Pick Westbrook

Chapter 438 Leonard must be kept

Li Lai looked at Uncle Ka who came uninvited with a smile on his face, his mind was full of unexpected emotions.

If he hadn't run in front of him, Li Lai would have almost forgotten to meet Leonard's request and introduce his uncle to the team's training group.

Of course, Li Lai didn't like Uncle Ka's half-baked training level at all, and the opponent's duty in the team was only to train with Leonard.

The Pelicans are equivalent to raising an idler.

Seeing that Li Lai nodded and knew his existence, Uncle Ka was very satisfied and continued: "I know that the team has always cooperated with the Chinese basketball team. Every off-season, the team will send players to China to open a half-month training camp. .”

"I was thinking, should Leonard go this year?"

"You know, his current level of mid-range singles is outstanding, and even Jordan and Kobe have praised him in public many times."

"His going will definitely drive the Chinese basketball team and the fans there crazy."

"Leonard is a superstar all over the world."

Li Lai looked at Uncle Ka who was full of enthusiasm, and probably guessed what the other party wanted to do.

Leonard won the FMVP last season, and successfully won the DPOY this season, and he has indeed squeezed into the ranks of the league's super giants.

If he can still win a regular season MVP, it will almost be a surefire league superstar, worthy of such a title both in terms of honor and statistics.

Leonard's singles are as beautiful as Kobe, and he does have many fans all over the world.

Coupled with the two consecutive championships of the Pelicans, the market value has reached the fifth place in the NBA, and it is well-known all over the world. Leonard's reputation has already exploded due to the superposition of the two.

Therefore, Uncle Card wants to cash in on Leonard's fame.

And China is a very large sponsorship market. If we can build a good relationship with the Chinese basketball team and Chinese fans this time, we will inevitably get a lot of sponsorship contracts.

Li doesn't want to tell the truth, and he doesn't think it is a bad thing for players to develop their own commercial value. On the contrary, he is very willing to help the opponent improve their commercial value.

"No problem, I will say hello to the basket, and someone will contact you later."

"Hope you guys have fun in China."

Hearing this, Uncle Ka rubbed his hands happily, with a happy smile on his mouth, then leaned forward and turned his head away, and said in a low voice.

"Coach, look, the Pelicans have won two consecutive championships, and I've been on this team for three years."

"I have always been diligent and caring about the training of the players in the team. Jimmy Butler and Anthony Davis have all improved significantly under my training."

"I was thinking, I can't just help these few players, I have to help all the players on the entire team improve, which can make the Pelicans stronger."

"And I still have a lot of skills in this body, such as drafts, trades, and team economics. In fact, I am very good at these."

"In the past three years, I have worked hard and worked hard, and I feel that I am ready to meet greater challenges."

Li Lai raised his eyebrows and looked at the confused and confident Uncle Ka in front of him, and said directly: "So, you want to be promoted?"

Uncle Ka quickly stood up from his seat and waved his hands, saying, "It's not too big of a position. I know I still need to hone my skills, so any commercial general manager, marketing manager, sales manager or administrative manager will do."

Oh, you really dare to think!
Li Lai would like to say that every position in his team is carefully selected, and everyone can shine in their respective positions and make contributions.

In fact, in the entire Pelicans team, except for Uncle Ka, who is an idler, no one is doing nothing.

He's fine now, he's taking the initiative to ask for a position, and he doesn't ask for more, he just asks for the positions of the boss and manager of various departments.

Li Lai said angrily: "I will pass this matter on to General Manager Hammond. He will coordinate all personnel appointments and also evaluate your ability."

Uncle Ka smiled and said, "Actually, I've already approached Hammond before that. That big fat man didn't have any sense of fun. He even said that I have no talent for management at all, and I don't know anything about the operation of a team."

"I want to laugh when I hear this!"

"Don't know anything? Can a person who knows nothing train Kawhi Leonard into a superstar in the league and make him believe in me, the only family member?"

"Which player is the most important in the Pelicans? It's not Chris Paul, it's not Anthony Davis, it's Leonard!"

"Coach, I think you should make sure that Leonard is the leader of the Pelicans and give him unlimited firepower next season."

"I think the current team's style of play is simply nonsense. What more offense is needed? Just let Leonard loose the ball. He will lead the team to win the championship, and it will be easier."

"Stevens and Du Feng are both idiots. It's been so long that they haven't discovered how good Leonard is. He is a better player than James. Jordan will have to call him the god of basketball in the future."

Hearing this, Li Lai's face was already very ugly. Uncle Ka not only gave pointers to the management of the Pelicans, but even commented on the tactics and coaching staff of the Pelicans.

Stevens and Du Feng are the coaches he brought out!

Li Lai looked at the other party with an expressionless face and said, "Does Leonard know about this?"

Uncle Ka was startled, and after a while he realized that what Li was talking about was the previous question. He nodded directly and said, "Of course, Leonard also very much hopes that I can join the team's management or coaching staff."

"I'm his uncle."

"And next season will be Leonard's fourth season, and he will face the issue of contract extension."

Speaking of this, Uncle Ka looked at Li with a warning look and said: "The first thing I did after I became the team's management was to negotiate Leonard's contract extension as soon as possible. There is an option to jump out of the original contract in the off-season”

Uncle Ka wanted to continue talking, for example, after Paul jumped out of the original contract, he gave Leonard the five-year contract extension of the only designated player in the team, but was interrupted by Li Lai directly raising his hand.

"First thing! I accepted your request to enter the team's management, and the answer is NO."

"The second thing! I will send Jimmy Butler to the training camp in China."

"The third thing! You were fired by the Pelicans, and you will no longer be the team's trainer."

