise the price will be very high! It is said that James has considered joining forces with him."

Turk Drew:

"Don't guess you guys, let me just say it directly. With me and him, it will be no problem to play the Eastern Conference next year."

Okur: "Wow, you agent, take credit for yourself, right? We're useless, right?"

Turk Drew immediately gave up in front of his elder brother:

"I was wrong, I was wrong, I still have to rely on you!"

Harden: "Not to mention, Howard is really here. I want to send him 5 lobs per game, no, 10 times!!!"

"I'd rather not score, but also watch Howard dunk!"

"The talent in our team has exploded!! The two champions!"

"It's different for me. I like to play for YAO. In the team training match with the national team before, it felt so cool that YAO could catch the ball and dunk it!"

Yao Ming smiled shyly, and Yi Jianlian kept smiling beside him:
"Wow, we are not bad this year!"

In fact, Yi Jianlian is a bit shy. If you really want to talk about the combination, is my combination of the Great Wall of China not strong? ?
Who is not a lottery.

In terms of picks, Yi Jianlian is in the top 5 of the team.

"Hush! Keep a low profile, let's not spread the word, someone will cut it off!" David Lee said.

"Okay! Keep a low profile! Everyone pretend they don't know!"

"God knows, the earth knows, you know, I know, we'll tell our friends when the boss is done!"

"I'm done writing the welcome tweet."

"Put it in the draft box!"

"I posted it in the group, everyone, look at the emotion I wrote, maybe Howard's training game can be merciful and I will be dunked for fun!"

……

While the players are YYing at the training ground, the management is intensively working on specific matters.

To put it simply, there are still many procedures and troubles to implement, and various negotiation arrangements are required.

It took 32 days for James' decision. The Knicks wanted Howard, and it would not be so simple.

Assistant Coach Clifford looked at the training hall bursting with laughter, frowned and asked Jiang Chao:

"Boss, what should they do if they don't train seriously?"

Jiang Chao smiled and said:

"Just to let them relax, you are really strict, you can't wind them up all the time."

Clifford is really fierce, making Beverly the No. 1 trainer. People in the team call him the devil's military trainer, and he will also be an important part of recruiting Warcraft.

In fact, the players are now talking about the appearance of the prosperity after Howard's arrival is the reason why he told them in advance.

It is to let them stop thinking about the Heat James and be happy, but the life and training will be better in the future.

……

The meeting is open.

Turk Drew, who was training below, was also invited to come up for discussion.

With the Heat's recruitment.

The Knicks' offseason wait-and-see is officially over.

It is estimated that the wait and see is over for other teams, and it is now the calm before the storm.

Sean Marks first asked Downey Jr. to leave a message about Howard, that is, to understand who the opponents are.

The first is the knight.

That is to say, the follow-up version of James Man.

The Cavaliers actually knew that James was leaving from the beginning, because if a head star doesn't talk to you about contract renewal, it must mean that his heart is gone.

In order to make the loss smaller, the Cavaliers have long proposed to sign with the Magic first and then change Howard.

It is also the only famous trade plan in the history of the NBA that only trades James.

Downey Jr. said that he received a tip and the result was that the management of both sides agreed, but the players did not agree.

He didn't need to explain the reason. The Cavaliers had a falling out with James, and the Magic were willing to welcome the little emperor to see how he would lead the team.

Downey Jr. also said that the James team actually contacted the Knicks, but the asking price was too high, and Rich Paul was not real.

"Haha, you're right, let him cuddle up and see how he can fuck us."

Jiang Chao really made a mistake this time. James really considered the Knicks seriously. At that time, he thought about coming to the Knicks with New York player Anthony, but it seemed that the Knicks were not interested in them at all.

The Heat are particularly interested in him, one is young and the other is immediate combat power. Wade has the experience of winning championships, so he joined the Heat after consideration.

Sean asked a little bit about the meaning of the James team at the time. They meant to let the Knicks dismantle the team, and everyone except Coeha go away, and then trade for Bosh to form the Big Three...

"Okay, leave this alone, who is the biggest competitor in the market?"

