warrior godfather

Chapter 619 You Are Bold

June 6, 26:[-] p.m., New York, Barclays Center.

The much-anticipated 2015 NBA Draft kicked off under the auspices of Xiao Hua.

The 2014 draft, which was rumored to be the year of the draft last year, did not meet people's expectations at all. Embiid and Jabari Parker were reimbursed for the season, and the No. [-] pick Wiggins played as a substitute for a season. The rookie was taken away by a white center with no talent at the end of the first round, and none of the talents who were blown to the sky were played.

This year is not a big draft year. The biggest favorite for the No. [-] pick is Karl-Anthony Towns from the Dominican Republic. Combo guard D’Angelo Russell and power forward Jahlil Okafor are also popular rookies, but Towns The talent is so outstanding that the battle for the champion lost its suspense early.

After Xiao Hua's brief opening remarks, the Timberwolves, who had won the No. [-] lottery, unsurprisingly picked Downs.

Subsequently, the Lakers selected Russell with the second pick, and the 76ers took Okafor with the third pick.

This made people a little surprised. The 76ers had already selected Embiid with the second pick last year, and picked a center this year. After Embiid paid, how should the two coexist?

But Sam Hinkie had no choice but to do this. He also wanted to draft Russell, and for this he wanted to trade up the draft pick, but the Lakers disagreed and cut off Russell in advance. He could only choose Oka Blessed.

Several other popular insiders Porzingis and Cauley-Stein are not as good as Okafor, and the prospect of Hezonia from the Barcelona club is unclear. Sam Hinkie can only forcefully take Okafor regardless of the overlapping positions. .

These are the troubles of teams with high draft picks in their hands, and the Warriors don't have to consider these issues.

Zhang Yu didn't even come to the scene this time. Larry Riley waited leisurely in the box until the first round of the draft was coming to an end, and then used the No. 30 pick to pick off Kevin Looney, who Zhang Yu had already taken a fancy to.

The second-round pick has nothing to do with the Warriors. The Warriors’ second-round pick this year is ranked last, and the second-round pick traded from the Bulls is also ranked 59th. They can only choose other teams to pick the rest. There is no choice. room for.

And Zhang Yu also has a candidate he likes. Larry Riley doesn't need to worry about it. He just needs to be a candidate when the time comes. He feels very relaxed.

After a long wait, Larry Riley selected short point guard TJ McConnell with the 59th pick and center Christian Wood with the 60th pick, and the draft ended.

This is a draft with brilliant insiders. The No. 6 pick Downs is high-spirited, the No. 6 Okafor is full of ambitions, Porzingis was selected by the Knicks with the fourth pick, and Willie Cauley-Stein was selected by the Kings with the No. 4 pick Selected, the top 8 picks have [-] insiders, the lottery picks have [-] insiders, as for the Warriors selected Looney and Wood, no one cares.

No matter how accurate Coach Z is, he can't make mistakes every time, right?
The worst first-round pick and the worst second-round pick, what good players can be selected?

……

When the draft was held in New York on the east coast, Zhang Yu was meeting guests in San Francisco on the west coast.

He fulfilled his promise and introduced Rick Wertz to Tsai.

Cai Chongxin asked for help and prepared generous gifts for Zhang Yu and Rick Wertz. Rick Wertz was entrusted by Zhang Yu to reveal all the inside information about the alliance that he knew.

"Joe, it's a pity that you are one step late. The transaction prices of the Bucks and Eagles in the past two years are not high. Wait, there are no teams for sale yet, but there are a few teams you can try and ask for prices."

"After Larry Miller passed away in 2009, the Miller family didn't care much about the Jazz. If your offer is high enough, there should be no problem, but the Jazz has little prospect of development in Salt Lake City..."

"Alexander has been rumored to sell the Rockets in the past few years, but it has only been circulated in small circles within the league, and it has never come true. You can try, but I think the possibility of success is not high, and Alexander is very shrewd. He will definitely open his mouth like a lion, and you are Chinese, if you really want to buy the Rockets, you have to be mentally prepared..."

"After the Nets owner Prokhorov bought the Nets, he invested a lot, but I heard from a friend of the Nets that his business has not been very good in the past two years, and his investment in the Nets has been reduced year by year. It hasn’t been spread yet, not many people know about it, you can give it a try, but the Nets are in Brooklyn, and he still owns the Barclays Center, so the asking price must be the highest…”

Rick Wertz pointed out three clear paths to Cai Chongxin, which made him suddenly enlightened, and he immediately expressed gratitude:
"Thank you, Rick, your advice means a lot to me."

"It's okay, you are Ronan's friend, of course I won't hide anything." Rick Wertz laughed.

