NBA: Top 3D talents to start

Chapter 269

In fact, in the summer of 2018, there are many opportunities to sign in through trades.

George was by no means the only option.

Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs will break out in a few days and ask for a trade, and was traded to the Raptors on July 7, and the Raptors who got Leonard will go all the way in the new season, Directly winning the championship in the 19-18 season made Leonard directly a god. Without the MVP of the regular season, his reputation once surpassed that of James, Curry, Durant and other players, and he briefly became No. 19 in the league.

Compared to personal ability, Leonard is obviously stronger than Jimmy Butler.

But between the two, Wang Feng still prefers Butler.

The reason is simple. It is bound to be cheaper to get Butler first than to get Leonard.

In order to get Leonard, the Raptors paid All-Star player DeRozan and a protected first-round pick.

DeRozan, as a player who can consistently contribute 20+ points all year round, wants to surpass him in terms of transaction value, the Lakers must at least pay Ball + Ingram's chips.

In comparison, Jimmy Butler must be cheaper. After all, Butler at this stage can only be compared with DeRozan, or even slightly lower, far inferior to FMVP Leonard.

Of course, what Wang Feng considered was not just the bargaining chip the Lakers had to pay.

Leaving aside Leonard and wanting to fight for the boss, coming to the Lakers is likely to fight with Wang Feng. Looking at Leonard's career after leaving the Spurs, he is completely like a glass man, fighting and resting.

The season with the most appearances was 60 games in the regular season with the Raptors, and it was even more finished with the Clippers.

What Wang Feng wanted was a qualified second-in-chief with outstanding strength, not a thorn in the head who might rob him of the boss at any time, and would lie dead every now and then due to injuries.

In such a horizontal comparison, although Jimmy Butler is not as strong as Leonard, he is a better choice.

Looking at Butler's subsequent performance this year, it can be said to be tough and ruthless.

In recent years, including the 2020-21 season, the only time the Timberwolves entered the playoffs was in the 17-18 season led by Butler.

At that time, there was a famous stalk in the league, which was Butler's famous remarks.

"Who's the most talented guy on the team? Towns! Who's the most physically gifted guy on the team? Wiggins, but who's the hardest working guy on the team? Me!"

This summer, the Timberwolves will reject Butler's request to renew his contract with a maximum salary in advance, and give priority to renewing Downs and Wiggins. This contemptuous attitude angered Butler, who made the latter apply for leaving the team.

And a few days before being traded, in a team training match, Butler led the third team to completely abuse the Timberwolves' first and second teams. He shouted at the general manager that you couldn't win without me, which made the Timberwolves look ashamed. .

After being traded to the 76ers, Butler helped the 76ers fight Leonard's Raptors in the division semifinals in 7 games, and was finally eliminated by Leonard's lore. After that season, the Raptors used two 4:2 The Bucks and Warriors were eliminated and finally won the championship. The most difficult round of the playoffs was the semifinals with the 76ers.

After that, Butler left the team and joined the Heat, and reached the finals that season, losing to the Lakers teamed by James and Davis, finishing second.

In the 2022 playoffs before Wang Feng crossed, Butler's Heat and the 76ers met in the divisional semifinals. Facing the 76ers with the combination of Embiid + Harden, Butler hit hard and led the team 4:2 Eliminated the 76ers and vented after the game. "What? Harris over me?"

It can be said that Butler has been underestimated throughout his career. Whether it is the Bulls, Timberwolves, 76ers or even the entire league, he has not really paid attention to him, but Butler's strength is definitely worthy of the title of top striker.

Based on the attendance rate and performance in the next four years, Wang Feng feels that Butler's priority is even higher than that of George, and he is definitely the most suitable second-in-charge candidate.

The only troublesome thing is that the conflict between Butler and the Timberwolves has not yet been aroused. I am afraid that the Timberwolves will not accept the direct application for a trade.

Referring to the situation in another time and space, Butler's trade application should have been submitted around November after the start of the regular season of the 18-19 season. At that time, the regular season had already played about 11 games.

It is basically impossible to get Butler when the free market opens in the summer, and considering the possibility of the butterfly effect, if the Lakers do nothing in the free market and then fail to trade for Butler, it will be troublesome.

"..."

"Although I don't quite understand why the second choice must be Jimmy Butler, but it is indeed the team's top priority to sign Paul George in the summer."

Wang Feng attaches great importance to Butler, but the rest of the Lakers are obviously more interested in George, the first choice that Wang Feng wrote earlier.

But Wang Feng knew that George would most likely not choose the Lakers. After all, the Lakers signed James in another time and space, but failed to attract George to join.

……

From Wang Feng's point of view, this meeting felt a bit superfluous with taking off his pants and farting. After a heated discussion, the management did not argue about the reason. In the end, they only set a strategic policy to pursue George with all their strength.

Compared with the actual direction of the team's development, the meeting is more like a political power struggle, like a power game between Jenny Buss and Jim Buss.

Wang Feng is not interested in the little things about the Bass family, anyway, just don't give James or Leonard to compete with him for the boss position.

As long as Johnson operates according to his signing list in the summer, even if top stars such as George and Butler fail to sign, as long as the role players are in place, the strength of the Lakers will definitely not be too bad. After all, Wang Feng next season will be stronger than Stronger now!

This confidence comes from the systematic season evaluation and award distribution after the playoffs.

With the Western Conference semifinals, the Lakers were eliminated by the Warriors, and the system has already started the season evaluation.

"Player Wang Feng completed all the games of the NBA 2017-18 season, the final best result, the semifinals of the Western Conference! Now start to count personal season data!"

“季后赛出战共计11场，场均得分39分11篮板4.2助攻3.1抢断！”

“常规赛出战共计82场，场均得分36.3分10.7篮板3.5助攻2.6抢断!”

"According to the comprehensive evaluation of the player's performance this season, the final evaluation score of the player Wang Feng is... S-!"

This is the first time Wang Feng has seen an S-level rating!

As he guessed, the system does not completely refer to the settings in the 2K game, just like the scoring mechanism, the highest score in 2K is A+, but it is obviously not in the system.

Since there is S-, there must be S, S+ and even SS!

(End of this chapter)