no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 134 Decision One
"We couldn't do it in the end." Foreman reluctantly accepted the fact, and then called Wade.

He didn't know why things would develop like this. You must know that he just wanted to sign Bosh at first, and then signed Wade as an alternative.

But after some power bound Wade and Bosh, he seemed to be led by the nose.

And worse than not being able to sign Wade and Bosh, with all those trade attempts he failed, it would be very difficult for them to send Hinrich or Deng away even if they could not sign Wade and Bosh.

All they can use now is the 2100 million salary space left.

In other words, they can only activate Plan C, and the sooner the better, because if they don't hurry up, there won't be many fish left in the free market this year.

……

Fast forward to November 7th.

This day is destined to become a historic day, because three days ago, James announced that he would announce his decision on where to go next season in an ESPN column.

And just such a decision, it will occupy an hour of ESPN prime time.

It's an act that may seem unbelievable, but is destined to attract a lot of attention.

Because before this, no player has ever announced his next home with such great fanfare.

This is regarded by some as a benchmark for "Awakening of Players". They are no longer just commodities of the commercial alliance, they also have their own ideas and can control their own freedom.

That's right, freedom, free air, free wildfires, what Americans pursue in 360 degrees without dead ends.

However, this approach completely angered Stern, Stern asked ESPN to cancel such absurd programs.

But in the end, ESPN showed their strength, and Stern didn't get what he wanted.

Most basketball fans across America were drawn to ESPN that night.

Some of them were believed to be fans of James' next team. Some of them gathered in bars in their respective cities, and some of them went directly to the show, Greenwich, Connecticut, holding signs. Slang, such as "Come to the Nets", "New York welcomes you LeBron" and other logotypes.

Of course, more fans are purely melon-eating mentality.

Because before that, as the Heat have contributed to the lineup of Wade and Bosh, some reporters broke the news that James will go to the Heat to form the top three giants. They also want to know whether this unprecedented thing will really happen.

There are even some who play it purely as a clown.

Because it is hard for you to imagine a player who has failed for seven consecutive years, and just after being hacked, he still made himself so fanciful.

Of course, no matter what the mentality is, this live broadcast is destined to be watched by everyone.

According to statistics, about 1000 million people are watching this program at the same time.

This also includes Xu Yong and Harden.

They don't care where James will go, but they just think it's fun.

From another perspective, they really couldn't imagine that Nowitzki, after being hacked in 2007, said that he would announce where he was going through TV.

While watching, Harden and the others were also guessing where James was going.

DeRozan: I still think it's the Bulls;

Ayers: No matter where you go, it is impossible to go back to the Cavaliers anyway. If you go back, there is no need to make such a mess.

Harden: The Clippers have the greatest chance. Anyway, I don't believe that LeBron will go to the Heat, so he won't have to play next season.

The show will start soon.

Before the start, the host announced that an estimated $200 million in proceeds from the telecast will be donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Connecticut, a club dedicated to discovering and developing the potential of young children and valuing their creativity, mutual care and civic responsibility club.

Obviously, ESPN also knows that this approach is a bit grandstanding, so it first added a layer of shield to the show.

When everything is ready, the program officially begins.

To be honest, ESPN, as the No. [-] sports media in North America, is still very strong in programming. After a series of foreshadowing, it throws out "Is his Cavaliers career really over?", tantalizing.

It's just that when he heard "this result made the fans and the entire NBA sweat", "the whole country is on pins and needles", Xu Yong was a little bit hard to collapse.

Although from a certain point of view, it is also correct, because the people who really sweat about this matter are worried that he will set a precedent for the peak team.

When the show started, there were kids from the Boys and Girls Club. The host and James sat on a small stage in the middle, like two drama actors, and began to ask and answer questions.

Of course, it was a long process of laying the groundwork, and the host started to ask some innocuous topics, such as what have you experienced this summer, what did you do in the past two days, when did you make this decision, etc. I almost asked Liang Jingru to sing "Courage": You finally made this decision...

Xu Yong was speechless.

To paraphrase book fans, this is too watery.

Things that can be done in 5 minutes can be done in an hour.

Finally, just when Xu Yong felt a little bored and wanted to get up, the host of the show probably also realized that if he dragged on, he would lose the audience, he finally asked the question that everyone had been waiting for for a long time: "LeBron, what is your decision?" What?"

That's right, it's that straightforward, and that's why it will be called a [decision] in the future, because it really is a decision.

Of course, later because of his follow-up decision, he changed from decision to decision one, and that was a later matter.

"This late fall, I'm going to take my talent to the East Coast and I'm going to join the Miami Heat."