"Capital Wizards."

Sean Marks said that the Wizards have been chasing Howard and No. pick Wall to form an internal and external lineup, and they also have enough salary space.

Except for them, the other teams seem to have few superstars, but they all have rubbish contracts. Even the Bobcats can't directly eat James.

And the Knicks have to thank a wave of old general manager Donnie Walsh. The salary space he planned a few years ago makes the Knicks have enough salary space now, and the mess left behind is not bad.

It's just that the old Downey burrs chose Anthony and Stoudemire...

"Do we have enough salary?" Turk Drew asked the players most concerned questions.

Max:
"It's fine for the first year, and even more so after that."

Why didn't he explain it in detail in front of Turk Drew afterwards.

In fact, next season Dayao's contract expires, and the contracts of several high-paid veterans such as Turk Drew, Okur, and David Lee expire. No matter whether they leave or renew their contracts, it is impossible for these few people to have higher salaries. So it's a bit crowded for the first year.

As D'Antoni added:
"For the rest of our salary in the first year, under the salary cap, we can only sign Howard with a maximum salary, and none of the others can sign."

This is where I have to lament Jiang Chao's strategizing, no wonder there has been no movement, and there is no way to recruit Howard. The space under the cap is here, and no one on the team wants to pay the luxury tax.

So either don't recruit, or can only recruit him this year.

Turk Drew: "That's no problem. I called him after the Eastern Conference semifinals. He doesn't want to stay in the Magic anymore. As long as we extend an olive branch, he will take it."

"Are there any other rumors left?"

Jiang Chao doesn't fight unprepared battles. Besides the Wizards, is there anyone else who wants to trade for Howard?
The "Lakers legend" Tyronn Lue thought about it for a while, then suddenly raised his hand and said:

"There are some trade rumors on the Lakers side. In the rumors, quite a few executives support the Lakers' exchange of Bynum for Dwight Howard.

It seems that by trading Howard, the Lakers can continue to maintain their championship strength.However, in ESPN's view, if this deal really happens, it will benefit the Magic even more.

With the Magic having a rubbish contract like diamonds, the space after letting Howard go is not enough to make up for a super giant.

Stan Van Gundy's tactical system in the Magic is centered on the center, and has received good results in the past few years.

If Howard leaves, wouldn't the Magic have to start over?And the best way for the Magic to maintain the original rhythm is to use Howard to make a deal, and the most ideal trade partner is Bynum, who is also a center! "

Makes sense!
Everyone looked at Tyronn Lue, and it was really possible that it was the view of the Magic management.

ESPN once used 13 basic data as the basis, including height and weight, to select the most similar players in the past three years, with a perfect score of 100.

According to the statistical results, Tim Duncan is the guy most similar to Howard, with a similarity value of 90.0, while Bynum ranks second with a similarity value of 88.1.

Moreover, in the second half of last season, Bynum's similarity value rose to 92.6. After the All-Star Weekend, Bynum's defensive rebound success rate was 29.4%, while Howard's was 30.6%. Bynum's 2-pointer blocks were successful. The rate is 3%, Howard is 2.6%.

That is to say, once Bynum focuses on the defensive end, the difference between him and Howard is actually not that big.

Bynum has been limited by the large number of firepower of the Lakers, and his scoring and even the number of shots are far from being compared with Howard.

For the Magic, this is not a big problem, because Bynum is only 22 years old after all, and his career field goal percentage has remained at 57%.

If Howard has already made some achievements on the offensive end, then Bynum is still a rough jade, which will not worry the Magic too much.

Therefore, if the Magic decides to trade Howard, then the Lakers are the ideal trading partner.

Among many players, only Bynum can best maintain the Magic's existing tactical system.The only hurdle, though, is whether the Magic will mind Bynum's illustrious injury history. "

"This... We definitely have no advantage over the Lakers. We can only say that we will try to trade first."

Jiang Chao didn't have a good solution for this. The attraction of the Lakers must be great. Later, the Happy Beast really joined forces with Kobe and Nash to pursue the championship, but it depends on whether the sincerity of the Knicks can attract Howard.

