The rest is just noise

"Lu, Cedric is here."

Tomjanovich brought Maxwell to Louis' office.

Louis held the phone in his hand and said with a smile: "Sit down, but I have a phone call, wait a moment."

Maxwell sat down peacefully, and Tomjanovich carefully sorted out the information.

A typical league in the Larry O'Brien era is like this. He definitely doesn't want to do anything fancy and refuses all new and attractive things.

His assistant persuaded him for a month to convince him to launch a dunk contest during the All-Star Weekend.

It is impossible to expect such a person to create a Christmas Day war. Therefore, Christmas is approaching, but the Celtics have no strong opponents in the near future.

And there are no games on Christmas day or the eve.

Therefore, the players can go home for Christmas.

Since there are no strong opponents, Tomjanovich's job is just to take out those slightly stronger opponents and carefully study their strengths and weaknesses.

Louis looked into the phone and said with a smile: "Jack, what can I do?"

"I know you won't call me for no reason, just tell me if you have anything."

At first, Maxwell didn't care. He sat calmly in Louis' office, didn't talk or gossip, and said NO to all questions.

However, Louis hopes he is gossip enough.

"Oh, so you want to talk to me about a trade." Louis said arrogantly, "We are now 22 wins and 2 losses. I feel very good about the current situation. There should be no need for a trade."

At this point, Tomjanovich continued to work on his information, and Maxwell was getting a little impatient, because it didn't look like Louie's phone was going to hang up in the next few minutes.

"this"

Louis had a troubled look on his face.

"Of course there are difficulties. Don't you know how important Cedric is to us?" Louis didn't even look at the person involved, "How could I possibly trade him to Portland?"

Tomjanovich turned from Maxwell's bored look of "What the hell am I doing here" to "I'm concerned about how things are going."

"Really? Are you really willing to hand over Jim Paxson?"

Tomjanovich's breathing worsened.

Maxwell's eyes were straight. He thought he was just coming to Louis' office to listen to his chanting, but he didn't expect that he might actually be traded.

"However, we already have Larry and John Long. We don't need a shooter at the second or third position. Moreover, I believe that Jim, like Cedric, is unwilling to come off the bench. Why should I throw away a free shooter?"

At the cost of one trouble, in exchange for another trouble that may not be easy to deal with?”

"What? Are you willing to add draft picks?"

Louis's tone convinced Maxwell that he was attracted to her.

He knows his worth, and no matter how arrogant he is, he doesn't think he's worth more than Jim Paxson + draft picks.

Patterson can already be equal to him, and add another draft pick? How much do the Blazers want him?

Does he know Jack Ramsey?

Maxwell racked his brains and couldn't figure out what he had done to Portland and why Ramsey was so crazy about him.

Could it be that he left an impression on the opponent when he played at Memorial Stadium last time?

It must be!

Not long ago, Maxwell's memory was still fresh. He clearly remembered that his performance that night was much better than Patterson's.

"Jack, I have felt your sincerity."

Louis' selfless negotiations.

Tomjanovich and Maxwell discovered that Louis was so absorbed in the office that he had forgotten anyone else existed in the office.

He leaned on the office chair and raised his legs to the desk.

"Seriously, if I could make a decision, I would agree to your plan, but you know, I don't have the authority to make a decision. I have to ask Reed for instructions."

"Well, it would be great if you could understand. Anyway, thank you for calling me. I will let you know if there is any news."

"Ouch"

Louis howled like a male wolf in heat, and even howled to the tune of "Good Luck" with his wolf howl. His proud expression could not hide his inner excitement, and his eyebrows squeezed together twisted like two little people.

go.

"Am I being traded?" Maxwell suddenly said.

"Holy Shit!"

Louis cursed and asked in disbelief: "Why are you here?"

Maxwell looked like an idiot: "Didn't you invite me here?"

Louis looked at Tomjanovich inexplicably, "Really? Is there such a thing?"

"Ten minutes ago, you asked me to call Cedric to the office. He came quickly, and then you said you wanted to make a phone call." Tomjanovich explained speechlessly.

"Damn it, I actually forgot about you." Louis said with a smile, "Actually, I have nothing to do. I just wanted to ask you if you had eaten well today and if you slept well last night."

"Eat, I ate green salad, salmon and chicken breast."

"I slept very well."

"Oh my god, you eat better than me and don't get poked by needles."

Louis looked at the door of his office, "By the way, have you used the new shower room I bought? Is it much better than before?"

"Very good, everyone likes it." Maxwell nodded.

"If there is nothing else, you can go back to training. I can't affect your training." It seemed that Louis was not going to reveal the details of the transaction to him.

Maxwell refused to leave just like that.

"You haven't answered my question yet."

