NBA backer king

Chapter 568 The Suns Lineup

At 9 a.m. on July [-]st, Phoenix, Colangelo Jr. met D'Antoni in his office.

"Mike, I haven't seen you for several years. It's great to see you again!"

"Brian, I want to be back in Phoenix."

After the two exchanged pleasantries, they immediately entered the topic.

"Mike, I want to know, how do you use old K?" Little Colangelo asked very cautiously.

D'Antoni nodded, and said confidently: "I have coached in Italy in the past few years, and I have learned a lot. In addition to fast-paced tactics, I also tried a lot, including positional warfare tactics, and strengthened the team's defensive system."

"That's good." Little Colangelo nodded.

D'Antoni sighed: "Leaving the Suns back then was a big blow to me, and I returned to the NBA from Italy with full confidence.

So after returning to Italy again, I decided to change myself. If the environment could not adapt to me, then I would adapt to the environment. "

Colangelo nodded approvingly, and said: "Mike, you are an NBA player, you should understand that in this league, stars, especially superstars, are important to a team.

Especially the old K, he is the No.1 in the history of the league, with 9 championships in 6 years, although we can't determine how much strength he has left, but for various reasons, after he comes back, everything in the Suns will revolve around him Operation, also includes you, and your tactics. "

D'Antoni said excitedly: "Bryan, if I become the head coach, I will definitely formulate tactics suitable for Old K."

"Well, Mike, you wait outside and have a cup of coffee." Little Colangelo said.

He needs to make the final consideration, whether to let D'Antoni become the team's head coach.

In fact, he has always admired D'Antoni, and the two had maintained a pretty good relationship before. If D'Antoni can really do what he said, he is still willing to let him become the head coach of the Suns. After all, he has no other better choices now.

However, he still needs to contact Old K. If Old K disagrees, it will definitely not work.

"OK."

D'Antoni left the office in a rather apprehensive mood.

Soon, Lao Wang received a call from Colangelo. It was after 9 pm in China, and he was watching TV with his wife.

"D'Antoni?"

He couldn't help but startled when he heard about the candidate for the head coach.

Colangelo Jr. introduced the current D'Antoni and said: "Old K, the league can't find a better player now, and Bird is unwilling to come. I even considered Jeff Van Gundy.

It is the assistant coach of the Knicks, the one with Pat Riley before, the one with less hair, you should have seen it.

But I think D'Antoni is better, we are more familiar with him. "

Pharaoh pondered for a while, Colangelo couldn't find a better one, and he had nothing to do. D'Antoni should be D'Antoni. If D'Antoni can really use him as the absolute core of his tactics and pay attention to defense, it's not impossible. At worst, he can change it later. At present, it can only be like this.

After he agreed, Colangelo Jr. said again: "Old K, how do you feel about Marbury?"

"Stick the ball. He won't pass the ball until the end." Pharaoh blurted out.

Colangelo Jr. was a little embarrassed. Marbury was brought in by him at a considerable price. He immediately said, "Okay then, I'm going to consider trading him."

After hanging up the phone, Colangelo invited D'Antoni in again, and said, "Michael, how about it, I'll give you a one-year contract. I hope you and old K can cooperate happily, otherwise..."

D'Antoni was ecstatic, and quickly assured: "Brian, don't worry, the team will use Old K as the absolute core of tactics."

"That's good."

Nodding his head, Colangelo Jr. said again: "You also said just now that we need to strengthen the construction of the defensive system, so among the members of the coaching staff, I hope to have an assistant coach who is good at defense.

Now the league allows zone defense, and pays more attention to the establishment of a defensive system. So, do you have this candidate yourself, or do you need the team to find it? "

"I just came back, there are no candidates, the team decides." D'Antoni said.

Colangelo Jr. nodded and said, "Jeff Van Gundy, who is currently working as a commentator on TNT, is a student of Pat Wright. He is good at defense. I think he is good. What do you think?"

"I also think it's good. The magic operator is good at iron and blood defense, and Van Gundy should be good." D'Antoni said.

"Okay, let me contact him."

Little Colangelo said this, and said: "I just talked with old K. He doesn't like Marbury very much. He thinks Marbury is too clingy. I plan to trade him. What do you think?"

D'Antoni quickly entered the state and began to think about it as a head coach. He said: "I am not familiar with Marbury. Since he sticks to the ball, it will definitely have a great impact on the old K. A trade is a must."

Little Colangelo is very pleased. From this sentence, it can be seen that D'Antoni has really changed.

Soon, the Suns announced that the team had signed the new head coach Mike D'Antoni.

On July [-]nd, Lao Wang's second sister and second brother-in-law returned home with good news that his second sister was pregnant.

A few days later, as if an appointment had been made, the news that Lao Wang's eldest sister was pregnant also came.