"Okay, then let's act."

"Howard was on vacation in Hawaii recently, I went to find him."

"He has already returned to Orlando. To be on the safe side, I will go to Orlando first."

At this time, Clifford, who served as Howard's defensive coach during the Magic period, finally expressed his thoughts:
"Well, I have been with Dwight for a long time. Before we traded, can everyone accept his character and possible bombs?? As far as I know, the Magic were actually dissatisfied with him last year, so we have to do a good job. Mentally prepare, he may have a different personality from everyone in the Knicks."

"This...you can think about it for yourself." Turkedrew touched his head awkwardly. He can't speak more about this. He knows some "interesting anecdotes" about Howard.

After all, Turk Drew is just a colleague, and his true character can only be known by a strict teaching assistant like Clifford, so he is the last wave of friendly reminders.

After all, there is still a big guy like Anthony in the market, so I really have to think about all-in.

If you want to strengthen the inside, you can save some money by choosing Stoudemire and play the speed-up lineup that D'Antoni likes.

Once this kind of contract is at least three years old, if there is a time bomb in the locker room, wouldn't it destroy the Knicks' locker room atmosphere where everyone is united? ? ?
Jiang Chao who stood up suddenly pondered for a moment:
"Hey, what you said reminded me, then we can create momentum to make the Lakers not want Howard!"

"Yes, that's it! Little Downey, help me call Mr. Yang from the Chaoshen Forum."

"it is good!"

"The others dismiss the meeting!"

"yes! boss!"

Although everyone doesn't know what Jiang Chao is going to do, it is clear that Jiang Chao must be the best defensive player!

But in fact, everyone also wants him, no matter what his personality is, Renhe Turk Drew has actually made it to the finals!
……

After half an hour.

Several sports media broke out some ancient posts and new gossip posts of Howard for some reason.

This is all operated by Mr. Yang, 9 times it is true and 1 is false, which directly makes the Magic and Howard team turbulent, and also makes the teams who want Howard have to weigh it.

Some people in the Magic even posted a post later... Obviously there is a long-standing grudge against Howard? ?

"Howard was blasted by the Magic management for laughing and lacking professionalism"

During the Magic period, he was pregnant with a cheerleader in the Magic team out of wedlock, and soon chose to break up shortly after the child was born.

This Howard scandal was also hung on the hot thread.

Now the happy beast is really unhappy.

I rub!

After the Kobe incident, the Lakers management, which was sensitive to such thieves, immediately shrank, and President Ku directly became entangled. They all knew the character of Warcraft. If they didn't take the game seriously, they could laugh and play happy basketball in the finals.

It is impossible for a player who was thinking of playing with Kobe not to focus. Kobe would dare to criticize anyone, but with Howard's character, he might do something in a big city like Los Angeles.
A little flustered?

The Capital Wizards are even more annoying. This is the capital, Howard can't do anything, right?
The process of negotiating with the Magic is also much slower. They are not sure if Howard will have basic professionalism in the future?
And Jiang Chao, who communicated with Warcraft many times last season, didn't like it at this stage, and he didn't ask the Warcraft team to send him messages.

He is just waiting.

Wait for Warcraft himself to give him a call.

This is the safest and most affordable trading moment.

Let both parties need each other is the most reasonable form of cooperation.

Jiang Taigong's fishing is like this - those who wish to take the bait!
……

But the team should negotiate and negotiate. Jiang Chao asked his subordinates not to show that we want you to do nothing, and talk more about the centers on the free market to make them panic first.

Mainly to talk to the Magic. If the Magic can sign first and then trade, they can still save the Knicks a lot of money. Even if the Knicks pay some price, it is the way for the superstar to leave some market for the home team and leave with peace of mind. .

……

In fact, Jiang Chao guessed right. Originally, the Warcraft team was waiting for the Knicks and other teams to act as licking dogs. He took the initiative to find them, and then offered them a price. He also wanted to leave more things for the home team that chose him in the first place. .

But for some unknown reason, some of his old things were suddenly revealed in the forum. They were all mistakes he made when he was young, and now they have directly caused a storm of public opinion.

