When pride still matters

Chapter 242: Get rich in silence, don’t want it loudly

When word spread that Kobe Bryant said "I will never play with that bastard again," the Lakers had reached a crossroads.

Now it's the boss's turn to take a stand.

At the end of every season, the Lakers hold an internal party that everyone in the organization attends.

There was Kobe at the party, Malone and Payton, Fox and Fisher. Of course, there was O'Neal and his wife.

O'Neal still looked like a leader, with a kind smile on his face, making fun of everyone, and then ordered himself a drink.

He then saw owner Jerry Buss.

O'Neal originally wanted to pay tribute to Buss to show how willing he was to continue playing for the Lakers. However, Old Buss left the others alone, came to Kobe and Vanessa alone, said a few words, and then left.

Although nothing has happened, Bass's actions have made it clear who he will choose to continue to lead the team moving forward.

At the same time that Buss was making his decision, the top news in the rumor mill was that Kobe was getting closer to joining the Clippers in the same city.

If it had happened, it would have been as devastating as someone carving out old Bass's heart with a rusty knife and handing it to Donald Sterling for dinner.

Losing a 26-year-old superstar is devastating for any team.

One day later, Kobe met publicly with Elgin Baylor, and it was said that they had a very happy conversation.

The Lakers began to seek to renew Kobe's contract at all costs.

Kobe's agent, Rob Pelinka, made two demands on behalf of his employer: "Kobe no longer wants to play for Phil Jackson, and he doesn't want Shaquille O'Neal on the team."

So the Lakers decided to have a dream in life with Jackson, and they will be wonderful. Goodbye.

Three days after the Finals, general manager Mitch Kupchak announced that the team would listen to all offers related to O'Neal.

It is said that O'Neal was eating potato chips at home when he saw the news.

The Lakers didn't even notify him if they wanted to trade him.

OK's farce finally reached its climax.

At the same time, Yu Fei had just completed the recording of "Two on Two" and stayed in Los Angeles for a while to live a two-person world with Christina.

Subsequently, whether it was O'Neal's trade or the approaching draft, Yu flew back to Milwaukee.

If he is an ordinary team core, he may respect the professionalism of the team management in terms of drafting, but he is a time traveler after all. Although he does not know much about the NBA before 2015, he still knows a few through daily accumulation. personal.

On Yu Fei's last night in Los Angeles, he asked someone for this year's mock draft predictions, and specifically looked at players whose draft prospects were at the end of the first round and second round.

He hoped to find a few acquaintances here.

Facts have proved that as long as you are willing to pay, you will always gain something.

Yu Fei saw Kevin Martin's name in the draft predictions of ESPN draft expert Andy Katz.

Yu Fei has never watched Martin play, but he has watched many James Harden games.

In Harden's heyday, he received polarizing evaluations because of his stable penalty shooting ability all year round. When talking about Harden's free throw shooting, basketball experts will compare it with Martin, the veteran in the field of free throw shooting.

Therefore, although Yu Fei doesn't know Martin well, he knows that Martin is a scorer with a light body, accurate shooting and free throws.

Although Martin ranks second in the NCAA in scoring average this year, he played at Western Carolina University. The school is weak and the division is also weak. In the eyes of NBA scouts, his college data does not have reference value. Therefore, he The draft simulation predictions have long hovered between the end of the first round and the beginning of the second round.

The current Bucks are already a quasi-dynasty team. They look glamorous on the outside, but the internal decline and aging are visible to the naked eye.

Yu Fei is still young, but the people around him are old and disabled, and the capable Ray Allen is not of the same mind as him. What's more, this year's playoffs also exposed the lack of powerful attackers in their bench lineup.

Moreover, the Bucks' salary space is no longer as good as it was when Yu Fei first arrived.

They need high-quality child labor contracts to relieve the team's salary pressure.

Yu Fei then went to watch Martin's college game highlights. The more he watched, the more he liked it. This guy's shooting posture looked strange, but his touch was extremely smooth. He was a rare shooter.

In addition to Martin, Yu Fei also discovered Trevor Ariza in Katz's draft mock predictions.

In his previous life, Yu Fei had watched Ariza play with the Rockets later in his career, and had the impression that he was a good 3D player. In this life, he has already heard of this person's name.

Ariza was as famous as James in high school, but high school was only a temporary success after all. James' talent was recognized by the NBA without being tested in college. However, Ariza plummeted after entering the NCAA, and his skills were rough and his tactical literacy was insufficient. Everything has been exposed, and the draft prospects have plummeted, and now they are only available in the middle to late second round.

Yu Fei immediately called the team's general manager Larry Harris and recommended these two people to him.

Especially Kevin Martin.

"No matter what you do, we have to draft Kevin Martin."

