NBA: Start with 2 billion, buy the Knicks

"You're not here to trick me, are you? Or do you want to ask for a high price?"

Wright hadn't felt this nervous for a long time, so he directly pulled the deputy general manager next to him to listen to the call. He couldn't help it, but the person on the other side was the Knicks.

You must be careful!

That Jiang Chao is a thief.

The Warriors have never had any dealings with the Knicks since they were manipulated by the Knicks in 2009. I want to ask about the price this time. I just wanted to try out Thomas last week with the first-round price of the year after next, so I just want to ask casually.

, after all, Thomas’s contract and potential are all there.

Today, the Knicks suddenly came to visit and seemed to have contacted his family. Why does it feel like he was caught with his hair out again?

Something is wrong!

In fact, not only the Warriors, but also other teams in the league are on guard against the Knicks. This is why Brother Li has never been able to find a new home. He is afraid of being cheated by the Knicks. Brother Li is indeed very good, but if he is changed,

If he becomes even more powerful in the Knicks, then he will regret it to death?

In addition, the Knicks are a championship team, and championship teams have always suffered losses when trading. Otherwise, if your championship team still trades first, no one will play with you.

But the problem is that the Knicks have never suffered a loss since Jiang Chao took over. Now that they are "chatting" with another team for the first time since winning the championship, Wright is a little "flattered."

But it’s impossible not to be tempted by the two-way contract of 6.5 million in five years.

So the two sides started talking from coach to management, directly to the boss level.

Warriors owner Lacob, who Jiang Chao called "not good", is full of interest in Thomas. Who doesn't know about this second-round pick from the Knicks recently, and they have all kinds of exchanges with him.

Jiang Chao and Max both "report good things but not bad things". They exaggerate their advantages and hide their shortcomings as much as possible.

It is impossible for them to say that the young marshal deliberately let Thomas use data to fish or something, nor that he put it on the shelf to sell, but because of the Warriors Wright's talkative words, David Lee had been saying in the early stage that if he could be traded,

A trade is also possible for David Lee.

In other words, there is no intention of trading Thomas. (Brother Li: I can run with you too)

But Jiang Chao's wish for Max was that in the end, Clay could just replace Thomas. It seemed that the Knicks would suffer a bit, and David Lee was just trying to lure the enemy deeper.

Otherwise, if we directly say that we want Thompson, the Warriors will definitely ask for a sky-high price.

But if the Warriors ask who David Lee can replace, you can say: Why don't you replace Thompson with yours? If you think it will be a disadvantage to replace David Lee, then we can use Thomas Jr., anyway, our Curry will return from injury soon.

of.

During this period, something happened that made Max and Mustache determined to trade Thomas.

Because Thomas Jr. has a two-way contract of 6.5 million for 5 years, which is a low-cost child labor contract. After he posted 30 double-doubles in the starting lineup, he asked if he could renew his contract with an annual salary of 5 million in advance.

Both of them were thinking about getting out of here right away, but on the surface they tried to show Jiang Chao and said they wanted to apply.

In fact, we have been negotiating with the Warriors.

The negotiations with the Warriors are actually almost complete, and both parties are also waiting for the Warriors to face the Knicks at home.

Jiang Chao rushed to San Francisco to watch the game in order to communicate directly with Lacob. The outside world didn't know, but they all knew that the answer was basically given after this game where both sides inspected the goods.

The special plane flew to San Francisco, and the executives called David Lee to talk.

Recently, David Lee has been sinking more and more. It is not a problem to keep a mid-level contract for another year. Coupled with the aggressiveness of their agent, the Knicks and David Lee had a candid dialogue.

"I am willing to join another team, and I am very grateful to you." David Li cried and hugged Jiang Chao in the business class and refused to let go. He said this through gritted teeth.

A few days ago, he received a call from Curry and asked him how he felt after being given the starting nod.

But what can he say???

Can he comfort Curry?

This decision took all his strength on the plane.

There is no other way, Ibaka needs time to improve, and he has stagnated, survival of the fittest, the Knicks want to keep him, but he has to play and play, and of course, it may also be for more money in the future.

So we must break up.

To help the Knicks, I will also help myself.

"In the contract year, go to a weak team and develop well. Maybe we will meet at the top in a few years."

Jiang Chao also had tears in his eyes sincerely. This was the first time he had seen such a cruel situation in his team. It was really cruel.

But how can I put it, this kind of brotherhood is still there, it’s just that we can’t work together as a touching souvenir. There is no way, everyone likes to play with the Knicks.

Ibaka also knows this situation, but it is not a question of giving or not. Sooner or later he will replace Li as the starter as he develops. Even if Okur didn't leave last year, he will, and he will squeeze Yi Jianlian more and more in the future.

time, this is the growth trend of newcomers, one big improvement every year, and then the veterans are gradually eliminated.

