The rest is just noise

Chapter 330: Sad to others, but wonderful to us

What was the biggest trade at the start of the season?

Naturally, the Spurs sent away George Gervin, the number one player in franchise history.

They sent Iceman Gervin, who had always made the team a strong team from the ABA to the NBA, to the Bulls in exchange for David Greenwood.

It's a sad story. Gervin's scoring average last season didn't rank among the top 20 in the league, which the Spurs viewed as evidence that he was rotten.

The management hopes that he will retire to reduce the financial burden on the team. Gervin prides himself on his hard work and is eager to receive a pension contract like other superstars who have dedicated their youth to the team.

The Spurs were unwilling to provide him with retirement benefits, and Gervin was unwilling to give up a million-dollar annual salary with a guaranteed amount of 700,000.

Therefore, the Spurs can only trade him.

The Bulls, who are eager to rise, are willing to be the receiver. After Gervin arrived in Chicago, he said freely: "The Iceman has arrived in a new city and wants to meet some new friends. He is very excited and can't wait to start the new season."

All you need to know is that he is the originator of NBA stars using second-person and third-person pronouns to achieve the effect of pretentiousness.

Then Louis noticed a seemingly inconspicuous message.

The Houston Rockets waived Sam Mitchell.

Louis remembered that he later served as a coach in the NBA, but it was unclear what his level was as a player.

Mitchell's barefoot height reaches two meters, making him a full-sized wing.

With the intention of testing the waters, Louis offered him a ten-day contract.

Next, the Knicks will face their second game of the season at home.

The opponent is the Spurs who are lost. They have an owner who is unwilling to spend money and a management team that claims to be the boss's loyal dog.

Such an upper structure makes them a confused team.

The Knicks' new signing, Mitchell, performed mediocrely. He was signed by Louis using the injury exception brought by Bernard King.

It can be seen that Mitchell plays very hard and is willing to use his brain, but his immediate combat ability at this stage cannot meet the standards of an NBA team.

Louis hopes that he will go to the Eastern Conference to train for a year, and maybe next year, he will sign Mitchell.

For financial reasons, Mitchell did not accept Louis' suggestion and chose to play overseas.

Louis had no choice but to wish him the best and put the matter aside immediately. At most, he would ask Zhao Yuanzheng to pay attention to Mitchell's performance in Europe.

Louis currently has an injury exception and wants to sign a defender or forward.

After extensive inquiries, he discovered that John Paxson, whom he once coached, is currently out of business.

His contract expired this summer, and the Celtics did not reach an agreement with him to renew it.

It’s no wonder that the Celtics are currently short of salary space. Bird, Sampson, and Thomas all have million-dollar contracts, and this doesn’t include Laimbeer, Long, Walton, Ainge and others.

The Celtics are cunning. They refused to sign Paxson and refused to give up his first right to renew.

Therefore, every team that wanted to sign Paxson had to call the Greek Academy office and ask if they would let him go.

This is a legacy issue left over from history after the Robertson case abrogated the reservation agreement.

Although the players have gained free agency, they are not yet completely free.

The existence of the priority right to renew the contract keeps the initiative in the hands of the team.

The compensation mechanism is the stupidest, but Louis very much hopes to apply this mechanism to the relationship between men and women.

For example, if Lippi wants to date your ex-girlfriend, but you don't agree, unless he gives you money or exchanges his ex-girlfriend for you.

What kind of world would that be?

As expected, Jane Walker ignored the friendship of her former colleagues and put forward a condition that Louis had no choice but to do: "Lu, if you want John, you must give us a first-round pick."

"Don't be ridiculous, I will give you at most 100,000 US dollars in cash compensation and nothing else." How could Louis give away a first-round pick for Paxson?

"If you don't agree with that, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do," Volcker said.

"You don't need John at all now. He is out of business. If you don't give up the priority to renew the contract, he won't be able to go anywhere. Is there anyone who can do this? Who will give him a first-round pick?" Louis heard this.

Big fire.

Walker knows that Louis is right, but he now represents the Celtics: "I don't have the final say on this matter alone."

"Then let's talk to the old man who has the final say. I can't give you anything more than the $100,000 cash compensation. Give me the answer within a day. If not, just pretend I never made the call." Louis

Take the initiative to hang up the phone.

Auerbach is a beast that eats people but doesn't spit out bones. Louis' threats cannot scare him.

Paxson performed well during his years with the Celtics, but unfortunately, his best performance came during the Louis era.

In just one year, he was sent out as a surprise soldier by Louis many times at critical moments.

