One Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy-Six. Blue-Collar Inside Line Army (Five Thousand Words)
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"Leonard, I know you want that thick eyebrow or Love, but no team will help us get him, and they themselves will not be willing to trade directly."
"I know, but we have the chips, but we didn't get it, it's a pity."
"There is no way, if we trade directly, they want too many things."
"Now the result is not bad, the transaction will be completed in just one week, which is much better than I expected..." Coach Hollins also chose to accept it.
Originally, the Raptors were not the trading target that the Grizzlies wanted. Their first target was Anthony Davis, who Sun Ce had never thought of. They were ready to trade with Paul George and Gasol, and were willing to send draft picks.
But the other party wanted double 3D, not Gasol, who was strong in the regular season for a year and won the best defensive player, and then began to let himself go and was difficult to manage.
The Grizzlies could not accept this. They could only lose one of the double 3D at most.
The second target was not to trade with the Raptors, but with the Timberwolves.
But the other side does not want Gasol, who is also a slow-paced type. They hope that the Grizzlies can trade for more chips and use a large number of draft picks to add a core to build a team. However, the Timberwolves are not as open-minded as the Pelicans. They only need Paul George.
But the Grizzlies' draft picks are not valuable. With Sun Ce, Klay Thompson and Randolph staying, the Timberwolves are unwilling to take the Grizzlies' own draft picks. Moreover, more importantly, no team is willing to help the Grizzlies get Love. They are unwilling to make a three-way trade. The injury exception that Randolph applied for is far from enough for Love's salary. If Gasol is traded for draft picks, the chips in exchange must also be accompanied by players. This is not the last decade. In the 2011 labor-management agreement, it has been determined that unsigned players selected in the 1970s and 1980s cannot be used as a bonus for draft picks.
In this way, there is no chance to get Love.
Fortunately, the two next homes were found in the end, the Hawks and the Raptors. Originally, the Grizzlies were also negotiating with the Hawks, because Horford of the Hawks was out for the season, and the Hawks intended to trade Millsap for Gasol.
However, Randolph of the Grizzlies was out!
Originally, due to Randolph's age, the Grizzlies planned to let him play center on the defensive end, and start with Larry Sanders to reduce Randolph's consumption on the defensive end. The tonnage of 122-125 kilograms is enough to carry most of the centers in the league.
But Randolph was out, so if Gasol plus the chips can be exchanged for Love or Anthony Davis, it would be ok. If not, then two suitable players must be exchanged. Obviously, the Hawks had no other chips that could satisfy the Grizzlies except Millsap.
In the end, the Raptors were chosen, and this choice was not made by Chris Wallace himself. Although the Hawks did not have more chips, Millsap, who was strong in combat, was no less attractive to the Grizzlies than the Raptors' starting twin towers.
Instead, Gasol prefers the Raptors, which have a stronger international atmosphere.
Coach Hollins looked at the scouting reports of the two new players. The two will come to Memphis this afternoon. He and Chris Wallace will have to wait until the two arrive and complete the physical examination before they can leave work.
Amir Johnson, the last high school rookie, is in his ninth year of career. He will only turn 27 in the summer and is at his peak. This is a veteran who has been in the NBA for many years. He finally played well in the Raptors. In his ninth year of career, he played 35 games this season, averaging 10.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 0.6 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
He is not very good, and his salary is not low. The remaining two years total 13.5 million, 6.5 million US dollars this season, and 7 million US dollars for the team option next season.
But Amir Johnson's vitality and enthusiasm are quite popular with Raptors fans, and he also impressed Grizzlies players in the game.
He is always full of passion and vitality.
Before joining the Raptors, he only played 13 or 14 minutes per game for several years, but he never slacked off. Finally, he got a 4-year, 25 million contract in the summer of 2011.
Valanciunas, one of the representative centers of the new generation, a second-year player, will be 22 years old in the summer. So far this season, he has averaged 11.3 points, 9 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.
He has no passing ability, but he has good low-post and spot shooting, pick-and-roll, and can move well with a tonnage of 120 kilograms. Although he is a little worse than Gasol after losing weight, he is self-disciplined and will not have such a big weight fluctuation.
To say that these two people, in fact, combined, they can't be traded for Gasol. Gasol has a heavy use, but the Grizzlies don't want to play like that, and it doesn't match the outside three-man team. The heavy version of Gasol has a smaller defensive area and can only defend the basket. He can't play fast breaks, but in positional warfare, he still has the ability to average 18+9+4 or so. The trading value is not comparable to these two people now.
However, Valanciunas is on a rookie contract! He is only in his second year and can be used cheaply for two and a half years, which greatly increases Valanciunas' trading value.
Not counting this season, Valanciunas still has two years of contract, and his salary is 3.66 million US dollars and 4.12 million US dollars respectively. As a lottery pick in 2011, Valanciunas' salary is about the same as Paul George, cheap and easy to use!
But even so, the trading value of these two people combined is still not as good as Gasol, who is at his peak.
