When pride still matters

Chapter 379 Things are changing
As soon as Christmas is over, 2007 is coming to an end.

The Sonics ended the year with three consecutive wins.

On the first day of 2008, a year and a half after forming a consortium to acquire the Sonics, Clay Bennett released a positive signal for the first time that "the Sonics may stay in Seattle."

Bennett announced that he will renovate the Sonics' existing training base and office building this summer, and that he will be deeply involved in team operations in the next few years.

This may seem like a common plan for the future, but it’s anything but routine for Bennett.

Because he has been preparing for the move from the moment he acquired the Sonics, every job he does is a finishing touch before leaving, designed to alienate the team from fans.

Now, he actually wants to spend money to renovate the training base?
Also on this day, Bennett said in an internal meeting that the latest financing plan was evaluated and found to have many flaws and was not suitable for submission to the city.

Then, Bennett also announced the problematic financing plan.

I don’t know, I’m scared.

The financing package proposed building a $5 million sports complex on the worst site.
The location chosen in the plan would make it impossible for it to be approved by the city.

Everyone at the meeting agreed with Bennett about the proposal, but they wanted to know how such an outrageous financing package could be drawn up.

If the boss hadn't been "wise", wouldn't they have sent this plan that was destined to be killed to the city government?
But Bennett believes that this is no longer important. What is important is that they have discovered a problem and now need a brand new financing plan, which means they need more time to prepare.

Yu Fei did not tell Bennett that Buffett was willing to invest 20% of the construction funds in the new arena.

Because they don't even have a plan now, at least they have to wait until a new financing plan comes out before Yu Fei can reveal the news. And 20% investment is a general concept. If Bennett is crazy and wants a US$10 billion arena, will Buffett invest US$2 million? Therefore, Yu Fei would not say anything until Bennett produced a reliable financing plan.

The news that Bennett killed the original financing plan shows that things are changing. Because Yu Fei has already learned from Xiao Hua that the financing plan Bennett originally submitted was terrible and was completely used to go through the process just to be rejected. Now, Bennett has decided to make another financing plan. plan.

This shows that Bennett has deviated from the original plan.

What Yu Fei can be sure of is that the SuperSonics will still stay in Seattle after this season.

This was his first stage of success.

But it's not enough.

With no worries for the time being, Yu Fei decided to focus on the court.

After entering the New Year, the SuperSonics and the Lakers face a difficult schedule.

In the first month of 2008, the Sonics will play nine playoff-level teams.

And half of these teams have strong insiders.

After continuing to be active at the beginning of the season, the Sonics' potential risks were gradually exposed in January.

The young players led by Durant are too immature. They can play good shots for a period of time and bad shots for a period of time.

Especially Durant, when the Sonics' opponents are unable to target Yu Fei, they will find ways to target the people around Yu Fei.

Roy quickly cracked various targets, while Durant quickly exposed his weakness of being easily broken and knocked down by a collision.

When the opponent increases the intensity on him, his touch quickly declines.

But the same problem occurred for others. Childress and Channing Frye both encountered slumps. Rashard Lewis often had to play the five position when Kwame Brown encountered foul trouble. This also affects his feel.

Problems inside are continuing to radiate to the entire team.

This has Sam Presti seriously considering trading Rashard Lewis.

It is undeniable that Lewis is suitable for flying.

It can even be said that on the offensive end, Lewis is the most suitable fourth position in the league.

But the Sonics are not a team ready to compete for the championship. They have no foundation and no bench reserves.

The reason why they want to compete for the championship is only because of Yu Fei's joining.

The basic requirement for the first player in the league is that no matter which team he joins, he can give that team the strength to compete for the championship.

That's what the Sonics are like.

According to Presti's original plan, the Sonics still needed a year or two to accumulate raw talent, but things happened too fast.

Yu Fei set the tone as soon as he arrived.

Lewis also stayed.

But the problems that followed are gradually emerging today.

