Chapter 768

"John, you said that Michael used these little tricks very well. He entered the role as soon as he became the president." Liu Mang said to Stockton.

"He is showing his courage, and he does not hesitate to offend the Clippers management." Stockton laughed. "He is trying to restore the image of being a general manager of the Wizards. Fortunately, Kwame played it. Otherwise, I guess he doesn't have the face to accept the position of CEO."

"...I don't think so..."

"Um?"

"fine."

The corner of Liu Mang's mouth twitched in response, Jordan will not be the boss because of being slapped in the face? He's not that thin-skinned...

Not discussing this topic, lest these old men sell him out when they meet in private, Liu Mang asked: "John, you will be our assistant coach next season, right?"

"Well, I said that I will help you train a qualified backup point guard." Stockton nodded. "After our summer operations are over, I will discuss the contract with the management."

"Jose?"

"right."

"..." Liu Mang recalled Calderon. In terms of shooting percentage, he is a free throw-enhanced version of Stockton, a real 180 club player, and in terms of statistics, he is a low-profile version of Stoke. Dayton, in terms of defense, the peak is not as strong as Stockton, who is now in his 40s...

However, with Stockton's guidance, although the defense has not become much better, at least in theory, it will not be as black as the original him. As a substitute, Liu Mang thinks about it, and Calderon is a bit of a substitute. Little extravagance, but a player of his own agency, even if he leaves after playing with him, it will not be a loss, and the relationship is not bad.

Liu Mang had dinner at home at noon, and came to the arena soon, and met Stockton in the parking lot.

Liu Mang and Stockton chatted and came to the conference room of Phillips Arena. Most of the teammates had already arrived. After a while, there was the team's season press conference. Everyone was attending. While waiting, the players Discussing the Bobcats trade, discussing who will be the No. 1 pick this summer, famous stars, especially those who are not the No. 1 pick themselves, every year when they meet the No. 1 pick, they will give extra "care" to them.

According to information obtained by ESPN from Adrian Wojnaworski, a sports columnist for Penguin Publishing Group, the Bobcats used the fourth overall pick in the 2004 first round and the protection of the first eighth pick in 2006. The draft pick, reached an agreement with the Clippers, and traded to get the Clippers' second overall pick in the 2004 first round.

Wojnavorski is a basketball expert who entered the sports circle in 1997. He won the Best Newcomer Reporter Award from the North American Press Association in 1998. In 2002, he was awarded the Best North American Sports Columnist Award by the Associated Press. Get some private events that are unknown to the stars.

The news provided by Wojnavorski this time has been reposted by many supporters of his basketball articles. Fans of other teams except the Eagles were originally planning to relax their attitude towards the NBA because the finals are over. Attention is waiting for the draft. Except for the Lakers fans, other fans have been looking forward to the Lakers losing for two months. They are nervous every day, and finally want to relax their nerves. Unexpectedly, the deal before the draft will come soon up.

But who doesn't like to watch the excitement? The NBA, which had just cooled down a bit, became popular again.

Subsequently, the NBA official website confirmed the transaction and announced more specific transaction content. The content of the transaction in terms of draft picks was consistent with the information disclosed by Google, but there was one additional thing. In addition to sending two first-round up-trading He got the second pick and gave up the right to get a player from the Clippers.

When Liu Mang and Stockton discussed this matter, they both believed that the Clippers' trade was completely forced. They could have gotten better bargaining chips, but they had to trade with the Bobcats. As long as the Bobcats If this deal is proposed, they can only submit.

The Clippers were able to get the second pick in the lottery, which was an upset. The Clippers' record is 26 wins and 56 losses, ranking fourth from the bottom. Counting the Bobcats, they are new to the team and have the same strengths as the Magic. The probability of the No. 1 pick, the Clippers can only be ranked fifth from the bottom, and the probability of the top three picks is not high.

But I didn't expect that Jordan was the back of his hand. He had a 25% chance of getting the No. 1 pick and a 63% chance of getting the top three pick, but he only got the No. 4 pick; There was a 14/10 chance of getting the second pick, and they all got the second pick.

The Magic got the No. 1 pick, the Clippers got the No. 2 pick, the Bulls got the No. 3 pick, and the Bobcats got the No. 4 pick.

