NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

"What do you think?" Bird looked at Lin Tian defensively and said, "I have a feeling that you want to trick me again."

"What are you talking about, Larry? What are you talking about? When have I ever cheated you?" Lin Tian spread his hands and said, "I've been so good to you! Have I ever made any mistakes in the draft strategy and advice I provided you? Have I ever made any omissions in the trade advice I provided you?"

"No." Bird shook his head and said, "Except for the fact that you suddenly asked me to quickly get Chris and get Barkley and Isaiah, who I hate, to join the team before the draft, let me think, that's right! Also, you were suspended for fighting, so I had to ask for help everywhere to barely put together the team, and that's it."

"That's enough, shut up." Lin Tian waved his hand and said, "Are you guys going to listen or not?"

"Listen!" This time, Jordan and Bird said in unison.

"Michael is coming anyway, Vince is going to sign and trade anyway, and the Nets are begging us for help anyway, so why not let Michael get more?"

Seeing Bird and Lin Tian looking at him, Jordan shrugged and said, "I'm rich, but only fools would complain about having too much money! I worked for free last year, so it's no problem for me to get the base salary this year, but if I can get more, why should I save money for those bastard capitalists?"

"Larry?"

"I have no problem either! FUXX!" Bird and Jordan were both capable people. They just reacted a little slower than Lin Tian, ​​but they quickly understood what Lin Tian meant.

Especially Bird, this guy slapped his thigh and cursed a few times.

At this moment, Lin Tian and Jordan really didn't understand why this guy was so excited.

"Damn it, the Simon brothers want to save money, but I won't let them this time! I'm going to spend their money!"

Lin Tian immediately understood that Bird was still unwilling to accept that the Simon brothers had broken up such a dynasty team!
And looking at Bird's expression, it is likely that he was persuaded by the two brothers and thought that they were right, but he just felt unhappy.

This guy will probably be depressed for the whole summer or even a year or two.
Thinking of this, Lin Tian decided to help his friend again.

“Not only do you have to spend money, but you also have to make them beg you to spend money!” Lin Tian said sinisterly: “When the time comes, don’t just say that Michael decided to come here on his own initiative. You have to tell them that Michael wants to retire and has even prepared a retirement statement. It was you who risked your life to stop him and told him to wait!”

"You understand what I mean?"

"You're so fucking dirty!" Bird stood up excitedly, cursed at Lin Tian, ​​then turned around and walked towards the door: "Wait for my good news."

"This bastard is much dirtier than me." Lin Tian curled his lips and said to Jordan: "Looking for a place to play?"

"No." Jordan shook his head decisively and said, "Can I go to your gym to train for a while? I'm going to resume training from today. Next season, I'm going to beat the Wizards to death!"

"And what about Iverson, Kobe, McGrady, and Pierce? I'll kill them all one by one!"

"Fuck them all! Fuck them all!" Lin Tian pointed his finger, then he sat down again and said, "Then I won't go either. I'll watch TV for a while."

One hour later, Bird quickly arrived at the door of Melvin Simon's villa and rang the doorbell of Simon's house.

"What's wrong, Larry? It's not your style to come to my place so late." Melvin looked at Bird and motioned him to go in first.

"It's extremely urgent and must be resolved tonight, otherwise we might really miss the opportunity for a dynasty! A real dynasty!" Bird hid his pride and began to perform!
"Larry." Melvin showed a little impatience on his face: "We have discussed this topic many times! I have said it before, unless Vince accepts a mid-level or slightly higher contract, we can't keep him!"

"But we all know that's impossible, right? I don't know why Vince hasn't found a new team yet, and I don't know how you talked to him, but seriously, can't he just go get a damn maximum salary? I'm even willing to fully cooperate with his sign-and-trade."

"Considering his previous contributions, we don't need any draft picks or other returns. My only request is that we don't increase our payroll any more."

"I really feel that there are not many bosses in the league who are as easy to talk to as me, so I really don't want to settle this account with you anymore! But your performance really disappoints me, Larry, I am very disappointed!"