Cai Chongxin heard the meaning of his words, and turned to Zhang Yu and said:

"Ronan, thanks to your help this time, I will definitely repay you in the future."

Afterwards, Cai Chongxin left and was busy with the acquisition of the team. Rick Wertz came to Zhang Yu's home, and the two discussed matters related to the Chase Center.

Rick Wertz says:
"The construction of the Datong Center has been completed, and the interior decoration has been carried out for two months. Before the start of the preseason, it will definitely be fully renovated and put into use as scheduled."

"What about the ticket price? How do you set the price?" Zhang Yu asked.

"The cost of our construction of the Chase Center is very high, and the facilities in the arena are also the most advanced, so the ticket price will also be the most expensive in the league. The average ticket price is expected to double that of the Oracle Center. At this time, after careful research, With the confirmed price, the purchasing power of fans in the Bay Area is very strong, and the ticket revenue will definitely increase significantly. There is also good news that 32 of the 30 top boxes have been booked, which will bring us an annual income of 4800 million US dollars. Income..." Rick Wertz elaborated.

"Double the tickets? It's a little too high, right? Have you considered the fans in Oakland? Their income is relatively low. With such a high ticket price, can they still afford the game?" Zhang Yu frowned.

His attention was all on the ticket price. As for the $4800 million that Rick Wertz said, he didn't take it seriously.

Since April last year, a large-scale armed conflict broke out in the eastern part of the European Granary. Mark Baum, who followed Zhang Yu’s suggestion and made an early deployment, used the funds of the two to make space rivner and buy the fixed assets of the European Granary. Now the conflict Slowly subsided, and already made a lot of money.

Zhang Yu's net worth has also skyrocketed by US$15 billion, which is enough to fill the project funds for the second half of the Chase Center, repay the previous bank loan, and still have US$5 million in cash in the account.

The $4800 million income from courtside boxes is just a small amount for him. What he really cares about is the attendance rate of fans.

Facing Zhang Yu's question, Rick Wertz hesitated for a moment and said:

"Attendance should not drop too much. This is in line with the purchasing power of fans in the Bay Area. Many IT elites in Silicon Valley are our loyal fans. It was not convenient for them to go to Oracle to watch games before, but when we move back to San Francisco, they will definitely come. At the scene, if there are fewer fans in Oakland, it will not have any impact..."

"But Oakland fans are also our loyal fans. We have moved, but we can't let them look down on the Warriors' game!" Zhang Yu's voice was very soft, but her tone was very firm.

"The fare..."

"Let's lower it. Let me tell Mark that the price of tickets can't increase by more than 50%. We can't guarantee that all old fans will be able to watch the game, but we must take into account the income level of Oakland fans." Zhang Yu said.

"Okay, I'll ask the ticket sales department to re-price it!" Rick Wertz showed admiration on his face.

It is not an easy task to make money without making money.

Moreover, Zhang Yu, who is also the head coach of the Warriors, has no time to manage other industries, but he can take the initiative to lower the ticket price of the Chase Center, which makes Rick Wirtz admire him.

What he didn't know was that Zhang Yu didn't rely on the warriors to make money at all. If he wanted to make money, he could use the information gap to control the wind and rain in the financial market.

Money is just a number to Zhang Yu, he never intends to make money from the Warriors.

He didn't want to see the devilish atmosphere of Oracle Center disappear, and Chase Center, like Staples Center, become a show venue for Hollywood stars.

The hellish home atmosphere and the golden ocean that swept the audience are the eternal symbols of the Warriors' home.

……

At the end of the season, players with contracts can enjoy their vacations with peace of mind, but players who need to renew their contracts are not in the mood to go on vacation until the next contract is signed.

Yi Jianlian is one of them. The three-year contract he signed with the Warriors has ended, but he has not received a renewal notice so far.

Last summer, the Warriors did not renew his contract, and the agent was a little anxious, but Yi Jianlian was not worried, but just told the agent to stay calm.

The relationship between him and Zhang Yu is there, and his performance on the court is not bad. What problems can there be in renewing the contract?
But at the end of this season, he still hasn't received the team's contract renewal notice, so he can't help but feel a little nervous.

Is Brother Yu really not wanting me anymore?

The day after the draft, Zhang Yu invited Yi Jianlian to his home as a guest. He came to Zhang Yu's home full of doubts.

Zhang Yu personally cooked four dishes, namely fried pork with shredded potatoes, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stewed eggplant, and braised pork.

Although they are just common home-cooked dishes and not Yi Jianlian's favorite Cantonese food, they are delicious to Yi Jianlian who hasn't eaten Chinese food for a long time. During the playoffs, the players must strictly control their diet and cook Stir-fried Chinese food is strictly prohibited.