When he was in Milwaukee, George Karl could start single-function interior linemen like Laettner and Horry without any psychological burden, just to cooperate with Yu Fei on the offensive end. Because they still have ruthless players like Haslem, Pachulia, and Mutombo on the bench. However, the Sonics do not have such good inside reserves, so the pressure on Kwame Brown is much greater than before. Once he is beaten or encounters a foul problem, the inside will become a hole.

This is the reason why the Sonics' winning percentage in January was barely 50%.

They steadily win one game and lose another because the inside line is too weak, and except for Yu Fei and Roy, everyone else on the outside line is unstable.

Yu Fei also greatly increased his low-post offense out of the need to hone his low-post skills. If he plays more low-post games, his outside shooting feel will decrease. After more than half a month, Yu Fei's outside shooting percentage was only 34%.

"It's worth it! As long as Frye accumulates enough experience, he will become a dominant low-post attacker." George Karl said in an internal meeting, "We are still the top four teams in the Western Conference, and results are not a problem. , the problem is the inside line, we really need to strengthen the inside line."

Presti offered to trade Rashard Lewis.

And, he had a good reason.

"Rashad only stayed because Frye came. He never wanted to stay in Seattle. Once our future was no longer clear, he would choose to leave." Presti said, "Channing Frye Lai can do most of Rashad's work, and if we can trade Rashad for a tougher interior player, the situation will be alleviated."

Karl asked: "This is not impossible to consider, but the question is, who is our target?"

"The Pacers have always wanted to trade Jermaine O'Neal." Presti asked, "I heard that Jermaine and Frye are good friends?"

Karl nodded: "Yes, they have a good relationship."

"What do you think of this goal?"

"I feel bad."

Presti thought Carr would support the deal.

But Karl’s reasons are more solid: “In the past few years, Jermaine has had injury records every year, especially in these two seasons. His injury problems are very serious. What we need is someone who can gain a firm foothold at the basket. guy, not a long-term hospital resident. The bottom line is, Jermaine is no longer Jermaine."

Presti also realized that he was seriously ill and sought medical treatment.

Because his boss, Clay Bennett, has been more concerned about the team than ever recently. He wants to know why the team's inside line is so bad, and why they haven't done anything since the inside line is so bad.

Since it was not appropriate to trade O'Brien, Presti had a bolder idea in his mind.

"George, what do you think of the other O'Neal?" Presti said. "Miami is selling him."

A bewildered smile appeared on Karl's face.

"What's wrong?" Presti felt like he was just raising a potential trade target.

But Carl asked, "Do you miss San Antonio, Sam?"

"sometimes."

"If you get that guy to Seattle, you can prepare to go back." Carl said, "Fry will definitely see you off personally."

This problem was partially solved by Yu Fei in the next few days.

After internal discussions, the SuperSonics coaching staff and management decided not to make any trades because there was no suitable candidate. They preferred to wait until the trade deadline to go to the free market to see the situation.

Then, Yu Fei thought of PJ Brown, who was unemployed at home.

After last season, Brown did not renew his contract with any team. Although he can still play, he no longer wants to play. Unless a team is willing to give him a credible championship prospect.

At his peak, P.J. Brown was selected to the All-Defensive Team three times and was an iconic blue-collar center in the NBA in the early 21st century. Although he is old now, his experience is still there. Many strong teams want such a number one person on the bench.

When the SuperSonics extended an invitation to Brown, the Spurs, the number one player in the Western Conference, and the Celtics, the number one player in the league, also extended invitations to him.

In terms of championship opportunities, Brown would certainly choose the Celtics, which was also his first choice, but he did not completely reject Yu Fei.

"Da Fei, if you can beat Boston on the night of January 1th, I will join your team."

This is what PJ Brown said about Fei.

Normally, Yu Fei really doesn't care which team this old guy goes to play his spare parts in, but this time is different from the past. In order to reduce the pressure on his good brother (Kwame), he really needs this old guy to come to Seattle as a substitute.

Therefore, he directly said to Old Brown: "You can book a ticket to Boston on the 24th now."

"You gave up?"

"No." Yu Fei said, "I mean you can see with your own eyes how I defeated Boston."

　Thanks to Dancing Pianpian for the tip

　　
　
(End of this chapter)