As Melvin finished venting, Bird couldn't control the smile on his face anymore. Finally, after Melvin finished his last sentence, Bird pretended to be embarrassed and said, "But, I'm not talking about Vince. I've already accepted the fact that he will definitely leave. I'm not the kind of person who has to dwell on this kind of thing."

"Who do you want to bring in then? If it's not Vince, all we can use are middle-class and minimum-salary players. Do you still need to discuss this level of player with me? Can't you just get it done directly?"

"But we don't have enough salary space right now, so we have to reach an agreement with the Nets to sign first and then trade, so I..."

"Larry! I don't want to say the same thing again!" Melvin completely lost his patience. There were two girls waiting for him in his bed. He stood up and said, "Unless you can get Michael Jordan, don't increase our payroll anymore!"

"I did get Michael Jordan!" Bird knew it was time, and finally he felt comfortable and threw out the trump card!
"I don't care who you deal with, I don't care who you deal with."

Melvin sat down again halfway through his words.

"Michael Jordan." Bird's smile was more like a fox at this moment. "We all know about the dispute between Michael and Pollin. To be honest, he was heartbroken by the people in Washington. He really wanted to retire and find a quiet place to relax."

"He even prepared a retirement statement and decided to send it out to a media outlet he was familiar with."

"But before he announced his retirement, he found some of his best buddies and said he wanted to reunite with us as a professional player."

"Then, I persuaded him to stop! At least for the time being, Michael is willing to wait, but he doesn't want to make any salary sacrifices this time. He wants a maximum salary! And he only plays for one year! I know his request is difficult, and our salary space will be locked again."

"Even our luxury tax will explode again, so I didn't dare to agree to him. I asked Lin to stabilize him and talk to him, and then I came here, hoping to talk to you."

"Promise him! Why not! That's Michael Jordan! He's the most commercially valuable superstar in history! With him, do you know how much more money we can make in a year? His ability to attract money is much better than Vince's!"

"Also, he and Lin's teammates will reunite, the Bulls championship backcourt will be assembled again, the core of two generations of dynasties will gather together, and the two strongest people in history will continue to cooperate. These are all gimmicks! This can bring us a lot of attention and profits!"

"Promise him Larry! Why not?"

"But I'm worried," Bird continued his hypocritical and superficial acting, but at this moment Melvin was obviously overwhelmed by the fact that Jordan was going to join the Pacers.

After all, that’s countless US dollars!
Melvin stood up and said, "There's nothing to worry about! If we can sign Michael, we must get him!"

"But Paulin might hold a grudge against me"

"Fuck that Pollin! I'm not afraid of him! He bears a grudge against me? It's just right, I'll use this opportunity to speak on behalf of Michael! I will speak on behalf of the players! I want all the fans to know that Jerry Buss is not the only good boss in the league, I'm great too!"

"Let's go Larry, you just said Michael hasn't made up his mind yet, right? I'll go with you, we have to show our sincerity! I'll go with you! I'll be responsible for showing sincerity, and we'll take down Michael!"

"Also! You did a great job this time! You did a great job! We can tear up the contract extension we gave you at the beginning of the offseason."

"We underestimated your ability. How about a 25% salary increase? That's more worthy of your contribution!"

Melvin said as he walked towards the bedroom: "Wait for me, I'll change my clothes and we'll go and convince Michael together!"

After Melvin entered the room, Bird could no longer hold back the smile on his face.

A big win!

Damn boss, want to save money?
I won't let you save money this time! I'll make you beg me to spend money!
I will spend money while making you give me a salary increase. I will make you pay a sky-high luxury tax and at the same time be grateful to me and think that I am the number one management in the universe!
What a relief!

He sent a message to Jordan and Lin Tian, ​​briefly telling them what had happened and asking them to cooperate and show their pain and confusion. Lin Tian would play the role of persuasion and guidance, while Jordan would drown his sorrows in alcohol and show his uneasiness, uncertainty and distrust!