So the Grizzlies wanted a future first-round pick from the Raptors, but after getting the unprotected first-round pick in 2015, the Raptors felt that they were at a disadvantage. It is predicted that both 2014 and 2015 will be big years for the draft.
So the Grizzlies compensated for the 2015 first-round pick they got from the Spurs when they traded Gay, and the Grizzlies' own 2014 second-round pick. In the end, they felt a little at a disadvantage. 2014 is a big year for the draft, and they also got a second-round pick from the Raptors in 2016, which is likely to be a small year for the draft.
The deal has been reached, and Coach Hollins' coaching staff has begun to formulate a plan for tactical changes.
One thing is very lucky, that is, they did not formulate special tactics for the fat version of Gasol this season, and they did not formulate it from the beginning of the season, because they were waiting for Gasol to lose weight successfully at the beginning, and they were ready to use the playoff tactics.
Now both bears can't play this year, and the tactics of other combinations of the Grizzlies are playing well. What needs to be done now is to integrate the two new inside players into the team's tactical system to ensure the variability of the team's tactics.
In the evening, Amir Johnson and Valanciunas, who received the news of the trade in the morning, came to Memphis and underwent health checks. After confirming that there was no problem, the trade was officially approved. The Grizzlies traded one for two and exchanged four draft picks!
…
…
Come to the real championship team!
On the morning of the 15th, Amir Johnson, who is not yet 27 years old but is already a big brother, took his younger brother Valanciunas from the hotel where he is currently staying and came to the FedEx Arena at 8 o'clock.
Yesterday, they only had a health check, and the team asked them to go back to the hotel to have a good rest. They will play against the Thunder tonight.
Amir Johnson, since entering the NBA, has been unable to control his future. He has been working hard and has won the Best Fighting Award at the ESPY Awards Ceremony under ESPN, and he has won it three times! He is a player respected by his teammates wherever he goes.
Being able to play in a competitive team like the Grizzlies... Although he feels sad about leaving the Raptors, here, he feels that he is closer to the championship!
Valanciunas, the tough Lithuanian, was a little timid when he came to the new team, unlike Amir Johnson who was full of expectations.
The two had heard that players often came to the outside of the stadium to take a look before coming to Memphis to play the Grizzlies, but they had no such idea before, mainly because they were not the top players of the new generation or the middle generation. The player who the Raptors would come here to see was DeRozan.
But now as a Grizzlies player, if he came here to take a look, even if he was photographed by reporters, he would not be laughed at by fans for overestimating his own ability and wanting to challenge the authority of the lord.
However, like every player who came here to see the Grizzlies' stadium, the two of them couldn't see what they were looking at...
"Jonas, you are more talented, did you see what James was looking at?"
"No, Amir, you and James entered the NBA at about the same time, did you see anything?"
"No, I'm only in my 9th year, James is an 11-year veteran, maybe I can't see it either."
"..."
The two security guards at the entrance of the stadium looked at the two new players of their team who have become popular in Memphis in the past two days and have been studied and discussed by fans, and stood there stupidly in the winter like those who didn't know why they came to see their stadium.
The security guards were also curious, what was special about the architectural style of their team's stadium?
...
After a "pilgrimage", Amir Johnson and Valanciunas entered the stadium. It was only 8:15, and the two wanted to take a good look at the stadium, get to know their teammates after they arrived, and liven up their relationship.
However, they thought they were early. They got up at 7 o'clock, had breakfast, left the hotel at 7:40 and arrived at the stadium at 8 o'clock. As a result, when they entered the home team training field, they saw Sun Ce who had already practiced two sets of shooting!
Old Hardaway was recording the training results for Sun Ce next to him, and wrote that two sets of 100 shots were completed.
Sun Ce also noticed the two and walked towards them.
Amir Johnson and Valanciunas were new to the team. Even players like Amir Johnson, who were already veterans, felt their hearts beat faster when the superstar of the new team came forward.
This is a superstar who has won honors in one year that they will never be able to match in their lifetime!
According to the nature of this pretentious league, when a team has new players joining, the superstar is likely to show off his power and make the new teammates obey them.
Amir Johnson and Valanciunas are ready to "obey". Whatever Sun Ce says, they are ready to scratch their heads with a smile, nod, and then hug. This is what the two discussed in the double room of the hotel last night.
Sun Ce came in front of the two people, and just when they were ready, Sun Ce raised his right hand and waved: "Hi, good morning, why are you here so early? It's so cold, why don't you sleep a little longer?"
This made Amir Johnson stunned. What kind of opening remarks is this?
But on Valanciunas' side, Sun Ce scratched his head reflexively and smiled and replied: "Lord, you said too much!"
"..."
"..."
Amir Johnson covered his face in pain. Why didn't this superstar play by the rules? When he met Ben Wallace and Bosh, they both loved to show off!
And, this little brother of his...
Amir Johnson looked at Sun Ce, and Sun Ce also looked at him. Amir Johnson read a message from Sun Ce's eyes - is the little brother next to him not working well?
…
…
Hardworking, enthusiastic, positive, and fighting spirit are the labels of Amir Johnson. This player who has been in the NBA for many years can easily get along with the old players of the Grizzlies.
