The glory of the basketball gods

Chapter 278 The 2012-13 Season Arms Race ([-] Chapters, Two Updates)
"Going to Montenegro?" Yuan Man asked in surprise, "Why are you going there?"

Montenegro belongs to the former Yugoslavia region, and the basketball level there is good, but if you go there for vacation during the offseason, Yuan Man doesn't really want to go there.

"There is a player who needs us to go over and talk."

"which one?"

As the boss of the team, Yuan Man has not had time to pay attention to the signings for the new season.

"A very good player, I believe it can be a very beneficial puzzle piece for our team." Byron Scott said with a smile.

After finishing speaking, Scott smiled at the team owner Gilbert, who also grinned and said to Yuan Man with a smile: "I have watched the video of this guy's game, and it is true that the team's new season is very good. Replenish."

Seeing Yuan Man's worried look, Scott finally solved the mystery.

"Nicola Mirotic, a player from Montenegro, is currently playing for Real Madrid in Spain as a power forward."

Although the Cavaliers won the championship this season, the team's power forward position has not been stable. The starter at this position last season was the former All-Star player Antawn Jamison.

As the captain of the team, Jamison's training and performance in the team is nothing to say, he is very dedicated and professional, but he is only 2.03 meters tall to play power forward, his body is not particularly strong, and he is very easy to become The opponent's main attack loophole.

On the way to the playoffs, the Cavaliers did not suffer from being blown up by the opponent at the power forward position. If it weren't for center Hassan Whiteside's strong inside defense skills, I am afraid that the Cavaliers' inside line would be overwhelmed by all playoff players. The opponent blows up.

As a coach, it is impossible not to pay attention to this point. Even if they win the championship, before the start of the new season, the team needs to focus on strengthening the inside.

So last season, the signing rights to Nikola Mirotic acquired through the Raymond Sessions deal, Scott hopes to be able to use it before the start of the new season, so that Mirotic Come to join, consolidate the inside of the Cavaliers, so that the Cavaliers can challenge the goal of defending the title in the new season.

On the plane, Yuan Man checked the information of the Cavaliers scouts on Mirotic after the investigation. The information is very thick. It can be seen that the Cavaliers have been investigating this European player for a long time, and this trip to persuade the opponent is enough. It can be seen that Scott attaches great importance to Mirotic.

Mirotic, with a height of 2.08 meters, mainly plays the power forward position. He has a good mid-range shooting ability, strong confrontation ability, and high golf quotient.In the 2010-11 season, he won the "European League Best Rising Star Award". In the 2011-12 season, he averaged 24.9 minutes per game, scored 11.4 points and 5.3 rebounds, and was elected as the MVP of the Spanish League. A young talent in Europe.

According to the conversation with Scott, Yuan Man knows that after winning the MVP of the Spanish league last season, Mirotic has already started to set his sights on the NBA, but he has not yet made up his mind.

When he arrived in Montenegro, Yuan Man met the target of this trip. To be honest, the other party was much younger than the guy in his impression. He didn't have a beard like a traditional European, and Mirotic looked more like a shy guy. big boy.

"You look younger than your actual age." Yuan Man smiled and shook hands with the other party.

"I'm actually planning to grow a beard, hahaha."

Two sentences of dialogue between the two sides narrowed the distance between each other.

When trying to persuade Mirotic to go to Cleveland, Yuan Man did not make a long speech like Scott and Gilbert, using various temptations to lure Mirotic to join, Yuan Man only said one sentence.

"Are you going to be complacent in this second-tier league for the rest of your life, or come to Cleveland to challenge together and reach the top of the world." Yuan Man's words were full of provocation, which made Scott and Gilbert break out in a cold sweat , but when Mirotic looked into Yuan Man's eyes, the other's eyes were full of sincerity and longing.

"Give me a few days, I want to think about it." Mirotic still didn't make a statement on the spot.

