basketball scientist

After the game on the night of the 23rd, the Hawks got three days of rest before welcoming the New Jersey Nets at home on the 27th. The players also got two days off to enjoy Christmas.

The players can relax, but the management still has work to do. For example, the team's financial report for this year; for example, the continued follow-up of rookie reports; for example, trade negotiations with the Rockets are still in progress.

After McGrady returned, the Rockets' record improved. In the last four games, they had three wins and one loss, and only lost one game to the Mavericks. The team's record improved to 12 wins and 15 losses. The improvement in the team's combat effectiveness allowed General Manager Dawson and

Head coach Van Gundy has determined his strategy of exchanging draft picks for immediate combat power.

However, the one who really has the decision-making power for the Rockets has to be owner Alexander. Based on the transaction ideas set by Dawson and Van Gundy, he has put forward new demands. Juwan Howard and Swift’s junk contracts must be brought forward.

Take one!

In the original trade of McGrady, the Magic included Juwan Howard's five-year, 30 million premium contract in the deal. Now a season has passed, and Howard, who has reached his age, has been steadily declining. He relies on McGrady and Yao Ming to attract defenses and his statistics are booming.

Not bad, but the defensive end is slow, and there is only one mid-range shot left on the offensive end. The remaining 4 years of the 24 million contract can be completely classified as a "junk contract"!

This summer, the Rockets waived Witherspoon through the "Allan Houston Clause" to free up salary space and signed Swift with a four-year, $20 million contract. It's been very miserable so far.

, In addition to his excellent running and jumping ability and violent dunks, this guy really has no other advantages.

On the offensive end, he has no ball intelligence and cannot move, and his pick-and-roll quality is poor, let alone shooting; on the defensive end, his lower body strength is poor, he cannot withstand people, and he has no awareness of assisting defense. He is also very reckless and easily shaken.

These two people respectively occupy the space of a middle-class contract. The contract is smelly and long, but the actual combat effectiveness is very average. The decline of the former is irreversible, and the latter has no signs of "enlightenment" at all. Alexander wants to take the opportunity to get rid of

Their garbage contract is not surprising either.

However, if you place your hope on the Eagles to get a garbage contract, you won't get any outstanding immediate combat ability!

Dawson feels very embarrassed, but he is well aware of the miserly nature of his boss Alexander. It doesn't matter to him whether the team can advance to the second round or even compete for the championship. He also doesn't care if the fans play "Alexander's mother-in-law" every day. What he cares about is

Just make money, use the lowest risk method to make money, don't even think about asking him to pay the luxury tax, even if it is under the salary cap, he must be able to save every penny.

Van Gundy also found it difficult to do. According to his original plan with Dawson, there were two options for trading with the Eagles. One was to trade "Derrick Anderson's Jon Barry first-round draft pick" for "David Lee, Matt Barnes".

The second is the trade of "David Wesley Keith Bogans' first-round pick" for "James Bohemian Moore's Pistons second-round pick". The Rockets simultaneously upgraded the power forward and small forward positions to improve their impact on the season.

The winning percentage in the post-season.

Basically, as long as they make it to the playoffs, even if this draft pick is eventually converted into the 15th or 16th pick, and they can get Posey or David Lee, the Rockets will not lose money.

However, Alexander gave the order and this became difficult.

Calling Larry Sands, Dawson offered his price: "Juwan Howard, Wesley's first-round pick for Matt Barnes, David Lee." (The Eagles have enough space to eat Howard's contract alive, no.

needs to be balanced)

"Carroll, are you kidding me?" Larry Sander said in a cold voice, "David's current market situation is that he is already a top ten rookie in the 2005 class, and this is in the context of playing as a substitute! Use him as a one-way replacement.

I have to hesitate about your draft picks, and you want me to take Juwan Howard’s four-year contract, four years!”

If he agrees to this offer, Larry Sander will be embarrassed to sit down as the general manager of the Eagles.

"But you have Milicic, who has more potential than David." Dawson reminded.

"Then do you think I can negotiate a first-round pick with other teams using David?"

There is no way to answer this question. It’s hard to say now. After all, David Lee has only played 28 regular season games, and only started two of them. But as long as David Lee maintains this performance, after the season is over and the draft lottery is over,

The Hawks want to trade him for a fringe lottery pick, no problem at all.

