The longest river

Chapter 47: The NBA season was suspended right after I entered the league?
After the first round of the draft, Yang Shuai and the 23rd pick, Travis Best, met with the Pacers' draft team in the stands.

Best is from Massachusetts and is a 1'8" point guard.

After trading away Jackson, the Pacers will definitely need to strengthen their point guard position.

The Pacers' draft team was led by Walsh, and to Yang Shuai's surprise, Bird was also there.

"Hansen, you really have to thank Larry. It was his strong recommendation that made us decide to choose you." Walsh was also quick to speak, and directly told Yang Shuai the inside story.

What he didn't say was that the general managers of other teams were now mocking them mercilessly in their inner circles because of their choice.

Yang Shuai was quite surprised, since he had no other interaction with Bird except for that previous tryout. However, he still politely reached out to Bird to express his gratitude.

Bird didn't explain anything, but he did say some encouraging words to Yang Shuai.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Walsh also introduced Yang Shuai and Best to their upcoming itinerary.

They have to fly to Indiana on the 30th to report for duty and then join the team to prepare for the Summer League.

Summer leagues weren't as formal back then. The most influential one, the Southern California Summer League, existed as early as 1969, but it wasn't an official NBA summer league; it only invited NBA teams to participate.

However, its nature is very similar to the summer league of the era before Yang Shuai traveled back in time, with the participating players mainly being undrafted players, rookies, and some free agents.

The Pacers are also expected to participate in this Summer League this year.

Yang Shuai is full of expectations for the Summer League.

After his previous draft tryouts, he knew that he was behind college players in terms of physical fitness and technical skills, and that gap would only be more pronounced when compared to NBA players. He knew that he had to improve in real games to do so.

Furthermore, the Summer League is also a great platform to earn points.

Having anticipated the fierce competition he would face with a championship contender like the Pacers, he must quickly improve himself this summer. Otherwise, he will fall into a vicious cycle if he doesn't get playing time and earn points after the season starts.

Yang Shuai had just finished a meeting with the Pacers' management when Fisher took him to a small room.

There, Yang Shuai met Paul Felman again.

Although he had already attended all the Reebok events, he was unaware that Fairman was also present today.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Fairman made a request to Yang Shuai: he hoped that Yang Shuai would not report to the Pacers.

Yang Shuai was stunned, and then he turned to look at Ferrescher.

Fisher looked somewhat shocked; Fellman had clearly not told him about this before.

“We will then arrange for you to move to Cleveland, or another major city.”

Fellman's words were very practical, and of course very business-like, because that would maximize Yang Shuai's commercial value, which would be most beneficial for Reebok.

Yang Shuai turned to look at Ferreira again, wanting to hear his agent's thoughts first.

“I don’t think that’s a good option,” Ferrescher shook his head.
"The Pacers traded away their star player for Hansen, which shows how much they value him. If the deal falls through, it will put Hansen in a difficult position with the Pacers."

Fellman was considering Reebok's interests, but Fisher was standing from Yang Shuai's perspective.

Of course, this decision ultimately rests with Yang Shuai himself.

"I'm going to the Pacers," Yang Shuai said after thinking for a long time.

He thought of Yi Jianlian.

After Yi Jianlian was drafted by the Bucks, his agent, Dan Fegan, pressured the Bucks management to trade him to a big city, but the attempt ultimately failed.

That put Yi Jianlian in a media storm from the start, and also made the Bucks' management impatient with him, so they traded him after he played for one season.

After that, Yi Jianlian played for several teams and faded out of the NBA after only one year of playing out his rookie contract.

If it weren't for Feigen's questionable actions, Yi Jianlian would have received stable development with the Bucks. With his talent, even if he didn't become an All-Star, he certainly wouldn't have ended up like that.

Moreover, Yang Shuai's current draft position is considered "overvalued," with low trade value, making it very difficult to manipulate the market.

Hearing Yang Shuai's decision, Fellman was slightly disappointed, but he still respected Yang Shuai's decision.

That evening, Yang Shuai and the people who came with him went to Toronto's best nightclub and booked a private room for a party to celebrate.

Yang Shuai's entry into the NBA is not just about him crossing social classes; those around him will also benefit, which is naturally something to celebrate.

The party atmosphere was lively, the only downside was that you couldn't drink alcohol on this kind of occasion, you could only sing, dance and rap.

More than an hour later, Yang Shuai came out of the private room to get some fresh air. Unexpectedly, when he walked into the lobby, he looked up and saw Garnett.

Garnett was also taken aback when he saw him, then the two of them burst into laughter and hugged each other.

The fact that their celebration parties could all coincide shows how well they coordinate.

