Almighty Coach

Dai Li continued to check the player information of the Clippers.

At present, the highest paid player in the Clippers is named Wood, a point guard, but now he is recuperating.

Wood entered the NBA as the No. 1 pick in the draft. He started his NBA career with the Chicago Bulls, and his performance is indeed worthy of the status of the "No. 1 pick". During the rookie contract period, he showed the temperament of a leader , In the second year of his career, he entered the All-Star bench. He won the regular season MVP at the age of 22, the youngest MVP in NBA history, and was selected to the first team of the season.

This outstanding performance allowed Wood to win a five-year super maximum salary contract of 153 million U.S. dollars after the end of his rookie contract. The NBA even changed the signing rules for this.

However, injuries ruined this superstar. An accidental injury caused Wood to tear the cruciate ligament. The MVP has become a glass man.

More importantly, continuous injuries caused Wood's state to decline greatly. He lost his speed, explosive power, physical confrontation, and the sharp breakthroughs he relied on for survival. The original Wood, with his excellent physical fitness, even He can be so explosive that he is forced to break through for a layup, but now he will be forced to break through by his opponent even in basic one-on-one defense.

There is no doubt that the superstar Wood has completely fallen, and the five-year $153 million contract he signed that year has also become one of the best junk contracts in the NBA.

The Bulls naturally hope to get rid of this huge garbage contract. After a series of efforts, the Clippers, which have more salary space, took over this garbage contract. At the same time, they got a young player with good potential from the Bulls. A first-round pick, a second-round pick, and some cash.

After Wood came to the Clippers, he was injured in training without playing a game in the new season. Currently, Wood is still recovering from his injuries. According to the previous news from the Clippers, Wood’s injury will not recover until at least the summer , which means that he is still reimbursed this season.

Wood's salary, including this year, has two years left, and each year exceeds 30 million US dollars. In other words, if the Clippers do not lay off Wood, they will have to wait at least another season before they can get rid of Wood's junk contract.

"A single Wood took up more than 30 million in salary space for the team, which is almost like blocking the way for the Clippers to recruit." Dai Li shook his head helplessly.

In this case, the Clippers don't have much salary space to expel high salaries for other players, and the team's record is so bad, and the stars don't want to join, the prospects are very bleak.

Dai Li checked the record of the Bulls again. The current Chicago Bulls are ranked fifth in the East. They lead the eighth place in the East by a full ten games. There must be no problem entering the playoffs. This also means that the first-round picks traded by the Clippers from the Bulls are probably ranked outside the twentieth place. Generally, only one qualified role player can be selected for this pick. Choose a player who can hit the starting lineup, and you can burn the incense.

The potential player who was traded with Wood was named Ronnie, who was 2.03 meters tall and served as a striker. He was selected with the 23rd overall pick in the first round and is now in the final year of his rookie contract.

Ronnie is a very qualified 3D player. When he was in the Bulls, Ronnie was the most important member of the team. As the number one substitute for the Bulls, he averaged 12.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.7 times per game. Assists, shooting 42% from the field, and 36% from the three-point range. For a player on a rookie contract, this is considered to have great potential.

The Clippers also took a fancy to Ronnie's potential, so they were willing to take over Wood's junk contract. After entering the Clippers, Ronnie also became the team's starting small forward. His playing time and number of shots have increased, and his scoring average has also risen to 18.8 points. core players.

However, Wood is not the top scorer of the Clippers. The top scorer of the Clippers is the 32-year-old veteran Naismith. As a guard, Naismith can contribute 22.6 points and 5.3 assists per game. This data is very good , but it cannot bring the team victory.

Naismith once won the best sixth man in the NBA. His singles ability is very strong, but his defense is relatively weak. He is a typical player with strong offense and weak defense. And the most important thing is that Naismith's stability is relatively poor. If the hand feel comes, he can compete with the superstars in the NBA. Simply put, Naismith is a "nervous knife".

This kind of "nervous knife" type of player can only become a supplementary point for the team's firepower, and is destined not to be the core of a team.

In terms of inside, it is currently the weakest link of the Clippers. The team's original starting center and starting power forward are all injured, so the Clippers can only partner with role players and "water dispenser administrators" inside. One of them is a second-round rookie and the other is an undrafted player. . This type of player is a precarious type in the NBA. It is already a thankful thing to find a team willing to take them in every season. However, due to the lack of major generals in the Clippers, they can actually start big.

Dai Li checked the injury situation of the Clippers again, and his face became more embarrassing.

"Fifteen players, five of them are currently injured, and two others are on the daily observation list. In this way, there are only eight players who are completely healthy, and three of them are The 'water dispenser administrator' who is usually in the rotation lineup at all. With so many injuries, if I take over the Clippers, the first thing I do is to fire the current team doctor!"

Then Dai Li began to look up the next schedule of the Clippers.

At present, the Clippers have played a total of 46 games, with a record of 16 wins and 30 losses, and there are 36 games left to play. Dai Li took out a pen and paper, and classified the Clippers' opponents for the next 36 games.

