The longest river

Chapter 245 Yang Shuai Returns to His Loyalty in Cleveland

When a team is competitive enough, it will draft rookies who are most in need of the type of talent.

However, when a team lacks sufficient competitiveness, the draft will inevitably tend to select players with better talent.

The Pistons don't have any outstanding talents besides Ben Wallace right now, so choosing Anthony was expected.

However, after seeing the Pistons' choice, Yang Shuai remembered something interesting his deskmate had mentioned.

The debate over whether LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony should be the 2003 Rookie of the Year has been a hot topic of contention between James fans and his detractors.

LeBron haters believe that Anthony should have been the one playing for the Western Conference team with a better record and similar stats.

LeBron James' fans, however, believe that the Nuggets' better record is due to having better teammates, and that James' average assists per game are more than double those of Carmelo Anthony, making his Rookie of the Year award well-deserved.

Now that both of them are in the East, things are getting interesting.

The Pistons fans in the arena were also cheering for the team's decision.

Just as Rondo said before, Anthony is undoubtedly the most impactful rookie in this draft class.

Moreover, what he did in the NCAA was the standard template for basketball novels, with the protagonist's halo.

The third pick belongs to the Denver Nuggets.

Their situation was somewhat awkward at this point, because even in a strong draft year, there would still be differences in the quality of the drafts.

James and Anthony are clearly a level above the others. Don't even mention Bosh and Wade. Without some kind of clairvoyance, these two are currently only projected to be around the top ten picks, especially Wade. As a shooting guard, he is relatively short and lost a meniscus in college, so he was only on the edge of the lottery in previous draft predictions.

During the Nuggets' five-minute deliberation period, the live broadcast camera focused on James' sideline interview.

“I’m so excited, so incredibly excited, not only to play for my hometown team, but more importantly, to play alongside Hansen. We all know he’s the GOAT, it’s crazy and so exciting.”

On camera, James expressed his desire to play on the same team as Yang Shuai.

It's clear that at this moment, he wasn't thinking about whether he would be willing to assist Yang Shuai. For him, who was still a rookie, the exposure and buzz of playing on the same team as Yang Shuai were more important.

Five minutes later, Stern stepped onto the stage again.

However, unexpectedly, Stern did not announce the Nuggets' draft results directly, but instead announced a trade.

The Heat traded Caron Butler and this year's 6th overall pick to the Nuggets for their 3rd overall pick and a future lottery-protected first-round pick!
The first rookie-related trade of this year's draft has occurred, and the shock factor of this trade is five stars!

Jimmy Butler was the Heat's 10th overall pick in last year's draft. He averaged 15.4 points per game, the highest among last year's rookies, and received the second-highest number of votes in the Rookie of the Year voting, only behind Amar'e Stoudemire.

To get the third pick, the Heat actually traded him away. Who was it for?

After announcing the trade, Stern then revealed the Heat's decision.

"The Miami Heat selected Dwyane Wade, a 1'93" shooting guard from Marquette University, with the third overall pick in the first round of the 2003 NBA draft.

The result caused an uproar at the draft, and even the Heat fans in attendance were completely bewildered.

Why did the Heat pay such a high price just to draft a rookie whose prospects were originally on the verge of being lottery picks?

Riley has gone mad?

Yang Shuai was quite surprised when he saw this.

This Riley looks like... he's opened?
Without having a divine eye, there's no way you could use the third pick to select Wade!

But then he thought about it again and it seemed he could understand.

Although he doesn't know much about what happened in the 2003 NBA Draft, based on the information he has, Wade was on the verge of being a lottery pick, but Riley did select Wade with the fifth pick in his history.

This means that Riley has a very high opinion of Wade himself.

From this perspective, it makes sense that they traded Butler to get Wade, since their positions overlap.

Moreover, the draft order has been disrupted, and if the Heat don't make any trades, they may not be able to select Wade with the sixth pick.

It can only be said that Wade, the best player in Heat history, was destined to end up in Riley's bowl.

