Chapter 333

"Dunn, the Golden State Warriors currently have no idea of ​​​​trading Klay Thompson. If we want to win him, we may need to spend a huge price."

"I understand, so be it, our squad is good enough.

Leave the rest to me, John, get ready to enjoy your vacation!

You have done so much for the team, it's time to take a good rest. "

After the draft, the Bulls also tried to communicate with the Warriors management to see if they could use the Bulls' future draft picks to trade Thompson.

Obviously, it can't. After John Paxson finished communicating with the Warriors, he quickly told Duan the result.

Du En no longer insisted on this.

Thompson's potential is indeed very good, but his personality and professional attitude determine his upper limit.

If you really want to say it, Thompson has never reached the level of a superstar, and he is only the third or fourth leader on the championship team, which is to say an ordinary All-Star.

At the beginning of every year, it takes a few months to regain his touch. By the end of the season, he can still shoot 40% from three-point range.

When Duen was about to leave for Chicago, Nike staff also reported the situation to Duen.

Of course, for the vast majority of NBA players, the NBA is just a job.

After getting Du En's promise, Nike's senior management, who had no profit and could not afford to be early, was naturally willing to help Du En solve his problems.

For the bull, it is just a waste of tasteless food.

Playing ball is for work, so playing ball during work and private life after get off work, and not taking up private time to work overtime, is also reasonable.

During the period before the start of the summer league, Duan was not idle either.

Spending millions to hold a summer league is not a loss in the first place, but at most it is a bit time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Then increase the intensity of the game and introduce NBA role players.

When the time comes, Anthony, Wade and others may also bring their little brother over.

To put it bluntly, a player like Thompson who is not afraid of being scalded by boiling water and who requires the team to give him game training to regain his touch in the new season will easily damage the atmosphere of the locker room.

As for Curry, Evans, and Ibaka, the three rookies who have already played, they are still taking their own vacations.

Not to mention, Duan revealed in advance that he would play in person and was even willing to use his connections to invite stars with good connections in the NBA to come and play.

After all, the summer league that starts next is just a summer league, and the level is not high.

It is precisely because of this that Thompson's value is not that high in Duan's eyes.

However, because they did not refine their technology and add new weapons in the offseason like other counterparts, they continued to rest on their laurels.

One thing to say, this kind of shooting talent is indeed impressive.

Of course, Thompson is still very talented when it comes to shooting.

It's just that the female Bodhisattva who likes to give alms practiced the wrong ball during the offseason.

The Bulls' front line was already full, so Duan didn't force it.

That’s right, Nike has taken over.

After returning to Chicago, Dunn first made a few calls to Anthony and Wade, chatted a little about the upcoming summer league, and invited them to come and play with him when they were free.

"Duane, it's done!

We already have contact information for the vast majority of rookies and undrafted players.

The Bulls' main strategy is not to use defenders as the core, but because of Duan's presence, they are destined to focus on the forwards.

To take a step back, the Bulls already have Curry with better shooting ability anyway, and it doesn't matter whether Thompson has him or not.

Next, we will communicate with the players union, and there should be many NBA players participating in our league. "

However, the Bulls are a championship team, and the Bulls' locker room needs a group of like-minded players who all want to win and win a championship.

As for defensive and offensive abilities, Kawhi and George are not only not bad but actually better.

Taking into account the lack of participants in this summer league, coupled with the lack of intensity of the league, it is also Nike's attempt to expand the influence of the summer league.

Therefore, Thompson will always be just a shooter with immediate combat power and no further possibilities.

As the saying goes, having fun alone is not as good as having fun together. Duan spent his own money to take the Bulls rookies with them, go boating on the lake, eat and drink, and spend a few days on vacation.

The vast majority of rookies who are about to enter the NBA, as well as those who are undrafted in the draft and don't know where to find a job, are willing to participate in Nike's upcoming Chicago Summer League.

According to the plan, this year’s rookies and this year’s undrafted players from previous years will be given half a month of playing time.

So Nike is also planning to join forces with the players union to provide some help and a stage for those NBA role players and marginal players who don't know where to practice in the summer, as well as a stage to show themselves.

The only surprise was Harden.

It was also because of the schedule that was disclosed to the Bulls rookies in advance, so the rookies around Duan were basically in 10 and 11 years.

Many players are very interested in the upcoming Chicago Summer League.

However, the Bulls' rookies have not arrived, and Bojan Bogdanovic is still playing in Turkey due to contract issues.

In other words, with Nike stepping in, Duane doesn't have to worry.

Butler once again acts as a catfish, motivating other rookies in the team.

By mid-August, Duane will also lead the Bulls' rookies to play.

However, the Bulls' forward line is already overcrowded, and some of the guards' playing time will inevitably be taken up in the new season.

Evans is now much stronger than Harden in immediate combat. Before the Bulls sell Evans, Harden is destined to sit on the bench.

This also means that no matter how hard Harden works, the Bulls will at least keep him under contract for a few years.

For Harden, the only good news is probably that he can receive a few more championship rings.

Time flies to July 7, three days before the Nike Summer League.

