When pride still matters

Chapter 583: Persistent Hatred

As soon as the All-Star Weekend ended, the NBA entered a fast pace.

First, the trade deadline is the last chance for the major teams to strengthen their teams before the playoffs, but strangely, not many teams are willing to make large-scale adjustments for the playoffs this year.

Since Dwight Howard requested a trade, Howard has had a rotation with 29 other teams in the league.

The result? Other teams were unable to offer enough gifts to satisfy the Nets in order to "marry" Howard.

Just when the drama had stopped progressing, Howard announced that he would stay with the team, at least to finish this season.

When asked by reporters if he would stay in New Jersey, Howard's answer was affirmative: "Of course, I am a loyal player."

No matter how much the Nets worry that Howard will leave after the end of the season, the only thing they can do now is to believe in each other's loyalty and let the Big Three maintain superficial unity and enter the playoffs to fight again.

Howard's efforts for several months ended up with this result, which annoyed the media people who were waiting to share the traffic.

They called the Nets "cowards." How could they trust the loyalty of a player who had been linked with 29 other teams?

Besides, if you don’t trade, where will the traffic come from? Without traffic, how can the media attract attention from the outside world?
The way things are going on is disgusting to the media, but that's the way it is.

Howard will not leave for the time being, so the most attractive players on the trading market are fourth-year player Evan Turner of the Bucks and Tyreke Evans of the Warriors.

The former was the fifth pick in 2010 and was selected by the Bucks as a safe card in the draft that year.

The disadvantage of a safe card is that it is too safe and won't give people any surprises, but Turner's situation is a little worse. Not only did he not give any surprises, but he also brought a lot of scares.

As a guard, he has terrible defense, poor three-point shooting ability, and an extremely slow first step, which makes his ability to dribble the ball awkward.

Offense with the ball is the jewel in the crown of an individual's offensive system and the most difficult part to master. However, if one only has the ball but lacks explosiveness and shooting threat, it will be difficult to play a role.

Turner is like shit-flavored ice cream, which looks good, but only he knows how smelly it is when used. Unfortunately, he is still young enough. Although his shortcomings are obvious, if the Bucks want to keep him, they need to offer him a four-year, $4 million salary, which is unaffordable for them who already have three maximum salaries in hand.

The Warriors' situation is similar to that of the Bucks.

In other words, Evans' current situation is the most likely thing to happen after the Bucks renew Turner's contract.

As a rookie in 2009, Evans averaged 20+5+5 as soon as he entered the league, and was regarded as the core of the future by the Warriors. The Warriors even offered him a maximum salary contract extension after the lockout that season. However, Evans' performance decline caught up with the speed of salary increase, and with the rise of new stars such as Leonard, Lillard and Thompson, Evans' position became awkward.

It's not that he has no ability, but compared to other players on the team, he is no longer worthy of this high salary.

The Warriors wanted to use Evans to strengthen their inside line, so they asked Marc Gasol of the Lakers and Marc Gasol of the Spurs, but were both persuaded to back out.

Suddenly one day, Warriors general manager Bob Myers called the Clippers and asked "whether Blake Griffin can be traded."

This is because Arn Tellem said at the beginning of the season that only Yu Fei and Antetokounmpo were "untouchable" players on the Clippers.

Tellem responded as Myers expected: "Griffin is also untouchable, but I'm not hanging up the phone."

Negotiations between the two sides thus began.

Myers proposed trading Evans for Griffin.

Tellem smiled and said, "According to the statistics, Blake is the top power forward in the league. Tyreke Evans has some overlap with Frye. Why should I give up the top power forward in the league for a player who has overlapping functions with Frye and is overpriced?"

Myers certainly didn't expect the one-for-one trade to be successful, so he began to slowly test the waters by adding draft picks.

Start by adding a first-round pick.

Then there were two first-round picks, three first-round picks, and even three first-round picks plus a first-round pick swap right, plus a second-round pick.

