The rest is just noise

"Moses and Sam Bowie suffered injuries one after another. Do you really not want to add an outstanding young player to this position?"

Baylor's soul-stirring question left Pat Williams stunned for a few seconds.

"Elgin, you're giving me a hard time, but we really don't want Manute Bol."

They argued back and forth for more than ten minutes and finally hung up the phone.

Williams felt lost.

He didn't know if New York would call again.

New York

"What should we do now?"

"We should be depressed when our confident offer was rejected, so let's just be depressed for a few hours." Louis looked at the time and said, "Anyone order a takeaway, it's lunch time."

Baylor didn't expect to be able to play like this.

"How many hours? What if they reach an agreement with another team?" Baylor asked.

"No, it won't." Louis said, "Before we enter the field, what you said may happen, but from now on, before the draft comes, they will not change hands with the second pick unless

There’s an offer you can’t refuse.”

Baylor was previously a core member of Los Angeles and participated in many transactions.

If you want to win a bidding war like the 76ers selling the second pick, don't you have to hurry up and close the deal quickly?

Louis' attitude of wanting to fight a protracted war surprised Baylor.

"Elgin, is there anything you don't understand?"

"You look too calm." Baylor said tangledly, "If other teams succeed, our efforts these days will be in vain."

"rest assured."

Louis drank a Coke and briefly explained the current situation: "Actually, the only two companies that have a chance to get the second pick now are us and Cleveland. Portland is just a bidder, and their players

It's not attractive. Although the main purpose of the Philadelphia office is to reduce the team's financial pressure, Pat Williams is not a person who is willing to surrender. He must want to use this deal to stop losses as much as possible."

"The best offer Cleveland can offer is nothing more than Roy Hinson and cash, and we are more than that." Louis laughed. "Pat knows this, so he will wait for our second offer, and by the way, also give

A little pressure on Cleveland to see if that can get them to spit out more."

Belle was dumbfounded.

"Why are your current generation like this?"

Baylor complained.

"When I was playing, transactions were not so complicated. The head coach was the general manager. If you wanted to trade, just call the other party. I want your Mike, do you want my George? If you want it, we will

Just make the deal." Baylor was very dissatisfied with the current style, "It's so complicated now, it's not interesting at all."

Zhao Yuanzheng didn't see it that way.

"Trading has changed from the earliest barter game to a psychological game and game. This is the progress of professional basketball."

"Elgin, do you think there was no intrigue in the early years?" Louis gave him another example, "How did Boston get Russell in the first place? In 1957, they only had the second pick in the first round, and they had the first pick.

The Rochester Royals drafted a guy whose name I can't even recall right now, do you know why?"

"This seems to be"

Louis revealed the answer: "At that time, the owner of the Boston Celtics had a women's skating team under his command. Reid called the owners of the Royals and offered to let the skating team go to Rochester for free as long as they did not select Russell with the first pick.

They performed. So, they accepted to watch the skating team perform for free in the next few months at the cost of losing 11 NBA championships."

Louie throws the empty Coke can into the trash can.

"Okay, I'll just listen to you." Louis is the general manager, so you really have to listen to him on how to deal.

But Louis was a person who didn't like dictatorship, and his disgust with Auerbach's dictatorship was an important reason for him to leave Boston.

Although he has the prophetic advantage of a time traveler, he basically asks his colleagues for their opinions every time he makes a decision. Regardless of whether their opinions are reliable or not, he will listen to them before making a decision.

Louis ordered Chinese takeout and it was delivered as soon as possible.

There are roast duck, General Tso's chicken, boiled chicken, sweet dumplings and the original chive dumplings that Louis prefers, fried noodles, twice-cooked pork, and stir-fried cabbage

"Do you always order this much?" Tomjanovich asked.

"Because there are so many people today, I don't know what your taste is, so I ordered all kinds of signature dishes. If you don't like it, it means you have no connection with my Chinese food. Order takeout and eat your high-calorie junk food."

.”

Fortunately, Louie ordered enough so that everyone could find something to suit their taste.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Louis' feeling of fullness subsided and he continued the morning's trading.

"How do we bid this time?"

Louis took out a Knicks player roster and circled three names: "The cash remains unchanged, the draft picks are withdrawn, plus them."

