The NBA started with helping Iverson win the championship

Chapter 341

Li Xun was in a dilemma, because he didn't know which player from the Mavericks Big Bird had his eyes on.

"Larry, old man, tell me, which player do you want?"

Li Xun simply asked directly.

Big Bird Byrd sat on the office chair and laughed, "I still can't hide it from you."

"Many old guys in the league say you are smarter than the old fox. I guess you have already thought of what I want to do on the way here."

"Yes, we do want to make a deal with the Mavericks."

Although Li Xun has been very reckless in the past few years, many old guys think that recklessness is just Li Xun's appearance, and he is actually a cunning old fox.

"Let me just say it, we really want Klay Thompson."

"I want it very, very much. You Mavericks can offer any price, as long as we have it, we can consider it."

Byrd is a showdown.

Li Xun knew in his heart that Bird said he was willing to give any price, which would naturally include the currently seriously injured Pickled Pepper.

It can be seen that even Bird holds a very pessimistic attitude towards the future prospects of pickled peppers.

After pondering for a while, Li Xun was not very interested in this deal.

On the one hand, Clay is not for sale. There is no doubt about it. After Clay is gone, where else in the league can you find a player like him who does not occupy the ball at all, has excellent defense, and is extremely explosive offensively?
It cannot be said that Clay's offense is the best, but when he touches the ball as little as possible, Clay is definitely the one with the strongest offensive ability.

Of course, the strength of pickled peppers is also very strong, and even for some teams, the value of pickled peppers is definitely higher than that of Clay.

But pickled peppers are simply not suitable for this calf.

There are too many players in the Mavericks to hold the ball. Li Xun, Anthony and the future Antetokounmpo all need to attack with the ball.

After Pickle came, he couldn't be allowed to play off the ball.

The key is that Pickled Pepper is the top salary, and Clay is currently on a rookie contract. If it is traded, just matching this salary is enough to cause headaches.

Moreover, Pickled Pepper has not been able to play this year. He played a few games at the end of the season, but his state has not recovered at all, and his combat power is almost negligible.

The Mavericks are indeed strong, but if Clay is missing, Li Xun will also have no idea.

Now that the Maverick Dynasty is only one step away, there is really no need to do such a risky thing.

"Sorry, old man, Clay is not for sale."

"I think you should be very clear about this. We sold Jimmy and chose to keep Clay because he was more important to us."

Li Xun shook his head and directly refused.

"Such a flat rejection? Don't even want to hear our offer?"

"We are willing to give three first-round picks in the next five years, and the remaining two first-round picks, and give you the right to exchange."

"If you want Paul, we may not be able to give so many first rounds, but at least we can give one first round."

Li Xun still shook his head and refused.

This offer is not really sincere.

For the first round of picks in the next five years, the Pacers' record is not much higher.

Their team is not bad at all, so the top three picks must not be considered.

As for the two-year draft exchange rights in five years, it means that the two sides can exchange picks.

For example, the Pacers have the 14th pick and the Mavericks have the 30th pick, and the two sides will perform an exchange.

The Mavericks have won seven rookies this season. At least in the next four years, the rookies will be enough, and there is no need to hoard a large number of draft picks.

Li Xun can't do this kind of thing like hoarding 2022 first-round picks in the next five years like the Thunder in 17.

17 first-round picks in five years, it's scary to think about it.

The key point is that the Thunder team is always lucky, and they can pick very high-end players at random.

What is a promising future?The Thunder really have a promising future.

There are 17 first-round picks, even if you choose with your eyes closed, two or three players who can play will definitely be selected.

And if a team has two or three generals who can play, it can actually be regarded as a support.

"Sorry, Clay is really not for sale."

Li Xun declined again.

Seeing Li Xun's resolute attitude, Bird simply didn't want to play Clay's idea.

"How about selling that rookie in your team, Joe Harris, to us?"

"You selected him with a 30th pick, and we will definitely not let you suffer."

"How about taking our first-round pick next year plus a second-round pick for this Harris?"

Bird actually turned his mind on Harris, who played extremely well tonight.

