warrior godfather

Chapter 748
Facing Zhang Yu's implicitly angry question, Riley sighed and said helplessly:

"Hey, I'm calling Erwin every day now, but he just won't let go. You know, our insider problems are well known. The Lakers are struggling to win the No. [-] pick. We are the ones who are worried. How could he Don’t let the lion open his mouth? Unless you can endure until the trade deadline, I don’t think he will agree easily, but will continue to grind with me..."

Boom!
Zhang Yu punched the table with a fist, an angry look flashed across his face, and his expression was gloomy. After a while, he let out a long breath and calmed down.

After the opening game, Zhang Yu began to think about strengthening the center. At that time, Riley recommended Brook Lopez of the Lakers to him. Zhang Yu immediately agreed and asked Riley to negotiate with the magician.

Lopez can protect the frame, pass the ball, open up space, and play low singles when necessary, which perfectly meets Zhang Yu's requirements.

Although his contract has more than 2000 million US dollars a year left, which will increase the pressure on the Warriors' luxury tax, but making up for the weakness of the inside line is a top priority, and Zhang Yu is absolutely unambiguous when it is time to spend money.

Subsequently, Riley contacted the magician to discuss the Lopez deal.

Lopez was traded to the Lakers by the Nets this summer. The Lakers paid Russell and Mozgov in exchange for Lopez and the Nets' No. 27 pick this year, and selected Kyle Kuzma.

In the past two seasons, Russell's overall performance has not met the expectations of the Lakers.

The magician believes that Russell's upper limit is limited, and the shot at this time can be sold at a good price, and sending Mozgov away can help the Lakers save nearly 5400 million US dollars.

Lopez's contract still has the last year, worth $2264 million. According to media reports, the Lakers' transaction is for the arrival of Paul George and the recruitment of James next year to clear salary space.

At that time, George had already expressed his attitude that he would jump out of the contract next summer and join the Lakers. The Lakers and Pacers were negotiating related transactions.

James will jump out of the contract in the summer of 2018. There are rumors that he will leave Cleveland again after the end of next season, and he has a strong interest in coming to Los Angeles for development.

But as George was traded to the Thunder by the Pacers, the Lakers' first calculation fell through.

The Cavaliers are still in the Big Three this year, and it's hard to predict whether James will leave. People are waiting to see the magician's jokes.

He only took over the position of president of basketball operations of the Lakers in February this year. He is in charge of all basketball affairs of the Lakers. He is full of momentum. If he brings in George today and James tomorrow, if he doesn't get any of them, it will be a laughing stock.

But the magician is far from being as stupid as the media and fans say. His huge momentum helped him gain a firm foothold in the Lakers management, and in the negotiations with Riley, he also showed extra cunning and shrewdness.

At that time, Riley's offer was to use the 76ers' 2018 first-round pick and Jerebko, Connaughton, Hart, and a special case of $900 million from the Nets to trade Lopez.

For a team in the rebuilding period, such conditions are already very generous.

Lopez was originally traded by the Lakers to clear up space. Jerebko is also on an expiring contract. The use of the special case of the transaction is very flexible. It can be split and traded again. With the above plan, he can get a first-round pick, but what he pays is a veteran center who is not in the team's long-term plan. There is no more cost-effective deal than this.

But the magician did not immediately agree to Riley's request, nor did he offer higher conditions. Instead, he dragged on the negotiation without giving a clear answer.

Riley is also an old fritter. Although he didn't know what the magician's motivation was, he stopped asking for the price immediately.

Even if Zhang Yu desperately wants to strengthen the center forward, he can't expose this need to the magician, otherwise he will definitely be slaughtered.

However, as the season progressed, the Warriors' internal loopholes became more and more obvious. Looney, who was given high hopes by Zhang Yu, did not grow enough to be the starting center.

Rooney has no problem against weak teams, but after all, he has transformed from a striker to a center forward. He lacks experience and is stretched to face strong teams.

In desperation, Riley had no choice but to find the magician again and ask Lopez for a price.

This time, the magician finally showed his fangs, and the lion opened his mouth wide, asking for two more first-round picks on the terms Riley offered.

Riley categorically rejected the Magician's offer to trade three first-round picks for a veteran center whose contract is about to expire.

After the magician was rejected by Riley, he was not in a hurry. He just smiled and said that he welcomes Riley to negotiate with him again at any time.

After Riley reported the negotiation situation to Zhang Yu, Zhang Yu also agreed with his approach. No matter how many draft picks the Warriors have, they cannot be so squandered.

But the deal has to be done. No one knows Lopez's future strength better than Zhang Yu. He is the most successful traditional center in transformation, and he is especially suitable to partner with Antetokounmpo. His screens and rebounds are also Curry. favorite things.