Not to mention that the average NBA life cycle of an average player is 7 years. In the 7 years, a few rookies in the team will surely appear in the first 5 years, and the remaining 2 years of veterans will be wandering around with a minimum salary.

However, Brother Li is not an ordinary player, nor is he a veteran. He is a member of the championship lineup and a flexible center. Since he wants to trade himself, there will be many teams that want him.

That's why he cried, because he knew that he would leave soon after saying these words...

Game day.

Jiang Chao and Sean Marks were sitting in the box.

"This little Thomas, haha."

Jiang Chao sneered when he heard that Thomas was about to renew his contract in advance. Thomas was prone to swelling and deserved a beating. Only later did he realize that he was wrong.

This time is bound to make him understand the cruelty of society, and the Knicks is not a place where you can do whatever you want.

Curry has returned from injury, but Stevens has been given the order to perform an Oscar night tonight as his record has firmly secured first place in the Eastern Conference.

That is, Curry only played 17 minutes in the game. The young coach's reason after the game was naturally to come back from injury to find a feeling, but in fact, Curry only missed one game due to injury, and Curry didn't even play, and he fell behind by 5 points in the end.

When he was anxious to play, D'Antoni grabbed him and told him a plan in his ear, which made Curry calm down a lot.

Oh...for trading Thomas.

That’s okay!

Let this victory be a welcome gift to the warriors.

Curry was completely relieved. They all knew what happened to Brother Li on the plane yesterday. He didn't know at the time that the management teamed up to help Thomas. He only knew that the boss hadn't talked to him and he hadn't taught for a long time.

He was too afraid that he would follow in Brother Li's footsteps.

Although the possibility is extremely low, who is not afraid of Thomas' bang bang bang? He also called Brother Li before, but luckily Brother Li scolded him directly:

"You're afraid of a starter who averages 217.7 points per game? Your upper limit hasn't been reached yet!"

…………

"Coach D'Antoni, I want to ask you silently, is the boss also letting Thomas go?"

"Nonsense... Without the boss's nod, who would dare to make such a deal? Boss Jiang really wants him to leave the Knicks!!! It's not fake! Because Thomas Jr. has also touched the boss's reverse scale."

"Well, it is true that his style is not in line with ours. I admit that I also like his passion and playing style on the court."

With Klay Thompson defending Harden at the last minute, Harden made three non-contact three-pointers. In the end, the Warriors defeated the Knicks 96:91. The 12th place in the Western Conference defeated the first place in the Eastern Conference, creating a big upset. It was the end of the dog bet.

David Lee, who everyone is paying attention to, was arranged by the young coach to play with Thomas for 20 minutes today, so his statistics are good, 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block, but he still doesn't have a strong desire. Otherwise, he is a rebounding monster and can play against a team like the Warriors.

, grabbing at least 10 rebounds in 28 minutes of playing time.

Thomas, who is most concerned about today, is a little out of sorts, because the Warriors are generally very high on the perimeter and very fast. He is facing Ellis or Thompson, both of whom are very fast players. Therefore, Thomas has 18 points and 7 assists.

2 steals, but that's okay.

Because the opponent was also uncomfortable, and Ellis was the eldest brother on the other side. Monta Ellis, the future Curry boss, scored 29 points and 7 assists.

As the starting shooting guard, this year's 11th overall pick Klay Thompson only scored 11 points, 1 assist, 0 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block, which looked very ordinary.

The fact that it is lower than the season average is naturally attributed to the Knicks' defense, because the young coach and D'Antoni know that this is a verification battle between the two sides. In actual combat, Klay Thompson's statistics cannot be good when playing against the Knicks. They must make him look better.

The more moderate, the better.

Therefore, Harden was not asked to guard him from the beginning, but George was placed close to him. After George went down, Clay finally took a breather. What's more, Haywood and Beverley took turns to guard him, and the Knicks seemed to be specifically targeting him before the game.

His positioning has been carefully studied, and he was not allowed to make a three-pointer without the ball.

As a starting shooting guard, he made 2 of 6 three-pointers in 35 minutes and only scored 11 points. It is really unreasonable.

Although he lost, Jiang Chao high-fived Sean Marks in the box.

Because this loss can be expected. Thomas has played for too long. This is his problem. He can play with the nerve knife, but if he plays for too long, the offensive efficiency will definitely decrease. In addition, others are desperately looking for him on the defensive end, so it is normal for the Warriors to score points.

, if Curry and Beverley were to rotate, the Warriors would not be able to score nearly 100 points in this game.

They high-fived because the deal should be OK.

