Champions Creed

Chapter 375 Chapter 374: The Curse of the Champion, the Price of the Champion (asking for monthly tickets!)
How important is this victory for the New York Knicks?

Just look at Gary Payton with tears in his eyes.

Before the season started, the harsh New York media was not friendly to Gary Payton.

The New York Times declared: "He's a guy so old that even the police cadaver dogs would bark at him if they smelled him, thinking he was a corpse."

You can imagine how unpopular Gary Payton is in New York. Given his performance with the San Antonio Spurs last season, New Yorkers don't like this guy who is openly trying to curry favor with the team.

But the victory in this game told Payton that all these hardships were worth it.

He doesn't care whether the New York media and fans like him. He is long past the age where he needs to rely on the love of fans and media to highlight his value.

The only thing he cares about now is whether he can wear a ring when his career is over.

Obviously, the New York Knicks have such strength.

Under the cameras of reporters, Gary Payton, who scored 9 points, 9 assists and 4 steals in this game, covered his face with tears seeping from between his fingers: "I am still a stinking corpse!"

New Yorkers can party all night tonight, and they have reason to believe that the team will win the O'Brien Cup next summer.

Roger was also not sleepy at all, he needed to solve the team's current difficult problems.

The New York Knicks are strong not only because of their strong roster, but also because their locker room is a real whole.

Wade, Yao Ming and KG, they like each other and trust each other.

They don't care who took more shots than who, or who scored the most points today, they only care about winning.

This is simply the perfect state for a championship-contending team.

And this is exactly what the Warriors urgently need right now. Alan Houston must never again ignore tactics because he wants to surpass Jason Richardson in scoring.

After meeting Bob Bass, Roger stated his needs directly: "We want to make a deal."

Bob Buss was surprised after hearing this and reminded, "We've only played four games in the new season. You can't be like Dennis Rodman and choose to divorce after having sex with Carmen Electra a few times."

"That's different. That's because Dennis is too weak. If it were me... Never mind. Let's get back to business."

Bob Bass's reminder is actually very correct. Generally speaking, the half-month period before the trading deadline is the period when transactions occur most frequently during the season.

Because it is difficult to determine whether a lineup is suitable or not just by a few games, and it is also difficult to know how to adjust it just by a few games.

You need more than half a season of game sample testing to figure out how the team should be strengthened, so mid-term transactions are mostly concentrated in that time period.

But Roger believes the Warriors' situation is special.

Because in terms of lineup, the Warriors actually have no problems, it can even be said to be perfect.

If Alan Houston and Jason Richardson can coexist, the Warriors will have a great advantage at the No. 2 position. For example, in tonight's game, the Warriors' No. 2 position played a huge role.

But it is precisely because they cannot coexist that Alan Houston becomes selfish in order to surpass Jason Richardson in scoring.

Keeping Jason Richardson and Alan Houston at the same time is a choice that does more harm than good. Roger would rather let the lineup be less perfect than let there be loopholes in the locker room. He would rather sacrifice some talents to make the team a tight whole again.

This is just the regular season, what if this happened in the playoffs tonight?

Will Jason Richardson shoot like crazy just to get playing time?

Will Alan Houston ignore his teammates because he is jealous of Jason Richardson's shot attempts?

Roger, who aspires to establish a dynasty, cannot gamble with this thing.

Last season, they might have made some concessions for a ring, but now that everyone has a ring, their tolerance will decrease.

Anything that is harmful to the locker room should be stopped immediately, so Roger hopes the deal will be done as soon as possible.

After listening to Roger's explanation, Bob Bass continued to ask: "Who are you going to trade? Alan or Jason?"

Roger made a decision that made him sad: "Alan."

This isn't a surprising choice; Alan Houston has already spread laziness in preseason camp, and now he's spreading selfishness.

He has always been the unstable factor.

Therefore, the solution to the problem is to get rid of the person who created the problem. Alan Houston must leave.

What makes Roger sad is that he will never be able to find another backup shooting guard who does not occupy the ball, moves skillfully and smartly, can achieve a 40% three-point shooting percentage with a high output, and also take into account a certain degree of defense.

Moreover, Roger is not a cold-blooded animal without any emotion.

Last season he and Alan Houston got along pretty well. They couldn't be called friends, but they had some rapport.

Now, I am sending him away with my own hands, which is somewhat cruel.

Bob Bass also reminded Roger: "We can't get the same level of return in this deal. You know, Alan's contract is very big and he is very old. He will be 34 years old and his salary next season will be close to 2000 million, so there will definitely not be many teams willing to take over a player like him. I will do my best to trade back the best chips, but you'd better not have too high expectations."

Roger nodded. "Just don't tear the locker room apart."

The next day, news about Alan Houston being put on the shelf spread throughout the Bay Area.

In the locker room, Alan Houston picked up the newspaper and yelled in disbelief: "So I am now the problem and trouble for the team?"

No one spoke, except Roger: "I think so."

Alan Houston's heart sank. If Roger answered this question, it would mean that his departure was an irreversible fact.

God no longer needed him.

"Just because I didn't make that damn jump shot at the critical moment?" Alan Houston's voice was much weaker.

"You and I both know that it has nothing to do with whether the ball goes in or not. Good luck to you, Alan." For the first time, Roger ruthlessly traded his teammate away.

Roger had certainly experienced teammates transferring before, but this was the first time he led a transfer transaction.