Since the Clippers got the second pick in the hell, they have been selling their draft pick. Since Brand and Kaman are already there, there is no suspense that the top two picks this year are Dwight- Howard and Emeka Okafor, the Clippers already have Elton Brand and Chris Kaman, and one is a first-class power forward with 20+10 in the NBA, and the other is an All-Star Potential Chris Kaman, the Clippers don't want to gamble on talent anymore, they might as well build a team around these two.

And some teams are very interested in this No. 2 pick. Howard's talent is attractive. Emeka Okafor has shown that he can become a first-class center in the NBA. Other teams offer the Clippers more than the Bobcats. Much richer.

However, the Clippers can only trade with the Bobcats. According to Liu Mang and Stockton's speculation, Jordan is definitely using it as a threat to the Clippers' selection. .

The Clippers have nothing but a lot of potential players. They have moved to Los Angeles for 20 years, and they have only made the playoffs twice. Including this season, they have not made the playoffs for 7 years. A bunch of high draft players.

Chris Kaman was the No. 6 pick last season, and he only ranked tenth in the Clippers in points per game. Even Bobby Simmons and Kenyon Dooling, who had the worst potential, were ahead of them. , They are all players who seem to be able to play in the NBA for seven, eight or ten years. You know, even if you choose a lottery pick, the average career length is only five or six seasons.

In order to avoid being targeted by Jordan, the Clippers had no choice but to agree to the deal. It was a surprise, and they also got a future draft pick. Baylor chose to endure it.

...

As soon as the Bobcats team was established, it became the first team to complete the transaction after the finals of this season, which ignited the trading market, and many teams that were not ready to be selected by the Bobcats began active trade negotiations .

After receiving interviews for more than four hours in a row in the afternoon, it was almost six o'clock, and the last announcement was finally over. Liu Mang could finally breathe a sigh of relief, and waited for tomorrow's championship parade to end, and then thanked guests behind closed doors!

After finally being free, Liu Mang took a look and wandered around in the arena. After winning the championship, the more he looked at it, the more pleasing it was, especially when he went to the stadium. The lifting lock with the championship flag hanging on it, Liu Mang thought that among the names around the edge of the championship flag, there will be his own... Will this group of Americans use their English names or the pinyin of their original names?

Liu Mang is very curious about this matter, but since they all use English letters, Liu Mang doesn't mind which one he uses, he is simply curious.

After strolling around for a while, Liu Mang found that the air conditioner in the meeting room was still on, and there were still people in meetings. He knew that the team management was also busy. They had to organize interviews and communicate with all parties about tomorrow's championship parade, and also prepared for the championship parade. Prepare for the sudden outbreak of the trading market...

Everyone was very tired, and Liu Mang didn't complain about anything.

After shopping around, Liu Mang was going to go back and have a good night's rest. It is estimated that after the championship parade, there will not be much rest time. Helping the team participate in large-scale trial training in various places is one of his jobs.

When Liu Mang came to the parking lot, he saw a man smoking in the trash can. Looking carefully, it was Rahim!

"Sharif, what are you doing here?" Liu Mang asked strangely. It seemed that Rahim's interview ended after three o'clock.

Seeing Liu Mang coming, Raheem threw the cigarette butts into the place where the cigarette butts were thrown in the trash can, and replied, "Ace, I'm waiting for you."

"wait for me?"

"Yes, let's find a place to chat for a while."

...

Find a place, it's actually the team's training ground... It just so happens that there's no one here, so it's quite appropriate.

Liu Mang took a ball, stood outside the corner and threw it out. Fortunately, he made a hollow hit. Liu Mang ran over to pick up the ball and continued to play. somewhere?"

Seeing Liu Mang shooting, Raheem hesitated for a while, and finally said, "Ace, I'm going to get out of the contract."

Rahim's six-year 70 million contract, the first five years have ended, and he will immediately enter the player option. Liu Mang knows about this. Hearing this, Liu Mang immediately responded: "Of course, Sharif, you can get a new one. Big contract, this year’s league income will definitely be higher than last year, it is estimated that you can get a starting salary of more than 15 million.”