On the return flight, Scott complained to Yuan Man, "Yuan, you shouldn't say that about him. Talking about the second-tier league is too hurtful. After all, he is the MVP of that league."

"Hey, Byron." Yuan Man retorted immediately, "I think Nicholas is a guy who loves challenges. If he is really as good as the research materials say, then he will definitely be willing to try the challenge." Higher stage. If he doesn't want to, fine, the Cavaliers don't need a guy who doesn't want to get ahead."

Yuan Man's words sounded quite reasonable. Seeing the team owner Daniel Gilbert closed his eyes and fell asleep, Scott couldn't say anything more.

The plane had just landed when Gilbert's assistant received a call and immediately reported to Gilbert.

Gilbert grinned gradually, and then excitedly shouted to Scott and Yuan Man, "He said he is willing, and Nicholas is willing to join the Cavaliers next season. Our lineup is even stronger!"

After finishing speaking, Gilbert put his hands on Yuan Man's shoulders and said, "Yuan, you are really good at it!"

Scott patted Yuan Man on the back to show his approval.

In this way, the Cavaliers' signings for the new season have already begun.

Montenegro power forward Nikola Mirotic will join the Cavaliers in the new season.

With the news that the Cavaliers are about to sign Mirotic out of the sharp American media, NBA teams have also started their signings for the new season one after another.

In the words of some team managers, due to the labor disputes and the shrinking schedule last season, many teams were not able to perform at their true level during the season, and in the new season of 2012-13, each team will start again , Prove yourself, and strive to get good grades.

In the face of media interviews, James of the Miami Heat said: "The championship of the shrinking season can't prove anything. If I want to win the championship, my goal is the NBA championship in the new season. I believe that our Heat will show us in the new season. We will not back down when facing any opponent, we love challenges. For the new season, I only have one word, the Heat are the champions."

As the ace player of last season's NBA championship team, Yuan Man naturally also accepted interviews from the media at the beginning of the season. Unlike James' aggressive declaration of winning the new season, Yuan Man's speech was very interesting.

Facing the interview camera, Yuan Man stretched out his right hand, opened his palm, bent his fingers, and stretched out his index finger.

"Come on!"

Although James' words are a bit exaggerated, in the first official season after the shrinking season, each team launched an arms race of personnel competition in order to strive for good results.

On June 2012, 6, the Washington Wizards and the New Orleans Hornets completed the first deal of the new season.

In this deal, the Wizards will get center Okafor and small forward Ariza, while the Hornets will get small forward Lewis and this year's No. 46 pick.

In the eyes of the outside world, this is a deal that can produce a win-win effect. "Mr. Billionaire" Lewis has been proven to be a parallel importer with high salary and low ability for two consecutive seasons since he was sent to the Wizards by the Magic. Due to the new labor agreement, the team must ensure that the total salary is a certain amount every year, and the Wizards are not yet available. Ad hoc clauses cut it out.Since the Hornets ushered in a new boss and won the No. 730 pick, they are about to embark on the road of reconstruction.What makes them worry is that there are too many long-term big contracts in the team, such as Ariza and Okafor, who have two years of contracts and annual salaries of 1350 million and [-] million US dollars respectively.

After this deal officially takes effect, the Wizards can increase their combat effectiveness while guaranteeing the amount of salary; The team saved a lot of salary space and provided a sufficient salary base for reconstruction.

After hearing about the deal, Hornets forward Landry, whose contract is about to expire, tweeted: "It was an incredible time playing with Okafor and Ariza, both of whom were outstanding. Players, they can improve the combat effectiveness of the Wizards. After the trade, the Wizards now look like a team that can reach the playoffs."

On June 6th, a big three-party transaction occurred in the league. The Clippers, Jazz and Mavericks completed the three-party transaction. Odom returned to Los Angeles, but he joined the Los Angeles upstart Clippers. Mo Williams Was sent to the Jazz, the Mavericks got a special case of trading.