In short, Bird wants to perform this play well and without any flaws!
"I'll perform with you next time. I'm out having fun. Don't call me. I'm busy." Less than two minutes after Lin listened, he sent a message that made Bird want to smash his phone.

"It's too troublesome. Either don't sign, or don't cause me any trouble. It's up to you." Jordan's recovery also made Bird very angry.

These two bastards! Can't I show off a bit?

At this time, Melvin came out and said, "Let's go, where are they? Your house or Lin's house?"

"They, or Michael, don't want to see you because..."

God knows how Bird explained it to Melvin that night, but Lin Tian and Jordan didn't care anyway.

"Rachel is so sexy!" Jordan said while watching the TV series "Friends". "Why don't you get her?"

"I'm not a pile driver." Lin Tian cursed, "Besides, she was the goddess of your time. I prefer younger girls."

"I'm not old!"

"Who the hell said you're old? I said your goddess is old!"

"Doesn't that mean I'm old?"

Two childish guys were arguing on the sofa, and then they decided to beat each other to death with a basketball, so they took the basketball and walked towards the basketball court in the backyard.

Three days later, after being bombarded with information about various trades, transfers, player retirements, rookies joining the league, the US team's defeat in the World Championships, and the falling out between Jordan and the Wizards, a new piece of news overwhelmed all the previous news.

This summer, the most explosive and craziest news came out!

In other words, the most explosive series of news has come out!

"The New Jersey Nets and Michael Jordan have reached a one-year, $1 million maximum contract!"

"The Indiana Pacers activated Vince Carter's bird rights and reached a 5-year, $6500 million maximum contract with him. Then, the Pacers reached a deal with the Nets, and Carter and Jordan exchanged teams!"

Jordan joins the Pacers, Carter joins the Nets!

Either of these two pieces of news is enough to change the situation in the alliance and shock the alliance, but this time, they happened at the same time!

And everyone can see that this was a deliberate transaction that had been planned for a long time!

Jordan clearly took a roundabout way to save the country, getting a high salary and joining the Pacers where he wanted to go, while the Nets got Carter, whom they had been pursuing all summer!
In this way, the Nets have quickly completed the reconstruction and spent their budget. Next season, they will be able to put out a starting lineup of Kidd, Carter, Yao Ming and Gasol, while Al Harrington, who is recognized as having the opportunity to become an All-Star, will also be sitting on the bench!

The Nets have added the outside scorers and substitute firepower they urgently needed. They have taken advantage of the Pacers and their weaknesses have been perfectly supplemented. It's time for the Nets to officially set sail!

What is even more frightening is undoubtedly the walkers.

As for the reason? Two names are enough.

Michael Jordan + Lin Tian!

The Pacers, whose team rotation had become a little stretched due to the departure of Carter and Ellington, completed their reinforcement almost in the blink of an eye. Now everyone believes: this team, which has won four championships in five years, is destined to be even stronger next season!
That’s Lin Tian + Jordan!
Even when Jordan was 39 years old, the United States and the Soviet Union could dominate the world.

"Michael + Lin? What's so scary about that?" O'Neal snorted, his face full of disdain, and said to his agent on the other end of the phone: "I didn't slack off this summer, and my injury is completely healed! They will know the horror of the Sharks again!"

After saying this, O'Neal hung up the phone. He suddenly felt that the game in front of him was meaningless, so he threw down the game controller and walked towards the weight room. In Philadelphia, the drunk Iverson found his phone from a pile of messy clothes. After picking up the phone, he sat up suddenly after hearing a sentence from the other end.

Then, after he lay in a daze on the bed for a while, his eyes suddenly showed a very excited look!
In Orlando, Duncan was working on a car alone in his auto repair shop when McGrady pulled him out from under the car: "Tim, Indiana has strengthened its lineup again, Michael + Lin, do you have confidence?"

"There's no point in having confidence. We haven't even played against them in the playoffs yet." Duncan habitually wanted to rub McGrady's head with his black hands, but McGrady reacted quickly and dodged his claws with a shake of his head.