"How do you plan to trade?" Dawson asked after a moment.

"I want to say that in our original plan, we had no intention of swallowing up Howard's contract."

This is not only part of the negotiation skills, but also a true portrayal of Larry Sander's inner thoughts. One or two years of garbage contracts can be swallowed by pinching the nose. Four years of garbage contracts will greatly affect the future operation of the team!

"I need to talk to my team, Carol."

"Okay, wait for the good news."

After hanging up the phone, Larry Sander looked at Ke Yan opposite: "What do you think?"

"The Rockets' role players are too weak. I am quite confident that as long as one of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady is injured, this pick will definitely be a lottery pick!" Ke Yan said, "This lottery pick can broaden our operating space in the future.

"

"But if the Rockets insist on us taking Howard's four-year contract, are you sure we can make good use of Howard?" Larry Sander asked, "Or Swift, I think the Rockets may be willing to give up on him.

"

You can't do anything without looking at the bottom. Even if the team's high-quality potential draft picks can bring superstars, Howard's junk contract will still restrict the development of the Eagles.

"You're right, this is a garbage contract. I don't have the ability to make good use of him." Ke Yan admitted, "In the end, he, a player with an annual salary of 6 million, can only play the role of a minimum-salary player. But I can

Find players with minimum salary or rookie players, and achieve the effect of 6 million."

"..."

This is a bit too pretentious, but Ke Yan did make good use of basic-salary players. Anderson, Eddie House, Diop, and Barnes during the Lakers period; Kittles and Mickey Moore during the Hawks period.

"I have to report this to Anthony. After all, it is a four-year contract." Larry Sand said.

Ke Yan is now not only achieving great results, but also stimulating the Eagles' basketball market. As long as his request is not too excessive, Ressler will agree to it no matter what.

Larry Sander also understood this psychologically and insisted on reporting Ressler for two purposes. The first was to shirk the blame and make it clear that he was not the one leading this transaction, and any problems in the future would be all Ke Yan's responsibility;

He also gave this favor to Ressler so that Ressler could show his trust in Keyan.

Sure enough, after listening to Keyan's idea, Anthony Ressler directly instructed Larry Sander to follow Keyan's proposal and, if the conditions are right, he can take the contract of Howard or Swift.

Given such trust, Ressler believes that there won't be any big obstacles in renewing the contract with Keyan in the summer.

In normal times, if the first negotiation is unfavorable, the two sides will always have to show off the other side and try to show off. However, on Christmas Eve, everyone wanted to reach an agreement as soon as possible, so the second negotiation started in the afternoon.

This time, Carroll Dawson brought the Dallas Mavericks in and proposed a more practical trade plan.

The Rockets sent out their first-round pick, Juwan Howard, and Lucas III, and received Matt Barnes, Royer Eway, and the Mavericks' first-round pick;

The Mavericks sent their first-round pick, Christie, to the Hawks for Mickey Moore;

The Hawks sent Mickey Moore, Royer Eway, and Matt Barnes to receive Juwan Howard, Christie, Lucas III and the Rockets' first-round pick.

This trading plan is relatively reliable overall. The Rockets sent a draft pick, got rid of a four-year garbage contract, and strengthened the team's small forward position. The Mavericks can still find treasures at the end of the first round;

The Mavericks sent a draft pick at the end of the first round, an injury-plagued veteran, in exchange for a more mobile interior lineman, giving the team one more option for interior defense;

The Hawks sent out Barnes, who was at the end of the rotation, and Mickey Moore, who had fallen out of the rotation, swallowed up the contracts of two veterans, and acquired a high-ranking rookie who is very likely to enter the lottery.

This trading plan is not bad overall, but Ke Yan is still a little worried about the depth of the team's wing personnel.

Christie was once the league's defensive leader at the second position, a real "Kobe Bryant killer", but the 35-year-old has been plagued by injuries this season. He has only played six games for the Mavericks so far this season, and has been troubled by ankle injuries since then.

.

It was not easy for him to replace Barnes when he was in the rotation. He also studied the player lists of each team, and finally set his target on the Knicks' Udoka, and pulled the Knicks into the four-party trade.

.