Harris Jr. verbally said that the team would study Kevin Martin carefully, but as soon as he hung up the phone, he asked his assistant how to improve his first-round pick by five spots to ensure that Martin was selected.

Although Yu Fei's move is suspected of overstepping the control of the management, the two players he recommended last year both played well, so his suggestions this year have received greater attention.

The difference from last year is that this year is considered a small year in the draft. The top pick and the second pick are both short centers of 6 feet 9 inches.

Except for these two people, the rest seem to be mixed, that is, those with high combat power lack talent, and those with high talent have rough skills. Anyone who chooses may be pitted. Now that Yu Fei has someone he likes, the team just needs to work hard.

Even if you choose a mediocre player, you can still be considered as pleasing the best player currently active.

After all, this guy will renew his contract with the team next year. Making him happy and stabilizing the fundamentals are the Bucks' top priority.

Beyond that, the Bucks and the rest of the NBA have one more thing to worry about.

That’s this year’s expansion draft.

The Charlotte Bobcats will officially join the league in the new season. As usual, an expansion draft will be held before the draft.

The Bucks' eight protected lists give Yu Fei, Ray Allen, Sprewell, Pachulia, Mutombo, Haslem, Gadzuric and Quentin Richardson .

With the contracts of Anthony Mason and Devin George expiring, the Bucks only have Laettner, Horry and (Shanton) Anderson on the unprotected list.

Finally, the Bobcats gave up on Laettner, who had aged significantly last season, and Horry, who likes to play dead in the regular season and try his best in the playoffs, and selected Shanton Anderson, who has a tough style.

Seeing that the Bobcats selected Anderson, Yu Fei could only sigh that BYD's talent is still the same, and he is really good at judging people.

Although Anderson still has one year left on his contract, he has already indicated to the team that he intends to retire.

If the Bobcats select him, the Bucks will lose nothing.

In addition to Anderson, veteran Anthony Mason, who won two consecutive championships with the Bucks, also decided to retire.

In fact, Mason had already deteriorated last season. Coupled with frequent injuries, most of the time he did not help the team as much as Pachulia. It was only when he faced the Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals that he suddenly became more powerful, but that was just Reflection.

During the finals, the Bucks were all on show, but Mason quietly averaged 40 points and 3 rebounds per game with a shooting rate of less than 2%.

As far as Mason is concerned, he has no regrets.

The last two seasons dispelled the haze of the 95 Rockets, improved his reputation, and allowed him to leave the game as a winner.

Therefore, at the Bucks' championship celebration ceremony, Mason emphatically thanked Yu Fei.

This is what he said: "Without Da Fei, none of this would have happened!"

Yu Fei wore sunglasses and smiled at the old man's compliment.

He felt this was the best way to end it.

Mason restrained his desire to hold the ball and completely became a blue-collar player. In the end, he realized his championship dream and retired.

Yu Fei fulfilled his promise, and Mason was grateful for it.

It's like a happy ending in a movie or TV show.

But the reason why a happy ending is the popular concept of a good ending is because the story stays at that moment forever. If the story continues, there will be countless problems that will trouble the characters in the story.

Now, Mason has made a happy exit.

But the quasi-dynasty Bucks' journey isn't over yet.

A few days later, the draft was held as scheduled.

There are two biggest differences between this year's draft and Yu Fei's previous life.

One is because Ray Allen was not traded to the SuperSonics. The SuperSonics, which lost Payton last summer, entered a rebuilding mode and won this year's No. 4 pick in one fell swoop.

Another change is that the Washington Wizards in the previous life sent the fifth pick they received before the draft, along with Laettner, Stackhouse and others to the Mavericks in exchange for Antawn Jamison. This transaction did not take place in this lifetime.

However, another transaction occurred.

The San Antonio Spurs sent Tony Parker to the Wizards in exchange for the No. 6 pick.

In the end, the Sonics selected Stanford University's Josh Childress with the fourth pick, while the Spurs selected Luol Deng with the sixth pick.

The front-position teams were busy trading, and the Bucks also participated in the trade storm on draft night in order to satisfy Yu Fei.

雄鹿将丹·加祖里奇、首轮30顺位和次轮30顺位以及2005年次轮签到开拓者，换回对方手上的首轮第23顺位和次轮第16顺位。

After getting the pick, the Bucks decisively selected Kevin Martin with the 23rd pick, but did not wait for Ariza with the 16th pick in the second round.

Ariza was selected by the Magic with the 14th overall pick in the second round.

The picks are so close that a trade is not out of the question.

Bucks general manager Harris Jr. immediately called the Magic management and sent the 16th pick of the last round and a million dollars in cash, successfully obtaining the signing rights of Trevor Ariza from the other party.

In this way, the Bucks quietly made a fortune, got the talents they needed in the storm of draft night, and then walked away in a low-key manner.

(End of this chapter)