no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 295 "Choice"

Curry ultimately won the FMVP unanimously.

Although he lost to Durant in the regular season MVP competition, he ultimately achieved greater gains.

After receiving the trophy from the trembling Russell, Curry couldn't help crying.

After waiting for more than a minute, when Russell patted Curry on the shoulder and smiled kindly, Curry finally controlled his emotions.

With a hint of hoarseness in his voice, Curry delivered his acceptance speech.

"In 2009, I came to the Bay Area, in 2011, Klay came here, in 2012, Draymond came here, and then Iguodala and Wiggins, they said, 'Jumpers can't win championships.' , but it took us seven years to prove ourselves. We didn’t have all our hair back then, but today, we finally became the championship.”

When Curry said this, he reached out and touched his beard.

This scene caused deafening cheers from fans in the Bay Area, and also made Xu Yong couldn't help but laugh.

Xu Yong has every reason to believe that Curry's beard is not just to make himself look more mature, but more like a kind of "beard Mingzhi".

Moreover, the sentence "The hair has not grown all the way" is a pun. Although it is short, it is brilliant enough.

At this time, Xu Yong couldn't help but think of Curry in the space before his rebirth. He won three championships in five years, but his poor performance in the first championship period allowed Iguodala to steal the FMVP. After that, he won 73 games and finished second. The next two championships were lost to fans. The complaints were about hugging Durant's thighs. When Durant left and failed to win the championship, the doubts came to the maximum.

If it weren't for the championship in 2022, Curry would never be able to escape being questioned in his life.

But now, in 2019, Curry has dispelled the doubts from the outside world in advance.

Especially in Curry's speech, Thompson and Green were mentioned.

In a sense, the Warriors' championship is the same as last season's Thunder. They are based on the rookies trained by the team, and then select some suitable rotation players to win the championship after many years.

Therefore, if Xu Yong is asked to evaluate whether the historical Curry before his rebirth is more respected, or the Curry of this time and space, he cannot evaluate it.

This may only be analyzed by fans.

The cheers at the scene lasted for a long time, not only because of Curry's words, but also because this was their second championship after 44 years.

Wang Shibei set the Central Plains Day, and the family sacrifice never forgot to tell Nai Weng.

This statement applies to many Bay Area fans.

After sighing with emotion, Xu Yong was also a little excited for Curry. With a dry mouth, he picked up the water in the cup on the table and took a sip.

Just after Curry gave his acceptance speech, Green seemed to have something to say.

The host saw it and handed the microphone to him.

"I want to say that after someone leaves, we are the championship!"

Green was very emotional, and these words made the already excited fans go crazy again.

Xu Yong choked on the water he just drank and coughed.

Green is really a big talker. If he talks like this in this situation, this post-game cliffhanger will be trending.

But think about Green's character. If he seizes the opportunity, he will never let you go.

James didn't know if he was watching the finals at this time. If he was, he would probably have a sentence popping up in his mind at this moment: why always me? (why always me)

Before he left the Heat, the Heat won the championship and the Haslem Formula 2.0 was born, and now, Green reminds fans of this sentence.

Xu Yong was also in a state of collapse.

So [signing James, then trading him] is the new championship formula?

After watching the finals, Xu Yong tidied up and then drove to the arena to practice more.

Leading the team to the Western Conference Finals is not his goal. His only goal in coming to Dallas is to help the Mavericks regain the championship.

When he came out from training, he saw Nelson standing at the door.

"Come to my office for a cup of coffee later?" Nelson smiled and invited him.

Xu Yong nodded. It was no coincidence that little Nelson appeared here, but he came to see him specially.

Unlike Foreman's Chinese-character face, Nelson Jr. has a round, fat face that gives people a shiny look. He is very similar to his father, Nelson.

But Xu Yong had a very good impression of him, even much better than Foreman.

Because Nelson is an authentic China expert, even very fanatical about Chinese culture.

Xu Yong had been invited to his home before, where he saw many things that represented Chinese culture. Chinese knots were just the tip of the iceberg. He even saw a water mill in his yard.

David West has been very interested in Chinese culture since he grew up, but Nelson has been very interested in Chinese culture since he was a child. This not only prompted him to visit China many times, but also made him visit China in 2008. At that time, he became the assistant coach of the Chinese men's basketball team.