After eating, before Yi Jianlian mentioned it, Zhang Yu took the initiative to talk about his contract renewal:
"UA, the team hasn't asked you to renew your contract. Do you have doubts in your heart?"

"Ah, this, a little bit, but I think Brother Yu, you must have your own considerations..." Yi Jianlian couldn't help being a little flustered when Zhang Yu suddenly said the central thing.

"I do have some ideas. I invite you here today, just to have a good talk with you." Zhang Yu said seriously.

"Go ahead, Brother Yu." Seeing Zhang Yu's serious expression, Yi Jianlian also became serious.

"It's like this, Ah Lian—" Zhang Yu lowered his eyes, considered his words, and then raised his eyes to Yi Jianlian, and said earnestly, "You have also seen that Giannis is playing more and more time, and your chances of playing Fewer and fewer, if you stay in the Warriors, it will really bury your ability and delay your growth, so I think you should be allowed to go to a team with longer playing time, and your salary will definitely be higher than in the Warriors. There are more warriors, what do you think?"

"Brother Yu, are you... trying to drive me away?" Yi Jianlian's face immediately became ugly.

"I'm not trying to drive you away!" Zhang Yu quickly waved his hand, "You call me Brother Yu, how could I drive you away? As long as you want to stay in the Warriors, I will give you a contract until you don't want to fight anymore. "

Yi Jianlian's face looked better, but there was still a haze between his brows:

"Then you said let me go to another team..."

He joined the Lingnan Hongyuan youth team at the age of 13 and received basketball training. Since then, he has never left Lingnan Hongyuan. He rose to the first team and won two CBA championships with the team. The education he received was to play for a team .

After entering the NBA, Yi Jianlian did not have any active transfers. He was traded by the team. When he was about to fade out of the league, he was pulled by Zhang Yu to come to the Warriors and played for four years.

These four years were also the happiest time for Yi Jianlian in the NBA. Zhang Yu took great care of him and got along well with his teammates. The three championships, except that he was not a starter, which made him a little regretful, everything else was perfect.

Yi Jianlian has already thought about it. He will continue to play in the Warriors. After a few years, his strength will decline in his 30s, and Zhang Yu will not make it difficult. He will take the initiative to return to Lingnan Hongyuan to continue playing in the CBA, and strive to win two more championships for his hometown team. , and then retired.

This is the career that Yi Jianlian has planned for himself, and he never doubts that his plan can be realized.

But now Zhang Yu said that he wanted him to go to another team. It was like a thunderbolt from the blue sky, which struck Yi Jianlian at a loss and flustered.

Zhang Yu didn't expect that Yi Jianlian had no intention of leaving the Warriors when his playing time was getting less and less. He was pleased with Yi Jianlian's loyalty, but he didn't want Yi Jianlian to sit on the bench, so he explained in detail:
"UA, I really want you to go to another team, but I'm not driving you away... To put it bluntly, your strength is not as good as Giannis or Drummond. Do you agree with this?"

"I know, both of them are better than me." Yi Jianlian replied frankly.

After honing in the Bucks and Nets, the arrogance in Yi Jianlian's heart has long been wiped away, and he is very self-aware.

"Drummond just won the best defensive player, was selected to the best team, the starting position is very solid, Giannis got the best sixth man, the improvement is getting bigger and bigger, playing time will only increase, you If you stay, won’t your playing time become less and less?”

"This... Brother Yu, you won't really let me see the water dispenser, will you?"

"I don't want to either, but, Ah Lian, I have to tell you the bottom line-Giannis will definitely become a star in the future. I trained him in the direction of the core of the team. In two years, Drummond will I have to make way for him, I can't wait to let him play for 30 minutes a game, how can I let others divide his time?" Zhang Yu smiled wryly.

"The core of the team? Giannis?" Yi Jianlian was taken aback.

"That's right, the core of the team. You have seen the speed of Giannis' improvement in the past two years. He is only 21 years old this year. How far will he grow in two years? UAE, you can't compete with him for playing time Yes, I don’t want to see you sitting on the bench, so I let you go to another team. With your strength, no matter which team you go to, you will at least be the first substitute at the power forward position. It’s not good to start Impossible, why waste time here?" Zhang Yu persuaded earnestly.

Yi Jianlian's expression changed, and Zhang Yu stopped trying to persuade him, but just looked at Yi Jianlian with earnest eyes, waiting for his decision.

After a long time, Yi Jianlian gritted his teeth and said:
"Brother Yu, I know you're doing it for my own good. I've figured it out. I'll go to another team!"

"Okay! Go boldly, you have no shortage of champions, don't worry about the strength of the team, whoever gives you a bigger contract and promises more playing time, that's where you go. If this trip doesn't go well, just come back, The Warriors will always have a place for you, don't worry, the contract will not be worse than the one you signed now!" Zhang Yu said happily.

