842. The General's Decision - Part 1

"Leonard, can we trade the boss?"

"..."

Coach Hollins and Chris Wallace looked at each other, speechless, and wanted to cry.

More than three hours ago, at 10 o'clock in the morning, Bill Duffy replied to the email.

Bill Duffy's response was finally very honest, and it was within Chris Wallace's expectations. Chris Wallace helped Bill Duffy to sign Randolph, avoiding the embarrassment of Randolph being a top star who was not wanted by the team. Bill Duffy tactfully expressed Sun Ce's disappointment in not being able to test the free market, but said that he would decide on the contract before the end of the finals.

This answer is not much different from Chris Wallace's guess. Sun Ce, like many young players, wants to see how popular he is, but this kind of thing is actually not important.

The boss likes to "explore the inside story of the team" so much. Chris Wallace notified the boss of Bill Duffy's answer by email.

Then, at 12 noon, Chris Wallace and Coach Hollins also experienced the "feeling of fans". They saw from the news that their team authorized Sun Ce to contact other team management.

After a short silence, Coach Hollins said: "Don't worry, even if Noah goes to communicate with other teams, we will not lose anything. You forgot that we have the right to match. Even if the rookie renewal terms are changed beyond expectations, Noah is not like other stars. He is like Yao of the Mavericks. If he really wants to leave, we can only let him go, and we have to sign first and then trade to help him get more money. This is the basketball market, you understand.

And I believe Noah will not choose to leave, he just wants to try."

"You always favor him so much, Lionel." Chris Wallace smiled helplessly, "But our boss..."

"Our boss, very cool!" Coach Hollins joked, this matter has nothing to do with him, he is the head coach.

"You are right, I have worked in the NBA for so many years, and this is the first time I heard that the general manager may be the last person to know the boss's decision. This is cool..." Chris Wallace was madly complaining.

"But, Chris, we can also go directly to Noah to discuss the contract extension, right? We are also contenders in the free market, aren't we?"

...

...

Just as Chris Wallace said,

He may be the last person to know about this. At 11:30 noon, Bill Duffy received an email from Robert Pera. At 11:50, Robert Pera's secretary sent the president's application to the NBA official and the team's press officer. At 12:00, the NBA official website and the Grizzlies official website announced this.

As soon as this news came out, it quickly became popular. People thought that the Grizzlies management was crazy. Just the day after the Western Conference Finals, they actually agreed to let their team's restricted free agents contact other team management!

This year may be the easiest year for NBA teams to renew their players, because there is no offseason and no free market due to the lockout. In order to avoid having no time to renew their contracts after the lockout, many players quickly renewed their contracts early, just like many NBA players lost their jobs in the 98-99 season.

Among them, the players whose rookie contracts expired were the most enthusiastic. They are in the early and middle stages of their careers and need a more stable development plan.

Let’s not talk about how people speculate whether Sun Ce will stay with the Grizzlies. Just the renewal issue, fans think that the Grizzlies don’t have to worry at all. The change of the renewal terms for the second-round rookies has basically become a foregone conclusion. The only thing left is the game between the owners of small-city teams and big-city teams. The owners of big-city teams want to cancel the restrictions of the Arenas clause on this basis, hoping to join the parent team to renew the contract on the condition that the non-parent team can give the maximum salary with space, but the owners of small-city teams are unwilling.

However, the parent team matching right will not be given up by the owners of big-city teams or small-city teams, so the Grizzlies don’t have to worry about not being able to make room for Sun Ce’s contract renewal. In the eyes of fans, they only need to wait until Sun Ce agrees to renew the contract.

As a result, the Grizzlies actually agreed to let Sun Ce contact other teams...

Why did so many people regret that Yao Ming did not go to Los Angeles to join Kobe in 2006 instead of considering the ideas of the Rockets owner?

Because teams like Yao Ming and Sun Ce are determined to leave the team, the owner can only serve them well. No matter whose fault it is, the Chinese market that has been operating for many years will definitely not be kept.

The fans were puzzled. The Grizzlies management had such a strange brain circuit?

Think about the Grizzlies using the second pick to select Thabeet, and then Thabeet played only 10 games and then used Thabeet to trade for a second-round pick... Although the final result was very good, the Grizzlies made a lot of money.

But when the fans recalled that incident, combined with the current events, they found that the Grizzlies management's brains were not ordinary special!