"Brother Fei, we have to work harder and try to give Zhou Zhou a younger brother and sister next year, what do you think?" Old Wang said excitedly.

"I don't think Zhou Zhou wants a younger brother or sister now. Last time I teased her, she said no." Fei Ge said.

"Zhou Zhou? Come." Lao Wang waved and shouted.

"Huh? Dad."

Zhou Zhou, who was beating the doll, ran over quickly, holding a doll in each of his two little hands, dragging his legs upside down on the floor.

Old Wang asked, "Will Mom and Dad give birth to a younger sister for you?"

Zhou Zhou raised the upside-down doll in his left hand and said, "This is my sister."

Old Wang twitched, and teased again: "Then give birth to a younger brother?"

Zhou Zhou raised the upside-down doll in his right hand and said, "Brother."

"This is a doll." Old Wang corrected.

Zhou Zhou shook his head, dragged the two dolls to the trash can next to him, threw the two dolls in, and shouted, "No more, this is not fun."

Lao Wang's face turned black, good brothers and sisters, no, they are good dolls, you throw them in the trash can?
"Brother Fei, you have to educate Zhou Zhou, she's taking too much effort from her siblings." He said to Feihong earnestly.

Brother Fei said helplessly: "She never liked dolls since she was a child, but dolls are the ones that gave her the most toys. What can I do?"

"Hurry up, put away all the dolls at home, don't get used to throwing them away, and you will really throw your younger brothers and sisters into the trash can in the future." Lao Wang urged.

"Pfft!"

Brother Fei burst out laughing for a moment, then looked at Old Wang, and asked with some doubts: "Honey, why do I think you're a little thinner now, have you lost weight?"

"Oh, I'm losing weight, reducing the load on my lower limbs. I've lost 5 kilograms, and now I'm 130 kilograms." Old Wang quickly explained.

"It's better to lose another 10 kilograms. You are still too heavy and tired!" Fei Ge said hastily.

"Why are you so tired on it?" Lao Wang teased.

Brother Fei blushed and glared at Lao Wang angrily.

……

In early July, Colangelo Jr. flew to the capital of China to visit Lao Wang.

The purpose of Colangelo's visit this time is, of course, to better understand Lao Wang's situation and prepare for the new season's lineup.

To be honest, he didn't have much confidence when he came, but after he came, what awaited him was ecstasy. He never imagined that the old K is in such a good condition now, and there is no trace of serious injury at all.

In terms of strength, although it is not as strong as before and its dominance is not as good as before, it still has the strength of an All-Star, and it is still in the recovery stage, and its strength should improve.

In addition, he is very supportive of old K's weight loss, because old K is getting older, and only weight loss can make his career longer.

Moreover, D'Antoni's coaching must have a large proportion of fast break tactics. Old K's current speed is completely capable of fast break.

However, D'Antoni also said that the old K has the ability to launch a fast break, so in the fast break tactics, the old K is more of a fast break initiator, and the consumption is not large.

Little Colangelo returned to the United States, found D'Antoni, and told the old K's situation, D'Antoni was almost excited.

"It's unbelievable. Old K can maintain a 29-meter speed of 11.7 seconds at the age of [-]. It's unbelievable!" He kept admiring.

"Yes, I can't see any signs of serious injuries at all."

Little Colangelo is still very excited when he thinks about it now, but he immediately reminded: "Michael, old K is almost 30 years old after all, so when you use him, you must pay attention to controlling the playing time, and pay attention to the fast break ratio."

D'Antoni nodded quickly and said, "Don't worry, Brian, Old K is my initiator of fast break tactics. He will replace many of the responsibilities of point guards, and he won't need to play fast breaks a lot of the time."

……

The time came to late July, on the 25th, the NBA announced that the freeze period was over and the trading market officially opened.

The first signing happened, and the Lakers signed David Robinson with a basic salary.

Admiral is 37 years old and in better condition than Ewing, but he is also at the end of his career and may retire at any time, so joining the Lakers with a basic salary must be to fight for a ring before retiring.

The second signing happened, and the Suns signed Patrick Ewing with a minimum salary.

The two super centers have achieved nothing for more than a dozen seasons, and now joining with a basic salary for the championship, one can't help but feel a kind of sadness, but no one is talking about gossip.

However, Ewing's joining the bad team Suns caused ridicule from the media, saying that when he went to the Suns, he could only embrace Old K's bad team.

Since Lao Wang left in 97, the Suns have been a bad team in the league for five years. They have no fighting spirit, and all the players they have trained fly away after finishing their rookie contracts.

The Suns originally played in the league's second-rate ball market in Lao Wang's era, but now they have fallen back to third-rate or even fourth-rate, and the ball market is seriously sluggish.

