no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 230 No decision two, but hometown basketball
new York.

Bird came out of the NBA headquarters building feeling refreshed.

Just now, he had a conversation with Stern, and the general content was about concerns about the Cavaliers' formation of the Big Four.

He could feel that Stern was also very angry about this matter. Essentially, Stern was tricked by James because James kept saying in front of the media last season that he would bring a championship to Indiana. Will leave or something like that.

But now the Big Four are [-]%, and the big market teams are fine, but the small market teams are not competitive and the market will shrink significantly. If the market shrinks, those bosses are unwilling to invest, and they will fall into a vicious cycle. Among them, by then it will no longer be a matter of the Cavaliers family.

This is also the real reason why Stern used to do everything possible to suppress the emergence of various super teams. He needed to ensure that every team in the league could get a piece of the NBA pie.

Although this time James jumped out of his contract and joined the Cavaliers as a free agent in compliance with the rules, and even Stern could not stop it, it is foreseeable that the Cavaliers will become the focus of the referees next season.

At this moment, his cell phone rang, and it turned out to be a call from Cavaliers general manager Griffin.

He was stunned for a moment and picked up.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Griffin explained his purpose.

He couldn't help but smile when he heard the Cavaliers wanted to trade Wiggins for Bynum.

James was unwilling to sign or replace him before, so why does Griffin think he will help the Cavaliers?
Did James not tell Griffin about his previous attitude?

It seems...it's really possible.

"If you don't like Wiggins, we can also look for third-party transactions."

Griffin persisted.

But when he heard this, Bird suddenly had an idea.

He did not refuse directly, but gave Griffin an option: Marc Gasol.

After hanging up the phone, Bird still had a smile on his face, but this time it was a proud smile.

Now that the league's centers are withering, Gasol is one of the top five centers in the league. Of course, more importantly, he is regarded as not for sale by the Grizzlies.

If the Grizzlies really like Wiggins and are really willing to trade Gasol, then he... just says he doesn't want Gasol.

The main focus is fishing.

James disgusts him so much, why shouldn't he come back disgusted?

Immediately afterwards, he got in the car and went to a local coffee shop in New York.

Then, wait there for someone to come.

Meeting Stern was not his main purpose in coming to New York, this man was.

Not long after, a man with shiny skin, round face, delicate facial features, a cute and sweet face appeared opposite him.

"Melon" Anthony.

Anthony signed a one-year contract more than James and others after the end of his rookie contract, but in the second contract after that, he had one more player option.

So he can also break out of his contract and become a free agent this summer.

Anthony saw a smile on Bird's face, and then sat down slightly cautiously.

Unlike James, Anthony respects Bird very much. After all, what he has done in his career, such as "Are you here to compete for second place?", "I will kill you here", "God wears No. 23" jersey, but we beat him” and so on, it’s so cool in his eyes.

"Melo, I want to invite you to Indiana." Bird was also quite direct.

"LeBron is leaving?" Anthony looked very surprised. Not to mention the Banana Boat Brothers, in the history of James' departure from the Heat, Wade was notified by text message at the end. How could the Plastic Brothers have so much true love?

"Yeah, he's going back to Cleveland."

When Bird said the second sentence, Anthony's eyes widened even more. James actually wanted to return to Cleveland!

Back then, Cavaliers fans burned his jersey everywhere, and Gilbert even sent an open letter to insult him. Why would James go back?

But he soon regained his composure. If it were LeBron, it seemed to make sense. Everything was just about interests.

"You know, I have always been very disdainful of him." Bird is now in the stage of making no secret of it.

"But I have always been very optimistic about you. Your scoring skills are ten times better than his. If it were not for Nike and ESPN, the Rookie of the Year would be you. If you can be on a better team, I will not I don’t think you have a chance to be MVP.”

Anthony was stunned. If such words came from other people's mouth, he would regard it as flattery, but the person speaking now is Bird, the king!

"Mr. Bird, are you serious?" He couldn't help but confirm.

