Bishop of the Devil

The city of Portland is located in Oregon…

Richard took Stevens with him, and the two bought tickets to fly to Portland that day, packed some changes of clothes, and set off.

As for Richard's second-hand Ford, he gave it directly to Brownie...

There was nothing left, so I left very freely...

After arriving in Portland, the Blazers' executives were already waiting for Richard's arrival.

Team executives such as President of Basketball Affairs Neil Olshey, Chief Financial Officer Bill Christensen, Chief Operating Officer Huggins, and Vice President of Legal and Commercial Affairs Lauridson are basically the most important players in the team. It's all here.

The group of people drove to the office at the Rose Garden Arena, and the next step was to discuss the contract signing.

A team can be understood as a large-scale company!

Positions such as CEO, CFO, CMO, etc. are all readily available. These executives are responsible for the daily operations of the company, while head coaches like Richard and his coaching staff are almost the production or technical part of the company. Department, dedicated to generating revenue for the team...

Many fans will think that the head coach has a pivotal position in the team. In fact, this also depends on the score. A head coach with seniority and high status in the league does have a high status in the team and has the right to talk to senior executives on an equal footing.

But those head coaches with little qualifications are subject to constraints from senior executives.

For example, Basketball President Olshey is actually Richard’s nominal boss...

It's just that this immediate boss didn't have any arrogance towards Richard. The first thing he said when they met was that he would cooperate with Richard's work well in the future...

"Li, this is the salary contract. You can take a look at it first. If there is no problem, we can sign it immediately!" CFO Bill and Vice President of Legal Affairs Lawson handed Richard a contract and said with a smile. .

One of these two people is in charge of the team's finances, and the other is in charge of the team's legal affairs. Naturally, they are the two of them to handle the signing of the contract!

Richard took the contract, took a quick look at it, found nothing wrong with it, and then handed the contract to Stevens beside him.

"Brad, help me take a look..."

Not only the young coach was startled, but the two team executives were also startled...

"Is this your agent? Li?" Bill asked doubtfully...

The young marshal is only 21 years old, and with his natural baby face, no one would doubt that he is only 18 years old, so Bill looks confused...

"No, Bill, he is my assistant coach!" Richard said with a smile.

Several executives at the scene felt dizzy when they heard this? !

Teaching assistant? ! Are you kidding me? The boy in front of them really looked like he was only eighteen years old. They even suspected that this boy had never graduated from high school...

"Haha, Li, this joke is really funny. You are really a humorous person..." Several executives laughed.

But what they didn't expect was that Richard shook his head with a serious expression.

"No, I'm not joking, he is really my assistant coach!"

"After I sign the contract, I ask you to draw up an assistant coaching contract!"

Stevens had read the contract, nodded and handed it to Richard.

Richard took out his signature pen and signed his name at the end of the contract...

"Chard-Lee"

The moment he signed his name, Richard instantly received a new system prompt!

The last time he received a system prompt was when he led the Boilermakers to win the championship at the end of March. He completed the task that made him famous and was rewarded with three points of full coach attributes!

Richard didn't pay too much attention to this. The three points of all attributes only made Richard's overall coach score reach 61, which just passed!

If the system hadn't issued another mission this time, Richard would have almost forgotten that he even had a system...

"The latest system tasks will be released based on the team the host chooses to join!"

"Task name: Talent reserve!"

"Mission goal: Before the start of the 97-98 season draft, the team has at least five draft picks, including no less than two first-round picks!"

"Task reward: one-time consumption prop-lucky dice!"

"Lucky Dice: It can increase the host's luck value to the full value of 100 points within a three-minute period!"

Richard was stunned for a moment. This reward is a bit interesting. How about changing the luck value? ! It has many uses, but the duration is a bit too short, only three minutes...

If it lasts only one day, Richard can drive around to buy lottery tickets, and even spend a day in Las Vegas...

Of course, the ending may be that Richard is taken away by the CIA overnight, or hacked to death in the middle of the night...

Richard doesn't find this talent reserve task difficult. Five draft picks may seem like a lot, but in fact, the team itself has two draft picks, which means Richard can get three more!

The Blazers themselves are preparing to rebuild, and if they rebuild, how can they do it without the draft picks?

So Richard didn't care at all about the difficulty of this task!

…

Just when Richard accepted the system task, several executives were still struggling with Stevens...

They looked at each other, were they really assistant coaches? ! How could this kid who looks underage be an assistant coach? !

"Li, are you sure you're not joking?"

"We can't hire underage workers, it's illegal!" Lauridsen said with a pained face.

These executives have been instructed by Paul Allen to fully cooperate with Richard's work...

But how could Lauridson, as the team's vice president in charge of legal affairs, agree to such illegal things as hiring underage workers...

In the old American territory, children under the age of 16 are called child workers, and those between 16 and 18 are called underage workers!

"Mr. Lauridson, I am not a minor, I am 21 years old!" Stevens, who had not spoken much, was a little annoyed. He really looked like a minor? !

Fortunately, he just thought about it in his mind and did not say it out loud. Otherwise, everyone in the room, including Richard, would definitely nod...

"Yes, you really look like a minor..."

…

Lauridson was relieved when Stevens said that he was 21 years old. Although he was still extremely young, at least he was not breaking the law...

Um? 21 years old? !

Several executives realized, what the hell is the difference between this and underage? !

The current 27-year-old Richard is already an exaggerated head coach. Before Richard, there were almost no NBA head coaches in their twenties, even those in their thirties!

Even if it does happen, most of them are NBA players who have retired and then served as the transitional head coach of a weak team at the age of nearly forty!

It can be said that Richard became the head coach at the age of 27, which is absolutely unprecedented and unprecedented!

And Stevens, a man with a baby face, is even more exaggerated!

Becoming an assistant coach for an NBA team at the age of 21? ! Several executives felt like crying for a moment...

Isn't this nonsense? !

But when they thought of Paul Allen's instructions, several executives could only keep their thoughts in their hearts...

It’s good to be over 18 years old and not break the law. If you want a bicycle, even if Richard hires an illiterate idiot now, these executives will definitely have to give a teaching assistant contract...

…

Richard's contract has been signed, with a four-year salary of US$20 million, which is now the maximum salary for a coach in the NBA!

As for Stevens' contract, the management originally wanted to give him a one-year contract worth $300,000...

Such a contract is definitely not shabby for Stevens with his qualifications, but how could Richard be satisfied!

After the final bargaining, a one-year contract of US$500,000 was given, and the assistant coaching contract was finally finalized!

Some people say that team management and the head coach are naturally enemies...

This is actually true. What the operations management must be thinking about is saving money. As long as the team's performance is not affected, it is best not to spend a penny...

And the head coach must be thinking that the more money he spends, the better, you get what you pay for...

The positions of the two sides are naturally opposed. It is no wonder that many powerful head coaches in NBA history have resigned sadly due to friction with the management.

"Li, there is an inaugural press conference scheduled at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. Please prepare for it tonight. I feel that tomorrow will be very lively..." Huggins, the team's CMO, reminded Richard with a smile.

Richard nodded. It just so happened that he also wanted to use this press conference tomorrow to announce his plans to recruit assistant coaches.

It's early May now, and in half a month's time, it will be time for the rookie joint trial, and Richard will definitely pay attention to it then...