The longest river

Chapter 182 I'll Play Point Guard

The Trail Blazers have a total of three point guards: Anderson, John Crotty (who previously partnered with the bench players and Yang Shuai), and Gary Grant.

Grant, who is 1.91 meters tall, was the 15th overall pick in the first round of the 1988 NBA draft. He also came from Ohio and was signed by the Portland Trail Blazers on a veteran minimum contract in the summer.

He was the starting point guard for the Clippers in his early years, and even had a season where he averaged 10 assists per game.

However, he later suffered a knee injury, gradually went from being a starter to a substitute, and eventually ended up wandering around.

This season, as a substitute, he played 22 games for the Trail Blazers, averaging 4.8 points and 3.8 assists per game, with a field goal percentage of 46.2%, which is considered one of his better seasons in recent years.

However, his knee injury is a major problem for his defense, and he is not capable of starting.

It's not that the management is unwilling to spend money. As can be seen from the previous contracts of Brian Grant and Walter Williams, the Trail Blazers always pay a premium when signing players.

Portland is the largest city in Oregon, but it still lags behind the truly major cities. Coupled with the climate, players with the same salary wouldn't choose to come here.

If you manage to sign some players, but are limited by the salary cap, you can only sign veterans on minimum contracts.

In fact, the Trail Blazers already had a good point guard lineup, but no one expected Anderson's performance to decline so drastically this season.

So Carlisle was also quite troubled.

Anderson's poor form is certainly a problem, but the problem is even bigger now that Anderson is not around.

Just as Carlisle was looking worried, Yang Shuai found him.

"I'll play point guard."

When Yang Shuai said this, Carlisle was stunned.

Although he has increased Yang Shuai's ball-handling and offensive abilities this season, it is a completely different matter from playing point guard.

However, Yang Shuai's next words eventually made him agree to give it a try.

"Michael played that too, didn't he?"

乔丹在88~89赛季那32+8+8的赛季算是耳熟能详的故事了。

If it's just a temporary measure, Yang Shuai could definitely give it a try.

Moreover, the Trail Blazers also have Sabonis, who can share a large part of the organizational pressure.

After arriving in Cleveland, Yang Shuai went home for a visit.

Speaking of away games, he's happiest when he returns to Cleveland because he can eat Lin Xiulan's cooking.

That's how people are. If you eat the same food cooked by the same person every day, you'll easily get tired of it. But if you haven't eaten it for a long time, you'll crave it.

Rondo happens to be home today too.

Yang Shuai is entering his third season in the NBA, and Rondo is also in his third year at the University of Pennsylvania.

Now that he's a junior, he has more free time, and since Philadelphia and Cleveland are close by, he naturally goes home more often on weekends.

"Are you also planning to get a university degree?"

Seeing Yang Shuai holding a booklet while eating, Rondo couldn't help but ask curiously.

Yang Shuai gave a wry smile, then handed him the booklet to look at.

That's the Trail Blazers' tactics manual.

Yang Shuai thought that after playing for the Trail Blazers for so long, and with his decent basketball IQ, playing point guard should be a piece of cake.

But when Carlisle actually gave him the tactics manual and told him what to do, he realized that this job was not so easy to do.

It's unrealistic to expect him to master it in a short period of time.

"Actually, there's no need to look at these things. Your size makes you a natural mismatch against the opposing point guard. Just drive and pass."

Rondo looked at it for a while and then put down the tactics manual.

Yang Shuai nodded upon hearing this.

That seems to make sense. The Magic used Anfernee Hardaway as point guard before, for a similar reason.

Thinking of this, he put down the tactics manual and then enjoyed the food Lin Xiulan had prepared.

Every time he came back, Lin Xiulan would cook a big meal.

During competitions, you have to control your diet and can't eat many things, so it's really enjoyable to have a meal like this once in a while.

What do you think about us starting a sports marketing company?

While they were eating, Rondo suddenly came up with an idea.

Yang Shuai kept talking, gesturing for him to continue.

"You were voted All-Star, which gives you a huge influence, but now that influence is just sitting there, it's being wasted."

"Let me give you a very common example. For instance, if we create a T-shirt brand that prints your silhouette from the game and our exclusive logo, it can bring in a considerable amount of revenue."

Yang Shuai was just a high school student in his previous life, and his understanding of business was limited to his interactions with Vaccaro in this life, so he didn't understand business operation models.

However, after Rondo said that, he was actually quite familiar with it, because he had encountered this kind of operation many times before he transmigrated.

Let alone T-shirts, there's nothing that those live-streaming e-commerce hosts can't sell.