Happy Beast is really unhappy now.

How can there be such a scar?

Wouldn't it hurt more than sprinkling salt on a wound if this problem happened at the critical moment when the contract expired?
At this time, they received calls from Turk Drew and Clifford. They wanted to whet their appetite and wait for Boss Jiang Chao to make an offer in person, but they hurriedly met with them to see the Knicks' offer first.

"The other teams will also meet each other. We won't be embarrassed when we are treated worse than James."

……

During this period of time, the teams have basically completed their recruitment.

Are you so pretentious?There are still teams in the East that don't want to be bad and are not waiting to die.

The first is the Wizards who want to attract Warcraft to join.

Josh Howard and the Wizards signed a one-year contract worth about $400 million to win the Mavericks' super swingman.

If it weren't for the injury troubles in February this year, Howard probably wouldn't appear in this year's free agent market. Even if he does, he will be a big-name player at the small forward position.

He is just behind LeBron James and Rudy Gay, and should be the target of all teams.

But at the age of 30, he is now uninterested due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and the Wizards signed him just to assist Wall and it is also a small gamble. If Howard returns to health, it will be a super-value "steal" Behavior".

They had also considered keeping Mike Miller or signing Josh Childress.

But after the two targets went to the Heat and the Suns, the Wizards quickly chose to keep Howard on a one-year contract instead of giving a long-term contract. Using a veteran can transition the team's running-in period and allow Wall to learn more experience.

Kirk Hinrich was traded by the Bulls to the Wizards!
He was surprised when the Bulls traded him to the Wizards this month to clear cap space when the Bulls were chasing LeBron James.

Hinrich was the 2003th overall rookie selected by the Bulls in 7. He averaged 13.4 points and 5.8 assists in his career with the Bulls.

Now, however, Hinrich has gone from a playoff team to a team with just 26 wins.

In the past two seasons, Hinrich and Derrick Rose have supported the Bulls' backcourt, and this dual-control style of play has been successful.And Rose is very similar to the current Wall, whether it is size, technical characteristics or style of play, and Wall, like Rose, is also the No. pick.

Hinrich is undoubtedly the best candidate to help Wall grow.

This is a guard of the best defensive second team, and the Wizards' lineup seems to be enriched all of a sudden.

Wall directly said that he would turn over the Heat.

The Wizards and the Heat are old enemies.

Their entire team is Zhanhei.

The previous feud between the Wizards and the Cavaliers could not be resolved due to the Wizards' internal strife.

But it hasn't erased James' behavior over the past few years: walking lore, trash talking, JAY-Z writing rap songs against Deshaun Stevenson, arrogant attitude, and most annoying , The most unforgivable crab step.

Those painful memories won't fade from the minds of Wizards fans -- although James has disappeared from Cleveland along with his giant portrait.

And James' poor performance on ESPN live broadcast this summer has deepened the Wizards' dislike of him.

This antipathy has been deeply rooted in the bone marrow.

It is conceivable that every season, when James comes to Washington DC, he will inevitably encounter strong hostility that other regions do not have.

Why are they working so hard this year?
In Jiang Chao's opinion, they will have to do it for another year. Why are they in such a hurry this year?
Until Mustache gave Jiang Chao a data sheet.

Although the Wizards are Zhanhei, the Heat are even more annoying, especially Wade!
韦德常规赛对奇才的战绩是20胜3负，季后赛则是4-0横扫(2005年)。

In other words, Wade and the Wizards played against each other 27 times, and actually achieved a record of 24 wins and 3 losses, with a winning rate of 88.9%.

It is conceivable that even if Kobe Bryant wants to abuse the Wizards, it is only twice a year; but the Wizards and the Heat are in the same division...

In 2004, the NBA re-divided, which made the Wizards a little uncomfortable.

After all, in the Southeast Division, there are three teams with a history of less than 25 years, and the Wizards and the Atlanta Hawks have nothing to do with each other. Therefore, when playing against teams in the same region, the Wizards often lose their energy.