Although Wang Tiejun is back now, no one has confidence in his state at all. Even those Suns fans who want the Sun King to return are actually just a kind of sentimental, and they have no hope for the strength of Lao Wang after his comeback.

Many Suns fans only hope that Wang Tiejun can end his career with the Suns, so they just hope that he will come back.

At this time, Colangelo Jr. had already contacted the Mavericks, and he wanted to trade Marbury for Nash.

Nash moved from the Clippers to the Mavericks and became the main player of the Mavericks, but the Mavericks are now Dirk Nowitzki's team. The Germans play positional warfare, while Nash plays offense with speed and has a strong fast break ability.

In addition, Nash's contract is still two years away, and he will definitely need a big contract to renew it. Mavericks owner Cuban looks down on him and is unwilling to give him a big contract, so he needs to trade even more.

Now that D'Antoni is coaching the Suns, the fast break ratio must be very high, and now the old K has lost weight and speeded up. His 11.7-meter speed of [-] seconds can fully adapt to the fast break tactics. Trading Nash should be good.

The only pity is that Nash has no defensive talent, so in other positions, he must cooperate with a few defensive champions to help him fill in the gaps.

In the end, the Suns and the Mavericks reached a deal. The Suns paid Marbury, and the Mavericks paid Steve Nash, as well as the first-round pick protected by the top five in 03.

Both of them were players of the golden generation in 96. Nash is also playing good numbers now, but Marbury is an All-Star who has averaged 20+ per game for several consecutive seasons, and his value is higher, so the Mavericks paid a first-round pick.

The deal quickly made its way to Stern's desk, awaiting his approval.

He looked at it, basically one for one, it didn't matter too much, so he passed.

"I was traded?"

After Marbury was notified by his agent, he was very upset.

Since the Timberwolves were traded to the Nets, he was traded to the Suns because he didn't cooperate well with Yao in the Nets, and now he was traded to the Mavericks. He has become a wanderer that everyone despises. Why?
But that’s okay, the Mavericks are doing pretty well now. Dirk Nowitzki and Mike Finley are both All-Stars with an average of 20+ points per game. With him, the team has three All-Stars with 20+ points.

By the way, the Suns traded me, wouldn't it be what Old K meant?

Damn old K, you are disabled, and you are just waiting to die when you come back to the Suns. Why are you trading me?
He was very depressed, there was Yao first, then Old K, and he had to leave when he met a Chinese*. He wanted to go to that mysterious country before, but now he felt that he never wanted to go to China* in his life.

"Old K, I want you to look good in the future."

He secretly decided that when he meets the Suns in the new season, he must teach this crippled historical No.1 a lesson.

As for Nash, he is also a little depressed. After going to the Suns, the old K is useless, and his rhythm must be very slow. His speed advantage cannot be fully utilized.

"Ugh!"

Thinking that Kobe has won four championships and has become the core and leader of the Lakers. He has nothing to say, so he can't help but lament.

At this time, Colangelo Jr., who completed the transaction, was analyzing the Suns' lineup.

In addition to the old K, the team now has Marion, Nash, Anfernee Hardaway, Joe Johnson, and Stoudemire. These are a few main players and potential rookies. The lineup is far from enough. He must at least build a rotation of eight to nine players.

In addition, Old K is back. Although the boss said that he would not hesitate to invest in the championship and the luxury tax is not capped, as the general manager, he also needs to do his job well and try to achieve the best results with the least investment.

Moreover, a team that relies entirely on the investment of the owner is not sustainable. The operation of the team must be kept within a reasonable range, and then the owner will invest properly.

Therefore, some Hardaway with high salary and low ability, if he wants to trade away, the annual salary of more than 1000 million is not worthwhile at all.

He thought of taking advantage of the Knicks. Since Jordan retired last year and the Sharks went westward, the Knicks have fallen directly from the championship to a bad team. In order to find players, the Knicks have spared no effort.

He took a fancy to the madman. After getting the madman, he can let Joe Johnson play the third position, which should be good.

It's a pity that after contacting him, the Knicks actually rejected him, because the Knicks didn't like Hardaway's current strength, so he had to contact the second trading target, the Clippers.

The Clippers have an all-around player who can play five positions, that is Lamar Odom, with one year left on his rookie contract, and the Clippers owner Sterling wants to save money, so he is likely to choose to trade in advance.

Sure enough, after he contacted, the Clippers really wanted to trade Odom, but when they heard that Hardaway was the bargaining chip, they immediately refused. There was no other reason. Hardaway was too expensive to be worthwhile. Trading him might as well keep Odom in the future.

Little Colangelo knew he was in trouble, and Hardaway was about to lose his hands. He shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place, and he made the boss lose money again.

(End of this chapter)