Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 296: Signing a series of heroes!Replenish the vacancies!New assistant coach Nick Nurse!

On July 7, the NBA free agency opens.

The Cavaliers, who were still a weak team last season, quickly completed an operation and renewed Irving with a five-year, $5 million maximum salary contract.

Since joining the Cavaliers in 2011, Irving has played 181 games, averaging 20.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game. As a young player, his injuries are a bit frequent, but last season he played 71 games. One of the best outside scorers in the current league.

The Cavaliers management is eager to renew Irving's contract, in large part to attract James to return to Cleveland.

After being swept out of the playoffs by the Knicks, James has not made it clear that he will leave the Heat, but everyone knows that James will definitely leave when his contract expires, and everyone is waiting for James to make a decision.

Now the Cavaliers have renewed Irving with a maximum salary contract, hoping that LeBron James will join the team and work together with Irving to win the championship.

On July 7, not long after the Cavaliers renewed Irving's contract, James made his decision.

And officially announced through his social networking site: He will return to his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.

James said that he made this decision because he wanted to go home, but he also said that Miami will always be his second home, and it was very difficult to leave those brothers.

While making the decision to return to the Cavaliers, James also explained his true inner feelings through a long and lyrical essay. "Before anyone cared where I played, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. This is where I came out, this is where I ran, this is where I cried, this is where I bleed , it will always have a special place in my heart.”

In fact, on Wednesday local time, Heat president Pat Riley went to Las Vegas to meet with James in an attempt to persuade him to stay with the Heat.

But in the end, James decided to go home and declined Pat Riley's offer to stay.

Despite being furious about James' departure four years ago, Cavaliers owner Gilbert is extremely happy this time around.

In the eyes of outsiders, the Cavaliers will have a four-overall combination of James + Irving + Andrew Wiggins + Anthony Bennett in the new season. However, only Lu Yong knows that James will not wait for these newcomers to grow. The Cavaliers will continue to follow up. The two young top picks will be traded as bargaining chips to form the Big Three like the Heat did back then.

I just don’t know if the Cavaliers management will trade with Kevin Love in this life.

What is certain is that after signing LeBron James, the Cavaliers will rise next season.

In addition, the Knicks, who have won two consecutive championships, have not escaped the fate of being poached.

First, the Dallas Mavericks offered a premium contract to backup center McGee, worth 1800 million over two years.

This contract is not too big, but considering the role McGee played in the Knicks' championship, it is obviously a premium.

The Knicks can choose to match, but after acquiring Jokic in the draft, it will be difficult to give McGee too much playing time if he is retained.

After asking Lu Yong for his opinion, Walsh decided to give up on McGee.

Lu Yong will definitely try his best to train Jokic in the new season, and keeping McGee will not make much sense.

It is not difficult to find a blue-collar player who is good at protecting the frame in the free market, and Draymond Green can also play center, which is more suitable for Lu Yong's tactical system.

Tyson Chandler was also poached by the Mavericks for 2800 million in two years.

In the same summer, two centers were poached by the same team. Lu Yong thought this was pretty fucked up.

However, Chandler is an unrestricted free agent and can leave whenever he wants. The Knicks don't even have a chance to match, so they can only let him go.

After winning two championships in a row with the Knicks, Chandler is now pursuing money, and no one can persuade him from this kind of thing.

After all, the center's peak period is inherently short. If Chandler doesn't sign two big contracts now, he will have no chance in the future.

Felton, Aminu and Bargnani were also poached by other teams because of their salaries.

These three people are just rotations in the league. They don't have much pursuit of personal honors. They go to whoever gives them the most money. This is also the current situation of most NBA players.

Only championship center Al Jefferson jumped out of his contract and chose to test the free market, which surprised Lu Yong.

Lu Yong did not expect that Jefferson would choose to take this path, and 5500 million was poached by the Bobcats in three years.

Lu Yong thought for a while and decided to let him go.

In the new season, with Jokic and Green playing center, it will be enough for him to sign a blue-collar player from the free market.

Since Jefferson prefers money, he may not be able to maintain his standard by forcefully retaining players. Past experience tells Lu Yong that it is difficult for a star with this kind of mentality to achieve great things.

