The older superstars of the NBA

Philadelphia.

A long time has passed since the Eastern Conference semifinals. The 76ers, who lost the series, officially entered the offseason after a brief period of frustration.

The core members of the team, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, also began taking leave after the season.

It seems like everyone has accepted this reality!

However, no one expected that on the night when the New York Knicks successfully entered the finals, Jimmy Butler, a core member of the 76ers, posted such a news on his social media.

"I apply to the team to trade me..."

As soon as this news came out, it attracted the attention of many media and fans.

No one thought that Butler would choose to leave at this time! After all, it seems that the team's results are not bad and they are only one step away from the Eastern Conference Finals!

No matter how you look at it, this is a nice place!

For a time, there were speculations from the outside world, and many die-hard fans who like Butler began to analyze the truth of the matter based on past revelations.

One of the fans named "Philadelphia Holmes" posted an article online, and many of the opinions in it seem to be relatively reliable.

"The reason why Jimmy left was actually forced... There is no hope for him to stay here! Jimmy doesn't like that guy Simmons, and he has expressed his dissatisfaction with Simmons before... .Simmons always likes to be lazy in training and does not try his best when playing... Of course, players like Jimmy can't stand teammates who waste their talents. It is difficult to win a championship playing with such a guy. ..."

"Not only that, the relationship between the team coach Brett and Jimmy is also very average. He is not so willing to continue coaching Jimmy. Jimmy's character is too strong! Simmons is also a member of Brett's camp, and he also does not want to Jimmy stayed on..."

"In fact, not only the head coach, but some people in the team management also don't like Jimmy that much. In this matter, Jimmy is a bit similar to Kobe. Both of them are willing to give everything for the championship and can squeeze their potential unlimitedly, but No one else can do it…”

"In fact, it is not easy to be teammates with extremely self-disciplined players like them..."

Not long after the news broke on the Internet, the 76ers official website officially came out to express its position.

Team general manager Brand also accepted interviews with the media, saying that the team will seek transactions with other teams in the near future and welcomes offers from clubs.

At the same time, general manager Brand also announced that Tobias Harris, another core player of the team, will stay on the team.

"Yes, we are very happy to renew the contract with Tobias!"

"Our record this season is pretty good, and we will go even further next season!"

Brand's attitude in the interview was quite obvious. Everyone could see that the 76ers management had no regrets about Butler's departure, and they didn't even mention it too much.

Shortly after the interview ended, the 76ers players also had different performances.

Some teammates expressed regret, and Art Butler expressed his blessings to him on personal social media; main players like Simmons pretended not to know, and did not express anything at all. However, there were still attentive fans who discovered the problem. That's why Simmons secretly liked Butler's remarks.

Unlike Simmons, Embiid, the core of the team, expressed regret after learning that Butler was leaving. He publicly posted a message on social media.

"Oh! I didn't expect it to be like this! Jimmy, it's a great thing to play with you... I hope I will have this opportunity again in the future..."

Butler also responded immediately to Embiid's statement.

"Joel, there will be a chance! We will definitely meet on the field in the future, but we should be each other's opponents at that time..."

After the 76ers put Butler on the trade shelf, other teams in the league also began to pay attention to this matter, including the Knicks who were finishing their campaign and taking a break.

The first person to notice this matter was Zhao Feiyang.

As a top star in the league, he knows exactly what value a player like Butler has! Maybe he's not easy to deal with, and he's not that likable in his dealings with others, but Butler is not a thorn in the side, he just has high requirements for games or training.

Such strict self-discipline teammates are rare, and Zhao Feiyang happens to be such a player himself, so he will not have any problems getting along with Butler.

And if Butler can come to the Knicks, the Knicks will only be stronger!

Therefore, Zhao Feiyang found the team's general manager Scott Perry as soon as possible and took the initiative to talk to him about the matter.

"What? You want the team to trade Jimmy?"

General manager Scott was taken aback.

He was originally sitting on the sofa in the office, but when he heard this, he stood up immediately.

But he soon calmed down, and when he saw that Zhao Feiyang was not talking but just looking at him, he went to his desk and took out a stack of information.

After finding a certain page and browsing quickly for a few minutes, Scott came to Zhao Feiyang, "Jimmy's statistics and performance are indeed quite good, but his annual salary next season will be as high as more than 32 million yuan... This is not a small sum of money..."

