LeBron James, your house got robbed.

The Cavaliers ultimately defeated the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 110-74 at home.

Garnett put up an all-around performance with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. He stepped up when Paul was out, carrying the load, protecting the defensive rebounds, and also contributing to the offense and playmaking. He seemed to have returned to his peak form.

In Chen Shuo's mind, peak Garnett was the most perfect second option in history. Except for not being able to break through like a wing scorer or a low-post behemoth, he was almost omnipotent.

Of course, Chen Shuo believes that Garnett's most important contribution in this game was that he directly stunned Tony Allen, who was guarding Thompson.

Since being lectured by Garnett's trash talk, Tony Allen's defensive footwork has noticeably lacked aggression and aggressiveness, allowing Thompson to seize the opportunity and score 22 points in a single quarter, helping the team establish a lead of up to 20 points.

Although Allen regained his composure after returning to the court in the fourth quarter and returned to his defensive prowess, Thompson had completely let loose by then, taking every shot he could get.

Thompson made 15 three-pointers in the game, including 9 of 9 in the second half, scoring a career-high 45 points to lead his team to victory.

Major media outlets lauded Thompson, while Kerr attributed the greatest credit to Chen Shuo.

"I've said it before: it's a stroke of luck for any rookie to have a management team like yours."

"If it weren't for all of this happening right in front of me, I would find it hard to believe that you've never played basketball before."

Chen Shuo immediately protested:

"Steve, who told you I've never played basketball? When I was in China, I was the core player of the Mingyueyuan Basketball League championship team."

Cole gave an "I see" look, followed by a look of confusion:

"Chen, I'm sorry, I haven't heard much about this league."

"Could you introduce it to me?"

Chen Shuo shrugged and said, "Of course, no problem."

"Mingyueyuan is the residential community where I live in China, and this competition is an amateur competition organized by the community."

"In the final match, my team defeated the Three Monsters of the Bright Moon and won the highest honor."

Chen Shuozhen was not lying.

The so-called "Three Oddities of the Bright Moon" consist of the old man with the hook shot, the agile fat man, and the short and stocky rebounding king. The power of three of the four oddities on the court should not be underestimated.

Cole sighed helplessly, but still spoke earnestly:

"I've always believed that Thompson has the potential to break through the limitations of a shooter."

"I think his ball-handling authority should be somewhere between that of a middle blocker with the ball and a shooter without the ball."

"I originally intended to spend even more time trying."

"But you gave Thompson the exact range of possession."

"This makes me feel like you're absolutely omnipotent."

To be honest, Kerr felt that Chen Shuo's tactical understanding was always one step ahead of his own.

Cole only put forward an idea, but Chen Shuo already had a complete theory.

This made Cole feel like he was always living in Chen Shuo's shadow.

Chen Shuo listened with delight and casually praised Cole a couple of times:

"Steve, you have great potential. I believe you will become a championship coach in the future."

As for Thompson's ball-handling authority, Chen Shuo knew it all too well; Thompson only had three main moves when he had the ball.

His signature moves include backing down smaller guards, unleashing a sudden shot after a screen, and pulling up for a jump shot during transition.

Based on Kerr's previous ideas, these three approaches are enough for Thompson to play three different roles.

As a screener, set screens for teammates; as a ball handler, initiate screens; as the fast break leader, initiate transition offense and defense.

This allows Thompson's tactical initiation to combine off-the-ball movement, range of touches, and randomness in attack, far exceeding the limitations of typical tactical shooters.

……

Oakland, California

After watching the Grizzlies vs. Cavaliers game, Lacob's face showed a troubled expression. He looked at West beside him and said:

"I didn't expect Thompson to suddenly explode like that. Now we might have to pay an even higher price."

West's expression was equally unpredictable.

He had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.

After Paul's injury, the Cavaliers won only three of their next eight games, and all of those wins were against bottom-ranked teams.

Thompson's ball-handling performance during this period was nothing short of disastrous.

West seized the opportunity and, the day before the deadline, before the Cavaliers' game against the Grizzlies, sent an offer to the Cavaliers for Thompson.

West only gave the Cavaliers' management one day.

According to his plan, Thompson will still struggle a lot in this game against Tony Allen.

Once the game is over, the Warriors' offer will be on Chen Shuo's desk.

To this end, West offered Monta Ellis and next year's Warriors first-round pick, with his target being this season's 10th overall pick, Klay Thompson, and Ariza's contract as a tiebreaker.

Ellis can provide the Warriors with much-needed firepower, and the Cavaliers' defensive system can also hide Ellis's weaknesses.

For a team that is clearly eager to win the title, Ellis is obviously a better choice.

If the Cavaliers' general manager were someone else, West would almost certainly be certain the trade would go through.

But Chen Shuo was sitting across from them at the negotiating table, which reduced the chances of a deal to half.

After this match, the likelihood of this deal going through has decreased significantly.

After waiting anxiously for an hour, Lacob finally received a reply from the Cavaliers' management.

"Grant said they're willing to trade for Klay Thompson, but the price has to be higher."

As soon as the words fell, West, who was usually calm, suddenly spoke:

"Let them name their price, whether it's draft picks or players."

Lacob slumped down:

"They want Stephen Curry."

The heat in West's eyes suddenly died down.

Curry suffered an ankle injury at the beginning of the season, ending his season prematurely.

West never expected the Cavaliers to make such an offer.

……

Chen Shuo was not surprised to receive an official rejection from the Warriors' management.

There have always been rumors that the Warriors wanted to trade Curry for Bogut, but the deal fell through because the Bucks refused.

A large number of fans flooded the screen with comments:

"Thank you Bucks for not making a trade."

In fact, ever since West joined the Warriors, Curry has been the sole core of the team.

It's estimated that West did consider making a trade when Paul was embroiled in trade rumors.

Subsequently, whether it was Thompson, Barnes, or Draymond Green, the team was built around Curry's strengths and weaknesses.

If West could see Kobe's potential in the 90s, he wouldn't let Curry go in this era.

Both being guards with weak defenses, Curry's true shooting percentage has never been lower than 53%, while Ellis only reached that level in his peak season.

West isn't senile.

Moreover, it is precisely because of Curry's existence that West is so eager to trade for Thompson.

Thompson is good on offense, taking full advantage of Curry's shooting range.

On the defensive end, his ability to lead the defense can mask Curry's defensive weaknesses during this period.

The two are a perfect match.

However, in this timeline, the Splash Brothers are destined to be separated.

For Chen Shuo, if the Warriors really agreed, that would be a difficult choice.

Curry is undoubtedly superior to Thompson in terms of potential and can perfectly integrate into the current Cavaliers system, improving the firepower that the Cavaliers desperately need.

The Cavaliers have enough resources to clean up Curry's mess.

The problem is that Curry is out for the season, while the Cavaliers' goal this season is to contend for the championship.

Fortunately, West rejected the offer.