"what is the problem?"

"Am I being traded?"

Louis said awkwardly: "Kama, Cedric, you know I can't tell you this."

"You negotiated with them in front of me, and I heard almost everything except for one result. Is this any different from waiting for you to finish the discussion and tell me the result?" Maxwell asked excitedly.

Louis' smiling face seemed like a TV character that had been paused. After freezing for a few seconds, he looked at Tomjanovich: "It seems there is really no difference?"

Tomjanovich did not dare to answer the question.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Louie drove Maxwell crazy.

"Fuk!" Maxwell shouted, "Am I being traded?"

Louis smiled and said: "You are our most popular product. At least five teams have inquired about your price, but so far, there has been no result."

"I'm not a commodity!"

"Why not? It's a clearly priced product, an All-Star, two first-round draft picks, even if you lose a dollar, you can't leave."

Maxwell's net worth is indeed real.

But that's Auerbach's standard. If it were Louis' standard, he would change if there was an All-Star. No need for draft picks. The most important thing in life is to be content.

"You seem to want to trade me?" Maxwell asked.

"Is there any reason why I don't want to, Cedric?" Louis asked, "If you are the head coach, and you have a big-name player who has been disobeying your arrangements, catering to you on the surface, and making small moves behind the scenes to spread the word to agents that he wants to be traded.

What do you think about the rumors?"

Maxwell could not answer.

"You must really want this bastard to disappear from your team immediately." Louis said sadly, "But unfortunately, I have no say in this matter, so you probably still can't leave."

Louis' attitude was already very clear, and Maxwell seemed to have nothing to ask.

He was ready to leave, but if he left just like that, there would really be nothing left to say between him and Louis.

"If I were a coach," Maxwell said solemnly, "if I were a coach, when I was about to put a big-name player on the bench, I would have a chat with him and I would tell him why he had to be a substitute."

Louis asked unexpectedly; "My mouth is almost worn out. Do you still think I haven't said enough?"

"But you never told me why!"

"Why? Good question. First of all, you can't play center."

"Secondly, your power forward threat is not as good as Larry's."

"Your rebounding ability for an inside post is like Annie Hall beating Star Wars at the Oscars. It's a human tragedy."

"Your defense is only at a normal level, which is not enough for you to replace Bill or Ralph."

"The most important thing is that your three-point shooting has made zero progress so far." Louis smiled. "Bill has no advantage over you. He just happens to be more of an inside player than you, can protect rebounds better, and listens better."

As for me, it took me several years to practice making 30% of the three-pointers. So he is more qualified than you."

"The above is my concluding statement on why you are not like this. I hope this is the last time I say this."

Louis said to the stunned Tomjanovich: "Rudy, can you please help me go to Reed's office to get a bottle of Coke?"

"How about I go directly to the Greek College convenience store to buy it?"

"good idea."

Maxwell savored Louis' words carefully.

He doesn't want to leave Boston. He is a man with a sense of honor. The Celtics will be a strong contender for the championship in the next few years. Why would he leave a team with the best championship prospects?

"You mean, if I can hit a three-pointer, I can play?"

"It's not about being able to make shots, it's about being more accurate than Bill." Louis set a goal. "If you can make more shots than him and be more accurate than him, I will seriously consider the candidate. If you can't

, you can only play the sixth man. If you don’t want to, please go directly to Reed to apply for a trade, and don’t bother me anymore with your selfish concerns, please.”

Maxwell rose from his seat.

"I understand." Maxwell said solemnly, "I won't go to Phoenix, and I don't want to go to Portland. I don't want to go anywhere. I just want to play here and become a part of the glorious history of the Celtics.

But I also want a position, I don’t want to be a substitute, from today on I will strengthen my three-point shooting, I hope you can keep your promise then!"

Maxwell said that and turned to leave. He bumped into Tomjanovich running back outside the door.

"Want a Coke, Cedric?" Tomjanovich asked.

"I don't drink this."

"What about you and Louis?"

"We're fine."

Tomjanovich came to the office with Louis' beloved Coke.

The first thing Louis saw was Pepsi, and then he saw another bottle of Coca-Cola.

"Rudy, your love for double insurance is really your most valuable quality!" Louis opened the Coca-Cola and took a sip, then let out a satisfied burp.

Tomjanovich asked: "Is Cedric's problem solved?"

"I guess so."

"Then how are you going to reply to Coach Ramsey?"

Louis pinched the Coke bottle and asked: "Why should I answer Coach Ramsey?"

"Didn't you just tell him on the phone that you would notify him if there was any news?" Tomjanovich asked in a daze.

"What phone call?" Louis raised the corner of his mouth, "When did I talk to Coach Ramsey on the phone?"