"It's not that I'm reluctant to give up money! However, Porzingis' contract is over this season! We must renew his contract after the finals... With his current worth, his annual salary should be 2500 million Between 3000 million and million..."

"In addition to Dwight's contract and DeMarcus' contract...the two of them performed well this season, and the team will definitely continue to renew their contracts next season... ."

When Scott said this, Zhao Feiyang also fell into deep thought.

As a star, he can certainly force the team to do these things, especially now that he has led the team to the Finals.

Just like LeBron did with the Cavaliers, his request to boss Gilbert was simple, that is, all requirements must be met if he wants to win the championship.

In fact, Gilbert did! LeBron did it too!

There is still a cost.

The team will pay a lot of luxury taxes and will also lock up salary space. Once something goes wrong, the team's future may be ruined.

"Zhao, the most important thing is that the 76ers will definitely not let Jimmy go easily. If we want to trade Jimmy, I'm afraid we have to let some people go...Who do you want to leave? Zach ?Adrian? Or DeAndre and the others?"

General Manager Scott added.

"All right!"

Zhao Feiyang sighed helplessly.

He knows that the current team lineup is suitable. It is best to try not to make major changes when it has been well adjusted.

Many teams that won the championship in the first year and immediately went dormant in the second year were because of problems with lineup changes. Although the addition of new players means there may be new changes, it also means variables!

No one knows whether Butler can smoothly integrate with the team's tactics!

Therefore, in order to seek stability, unless the team's lineup urgently needs to be changed, otherwise, it is really not possible to act rashly when the existing lineup is performing well.

Seeing the disappointment on Zhao Feiyang's face, Scott couldn't help but sit closer and patted him on the shoulder comfortingly, "Zhao, I know you really want the team to become stronger. I am the same as you, and I also hope that we can build a stronger team." A dynasty emerges..."

"Don't worry, I will try to trade Butler. If I can keep the current lineup and get him, then I will definitely find a way to trade him... The team does not mind paying a luxury Tax......"

"Competitive sports are inherently expensive! But we are in New York, and the more money we spend, the more we will get..."

Time flies quickly, and the NBA Finals has arrived as scheduled before the Butler trade has been finalized.

The Knicks and Warriors are not old enemies, but Zhao Feiyang is.

At first, he fought against the Warriors in the Timberwolves, losing to the Warriors and winning against the Warriors. Later, he led the team to defeat the Warriors into the Finals and successfully won the championship.

After leaving the Timberwolves, he helped the Cavaliers reach the Finals. Although he lost to the Warriors by a narrow margin in the end, it has to be said that his performance with the Cavaliers still posed a great threat to the Warriors.

Now, he personally led the Knicks to once again sweep the Eastern Conference and reach the finals, once again standing on the opposite side of the Warriors.

Such grievances are simply excellent material for NBA officials! Just like when LeBron led the Cavaliers against the Warriors, it can be said that the official promotion department of the NBA has no idea how much trouble it has saved!

Game 1 of the series.

new York.

Madison Square Garden Arena.

Half an hour before the game, when the fans were about to enter the stadium, the latest official poster was displayed on the electronic screen outside the arena.

In the poster, Zhao Feiyang occupies the C position and leads the Knicks to face the Warriors. Compared with the different positions of the Warriors, Zhao Feiyang is undoubtedly the most eye-catching in the picture.

There is no other reason. No matter which team he is on, the Warriors are his opponents!

Such a scene also greatly ignited the enthusiasm of Knicks fans. Many people entered holding signs cheering for the Knicks, and even more people wore Zhao Feiyang's number and kept shouting for him.

This promises to be a huge festival for New York!

What’s more interesting is that this time many Minneapolis fans came to the scene. Rather than saying that they are from the Timberwolves, it is better to say that what they really care about is Zhao Feiyang.

When this scene was broadcast back to Minneapolis on live television, many Timberwolves fans were furious.

"Damn it! Why not me? Why didn't I go to New York to watch the finals?"

"Stupid Locke! What is going on in this guy's head? If it weren't for him, we would definitely be the ones entering the finals this time..."

"We let go of a super core to save some damn money, and what did we get? Now we can't even make it to the semifinals..."