"Of course, now I have an opportunity to come to Indiana to prove it." Bird nodded affirmatively.

Anthony's face turned red instantly, and he was indeed moved.

His experience with the Knicks over the years has really been a failure, especially since Stoudemire's current big contract is dragging down the team and cannot be strengthened.

If he continues like this, he might not even be a super giant in two years.

And although Indiana is not as good as New York, the ball market is now much bigger. It may not be a good place for James to plant a tree for him to enjoy the shade.

only……

After the excitement, he quickly calmed down.

The four banana boat brothers were able to get together. Some aspects were similar, and they valued interests the same. This was why he was so quick to accept James' return to Cleveland.

According to the new labor agreement, the Knicks are the only team that can provide him with a five-year maximum salary. Other teams can only provide him with four years, and the salary increases are also different.

"You can sign and trade, as long as you tell the New York management that you must come to Indiana." Bird went on to say that he also knew something about Anthony, and with Rich Paul's methods, how could a veteran like him be possible? Won't?

Anthony was really moved.

He was originally a very competitive player, but after staying in a lavish place like New York for a long time, he slowly lost a lot of things.

But now Bird gives him a chance, as Bird said, a chance to prove that he is better than James.

This is entirely possible, because the Pacers have Paul, and Paul and he are a good match.

"One more suggestion. I don't think gaining weight is a good thing for you. You have a light and agile sword, instead of becoming a heavy sword like others."

Anthony finally nodded.

This is not only about benefits, but also about opportunities and recognition. Being able to work with Bird will be a very exciting new journey for him.

……

"LeBron is leaving Indiana and returning to Cleveland"

Before the free agency door officially opened, a news report sent out by the Indianapolis Sports News caused a stir.

Well, before James decided No. [-], Bird made the decision for him!

This also instantly caused shock among the teams in the league.

It is true that Bird does not care about martial ethics this time.

But this is entirely the result of James' team's self-righteousness.

The last time he decided, James kept it secret until the last minute before announcing his decision on live television.

But this time, they thought they had everything figured out, but they openly found Bird in advance and asked Bird to cooperate with them.

Bird: he~tui.jpg!

It can only be said that James' two years in Indiana have been in vain. He really doesn't understand Bird.

James: Bird had already resigned when I came here. Do you blame me?
The release of this report put the Cavaliers into a passive position.

Not to mention the pressure from fans on social media, their negotiations with various teams have become extremely unsatisfactory.

For example, the Grizzlies completely closed the window for Gasol negotiations.

This situation is the same as when the Bulls wanted to form the Big Four.

Managers of other teams in the league certainly don't want to see a team that is strong and lasts for a very long time.

Except for a few teams that hang around most of the time and don't have much hope for the championship, other teams either don't talk about it or are open to talk.

Griffin really wanted to curse.

James screwed them up this time.

After Houston also closed the trade window, Griffin couldn't bear it and went to Gilbert.

"Boss, are we sure we want LeBron?

What I mean is that under the current situation, we may not be able to exchange Wiggins for the chips we want, and if we sign LeBron, we will be targeted by the league next season. Even with LeBron’s contract model, if he suddenly leaves, We get nothing.

We can completely build the team around three young people and wait for them to grow. I think it will be OK in another year or two. "

Gilbert looked at Griffin with dark circles under his eyes and nodded.

There is recognition of Griffin's ability and his decision.

He is a businessman. Although he also has a certain passion for basketball, in the final analysis, he is not the kind of person Cuban is. For him, the Cavaliers are more of a tool to make money.

The Cavaliers were originally unknown in the league. They became popular by selecting James and then made a lot of money.

In the past few years, James has left, the team's attention has waned, and his wallet has been shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Although Griffin is indeed right, the team may be able to build around Irving, Wiggins and Davis, but that does not mean there is money.

The Pacers are a good example. Their previous lineup has always been competitive, but the market has never been big. It was only after James, Howard, Paul and others arrived that they achieved their current prosperity.