The first category is the top two in the East and West. They are all teams that have steadily entered the playoffs, and the teams have won more games. The home court advantage in the playoffs will definitely be preserved. However, the teams that can become the top two teams in the East and West are all teams that are likely to win the championship. They are strong, and the Clippers can't beat them at all.

The second category is the three to six places in the East and West. They can also enter the playoffs, but they may not have home court advantage, so in the next 36 games, they will definitely play in order to win the home court of the playoffs. Fighting with an advantage, you will not admit defeat easily. It will be a difficult battle for the Clippers to meet them.

The third category is the teams ranked seventh to twelfth in the East and West. They are teams on the verge of the playoffs. Unable to enter the playoffs, for these teams, the more they reach the end of the season, the more desperate they will be. The Clippers are an underdog, and they must win their opponents, so the Clippers meet They will definitely not have good fruit to eat.

The fourth category is bad teams. At this point in the NBA game, in order to get a higher draft pick, many teams have already started to play bad. These teams don’t want to win at all. The Clippers met them , but it can be the beauty of an adult and win the game.

"For the middle and lower reaches of the team, the second half of the NBA schedule is much more difficult than the first half. First, after half a season of competition, all the teams have completed the run-in, and some strong teams have also begun to really compete. Second, in order to hit the playoffs, or to gain home court advantage in the playoffs, the team will take the game more seriously, and they will not easily overturn on the underdogs. So I accept the fast I'm afraid it will be very difficult for the team to play more than 30 games after the team. What a headache!"

Dai Li rubbed his temples, showing a distressed expression.

...

The news of the Clippers' change of ownership was quickly learned by reporters, and then appeared in the media.

Immediately afterwards, the NBA officially announced the news of the acquisition of the Clippers by Chinese capital Dingtian Sports.

For the entire NBA, this can be said to be a booster. The negative impact of racial discrimination was reversed instantly.

The NBA has been coveting the Chinese market for a long time, and now Dingtian Sports' acquisition of the Clippers will obviously help the NBA develop the Chinese market.

The owners of the other 29 teams all welcomed the acquisition of Dingtian Sports, and they are all beneficiaries of the expansion of the NBA.

The same is true for NBA players. Some NBA players have already been sponsored by Chinese sports brands and gained sweetness from it. Other players naturally hope to get a share of the Chinese market.

The happiest thing is the Clippers players. They are not stars, and they don't usually get high-value advertising endorsement contracts, so they need to be paid attention to. The few "water dispenser administrators" in the Clippers even began to figure out that if there is no ball to play in the NBA next season, they will go to the CBA to make a living.

...

Los Angeles Clippers.

Assistant coach Cassell parked the car in the underground parking garage, then walked into the elevator with his head held high.

Due to the resignation of the previous black coach, Cassel is currently acting as the team's head coach. With the completion of the Dingtian Group's change of ownership, Kassel also feels that he has ushered in a new opportunity.

"Wait a minute!" Just as the elevator door was about to close, a person ran over quickly. Kassel pressed the button to open the elevator door and opened the elevator door again. Only then did he see that it was the team doctor who ran over. .

The team doctor walked into the elevator, then showed a flattering expression, and said, "Coach Cassel, congratulations."

"Congratulations? Why?" Cassel asked, but there was a sense of knowingly asking in his tone.

"The team is about to usher in a new boss. I guess Coach Kassel will be officially promoted to head coach." The team doctor paused, and then said: "More than half of this season's games have gone on. The record is not satisfactory, and there are more than 30 games left. I think at least this season, our new boss will not be able to hire a new head coach, so you will definitely be promoted to the head coach of the team, Of course I want to congratulate you!"

"I hope so!" Cassel said, but there was a sense of confidence in his words.

In Cassell's view, the team doctor's analysis is simply too correct. The Clippers' record is so bad, and the situation of this season has been finalized. It is imperative for the new coach to straighten himself as the "acting coach".

If he can become the head coach of the Clippers, then only the second half of the season will add a lot of points to Cassel's resume. The position of the coach.

The elevator stopped, Kassel and the team doctor got out of the elevator, but the people nearby cast a special look.

This kind of gaze made Cassel feel a little uncomfortable, and he even had a premonition that something might happen.

Kassel walked into the coach's locker room. The three trainers were talking about something in a low voice. When they saw Kassel, their expressions changed suddenly. One of them even hid something behind his back.

"What are you looking at?" Cassel asked.

"It's nothing..." The person who answered smiled awkwardly, and continued, "Mr. Cassel, today's weather is really good!"

Cassel felt that the other party was deliberately changing the subject, and he was sensitively aware that what they were talking about just now, and what they were hiding behind, might be related to him.

Cassel suddenly felt a little angry. He was about to become the team's head coach and the most authoritative person in the team. How could he tolerate such a thing.

I saw Cassel snorted coldly, then walked over with a straight face, and pushed the person hiding things aside.

On the chair behind the man was a newspaper.

"It's just a newspaper, what's there to hide!" Cassel picked up the newspaper with some puzzlement, and then he saw the headline on it:

"New owner of the Clippers: We will hire the best coach of Lawrence Li Dai as the head coach of the Clippers"

"Lawrence's best coach? Is that Chinese Li? Isn't he a track and field coach? Does he know basketball?" Cassel couldn't help shouting.