When pride still matters

Chapter 531 The Honeymoon Period Ends Here

Chapter 531 The Honeymoon Period Ends Here

Since this draft can be regarded as a big year for inside players, although John Wall, who has basically secured the No. 1 pick, is a point guard, after Wall, more than half of the top ten favorites are inside players.

Therefore, this is a good year for teams looking to find a core inside player.

As long as the pick is high enough, they can find all kinds of inside players in the draft.

But for the SuperSonics, these talented players scheduled for high draft picks have nothing to do with them.

The more players Sam Presti works out, the less confident he is that he will take an available player in the draft.

Because the talent in this draft class is concentrated at the top, those players who deserve attention will be selected in the first 20 picks of the first round and have no chance to fall into their hands.

Just when Presti was worrying about the draft picks, he thought of Yu Fei.

It was Yu Fei who reminded him before the draft to pay attention to DeAndre Jordan, who had no chance of being eliminated from the lottery at that time.

As a result, all the teams passed on Jordan because his skills were too rough and his mentality was immature, allowing the Supersonics to take advantage of the opportunity.

Last year, Yu Fei also recommended Alonzo Gee. As a result, although Gee is not a second-round missed pick like DeAndre Jordan, he is definitely a player worth signing.

Currently, Presti has locked on Quincy Pondexter of the University of Washington, who is a 3D wing with a slightly lack of size but outstanding wingspan.

However, he may not drop to the 29th pick.

After much thought, Presti decided to call Yu Fei to see what he thought about the draft.

"Sam, is work going well?"

Yu Fei is still on vacation and doesn't seem to be planning to get involved in this year's draft.

"Frye, what do you think of this year's draft?"

"I don't have any opinion," Yu Fei said, "but if I had the No. 1 pick, I wouldn't choose John Wall."

Presti likes to talk about the draft with Yu Fei because Yu Fei is the kind of person who has proven that he does have a good eye for draft picks.

Therefore, even if what he just said sounds rebellious - like a teenager who doesn't want to go with the flow - Wall is the most recognized No. 1 pick in the past decade before the draft begins.

ESPN draft expert Chad Ford believes that Wall has the speed of Rose and the organizational ability of Nash. He is like Kidd with better athletic ability. If he can develop a stable shooting, he will definitely be the league's top point guard in the future.

The hype is undoubtedly exaggerated, but Wall's talent is unanimously recognized by the industry.

After all, the point guard position is not like other positions where you can sell talents that are visible to the naked eye.

Due to the position of point guard, most of them are the shortest players on the court. Therefore, talent, skills and basketball IQ are the key points that scouts consider.

In terms of talent, Wall has maximum speed, unquestionable basketball IQ, and a very good physique. The only thing that needs to be improved is his shooting.

How could such a top talent who couldn't be more stable not be noticed by Yu Fei?
"Oh? Then who will you choose?"

Yu Fei sounded very relaxed: "I will trade down and exchange the No. 1 pick for a later lottery pick and future draft picks, and then use that lottery pick to select Paul George."

When the name Paul George came out of Yu Fei's mouth, Presti knew that Yu Fei knew this draft class very well.

George himself was not a popular draft name before this year, even though he was already a sophomore.

Because he was unknown in high school, just an ordinary three-star high school student. Three stars means that his ranking is outside the top 100 in the same grade.

Miraculously, he grew again after entering college and is now 203 cm tall. He has shown good defense and smooth shooting ability, but because he is in a D1 minor league with questionable competitiveness, he has not put in a dominant performance to lead the team into March Madness. Therefore, many scouts doubt whether he can realize his talent at the NBA level.

This caused George's draft stock to hover on the edge of the lottery.

The fact that Yu Fei could mention George proves that he is very familiar with this year's draft.

But unfortunately, the top talent in Yu Fei's eyes is beyond the reach of the Supersonics.

The draft pick is too high. If they want to get George, they will have to dismantle the championship lineup.

However, will a dynasty team decide after winning three consecutive championships: "Three consecutive championships are enough. If we continue to defend the title, others will not survive. Let's start rebuilding"? Obviously, no one will do this.

So Presti wanted to know what Yu Fei thought of those players who were picked at the end of the first and second rounds.

"Frye, we are looking at suitable rookies, do you have any recommendations?"