Even look at the Spurs, with so many championships, can’t Pete Holt just keep selling tractors?

Again, why do you think Abby Pauline was willing to be the "puppet boss" and let Jordan do whatever he wanted?

If he were the owner of the Knicks or Lakers, he wouldn't have to get used to James's repeated jumping behavior.

But alas he is not.

So even if James doesn't stay with the Cavaliers for too long, it will be worth it if it allows him to make a few more years of money.

To put it another way, they paid nothing to get James, so what if they lose James again?

It's like a woman taking the initiative to fall in love with you, and then breaking up with you in the end. It's like having a prostitute for nothing, at least it's fun, isn't it?
Griffin looked helpless. He couldn't go against the boss's will. All he could do was speed up the pace.

Originally, if Bird didn't expose this matter, he could slowly choose people, but in the current situation, Bynum can't think about it anymore and can only settle for the next best thing.

And the key is that he still needs to maintain communication with James' team about this selection, and it also needs to be agreed by them.

What this general manager does is truly life-saving.

……

On July 7, the door to the free market officially opened.

The Heat became the protagonist of the first day. They first gave up Granger. This move made Riley the target of verbal criticism from many fans, who felt that he was cold-blooded and ruthless.

But who is cold-blooded if Riley is not ruthless?

After giving up Granger, the Heat signed Luol Deng with a two-year, 2 million contract.

Immediately afterwards, Wade and Bosh jumped out of their original contracts and reached a five-year, 5 million contract with the Heat.

In the same way, the combined salary of Wade, Bosh, Deng and Hibbert in the new season reaches 6589 million, which has exceeded the new season's salary cap of 6306 million.

However, because the Heat have the bird rights of Wade and Bosh, which means that both of them can renew their contracts at the end, the Heat still have room for reinforcement.

Xu Yong was also paying attention to the free market during training. When he saw the same news about the Heat, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

In history, Wade lost 2000 million in his contract due to James. Now that James was traded away early, he received the maximum salary he should have received.

Of course Wade is also worthy. In the past two years, he has led the team to win the second championship in team history. He has become the soul of the Heat and has been on the MVP list.

And because of this change, Riley doesn't have to lament that not renewing Wade's contract was the worst thing he did when he gets old, as happened in history.

Even the salary cap will increase rapidly in the future, especially at this time of 2016, the Heat will avoid the scenario of premium contracts flying all over the place.

The Bulls also began to strengthen at this time. The first operation they made was to retain Hawes with a four-year, 4 million contract.

At the same time, they were forced to let go of Livingston, who signed a three-year, $3 million contract with the Warriors.

This is also the pressure that the Bulls salary brings now. One thing that puts great pressure on the Bulls management is that Butler is about to renew his contract.

This forces them to be cautious in the selection of role players to avoid falling into the "middle-class contract trap".

At the same time, as a supplement, they used a veteran's basic salary to sign the "American Karen Mok" Andre Miller. In order to join the Bulls, the latter reached a buyout with the Nuggets and gave up the 300 million non-guaranteed part of the contract.

On this day, Butler came to Xu Yong's house.

"Gaal (Forman) approached my agent and hoped to reach an early contract extension with me."

Xu Yong was not surprised by what Butler said. The Bulls will definitely keep Butler, and the sooner, the better.

Of course, he also knew that Butler wanted to ask for his opinion.

"how much is it?"

"5 million in 7000 years."

Xu Yong touched his chin after listening.

If the contract is renewed in advance, the maximum amount Butler can extend is 5 million over five years. Based on his performance and potential last season, this contract amount shows that the Bulls still want to keep him.

"what do you think?"

"My current idea is to test the free market after next year." Butler said. "There is a certain risk." Xu Yong reminded that Rose's comeback will definitely take away the ball from Butler.

"Yes, I am hesitant because of this too." Butler said and looked at Xu Yong.

Xu Yong put down his hand, but it was difficult to give advice.

Because there are really too many uncertainties in this thing.