One thing that impressed Xu Yong, who was already in the national team at that time, was that Nelson's daughter became seriously ill during the Olympics, but Nelson still chose to stay and hurried back after the Olympics.

His Chinese plot even affected his father, Nelson.

You can even say that the Mavericks' previous series of Chinese plots, including the signings of Wang Zhizhi, Yi Jianlian, etc., were all caused by Nelson.

When Xu Yong arrived at the office after taking a shower, Nelson was already there making tea and waiting for him.

Well, the relationship between Jokic and Nelson should not be bad.

After drinking tea and briefly chatting about home affairs, Nelson got straight to the point.

"We want to know your opinion about DeMar."

Nelson was more cautious when he said it. After all, DeRozan and Xu Yong have a relationship as college teammates.

"We respect DeMar very much, otherwise we wouldn't have chosen him in the first place, but his performance after arriving here did not meet expectations. I believe that is not a problem of his ability, but just a matter of adaptability. We want to help Find more suitable helpers.”

Xu Yong looked at little Nelson.

Nelson Jr. said it tactfully, and there was no problem from the management's perspective.

DeRozan's regular season status is unstable, his performance in the playoffs is not good, and he occupies the salary space of the maximum salary.

You must know that Jokic will also start to receive a maximum salary next season. If Xu Yong renews his contract, he will also receive a maximum salary. With three maximum salaries, the reinforcement of role players is very limited.

In this case, trading DeRozan for several rotation-level players is obviously a better choice.

"Although that means we may have to pay first-round draft picks in the next few years, but compared to that, I think not wasting your peak period is more important." Seeing Xu Yong didn't speak, Nelson Jr. then added road.

Xu Yong nodded, but then shook his head.

The nod is in recognition of what Nelson Jr. said. Compared with the Bulls' previous approach of dealing with Rose, which was similar to cutting first and playing later, the Mavericks management's approach can be said to have given him enough respect.

Shaking his head, he didn't think that was a feasible method, at least not now.

"Donny, I'm not the kind of person who has to change my teammates if they don't perform well in a season." Xu Yong said seriously.

Little Nelson was stunned for a while, and finally nodded.

The management's goal must be to build a better lineup, but if Xu Yong insists on trying again, they will respect Xu Yong's choice.

After all, compared to Xu Yong, others are actually not that important.

……

"You mean, you want to trade a young player for a star player?" Lakers general manager Pelinka looked at James and confirmed. "We have too many young players. If we want to achieve good results, I need real helpers." James nodded and confirmed. Because of his close relationship with Pelinka, he said many things directly without beating around the bush.

"You know, I'm 35 years old, and I don't want to waste my last peak." Perhaps out of fear that Pelinka would disagree, James immediately added that last season was the first time he missed a season since the 2005-2006 season. Postgame.

Pelinka suddenly became serious when he heard this.

James has been fighting against Xu Yong over the years, which makes people instinctively think that they are the same age, but in fact James is 6 years older than Xu Yong.

The 29-year-old Xu Yong is still at the peak of his career, while the 35-year-old James, although he failed to make the playoffs, can maintain such efficiency is unique in history.

"So, who is the right helper?" Pelinka asked after thinking for a while.

"Inside." From Wade to Paul to the Splash Brothers, he has become a little tired of the ball rights disputes that arise when working with outside star players.

"A star insider with scoring ability and excellent defense." He then added.

Pelinka couldn't help but frowned when he heard this.

James' request doesn't sound simple, and it's also quite difficult to actually implement it.

After all, there are only a handful of post players in the league who are capable of attacking and must be star post players who can combine offense and defense.

Griffin of the Clippers, Towns of the Timberwolves, Embiid of the numbers man, Antetokounmpo of the Raptors, even counting Aldridge of the Bulls and Horford of the Celtics , just a few.

But no matter which one it is, it is not something they can get easily.

Oh, there are also Howard, Love and Davis, but those are all former teammates of James and should not be included.

"I'll let Rich find a way. As long as you can cooperate with me." Seeing Pelinka's expression, James simply said directly.

Pelinka was stunned for a moment, but still smiled and nodded.

He is an agent and became the general manager of the Lakers in 2017 because of his relationship with Kobe. He also got the position after fighting openly and secretly with "Magic" Johnson. There are many doubts.

It wasn't until he successfully brought in James and gave the Lakers a new look that the doubts dissipated.