The Rockets sent out their first-round pick, Juwan Howard, and Lucas III, and received Matt Barnes, Royer Eway, and the Mavericks' first-round pick;

The Mavericks sent their first-round pick, Christie, to the Hawks for Mickey Moore;

The Hawks sent Mickey Moore, Royer Eway, Matt Barnes, and Dotta Smith to receive Juwan Howard, Amy Udoka, Christie, Lucas III and the Rockets' first-round pick.

The Knicks traded Amy Udoka for Dota Smith.

A big deal involving ten players was finalized in the management liaison, and everyone tacitly understood that the documents required for the deal were not processed immediately.

On the one hand, today is Christmas Eve and tomorrow is Christmas. We don’t want players to spend the New Year in turmoil; more importantly, the league’s staff are also on holiday for Christmas, and no one will review the documents submitted, so they still have to wait until the 26th.

Review transaction documents.

There is no doubt that this transaction is a short-term harmful but long-term beneficial operation for the Hawks. The team's immediate combat effectiveness must have declined.

In promoting this deal, Ke Yan definitely needs to support the team's performance, which also requires him to devote more energy to the command in the following season.

Ke Yan also felt a little headache. He walked out of the office and kept rubbing his temples.

The weather was a bit cold, so Ke Yan rubbed his hands and took a long breath.

"Didi!" The horn of a car in front honked twice. Ke Yan recognized Wang Zhenyao's car and was a little surprised.

The window was lowered, and a familiar figure sat in the driver's seat.

Ke Yan was a little stunned. In the previous phone call, Wang Lifan said that he planned not to come back for Christmas.

Wang Lifan looked at him for a while, and seeing that he still didn't come in, he pressed the horn twice more.

Ke Yan came back to his senses, quickly opened the car door and got in the passenger seat, and asked with a smile on his face: "When did you come back?"

"I didn't plan to come back, but my boyfriend made a wish to Santa Claus through the media, hoping that I would come back. What can I do, go against Santa Claus's will?" Wang Lifan said coquettishly, "Isn't there no competition? What?

Are you still coming to the training hall today?"

"I have a deal to discuss. I've been busy here all day." Ke Yan couldn't suppress the smile on his lips: "Thank you Santa Claus, thank you Jesus."

"Fool~"

Because it was Christmas, there were not many cars on the road, and we soon arrived at Wang Lifan's house. It was Wang Zhenyao who opened the door.

"Uncle, aunt, Merry Christmas." Ke Yan said, feeling a little embarrassed.

She didn't know that Wang Lifan was back beforehand, so she drove her all the way back and didn't even have time to buy gifts.

It’s a bit embarrassing to come to the house empty-handed during the big holiday.

But Wang Zhenyao and Zhou Yun didn't care about this, and quickly asked Ke Yan to come in: "Come in quickly, I'm waiting for you to eat."

Different countries have different Christmas customs. Here in the United States, the must-have foods for Christmas are: turkey, pudding, baked ham, and hominy. It has been 20 years since the Wang family moved to the United States. In some respects, they have already followed the local customs.

It has everything you need. There are also Cantonese snacks such as rice cakes, glutinous rice balls, and fried rice cakes.

"No need to be restrained, just like at home, can you drink?" It was a rare holiday, and Wang Zhenyao obviously wanted to have a few drinks.

"I don't drink much at ordinary times, but I am spending time with my uncle during the holidays." Ke Yan said cheerfully.

Wang Zhenyao is the doctor in charge of cardiothoracic and pulmonary surgery. He is busy with work on weekdays and has surgeries almost every day. He rarely has the opportunity to drink freely. On a rare occasion, Zhou Yun and Wang Lifan did not stop them and opened a bottle of champagne for them.

"You've done a great job with the Eagles. Many people in our hospital are now Eagles fans. In the past, no one was too lazy to mention the Eagles." Wang Zhenyao's words are really not a compliment, but a fact.

It's been less than two months, and the Eagles have already won more games than they did last season!

"It's always easier to go from 0 to 60 points, and going higher is the real test." Ke Yan said modestly.

"That's not necessarily true. Isn't there a saying, 'Everything is difficult at the beginning'?" Wang Zhenyao said, raising his glass, "It's not good to be too modest."

"He's like this. He's obviously very good, but he still feels like he's not doing enough." On the surface, Wang Lifan was cueing Ke Yan, but in reality, he was still praising him.

