Basketball trainer, I created a super giant

Chapter 340 That man has made his move again.
Phoenix.

Suns general manager Brian Colangelo, son of the elder Colangelo, hurried into the head coach's office with a newspaper in hand.

Head coach Mike D'Antoni stood with his arms crossed, watching the Grizzlies' recent game footage with a serious expression.

On April 2nd, the Suns will play the Grizzlies on the road.

He joined the Suns' coaching staff last year as an assistant coach for Frank Johnson.

At the beginning of this season, Frank Johnson was fired by the management due to the team's poor performance, and Johnson took over the reins.

D'Antoni knew he was just filling in temporarily and his position as head coach was not secure.

Most importantly, even after taking over as head coach, the team's performance was not ideal.

They've fallen to second-to-last in the Western Conference and are out of playoff contention early on.

He might soon follow in Frank Johnson's footsteps.

They're out of the playoffs, but D'Antoni wants to give it a shot. He hopes to win a few more games in the last two weeks of the regular season to prove his ability to the management.

Give yourself another chance.

Having finally returned to the NBA from Europe, he didn't want to pack up and go home so soon.

Therefore, upon seeing Brian, D'Antoni was trembling and nervously asked him what was wrong.

Brian slammed a copy of the Arizona Republic onto D'Antoni's desk and exclaimed excitedly, "Mike, look, Don't's made another move!"

"Who?"

D'Antoni didn't react at first, but after glancing at the newspaper and seeing the photo that filled half the sports section, he realized who it was talking about.

Tang Sen.

In the photo, Tang Sen is sitting on the sidelines; it's unclear when the photo was taken.

But Pat Riley was sitting next to me?

D'Antoni glanced at the news headline and was taken aback again.

[The NBA's best trainer is back; the next Kwame Brown is on the horizon]

Just from the headline, D'Antoni was intrigued and quickly picked up the newspaper to read it.

But Brian, caught up in the moment, couldn't wait for D'Antoni to slowly read the newspaper, and stopped him, saying, "Mike, Don went to watch yesterday's McDonald's All-Star Game."

"Then you know what, he set his sights on a rookie, Dwight Howard, who is an incredibly talented interior player. You should know his name."

D'Antoni nodded.

Of course I know that with the season coming to an end and the offseason approaching, the scouting department will definitely be reporting on talented rookies to me regularly.

Dwight Howard is one of the players in that game.

He quickly recalled the scouting report he had been given.

It is said that Howard has explosive athleticism, amazing jumping ability, and as a point guard, he has a certain ball-handling ability.

However, it has many drawbacks.

For example, their technique is rough, they don't have a shot, and they can only launch attacks near the basket.

It's the same old problem that high school rookies have.

Brian continued, "Mike, we don't need to win anymore. We need to lose so we can push for a good draft position."

"Believe me, if we get that brat Dwight, we're going to rise to power."

Brian's voice was trembling with excitement.

D'Antoni hurriedly scanned the contents of the newspaper.

Similar to what Brian said, he was shocked that Tang Sen would specifically go to watch Howard's game and then lavish praise on Howard's exceptional talent afterward.

Then the analysis suggested that Townsend might return to the scene to train rookies and replicate Kwame Brown's miracle.

They also said that Howard's talent is no less than Brown's, and even better than Brown's. With Townsend in charge, there's no doubt that he will become another superstar.

At this point, D'Antoni understood.

Brian is trying to tank and draft Howard.

The problem is, is it too late to give up now?

The Suns currently have 25 wins, ranking second to last in the Western Conference.

The problem is, what about the East?

The Bulls, Hawks, and Cavaliers all have records under the Suns.

Therefore, the Suns are fifth from the bottom in the league.

No, it's the sixth.

There's also the Bobcats expanding their roster, guaranteeing a fourth pick.

The Suns have seven games left. Even if they lose them all, the question is, if you, Brian, can think of something, don't others think of it too?
Another point.

D'Antoni said, "Brian, Tang only went to watch the game in person. As for his praise of Dwight's talent, could it just be some polite talk?"

Does praising you make you truly better?

Even so, Howard's market value is rising because of these words.

It doesn't matter which pick he is; what matters is whether he can train with Tang Sen.

Tang Sen only praised Howard a couple of times, but didn't train him at all. What's the point?

Brian waved his hand, pulled down the newspaper, and said, "The media may not know, but I do know that Howard's agent has already released the news that Howard is confirmed to participate in the draft this year and has already received Don's approval. He will be going to New York soon to train with Don."

Prior to this, Howard had not announced whether he would enter the draft.

Normally, we should wait until the McDonald's All-Star Game is over before making a decision.

This game has garnered so much attention that the NBA had to suspend its season to make way for it. Therefore, only after the game is over can we know the true situation and then decide whether to draft the players.

Right now, Goodwin wants the whole of America to know that Howard is going to the draft and will soon be training with Townsend.

"Really?"

D'Antoni was taken aback.