The only bad thing is that after three insiders were poached one after another, the Knicks' interior configuration is really tight in the new season, and they must sign new players as soon as possible to make up for it.

After signing two rookies, the Knicks roster still has 4 vacant spots, and there is a lot of room for maneuver.

Lu Yong studied the list of free agents for a while, then picked up his cell phone and called Walsh.

"Donny, I need you to contact the agents of Pau Gasol and Shawn Marion immediately. These two players must be acquired and convey my meaning. They should be interested in joining forces."

Gasol has worked with Lu Yong as early as the Grizzlies. The two have some personal relationships. The Knicks definitely have an advantage over other teams by grabbing people off the court.

Last season, Gasol averaged 17.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game. He maintained a good competitive level and can completely replace Stoudemire, who is declining in form.

In Lu Yong's previous life, Pau Gasol announced to the outside world through his personal Twitter this year that he would leave the Lakers and switch to the Chicago Bulls, signing a three-year, $3 million contract.

If the Knicks grab someone off the court, the Bulls will have nothing to do with it. Even without Lu Yong's relationship, Gasol can easily make the decision based on the weight of the words "defending champion".

As for Marion, he played for the Mavericks last season, averaging 10.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game. There is still stock in the tank, and he is more than enough to be a backup power forward.

The Knicks took the initiative to offer him an olive branch, but Marion was too late to be happy, and the chance of rejection was very small.

Walsh nodded and took note, and responded: "No problem, Lu, I will contact their two agents right away."

"Do you have someone you like for other places?"

Lu Yong thought for a moment and continued: "There are no players that I like very much. The Knicks' core lineup for the new season is complete, and any new signings will only be marginal players. But you can try to contact Danny Granger's agent. If he is interested, he can consider signing him."

Since experiencing injuries, Granger's competitive form has plummeted. He was bought out by the Pacers in the middle of last season. He joined the Clippers with a minimum salary. He averaged 8.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1 assist per game, and his shooting percentage was less than 40%. This year, he is worth nothing. Basic salary.

The Knicks signed him more as an experience package, privately imparting experience to young players, and playing a role in stabilizing the locker room.

The Knicks have a lot of players on the front line that they can use, and Granger won't have many chances to play.

"Okay, I'll get started." Walsh nodded.

"As for the last spot, it is best to find an insider with experience in the finals. Nikola will be the main force of the team in the new season, and he needs the help of veteran players." Lu Yong reminded. "No problem, I will investigate carefully and try to sign a useful insider." Walsh hung up the phone and immediately turned around and got back to work.

With Lu Yong here, the Knicks hardly need anyone else to intervene. He is mainly responsible for completing the tasks assigned by Lu Yong and playing a supporting role.

With a lot of money to make, but not many brain cells to waste, Walsh should be the most laid-back manager in the league.

Pau Gasol was very happy after receiving the call and expressed his willingness to join.

He and Knicks coach Lu Yong are acquaintances. Nowadays, the Knicks are the hottest championship favorites in the league. As long as there is nothing wrong with his mind, Gasol has no reason to refuse.

The contract is easy to negotiate, and as long as the salary offered by the Knicks is not ridiculously low, this matter is basically close to ten.

Marion and Granger received the same call. They were very interested in joining the defending champion, and other teams did not consider it at all.

Two days later, Donny Walsh signed the final player.

Glen Davis, the "big baby" who won the championship with the Celtics in 08.

Lu Yong really didn't expect that Davis would be signed for the last spot. It's not that he is a weak player. Last season, he averaged 9.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game, which was pretty good.

It's just that Davis has only been in the league for 7 years, and his seniority is not that old, which is somewhat different from what Lu Yong expected.

Fortunately, Davis has experience in the finals and has a body similar to Jokic's.

It's perfect for Davis to be a caddy for Teacher Yue. They even have the same body shape, so there's no problem of being in the right position.

After signing "Big Baby", the Knicks' 15-man roster for the new season has been officially determined.

Center: Jokic, Green, Davis.

Power forward: Pau Gasol, Stoudemire, Marion.

Small forward: Anthony, Covington, Granger.