Tellem knew that if Myers was negotiating with a rebuilding team, the deal might actually be successful.

But the problem is that the first-round draft picks offered by the Warriors are from 2015, 2016 and 2019, and the first-round draft pick swap is for 2020.

The GOAT has hinted several times that he may retire around age 35. What is the point of the Clippers trading Griffin for a first-round pick that won't be redeemed until 2016 at the earliest?

"Do you think you're negotiating a trade with Sam Hinkie?" Tellem asked bluntly. "We don't need so many draft picks."

Miles asked, “Are there any other possibilities?”

"If you add Damian Lillard, we'll have a deal."

The Lion of Triumph opened his mouth wide.

"That's impossible!" Miles refused flatly.

“What about Kawhi Leonard?”

"Less likely!"

"It would have to be Klay Thompson," Tellem said. "There's no way we're going to trade Blake without getting anything in return in an immediate way."

Thompson's position on the Warriors is delicate.

In terms of strength, he is probably fourth in the starting lineup, behind Lillard, Leonard and Joe Johnson, and on par with David Lee. But his 3D potential has been highly praised by Warriors consultant Jerry West.

However, in order to get all these players into the starting lineup, the Warriors had to let Leonard play the 4 position for a long time, even though Leonard is more suitable for the 3 position. Since Thompson and Johnson overlap in position, the team can only make adjustments.

If the Warriors bring in a star center, Thompson will definitely have to play as a substitute.

Therefore, this deal is not out of consideration for Miles.

"We need to discuss this internally..." Miles hung up the phone.

Trem then called Yu Fei and reported the progress of the transaction.

Yu Fei has always been open to trading Griffin.

Because Antetokounmpo will develop into the inside sooner or later in the future, the best position for him is the four position, and the five position should be matched with a traditional center who can protect the basket and shoot three-pointers, such as Lopez. Although Griffin is performing well now, he is not suitable for the Greek monster in the long run.

Yu Fei doesn't mind trading Griffin if he can get equivalent returns.

Unexpectedly, the Warriors made a big move right after they opened their mouths.

Klay Thompson? If this deal goes through, Yu Fei can imagine how strong the team's outside firepower will be.

Currently, Thompson is averaging 16 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists per game for the Warriors, with a three-way shooting percentage of 42+40+82. As an outside shooter, he is already a sharpshooter. What's more valuable is that he has good defense and can be regarded as one of the best 3D players at the moment.

But after all, it's just 3D. If they can get the league's best power forward, most teams will trade him without hesitation.

Miles held a management meeting to discuss the trade, and most people at the meeting were in favor of the deal.

Acquiring Griffin would allow the Warriors to immediately open a championship window.

Only the "LOGO man" firmly opposed it.

At the meeting, West argued with the group of scholars and refused to give in, and finally threatened to resign.

In terms of position alone, West, as a mere consultant, has no internal administrative power at all, but as a respected legendary figure, his say in meetings is even greater than that of Miles.

He showed such an attitude that he was willing to resign to obstruct the transaction, so the Warriors had no choice but to call off the deal.

Finally, Miles and his colleagues reached a consensus and the deal was put on hold.

After he made the decision within the team, he sent a text message to Tellem, stating the Warriors' position - they decided to try the playoffs again with the current lineup. If they did not achieve satisfactory results after the season and the Clippers still wanted to trade Griffin, the two sides could talk again.

Trem forwarded the text message to Yu Fei.

This result is not surprising, because in Yu Fei's impression, West has indeed done something similar.

But the situation of the Warriors in this life is completely different from that in the previous life.

Lillard is not Curry. There is no Splash Brothers bond between him and Thompson. In addition, with a reserve core like Leonard, the Warriors will never consider problems in the same way as in the main timeline, focusing on the unstoppable firepower from the outside.

Therefore, once they suffer a big loss in the interior, they may come back to trade again.

Yu Fei was not in a hurry.