Presti felt like he was falling.

He used to hate Yu Fei's meddling in the draft, but now he secretly hopes that Yu Fei will recommend them a DeAndre Jordan-like hidden gem.

This was difficult for Yu Fei.

Looking at this year's draft, the trend of starting strong but ending weakly is very obvious.

Yu Fei looked at the draft predictions on major websites. Among the players with lower rankings, he only remembered Hassan Whiteside and Jeremy Lin.

They certainly don't need a center like Whiteside anymore. As for Jeremy Lin, influenced by Yu Fei, he does not suffer obvious industry discrimination in this life as he did in his previous life.

What he said, "I'm faster than Wall but no one cares," is now cared about by some people in this world.

All major draft prediction websites ranked him in the first half of the second round.

Although the Sonics have a late first-round draft pick, they would rather use it to select a 3D wing because Roy will be fully recovered next season and a backup guard is not their most urgent need.

However, Yu Fei also knew that Roy was often injured and might need major repairs one day.

“Jeremy Lin from Stanford University is good,” Yu Fei said, “I don’t know much about the others.”

Presti has observed Jeremy Lin and has a good impression of the young man, but there is a high probability that he will not fall to the 29th pick in the second round, and it seems a bit of a waste to select him with the 29th pick in the first round.

What the team needs most right now is wings, and the playoffs have proven that versatile wings will be useful no matter what, while guards and shooters are not.

"Fry, you should talk about the contract extension sometime."

Presti mentioned this.

Objectively speaking, Yu Fei is about to become an unrestricted free agent.

The contract he signed with the team two years ago will expire this summer. Now Seattle has become his king's land. The dynasty has been built, the team has stayed, and the new arena is expected to be put into use before 2016.

He has no reason to leave the team, so for both parties, it is just a matter of going through the formalities and signing the contract.

"Not now." Yu Fei revealed something that the management had been unwilling to face. "Before the labor and management sides reach an agreement, I, as the representative of the player camp, will not sign with any team."

This is the most worrying thing.

In the latest labor-management negotiation, the management reiterated the conditions during the All-Star Weekend, and the small market owners insisted on a hard salary cap and a reduction in player profit sharing.

The players' union naturally disagreed, and the two sides parted ways unhappily.

More and more information indicates that the NBA may be shut down, and this time the differences between the two sides are far greater than in the summer of 1998.

At that time, the bosses just wanted to plug the loopholes in the salary cap, but now, they actually want to cut benefits from labor.

As the new GOAT, Yu Fei is not only a representative of the players, but also a leader of the players. Although he does not hold any position in the players' union, he can convey an attitude just by sitting aside during negotiations.

In this case, he cannot take the contract with him.

Presti is just an employee. He has no vested interests either above or below him. The only thing he has to do is to complete his job before the game is completely shut down.

"Then we can talk about it after the problem is solved."

Presti hung up the phone.

"Aren't you on vacation?"

At this time, Yu Fei was lazily lying on a beach chair in Florida, squinting his eyes slightly, enjoying the warmth of the sun. Christina, who was beside him, was wearing a bright yellow bikini and walked lightly to his side with a naughty smile on her face.

Christina's fiery red hair sparkled in the sun, setting off her fair skin and perfect figure. Her full curves were even more attractive in the bikini, her plump breasts and slender waist formed a sharp contrast, and her long legs were particularly eye-catching on the beach.

"I can't help it. I'm a busy man." Yu Fei responded softly, his eyes following Christina's figure. She sat down next to him, and under the light, her figure looked even more graceful.

It's hard to find the right word to describe his current relationship with Christina.

Perhaps, "stage couple" is more appropriate, just like the legendary crew couple.

The two of them had old feelings for each other, and then there was an exchange of interests. Yu Fei agreed to let Christina join his movie to play the second female lead, thereby maintaining her popularity as the TV personality of the year, and she also warmed Yu Fei with the enthusiasm of a MILF.

Yu Fei likes this current situation. They each get what they need, which is very pure in a way.

Afterwards, Yu Fei called Christian Laettner.

After Laettner became an official agent last year, he represented Stephen Curry, James Harden and DeMar DeRozan on the recommendation of Yu Fei. This year, Yu Fei suggested that he secure the agency rights for Paul George.