The first level of uncertainty is that Rose's comeback will take away Butler's ball rights, but Butler's data will not necessarily drop.

Moreover, McGrady's statistics with the Raptors were average, but the Magic were still willing to spend a lot of money to sign him.

For rookies, data doesn't mean everything. You said it's not impossible for a team to offer Butler a maximum salary next summer.

At that time, the maximum salary he can get is 5 million over five years, which is a real 9500 million.

The second level of uncertainty is whether the Bulls will match by then. If not, Butler will leave the Bulls.

The third level of uncertainty is another situation. Butler's talent is indeed incomparable with McGrady. If he can't produce data, he may not be able to get the current five-year, 5 million contract.

There is even another point. If Butler does not renew his contract and enters the contract year, it is difficult to say whether he will pursue data because of this.

This is the potential risk for the team.

However, as Butler's senior, and the relationship between the two is so good, he must be acting more from the perspective of Butler's personal interests.

"Jimmy, I can't give you much advice in this regard. I can only say that this is a choice about [confidence]."

Xu Yong's meaning is relatively clear. If you are confident enough to perform better in your rookie season, then take a gamble.

If you think it's too risky, then sign it.

"Then I'll wait for next summer." Butler said.

Xu Yong laughed after hearing this. This choice was expected. Butler was still very confident in his self-confidence.

Just in this case, they must win the championship in the new season, because if they cannot win the championship, a second layer of uncertainty is likely to occur.

After Butler left, Xu Yong picked up his phone and saw a new blockbuster tweet.

Anthony signed a five-year, $5 million max-salary contract with the Knicks, and then reached a sign-and-trade deal with the Pacers, receiving two first-round picks and a $1.24 million trade exception.

Anthony actually went to Indiana!
He originally thought that once James left, the Pacers would start rebuilding.

After all, the Pacers are different from the Heat. James left as a free agent, and Bird couldn't get anything in return by trading James like Riley did.

Now that James has been replaced by Anthony, this operation can only be said to be very embarrassing.

Moreover, the effect of Anthony paired with Paul is better than James in terms of adaptability.

But, why does this seem more and more wrong?
In his impression, whichever team James leaves has to start rebuilding, but now that James has left the Heat, the Heat won the championship, and left the Pacers, the Pacers' strength has not diminished but increased?

There's a lot of meaning in it.

And while he was still sighing, something bigger was coming.

The Cavaliers reached a three-way deal with the Timberwolves and Digital Man.

The Cavaliers sent out Jarrett Jack, Wiggins and three future first-round picks in exchange for Kevin Love.

The Digital Man sent Thaddeus Young to get Mbah a Moute and Shved, as well as a first-round pick from the Cavaliers.

The Timberwolves sent Love and received Jack and Wiggins, as well as two future first-round picks from the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers finally got Love, but the price was a bit high.

After all, sending out the No. [-] pick and paying three first-round picks is absolutely unprecedented.

It can only be said that this wave of Bird has disgusted James and the Cavaliers.

As for the Timberwolves' choice, it is reasonable.

Because they are one of the few teams that have been bad for ten thousand years.

At its peak, it was just a three-headed monster that made it to the Western Conference Finals. I didn't even know what the championship was, and basically couldn't see it. Love played like that last season and still didn't make the playoffs. Rebuilding is inevitable.

As for the Cavaliers, who are not in the same division as the Big Four, they basically have nothing to do with them.

Then, social media collapsed.

Although James has not officially announced that he will join the Cavaliers, Bird's previous wave of help in making decisions means that the Cavaliers' Big Four are already known to everyone.

After a while, social media returned to normal, and when Xu Yong opened it, he found that it was really exciting.

The first person to speak out was Bosh.

Bosh must have been squatting there waiting for the news, and immediately issued a tweet.

"I think I have to remind K.love to be mentally prepared, because he needs to learn a lot of new things in the new season, such as losing weight and squatting at the three-point line, having the ball rights greatly reduced, and being criticized by the media. Of course, these are not the biggest problems. The biggest problem is that his sacrifice may not bring him a championship."