I never expected Tang Sen to value a rookie so much, personally going to watch the game, praising him highly, and even wanting to bring him along for training.

Is it really true, as the media says, that he's itching to train rookies again? And if all of this is true, then D'Antoni really supports Brian's idea of ​​tanking to get a good draft pick.

Howard's talent is obvious to the naked eye; he's just like any other high school student, with unlimited potential.

With Tang Sen, the NBA's number one talent scout, personally training him, there's no doubt he'll be the next Kwame Brown.

If the Suns get Howard, their big problem in the paint will be solved, and they'll be set to take off.

Taking a deep breath, D'Antoni calmed himself down and said, "Brian, your idea is fine. The only problem is, I feel like it's really too late now."

If you want to tank half a season in advance, that's easy.

There are only 7 games left, and the season is about to end. If you tank, does that mean the other team won't tank too?

With such an unexpected windfall, there's no doubt that the bottom-ranked teams will all tank.

Furthermore, the combination of a high school prodigy and Tang Sen is practically a guaranteed top scorer.

For the sixth-to-last team, the Suns, getting the number one draft pick is extremely difficult.

Even if it's possible to trade upwards, firstly, there are no chips available; even if there were, people wouldn't trade them.

Especially the Bulls, who missed out on Kwame Brown and now have Howard, if Krause gets the number one pick, he'll definitely use him himself.

Brian said seriously, "Mike, you have to believe in the odds. The Knicks had such a low chance two years ago, but they still got the number one pick."

D'Antoni chuckled, realizing that Brian wanted to gamble on the odds.

The problem is with that number one draft pick in New York; even a fool knows there's something wrong with it.

They're New York, the league's darling. What are you, Suns? Why should we give you special treatment?

But seeing that Brian was in high spirits, D'Antoni didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm.

Let them just give up; at least they won't have to worry about their record.

A thought struck D'Antoni. After a moment's hesitation, noticing Brian's enthusiasm, he said, "Brian, I have a suggestion."

He carefully observed Brian's reaction, then said, "If we want to get Dwight, I think we need to be prepared for two scenarios. That is, if we don't get a good draft pick, we can consider trading up."

"I have some ideas about trading Stephen away."

"Who?"

Brian was suddenly stunned.

Marbury?

D'Antoni nodded and added, "And Anfernee, I know he's Penny, but he's really in bad shape."

His old legs were almost crippled, and had long lost their former agility and elegance.

The key issue is that the contract is too large.

Tom Gugliotta's terrible contract is finally over, but Hardaway's max contract has also locked up the Suns' trade options.

D'Antoni had wanted to get rid of him for a long time.

But the most crucial factor is Marbury.

Marbury is great, 20 points and 8 rebounds, an All-Star caliber point guard, but D'Antoni feels that he doesn't align with his basketball philosophy.

And he's too individualistic.

The local media has been talking about this issue ever since he arrived in Sun City.

D'Antoni has his own basketball philosophy; he wants the ball to be passed around, so at point guard, he needs someone who can selflessly share the ball.

Kidd would be a good fit.

Unfortunately, by the time he came to the Suns, Kidd had already been traded away.

If this topic were brought up suddenly under normal circumstances, Brian would probably refuse outright.

Even if Marbury is selfish, he's still a star player and a guarantee of ticket sales, so he's really reluctant to let him go.

However, right now, with Dwight Howard on his mind, Bryan's importance to Marbury has plummeted.

It's fair to say that Brian felt he could trade away any player on the team if he could acquire Howard, especially Howard who was personally trained by Townsend.

There's nothing that isn't worth it.

Because the Magic and Knicks have already proven just how far a top-tier center produced by Townsend can take you.

One team won the championship, while the other achieved a historic undefeated season.

"can."

Brian nodded slightly.

D'Antoni breathed a sigh of relief. Regardless of whether he could get the number one pick, at least he had taken the opportunity to persuade Brian to trade Marbury.

Brian started analyzing again: "The Bulls have the worst record right now. Like you said, all teams will tank, so the number one pick will most likely still go to the Bulls."

"They already have Eddie Curry, so they don't necessarily need another top-tier center. Therefore, the Bulls might trade their number one pick for a great guard, namely Stephen."

The Bulls have a promising prospect, Jay Williams.

Unfortunately, he was an unlucky kid. He only played one season before crashing his motorcycle last summer, which may have ended his professional career.

Therefore, the Bulls really need an excellent outside player.

Marbury is perfect for this.

Trading Marbury for the Bulls' number one draft pick is a win-win situation, practically perfect.

Brian became more and more excited as he thought about it, and said, "Mike, you're right. We need to get rid of Stephen. His contract is too big."

D'Antoni was secretly surprised, not expecting Brian's attitude to change so quickly.

Brian added, "But we still need a good point guard; you should keep an eye on that."

Trading Marbury is fine, but the backcourt also needs further strengthening.

One Joe Johnson isn't enough.

D'Antoni nodded, and a name popped into his mind.

He actually already had someone he liked for the point guard position.

(End of this chapter)