NBA: My template has no limit

"Competitive advantage? Do you mean the fourth-worst record in the entire league, a market squeezed by football and baseball, or a long winter and a lackluster arena?"

"Mike, you certainly have a choice."

"You can choose Marbury. But if you choose him, he will offend all your HR managers within a year and then force you to make a trade."

You draft that big guy from Connecticut, he'll play for you for three years, and then he can go to another team and get a contract that pays more than you.

You don't lack choices, Mike. You just don't have better choices.

Dunleavy stared at Tellem and remained silent for ten seconds.

"You just said 'a better option,'" Dunleavy said slowly. "What other option is there?"

Trelem seemed to have been waiting for these words for a long time. He shrugged, his voice becoming indifferent.

"Go to the big sports market."

Dunleavy was speechless.

Tellem's tone remained calm, yet carried an undeniable sense of restraint:

"My clients can come to Milwaukee, but only if you give me those two things mentioned above—a start and consistent performance."

If you can't give it to him, or if you want to negotiate, then we can start talking about a deal.

Dunleavy tapped his fingers twice on the table, very slowly.

"You mean," Dunleavy said, emphasizing each word:

"If I don't give him a starting position, or more than 30 minutes, you initiate the trade process. Send him to New York, Chicago, Los Angeles—anywhere you can negotiate a deal."

Tellem neither nodded nor denied it.

"I'm not threatening you, Mike," he said. "I'm just stating a fact. Is this team talented enough to make the playoffs? No."

Your core players, Robinson and Baker, are just two players on the verge of All-Star status; together they won't win many games.

My client, having risen to prominence by stepping over the six most talented players this year, has the potential to become a top-fifteen player in the league within two or three years.

The only thing you can bet he'll stay in Milwaukee on is giving him a reason to stay.

He paused, then added:

"Starting position, playing time, and core status. All three are indispensable."

Dunleavy stood up, walked to the window, and turned his back to Tellem.

Outside the window, the sky above Milwaukee is a hazy gray. This city has no neon lights like New York, no palm trees like Los Angeles, and no skyline like Chicago; it only has rugged industrial areas and gushing beer.

Dunleavy served as head coach here for four years before stepping down last year to focus on management. He knows better than anyone that this city has virtually no appeal in the free agent market.

He turned around.

"Your players are very attractive, but I cannot give you a satisfactory answer right now."

"Give me a little more time, Arne, let's think about it, okay?"

"Of course, I need to discuss it with my client again."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Tellem left the office and went straight away.

Dunleavy sat back in his chair, his brows furrowed into a deep frown, his lips pursed, and he looked at the stack of scouting reports, then at the memo next to him.

A short while later, Archbishop Frank Hamblen entered, his face flushed, clearly showing anger:

"What makes that guy dare to ask for such conditions? We have a high draft pick; we could easily select a player as excellent and humble as Ray Allen. Why do we have to go for this arrogant young man!"

Dunleavy didn't reply. After a few seconds of silence, he shook his head and muttered something to himself:

"No wonder people compare him to Falk; he's a tough guy!"

"Hey, Hambrunn, don't be impulsive. Have the scouting department pull up another copy of the video from that Kentucky game."

"We need to see the whole game; let's see what kind of magic he has."

After the game, Xu Feng went back to the East Rutherford Hotel next to the stadium.

The next final against Syracuse University will also be held at Continental Airlines Arena, so they won't have to fly to another city.

There are two small towns next to the venue, East Rutherford and Secox. Because the venue is far from the city center and has hosted competitions for many years, these two places have formed a mature business chain.

Business hotels, bars, stadiums, bus stations, street prostitutes... everything is available.

Of course, the team is under semi-closed management during the game. Although they are not locked up, they are absolutely not allowed to go out and fool around.

Xu Feng was in bed thinking about his future training plans when the unlocked door was suddenly pushed open.

It should be Singh, Xu Feng thought, without paying attention.

"Um... Xu Feng, I have something I want to say to you."

Wait, that voice... is that Watts?

Xu Fengteng sat up straight and looked at his teammate who had given up his unconventional ways.

"What is it? Tell me."

I want to apologize for my previous offense to you.

You might not know this, but I desperately need this starting position on the basketball team. If I can't find a job using basketball skills in the future, my academic performance alone won't be enough to support my family...

Next, Watts told Xu Feng about his superstar-level start.

It's roughly about a dad who ran away with drugs, a mom who works to earn money, and five kids in the family named Waaa.

The family relied on themselves to support themselves, but Watts' academic performance was very poor. He spent many years on the streets and automatically developed basketball skills.

Unfortunately, he had a superstar start but lacked the basketball skills of a superstar, so he could only play basketball for the declining DePaul team.

As for the future, I might play basketball in Europe or become a basketball coach after graduating from my four-year program.

Hearing this, Xu Feng felt an urge to introduce him to the top league in the East, where there are many talented players and the games are very exciting, which would definitely allow him to make a name for himself.

So when Watts heard that a newcomer had taken his starting position, he was furious, his street-smart instincts kicked in, and without caring about reason, he wanted to confront Xu Feng.

As a result, they didn't find a venue and were even mocked by Xu Feng.

Unexpectedly, Xu Feng's scolding really woke Watts up. He followed Xu Feng's advice and went back to watch Xu Feng's game videos, originally intending to find fault with them.

But after Watts looked at it carefully for ten minutes, he had only one thought in his mind.

"This guy is awesome!"

Sensing an opportunity to team up with a strong player, Watts immediately shifted his focus from finding fault to how to coordinate well with Xu Feng, and then studied this until he returned to the team.

This is Watts's bumpy journey.

After finishing his sentence in one breath, Watts stood awkwardly in front of Xu Feng, aimlessly twisting two fingers together, and whispered, "Can you forgive my recklessness, brother?"

Xu Feng never expected that the first person to come to him to talk about his family of origin in this life would be his good black friend, which was a bit amazing.

Xu Feng didn't really take the matter to heart; the reason he ignored Watts was simply because he didn't want to be snubbed.

Now that things have been discussed openly, there's no need to keep holding back. Xu Feng reached out to Watts, his tone relaxed:

"Hey, what's the big deal? Aren't we always brothers?"

"Thank you, Xu Feng, my brother."

Snapped!

After a series of street fights involving Black men, the two finally reconciled.