Raheem has one year left in his player option contract, which is 14.5 million. The salary cap for this season has already reached more than 49 million. If the veteran clause is triggered, the maximum starting salary can reach 30% of the salary cap, that is, the starting salary is at least 14.8 million. If Liu Mang is replaced, he will also jump out of the contract.

Seeing that Liu Mang didn't understand what he meant, Raheem hesitated again, but said firmly: "No, Ace, I'm going to leave."

"Huh?!" Liu Mang lost the ball in his hand and fell to the floor, looking at Rahim in surprise, "Sharif, are you kidding, we just won the championship."

"It's because I won the championship, otherwise I wouldn't be able to make up my mind," Raheem said without looking at Liu Mang, looking up at the ceiling, "Ace, when I entered the NBA, I was about the same age as you. But time flies too fast, it has been eight years, and by December of this year, I will be 28 years old.

After I came to the Eagles, I didn't want to play anymore. If it wasn't for you, I might have lost my love for basketball.

Ace you probably can't figure it out, never been in the playoffs, before I met you, I was in the playoffs for five years and never made the playoffs once, not even in a season Having won more than 25 games, meeting you and winning a championship with you is the luckiest thing in my life.

However, it is precisely because of this that I want to give it a try. Can I still win by myself? I'm turning 28, I don't have much time to wait, I want to try it myself.

I really want us to continue to win the championship together, but I want to prove myself more, I think, I can definitely do it. "

Rahim had thought about these words for a long time in the two days after winning the championship, and when he said them all, the anxiety in his heart was released instead. No matter whether Liu Mang hated him or understood him, he accepted it.

When Liu Mang just heard that Raheem said he was going to leave, his whole body exploded. Crazy anger flooded into his mind, and he felt a feeling of being betrayed. However, after hearing what Raheem said behind him, Liu Mang fell silent. up.

After a while, Liu Mang took a deep breath, exhaled it all at once, and asked, "Have you decided?"

"Well, I'm ready. Next, I will let my agent notify the management that I will jump out of the contract, but I will let the team use me as a bargaining chip to sign and then trade." Rahim finally said He lowered his head and looked at Liu Mang. Although he was ready to accept Liu Mang's anger, he still wanted Liu Mang's approval.

"Sign first and then change?" This time it was Liu Mang's turn to be surprised.

"Yes." Raheem replied.

There must be something left for Liu Mang. Raheem knew that if he left directly, the team's salary space would no longer be directly signed due to the renewal of Jason Terry and the acquisition of Rasheed Wallace. There's room for a star who can make up for where he left off.

As Liu Mang's big brother, Rahim is not the kind of character who can be ruthless and just walk away.

Seeing that Rahim had made his future plans very clear, Liu Mang didn't try to persuade him.

If Rahim wants to leave after finishing last season, he still has a lot of initiative. After all, after finishing this season, he can jump out of the contract and become a completely free agent to leave.

If Rahim finished last season and saw his data decline, he immediately applied for a trade. When he was determined to leave, the Eagles could only choose to trade, but he did not leave, but stayed, sacrificing data, in order to help Liu Mang, helping the Eagles win the championship.

Last season, Raheem's scoring average was already a career low of 17 points, and this year it has become even lower. If he continues to play for a year or two, he may still maintain his scoring ability this year, and he will degenerate after two years.

Liu Mang looked at the guilt in Raheem's eyes, and suddenly felt that he was the one who should feel guilty the most. He helped Raheem find the confidence to become a superstar, but his own progress forced Raheem to sacrifice himself.

And now, when Rahim helps the team win the championship and completes the mission he gave himself, when he leaves, he still wants to leave something for Liu Mang.

Of course, Liu Mang feels guilty, but he won't blame himself, nor will he blame Raheem for deciding to leave. This is the NBA, isn't that what the salary cap rules are for.

Liu Mang went up and hugged Raheem...uh...while hugging him, Liu Mang realized...that he had made a mistake...Raheem was much taller than him, and he felt a little "throwing himself into his arms".

After hugging Liu Mang, he backed away immediately, and said to Rahim: "Sharif, I understand, no matter what, we are brothers, don't think so much, leave the future to the future, call Jason, we Go have a drink, don't think about these things, tomorrow, we will happily participate in the championship parade, this is the first championship for our three brothers!"