The two found a quiet corner, ordered some drinks, and sat down to chat.

They were all high school students who entered the league in the same year, and all were high draft picks. They had so much to talk about just from their experiences in the draft over the past two days.

"You should be able to get a good night's sleep tonight." Seeing Garnett's eyes, which were even more bloodshot than before, Yang Shuai knew he must have slept poorly again last night. "Hansen, you know what? We might not be able to play in the Summer League this year." However, Garnett's slightly worried words after his bitter smile startled Yang Shuai.

"Why?!" He had just learned about the Summer League arrangements from Walsh.

“My agent told me that the league is likely to be shut down this summer,” Garnett said in a low voice.

"Shut down?" Yang Shuai looked surprised.

He had heard of the term before, but he didn't know the specifics.

While drinking his beverage, Garnett shared what he had heard from his agent with Yang Shuai.

The NBA is currently going through a difficult period, with many small-market teams operating at a loss, and owners hoping to reduce spending to cut losses.

This is the broader context of the lockout, while the trigger was rookie contracts.

Unlike what Yang Shuai knew in his previous life, many of the current league's terms are incomplete, and there are no provisions on the amount and duration of rookie contracts.

This situation makes it easy for rookies to ask for exorbitant amounts during contract negotiations.

The most famous of them all is Larry Johnson, the number one draft pick in 1991.

After being drafted by the Hornets, Johnson immediately demanded a massive 12-year, $1.2 million contract from the team.

This was an astronomical contract at the time. Keep in mind that Jordan's annual salary was $400 million that year, and Bird's was only a little over $300 million.

This demand even brought Hornets owner George Shinn, whose company wasn't financially well-off, to tears. With the league's intervention, Johnson eventually signed a 12-year, $8400 million contract with the Hornets in 1993.

Then there's last year's number one draft pick, Glenn Robinson. Before even entering the league, he declared he wanted to become a "billionaire," and after being drafted, he directly asked the Bucks for a 12-year, $1 million contract.

The Bucks' financial situation is even worse than the Hornets', with a team value of only $80 million. This time, the Bucks' owner, Herb Cole, who is over 60 years old, was forced to suffer from insomnia and even almost died from accidentally overdosing on sleeping pills.

Ultimately, Robinson successfully secured a 10-year, $6800 million contract from the Bucks.

These news reports may make it seem like the rookies are greedy, but "people die for money, birds die for food," and there's nothing wrong with players pursuing maximum profit.

The problem still lies in the terms of the labor agreement.

Free agent contracts are determined by market conditions, but there is no market competition for rookie contracts.

First, rookie contracts are signed after the draft; second, from the time a rookie is selected until the contract is signed, he no longer has the trade value of a draft pick.

This leaves teams with two options: either accept the rookie's contract offer or negotiate with them, or simply give up on the rookie.

Either way, it would be a huge loss for the team.

This is essentially a bug, which is why the league and owners have been advocating for a hard salary cap and regulations on the length and salary of rookie contracts.

But doing so would obviously harm the interests of the players, especially the rookies.

Take Robinson as an example. He previously signed a 10-year, $6800 million contract, but according to the league's new terms, he can probably only sign a 3-year, $840 million contract.

This is a world of difference.

According to Garnett's agent, the conflict had reached an irreconcilable point after Robinson's contract, and ultimately the two sides chose to temporarily compromise and delay in order to allow the season to proceed normally.

However, unresolved issues remain, and with the old labor agreement expiring this summer, a shutdown is almost inevitable.

After listening to what Garnett said, Yang Shuai couldn't help but frown.

If he really can't play in the Summer League, then all his previous plans will have gone down the drain.

But upon further reflection, he felt relieved.

Just like when they were waiting for the draft, these things are beyond the control of these rookies.

“We could lose tens of millions of dollars as a result.” Garnett still looked worried after saying this. If the new terms were implemented, they would be the first to suffer.

"Kevin, do you know why you can't sleep?" Yang Shuai couldn't help but ask at this moment.
"It's because you're overthinking it. In reality, whether you think about it or not, it won't affect the final outcome."

Garnett paused for a moment upon hearing this, then burst into laughter.

Yang Shuai's words are not without merit.

"Vehicles will find the road when they reach the foot of the mountain, and boats will naturally flow across when they reach the bridge," Yang Shuai said, quoting a profound Chinese proverb.

"If there really isn't a Summer League to play in, you can come with me to Philadelphia to play in the Sonny Hill League."

And in just that short time, he already had a new plan.

Garnett nodded; that was indeed the only option.

However, a thought also began to grow in his mind: if this rookie contract really would cost him tens of millions of dollars, then he would make sure to get double the amount back in the next contract negotiation.

(End of this chapter)