unfinished glory

Chapter 153 The Big Deal

Li Chongxiao's excellent performance has aroused the covetousness of many teams.

During the 2006~2007 season, there were rumors of conflicts between Li Chongxiao and the Spurs. Most teams were sure that Li Chongxiao would definitely leave the Spurs in the summer of 2008, so they didn’t want to waste chips and change to a player who could only be used for one year. Wait until Li Chongxiao becomes a free agent before asking a high price.

But Li Chongxiao unexpectedly became the FMVP, and the Spurs showed an attitude of trying to keep him, which made other teams that were about to sign him for free panic.

If the Spurs defend their title this year, then the honor of three consecutive championships may make players pursue it desperately.

The last chance was on the trading day before the All-Star Game, including the Raptors, who had been interested before, and they did not hesitate to put Bosh, who was favored by the Spurs, on the negotiating table.

And the other teams in the East are not to be outdone. The Nets hinted to the Spurs that the team has no non-sale items.

Even the Celtics were a little tempted, and even Pierce wanted to use it as a bargaining chip. It's just that the team is running well and the championship is expected, so they are more reserved.

The Western Conference team is not to be outdone. Except for Kobe for the Lakers, and Nowitzki for the Mavericks, they can choose whatever they want.The Suns have good chips, and there is nothing they can't sell.

When other teams looked at the three melons and two dates in their own homes, they could only watch dryly.

On the one hand, Popovich pretended to be false, and on the other hand, he kept his eyes on the Rockets, staring at Yao Ming.

……

After the announcement of the All-Star roster, McGrady lost the starting lineup in the Western Conference again, which made him very dissatisfied.

At the beginning of the season, Van Gundy Jr. felt that the situation was not right. After playing less than ten games, he announced his resignation as the head coach of the Rockets due to "physical reasons".

The Rockets were once interested in former Kings coach Rick Adelman, but he didn't dare to take this muddy water and rejected Morey's invitation.

The last person to take office was Bernie Bickerstaff, who was still the head coach of the Bobcats last season. At the beginning of his tenure, he was instructed to use McGrady as the core of the team.

Without Van Gundy Jr. getting in the way, and with the privileged permission of the new general manager and head coach, McGrady can do whatever he wants in the team.

This season, his style of play has returned to the Magic era, as if he is a lone hero returning.

On the court, he hardly cooperates with Yao Ming, and he just does it alone when he gets the ball.He took 25 crazy shots per game, and before the All-Star Game, he became the league's scoring leader with 31.9 points.

This is exactly why McGrady is not convinced. He thinks that Li Chongxiao with a score of 29.4 and Kobe Bryant with a score of 29.2 are ranked behind them.

For Kobe, he has always been unconvinced, but as a good friend, it is not easy to say anything, Li Chongxiao can attack at will.

"There are too many fans in China, and players from their country are overrated, whether in the team or in the league."

In fact, the league has undergone reforms this season, and the number of votes from China has been greatly diluted, mainly to prevent Yi Jianlian with 9.6 points and 6.2 rebounds from being selected as an All-Star.

McGrady attacked Li Chongxiao on the surface this time, but actually pointed at Yao Ming with insinuations, actively exposed the team's contradictions, and completely tore off the last fig leaf of the Rockets' internal problems.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see the Rockets' problems. With two superstars, they are only ranked eighth in the West, but McGrady's statement directly pushed the team into the abyss.

For the team's victory, Yao Ming has made a lot of patience. This season's scoring data has shrunk to 22 points, many of which are second offenses after taking offensive rebounds.

But his rebounding numbers didn't increase as the team started playing faster.The new head coach was instructed by the boss and the new general manager, Morey, to set up McGrady as the core, and carried out a series of tactical reforms around McGrady, so that he almost regarded Yao Ming as a blue-collar worker.

The other players on the team either remained neutral, or followed McGrady in isolating Yao Ming.

When Francis was waived by the Trail Blazers in January and tried to return to the Rockets, but was flatly rejected by Morey, Yao Ming knew that his road to the Rockets had come to an end, and he clearly told the team that he would jump out of his contract in the summer.

At the beginning of the season, he was only dissatisfied with the operation of the team, and rejected the team's request for contract extension several times.This action directly led to more and more conflicts between him and the team owner. Instead of reflecting on his breaking the promise to Yao Ming during the offseason, Alexander told the media that he was tired of Yao Ming's endless compromises.

On the one hand, he regretted not trading Yao Ming for a favor last offseason, and on the other hand, he told Morey to trade quickly while Yao Ming still had a little value.

……

This year's national competition is very happy in the eyes of the fans, but the players are very nervous, for fear that they will change clubs after a game or the end of the vacation.

The team's uniform team did not have a good holiday either. They were busy submitting chips and conducting various negotiations, hoping to get their favorite players.

In the face of private inquiries from any team, Li Chongxiao did not agree to renew his contract, leaving the Spurs passive in the transaction, and what other teams can offer is not the best.

The main target of the Spurs is now on the Rockets. Buford and Morey have been discussing the trade of Li Chongxiao for Yao Ming. The main part has basically reached an agreement, but there are some differences on whether the Spurs should pay Parker or Ginobili. .

The Spurs are willing to give Ginobili, but the Rockets are more interested in Parker, but also asked to put Bowen into the transaction.

In addition to hooking up with the Rockets, the Spurs also found a backup team, the Nets, and they did not resist Li Chongxiao's replacement of Carter.

The two biggest protagonists caught in the rumors, Li Chongxiao and Yao Ming, also seemed a little absent-minded. They both have contracts, and they can't help themselves where the future lies.

Coupled with Duncan who was worried about his friends, Kobe who was dissatisfied with the team's signings, and Anthony who was excited to start the All-Stars for the first time, none of the starters of the entire western star team was normal. They lost to the eastern star team and let James get the AMVP is also reasonable.

……

After the All-Star Game, the high-profile trading market finally completed a big deal that shocked the entire league. Yao Ming was traded to the Lakers!

The old Bass, who was reluctant to let Bynum hold him before, did not hesitate to regard this rookie with great potential as the main body of the transaction.

The Lakers paid Bynum, Aaron McGee and Yavaris Criddenton, as well as two first-round picks in 2008 and 2010, in exchange for the Rockets' Yao Ming and a second-round pick.

When Popovich heard the news during training, he was furious and cursed.The players watching the training looked at each other in blank dismay, which was completely different from their usual elegant and confident head coach.

The Spurs have been leading the trade, who would have thought that the Lakers would get ahead of them!

In the press conference before the first regular-season game after the All-Star break, Popovich was rarely talkative.He used the word "robbery" for the bargaining chips given by the Lakers.

Popovich believes that there are too many unfair places in the league. The giants in big cities can always get superstar players easily.

This statement was endorsed by several small team owners. Cavaliers owner Gilbert very high-profilely believed that the league should cancel this deal.

The last one was O'Neal's Westward Journey, and this time it's Yao Ming again. They worry that if the Lakers develop like this for a long time, other teams will simply not be able to play.

Gilbert said that the healthy way to build a team is to select rookies to train and then enter the finals.He gave an example, such as the Cavaliers, such as the Spurs.

But no matter how angry the others were, the deal was finally done.

Kobe was overjoyed and praised the Lakers' uniform team to the sky.Always proud, he took the initiative to apologize to the old Buss in front of many media, admitting that he was impatient, and said that the other party was the best boss in the league.

(End of this chapter)