Lightner did so.

In less than two years, Laettner has gone from being a rookie in the agent world to a rising star.

Because both Curry and Harden showed star qualities in their rookie season.

"Is there any rumor?" Yu Fei asked casually, "For example, some unpromising teams think that the first-year players they just selected will not be successful and want to sell them at a low price. Is there any such news?" "Frye, when did you become the general manager?"

Yu Fei laughed and glanced at Christina who was staring at him sideways, so his restless hand fell on Christina's Giant God Peak, which would get 100% of the turning heads wherever she went.

Let me say it again, silicone is crumbs, only the pure natural ones are worth holding.

"I heard that Cleveland is planning to send Danny Green away." Laettner probably didn't expect this news to help Yu Fei. "This young man is not qualified. He can't even play in Cleveland."

Not qualified enough?

"Do you think Kristen Stewart is qualified?"

Yu Fei suddenly said something that puzzled Lightner.

"Hmm?" Leitner tried to answer, "I think it's good. It's pretty."

"Then Danny Green will do, too."

Just as Lightner was wondering how these two things were related, Yu Fei hung up the phone.

So Laettner went to check Green's rookie season data.

出场20场,场均2分,三项命中率是38%、27%和66%。

So there is a reason why he can't play for the Cavaliers.

Laettner even doubted whether he could play in the Development League.

However, because he is so bad, if the Supersonics want to get him, the price will be very low.

As long as the Supersonics are willing to offer a second-round pick, the Cavaliers will probably agree without even thinking about it.

Half an hour later, Yu Fei texted Presti, asking him to try to get Danny Green.

After Presti checked in on Green's situation this past season, he felt the same way as Laettner.

He really didn't know what strengths of this player, who looked like a piece of shit based on the panel data, had caught Yu Fei's eye.

Maybe they are friends?
But there are advantages to being bad. It is easy for the Supersonics to get Green.

If it would please Yu Fei, Presti couldn't think of any reason not to do it.

So he went to ask the Cavaliers for the price.

The Cavaliers were also very generous, offering a second-round pick as their opening offer. Whether it was this year's second-round pick or a future second-round pick was up to the SuperSonics.

It seems that the Cavaliers have reached the point where they can no longer tolerate having Danny Green on the roster.

Then Presti called Yu Fei and said he wanted to trade the 29th pick in the second round for Danny Green.

Yu Fei, who had already entered sage mode at that time, said calmly: "This will be the most cost-effective deal you have ever made."

Presti doesn't know whether it is the most cost-effective.

But it would certainly be a deal that would damage his reputation.

Even if a second-round pick is no longer valuable, it should not be used to trade for a player like Green who has been proven by the second-worst team in the Eastern Conference to be unqualified to play in the NBA.

On June 6th, there is less than a week left until the draft.

It was an ordinary day until the league announced that the Supersonics traded the 2010th pick in the 29 second round to the Cavaliers for Danny Green.

"A dollar for a penny? This is why I love the NBA," Bill Simmons tweeted.

The Seattle Times believes that the situation is not optimistic: "We should give Sam Presti more praise, otherwise he will ruin the dynasty like Jerry Krause because he did not get enough respect. Sam, well done, but you will be better off making fewer similar transactions!"

Mark Stein made a sharp comment on ESPN: "Danny Green averaged 38 points per game with a shooting percentage of 2% last season and was eliminated by the Cavaliers - a team that even LeBron couldn't stay on. Sam Presti actually used a valuable second-round pick to trade for Danny Green? Now I want to know how Frye feels."

Then there is the Sonics' new recruit, Danny Green, who no one expected.

In the hours after the trade was announced, his Twitter account gained 20,000 followers.

Among these people, a small number were Sonics fans who expressed their blessings to him, and a considerable number were Yu's army who went on tours around the country after the end of the season.

"If you dare to cheat Dafei, you're dead!"

They left comments on Green's past tweets.

Green, who hadn't figured out the situation yet, was so scared that he quickly tweeted: "Please rest assured, I will not let the team down. Playing in the NBA is my dream, and I will do anything for it."

Soon after, Yu Fei liked the tweet, which then increased Green's follower count by tens of thousands.

However, Yu Fei and Christina’s intimate behavior on the beach was soon exposed by gossip websites.