Although James' current strength in all aspects is not as good as before, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse and is always better than that group of rookies.

As for rebuilding like he did when he trained Kobe, that is not what his influence should do. If he really did that, he would have been fired before any players grew up.

In other words, he doesn't care about the future of the Lakers, he only cares about his own interests. This is his thinking mode as an agent.

This is why he and James can pee into the same pot.

……

After the second conversation with Nelson, Xu Yong pulled DeRozan to train with him.

Since he supported DeRozan in front of Nelson, he must make DeRozan stronger next season.

He really didn't believe it. DeRozan was so good when he was playing against the Bulls.

As for DeRozan, Xu Yong knows him better. DeRozan is the passive type and he wants to whip him hard with a whip.

DeRozan lost his father and his lover. He had nothing to lose.

While they were training, the 2019 NBA Draft came to an end in Brooklyn.

This year's No. 23 pick belongs to the Pelicans. After Westbrook left, the team focused on training Simmons. The latter played an all-around data of 8+8+ and became the cornerstone of the team's future.

Of course, the price is that the Pelicans' record dived into the lottery and they were "lucky" to get the No. 1 pick.

This is also Tatum's first favor for the city of New Orleans after taking office.

The Pelicans finally chose to reach a deal with the Grizzlies, who owned the second pick, and gave the No. 1 pick to the other side, getting the second pick and a protected future first-round pick.

The Grizzlies used this pick to acquire the most popular Zion Williamson.

"After missing Xu that year, we will not miss Williamson this time." Some Grizzlies fans cheered on social media.

William is the one who wiped out 13 billion US dollars from Nike's stock. He has been the No. 12 pick in the draft predictions for consecutive months. Even [LOGO] West gave this comment: "You can't miss Zion. , it’s like you can’t miss Jordan in the draft.”

The Pelicans' transaction is also somewhat helpless, because the playing styles of Williamson and Simmons are highly overlapping.

Although in terms of talent, William seems to be much higher than Simmons, it is impossible for them to give away the newly cultivated Simmons.

And they also took a fancy to another talented outside player, the NCAA point guard of the year, winner of the Bob Cousy Award, and the first player to average 1980 points and 20 assists per game since the NCAA began to have assist data in 10. Ja Morant.

This inside-outside partnership is the best model for a rebuild.

Two five-star high school students who were previously coached by Xu Yong, Jaylen Smith chose to play for another year, and Cam Reddish ran for the draft this year.

Reddish was ultimately selected by the Lakers with the tenth overall pick.

Don't ask why the Lakers have such a high lottery pick, ask why the Lakers rookies didn't play well.

Then when he learned about the Mavericks' first-round selection, Xu Yong was stunned for a moment subconsciously.

Because the Mavericks selected Jordan Pu'er with the 27th pick in the first round!

This pick, this choice, it's just... normal.

In the history before Xu Yong was reborn, Pu'er was picked by the Warriors with the 28th overall pick.

As for the Mavericks, with Barea and Harris retiring one after another, they are now short of guards on the bench, so it makes sense to choose Pu'er.

Then, just after the free market opened, Nelson mysteriously told him that an old acquaintance was coming to Dallas.

By the time Xu Yong was halfway through training that day, the old acquaintance Nelson mentioned had already arrived at the door of the training hall.

Dusty, but radiant.

When Xu Yong saw him, he was stunned for a moment, and then felt indescribable excitement. He went up and gave him a big bear hug.

At this time, only Rose's arrival could make him so excited!

"Why are you here?" After sitting down, Xu Yong couldn't help holding Rose's hand and started chatting.

Rose's arrival did come as a surprise, because Rose only returned to the Bulls last season. Although he signed for a one-year minimum salary, he played well.

"They don't need me anymore." Rose's answer sounded very calm, but Xu Yong could completely hear the bitterness in it.

Xu Yong was confused.

"They need to give Dejounte room to grow. He is a newcomer with great potential." Rose said with a smile.

Murray, he actually forgot about Murray.

Indeed, with Beverley and Murray, the Bulls already have enough point guards. It doesn't make much sense to leave Rose to play the third point guard. It is a better choice to separate.

"It's great that you can come." Xu Yong held Rose's hand without letting go.

Not only because of their relationship, but also because of the thing they once dreamed of on the balcony.

They also have a dream to complete the dynasty together.

(End of this chapter)