Chapter 1471 1470. The Storm Is Surging

The current situation in the league is very sensitive for many teams.

But during this period, many agents have discovered that this is the best period for some of their young players who were originally buried and had no chance to perform! Gather famous stars to a few teams, leaving opportunities for more teams, and allowing young players with potential to get opportunities to grow!

Some agents and some teams have already started working to create new super teams besides the Lakers, Bulls, and Eagles.

The NBA has never lacked talent, but there are many who have been buried for various reasons.

There are two main reasons why geniuses are buried.

One is injuries. Many talents have suffered from injuries. At the same time, this matter has caused many teams to abort their revival from the beginning.

Another thing is opportunity!

In this era, except for a very few teams, most teams have a star player who can compete for the All-Stars. This results in some talented young players in the same position being unable to get the opportunity to improve.

Again, there is no shortage of geniuses in the NBA, only geniuses who are buried and no one even notices them.

Just like Reid, if Ray Allen hadn't been traded away and Payton, who came back from the trade, left after playing for half a year, he wouldn't be able to achieve his current core position.

Moreover, things like grouping together will not make the alliance feel bad.

The teaming up of stars is not something that affects the development of the league. It may cause the championship to be concentrated on a few teams for a time, but it will not affect the ratings, but may increase the ratings.

Everyone wants to see Kobe and James deal with Liu Mang together, and everyone wants to see Milicic and Bosh deal with the inside combination of Yao Ming, Gasol, and Odom.

League fans generally use rule changes to turn basketball into a more harmonious game than badminton, which will affect the development of the league and the ratings, but grouping will actually increase attention.

People can even tear up their jerseys and shout "selling condoms" while playing badminton, but in the future NBA, anyone who takes a good shot and looks at the opponent will be ejected.

On the contrary, in the original time and space, when the Big Three of the Celtics and the Big Three of the Heat were born, they greatly increased the ratings at that time. Adam Silva was able to sign sky-high broadcast contracts with major TV stations in 2014. , it is not the three-point alliance he created, but the duel between the Heat's Big Three and the Celtics' Big Three, and the two styles of basketball between the Heat's Big Three and the Spurs system. Instead, it became a three-pointer. After the league, ratings began to decline, and NBA fans lost a large number of fans.

Now NBA teams have begun to be dissatisfied with the 12-year broadcast price signed in 2004. Previously, they relied on the OK combination to save the ratings that may have declined after Jordan retired. They signed a contract that seemed very good at the time. It is an incredible broadcast agreement, but now the live broadcast payment price has almost doubled, and the ratings have been rising. It is still the broadcast agreement signed in 2004, when every team and the league feel that they are losing money.

But there is no other way but to wait until the end of this broadcast agreement.

However, such a situation means that the league does not exclude the emergence of giant teams, as long as the game is good to watch, the ratings are high, and the attention is high... that's all!

Of course, this also led to the emergence of a trend that can be considered bad...

People want to start clumping together.

After the Hawks defeated the Lakers to form the Big Four again, and the Lakers successfully won the championship, many stars began to become restless.

If you want to join but don’t want to join, you can only fight in a group on your own!

…

…

"Michael, if you ask me to come with you, aren't you afraid of being fined by the league?" Liu Mang joked.

"How much is the fine? 50,000 yuan? 50,000 yuan for a glass of water is quite expensive." Jordan immediately countered.

"It's indeed quite expensive, but I think you have to pour 20 glasses of water before the Alliance will be satisfied."

"Hahaha, I think I'll talk to you about this secretly in private, maybe I really need that much money."

As Jordan said, this time he and the Eagles owner had negotiated first and wanted Liu Mang to participate in the trade negotiations, so there was no problem in this regard.

The NBA has entered a new era.

There may be many young people who will emerge at this time, and at the same time, there will be many star teams that will end with regret... After all, there is only one champion every year, and one wrong move will lead to the whole game being lost, so the stars are still very cautious.

At a time when the league is in turmoil, Liu Mang is discussing draft rights with the management and the target team.

On June 23, Michael Jordan came to Atlanta. Last night, Hawks owner Price had already communicated with Larry Bird about the draft picks during dinner.

The Hawks have put forward their own ideas, and Larry Bird is considering it.

By noon today, it was time for the Hawks and Jordan to discuss.

Jordan and Bird, two former players, were relatively direct in this regard. They personally went to the cities where other teams were located to negotiate, which seemed full of sincerity.

Of course, Bird also regretted not sending Artest to the Hawks for Granger last summer. If they had accepted the trade plan of Artest for Iguodala last year, if they had They also want Granger, and the Eagles won't refuse. At most, they want a draft pick in return.

It's just that Granger spent most of his rookie season playing in the Development League, and Bird didn't expect Granger to be so good after entering the rotation in his second year.

The negotiation with Bird was very pleasant. The goals of both sides were very direct. The Hawks wanted more than just one draft pick...or maybe Liu Mang thought the eighth pick was too wasteful and wanted more draft picks, even if the pick was lower. Can.

But you can't hang yourself from a tree, so let's go ahead and talk to Jordan today.

After Jordan and Liu Mang, the master-disciple pair, joked with each other, the waiter handed over the menu.