As long as he is not in a hurry, the Clippers management will not be in a hurry.

The 2014 trade deadline was destined to be the most boring trade deadline in history.

Howard didn't leave, Evans didn't leave.

But Evan Turner is gone.

The Bucks sent Turner to Denver in exchange for Zimmer Fredette and three second-round picks.

This is a mediocre deal because it doesn't affect anything. However, the Clippers who missed out on Thompson did not miss any opportunity to strengthen their team.

Tellem then called the Philadelphia general manager's office, which was having a clearance sale, and wanted to trade a second-round pick for Spencer Hawes.

Hawes is undoubtedly the type of inside player the Clippers need most.

He averaged 13 points and 8 rebounds per game, with a 39% three-point shooting percentage.

Judging from the statistics, he is not something that can be obtained with a second-round pick.

But considering that the 76ers are a team with no limit to losing, the value of averaging 13+8 per game in such a team is undoubtedly discounted. Moreover, Hawes is a typical "anticlimax" type of player.

His best performances tend to come early in the season.

就以本赛季为例，他在11月场均16分10篮板，三项命中率是51+50+80，在这个中锋凋零的时代俨然有全明星之姿。

然后来到这个月，霍伊斯的月场均数据只有8分8篮板，三项命中率是32+28+78。

It's hard to say whether it was the environment in Philadelphia that corrupted him, but such poor recent performance has caused his trading value to plummet.

For Hinkie, there is no value in keeping such a player, and the right thing to do is to exchange him for a draft pick as soon as possible.

Therefore, when Tellem proposed to trade Hawes for Ronny Turiaf, a French butcher who could not play at all, and second-round draft picks in 2015 and 2016, Hinkie simply agreed.

Upon learning that he was traded to the Clippers, Hawes excitedly tweeted: "I can't wait to play for the Clippers!"

Yu Fei interacted with him for a while: "Your jersey number is the same as Kwame's. How are you going to solve this problem?"

Hawes responded, "We'll settle this dispute with rock-paper-scissors."

This is also not a deal that can change the situation, but with this deal, Tellem has given an explanation to the fans.

After all, the team now has limited resources and there are no good trading partners on the market.

Getting Hawes was already a pleasant surprise.

The 2014 trade deadline ended with complaints from the media.

On this day, the most important deal in the NBA was the Bucks trading Turner for Fredette, followed by the Clippers getting Hawes with almost no effort.

What then? The remaining trade gimmicks are not as topical as Hinkie's 76ers having 30 second-round picks in the next three years.

After the trading window closes, the final suspense of the regular season will be the final ranking of each team.

The Clippers' goal is to run in the new lineup while securing second place in the Western Conference.

The Spurs in the Western Conference are four games ahead of them, and unless something unexpected happens, it will be almost impossible for them to catch up with the Spurs.

Entering March, Rivers put Hawes into the starting lineup.

He wanted to figure out whether Hawes's condition was really as bad as the data showed, or whether the 76ers' "tanking" strategy affected his performance.

The results were disappointing.

Hawes's form has indeed declined.

Although his performance with the Clippers was not as bad as when he was with the 76ers, it is almost impossible to expect him to return to his level at the beginning of the season.

In the Clippers, Hawes averaged 10 points and 6 rebounds per game, and his three-point shooting percentage increased from 28% to 36%. This is the only good news, his outside shooting feel is recovering, but other aspects are not much different from when he was in the 76ers.

Rivers gave him a few games to get back into shape, but he failed to do so, so Rivers decisively put him on the bench as a substitute.

Then, Rivers put Pachulia back into the starting lineup.

The regular season is entering its final stages, and the Clippers do not intend to use more game time to trial and error.

By late March, Yu Fei was gradually entering playoff mode. In the 36 minutes per game arranged by Rivers, he went all out, averaging 34 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists per game, leading the team to a 3-game winning streak in the critical period of the positioning stage, successfully leaving the third-placed Warriors behind by wins.