Afterwards, the two chatted for a long time. Zhang Yu warned Yi Jianlian that he must practice three-pointers and defense well, and he must not gain weight at will. He is athletic, can shoot three-pointers, can defend, and can swing to five The space-based power forward at the No. [-] position will be the most scarce type of insider in the next few years.

Yi Jianlian kept Zhang Yu's words in mind, and promised to play well and try to start in other teams.

Zhang Yu thought about him everywhere, saved his career, and at his peak, let him go to other teams to make money, which can be said to be benevolent.

All Yi Jianlian can do is to play well and live up to Zhang Yu's hard work.

He has self-knowledge and does not dare to hope to become a star. Starting is the goal he strives for.

When he left Zhang Yu's home, Yi Jianlian was very sad, but he knew that there is always a banquet in the world, so he could only bury this sadness deeply in his heart.

……

The next day, Zhang Yu found Larry Riley to discuss the renewal of other players.

At present, Curry, Clay, Leonard, Green, Olynik, Antetokounmpo, Wiggins, Dinwiddie, and Livingston all have long-term contracts in the Warriors. -The contracts of Green, Asik, and Bazemore have expired, and Covington's contract has one year left.

Larry Riley first reported two bad news to Zhang Yu:
"Danny's agent contacted me. He is not going to renew his contract with the team. He wants to go to a team with longer playing time. Chris's agent wants tens of millions of annual salary. Judging by his full confidence, it should be There are teams that have committed to Chriss."

"Let them go. Once you have the championship, you want a big contract. This is normal. It just happens to change the team. After winning the honor, the fighting spirit is gone. It's just a stagnant pool." Zhang Yu said lightly.

"Omer also has an annual salary of tens of millions, you see..."

"No, a blue-collar who can't play a few minutes in the playoffs is not worth so much money."

"Kent wants to stay, but Yi has no news yet, do you want to keep them?"

"I have already negotiated with Yi. He will test the free market first. If no one signs it, or if he is not satisfied, he will come back again. It will still be a 3-year 900 million contract... No, a 3-year 1000 million contract. Kent will not continue. I have an appointment, let him go, staying on the bench is also a bench, and there are plenty of replacements."

"3 million in 1000 years? Oh, I see..." Larry Riley suppressed the surprise on his face.

He didn't expect that Zhang Yu, who had always disliked high salaries for substitutes, would offer a bigger contract to Yi Jianlian, who played less and less playing time, but when he thought of Yi Jianlian's identity as a Chinese, he understood.

"What about Robert? He also sat on the bench for a season."

"Robert is different. Give him a contract extension. The longer the better, as long as the annual salary is controlled within 200 million US dollars."

"But we already have Kawhi and Andrew up front..."

"There are never too many strikers. It is good to reserve first. Robert will come in handy in the future."

Larry Riley wrote down all Zhang Yu's instructions, and then talked about this year's rookie:

"We have five newcomers this year, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Kevon Looney are first rounders, no contracts, TJ McConnell and Christian Wood both agreed to sign for three years Basic salary, only Nemanja Bjelica's contract is a bit tricky, he just won the Europa League mvp, asking for 5 million a year."

"400 million? I have a big appetite..." Zhang Yu narrowed his eyes slightly.

Last season, the NBA’s mid-level contract ranged from $273 million to $530 million. Next season, it will increase with the increase in the salary cap, but the range will not be too large. A contract of 400 million is also a mid-level contract in the mid-level contract. .

"This is just the asking price of Belica's agent, and we should be able to talk about it further." Larry Riley reminded.

Zhang Yu rubbed his chin with his right hand, thought for a while, and said:

"The asking price is so high, and it won't drop too much if we continue to negotiate...but you can try it first. The upper limit I can accept is 200 million, and it can be higher. If you trade his signing rights, there should be some The team is interested."

After the two discussed the team's contract renewal, Larry Riley left and contacted the player's agent.

Two days later, Larry Riley told Zhang Yu good news and bad news.

The good news is that Covington agreed to sign a four-year $4 million early contract extension with the Warriors. The bad news is that the contract with Belica collapsed.

Zhang Yu has no intention of giving in at all, and asked Larry Riley to put Belica's signing rights on the shelf.

On July 7, the trading market opened, and the Timberwolves made a move, using the 1 second-round pick from the Heat and their own 2017 second-round pick in exchange for Belica's signing rights.

Although the Warriors only used a second-round pick when they selected Belica, as the MVP of the European League, he is not comparable to ordinary second-round picks. The Timberwolves have to pay more than a second-round pick if they want his signing rights. Big price.

(End of this chapter)