The rest is just noise

Chapter 381: No matter who wants the second pick, I, New York, will definitely help.

June 13

There are still four days until the NBA draft.

Louis hurried back to New York from Washington to send Lorraine and his son home. He drove straight to the Blue Palace.

Among the players in the Knicks' workout today, there is someone special.

He played in the second tier league, averaging 25 points and 16 rebounds per game. He was originally unknown and became the focus after participating in Portsmouth's pre-draft training camp in May.

He was originally unavailable in the draft, but he began to attract attention from the NBA and was very likely to be selected in the first two rounds.

This person is Dennis Rodman, one of the rookies Louis wants most.

It's hard to think of Rodman's classic image together with the unconfident, taciturn young man in front of him.

He has all the advantages that Louis likes.

Speed, athletic ability, exaggerated continuous take-off ability.

In terms of continuous take-off ability alone, Louis has never seen anyone better than Rodman, and he also has very terrifying physical strength.

Rodman's problem is somewhat similar to that of Alex Stevens. His offensive ability is a mess. Don't look at the fact that he averaged 25 points per game in college. Don't forget, he plays in the second level league.

Louis doesn't care how good his offense is.

Louis, who is building a murderous tight end lineup, already regards Rodman as an important lock as Stevens.

"Hey, coach."

Stevens came over and said hello.

He is in a good mood. He recently finalized a five-year contract extension with the Knicks worth $1.5 million. This does not include bonus terms. If he activates all bonus terms, the total salary can reach $2.2 million.

"Alex, how about that kid?" Louis glanced directly at Rodman.

Stevens has been a model worker recently. He helps the Knicks in every trial. He has a strong sense of belonging to the team and almost regards himself as part of the management. He will do whatever is needed from him.

"It couldn't be better." Stevens lamented, "If his academic performance is better and he can enter the first-level league, his draft prospect will definitely be in the top ten."

Obviously, Rodman is a typical pearl in the dust.

There are also stars in the second-level league. Before the NCAA schools mastered all the tricks to help people with academic difficulties improve their performance, there were not many players like Rodman who were buried in the D2.

Interestingly, although Talented Men stand out from the crowd in D2, there are always scouts who suspect that they will not be useful if they move up to a higher level league.

They recognize the talent of these people, but doubt that they can play in the senior league.

D2 has produced many stars, including current Rodman, Knicks power forward Oakley, SuperSonics center offensive textbook Jack Sikma, Trail Blazers backup guard Terry Porter (future All-Star), and

Scottie Pippen and Ben Wallace, who will join the league in the future, are both from D2.

"Try harder and see where his limit is." Louis asked Stevens to continue confronting Rodman while he came to the office.

Baylor and the others are already waiting.

Several people made inquiries from various sources and integrated the information with each other.

What Louis and the others can be sure of is that there are nine teams that want the 76ers' second pick, but the only ones that have a chance to get it are Portland and Cleveland.

Portland is willing to give money, and Cleveland can satisfy both high-quality and cheap young people and large sums of cash.

Based on Portland's roster, the Knicks' coaching staff speculated that they would exchange Fat Liver + future draft picks + cash.

This is also an attractive offer.

"Look at it this way, our competitors are actually the Trail Blazers and Cavaliers?"

Baylor laughed and said: "Actually, we are not competitors yet because we haven't called Pat Williams yet."

"Then give him a shot."

It's time, and the Knicks, who have been snooping behind the scenes, are fully prepared.

"Now?"

"If we wait any longer, they might close the deal."

"Shall I fight?"

Baylor had to consult his general manager.

Louis smiled and said: "You come."

"How do you say that?" Belle asked.

"Explain your intention directly and see what price he can give." Louis said.

Baylor did what Louis said and called the 76ers' general manager's office.

At this moment, Philadelphia 76ers general manager Pat Williams is struggling.

The Trail Blazers sent Fat Liver, a 1990 first-round pick, a 1991 first-round pick swap and $600,000 in cash.

The price given by the Cavaliers is Roy Hinson. The exact amount of cash required is still being debated by both parties.

The Cavaliers want $600,000, and the 76ers owner wants $1 million.

This is of course unrealistic.

At that moment, a team that had never called before placed a call into Williams' office.

Williams answered the phone and was secretly shocked to learn that the caller was Baylor from New York.

The Knicks already have the first pick, do they still want the second pick?