Of course, some fans also saw Robert Pera's ideas and thought that Robert Pera's ideas were bold and courageous, but they thought that the Grizzlies management was courageous. This was the first time in NBA history that such a management appeared. Five years ago, when Yao Ming's rookie contract expired, the Rockets promoted the name of "Yao Ming's mother team" everywhere, put themselves on the side of "righteousness", and blocked all the ways for Yao Ming to leave.

And the Grizzlies are really special!

But even fans who think that the Grizzlies management is very courageous can't help but complain online...

...

Online, fans are madly complaining about the Grizzlies, and the media are also constantly hyping up, predicting Sun Ce's decision, and guessing which teams Sun Ce will meet with. After the NBA official and the Grizzlies official website announced this matter, major media outlets They all sent reporters to the team they suspected wanted to get Sun Ce.

There is no doubt that 80% of the teams in the league want to meet with Sun Ce, even teams without salary space want to meet.

If it doesn’t work now, there will be a future, right?

And most of the team management does not have extravagant hopes of winning Sun Ce this year. First of all, James has learned from the past. They do not think Sun Ce will leave, but have the same guess as Chris Wallace. I think Sun Ce just wants to see how other teams treat him and find the sense of recognition that young players want. When he really decides to stay or go, these meetings may not be important.

Also, even if the Grizzlies management seems so generous, when it comes time for them to make an offer, will the Grizzlies management be so generous in letting him go... It's unlikely.

However, Sun Ce is only 21 years old!

The collective bargaining agreement has not yet been reached, and it mainly focuses on several aspects such as sharing ratios and veteran contract restrictions. Some of the terms have already been finalized.

For example, the players have taken a step back in terms of contract length, agreeing to shorten the contract extension from the 2006 labor agreement to a maximum of 6 years to 5 years. On this basis, even if Sun Ce completes the contract extension, he will only be 26 years old. At the age of 18, it is at its peak. If you build a good relationship now, you will have plenty of opportunities to operate.

But they cannot build a good relationship at that time, and once Sun Ce renews his contract, they will have no chance to build a good relationship with Sun Ce. Now is the best opportunity to build a good relationship, and it was given to the Grizzlies for free. Of course they must seize it. live.

Even the management of teams like the Bucks, whose team is located in a city that is more arrogant than Memphis, has revealed their desire to meet with Sun Ce.

then……

One moment, it was news that Lakers president of marketing operations Jeannie Buss was traveling to Memphis, and the Los Angeles media broke the news that Sun Ce had good prospects of joining the Lakers and that he was the successor to the Mamba; the other moment, Heat general manager Pat Riley was heading north to Memphis. News, a Florida reporter broke the news that James wanted a teammate with better rebounding...; a moment later, the new Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri went south, trying to attract Sun Ce with the advantage that Canada is currently the largest country of Chinese immigrants. news……

For a moment, the fans forgot that it was only May 30th. It felt like it was June 30th and the free market had begun.

The Grizzlies "management" didn't know for what purpose they agreed that Sun Ce could contact the management of other teams in advance, and it turned the eve of the finals into a free market!

For a moment, the Grizzlies were all over the place. Fans had forgotten about the Bulls, who were back home trying to stay alive after falling behind 3-1, and the Mavericks, who had already advanced to the finals. They were all discussing the management of the 20 teams in the NBA. He wanted to meet with Sun Ce.

…

The attention shifted to the Mavericks. With 60 wins and 22 losses, they had a better record than the Heat with 58 wins and 24 losses. It seemed that the Heat were almost certain to reach the finals. They returned to Dallas and waited for the Heat to challenge them. , the Mavericks players are also ready to enjoy the attention of fans and media.

However, in the morning, the fans and media were mainly pursuing the Grizzlies, who have a promising future. Seeing that in the afternoon, the conversation should change and discuss their team, which was never optimistic and went all the way to the finals. When we were a team, something happened with the Grizzlies...

The fact that they reached the finals didn't even come up!

Sun Ce has been eliminated, but he can still stir up troubles in the NBA. Even the owner of their team immediately flew to Memphis on a private plane as soon as he returned to Dallas...

In the eyes of the media and fans, Cuban is the team owner who has the best chance of acquiring Sun Ce in five years, because they have Yao Ming. Yao Ming will definitely retire in five years, and Sun Ce will be able to take over at that time. The Mavericks are also a famous international player team. After Yao Ming laid the foundation there for several years, I believe that Sun Ce will not face too serious racial issues in the past.

Now Cuban has never thought about forming a combination of Sun Ce + Yao Ming + Nowitzki, and there is no need to ask for that extravagance. One is enough. According to media reports, Cuban wants to persuade Sun Ce to stay with the Grizzlies. that……

Every team owner has different thoughts.