Duncan could only shrug his shoulders and said, "But I'm not afraid of them, Tracy. Why are you here to see me?"

"How about starting training early?"

"What about Grant?" Duncan asked curiously, "I heard Grant can play now?"

"Grant is ready too! This time he said he is really recovered!" McGrady was also a little excited and said: "This time, the three of us will work together and we will definitely achieve some results! Michael is only 39 years old, there is nothing to be afraid of!"

"There's nothing to be afraid of, but I'm just worried that we won't be able to meet them." Duncan muttered as he changed out of his work clothes, washed his hands, and then put his paw on McGrady's head again: "Let's go, let's go to training."

"Paul, did you beat Michael last season and then trash-talk him?" The first thing Antoine Walker did after receiving the news was to call his good friend Pierce: "He went to Indiana to join forces with Lin."

"Are you afraid? I suggest you just choose to rest when playing against the Pacers!"

"Going to Indiana? FUXX!! Why? FUXX!! I beat Michael last season, and it was Lin who told me to do it! FUXX!! What am I afraid of? I can just tell Michael that it was Lin who told me to do it, right? FUXX!! Damn it, how did these two bastards get together? FUXX!!"

"You said FUXX five times in total. I think this proves that you are terrified now!"

"What do you want to say Antoine? Do you want to schedule the matches in advance and then take turns to rest?"

"No, I just want to tell you, should we consider starting training early? We've been resting for the whole summer."

"No need." Pierce rejected Walker without a second thought: "Training in advance won't help us get better. It's better to have a few more days of happiness! I'm in Alaska now, do you want to come?"

"Yes! Wait for me!"

"Fuck! Why did Frank agree to help the Indians? Is he crazy?! If we had signed Michael directly instead of agreeing to sign first and then trade, wouldn't we have been able to keep Michael on the team?" Kidd cursed, and was very dissatisfied with the team's honest behavior of 'doing what it said'!
"Jason, didn't you say you were confident that you could win the championship for the team?" Team coach Scott said with a smile, "Are you afraid?"

"Afraid?" Kidd snorted. "No matter how bad it is, can we lose worse than last season? I'm going to find Vince, Yao and Bao, and our training camp can start early!"

"Lin? Your contract expires next year. Why don't you bring Michael to New York? I'll offer both of you a maximum salary! Hello? Hello? Hey, why did you hang up?" Dolan looked at his hung up call and shook his head helplessly.

"Lin teamed up with Michael?" Stern's eyes widened and he stood up from his chair: "FUXX! Why in Indiana?"

"It would be great if it was in New York or Los Angeles! The worst would be Chicago! Indiana! What a waste."

"How did he go? Signed first and then traded? What was the signing and trading method? Only signed for one year? I know."

"Don't worry about anything else. Go ahead and hype up this gimmick of Michael and Lin joining hands again! Make it really hot! Then get the person in charge of arranging the schedule to come over. We need to reallocate the schedule! Fortunately, it hasn't been announced yet, otherwise it would be terrible."

"By the way, call the people in charge of the rules and clauses. Michael signed first and then replaced him this time. I think some people will take advantage of the loopholes in the rules to cause trouble. We need to seal the loopholes in advance!"

"We should also talk to TNT and ABC to see if they want to change their broadcasting plans and add more Pacers games to be broadcast nationwide."

"Also, have all the procedures in China been completed? If so, we can almost announce it!"

"Okay, that's about it!"

…………

In an instant, the news that Jordan joined the Pacers caused a huge wave!

After all, it is the union of the two previous and current rulers of the alliance, so a shock of this magnitude is normal!

What’s more important is that Lin Tian is already at the MVP level, and he will definitely not decline at this age. Even though Jordan is no longer the same person he was five years ago, his performance last season has already proved that it’s not that his level is down, it’s just that his physical strength is down!
When he was with the Wizards, he carried the team by himself and almost sent such a bad team into the playoffs. Now with Lin Tian and the Pacers' mature system to back him up, Jordan's physical disadvantage will disappear!