"Pat, did you trade out the second pick?"

"Soon."

Williams answered simply, and by the way, he also wanted to see what kind of medicine was sold in Baylor's gourd.

Baylor didn't engage in a meaningless fight with him, and said straight to the point: "Since you haven't made a deal yet, that's great. Let me just say it, we want to be in the game."

"oh?"

Williams' mood changed somewhat.

"What bargaining chips can you provide?" Williams believes the Knicks are a good trade partner.

They have money and young people.

Last season, the Knicks were the most profitable team in the league.

Although Ewing did not meet expectations, his commercial value was off the charts, plus he won 50 games in the regular season.

When this team wants to spend money, sometimes it only needs to be decided internally by the subsidiaries, that is, the top management of Madison Square Garden Company, without reporting it to the headquarters.

"Pat, we are old acquaintances. Don't play psychological games with me. You know I hate this the most. I don't ask you to tell me too much. Just give me a price reference." Baylor talked eloquently.

, "Let me know where the bottom line is so I can bid."

That makes sense.

Williams laughed: "Chicago is willing to sell an All-Star, Boston wants to trade one of theirs and two first-round picks, and Los Angeles has nothing that is not for sale except Magic, Kareem, and Dominic."

"Hold on."

In the Knicks' general manager's office, Baylor relayed the news he had received to others.

"Interesting." Louis asked with a smile, "Chicago is willing to send out All-Stars?"

"Barkley or McHale?"

Zhao Yuanzheng said with certainty: "Obviously, it can only be McHale."

Barkley had an epic sophomore season and was selected to the All-Star and Second Team. One problem he has is that he is too open-minded and does not have the firm belief to force himself to make progress. This is the same with his partner Kevin McHale.

.

If the Bulls want to make progress, they cannot be content with the status quo, so they trade McHale? So who are the Bulls looking at?

Baylor asked Louis: "How do we make an offer?"

Louis thought about it seriously. The 76ers did a very good job and told the Knicks their bottom line without revealing too much information. Because they only said that the Bulls were going to send an All-Star and the Celtics were going to send one.

You can't spread rumors even if you want to specifically name who it is.

But this information was enough for Louis.

He knows that in his previous life, the Cavaliers won the bidding war because Daugherty was the core center of the Eastern Conference powerhouse that emerged in the mid-to-late 1980s.

The 76ers don't want competitiveness or excessive salary burdens, they just want young people and money.

This is a message that has been made clear again.

"Elgin, give him a smoke bomb first." Louis smiled and bought a bottle of Coke from the vending machine in his office. After opening it, he said, "Don't they want young people and money? Just give it to him."

One, the bid must be aggressive and let the Philadelphia office know we are serious.”

"smoke bomb?"

Baylor asked: "How do you say it?"

Zhao Yuanzheng said for Louis: "Coach Lu means that we should first send out a young player who is very attractive but does not meet the needs of the 76ers."

"That's it, I understand!"

So Baylor called Pat Williams' office a second time.

"Elgin, I hope you can bring us more options." Williams said expectantly.

"Brother, don't you understand my style that others don't understand? I never waste time doing anything I'm not sure about."

"Great, that's what I want from you." Williams smiled, "Give me an offer you can't refuse, Elgin."

Baylor offered simply: "Our offer is Manute Bol, a 1990 first-round draft pick, and $500,000 in cash."

With this offer alone, which made Williams feel like there were cannonballs ringing in his ears, the New York Knicks officially entered the poker table.

"Boll? Are you sure?"

Bol, who just completed his rookie season, served as a substitute for Ewing for a season, averaging 4 points, 6 rebounds and 3.4 blocks in 22 minutes per game.

He is considered an S-level potential stock.

The Knicks internally know that his potential is limited, but Bol is indeed the team's long-term plan and they do not want to trade Bol.

They included Bol in the trade because they believed that even if Bol was so delicious, the 76ers would still hold back.

They have enough inside manpower, and even McHale was rejected. How can they bend for Bol? Even if he seems to have unlimited possibilities, he is also very cheap, and he can talk as generous as $500,000.

This team, it seems, entered the game late and returned late, but they made such generous moves and looked very pleasing to the eye. Even if you can't see them in their current form, just listening to the voice coming from the phone is very pleasant.

"Elgin, I like your offer very much, but Manute is not the player we need most," Williams said with difficulty.