"Road, this" Baylor discovered that Louis really didn't take any action, and would hit a critical hit as soon as he did.

"Believe me, this won't be the transaction price." Louis said firmly, "Call."

Pat Williams didn't dare leave his office. The Knicks hadn't called in a few hours, and he wasn't sure if they still wanted to trade.

He must wait.

The Cavaliers made several more calls to speed up the deal, and now, they have a second option. If the Knicks are determined to want it, their bid will be higher than the Cavaliers.

In order to wait for the call from New York, Williams did not go anywhere and stayed in his office eating, drinking and eating.

At 2:11 p.m., his phone rang again.

Williams quickly picked up the phone, "Hello."

"Pat, it's me."

"Oh, Elgin, it's you." Although he had been waiting for several hours, Williams could act as if nothing had happened.

"I really didn't expect you to reject our offer before." Baylor stated his attitude on behalf of the team, "However, we do really want the second pick, so we decided to make another offer."

Williams listened.

"Unlike the first bid, this time we will withdraw Bol and the 1990 first-round draft pick. We hope to use A.C. Green, Gerald Wilkins, Mario Eli and $500,000 in cash.

In exchange for your second pick in the first round. Pat, what do you think?"

Last season, everyone in the Knicks had Tony Campbell averaging 20 points per game, the highest on the team, followed by Ewing who averaged 18 points per game, Ellis who averaged 16 points per game, and Stockton who averaged 11 points per game.

They have six players averaging double figures and eight players averaging over eight points per game.

Green and Wilkins are high-quality newcomers who average more than 8 points per game.

If it weren't for the Knicks, who have so many rookies, they could definitely get more playing time and perform better on other teams.

Wilkins' vitality at the third position is what the 76ers need. Green is also a strong supplement as a substitute inside man. Elie proved in the playoffs that he belongs in the NBA.

Plus $500,000.

The Knicks offered no less than the Cavaliers.

"I have to say I like your offer, Elgin, give us a moment."

Pat Williams hung up the phone after expressing his love.

He immediately called the Cavaliers.

The people in the Knicks office knew what he was doing. Inflating prices is a routine practice in transactions and is nothing new.

"This guy is too greedy. He actually wants to raise the price?" Baylor thought they paid enough.

"Elgin, you should learn from him. This is a reassuring general manager."

Louis definitely forgot that he was the Knicks' general manager.

"Study?" Belle said disdainfully, "Study!"

"This old guy who doesn't seek to improve is really helpless." Louis complained to the people around him.

At this time, there were many people in Louis' office.

There are assistants, there are assistant coaches, they're all waiting for a call back from Philadelphia.

What worries Louis most now is that he doesn't have a pair of eyes that can see the scene in the Cleveland Cavaliers office.

If you can see it, it will be wonderful.

Louis' guess was probably correct.

Harry Weltman, general manager of the Cavaliers, who was originally confident of winning, suddenly received a call from the 76ers office.

They were told that another team had offered a better bargain.

"Unfortunately, the negotiations between us may have to stop here." Williams meant to write off the Cavaliers before completing the deal. "I hope we can reach an agreement next time."

"Wait a minute, Pat! I want to know which team gave you the better bargaining chip!" Weltman would die to find out who stabbed him in the back.

On the phone, Williams seemed troubled.

"I shouldn't have told you, but who said we were friends? I can tell you which team it was, but I won't tell you what they gave."

"I know the rules."

Pat Williams' answer reached Weltman's ears a second later: "New York participated in the bidding, and their bid was very high, and I couldn't refuse."

New York

New York!

Thinking of the team Weltman regretted last year, the team he hates most now is the New York Knicks.

"It's indeed them!"

"Yes, they are very aggressive."

"Pat, give me a little more time." Weltman must stabilize the other party first. If the deal is reached, everything will be over.

Sitting in front of Weltman was George Karl, the current head coach of the Cavaliers.

"What happened, Harry?"

"Damn New York! They bid! Of course they will bid. I should have thought of it earlier. They are the team that hates us the most in the league!" Weltman yelled, "Damn New York, go to hell.

Little Lu!”

Karl said with a heavy face: "We can't give up once the second pick falls into the hands of New York."

"Yes, the price must be increased, we must get the second pick!"

When he thought about his own situation, the more difficult it became, the more hatred Weltman felt for Louis.