"Come. on!"

"This is ridiculous!"

"I knew it."

Beside Xu Yong, Harden and the others had already started shouting.

Although this possibility has been exaggerated before the start of the show, and even the show crew deliberately foreshadowed that some reporters already knew about James' choice and had been vaccinated in advance, but this result still makes people feel ridiculous.

The peak team, and it is also the successor of the alliance appointed by Stern.

In particular, James also used the phrase smartly: I will bring my talent to...

This sentence, which was uttered by Kobe back then and regarded as a classic by the fans, was directly tarnished at this moment.

You also said that you don't want to be the second Kobe, you do, but in the end you just imitated the whole thing!

The TV screen then began to cut the street scenes of Cleveland, because there were already Cavaliers fans burning James' No. 23 jersey, and some even held up the "LeBum (meaning the lying emperor)" sign that had been prepared in advance. language.

No one is a fool. People like Ayers who have only been in the Cavaliers for a year know that James will leave. Cleveland fans can actually guess it, but James fulfilled his promise to participate in the dunk contest last season, which made them feel The last glimmer of hope.

After all, James once promised them personally: I will not leave Cleveland.

ESPN is really good at making programs.

Then James showed his psychological quality in front of the camera, and said calmly that he had spent seven years of hard work in Cleveland, and he was very happy with the choice he made today.

Not long after that, James left the show and flew to Miami for a wild meet and greet with his new fans.

The live broadcast has ended, and several people are still chatting.

"What will you do next season?" DeRozan looked at Xu Yong and asked.

Among the four of them, except for Harden, the remaining three are in the East.

And the situation of the three is completely different.

This is a good thing for Ayers. James is gone, and O'Neal is basically gone. The Cavaliers will definitely not reinforce and dive directly into the lottery. Ayers, who basically had no chance in his rookie season, should also get a chance.

DeRozan is okay, Bosh is gone, the Raptors will have to wait a few more years if they want to make the playoffs, but he can get more opportunities.

But Xu Yong's words are different. The Bulls completed the black eight last season, and the new season's reinforcement lineup has changed to a new coach. They must play something.

But now, the operation of the Heat, the top three giants, will not only completely seal them next season, but also completely seal the Bulls' championship window in the next few years.

"What should I do? Are they sure to win?" Xu Yong was very calm, and asked with a smile. This result was the least unexpected for him.

DeRozan originally wanted to say something, but when he thought of Xu Yong's character and the things Xu Yong did after getting to know Xu Yong, he fell silent again.

"Tell me, DeMar, when Boston formed the Big Three, do you also feel that the NBA is coming to an end?" Xu Yong asked DeRozan.

DeRozan nodded. Not only did he think so, but almost many people thought so. At least in the next three to five years, other teams have no hope.

"But they only won one championship in the end, didn't they?" Xu Yong asked again.

Even without Xu Yong's eye, others can feel that after last season's loss and the Heat's big three teaming up, it is very difficult for the Celtics to hope for the championship.

"But the ages of those three people..."

"You know, age may sometimes represent immaturity, how do you know that younger people may even end up...without a single champion?" Xu Yong said with a smile.

This time DeRozan didn't laugh yet, Harden on the side laughed first.

He thought that the proficient level he had cultivated in the past six months had already achieved a little bit, but it was still not enough in front of Xu Yong.

But speaking of it, the media previously broke the news that Xu Yong let James break through the defense twice during the black eight. This level of trash talk is absolutely top-notch, not to mention that it is on par with Bird.

"Okay, but now I'm curious how the Bulls will make reinforcements." DeRozan continued.

As the dust settles on the Big Three, the remaining big fish in free agency will make their decisions soon.

Xu Yong also nodded.

Although his appearance has changed some things, history is still developing in his original direction, so maybe the Bulls will still sign Boozer?
Or, because of his appearance, the Bulls, which has undergone tremendous changes, will go in a different direction?
He didn't know, but he was just as curious.

……

James' decision is still going on.

Just as James was heading to Miami, Cavaliers owner Daniel Gilbert posted an open letter on social media.

In that letter, Gilbert vented his emotions like other fans. He called James a hypocritical and narcissistic departure, a coward's "betrayal" from a guy who once called himself a king.

Cleveland fans also began to gather around James' home, trying to storm his mansion to vent their emotions.

At the same time, after James arrived in Miami, under the arrangement of Pat Riley, he had a grand meeting with Miami fans.

That is, at this meeting, James, Wade and Bosh slowly rose from the audience wearing Heat jerseys, and people saw the jersey numbers of James and Bosh for the first time.

