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Chapter 71, Section 69: My Manager, Lu Ziye (6th Update, Please Subscribe)

Yad glanced at him, puzzled. "I know about those two lousy contracts. That's why he has such a bad reputation... Oh, I get it. You're worried you won't perform well in the future, so you're planning to sign him to make a quick buck?"

Yi Shui almost fell off his chair. What's wrong with this guy's brain?
Robinson seemed to have thought of something, pondered for a moment, and said, "I remember the Knicks traded for Eddie Curry in 05, right? Marbury was in his prime then, and Crawford was their sixth man. Because their interior defense was too weak, they were on the verge of making the playoffs for several years in a row. Curry is good at offense, and James is good at defense. Adding this twin towers to their roster seemed like a good idea from a team-building perspective..."

Lewis might also be the best fit for Howard at power forward, as he can create space for Howard in the paint.

Look at this, they're all buddies, but the difference is so huge.
Yi Shui muttered to himself for a moment, then replied, "Yes, rather than saying that Bartelstein is good at deceiving teams to get contracts, it's more accurate to say that he's good at identifying the weaknesses of each team and can clearly judge what kind of players each team urgently needs."

Look at this guy, White Chocolate. In 2005, he rejected the Grizzlies' three-year mid-level exception and joined the Heat in a three-year, $26 million sign-and-trade deal.

Pat Riley was criticized for making the trade back then. Nobody noticed that White Chocolate had become a solid guard in both defense and passing with the Grizzlies. But Bartelstein brought him to the Heat, a team that suited him, and secured him a bigger contract. He later became a key player in the Heat's championship run. He got the money he wanted and the championship he wanted, achieving both goals.

Bartelstein always manages to send the right players to the right teams, but the players he recommends are like a cat in a box—you never know if it's a treasure or trash until you open it.

After listening, Yad thought for a moment and said, "Isn't this still a scam? They mix genuine and fake goods together and sell fakes at high prices when people are in dire need of them."

Yi Shui: "Uh... you're not wrong to say that."

Robinson found it both funny and pitiful to see Yi Shui get the short end of the stick... He also felt a little sorry for himself, as he often faced similar situations.

He analyzed Yi Shui's words and said, "Brook, do you mean you value his ability to help players choose teams?"

“That’s right. I hope my agent has that kind of vision and can get the best contract from the team that suits me. And if he uses that ability well, he might be able to bring in some help... But I also have to be careful that he doesn’t try to smuggle in bad contracts.”

"That's certainly a good idea... but if you sign him, won't your reputation suffer?"

"An agent with a bad reputation but strong abilities is always better than an agent with a good reputation but no abilities."

"Could you handle a broker like this?"

"I don't know, but I think if I can't handle it, I can just fire him. He's just a work partner."

"That's true... then let's go with him?"

“No rush. Let’s meet Paul, Pelinka, Schwartz, Feigen… and Duffy first. What if Bartelstein doesn’t like them? It’s always good to talk to them more…”

Yi Shui was indeed very interested in Bartelstein. He had heard about this agent in the future, who had made two amazing moves: helping Noah, who had been ruined by Thibodeau, get a 4-year, $7200 million contract from the Knicks, and making a 'god-like' move to help Bradley Beal get a 5-year, $2.5 million contract from the Wizards.

The fact that he can still help players secure such extravagant contracts more than a decade later also demonstrates the trust that team management has in Bartelstein's 'vision', despite their criticisms of him.

Moreover, despite the poor reputation of Bartelstein among team management and fans, the news that Yi Shui will see in the future shows that Bartelstein's players are full of praise for him.

Although Bartelstein's primary goal was to earn a cut for himself, the more he took, the bigger the contracts he received for the players! Who would turn down money?

...

Over the next few days, Yi Shui, Jerry Cook, Robinson, and Yad arrived in New York and met with the agents on their pre-arranged list.

I invited my two best friends along because they'll be juniors and seniors in college soon. Yad will only consider going pro after he finishes college, while Robinson might enter the draft early if he gets a big stat boost next season. It's good to get to know him early to avoid being scammed later.

Since he has no one to help him scout ahead, it's fine for him to scout ahead for his buddy.

He met with more than 10 agents, but Yi Shui refused some of them after the meeting.

For example, Bill Duffy. Yi Shui was only going through the motions to meet him, but the other party immediately said that he would make him a player as successful as Yao Ming. After hearing this, Yi Shui completely lost interest in him, but he still patiently finished the conversation before expressing his refusal.

I'll definitely have to get to know Yao Ming in the future, but I shouldn't let things get too bad over with him unless absolutely necessary.

But some people really impressed Yi Shui with their interpersonal skills and business acumen, such as Rich Paul, whom he initially rejected.