In order to reduce the difficulty of the transaction, Zhang Yu began to speak in front of the media, saying that the Warriors do not need a center. Riley also stopped asking the Lakers for the price, and cooperated with Zhang Yu's remarks to put pressure on the magician.

Originally, Riley suggested making a big splash to other teams to put pressure on the Lakers, but Zhang Yu refused.

There are not many good centers on the market, not even a few that can be used, and the Warriors have blocked the way of too many teams and offended too many people in the past few years. If the outside world knows that the Warriors really have a reinforcement center Willingness is bound to be united by other teams and slaughtered even more ruthlessly.

Subsequently, Zhang Yu showed his "arrogance" in front of the media several times, which aroused doubts from the media and fans, but also made the magician shaken.

He took the initiative to contact Riley once, willing to negotiate with the Warriors on Lopez's deal, but the condition is still three first rounds.

Riley also gave the conditions of the Warriors, two first rounds + trade exception + balance contract, the two sides still have differences, and the negotiation has reached a deadlock again.

Just when Riley was about to spend another time with the Magician, the Warriors lost to the 76ers and the Celtics in a row. Zhang Yu became more and more eager to reinforce the center. Riley had to find the Magician to negotiate again.

At this time, the Warriors' inside weakness is well known, and the magician sits firmly on the Diaoyutai, killing the three first-round conditions and not letting go, waiting to kill the Warriors.

Zhang Yu was very annoyed, and he stood up for a while, but after the Warriors lost to the Pelicans, he finally couldn't sit still, and asked Riley again to ask about the progress of the transaction.

Riley's answer shattered Zhang Yu's fantasy. The magician was cunning and cunning. He saw the weakness of the Warriors and never let go. The Warriors could not exchange Lopez with lower conditions.

However, Zhang Yu will never agree to exchange for a veteran center with three first rounds. Even if Lopez can be used for a long time in the future, his current market price is far from worth three first rounds. The conditions are really taken advantage of.

Moreover, the Lakers are one of the teams most attractive to stars in the league. In recent years, there have been scandals with stars from all walks of life. If Zhang Yu gives the Lakers three first-round picks, it will undoubtedly greatly boost the rebuilding of the Lakers. The process is likely to create a strong competitor for itself.

However, trading is imperative. Without a good center, the Warriors will struggle in the playoffs against those strong teams.

Zhang Yu makes good use of the five minors, but he is not superstitious about the five minors. The center is the cornerstone of defense. It is difficult to defend the title purely by the death of the five minors, unless it is the invincible lineup of the Warriors last season.

Now, Zhang Yu faces a difficult problem, whether to overdraw the future, lose money and capital against the enemy, in exchange for a chance to defend the title, or keep assets and gamble with the current lineup.

This is a dilemma. Zhang Yu's mind turned and his thoughts kept churning, but he still couldn't come up with an answer.

Riley saw Zhang Yu's hesitation, lowered his head and thought for a while, then raised his head again to persuade:
"Why don't we agree to the request of the Lakers? There is no center in the league who is more suitable for us than Lopez. The championship window is rare and cannot be wasted. Anyway, we have a lot of draft picks in our hands. It doesn't matter if we send a few. The existing There are enough rookies, and there is no time to cultivate them again..."

Zhang Yu waved his hand and said:
"I don't feel sorry for the draft picks. With the current momentum of the 76ers and the Celtics, these picks are probably not worth much. Our rookies are indeed unable to train, but I don't want to give the picks to the Lakers. Don't look at it." The Lakers are still weak, maybe next year they will trade two stars and they will rise."

"Giving the Lakers two draft picks is already my limit. If I give three picks, the Lakers may be able to complete the reconstruction earlier, or trade an extra star and rise again. I can't create an opponent for the Warriors for nothing. I will never agree to Erwin's conditions."

"Then why don't we change our target? There are still many blue-collar centers in the league. Although they are not as good as Lopez, they can also be used. With Antetokounmpo, there shouldn't be much problem protecting the frame."

"No," Zhang Yu vetoed, "Lopez is the most suitable center for us. Those championship teams all have masters who can hit the frame, and our lineup has already declined seriously. Sai is in danger..."

Riley said helplessly:
"Then what should we do? Erwin will definitely not let go, he is just a smiling tiger, trying to bite off a piece of flesh from us..."

Zhang Yu lowered his head and thought for a long time, then raised his head and said decisively:
"He is sure that the Warriors have repeatedly lost because of the inside. I must be eager to strengthen the inside. Will I compromise? Hehe, he miscalculated. This time, I will accompany him to the end! I want to see who it is If I can survive anyone, even if I don't strengthen the center, the Warriors are not without hope of defending the title, but if he doesn't shoot Lopez, he won't get anything!"

(End of this chapter)