The longest river

Chapter 166 Decision Two

After Paul Allen and his team left, Yang Shuai was filled with restless desire.

It wasn't just because of the conditions Allen offered, but also because of the other party's attitude.

Perhaps even that 5% stake is insignificant to Allen, but no other owner in the league would make such a promise of shares.

Moreover, Allen's personal visit to Indianapolis is itself a statement of attitude.

"One issue to be aware of is that Portland is where Nike is headquartered, so it will be a bit difficult for your shoes to open up the market there."

Paul reminded Yang that if Yang really went to Portland, it would be like invading the "enemy's" lair.

Speaking of which, Reebok and Adidas both invited Yang Shuai to visit their headquarters, but only Nike invited Yang Shuai to visit a production line in Cleveland.

If Yang Shuai goes now, it would truly be an "uninvited guest."

Of course, just like how I felt after my first conversation with Vaccaro, I needed to stay calm, especially in situations like this.

The market will soon provide the answer.

As competition intensifies, Yang Shuai's market contracts are also rising.

When the Trail Blazers offered a six-year, $150 million contract, all other teams withdrew.

Last season, the league's salary cap was $2436 million, while the average annual salary of this contract was $2500 million!
And that's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that other teams already know that no matter how much they offer, Allen will offer more.

In this day and age, trying to outspend Paul Allen is simply asking for trouble.

If the rules allowed, Allen could buy the entire league and run it himself.

Faced with Allen's sincerity, Yang Shuai had no reason to refuse.

He decided to bring his talent to Portland and experience what it's like to sleep on a rainy day.

However, since he still has a contract, the Pacers will need to negotiate a trade with the Trail Blazers first. Only after the trade is completed can Yang Shuai complete his early contract extension.

So this will last for a while.

But basically, there shouldn't be any surprises.

Throughout the process, Yang Shuai remained open to returning to the Pacers, and he was ready to return at any time as long as the Pacers matched his request.

Given Yang Shuai's attitude, even if the Pacers can't match him, they won't "backstab" him in the trade.

After all this settled down, the reactions from the outside world were varied.

Riley was so angry after his repeated requests to Allison failed that he almost resigned on the spot, but in the end, reason prevailed over impulse.

With Yang Shuai going to the West, even if the Pacers can get some assets in return, their strength will inevitably decline next season, and the Heat's chances of making it out of the East will be much greater.

Riley's sentiments are shared by the various powerhouse teams in the East.

They hadn't figured out how to counter the Pacers for a while, but now the Pacers have crippled themselves.

Of course, Jordan was very upset when he heard this.

Not long ago, Vaccaro came to talk to him about Yang Shuai's injury, and he generously let Grover go and help.

Just as Vaccaro knew, he was determined to win back against the Pacers.

Now that Yang Shuai has left the Pacers, what's the point of the Pacers winning?
The strong teams in the West immediately became alert.

Especially the Jazz and Lakers, two teams that had fierce conflicts with Yang Shuai.

The Trail Blazers were clearly a tier below the teams in the top half of the standings before, but with Yang Shuai joining, that gap will become much smaller.

Moreover, with the end of the Duncan sweepstakes, not only will the Spurs' strength improve, but other teams will also gradually strengthen their rosters, making the competition in the Western Conference for the new season instantly more intense.

This is at the team level, and then at the owner level.

Garnett's 6-year, $1.26 million contract was already enough to make them unhappy, but now Yang Shuai has come up with a 6-year, $1.5 million contract, which has completely shattered their morale.

If things continue like this, small-city teams will really have no future.

If any team manages to produce a decent player, they'll essentially become a subsidiary of a team owned by a big city or a wealthy owner, since they'll ultimately be unable to retain their players anyway.

If it weren't for the fact that many things for the new season were already prepared, they would want to suspend the season right now.

Now, a shutdown next summer is inevitable.

Then came the fans' reaction.

New York fans aren't calling Young a ban anymore, they're calling Dolan a ban.

Because the Knicks were the only team that could possibly beat the Trail Blazers, but Dolan ruined it.

Then there are the Indiana fans.

Not long ago, they were still lamenting that Yang Shuai couldn't participate in the team's championship parade due to injury, and fantasizing about Bird's words during his championship speech, "I don't know how many championships we can win." Now, however, Yang Shuai is leaving.

As Miller said, without Yang Shuai, the Pacers couldn't beat the Bulls, and naturally, they couldn't win the championship.

Most Indiana fans felt it was a pity, but there was nothing they could say. After all, this wasn't a matter of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of dollars; it was tens of millions.

Of course, some extreme fans believe that Yang Shuai and Garnett are cut from the same cloth, only interested in money and completely ignorant of the meaning of sacrifice. Conversely, Portland fans are already preparing to celebrate Yang Shuai's arrival.