Shooting guards: Butler, J.R. Smith, Crabbe.

Point guard: Deron Williams, Curry Jr., McRae.

The new lineup includes point guards, scorers, shooters, organization centers, and meat shields. After being poached by other teams, it is still no weaker than last season.

As long as the core players are not injured, the Knicks will most likely establish a dynasty next season.

There will be many obstacles to winning three consecutive championships, but in the face of absolute strength, those small tricks are just a joke.

After finalizing the team lineup for the new season, Lu Yong turned his attention to selecting assistant coaches.

This year's summer league is led by Hoiberg and Kidd serves as his deputy. He doesn't need to worry about it.

Since Walsh announced the recruitment of assistant coaches, he has received a lot of resumes.

Many coaches thought about the Knicks' gold plating, and everyone who was idle at home submitted their resumes.

Lu Yong saw several old acquaintances, even Juwan Howard, who had just retired not long ago, came to join in the fun.

After carefully screening twice, Lu Yong accidentally saw a name, Nick Nurse.

That's right, he was the championship coach who later led the Raptors to their first championship in team history. He made good use of the forwards and had very good coaching skills.

In the 18-19 season, Nurse served as the head coach of the NBA Toronto Raptors and led the team to win the NBA championship in his first season coaching the team.

In 20, Nurse defeated Bucks coach Budenholzer and Thunder coach Donovan, and won the best coach award with an absolute advantage.

According to official voting details, out of a total of 100 votes, Nas received 90 first-place votes, 6 second-place votes, and 2 third-place votes.In contrast, Budenholzer and Donovan only received 5 and 4 first-place votes respectively. In the selection of the best head coach of the season, Nurse's election is no doubt.

This guy is definitely not a fool, he can even be said to be a genius.

Led the team to win the championship in the first year of coaching. This glorious resume is difficult to fully summarize with the word "luck".

Even if Nas is indeed very lucky, Lu Yong will definitely not believe that he does not have two brushes.

The deepest impression Nurse left on Lu Yong was when he used BOX-1 defensive tactics against Warriors star Stephen Curry in the Finals, and used Siakam's height advantage in the lineup to single out Green, which can be said to be a surprising move. .

Clicking on the resume sent by Nurse, Lu Yong found that in addition to his personal information, there were also some comments about the Knicks attached to it.

It is proposed to reduce Anthony's proportion of holding the ball, try to let Butler participate more in the offense, and explore the threat of Anthony's off-ball shooting.

In addition, Nurse also suggested that Green should appear more often in the fifth position to create a small lineup that can change defenses infinitely and take advantage of his speed and fear of mismatches.

Lu Yong read it carefully twice and found that this was exactly the routine that Nas liked to use later.

It turns out that from this time on, he already had the idea of ​​tapping the potential of the striker.

After reading the ending, Lu Yong decided to kill him.

Although Nurse does not have much experience in the NBA, this kind of thing like opening a blind box has never happened to Lu Yong.

What he did was always open-book exams.

Lu Yong called to recruit Nurse to become the team's new assistant coach, and Walsh was obviously surprised. "Lou? Are you sure you're not joking? There are many assistant coaches who have submitted their resumes to the Knicks. Some of them are old men who have been in the industry for more than 20 years. I have seen Nick Nurse's information. His work resume is too short. He can really give the ball a try. Can the team bring help?”

I don't blame Walsh for being weird. It's really strange that Nas has no results and has no connection with the Knicks. Lu Yong took the initiative to take advantage of him.

"Don't worry, Downey, you know my taste. This guy has written some interesting things on his resume. I think he is a talent and has great potential that can be tapped." Lu Yong said with a smile.

He knew Nas' future achievements and knew this man's tactical attainments. Even if he was poor now, he would be able to stand out sooner or later in the future.

The "Lu family" coach's plan to expand and expand has never stopped. If Nurse leads the team to win the championship as the head coach in the future, Lu Yong will also be able to benefit from it.

"Okay, of course I believe you. I'll send him an electronic contract. This guy is really lucky." Walsh shrugged and said.

　Ask for a monthly ticket, ask for a recommendation ticket, ask for support!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)