But this was not the first time Roger had experienced this feeling. He also felt heartbroken when he broke up with the shark.

Even a breakup with a girlfriend hadn't been as painful to Roger.

But there is no way, every dynasty is forged in blood.

He knew many years ago that this was both the curse of being a champion and the price of being a champion. Only those who have overcome all this can get what they want.

Today, this remains unchanged.

If a woman wants to be extremely attractive, she must have a good figure; if a champion wants to be eternal, he must make cruel choices.

Alan Houston walked up to Roger, tore off his name on the locker and threw it to the ground.

What it means to have a locker next to Roger is self-evident. Alan Houston once thought he could become a god-like player at the level of Scott Pippen and Paul Pierce.

But now, it's all over.

Roger no longer needed him as his right-hand man, and for him, his dynasty story ended there.

Alan Houston played in the next few games as usual. He needed to prove to the whole league that he could still play.

Offers from other teams came one after another, but as Bob Bass predicted, the offers were not generous.

The Memphis Grizzlies are willing to trade Bonzi Welsh and White Chocolate for Alan Houston, but these two are the most troublesome ones.

Roger didn't want White Chocolate to start a collective trend of smoking marijuana in the locker room.

The Sacramento Kings are willing to send Peja + Brad Miller. The Kings also encountered the same problem and can only choose between Webber and Peja.

But Peja's poor defense makes Roger worried. With his defensive level, he will definitely not be a starter. But if Peja can only play as a substitute in the Warriors, God knows what kind of trouble he will make.

So Roger also rejected the deal.

During this period, the team played a few more games, and Alan Houston was completely out of the system and completely became a negative asset. If he was not dealt with quickly, he would slowly make the Warriors sick like a virus.

In the end, Roger came up with an idea: if it is impossible to get the corresponding combat power, then let other teams add draft picks.

The Portland Trail Blazers echoed that thought.

The Trail Blazers, who have never been short of money, are eager to achieve results, but the team's current roster is quite distorted.

The positions of Damon Stoudemire and Nick Van Exel overlap.

They need a legitimate No. 2 player to pair with Zach Randolph and Shareef Abdur-Rahim to make a playoff push.

So, the Trail Blazers offered Nick Van Exel + Derek Anderson and the 2006 first-round draft pick.

The trading value of Nick Van Exel and Derek Anderson is average, and the Warriors have almost no room for them. What the team really values ​​is the 2006 first-round draft pick.

According to Roger and Bob Bass's judgment, the Trail Blazers would not complete their transformation by acquiring Alan Houston, and the ranking of this draft pick in 2006 should not be too low.

Of course, in order to make up for some of the losses caused by overdrawing the future, the Trail Blazers asked to add Trevor Ariza, who was just selected by the Warriors this summer, when they got Alan Houston.

Trail Blazers general manager John Nash believes in the Warriors' vision. He thinks this tall and long-armed small forward will become the second Tayshaun Prince, adding a touch of security to the Trail Blazers' future.

Just like that, the deal was done.

Eleven games into the season, the Warriors traded away last season's starting No. 11.

When leaving, Alan Houston did not say goodbye to Roger.

He wouldn't say anything like he didn't blame Roger.

But he also didn't want to have a bad relationship with Roger, after all, that man helped him win the championship ring.

He could only say that he and Roger had nothing to do with each other anymore.

So, leaving quietly is the best option.

At the press conference after the new players joined, reporters asked Eric Spoelstra: "How do you arrange the positions of Nick and Derek?"

What this means is, who will replace Alan Houston as the backup No. 2?

"We have to decide based on the specific situation," Spoelstra replied perfunctorily.

Because in his and Roger's plan, neither Nick Van Exel nor Derek Anderson were the best candidates.

They decided to let Matt Barnes, who was just signed this summer, try to get into the regular rotation.

Since this season is called the Golden State Gang, of course we have to find some tough guys to put into the rotation.
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For the Warriors, this is an A+ deal. Although Nick's current average score is barely in double digits, he is still a master of chaos and does not mind playing as a substitute. When the team needs firepower, he can provide great help. For the Trail Blazers, this deal can only be rated C. I think the Trail Blazers underestimated the value of their 06 first-round draft pick. What else can I say? The Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen's money has been wasted, and this team is getting worse and worse. - "NBA Time and Space".

The Warriors made changes in just 11 games, which shows that Roger and the team management are very clear-headed and know what the team wants. - Oakland Star.

I don't have much to say. I won't wish Roger good luck, but I won't curse him either. --Alan Houston on Roger

Can this worthless deal allow the Golden State Warriors to win over the New York Knicks? I don't think so. After all, the Warriors' paper strength has been weakened. Roger can't build a dynasty in every place. That's too unrealistic. -- The New York Times

Hopefully this trade will get the Warriors back on track. We've lost three of 11 games, and the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers are both ahead of us. -- San Francisco Chronicle

This has nothing to do with talent. If you know enough about the secrets of basketball, you will know that the Warriors are doing the right thing. The team with the strongest lineup on paper and the final champion are not necessarily the same team. This is a truth that has been proven countless times. Roger knows the truth of the secrets and uses them skillfully. He will succeed. I think I will see him at the championship ceremony next summer. - Bill Russell talked about the prospects of the Golden State Warriors this season in a brief interview with ESPN.

(End of this chapter)