Xu Yong burst out laughing when he saw this.

I have to say that Bosh's resentment is a bit big.

But very reasonable.

If Bosh didn't have too much resentment, he wouldn't have beaten James on the court last season.

Now that Granger is gone, although the Heat have added Deng, the suitability is much worse, which means the team's strength has declined, and his resentment will only deepen.

It's just that if he pushes down, he will inevitably be attacked collectively by the Jamies.

Bosh is not very good at this kind of social media war, but "KBfnas" came uninvited and joined the war with the Jamies.

James: Just be upset. The Cavaliers will lock in the championship in advance next season and will start a new dynasty.

KBfnas: So "not.seven (not seven) again?"

Jamie: Love is much better than you!Have you ever posted Love's numbers?Have you ever been in the second team? !
KBfnas: In the 06-07 season, Chris Bosh was selected to the second team of the league, but his excel is not complete, brother.

James: Your historical status will never be compared to LeBron, you are just a second-rate star.

KBfnas: 1>0, next question.

James: Anyway, the Cavaliers next season will have no solution. There will be an unprecedented four giants and there will be no opponents in the league.

KBfnas: Is the ball enough?
Even, the battlefield is not only Bosh's personal Twitter, but also the social media is full of smoke.

"Let's get excited, the wandering wanderers return home, Cleveland's first championship of the four major sports leagues, go! Go! Go!"

"You traitor, how dare you say that the king is wandering!" commented from "KBfnas".

"I'm so touched. I'm a Cleveland fan. I never thought we would see LeBron return! (Attached is a photo of the Cavaliers jersey from the 2009~2010 season)"

"You fake fan, the real fans have burned the jerseys long ago." A comment from "KBfnas".

"We can finally crush the Bulls!"

"Xu.is.your.dady." Comment from "KBfnas".

……

Xu Yong really couldn't help laughing.

What does "one person stand up to one teacher" mean?

However, Durant has adjusted his mentality very well this year. It seems that Nowitzki's championship is still a good incentive for Durant.

While he was smiling, a new push came over, which was a bit emotional.

Kidd and Nash rarely spoke out together and announced their retirement.

These two legendary point guards, who have been accompanied by many old fans and are known as "the base does not attack" and "the base does not defend", and have had many intersections, played for the same team to win the championship at the end of their careers, and then officially bowed out together. .

But compared to Iverson and McGrady last year, they are already lucky.

After Kidd retired, he was invited by the Magic. He will become the Magic's new head coach, coaching Oladipo and Paul George, and helping the team reach the playoffs.

Nash, fortunately, Nash did not become the head coach and go to any team. He should be enjoying some personal time.

And following the official announcement, a coaching change worthy of attention is that the Warriors fired Mark Jackson, who built the team's defensive system, and hired former TNT commentator Steve Kerr as head coach. This is his first time as an NBA head coach.

With the emergence of the [Vertical Jump Rule] and the addition of Cole, the small ball Warriors team that Xu Yong is very familiar with will officially rise.

This time, the competition intensity in the new season will be unprecedented.

In the West, the Thunder and Mavericks are still very competitive.

The Thunder's biggest move of the summer was Reggie Jackson's early extension of a five-year, $5 million contract.

Because Gasol's contract has dropped sharply in the new season, and his new contract will not be implemented until next season, this operation is still very appropriate.

As for the Mavericks, they had already found replacements before Kidd and Nash announced their retirement.

After sending Brandon Wright, Jae Crowder, Delonte West, and two first-round picks, they traded for Rajon Rondo from Boston.

Because the Celtics' Big Three disintegrated, Rondo's attention also dropped sharply.

In fact, he has had a rough two years. A torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee is a devastating injury. His athletic ability is no longer available and he has been plagued by injuries. He has played fewer games in the past two seasons. There were only a few 30 games, and the transaction value plummeted.