Because the Warriors won the game and Thompson's statistics were mediocre, this would make the Warriors' boss Lacob and president Wright, who were sitting in the front row of the Warriors, think that the victory in this game had nothing to do with Thompson. Winning the first place in the Eastern Conference did not depend on Thompson.

How strong are Leith and Jenkins!

If you give them this illusion, they will most likely be completely hooked.

But in fact, Jiang Chao and Jiang Chao were successful in the inspection. Thompson defended Harden well. Harden only scored 14 points and 10 assists. In Jiang Chao's view, the assists were unstoppable, but the Knicks' first outside line

The scorer defended to 14 points? A double-double is a fig leaf. Harden will definitely reflect on it after the game.

Therefore, this game is destined to be a successful inspection by both sides. The pick-and-cut cooperation between Thomas Jr. and David Lee also made the Warriors jealous. From now on, won’t the Warriors’ smaller lineup take off?

Sure enough, before Sean Marks could contact Wright, Wright took the initiative to call before the audience left:

"Max, let's talk in your box?"

"Come on, our boss is here too."

"Well, taking advantage of the current press conference time, we can basically confirm it."

Jiang Chao also smiled and said:

"Come quickly and save yourself from having to pay them another toll."

This is actually the most perfect trading method. The players to be traded by both parties will join the other team after inspection.

There will be many such situations in later generations. Sometimes the transaction is just waiting for this day. Capitalists are like this. If you can save some money, just save it.

(Note: For example, on February 9, 2023, the Spurs and Raptors traded on the last day of the trade deadline, and that day happened to be the Spurs playing the Raptors on the field. After the game, they traded Boltel to the Raptors to save money.

The two sides exchanged players back and forth and went abroad.)

In the box.

Jiang Chao, Sean Marks, Wright, and Lacob simply started the four-party talks.

Thomas' plan to simply replace Klay Thompson is naturally unlikely, but it's not that the Warriors coaching staff doesn't want to.

But it was too slap in the face, and the social response was not good.

This year's 11th pick in the first round played half a season and was swapped with the last pick in the second round?

Doesn’t this directly slap the Warriors management in the face?

And Thompson is not without potential. With his height and defensive body, theoretically speaking, his upper limit is much higher than Thomas.

Unless the Warriors really want to gamble that Thomas will become an All-Star ball-handling core.

But in fact, from Jiang Chao's point of view, whoever takes Thomas now is making a profit, and he even has a small loss. Thomas was the first in the Eastern Conference with a poor lineup in later generations, and the Celtics were first in the Eastern Conference and still held the No. 1 pick.

At that time, Anji directly became a god.

Therefore, the Warriors won't be cheated if they take it. They may directly enter the playoffs. Don't underestimate this small man's ability to score points in the regular season. His record is also top-notch.

Therefore, Jiang Chao can be regarded as the most honest person in history to say that not only is it okay for you to change, but I still want to say that the surprises that Thomas Jr. will bring to you are definitely more than what you see now in the Knicks. Anyway, it means that you will not lose.

This is the first time that Sean Marks has heard Jiang Chao say this. According to previous transactions with the Knicks, the Knicks usually gain blood while the opponent loses blood...

Look at Jordan Hill, who the Warriors drafted after Curry. Now he can’t even be seen in the NBA...

But he saw Jiang Chao's sincerity. To be honest, if he hadn't reported it to someone else, Sean Marks wouldn't have wanted to let go of this "Ginobili" second-round pick from Taobao. He still had a lot of potential.

The Warriors boss was watching the highlight clips of Thomas Jr. over the past few days on his phone and couldn’t hold back:

"Let's do this, you add David Lee, give us a guaranteed member of the championship team, and we add Kwame Brown. You may not know this when you are young, but this is the No. 1 pick in 2001."

"I'm young, but I'm not stupid... I'm one of the best in the water, and I don't need such a veteran."

"I changed the inside line to the inside line. The statistics are similar, and they both won championships with the team (Kwame Brown won the championship a few years ago when he was with the Lakers.)" Wright coughed.

Max: "We have less playing time, and we are both championship centers, so there are differences!"

Jiang Chao couldn't help laughing. Although he really didn't understand anything in 2001, who didn't know Kwame Brown? The No. 1 forward who was 2.11 meters tall in 2001 averaged 78 points per game and exchanged four or five goals.

The team is of no use, so why would a tough guy like him do if he already has a tough guy? And he will retire after just two more years of playing.

But since Lacob added David Lee, it shows that he really wants Thomas.

So Jiang Chao said directly:

"Let's see, with Thomas and David Lee here, you won't be any worse off next year. We'll make a small loss. If you give us another 2012 first-round pick, I'll sign."

"No problem, don't regret it! I'll give you another 2 million in cash compensation!"

(End of chapter)