Tonight, Harris made 11 three-pointers and scored 33 points. His performance is absolutely dazzling.

Originally, Bird was a white pitcher, and of course he had a natural affinity for a white pitcher like Harris.

Moreover, Harris is the player selected by Li Xun. Judging from the situation over the years, as long as it is a player selected by Li Xun, no matter how bad it is, it will not be so bad.

At present, among the players selected by Li Xun, the most profitable is the younger brother Stephenson.

Stephenson was still playing for the Pacers last season and was the team's third scoring point.

If it weren't for the failure to negotiate a contract, Byrd would definitely keep his junior.

Now that the Pacers have the pick, Bird is not confident that he can really pick a player at the level of a junior, so he simply takes it out and makes a deal with Li Xun.

At least to be on the safe side, Harris reckons that he should be better than his junior brother.

Li Xun was a little moved.

He remembered that in the next season's draft, the Pacers selected Indiana's Eason Chan Myles Turner with the 11th overall pick.

Of course, now Bird certainly doesn't know what kind of record their Pacers will have this year.

Even if the head of the team was reimbursed, Bird actually did not give up hope of hitting the playoffs.

Li Xun felt that the deal was feasible.

Harris is a very good point grabber, but next season's No. 11 pick can select Devin Booker.

No matter how you look at it, Harris is far less valuable than Booker.

Next season will happen to take the No. 11 pick, and get Booker, who is normally the 13th pick under normal circumstances.

In the 2015 draft, Li Xun was not very interested.

It can’t be said that this is a small year in the draft. After all, there are four All-Stars in this draft, Towns, Shuila, Porzingis, and Booker, as well as Josh Richardson Jr., Harley Hall, Oubre, Winslow and others are also considered good players.

However, these players are either too high in the draft, or their strength is not in Li Xun's eyes. It is useless to choose them. The only one who can be selected and useful is Booker with the [-]th overall pick.

Now that the Pacers are willing to give an 11th pick, Li Xun feels that this deal can be operated.

"Okay, then I'll call Mr. Nelson Jr."

"Then ask him to contact you."

Li Xun immediately made a decision.

After Harris is gone, the delegated Clarkson can be brought up.

But it doesn't matter if you mention it or not, after all, Clay still has Dinwiddie as a substitute.

Because the content of the transaction is not much, it is just Harris, who is at the bottom of the first round, so Mavericks fans can still accept it.

Of course, some fans still feel it is a pity.

After all, Harris showed them a trace of a top pitcher. If he cultivates it well, even if he can't become Klay, at least he has a chance to become a player like Korver.

Not to mention, some fans will compare Harris with Korver in the future. The two are really a bit too similar.

The transaction is concluded, and everyone is happy.

The Mavericks got a draft pick that could pick Booker.

The Pacers got a white pitcher that president Bird admired.

Harris has gained the status of the team. Now that the Pacers are in a ghost lineup, without Pickle, Harris may even become the team's main offensive point.

Of course, the happiest must be Clarkson.

At first he thought his career was over.

Most of the rookies who were devolved in their rookie season, waiting for their fate is to become transparent people, because they haven't played a game, maybe the fans don't even know that there is such a person.

Well now, after Harris was sent away, he entered the active list.

It's fine to be on the activation list, at least you can show your face while sitting on the sidelines.

And the Mavericks now often send opponents into garbage time early, and a fringe player like him can just get more playing time.

So in the Harris deal, Clarkson simply won.

After playing the Knicks and the Pacers, the Mavericks' next third away game is against the Pistons.

Meeting the Pistons again, Li Xun had mixed feelings in his heart.

The solid foundation he left for the Pistons at the beginning has almost been wiped out now.

Originally, Leonard, Cousins ​​and Vucevic were left.

Cousins ​​is in a contract year this year, and the Pistons are also thinking of giving him a maximum salary extension.

After all, Cousins ​​is really playing now. With the Pistons averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds per game, he is definitely an All-Star center.

But what Cousins ​​said was that he didn't want to renew his contract with the Pistons.

He forced the Pistons management to sell him.