The Celtics are now rebuilding, and Rondo is no longer in the plan.

And now there is only the last year of his contract left. If the Mavericks are willing to spend a lot of money, Anji will naturally not refuse.

As for the Mavericks, this wave is also a gamble. There are potential injuries and there is a point guard who has no offense in the contract year.

However, this kind of transaction is very consistent with Cuban's style, allowing Nowitzki to compete for the championship throughout his career, even if they have succeeded once.

In return, Nowitzki and Cuban staged a classic contract extension this year.

Cuban: 2000 million a year, no less. If it’s less, I’ll be angry.

Nowitzki: 500 million, no more. If it's more, I'll retire. I'm not short of money.

Cuban: Whether you are short of money or not is your business, and whether you give me money or not is my business. You deserve what you get, and 1500 million cannot be less.

Nowitzki: 1000 million, maybe. I’m going to fall out again. A director in China has asked me to play the role of the King of Silver Corners. I plan to give it a try.

Cuban: OK, OK, I’ll listen to you.

In the end, after Nowitzki averaged 21.6 points per game in the season and won the FMVP and led the team to win the championship, he renewed a three-year contract worth 3 million with the Mavericks, with a player option in the third year.

This kind of salary reduction is more exaggerated than GDP and has completely exceeded the scope of other people's understanding.

This is the only time a Scorpion in the NBA has shit, and there won't be another one.

But this is the unique relationship between Cuban and Nowitzki, so it is completely reasonable for the Mavericks to sacrifice future reinforcements.

Then the Mavericks used the extra salary space to acquire Chandler Parsons with a three-year, 3 million contract.

Rondo, Leonard, Parsons, Nowitzki, Chandler, this competitiveness is still very impressive.

So in the new season, the new Three Kingdoms battle between the Warriors, Thunder and Mavericks is still full of drama.

It's even more lively in the East. The Cavaliers, Pacers, Heat, Bulls, and Raptors are the five major championship teams. If you include the Nets, Hornets, Wizards, and Hawks who made the playoffs last season, , and the Magic team headed by Kidd.

You may not believe it if you can't tell it, but these days, it's a bloody battle to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.

It is no exaggeration to say that next season will be the most fiercely competitive year in the Eastern Conference in the many years since the NBA was founded.

The free market continues, and teams continue to make minor repairs.

At this time, James published a sincere return speech on the sports website he invested in.

“I was just a kid from Northeast Ohio before anyone cared where I played, and that’s where I walked, where I ran, where I cried, where I bled, my hometown.

Remember when I was sitting in front of the Boys & Girls Club in 2010?I'm thinking, that's really hard.I could feel myself leaving something that I had spent a long time creating.

If I had to do it again, I would do things differently, but I've moved on.

Because I wanted to win a championship, which is what every player dreams of, but that was not possible in my hometown at the time, so I endured everything and chose to leave and pursue my dream like everyone else.

I have to admit that the decision that boy made back then was so immature that it hurt a lot of people. I can understand those burning jerseys, the open letters, the boos. He deserved it. He committed it. A big mistake.

Now, he's ready to come back and correct it, and everyone gets a chance to correct their mistakes, and I'm sure he does too.

This time I am not committed to the title anymore, I know that is difficult to do and we are not ready yet.

Of course, I want to win the title next year, but it will be a long process and my patience will be tested. I know that. I am facing a young team with a new coach and an already mature team. I.

I'm excited to lead these young, talented guys and feel like I can help Kyrie Irving become the best point guard in our league and help AD become the best power forward in the league.

I hope that kids in Northeast Ohio, like the hundreds of Akron third graders my foundation supports, realize there's no place like where you grew up.

Maybe after college they will go back to their hometowns and start families and start careers, that makes me smile, our community has struggled for so long and needs every gift it can get.

In Northeast Ohio nothing is given, everything is earned, and you work to get what you have.

I'm ready to take on this challenge.

I am going home. "

……

(End of this chapter)