Yu Fei was very angry. These sneak shots were disgusting. Can't this GOAT have a little privacy and fun? I'm going to sue them!
However, as long as you are a celebrity, you will inevitably be noticed, and that is what the paparazzi do.

Presti was very grateful to Yu Fei. When he was being besieged by the public, Yu Fei suddenly made a big news and diverted the public's attention away from the trade of the second-round pick for Green.

But if you think about it carefully, isn’t this transaction Yu Fei’s own idea?

It turns out that both pieces of news were caused by GOAT, but the GM has to take the blame?
Presti quickly put aside these trivial matters because the draft work is not over yet.

After several days of observation, Presti's first-round pick, No. 29, chose Quincy Pondexter over Jeremy Lin.

Because in his opinion, Green's reinforcements are basically given for nothing.

It is a dream to expect Green to strengthen the team's wing depth in the new season, so the second-round pick is wasted.

Then the first-round pick will be used to continue to strengthen the wing.

The SuperSonics conducted a second tryout with Jeremy Lin and Pondexter. Jeremy Lin's overall quality was better. Presti believed that he had a good chance of becoming a guard who could play in the NBA for more than 10 years, but the best and the most suitable have always been unclear choices in the draft.

Since ancient times, management has had formulas for solving problems.

Weak teams choose the best, and strong teams choose the most suitable.

Presti thus finalized his draft strategy of selecting Quincy Pondexter as the first choice and Jeremy Lin as the backup.

6 April

The day before the NBA Draft, labor and management held their final negotiations before the offseason in New York.

If no agreement can be reached in this negotiation, the NBA will be shut down after the draft.

The employers pretended to take a step back during the negotiations and decided to withdraw their demand for a hard salary cap.

This is a clause that the players' union will never accept.

As early as the 80s, when the two sides were almost at a standstill over the salary cap issue, the players' union's attitude was very clear: either a soft salary cap or no salary cap.

This kind of empty negotiation, in which a condition is proposed that the other party cannot possibly accept, and then withdrawn during the negotiation as a concession, thereby requiring the other party to make concessions as well, makes Yu Fei feel that the upper class of American society has path dependence in this matter.

That's all they do.

Because they think they have absolute strength.

Management has never viewed labor as an equal partner.

Union President Derek Fisher snorted coldly and said, "Since you are so 'generous', we can't be too stingy. Let's put it this way. Our original demand was to return the league to its pre-1983 state. We wanted to cancel the salary cap. Since you no longer insist on a hard salary cap, we will no longer ask for the cancellation of the salary cap."

Then, the union vice chairman Billy Hunter said: "However, starting from the new season, we must get 58% of the dividends from the TV broadcast agreement. This is non-negotiable!"

Boss Joe, a diehard in the small market, was anxious: "This is fucking impossible! The last labor agreement gave players 57% of the dividends, which already caused us heavy losses. They actually want 58% this time?"

You have to know that this labor-capital war was initiated by the capital side. The labor side has no objection to the status quo, but the capital side feels that it has suffered a loss and wants to terminate the contract and redistribute the cake.

Now they are going to break the contract?
What kind of rebellion is this?

"Before I joined Seattle, the Sonics had been losing money for years." Yu Fei suddenly spoke in an orderly pace and with amazing momentum, "Now, my boss, Mr. Clay Bennett, made $1.5 million in the season that just ended. And I, who brought all this to him, can't get a penny from these profits. Isn't this a problem? In my opinion, let alone 58% of the profits, even if we want 60%, it is reasonable."

Jordan rages: "You wanna kill all the small market teams?"

"Are you going to blame me for your poor management?" Yu Fei sneered, "If you can't survive, then don't live."

Just like that, the honeymoon period between Yu Fei and the investors ended.

He was once the savior who represented the capital to defeat the evil empire, the GOAT who upheld justice, and the best in history recognized by everyone.

Now, he is the defender of the players' interests. As the leader of the players' camp, he has only one demand, which is to protect the interests of all players.

There's no way, the GOAT is very busy.

As expected, the last labor-management negotiation before the draft broke down.

David Stern told a New York Times reporter that day: "If the two sides cannot reach an agreement after the draft, the league will be shut down completely."

(End of this chapter)

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