The Pistons can't help it. With Cousins' attitude, how dare they renew the contract with the maximum salary.

What if this guy doesn't work hard after being given a maximum salary?

But if the maximum salary is not given and other teams match the offer, then Cousins ​​will run away in vain.

So trading is the only option.

In the end, Cousins ​​​​was sold to the Kings after signing first, and the Pistons exchanged some prices from the Kings for what they thought was a great value.

However, in Li Xun's view, these prices are quite ridiculous.

Not only can it fail to improve the Pistons' combat power, but it may have to squeeze part of the salary space next season, which will cause problems in the renewal of Leonard and Vucevic.

Both of these two were rookies in 2011, and they will start to renew their contracts next year. At that time, the Pistons will have to prepare two maximum salaries.

"Li Xun!"

"Li Xun!"

"Li Xun!"

When Li Xun appeared in the Palace of Auburn Hills, the scene immediately boiled.

Although Li Xun has been away from the Pistons for more than two years, the fans here still regard Li Xun as their team soul.

That three-peat wasn't for nothing.

The three-peat championship is definitely the brightest moment in the history of the Pistons, even far higher than that of the Bad Boys.

"Boss, it looks like you are destined to win the championship this year."

"When DeMarcus left before, I thought he would go to your Mavericks."

After seeing Li Xun, Vucevic said with a wry smile.

Before the Pistons lost, there were usually two people who were sprayed, one was Vucevic and the other was Cousins.

There is no way, the vision of the Pistons fans is too high. After experiencing a winning season, they can't rub the sand in their eyes.

The two inside partners were sprayed a bit miserably.

Maybe this is why Cousins ​​had to run away. The pressure to stay in the Pistons was too great.

Now that Cousins ​​is gone, Vucevic has become the main target of being sprayed.

When Cousins ​​left the Pistons before, he also contacted Li Xun and euphemistically expressed his desire to join the Mavericks.

It's a pity that he said it too late. At that time, the Mavericks had already signed Anthony, and there was no salary space in the team.

But even if there is, it doesn't make much sense to sign Cousins.

Because there is still an Embiid on the Mavericks' current injury list.

Cousins ​​and Embiid, these two centers are actually somewhat similar.

Cousins ​​before the injury can be seen as a slightly weakened version of Embiid.

On the offensive end, Embiid is better than Cousins, mainly because Embiid's offensive stability is much better than Cousins.

On the rebounding side, the two are very similar, and Embiid is slightly stronger, with a rebound rate about two percentage points higher than Cousins.

The real gap is mainly reflected on the defensive end, where Embiid is a notch better than Cousins.

Now that the Mavericks already have Embiid, there is no need to spend a maximum salary to sign a weakened Embiid.

If you talk about signing Leonard, then Li Xun definitely wants to sign.

It's a pity that the Pistons are now paying more and more attention to Leonard. If the Mavericks want to sign Leonard, it must be a dead end.

To be precise, there will be no play in the next five years. When Leonard's next contract ends and he becomes a free agent, Li Xun will still have the opportunity to join forces with Leonard.

The game on the field has already begun.

Leonard is indeed a bit strong at this point, but he will never play a full 48 minutes in the regular season.

And the Mavericks have too many offensive points. Leonard's defense is strong, but he can only defend one.

He guarded Anthony, and Li Xun and Clay scored crazy points.

The Pistons now have the entire lineup, and only Leonard and Vucevic are left who can make a move.

As for Vucevic, being firmly suppressed by Gobert, it is difficult to make any disturbances.

There was Cousins ​​who helped him get involved in the opponent's inside defense before, but now without Cousins, the Mavericks are fighting against Vucevic, and he can't bear it.

By the end of the game, the Mavericks beat the Pistons by 117 points with a score of 104:13.

This 13-point difference certainly does not represent the strength gap between the two teams.

If it wasn't for Li Xun's face, he would have to score at least [-] to [-] points tonight.

After the game, Anthony was in an indescribably happy mood.

He's almost forgotten what it's like to have a winning streak during his time with the Knicks.

Now that the season has started three games, he feels that the team won without doing anything.

(End of this chapter)