Their attitude towards Yang Shuai was most clearly expressed during the traffic jam after Yang Shuai scored 51 points in that game: We need you.

They had to lose Drexler back then, but now they've got the "Cleveland Glider"!
In contrast to the fans, the media's reaction at this time was quite divided.

Sports Illustrated described it as a game-changing shift that would reshape the league.

Jordan will lead the Bulls to a comeback, while the Trail Blazers have a chance to top the Western Conference in the future.

The biggest problem for the Trail Blazers after Drexler was the decline in their perimeter strength, while their interior strength was even overflowing. Yang Shuai's addition can perfectly fill this weakness.

However, The New York Times is not optimistic about this signing, believing that both Garnett and Young have blocked the team's future expansion options.

Fox News also mentioned Yang Shuai's injury, believing it would be the worst signing in NBA history, causing the Trail Blazers to fall into decline, and even Paul Allen might sell the Trail Blazers because of this signing.

Amidst a cacophony of voices from the outside world, as the free agency period drew to a close, the Pacers announced a multi-team trade.

The Pacers traded Yang Shuai and Reggie Williams to the Nuggets for Jalen Rose, Chris Mullin, a first-round draft pick from the Denver Nuggets, and a second-round draft pick from the Golden State Warriors.
The Trail Blazers traded Clifford Robinson and Isaiah Riddle to acquire Yang Shuai and Reggie Williams;
The Denver Nuggets traded Jalen Rose and a future first-round draft pick to Clifford Robinson in exchange for him.
The Warriors traded Chris Mullin and a second-round draft pick to acquire Isaiah Riddle;

This trade also means that Yang Shuai has officially left Indiana and will become a member of the Portland Trail Blazers in the new season.

After the deal was finalized, Bird, who was vacationing in Hawaii, cut his vacation short and returned to Indianapolis.

"Don't pay attention to what others say. If it were me, I would make the same choice as you."

When Bird met Yang, he didn't say anything about his regrets, or if he really wanted to persuade Yang to stay, he would have come back earlier.

The reason he chose to come back now is that he didn't want to put pressure on Yang Shuai beforehand.

If there's anything Yang Shuai would miss most about the Pacers, it's Bird.

"Thank you, Larry."

Yang Shuai and Bird shared a hug.

This time he didn't call for a coach, not because he was no longer a member of the Pacers, but because he had changed his mind. Meeting Bird was the luckiest thing that happened to him in his career.

Bird had barely left when O'Neal arrived.

Or perhaps O'Neal had already arrived when Bird was there, but Bird was waiting downstairs with him.

"What will I do if you leave?"

The first question Jermaine O'Neal asked Yang Shuai left her speechless.

The reason why Jermaine O'Neal was able to perform so well in his rookie season was twofold: firstly, because Bird mentored him, and secondly, because of Coach Young's help.

Without Yang Shuai's protection, he would have been in a very awkward situation at the opening banquet, not to mention that it was Yang Shuai who guided him when he didn't know what to do on the field.

"I actually wanted to go to Portland with you."

Then his second sentence made Yang Shuai laugh.

Based on Jermaine O'Neal's performance in his rookie season, he is already considered untouchable by the Pacers.

Besides, I'm not your father, you can't possibly stay with me forever.

"Listen to the coach, you'll be the Pacers' successor from now on."

However, Yang Shuai still patted O'Neal on the shoulder, giving him the greatest affirmation.

He didn't know much about Jermaine O'Neal's career, but he knew that O'Neal was an All-Star in history and now with Bird's guidance, his growth would be very rapid.

Before Jermaine O'Neal left, Yang Shuai gave him a book about how to calm the mind.

After Bird talked to him about those calm topics, he went and bought some books on the subject to read.

He told O'Neal to remember to watch it when he got back.

What he didn't say was that he had slipped a check for two hundred thousand dollars into the book.

Jermaine O'Neal was suspended for 10 games after the Finals brawl, and he didn't get paid during the suspension, so Yang Shuai paid him double.

The next day, Ray Johnson began packing his luggage for shipment.

Miller arrived at this time.

He didn't say anything when he saw Yang Shuai, but came up and gave him a big hug.

"Is it too late for me to persuade you to stay?"

He even made a joke.

After they both laughed, he offered his blessings to Yang Shuai.

Of course, expectations were also placed on it:
See you in the finals.

On July 20, after saying goodbye to everyone he needed to say goodbye to, and with Ray Johnson's help, taking one last look around City Square Arena, Yang Shuai boarded a plane to Portland.

As Indianapolis dwindled in the distance, Yang Shuai bid farewell to his brilliant yet short-lived two-year career there and officially embarked on a new chapter in his professional career.

(End of this chapter)