"Because now my achievements are still in vain and I don't have real honors in my hands." Ke Yan said, "Word of mouth is the most trustworthy thing."

"This makes sense~" Wang Zhenyao appreciated Ke Yan's words very much.

"Uncle, I respect you~"

Wang Zhenyao continued to talk to Ke Yan, Zhou Yun kept putting food on Ke Yan's plate, Wang Lifan curled his lips, "Who is your biological child~"

The two of them drank a large bottle of champagne. Ke Yan felt that he was almost done and ended the banquet with the excuse that he would get drunk if he drank any more.

After helping to clean up the dishes, the mother and daughter were doing the aftermath work in the kitchen. Wang Zhenyao and Keyan were sitting on the sofa.

"Do your parents know about you and never?" Wang Zhenyao suddenly asked.

"I mentioned it to them and saw the photos," Keyan said.

"Two elders never..."

"The impression is very good. My parents also hope that I can find a more stable girl." Ke Yan gave Wang Zhenyao some reassurance.

There is no better profession than being a doctor, let alone a doctor in the United States, who has a high social status, stable income, and can be admitted to medical school in the United States, which shows that he has a high IQ, which is also valued by some families.

"Never used to be more playful, but after I went to college, I became a lot more stable." Wang Zhenyao said firmly, "Your parents are public officials and it is not convenient for them to go abroad. Then when the season is over, our family will return to China to visit your parents."

"Ah?" Ke Yan was surprised.

"what do you think?"

"Uncle, let's listen to never's opinion. I,,,,,, don't want to put pressure on her."

"I'll never tell you this."

.......

After Christmas, four teams released a blockbuster to the league. A huge deal involving four teams, 10 players, and 2 draft picks detonated the league.

At the beginning, public opinion had mixed reviews of this deal. In the eyes of fans, Howard, as a veteran, can bring experience to the team, and his statistics are not bad; Christie is also someone who has seen big scenes; and there is the draft

rights compensation.

But when experts named Juwan Howard's 24 million contract over the next four years that would greatly affect the future operations of the Eagles, fans realized the danger. Four years!

Suddenly, doubts arose!

Fortunately, Ke Yan had a keen eye in this year's draft, and both Paul and David Lee's performances exceeded expectations. This made fans think that Ke Yan agreed to the deal because of which rookie he was interested in. Moreover, Howard's

The contract expires in 2009, which does not affect the Hawks' ability to renew Paul and David Lee's contracts in 2009, or even negotiate contracts with Joe Johnson in 2010.

Eagles fans felt that they had suffered a big loss, so they managed to calm down and did not attack on social media for the sake of Ke Yan. Rockets fans also felt that they had suffered a loss!

The team did save money by sending away Juwan Howard and bringing in Barnes, but their strength didn't seem to increase much! At least, they fell out of the playoff roster. This is a lottery pick!

tmd uses lotto to sign away junk contracts and save money! Is there still a law? Is there a law?

The only people who feel they have made a profit are the Mavericks fans. They are a championship contending team. The draft picks are destined to be at the end, and there is no time to develop rookies. There is no doubt that the advantages of exchanging an experienced insider with distinctive characteristics outweigh the disadvantages.

However, Ke Yan has always believed that it is best to evaluate a transaction after all the chips have been cashed in. Whether the Hawks make a profit or a loss depends on what the Rockets' draft pick is!

On the morning of December 27, the Eagles completed physical examinations for four players, and then the four attended a press conference with team staff and took photos in front of the media with their new jerseys.

The most exciting one is Lucas III. Joining the fast-paced offense and defense of the Eagles, playing under Ke Yan, who is good at using young people, Lucas feels that his speed has a place to be used, and he even has a match with Eddie Howe.

The idea of ​​a backup point guard.

Udoka is also very excited, not because he joined the Hawks, but because he left the chaotic Knicks. Young players still need a good environment to grow. Obviously, the current Knicks do not have this condition.

Christie is suffering from injuries and is already considering retiring. After all, he joined the Mavericks with the intention of getting a championship ring. There is no hope for the Hawks for the time being. Instead of doing this, it is better to retire early and enjoy life!

Juwan Howard has a "take it as it comes" attitude. He just wants to get the full amount of his 24 million contract over the next four years. As for who gets it, he doesn't care.