The rest is just noise

The NBA annual meeting is a place where you can see the quality of everyone.

A mediocre general manager and boss may just sit here and be easily led by the nose, easily falling into the rhythm set by others.

A smart general manager and boss will wisely take sides even if they don't express opinions. The principle of taking sides has nothing to do with personal matters and is purely based on profit-seeking.

There are also some people who know how to benefit everyone while also benefiting themselves.

That's the kind of person Louis is.

Jerry West shook his head and laughed when he heard Louie's second suggestion. He also voted against it, but the reason why he voted against it was simply because it was impossible to pass the proposal.

Louis gave no "benefits" to other teams.

As long as everyone present thinks carefully, they can see that this proposal is Louis trying to make things easier for himself. It’s okay for you to make things easier for yourself. If you use fines to punish those who activate the terms like they did back then, then let

If other "honest" teams share the fine, everyone may vote for you.

But Louis didn't do that.

Because the league has decided to move forward with the agenda of a standard rookie contract.

Once the standard rookie contract is recognized by the union, the Knicks' space will not be a problem.

In other words, Louis' goal has been achieved.

The second proposal may be something he will work hard to promote in the future, but right now, he is not interested.

Those who don't like him think they have frustrated Louis, how stupid they are.

Louis got exactly what he wanted, and the Knicks returned from this annual meeting with great success.

West doesn't know if, besides Auerbach and Louis, there is a third professional sports manager in NBA history who can coach, operate, and study the rules.

He just wanted to ask Louis for a meal, but found out that the guy was a popular figure.

It's "fully booked" today.

Louie attended another banquet, accepting invitations from Don Nelson, Pat Williams and Hornets head coach Dik Harter, as well as Jazz president of basketball operations Frank Layden.

"That guy is really a hot guy," Monroe said to West.

"Earl, I have a suggestion for you." West glanced at Louis and his group who were walking further and further away, "Let's have a good relationship with that young man."

Although Monroe is a famous Knicks player, he still feels resentful about the fact that the team never invited him to take any position after his retirement.

After all, he was traded from the Baltimore Bullets back then. He is not considered a direct descendant of the team, but rather a bit like the future Durant who defected to the enemy.

"When I was in this circle, he hadn't learned to walk yet." Monroe said proudly, "You think I will need his help?"

West has seen too many legendary players who think too highly of themselves fail in this business.

"It's just a personal suggestion, please do as you wish." West left.

Nelson and Leyden discussed with Louis how to beat the Knicks.

Yes, they're talking about beating the Knicks.

Nelson believes that the Knicks are the best defensive team in basketball history, and under the current rules, no second team can surpass them.

Therefore, he decided to follow his own ideas and build an offense-first ShowTime-style team.

"ShowTime has turned to ashes, Don." Leyden joked, "I think if we want to beat the Knicks, we have to look at Utah. Not counting defense, we play the same offense, but we are more authentic, like New York.

The system is just a fake UCLA offense!"

Louis didn't think the Jazz had a chance of making it out of the West.

To Leyden who was talking nonsense, he said knowingly: "If you say yes, then it is."

"I don't think the Knicks' offense is anything similar to the Jazz's." Hornets head coach Dick Hart, whom Louis just met today, began a tirade.

He is a typical theoretical person. When it comes to discussing tactics, no one at the dinner table can be his opponent.

As for actual practice, there is no record in the professional field, so it’s hard to say, but in college, Hart’s reputation is very good.

He took over the University of Oregon in 1971 and personally presided over an extreme style of play that focused on 11-man rotations, requiring players to attack quickly and defend with all their strength.

Because they played as if they were going to kill their opponents, Hart's players were called the "KazeKids."

Louis has watched the game videos of the "Kamikaze Boys" and he is pessimistic about Hart's NBA prospects. Because the Hornets are a newly joined team, they need time to weaken, introduce talents, and then rise again.

It was Hart who failed, but it may not be Hart who led the team to rise.

Moreover, can the method he uses to motivate college students be effective in the professional arena?

Louis doesn't like to feed chicken soup to the players. When the coach starts to feed chicken soup, it means that the team is at the end of its rope and there is no way to improve the coaching.

So Louis rarely gives him chicken soup.

This dinner was a complete success.

Louis got to know many coaches in the industry, most of whom were college coaches except Hart.

When the NBA holds its annual meeting in Washington, DC, college basketball coaches also hold their annual meeting here.

It was the annual meeting here that Nelson and the others took Louis to attend.

After the dinner, Louis found a hotel to stay and rest, and the next day, he flew back to New York alone.

The expansion draft will be held on June 23, and the draft will be held on June 28.

In the expansion draft, each team only has eight protected spots.

According to previous rules, each team can only lose at most one player in the expansion draft. However, since the 1980s, the Lakers and Celtics have each dominated their divisions.