The situation is quite different now - the Heat are the favorites for next season, the Orlando Magic have always had the strength to hit the championship, and although the Hawks are unstable, they are also one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference;

The Charlotte Bobcats have reached the playoffs last year, and they are moving forward steadily after being bought by Jordan.

The fierce competition in the Southeast Division is now unprecedented.

In the NBA, division titles may not be as important as they are in other sports.

But with the Heat as their opponents in the same district, the quality of this championship is very meaningful, and everyone's struggle is more dramatic.

"That's okay, no wonder they want a center, just to pinch the Heat."

From the position point of view, due to the existence of the Big Three, the Heat undoubtedly have an absolute advantage in the three positions of shooting guard, small forward and power forward.

But the Wizards also have Wall, Andre - Bu Laiqie, JaVale - McGee, in the future the Wizards hope to take the lead at the two positions of point guard and center.

If you add Howard, it's really not bad.

Then it seems that the Magic also want to keep Warcraft, and renewed the contract with the 35-year-old veteran White Chocolate. You must know that the Heat also poached Bai Qiao, but Bai Qiao himself expressed that he wanted to stay in Orlando, so he will play in Orlando in the next two years. .

The management of the Magic is still stupid. The backyard is about to catch fire for a long time and is still talking to Anthony, wanting Anthony and Warcraft to join forces.

And the real strong team is to respond to all changes with the same, and that is the Los Angeles Lakers who have won two consecutive championships.

Mr. Ku directly answered that the so-called Lakers traded Andrew Bynum and Sasha Vujacic for Anthony is nonsense.

And it directly confirmed the Lakers' 14-man roster for next season, but it's all small troubles.

The Lakers have no intention of trading for Jarrett Jack, nor will they exchange Vujacic for Jason Maxhill.

And Brown will not be traded out, because he has strong athletic ability and is also very adaptable to the team's triangle offensive system. His blood is also a good part of the locker room culture.

Compared with using Vujacic and rookie Carrackett to trade for JR-Smith, the Lakers will be more inclined to keep Carrackett.

Unless there are special circumstances such as player injuries, the most likely thing for the Lakers to do is not to make any trades, because their lineup depth is sufficient.

The goal of the Lakers offseason is to find help for Kobe. They not only strengthened Matt Barnes and Steve Blake (who may replace Derek Fisher as the starter), they also left a fragrant Rich - Brown.

The Lakers also have Fisher and Vujacic.

Including Lamar - Odom and healthy Luke - Walton can guest guard position.

The Lakers are full of talents and don't need Kobe to play every game.Another good thing is that head coach Phil Jackson also renewed his contract with the Lakers.

In the end, the Lakers signed a rookie contract of 150 million with the second-round pick Carrackett. The roster of the Lakers that everyone is most concerned about to hit the dynasty is completely determined. It is to show each team. My championship lineup is all here. You guys Come and challenge me! !
There is also a small fight.

Ariza switched to the Hornets because Morey found out that he was the player with the highest strike rate in the league last season...

The name "Tie Zha" is well-deserved!

Tracy McGrady joined the Pistons, he had to go, and the Rockets still threw away the white horse spear.

Then what kind of three-party deal got Martin, this is Jiang Chao's impression of the civilian team Rockets, and there were still many Chinese fans who never gave up.

Finally, to fill the salary cap, they signed the homeless Courtney Lee ... obviously bad rhythm.

The Pistons seem to feel that there is still no hope for next season, so they simply let the veteran play his remaining heat, and by the way, give some favors and renew Wallace for 2 years!

And the Jazz also traded Boozer to the Bulls after being "disappointed" (internal feeling), because the Bulls are impossible to admit defeat. I, Fengcheng Rose, are not afraid of your big three, labor-management Jordan's successor, please!

5 years, a contract worth about 8000 million US dollars, Boozer directly teamed up with the young Noah + Rose, of course, there is also the famous Deng Yingqiao! !
The free market has undergone major changes, and the fans are most concerned about the Knicks king and Howard and Anthony, the biggest fish in the free market, haven't decided yet?
It's almost the preseason! !
Warcraft or the Knicks, who will be the first to sit still? ?