He could have just taken care of himself during the regular time and come out in the fourth quarter to kill the game!
Jordan, who has enough physical strength, can still be the nightmare of the league!
When everyone thought the Pacers were going to collapse, they made such big news that made all the teams wanting to win the championship couldn't help but sigh!
After all, this season there are several teams that have made key reinforcements in order to win the championship!

For example, the Nets took Carter and Harrington from the Pacers to strengthen their lineup.

Another example is the Mavericks. After failing in the offensive battle last season, they continue to tinker with their lineup under the leadership of crazy owner Mark Cuban.

They sent away Van Exel and Lavrentz, who they had just bought in the middle of last season, as well as several of their own draft picks, in exchange for scoring star Antawn Jamison from the Warriors.

This trade is definitely a fatal blow to Dazhi in the Mavericks, because Jamison plays the same position as him and their playing styles are somewhat similar, both focusing more on offense than defense. The arrival of Jamison will most likely cause Dazhi to lose the position he has just secured.

Another team that strengthened its team this summer and had been the favorite to win the championship for a long time before Jordan arrived was the Lakers!

After they lost the Western Conference Finals last year, they have been planning changes! And not only the team lineup needs to be changed, owner Buss even wants to move Jerry West's position and find a successor for him.

But after a long private meeting between the two in early June, all the rumors disappeared! West did not leave the team, and he made a series of moves in the draft a few days later!

He first sent the team's starting power forward O'Neal to Utah in exchange for Andrei Kirilenko, an all-around forward who had just been selected by the Jazz and played very well last year, point guard DeShawn Stevenson and a 02 first-round draft pick with the 15th pick.

He then used the pick to acquire a small forward from the University of Kentucky.

'The Little Prince' Tayshawn Prince!
After making a series of moves to strengthen the team's front line and backcourt, West did not leave his power forward position vacant. On the first day of the free market, he announced that the team would sign the league's top mercenary in the past few years with a one-year minimum salary.

Karl Malone!

Again, Malone is no longer an MVP-level player. Having moved from one team to another over the years in pursuit of a championship, he has even lost his edge and pride.

The last dignity he can maintain now is not to go to the Pacers!
But from a pure strength perspective, he averaged 19+8 per game last season, and there is a high probability that he will not decline this season. He is still a top ten power forward in the league, and he still has good strength!
Malone, who has moved to his third team in four years, is basically making his last fight for the championship!

If he fails again this year, no matter how thick-skinned Malone is or how much he desires the championship, he will definitely be too embarrassed to wander around.

After all, if he keeps wandering around, he might as well join his arch-rival team, the Pacers, and team up with Jordan and Lin Tian, ​​the two bastards who have caused him the most pain in his career.

At the very least, if you can't beat them, just join them. It's better than wandering around when you can't beat them.

Well... of course, not much stronger.

But in short, Malone's joining and the Lakers' reinforcements have allowed them to form a very dreamy lineup again! Otherwise, they would not have become the first favorite after the Pacers almost broke up!
In addition, while some teams continue to buy and buy and strive for the championship, there will naturally be other teams that fall completely!

Hot fire team!
Last season, they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals thanks to the crazy performance of their veterans, but they received another piece of bad news during the offseason.

Morning's kidney disease relapses!

This time it was directly life-threatening, and Morning was even admitted to the ICU!

Although this tough guy finally defeated the disease again and survived, it is clear that his career is completely over! After being attacked by kidney disease twice in a row, Mourning is definitely not suitable for such high-intensity competitions.

Who can guarantee that he won’t fall on the field?

Mourning's fall basically announced the end of the Heat's team-building journey. Riley did not make any major trades during the offseason. He did not renew the contracts of P.J. Brown and Eddie Jones whose contracts expired. He asked Payton if he wanted to change his environment.

Although Payton did not leave in the end, of the team's several starters last season, only Payton was left in the blink of an eye, and the rest left or retired. The Heat, which had been highly competitive and reached the Eastern Conference Finals many times in the past 7-8 years, is temporarily going to be extinguished.