Bosh still wears his No. 1 jersey, and James, instead of continuing to wear No. 23, changed to No. 6!
Miami fans are excited, because in their opinion, there is only one reason why James chose No. 6, to take revenge on Xu Yong!
If it weren't for Xu Yong, the Cavaliers would not be hacked, and James would not have to leave the Cavaliers.

Although he looked a little embarrassed when he left, his attitude was very tough after he got to the Heat.

And just after the three sat down, when the reporter was asked how many championships he would bring to the Heat, James' answer made Riley, who was sitting upright, laugh.

"More than one, more than two, more than three, more than four, more than five, more than six, more than seven."

James said and counted on his fingers, as if they were so easy to get.

His number finally stayed at seven, because seven championships are enough to surpass Jordan.

The fans in Miami were completely overwhelmed.

This never-before-seen super lineup, coupled with these words of James, has made them seem to see the pile of golden championship trophies.

……

chicago.

Foreman was discussing nervously with a bald man in the general manager's office.

"Our best choice now is Carlos Boozer. The premise is that we lose two future first-round picks to send Hinrich away." Foreman said, wanting to slap the table.

He now knows that Pat Riley is playing tricks behind his back, but it is obvious that his rookie general manager is not the opponent of the opponent, and he is still very passive.

"Of course Luis Scola is also an option. I heard that Yao is likely to leave Houston, and the Rockets may be disintegrated." Foreman continued.

"Can you get Ron Artest?" Thibodeau, who had been listening in front, said at this time.

"It's hard, I heard that Ron is likely to follow Yao Ming to a new team." Foreman shook his head.

"Wait, do you want to play the ultimate defensive counterattack?" Foreman has been in the NBA for so many years and knows a little bit about tactics. Thibodeau's words just now made him realize instantly that he was not going to want a regular power forward. , Hit one big and four small ones?
"If I can get Bosh, I definitely won't choose that. After all, we need a tough point inside, but we can't get him now. What I need to consider is the overall defense of the team, and..." Thibodeau said and looked at the Eye Foreman, "ball possession problem."

Thibodeau's words made Foreman quickly realize that this defensive coach may not even want Bosh.

Because zone defense requires fast movement, if there is a small forward who is as strong as Artest, he can quickly pinch and return to defense.

As for the low-post defense, the Noah who gained weight is enough for him now.

And the key is the ball possession issue he mentioned.

The biggest difference between the Bulls and history is that they have Xu Yong, a player who ranks second on the team in both scoring and field goal attempts.

Rose and Xu Yong took almost 34 shots last season.

As they continue to grow in the new season, their demand for shots will further increase.

And Deng also needs to make a shot. If another inside attack point is added, it is true that one ball is not enough.

The most likely result is that either the number of newcomers such as Bosh or Boozer's inside shots plummets, causing conflicts within the team; or the evolution of Rose and Xu Yong is curbed, and the team's strength cannot be improved.

You must know that no matter how talented a player is, he also needs the ball to play.

You have a team full of young players, parachute a goat, it's all going to be a pile of shit.

"It's difficult to operate." Foreman said after thinking about it.

It is not easy to find such a striker who can meet Thibodeau's requirements. Not only Artest is difficult to deal with, but similar Kirilenko also has a large premium contract of more than 600 million, like Gerald Wallace It is the core of the Bobcats.

Both fell silent.

"You just said that Ron will probably follow Yao to a new team?" After a while, Thibodeau suddenly asked.

　I thought that after reading the previous draft, no one would say anything about water in this book. The whole chapter of Chapter 71 said that the comments about water are still there. Now that the draft is finished and I go back to read it, do you still think it is water?Of course, as long as you don’t swear directly, you can make complaints about the whole book. The following paragraphs are mainly aimed at the trainees who skip and then hate: this book will miss the foreshadowing if you skip a chapter. De's return to Chicago will feel abrupt. It's not that I didn't prepare it, it's your choice not to watch it!And this plot, I conceived it for a long time in the last chapter, trying to make the behavior of the characters reasonable, you call that water?There are a few authors who can do that!In the end, it is logical for me to write this way. Let’s not say that the first goal of the Big Three in history is to go to the Bulls. It’s just that the Bulls can’t clear the space. It’s the background of the Bulls’ black eight in the book, plus the salary space. Which free agent would not want to go?But why didn't it work out in the end?To explain!These plots are explanations, and they are reasonable developments. Otherwise, why do I have the space, opportunities, and players to have ideas, and I can form a five-star lineup? Is it because I am worried that the league will be ruled by me for too long?Warriors have proven it
　　
　
(End of this chapter)