But this is so frustrating for the Mavericks players!

They were the ones who reached the finals, but no one paid any attention to them!

According to the unreliable domestic gossip media, Yao Ming bought a copycat red and white machine called Xiaobawang and played it hard all afternoon...

…

As for the Heat, who are almost certain to advance to the finals but have also been robbed of the limelight, James does not have Yao Ming's resentment of being robbed of the limelight. Instead, he has to properly handle his relationship with Bosh.

It's true that he dislikes the team's poor inside rebounding. Some people have guessed that he can't help it, but don't say it so openly!

Especially with general manager Pat Riley going to Memphis...

If it is revealed that James dislikes the team's poor inside rebounding and Pat Riley goes to Memphis, these two things are nothing. Now combined, it gives their team a way to trade Bosh for Sun Ce. a feeling of.

Except for exchanging Bosh, they currently have no possibility of getting Sun Ce, even if Sun Ce wants to come.

It is true that if Pat Riley really handles this matter, James will be crazy with joy, but now they are about to reach the finals, and if something like this happens, it will seriously affect the unity of the team.

Bosh took the initiative to join, but before the season was over, there were rumors that he would be traded. James felt so miserable!

And Pat Riley is really the kind of person who does whatever it takes to get benefits, which makes James feel even more miserable...

…

…

As for Sun Ce, he has no time to watch the news or care about the mood of the stars who have been affected by his affairs.

He is busy now!

Bill Duffy received meeting requests from 21 teams!

When James was leaving the team last summer, only 11 teams pursued him fiercely, and he almost lost his job.

Because James experienced the free market for the first time last summer, he had already renewed his 3+1 contract in advance when his rookie contract expired in 2007. Other teams did not think that James would leave the Cavaliers so early, until 2008, In 2009, the Cavaliers were eliminated early in the playoffs for two consecutive years. The owners of each team found that there was a high probability that James would leave. Because the Green Army's Big Three and Howard were there, it seemed that James who stayed with the Cavaliers could not make it. of.

Therefore, the preparation time is only one year, and there are only 11 teams that can make room, and they have worked hard to make it.

But Sun Ce is different. Now he is contacted in advance and has 5 years to prepare! Even the owners of the Heat and Mavericks, who are about to play in the Finals, want to join in the fun.

So, on the evening of May 30, Sun Ce looked at Bill Duffy's laptop in the living room, looking at the meeting requests from the 21 teams, and his brain was about to explode.

After hearing Bill Duffy talk about his boss's magical operation at noon, he guessed that something might happen, but it was too scary!

The Lakers, Heat, Mavericks, Celtics, Suns, Warriors, Rockets... Sun Ce thinks these teams are acceptable, and the cities where these teams are located are still very attractive.

But what does it mean when the Raptors, Bobcats, Bucks, and Pistons appear?

Sun Ce really wanted to ask their management, for example, Boss Qiao: You don’t know how good your management is? Don’t you know how many stars you have scared away who want to follow you, Qiao Shen?

What's even more ridiculous is that in the list of 21 meeting requests, Sun Ce saw his own team...

This is the point where Sun Ce complained: Can't you just call and ask? one Year! I’ve never seen you ask!

"Noah, which teams have you decided to meet with?" Bill Duffy's mentality was about to collapse. He should have made suggestions on this kind of thing, but his team was going crazy.

I have never seen a boss like Robert Pera!

Rich people, especially young rich people, live in a world that others cannot understand.

After being a professional manager for so many years, this is the first time Robert Pera has encountered such a team owner, who can actually cause trouble.

But Sun Ce is only troubled by the matter itself, and it is not difficult for him to understand that Robert Pera did such a thing. This is a contract price that was given to Conley 150 million in a year when NBA salaries have not completely skyrocketed, which exceeds Kobe’s contract price. The owner of the sky-high contract directly forced each team to give up the original idea of ​​trying to lower the maximum salary after the salary cap skyrocketed.

Conley already earns 30 million a year, while others who are more powerful can only earn 35 million a year, which will lead to several 50 million annual salary murder cases in the future.

Sun Ce responded: "How about rejecting them all? They almost don't have room to sign me! I remember that they spent all the salary cap to avoid a lockout and couldn't retain people. Isn't this a waste of time?"

Things are all relative. Players are worried about being out of work due to the lockout, and the management of each team is also worried about the impact of the lockout on their contract renewals. Most players have completed their contract renewals early in the middle of the season. The Grizzlies have not yet renewed the contracts of Gasol and Conley. This is a rare situation for teams, and the Grizzlies must also make two preparations. If the terms change fails, they still have to start by freeing up salary space and provide Sun Ce, who does not have Bird Rights, with salary space that matches the contract.