Without Butler's ball-handling duties, Wade's stats with the Heat would inevitably be better than in history.

The competition for Rookie of the Year is about to get incredibly fierce.

The Raptors selected Bosh with the fourth pick.

The Dragon King has returned to his throne, just as Yang Shuai knew.

The Rockets ultimately selected Chris Kaman with the fifth pick, making him the first center to be selected in this draft.

Kaman has limited dynamic talent, but his static abilities are quite good. In his senior season, he averaged 22.4 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game, making him a player who entered the league after dominating the NCAA.

The Nuggets, who got the sixth pick, selected Darko Milicic with that pick.

So, in the end, the Denver Plateau welcomed a white center from Serbia 11 years ahead of schedule.

This also shows how unexpected the Pistons' decision to draft Milicic was in history, because even if they had to choose a power forward, Bosh would obviously have been a better choice.

However, "what would have happened if Milicic hadn't been drafted by the Pistons but instead gone to a team willing to develop him" is also a topic that fans love to discuss.

Yang Shuai, being a time traveler, could be the one who knows the answer.

Shortly after the draft, the free agent market opened.

With Yang Shuai heading to Cleveland, this year's free agency market has become particularly noteworthy.

Since Yang Shuai has one year left on his contract with the Trail Blazers, how he will join the Cavaliers and what personnel changes will be involved are of particular interest.

In addition, the contracts of Duncan, O'Neal, Mourning, Gary Payton, Karl Malone, and others also expire this summer, and their choices are also attracting attention.

In fact, before Yang Shuai's situation was settled, all these players had already completed their signings.

Duncan has signed a 7-year, $1.22 million contract extension with the Spurs. When Duncan returned to the Spurs before, he only signed a 3-year, $3260 million contract with a pay cut in order to keep David Robinson with the team. This time, however, he has signed a maximum contract extension.

Jermaine O'Neal also signed a 7-year, $1.2 million contract extension with the Lakers. Although the Lakers were eliminated in the conference semifinals last season, keeping O'Neal to maintain the team's competitiveness is their top priority.

These choices also reflect the impact of Yang Shuai's decision to join the Cavaliers.

The Trail Blazers are no longer a dominant force among these strong teams. As long as they are not weaker than before, it means they have a chance.

Immediately following was a bombshell report.

The Pacers announced that they have signed veterans Payton and Malone to veteran minimum contracts.

Although they are both older, they were both star players for their respective teams last season, making this combination unprecedented in terms of roster strength. The day after the news broke, the Pacers held a press conference for Payton and Malone, with Miller and O'Neal also in attendance.

The scene of the four of them together looks incredibly imposing.

"I came here at the end of my career in order to win a championship."

At the press conference, Payton explained the reasons for their joining the Pacers.

Their former teams offered them better contracts, but they didn't want to retire without a championship.

Malone cited Barkley as an example, noting that Barkley joined the Trail Blazers and won a championship at the end of his career, and that he believed Barkley could do the same in Indiana.

In an instant, the Pacers' "F4 combination" became a hot topic in the league.

It was at this time that the long-awaited news of Yang Shuai's departure for Cleveland was finally confirmed.

Yang Shuai did not opt ​​out of his final year of the $32 million contract, but instead chose to sign a five-year maximum contract extension with the Trail Blazers.

This maximum salary contract is the largest under the current collective bargaining agreement, with a starting salary of $1600 million and a total salary of $1.03 million, including a player option of $2475 million for the final year.

In addition, the contract includes a veto right to the deal.

After the signing was completed, the Trail Blazers, Cavaliers and Pistons reached a three-way trade agreement.

The Trail Blazers traded Yang Shuai, Reed, and Okur to receive Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace, and a $2500 million trade exception.

The Cavaliers traded Hamilton and used the trade exception to acquire Young.

The Pistons traded Ben Wallace for Reed and Okur.

This deal sparked intense controversy immediately after it was revealed.

The crux of the controversy is not the trade assets between the Cavaliers and the Trail Blazers, because Yang Shuai essentially joined the Cavaliers through a sign-and-trade deal, and the trade value cannot be viewed as a normal transaction. Acquiring Hamilton was merely a form of compensation.