With only seven games left in the regular season, the Clippers have a record of 7 wins and 56 losses.

Although the outside world had a premonition that the Clippers were about to rise after Yu Fei joined the team, it is still amazing that this team, which only won 34 games last season, now ranks third in the league with 56 wins.

If we don't count non-decisive reinforcements like Pierce, it can be said that Yu Fei alone helped the Clippers win 22 more games. Moreover, the regular season has not yet ended, and 56 wins is not their limit.

“Do you want to be the MVP of this season?”

When the Clippers and the Lakers played their last city derby of the season, a reporter asked Yu Fei this question.

"I won't take this kind of personal honor seriously, even though I can't even remember how many times I've won it." Yu Fei smiled faintly, "If I'm elected, I will congratulate myself and then focus on the playoffs. For me, the championship is the most important thing."

The reporter asked curiously: "But you have more championships than MVPs."

Yu Fei's eyes swept towards Kobe who was practicing shooting seriously in the distance.

"No one would think that they have too many championships," Yu Fei said. "And, from a historical perspective, I'm not even the one with the most championships."

The reporter really wanted to ask Yu Fei whether he understood the difficulty of winning eight championships in modern times.

Winning eight championships in 30 years in a league with 13 teams and a well-established salary cap system is completely different from winning 8 championships in 13 years in a non-commercial league with only eight teams and no rules to constrain super teams.

Does he really understand?

Maybe I will never understand.

Maybe this is just his humble words, but the humility of the strong is often a shame for the loser, because the cost of this humility is built on the pain of the loser.

As Yu Fei walked past the sidelines, he noticed that half of the fans at the scene were carrying various Clippers items, which represented their stance tonight.

According to the schedule, tonight is the Lakers' home game.

Half of the people in the Lakers' home court are Clippers fans.

Is this a joke?

But we can't blame the fans, because the Clippers' games this year are too exciting, and all kinds of highlights are flooding the Internet. Griffin's dunks, Antetokounmpo's unique playing style, plus the GOAT's personal performance, they have much more to watch than the Lakers.

At present, the fans are just fence-sitters. They support the Clippers when they are on the rise, and if the Lakers rise again, they will turn around and support the Lakers.

However, if the Lakers are in a long-term slump and the Clippers win the championship during this period, the Lakers' base in Los Angeles will be truly challenged.

"Yo, Kobe, did you break the scoring record for number 23?"

Yu Fei asked casually before the game started.

"We're still a few hundred points away," Kobe said. "We'll have to wait until next season."

"Keep going," Yu Fei said, "On the day you break the record, I'll take a leave of absence even if I have a competition to come and witness you."

Kobe rolled his eyes: "Do you hate MJ so much?"

"I don't hate him," Yu Fei said, "I just can't help hating him."

Kobe envied Yu Fei for being able to maintain his hatred for someone for so many years, and this hatred did not seem to diminish with the passage of time.

In Kobe's opinion, the longer the time went on, the stronger Yu Fei's hatred became.

Why? Because he could no longer make Jordan pay for what he did on the court.

Kobe envied this ability to hate persistently.

Looking back at himself, he no longer hates O'Neal.

Because O'Neal has retired and he is no longer a top competitor, the feud between the two has faded away. Occasionally, he would wonder if they could have beaten the Bucks in 2004 if they had worked together.

Unfortunately, this can only be an "if".

Kobe believes that if it happened again, he and O'Neal would still fall out, because it's just their personalities.

Character determines fate.

Kobe was in hot form that night, scoring 40 points as the Lakers and Clippers went into overtime. However, Yu Fei and Griffin completely dominated the game in overtime, crushing the Lakers with a 14-0 offensive and defensive suppression.

The Clippers sounded the horn to end the season.

Starting with the Lakers, they lost only one of the next six games and eventually advanced to the playoffs with a record of 62 wins and 20 losses.

(End of this chapter)