The most important point is that Yi Jianlian, Larry Sanders, and Stoudemire are not players who pay much attention to data. As for playing time, everyone just needs to compete. Yi Jianlian has long been accustomed to it. Stoudemire is here to hug thighs. Larry Sanders has no worries about the contract, so there is no vicious competition.
The same is true for Amir Johnson. The Grizzlies management also has a clear direction for the transaction.
As for Valanciunas, he had little exposure before. He may have joined the NBA for more than a year, but the number of searches on the Internet is less than the 24 hours from yesterday to today after he was traded.
But Valanciunas is a decent person with good character, otherwise Amir Johnson would not take care of him so much.
People with good character will not be excluded no matter where they go, but they may suffer losses. However, they have a hot temper and have helped their teammates in their rookie season, which is in line with the style of the Grizzlies.
However, there was no dispute in the interior. Now a complete five-man interior team has been formed, which is good for the outside line. The first day the two joined, they felt the very good atmosphere of the team.
On Sun Ce's side, after a day, after relieving the depression caused by Gasol's departure, he also focused on the present.
Gasol has left, and there is no point in being depressed. This is how the NBA is. Gasol's departure has reduced the team's salary by about 5 million US dollars, making the future space more flexible, and also alleviating the current problem of insufficient manpower in the interior due to injuries and potential injury risks.
"Amir Johnson, ability rating B+ (peak), averaging 10.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game..."
"Jonas, Valanciunas, ability rating A-..."
After getting to know the two, Sun Ce continued training. After all the teammates arrived, he looked at the ability ratings of the two new teammates. They were okay, although the two of them combined might not be as good as Gasol's successful weight loss... If they play a positional battle with a slow rhythm, the two of them combined can't play the role of a fat version of Gasol, but it's not bad.
Sun Ce was very impressed by the player Amir Johnson, who even dunked over Randolph in the second attack.
The current team lineup, due to Randolph's injury, is equivalent to Randolph + Gasol becoming Amir Johnson and Valanciunas this season.
In Sun Ce's opinion, even with Yi Jianlian, Larry Sanders, and Stoudemire, the three major rotation players, plus these two players, it is difficult to compare with the inside combination that had the best winning rate in the team's history in the 10-11 season and 11-12 season when Gobert is still not good.
Especially in the 11-12 season, they had a record of 55 wins and 11 losses. That year, the two bears had no weight or health problems, and they had a winning rate of more than 80%.
Now this inside lineup, which can be regarded as a "blue-collar army", is definitely not as good as the inside combination led by the two bears in those two years.
An S-level star may be more effective than a bunch of A-level stars. Many teams have proved this. Not many teams are willing to trade a whole for a zero, unless they have to, but a zero for a whole, many teams are willing to do it.
With a top player, many role players are willing to partner with him.
Sun Ce didn't fall asleep in the middle of the night after practicing the Nash training method last night, and figured out a lot of things.
Maybe, Gasol was traded as planned by the team, but the team didn't expect Randolph to be out for the season, because they had already worshipped Randolph as an ancestor, and they didn't have to play in the game, and they could take a walk on the court... They just hoped that he could recover to play in the playoffs at the end of the regular season.
So the team has changed its rotation strategy of the past few years, which was based on the inside combination and the outside selection partner, and changed to a rotation strategy based on the outside three-man team as the core and the inside selection partner, which is to prepare for the subsequent operations!
Sun Ce did not expect this, but now he thinks that the team is indeed prepared.
In this case, he can only choose to accept it.
Sun Ce analyzed the probability of the two new teammates integrating into the team based on the detailed ability evaluation of the two new teammates and his impression of the two when he played against the Raptors before.
It seems that both are not low!
Both are good at pick-and-roll. Obviously, the team found the inside for him. Now the only ones who can do pick-and-roll are Yi Jianlian and Stoudemire. The team is ready to let Yi Jianlian rest to avoid injury. He fell on his hip due to confrontation before and had a slight sprain.
Stoudemire, an old injury.
So the trade brought two pick-and-roll inside players.
Among them, Amir Johnson will definitely be able to integrate into the team easily, and Larry Sanders and Valanciunas may have good cooperation, but they still need team training to find ways to cooperate and verification in the game.
…
At 9 o'clock in the morning, the Grizzlies held a pre-match meeting to welcome the two new players.
At 11:15, after finishing two preparatory training sessions today, the Grizzlies held a press conference and officially announced that Amir Johnson and Valanciunas had joined the team.
The entire Grizzlies team attended the two players' press conference. Paul George and Richard Jefferson handed over the No. 90 jersey chosen by Amir Johnson and the No. 17 jersey that Valanciunas continued to use, respectively, as the team leader and locker room leader.
Seeing the team leader Sun Ce and the team owner Robert Pera standing among their teammates cheering and applauding... Amir Johnson and Valanciunas felt something was wrong?
Why was the guy who was theoretically the team leader not Sun Ce? Instead, he was the No. 24 jersey that had appeared in trade rumors for more than a year, with a body like McGrady but whose idol was Kobe?