In addition to having the best players of the modern era, another thing is that they have a depth of lineup that other teams cannot match.

Therefore, at last year's NBA annual meeting, someone proposed to cancel the rule that "each team can only lose at most one player" in the upcoming expansion draft. This proposal was approved by David Stern.

And during the voting process, it received unanimous approval from representatives except Los Angeles, Boston, and New York.

However, no one expected at the time that the New York Knicks would ultimately be harmed by this proposal.

Louis is famous for his preference for long rotations, and the quality of the Knicks' players is also excellent. Therefore, the two newly joined teams will definitely target those who are not on the Knicks' protected list.

In the afternoon, Louis arrived at the Blue Palace.

At this time, except for Phil Jackson, whose contract has expired and his future is uncertain, the other assistant coaches are busy in the Blue Palace.

"Several draft favorites are here, and it's very lively today," Tomjanovich said.

Louis glanced at the list, Jose Hawkins, Rex Chapman, Tim Perry (TimPerryPFC), Mitch Richmond.

These four people are all top ten draft prospects, and their quality is indeed very good.

"What was the result?" Louis asked.

"I feel like these players are all your cup of tea." Tomjanovich said with a smile, "Jose Hollins and Lexa Chapman are good at long-range shooting, and Tim Perry is physically fit.

Very good, I feel he can play the three position, Mitch Richmond is the best, I would be surprised if he falls out of the top five picks,"

"What's Xiao Zhao's opinion?"

"His vision is much higher than mine." Tomjanovich rolled his eyes and said, "None of these people is worthy of his attention."

"You don't even like Richmond?"

"He said that although Richmond is good, it is not what we need."

"Strictly speaking, this is the truth."

After a while, Zhao Yuanzheng also came to report on his work.

Louis listened carefully and soon changed the topic to the expansion draft.

"You should all know that we only have eight protection quotas."

"Eight is too few." Zhao Yuanzheng shook his head.

"Yes, we will definitely lose two players." Louis took out the player cards of the Knicks players from the drawer.

Everyone except Billy Donovan had their own player cards, and Louie had them all sign them.

"Let's play a game."

Louie spread out the player cards.

"First pick five players we absolutely cannot lose."

Wilson, Ewing, Stockton, McHale, and Rodman were selected.

"Well, not bad." Louis said bitterly, "There are still three places left."

But still on the list are Dale Ellis, Michael Cooper, Reggie Miller, Charles Oakley, John Salley, Hornacek, Stevens, Song Tao, Brad

Luo Haos.

This is so tempting.

If Louis were the general manager of an expansion team, he would be tempted to trade his lottery pick for a second-choice opportunity.

"We were able to win the championship this year because of Dell's great contribution." Tomjanovich asked, "Keep him?"

Tomjanovich said this because he knew that once Ellis was not on the protected list, he would definitely be selected based on his performance against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

In fact, this is also one of the ways to choose a protection list.

As long as you think about who will definitely be chosen if not protected, you will know who to protect.

Other teams are like this, but the Knicks are too difficult.

"Expedition, what do you think?" Louis asked.

Zhao Yuanzheng said honestly: "We cannot ignore Dell's various problems off the court just because of his performance in the playoffs. Moreover, the overlap of running positions between him and other players has not been solved until now. If it were me, I would put Reggie

Put it on the protection list."

"Rudy, look at this guy, this is the roundworm in my stomach." Louis added Miller's player card to the "untouchable" list.

Tomjanovich said distressedly: "Are you going to give up on Dell like this?"

"Rudy, we must focus on the future." Louis was equally reluctant, but this decision had to be made.

In this life, Ellis may have reached a height that he did not reach in another timeline.

But under Louis, Miller's ceiling will only be higher.

Think of Miller's fabulous moments.

"I will probably give the seventh protected spot to Honey." Tomjanovich said, "He has proven himself this year that he can play both the one and two positions and is very reliable."

"That's right."

Louis put Hornacek's player card into the "untouchable" category.

So there was only one spot left.

"Coach, you decide on the final list."

Of the remaining people, it would be too painful to keep anyone off the protected list.

People outside the list include Ellis, Selley, Cooper, Oakley, Stevens, Song Tao, and Luo Haos.

The first person to be given up was Ellis. The coaching staff felt sorry for this, but they all knew that it had nothing to do with his strength. Luo Haosi and Song Tao should not be selected, so the remaining list

, which is actually one of the four choices of Cooper, Seeley, Stevens and Oakley.

In terms of strength, the choice should be between Oakley and Cooper.

But in terms of lineup suitability, Selley and Cooper are the most important.

But with the Knicks' current legacy of inheriting the Bad Boys, how could they not have Oakley? How could they?

He would feel bad if he chose a hammer and gave it away for nothing!

"CTMD!" After Louis spit out the fragrance, he covered his face and said, "It's so difficult for me!"