"The fourth thing! Let me tell you in advance, even if Paul announces to step out of the contract, the designated player contract is still his."

Li Lai's sudden change of attitude directly made Uncle Ka's face darken. He nodded and asked, "Do you know what the consequences of your actions will be?"

Li Lai said: "It's nothing more than making Leonard refuse to sign the contract."

"I will talk to Leonard personally about this matter, but the four things just now will not change."

Seeing that Li Lai's attitude was so tough, Uncle Ka patted the table angrily and said, "You will regret it, Li Lai!"

"When the time comes, you will bring a big house and come to me to sign a contract."

boom!
The door was slammed shut, revealing Hammond, who had been standing outside the house eavesdropping.

With his hands on his hips, he looked proudly at Uncle Ka who rushed away angrily, and then walked in with a satisfied face and said.

"That's the fucking way to treat him!"

"You don't know, this Diao Mao's attitude is even more arrogant when he talks to me."

Li Lai waved his hands with some headaches. The championship parade has just ended and the off-season has just begun. It is indeed a bit difficult to face such a bunch of problems.

"Don't eavesdrop outside next time."

Hammond smiled and said, "I'm just worried about your safety. I heard that Uncle Ka played basketball before, and he's very strong."

"We are best friends, brothers and sisters, and we fought the robbery together. I used my strength to study the Dainichi Tathagata Sutra."

Li Lai quickly changed the subject and said, "How are things going in the draft market?"

Speaking of this, Hammond's excitement immediately subsided, and he shook his head and said: "Those teams heard that we were going to trade draft picks, and they were all very nervous."

"Since the incident with Antetokounmpo last season, the management of those teams will not give us the draft right now."

"Our Pelicans have also won the reputation of the Whampoa Military Academy."

The Pelicans have already traded this year's draft picks, and neither the first round nor the second round have retained one, and it just so happens that this year is a big year in the draft market.

Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine, Julius Randle, Aaron Gordon, Jordan Clarkson, Spencer Dean Woody, Jerami Grant, Joe Harris.
There are too many players that Li can look up to.

He frowned and said, "Even if you buy a second-round pick with cash?"

Hammond shook his head and said: "This year is recognized as a big draft year. Most people in the industry believe that there should be a lot of All-Star players."

"And there is Andrew Wiggins, the so-called once-in-10-year genius player, so the trading market is extremely hot, and everyone is holding their first-round picks tightly."

"Unless we trade players, they will never give away their draft picks easily."

Hearing this, Li Lai felt a chill in his heart. He couldn't bear to part with any of these players in the Pelicans.

6 month 26 day.

The draft is over.

This is the first time that Li Lai has made no achievements in the draft.

The Cavaliers selected Andrew Wiggins with the No. [-] pick.

This team is really lucky. They only sold Li Lai the No. [-] pick last season, and they can still get it this season.

June 6th is the last day to implement the team option, team option and early termination contract option in addition to the first-round pick standard contract.

On June 6th, the last day of early contract renewal and quotation, the last season calculated according to the salary cap was officially declared over.

On July 7st, the new season officially started.

Adam Silver announced that the salary cap for the upcoming NBA 2014-15 season is $7500 million, and the luxury tax threshold is $9000 million.

The salary cap for the new season has exploded by 8% compared with last year, and the luxury tax threshold has also increased by 7.5%.

The minimum salary for the team next season is 6750 million, which is 90% of the salary cap.

The new salary cap and luxury tax threshold will take effect on July 7, when players can formally sign with the team.

7 month 10 day.

Chris Paul announced that he had jumped out of the original contract.

In fact, as the chairman of the players union, he has always known that this season will have a substantial salary increase due to the NBA's sponsorship contract, so he signed this year's contract that year.

Li Lai also knew.

Paul can sign a super contract with a 30% maximum salary with the team, increasing by 8% every year, which is a super maximum salary of 5 million in 1.4 years.

On July 7, the Pelicans announced that they had reached such a contract with Chris Paul, and presented this contract to the 11-year-old player who is about to become a veteran.

7 month 12 day.

Jimmy Butler, who held a training camp far away in China, said with a smile at a press conference: "I have completed an early contract extension with the team."

"A four-year 4 million maximum salary contract, this is my first big contract, and the coach has sent me congratulations in advance."

"Thanks to the coach, this contract means a lot to me and my family."

7 month 13 day.

DeAndre Jordan also announced that he had jumped out of the contract, but Li Lai had already discussed with the other party in advance, because Jordan joined the Pelicans as a free agent back then, and the Bird clause was not traded to the Pelicans with his home team. Therefore, Li Lai can't renew his contract on the cap, and can only give him a middle-class contract at most.

But last season, Jordan was a player in the league's second defensive lineup, and his ability to protect the inside frame is top-notch. He may not be worthy of a maximum salary contract, but he still has the ability to get a big contract.

And the Pelicans can't do anything about it.

The Clippers immediately negotiated with the opponent after learning that Jordan had jumped out of the contract. In the playoffs that just ended, they were dealt with by Anthony Davis.

The Clippers also need inside players to help Griffin protect the frame and defend.

On July 7, DeAndre Jordan and the Clippers reached a contract extension of 14 million in 4 years.

On July 7, Li Lai took the initiative to come to Leonard's home in New Orleans, because the other party was a taciturn person, as long as he was not at the training ground, he would definitely be at home.

Jimmy Butler, Anthony Davis and Chris Paul followed Li Lai to Leonard's gate.

Because of Jordan's departure, the strength of the Pelicans has declined significantly. Everyone knows that the Pelicans must keep Leonard if they want to realize their dream of a three-peat championship team.

(End of this chapter)