Louis' successor K.C. Jones is a steady coach who does not take risks easily. He would rather shorten the rotation and rough the main force than give Paxson and others a chance to perform.

This resulted in Paxson's status on the Boston team being marginalized.

It's not that no one wants Paxson, it's because the Celtics are unwilling to give up the priority to renew his contract that he has no place to play.

So Louis was annoyed, that's not how business is done.

The players themselves are capable of playing, but you insist on holding them back. Even though you can't use them, you still delay others. Is this a personnel matter?

Half an hour later, Louis received a call.

Walker gave the latest plan, the Knicks can sign Paxson, the price is $100,000 in cash + a first-round pick exchange.

"It seems that what I just said was not clear enough."

Louis pounded the table and said loudly: "This is my last offer, $100,000 in cash. Don't think about anything else. You don't need John. In fact, we don't need it that much. I just want to have one more acquaintance. If you don't care,

In addition to the many years of service he has made for you, if you insist on delaying his youth, then please do it, I am not ashamed."

By the way, Louis also laughed at Volker: "Mr. Jane, you are such a coward. I heard that the old man almost died from an operation in the summer. Why are you still so strong in controlling the team?"

Volcker had long accepted the fact that he was a doll until Auerbach retired.

Louis' teasing, he just ignored it: "Goodbye, Lu."

Later, Louis heard that Paxson signed with the Trail Blazers.

The price Portland paid was $100,000 in cash and a second-round pick.

Typical Auerbach style.

In fact, he has already done the same operation once.

Another Celtics defender, Gerald Henderson, who is known as the only one in the league who can control Isiah Thomas, wants to sign a big contract worth 500,000 yuan. Of course, Auerbach is unwilling to give him a contract.

A backup defender is offered such a large contract.

As a result, the team won two consecutive championships and Henderson became a restricted free agent.

He was one of those very attractive players, and the Sonics signed him for a first-round draft pick in 1986.

This transaction made Louis feel horrified.

Why? Louis had such an idea at that time.

Why would the SuperSonics dare to give up next year's first rounder for Henderson?

They only had 31 wins last season, fifth from the bottom in the league. They did not introduce any big names during the offseason. They selected Xavier McDaniel with the fourth pick of the first round and exchanged him for Jim Paxson on draft day.

The mature All-Star. Can he help the Sonics get out of trouble?

Let’s look at the general manager who made this deal: Lester Habegger. Although he has been the general manager of the Sonics since 1977, he was not given the authority to operate until last year.

Then he got into this bad job.

It's really ordinary and confident.

Sometimes Louis really wonders whether Auerbach's outstanding performance in the past few decades is because there are only a handful of general managers in the entire league with an IQ over 100?

Otherwise, there is really no way to explain those seemingly outrageous operations.

The strange thing is that when Louis wants to do something, his opponents are always wary.

He seems to meet some smart people. When will a fool appear? When will pie fall from the sky? He also wants to exchange a player of Henderson's level for a lottery pick.

If it can really be replaced, a lot of people from the Knicks team can be traded.

What's the point of not making the playoffs for two consecutive years? Give him a few more lottery picks and his team will improve.

When the time comes, I will start flying with my sword and point my sword at the champion.

Louis was looking forward to it. Maybe his telepathy was too strong, maybe God heard his call, or maybe it was just that a certain city deserved bad luck.

In the third game of the new season of the Cleveland Cavaliers, against the Nets, the team's core player Bill Cartwright suffered a fracture.

What’s worrying is that the fractured area is exactly the same as the one injured in New York last year.

"The more unfortunate news for the Cavaliers is that New York has the power to swap their first-round picks in the next two years."

"Does God hate the Cleveland Cavaliers?"

It's sad that the Cavaliers, as a team, are trying hard to get out of the Steppi era, and now, they've fallen into the same hell.

How can we ensure a record when we lose the best player on the team and rely on a patchwork of role players and recruits who lack talent?

Louis was speechless after hearing the news. Sometimes, you can't stop luck when it comes.

Elgin Baylor rushed into his office with cheers and opened two bottles of Coke to celebrate: "This is really a free opportunity!"

"Don't you drink Coke?" Louis asked.

"For this disaster that is sad for others but wonderful for us, I must drink Coke!" Belle said excitedly.

Tragic to others, wonderful to us.

What a great sentence that perfectly sums up the current situation of the Knicks and Cavaliers.

⑴In the same summer, the Lakers renewed the 38-year-old Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's one-year, $2 million contract.