Hamilton had also been clamoring to leave, and the Cavaliers essentially granted his wish.

The key was the Pistons' addition and their trade away of Ben Wallace!
Although the Pistons missed the playoffs last season, Ben Wallace won the Defensive Player of the Year award, placing him among the top ten players in the league.

Although Reed performed brilliantly in last season's Finals, his assets, along with Okur's, were clearly not enough to trade for Ben Wallace.

Or rather, it seems more like what Yang Shuai knows: the Mavericks, now renamed the Dallas Mavericks, traded Doncic for Anthony Davis and some other players.

But fans and media of this era have never seen such a thing before. In their view, the Pistons are doing charity work and being taken advantage of.

Furthermore, both Reed and Anthony are scorers, and their compatibility will be a major challenge. If there are compatibility issues, it will be difficult to make the playoffs.

But no matter what, the outcome is already decided.

The Cavaliers have acquired Young and James; the Trail Blazers have finally strengthened their much-needed center position and assembled a lineup of Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Rasheed Wallace, and Ben Wallace, with a $2500 million trade exception available; the Pistons have acquired two talented players, Reed and Anthony, both with bright futures.

The day after completing the signing and exchange, Yang Shuai and his group of four flew to Cleveland.

Yang Shuai was already studying the Cavaliers' roster on the plane.

Eight years have passed since he joined the Cavaliers for training when he was drafted.

None of the players from eight years ago are still here, not even the owner.

However, from the perspective of a time traveler, the Cavaliers' current roster is much better than he imagined.

Because at a glance, he saw three familiar figures.

The first one, naturally, is Zajunas Ilgauskas.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas averaged 17.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game last season, having the best season of his career and also being selected for the All-Star Game.

The second one is Ricky Davis.

Davis was a rookie in 1998. He was signed by the Cavaliers two years ago and spent two seasons with the team. Last season, he averaged 19.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game, second only to Hamilton in scoring.

For Yang Shuai, the thing he was most familiar with was the joke his deskmate shared with him with a mocking tone: "I thought he was assisting me."

Although he later learned that it was just another media gimmick to create a sensation, it still made him remember this versatile forward.

The last one is Carlos Boozer.

When playing against the Cavaliers last season, Yang Shuai didn't even notice that Boozer was on the Cavaliers.

This second-round pick by the Cavaliers last season should have only entered the starting lineup in the second half of the season.

In his rookie season, he averaged 10 points and 7.5 rebounds per game with a 53.6% field goal percentage, which is quite an outstanding performance for a second-round pick.

In addition, there is Darius Miles, who is known as "Little Garnett".

With this roster plus Hamilton who was traded to the Trail Blazers, it doesn't look bad. So how did they end up with the worst record in the league?

It can only be said that the impact of team turmoil on player performance cannot be ignored.

It's difficult for players to perform to their full potential when playing for a team with an uncertain future.

However, this also makes Yang Shuai's prospects with the Cavaliers more optimistic.

Although there are many young players in this lineup, he is still confident that he can lead this team to rise in a short period of time.

As the plane entered Cleveland airspace, the four people on board could hardly contain their excitement.

Their feelings at this moment can be summed up in one sentence: wanderers who have been away from home for many years have returned to their hometown.

Would anyone dislike a job that is easy, pays well, and is close to home?

Besides, who wouldn't want to return home in glory after becoming rich?
They even returned this time with the mission of saving their hometown team.

From any perspective, this is something to be excited about.

The plane landed at Johns Hopkins International Airport.

When they walked out of the terminal, they saw that the exit was already crowded with people.

The moment they appeared, a deafening cheer erupted from the crowd, and the various KT boards they held high were waved wildly.

"GOAT, welcome home!" "Cleveland welcomes their emperor!"

The moment Yang Shuai announced his return to Cleveland, Cleveland fans were already eagerly anticipating it, and now, they have finally welcomed Yang Shuai back!

(End of this chapter)