"I think they are thinking about five years from now." Bill Duffy said quickly: "We can't do this. We will have to cooperate with them in the future..."

After saying this, Sun Ce immediately understood that the other party was waiting for his next contract to expire.

As for the cooperation mentioned by Bill Duffy, Bill Duffy has more than one player, so he doesn't dare to offend more than 20 teams.

After hesitating for a moment, Sun Ce saw that things were already like this, so he simply said: "Bill, we are going to be busy in the next few days. You ask them to briefly tell you their future plans. If it is reasonable, we can all meet. They Come all the time.”

"I understand. I will take care of these things tonight and send you their answers tomorrow..."

…

…

Sun Ce originally wanted to relax and play for a few days to see if the first and second games of the finals were as crushing as he expected. After knowing the specific situation of the finals, he went to discuss it with the Grizzlies. The matter of contract renewal.

As he said, there is no free market, and it is a pity not to be able to feel the pursuit of other teams, but there is nothing that can be done about it. He also wants to reassure the team early. He can let the team feel at ease after the finals and before the trade window opens. The team is ready.

He never dreamed that the owner of his own team would be so good at playing...

I didn't even get a day's rest, so I started working overtime.

On the night of May 30, the Heat defeated the Bulls 86-82 to advance to the Finals.

Fortunately, James has strong communication skills. After Pat Riley discovered that he had done something wrong, he also had a phone call with Bosh to appease Bosh, saying that this was his future plan in five years.

And Bosh is also a person with a high spirit. He will not give up on himself, but will work hard to prove his worth.

Therefore, the Heat relied on defense to win the Eastern Conference Finals with the Bulls' last stand. James and Wade both reached the Finals for the second time in their careers.

This year's finals team may be the worst team in the finals. After 4 seasons, the Heat and Mavericks meet again in the finals. The Mavericks have the Big Three of Kidd + Yao Ming + Nowitzki, and the Heat have In the true sense of the Big Three, when the two teams faced off like this, all the limelight was taken away by a second-year player who had been eliminated.

It makes them feel so miserable.

What's even more tragic is that this situation will continue. On the afternoon of May 31, Sun Ce began to meet with the management of each team. The first one made people think a lot - Lakers President Jenny Buss...

…

Sun Ce admires Bill Duffy's character very much. Maybe Bill Duffy's contract negotiation skills are average, but he has a good character and a bit of an honest person. He once forgot to submit executive players to his team because he overslept. Notification of options, and also used his own money to subsidize the players' losses.

Therefore, Sun Ce asked Bill Duffy to go to the teams that requested a meeting and give them a preliminary future plan. After each team gave it, Sun Ce received the list, 21, or 21.

Having said that, let’s go and see Sun Ce.

On the afternoon of the first day, Sun Ce met with the owners of the Lakers, Bobcats, and Clippers.

These three teams are not within the scope of Sun Ce's consideration. The Lakers will be in unbelievable chaos in the next few years, so they will not be considered for the time being. The Clippers and Bobcats... just have a friendly chat.

At the beginning, Sun Ce decided to meet 6 teams for the day. Sun Ce booked a concert hall in Memphis. Except for the first day, which started in the afternoon and only met 3 teams, the rest were 6 teams a day. Team, it will be done in 4 days.

The order of the meeting was decided by Sun Ce himself, and there were teams that he really wanted to talk to, such as the Suns, Hawks, and Nets, but these were placed at the back.

Originally, there was another team that Sun Ce wanted to put on the first day and tell them to get lost. Sun Ce felt a little sick when he heard the name of their team's general manager, but after seeing the plan they gave him, Sun Ce suddenly felt bad. The four-day meeting was extended to five days, and the first 19 teams were settled in four days. In the end, two teams were left, one of which was naturally the Grizzlies. They met on the afternoon of May 4th for the final time. And the team on the morning of May 4th - the Rockets!

The meeting between the three teams on the first day ended easier than Sun Ce imagined. Just as Bill Duffy predicted, except for the Clippers, the other two teams were not very urgent, and the urgent Clippers, Sun Ce ended the meeting in 10 minutes.

After finishing it, Sun Ce called the producer who T.N.T has been working with. After chatting for a while, Sun Ce said: "I have a plan... don't agree so quickly! Hear me first!"

On May 5th, I want a live broadcast during prime time. Yes, it’s my decision... Do you dare to play? The general's decision was broadcast live across the United States! "