"So if we set up this company, are we going to make some personal merchandise related to me?" Yang Shuai thought about it carefully and felt that it didn't make much sense. It wasn't that he couldn't make money, but the endorsement contracts that Paul was helping him with were far more profitable than doing this.

Moreover, he knew that if product quality issues arose like those of live-streaming e-commerce hosts, it would have a significant impact on him.

"Of course not." Seeing Yang Shuai's interest, Rondo continued talking about his plans.

“Our company’s main business should be talent agency. Use your personal influence to set up training camps in the summer, invite high school students or college students to participate, and then let Alfred build connections with them and become their agent. We will then promote them during the draft to ensure they are selected high.”

Hearing Rondo say this, Yang Shuai felt even more familiar with it, because in his previous life he always saw those rookies being hyped up to the skies with their draft picks, which must have been the work of their agencies.

However, there were no brokerage companies in that era, so it was mostly done by powerful agents.

Even when Yang Shuai was drafting the team, what Vaccaro did was basically the same thing Rondo had said.

It seems that Rondo has really learned a lot from learning from Vaccaro over the years, including interning at companies like Nike and Adidas.

"I think we can give it a try. We'll talk to Alfred and Ray about it later."

Yang Shuai agreed.

Since Paul became his agent, although he helped him sign many endorsement contracts, he still only has him as his agent.

It will be very difficult for Paul to snatch players from those veteran agents.

If there's a brokerage firm behind it, things become much easier.

They could even collaborate with Reebok.

Reebok's training camps have far less influence than Nike and Adidas, which is why Vaccaro failed to recruit players like Kobe, McGrady, and Jermaine O'Neal.

So in the ideal scenario, a rookie signs with their agency, Paul becomes his agent, then he signs with Reebok, gets a high draft pick, and then his commercial contracts are handled by their agency.

Moreover, according to Rondo's description, the agency was just their entry point into the industry, since Rondo's experience in sports marketing could be useful in this area.

After that, they can also venture into film and television, investment and other industries, which have endless possibilities.

This is another important factor that led Yang Shuai to agree with Rondo's idea.

Just like his signature sneakers, his creations as a time traveler—movies, songs, and information gaps—will no longer be abstract concepts, but rather have a concrete stage for their application.

On the day of the competition, Yang Shuai arrived at the Gunde Gymnasium more than an hour early as usual for shooting practice.

The security guard here is a veteran who has been working here for over ten years; we're all very familiar with him.

As training was nearing its end, Yang Shuai heard shouts coming from the stands.

That's when they realized that James and his two brothers had somehow returned to the arena.

Ever since LeBron James said he'd switch to basketball at the last Cleveland All-Star Game, Yang Shuai has come to play every time he returns to Cleveland for a game.

After training ended, Yang Shuai went to the sidelines to greet them.

It was at this moment that James saw Yang Shuai and excitedly announced his decision.

"I've decided to join Cleveland High School next year!"

James is now 13 years old and will begin his high school career in another year.

But isn't this wrong? Is this right?

Yang Shuai thought for a moment, then remembered that his deskmate had told him that James had attended a high school called St. Mary's High School.

It seems his appearance has had a significant impact on James.

However, what James said next surprised him even more than that.

"I plan to wear jersey number 16 in high school."

Well, James really idolizes him.

What a pity! Why was he the only one who traveled through time? Why didn't his deskmate come with him?
Otherwise, seeing this scene, his deskmate would probably really kneel down and call him "Dad."

Speaking of which, when he was in high school in his previous life, there were more LeBron haters among his classmates, but perhaps because his deskmate, who was a LeBron fan, kept expressing his opinions, the two canceled each other out.

Therefore, Yang Shuai didn't react emotionally to the fact that James idolized him.

Given his current achievements, many young players in Ohio idolize him, and one more James wouldn't make a difference.

That evening, the Gund Arena was packed to capacity.

Although he came here as a player for the Trail Blazers, no matter what jersey he wears, there will always be a lot of fans coming to watch the game.

This is no longer just about him winning the state championship for Cleveland back then; it's about him being the Finals MVP from Cleveland, and naturally, the proudest people are the fans from his hometown.

During the pre-match warm-up, Yang Shuai was frequently shown on camera, which drew cheers from the crowd.

During the opening ceremony, he, as a player from the away team, received almost the same cheers as the players from the home team.

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups for both sides were announced.

Cavaliers: Bryant Knight, Wesley Purson, Cedric Henderson, Shawn Kemp, Zydrunas Ilgauskas

Trail Blazers: Yang Shuai, Walter Williams, Rasheed Wallace, Brian Grant, Sabonis

Yang Shuai has started as the point guard!

(End of this chapter)