On the same day, the Rockets, which the Chinese team is very familiar with, also completed a deal with the Timberwolves.The Timberwolves sent the No. 2012 pick in the 18 draft in exchange for the signing rights of Zeiss Budinger and Leo Eliyahu.

On July 7, the league revealed a big news. According to Yahoo!, the Nets and the Eagles are doing a five-for-one deal!

In this deal, the Nets will package Anthony Morrow, Jordan Farmar, Deshaun Stevenson, Jordan Williams and John Petro. Plus a 2013 lottery-protected first-round pick that the Nets exchanged from the Rockets for "Eagle King" Joe Johnson from the Hawks.

Joe Johnson is 31 years old, and there are nearly 9000 million US dollars left in his contract for four years. The Eagles have been trying to find a way to get rid of Joe Johnson's contract and strive for reconstruction. The Eagles free up a lot of salary space and also have greater flexibility in team operations.

The intention of the Nets to try to introduce Joe Johnson at such a high price is obvious, that is to introduce heavyweight players, and try to attract Deron Williams to stay in the Nets and continue to play, creating an impact team. Championship team.Nets officials and the Deron Williams camp have met today to discuss a contract extension.However, the Nets currently have no way to determine whether Deron will be willing to accept the five-year $1 million contract extension offered by the Nets.Deron is currently choosing between the Nets and the Mavericks. The Nets are Deron's previous team and are very sincere to keep Deron to build a strong team. The Mavericks are Deron's hometown team. They are also very sincere in inviting Deron to join.

In addition to the introduction of Joe Johnson, the Nets had previously renewed Gerald Wallace with a contract of $4000 million and Brook Lopez with a contract of more than $5000 million. The team has also become a powerful team in the Eastern Conference in the new season.

The starting lineup of Lopez, Humphries, Wallace, Johnson, and Deron, no team in the league dares to underestimate them.

On the night when the news of this big deal was revealed, another shocking news came out in the league. Ray Allen, who is currently playing for the Celtics, was secretly in contact with the team's arch-enemy Miami Heat. It was rumored that James and Wade tried his best to recruit Ray Allen, but Garnett and Pierce, who were friends of the Celtics with Allen, didn't know anything about it.

However, on the second day after the news was revealed, the Celtics took action and signed a contract with Jason Terry, who was a free agent and nicknamed "Jet". The two parties signed a three-year contract. , The Celtics provided Terry with a full middle-class special case with an annual salary of about 500 million US dollars.

The deal of the Celtics was interpreted by the media as a signal that Ray Allen was about to leave the Celtics, and they were already looking for Ray Allen's replacement.

On the same day, a piece of news reassured the fans in New Jersey that Deron Williams decided to stay with the Nets and accepted the team's new five-year, $5 million contract.

After a series of amazing deals and signings on the 4th, on July 7th, another deal maxed out the league.

According to multiple US media reports, the Suns and the Lakers have reached a sign-and-trade deal. The Lakers got Steve Nash, and the Suns got two first-round picks and two second-round picks. Draft picks, a trade exception worth $890 million, and $300 million in cash.

On July 7, after a day of silence, the NBA league set off another storm.

Celtics marksman Ray - Allen has been determined to join the Miami Heat, Heat boss Alisson also confirmed the news through Twitter.

For Ray Allen's joining, James immediately expressed his welcome on social media.

"Welcome to Miami, my brother, let us be together in the new season, the goal is the championship!"

As Ray Allen's friends in Boston, Garnett and Pierce collectively lost their voices and did not express any opinions on Allen's transfer.

Some people said that the two felt very sad because of Allen's betrayal.

Regarding the series of shocking news so far during the offseason, some netizens expressed their opinions on Twitter, which was liked by fans and made it popular on the homepage.

The content of this Twitter is like this: Ray Allen went to the rival Heat, Nash went to the Lakers, Terry bid farewell to Dallas and went to the Celtics to be the sixth man, except for the part of Roy’s return of the king, I will never Believe in love.

(End of this chapter)