On the Eagles side today, coaches Liu Mang, Price, and Kruger came together, while Jordan was alone.

After ordering some food, after the waiter left, Jordan, who has always been straightforward, quickly got to the point: "I think the offer I made should be very sincere. This year's 10th pick and the top five picks in 2009. If You need it. In addition to Felton, Wallace, and Okafor, you can also choose the rest of our team."

Take your pick...

This is very tempting to say, but these three players are the only ones that the Bobcats can make other teams think about.

Although Felton did not meet expectations, he is still a good point guard. Gerald Wallace is the Bobcats' best player. Okafor drives high and plays low. He is a rookie at his peak, but he still has the ability to have a double-double. A defensive center with a midrange shot...

Except for these three people, or in other words, except for Gerald Wallace and Okafor, Liu Mang looks down on everyone else on the Bobcats.

Jordan was talking to Price, but he glanced at Liu Mang from time to time.

Liu Mang can opt out of his contract after playing next season. If the Hawks make any decisions now, they will definitely not go behind Liu Mang's back. Liu Mang has a great say. Jordan, who once had the same say as Liu Mang, understands this very well. a little.

"Mike, if you have Granger and Lee, your perimeter will improve a lot. With Wallace and Okafor, you will have already made the playoffs in 2009, right? The top five picks in the first round are protected. It doesn’t make much sense, it’s definitely not going to be a high draft pick, and I think it’s very difficult to pick a young man as outstanding as Granger with the tenth overall pick,” Price replied.

Is this a rejection? Jordan didn't sound like he was rejecting, and said: "Of course, the chips can be adjusted, but if it is three first-round picks, we can use them to exchange for Kidd."

This is true. The reason why the Nets failed to sell Kidd during the All-Star Weekend last year was because the Nets asked for too high a price. They wanted three first-rounders for a 34-year-old veteran before they got it. .

"Granger is different. He is only 24 years old and has a bright future. And Mike, you don't just want Granger, you also want Lee. With Granger and Lee, I believe you can enter the season." After the game, then the reward we get is not so satisfying," Price emphasized.

"Okay, let's be direct. What chips do you want?" Jordan soon became impatient and said directly.

Liu Mang and Price looked at each other and both saw the meaning of "this guy has fallen into a trap".

Price said: "The No. 10 pick is really attractive, but we don't need such a high pick. We have too much outside talent. If we can replace the No. 10 pick with two lower first-round picks, Sign it, we can still accept it..."

…

If the Eagles trade with the No. 10 pick themselves, other teams will definitely have ideas, especially the teams that trade with the Eagles. They will definitely guess who the Eagles want to pick, and then they will not trade and choose themselves. .

Although these teams who guessed who the Eagles wanted to select would definitely not be able to guess who Liu Mang wanted to select, it would be difficult for the Eagles to trade down the No. 10 pick.

Therefore, whether you are talking to Bird or Jordan, you hope that the other party can trade down the pick.

After Jordan got the answer and left, Coach Kruger asked Liu Mang: "Ace, are we sure we don't want the No. 10 and No. 8 picks? Even if they are not the top five picks, we still have the picks at these two positions. We may draft outstanding rookie big men such as Spencer Hawes and Thaddeus Young."

At this time, people see that the 2007 draft list is definitely more like the draft year than the expected 2008 draft list.

The three major insiders of Oden, Horford, and Noah, as well as forwards such as Durant, Jeff Colin, and Corey Brewer, and guards such as Mike Conley and Ronnie Stuckey...

At this stage, 2007 does look like another big draft year since 2003.

But Liu Mang knew that 2008 and 2009 were the real draft years. There were several MVPs in those two years, but in the end in 2007, only Durant was at the MVP level.

Liu Mang didn't know how to explain, so he chose not to explain, saying: "That's not important. Our goal this year is not the draft. We should pay more attention to the recruitment of veterans and insiders this year."

"That's what I guess, Lang, you lose, you pay the bill today." After hearing Liu Mang's answer, Price showed a true expression.

When it comes to business, Coach Kruger is much worse than Liu Mang and Price. Although Price is easy to miss the mark when it comes to negotiations requiring returns, he is a boss and generally knows what the team needs. Like Big Dog's time, if Big Dog hadn't clocked out with 20 points since his rookie season, Big Dog's strength would still be very suitable for the Eagles at that time.

Coach Kruger was still a little confused and asked: "Then why do we trade Danny?"

"Danny already won the championship with us last year. He doesn't have as strong a desire for more performance opportunities as Josh and Andre. However, next year, his transaction value will definitely decrease as he is about to enter the contract year. , and we have Grant, and Dwyane will be back soon. Danny's role will be much smaller, he will not have many opportunities to perform, and the transaction value will further decline." Liu Mang explained.

In fact... Price analyzed these things with Coach Kruger yesterday during the negotiation with Bird that Liu Mang did not participate in. He asked this just to introduce the next topic.

In the negotiation with Jordan, Coach Kruger knew that the general negotiation process was similar. For Coach Kruger and Price, there were more important things.

"Ace, we also received a trade request, regarding Tracy. Of course, we must discuss such a big matter with you first..."