Duen and others began to calm down slowly, entered the training hall prepared by Nike in advance, and actively participated in daily training, trying to get back to the state of playing as much as possible. When the Nike Summer League was officially held on July 7, Curry, Evans and Ibaka also arrived one after another.

It can be said that the Bulls' lineup for next season is basically complete, and the only one missing is Milicic.

Milicic didn't particularly love basketball. For him, basketball is just like a black child in the United States, a protective talisman and a way forward.

Now he also has an NBA championship ring, and he became an All-Star substitute last year. As an international player, he is already very good in terms of honors.

There is no shortage of money now. After all, the rookie contract is not small, and he now has a sub-maximum salary contract. Although it is about to expire, in the era of declining centers, there is not much pressure to renew the contract.

Milicic didn't have much to pursue, so he became a Buddhist and entered the healthy basketball mode in advance.

This is also the reason why the Bulls have selected forwards and interior players in the past two years.

Championship teams don't need sluggish, muddle-headed veterans.

Just like corporate layoffs, the Bulls need to constantly refresh their roster if they want to stay active.

The only thing that remains unchanged is cornerstone players like Duan.

Having said that, the summer league has officially started, and first-year Kawhi, Butler, and Vucevic, and second-year players George, Bradley, and Jeremy Lin are all playing well.

The only thing that is relatively rough and has average performance is the white edges that are not enlightened.

As time goes by, Bulls rookies rely on talent to gradually make a name for themselves in this summer league.

The 11th rookie also showed good talent and potential through this summer league.

Through the promotion of Nike and Chicago media, as well as Chicago fans spontaneously talking about the summer league online, many fans also realized that this super young year was not as bad as they imagined.

At the same time, due to the NBA suspension, basketball leagues are blooming all over the United States this summer.

Among them, Rucker Park and West Fourth Street in New York, Drew League and Venice Beach in Los Angeles are particularly famous.

Of course, the Chicago Summer League also became famous throughout the country because of Duane's presence.

Many NBA stars learned that Du En would also play, so they found a few helpers and came together.

It is worth mentioning that Wade and James, as players signed by Nike, came to play for a few days and played a few games, but they did not come together.

Of course, the most commendable game of the Nike Summer League was the 70-point battle between Duane and Kobe.

In a game in which both teams scored more than 100 points, Duane and Kobe competed with each other and both scored over 70, much to the delight of the fans.

In addition, the news that Duan and Durant competed with each other by 60 points and Anthony and Anthony by 50 points also made headlines in some sports media.

Some media noticed that Du En was always on par with his opponents, and then discovered that Du En, the tea-server master, was becoming more and more sophisticated in his skills, and his ability to control points was so perfect that it made people think deeply about it.

Time flies to the end of September. Because the NBA lockout has not ended, labor and management have not been able to appear at the same table.

Some NBA players who were concerned about food and clothing issues felt quite uneasy. For the sake of livelihood, they left Chicago one after another and began to look for new jobs.

Since then, CBA has become the next stop for some NBA players.

There are even people like this in the Bulls.

However, Zhu Fangyu's situation is different from others. He was recruited back.

There is still one year left before the London Olympics, and the NBA is suspended this year. In order to avoid delaying Zhu Fangyu, Hongyuan recruited him and hoped that he would return to his hometown.

Zhu Fangyu also knew that the Bulls had drafted so many guards and small forwards in the past two years that he was almost squeezed out of the rotation, so he decisively chose to return to China.

Du En didn't pay much attention to this, and he wasn't that interested. Although some CBA team owners contacted him through intermediaries, Du En declined them all.

You can't play good chess with a bad chess basket, and it's the same in sports competitions.

Although Yi Jianlian had the opportunity to return to the NBA after returning to China, he ultimately failed to return.

Wu Lei played well in La Liga and was assimilated within a year of returning to China.

Du En is also worried that after returning to China to play two games in the CBA, he will become a bad guy after being abused.

Therefore, it is better to stay in Chicago and continue to level up with the rookies.

Time flies, and it’s another two months.

At 11 a.m. on November 27, as the new round of labor negotiations officially ended, the NBA finally announced the schedule for the new season.

This year’s NBA opening game will be merged with the Christmas Day game, and the new season will start on December 12.

The Bulls are one of the participating teams in the opening game.

As long as the clouds are clear and the moon is clear, the Bulls rookie has always been in Chicago. Except for the money problem, there are no problems in other aspects.

The other players who stayed in the Chicago Summer League can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Of course, there are also some undrafted players who want to establish a relationship with Du En and enter the NBA.

In this regard, Du En can only say that the Bulls are already overcrowded.

In the new season, the Bulls have not yet strengthened, but they have already filled the 13-man roster.

Point guard: Curry, Bradley, Jeremy Lin.

Shooting Guards: Evans, Harden.

Small forward: Duane, George, Kawhi, Butler.

Power forward: Ibaka, Vucevic.

Center: Milicic, Hassan Whiteside.

It is worth mentioning that the Bulls' salary this season is 5100 million, third from the bottom in the league, and the salary cap is 5800 million.

Next, if the Bulls want to make a trade, it will be very simple. They can prepare enough draft picks, then sign two mid-level players and balance the salaries.

(End of this chapter)

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