To become LeBron James' close partner, this agent, jokingly referred to as "clinging to James' coattails early," is exceptionally capable and has a very proper attitude. He is one of the most well-prepared agents for the meeting, having even drafted his career plan and business plan. The renowned Schwartz also left a deep impression on Yi Shui, particularly regarding his "draft planning," with a complete package of strategies... reminding Yi Shui of Schwartz's future breakthrough—making Bennett the number one draft pick.

However, after meeting with all the agents, Yi Shui first ruled out Schwartz from the list of candidates. Schwartz had already earned his draft stock through his own abilities, so the "packaging plan" wouldn't be very meaningful for him. Moreover, it seemed that the agent's attention was focused on that, and the career planning he made was rather hasty.

After the selection process, the situation became a classic three-choice option.

Rich Paul, who co-founded a brokerage firm with LeBron James; Feigen, Yi Jianlian's agent; and Bartelstein, Lewis' agent.

Bartelstein had also made very thorough preparations for the meeting, but when the meeting started, he did not talk about his various ideas like other agents. Instead, he first asked about Bartelstein's thoughts, whether he had any preferred teams, any requirements for the city, and also touched on topics such as 'race' that were not suitable to be discussed openly.

The moment Yi Shui met this agent, he knew why this guy had been able to 'deceive the NBA management for decades'. His appearance was the most outstanding among the agents he met, and combined with his way of speaking, he was just like... those 'speakers' in Silicon Valley?
Even Robinson and Yad, who clearly had a prejudice against Bartelstein, changed their opinion of him after a few words with him.

However, Yi Shui and Jerry Cook were not easily intimidated by the other party's image and temperament, and had a second meeting with the three candidates.

After in-depth discussions on career planning and business development plans, Yi Shui ultimately declined offers from Paul Fagan and chose his original target – Bartelstein.

Yi Shui made this decision after careful consideration. One point that both he and Jerry Cook were very satisfied with was that Bartelstein was not as greedy as the other two when it came to taking a cut of the endorsement fees, or rather, he was smarter.

Those two were unwilling to budge on the 20% commission on endorsement fees, because Yao Ming and Yi Jianlian both had the standard percentage.

Bartelstein's initial commission rate was also the standard rate, but the contract stipulated that the commission rate would be adjusted in real time based on the total endorsement fee. The higher the total endorsement fee, the lower the commission rate, and the starting point was very 'low'.

...

On April 22, 2008, Bartelstein announced through his agency that he had signed with Yi Shui and that Yi Shui's draft information had been officially submitted to the NBA.

Yi Shui's name once again appeared in the headlines of major sports media outlets, sparking heated discussions.

Yi Shui signed an agent too late compared to other popular contestants in the draft.

Before March 3rd was even over, Mayo, Beasley, and Rose had already signed agents and announced their candidacy.

Just two days after the March Madness Finals, Love and Westbrook also announced that they had signed agents to run for the NBA draft.

These individuals have already undergone one or two rounds of promotional activities for the draft.

On the night the NCAA finals ended, there were press releases criticizing Westbrook and praising Rose.

If Yi Shui hadn't previously stated that he was "decided to bring his talent to the NBA," people would have thought he would continue to stay in college.

Yi Shui officially announced his candidacy, and the eagerly awaiting sponsors began to take action. Along with this came... a deluge of negative information about him being reported by major media outlets.

As for Yi Shui himself, after signing a contract with Bartelstein on the 20th and having detailed discussions, he returned to the University of Concordia University gymnasium and resumed training with Clark's help. He has been resting for half a month and his body is almost rusty.

The draft lottery is in mid-May, and workouts can start as early as late May. We need to start preparing, such as getting used to the NBA three-point line distance.

Clark arranged a separate training facility for Yi Shui at the University of Cornell Gymnasium, modifying the court to NBA standards, and trainers and nutritionists worked overtime to serve him.

Cornell University had no objection to this, with only one request—not to drop out, but to continue his studies. They would help him find someone to write a recommendation letter for graduate school, just like Okafor did back then, and Duncan received similar treatment at Wake Forest University.

After practicing for only two or three days, he saw all sorts of reports attacking him, clearly indicating that someone had bought smear articles against him.

He called Bartelstein to inquire about it.

"We are handling it. You can focus on training and prepare for the trial."

Then, at noon the next day, when Yi Shui was browsing the news, he saw that major websites were filled with all kinds of negative news!
Rose swapped girlfriends with his teammates after being eliminated from the Final Four; Beasley is suspected of using banned substances; Mayo wore excessively high insoles while playing, posing a risk of injury; Love secretly cried after a loss, resembling Adam Morrison…

Yi Shui: My agent looks decent enough, but I never expected him to be so ruthless!
(End of this chapter)