Riley's attitude is very clear: the team is about to start playing badly!

In addition, in addition to adding Hamilton this summer, the Pistons also signed 5 third overall pick Chauncey Billups for 3500 million over five years. Although it is not known when they will get their own two inside players, at least the outside duo has gathered in Detroit!

As for the Pacers, there are also new changes in their lineup.

Reggie Miller has retired!

The guy who is still playing in the World Championships this summer, Bird originally looked at him and had no idea that this guy would retire. He even prepared a full mid-level contract for Miller, wanting the old man to play for another two years!
Even Miller himself originally had the same idea!
But when Jordan announced that he would join the Pacers, Miller quickly made a decision: Retire! I don't want to play anymore!
I can be a substitute for Carter, I can be a substitute for Christie, but I will never be a substitute for that bastard Jordan!
This is what Miller said privately to the guys on the team when he announced his retirement.

At first, everyone, especially Lin Tian and Bird, felt a little guilty, because it felt like they had forced Miller to retire.

But then they realized they were overthinking it! Miller, this bastard, didn't need any sympathy or mercy.

Because less than 20 minutes after announcing his retirement, this guy's resume appeared in Carlisle's mailbox.

Well... Carlisle is hiring a full-time shooting coach, hoping to help players improve their free throws and shooting.

When Miller wanted to be a shooting coach for a certain team, it was almost impossible for him to fail in the application, not to mention that the name of the team was the Pacers!
"You just want to yell at Michael in the coaching booth, calling him an idiot, mocking every time he misses a shot, being extremely harsh on him in training, and even torturing and humiliating him!" After Miller quickly took office, Lin Tian directly exposed Miller's true face.

"Is it so obvious?" Miller's annoying mouth, which was always tilted downward, curved upwards this time, which was extremely rare.

Bullying Jordan! For a whole season!
Who can resist this temptation?

This is 31 times more fun than playing ball, damn!
Even within the next three days, Carlisle's mailbox received job applications from Ewing, Starks, Barkley, Rodman, and even Pippen, who had not yet retired, sent one.
If all of this passes, the Pacers' coaching booth will be so exciting, just like the damn All-Star Game!
It’s just that Bird had to give face to Miller, but what about others?

Get the hell out of here!

He directly ordered Carlisle to block all these people, tell them to get away and not come here to join in the fun!
We are competing for the championship! What do you think we are doing? Are we playing house?
In addition, before the start of training camp, the league quickly announced several new rules and some major events.

The first is the change in the playoff rules. The first round of games was changed from the original 5 games 3 best system to 7 games 4 best system, in order to increase the fun of the game and sell more tickets.

Next, the Player of the Month award will be changed from one player selected per month to one player each from the East and West.

If the changes in these two rules were predictable and not unexpected, then the next rules can be said to be enough to change the alliance landscape!
First of all, the sign-first-then-trade rule has been revised by the league!
The new rules require that players who are signed and then traded must play for the team for at least one year!
In other words, it is not allowed to sign and then trade a free agent after signing the contract!

It also stipulates that after the sign-and-trade deal is reached, the total salary of both teams must not exceed the luxury tax + 400 million!
That is to say, if the luxury tax is 5000 million US dollars, then after the transaction, the total salary of both parties must not exceed 5400 million US dollars!
Both of these rules will be officially implemented starting from next season!
Obviously, this rule is aimed at the Pacers and Jordan, and many media quickly named this clause the Michael Jordan Clause!

The league obviously wants to ban this kind of sign-and-trade that is obviously an exploitation of loopholes, and to prevent similar behavior that may happen in the future, which is more exaggerated and unacceptable.

Many people even said: If the combination of Jordan + Lin Tian was not so hype and had so many highlights, Stern would most likely have directly called a halt to the deal, saying that it was not in compliance with the rules, and would have directly cited basketball reasons to make the deal invalid!

Iron-fisted Stern is really capable of doing such a thing! (End of this chapter)