I was determined to be bad, but I went straight to the Basketball Hall of Fame

Chapter 221 What is the motive (third update)
After hanging up the phone, Presti sat in the office lost in thought.

After hearing Min Congda's bargaining chips, Presti admitted that at a certain moment he was moved.

This season, the Clippers have sprung up under the leadership of an airborne manager in an unimaginable way.

Many of Smart-Min's operations and transactions are unreliable at first glance, but in Presti's view, they are all sophisticated operations.

For example, Zach Randolph renews Randolph in advance, because Randolph is in his prime.

A low-post player like him is rare in the league, and it would be a pity to give up casually.

Renew the contract in advance and hold it in your hand. Use it if it is easy to use, and it will have enough transaction value if it is not easy to use.

There was also a trade away of Kaman in exchange for Gasol Jr. At that time, the Los Angeles media was full of criticism.

When the Clippers reached the playoffs, Los Angeles fans discovered that Gasol Jr. was also very good.

As a 28-year-old center, Kaman's potential has been exhausted, and he overlaps with Randolph in terms of position and function.

Now that Randolph is kept, it is natural to trade Kaman away in exchange for a younger and potential insider.

One sign one deal, in Presti's view, it is a very good operation.

The only thing Presti couldn't understand was why Min Congda picked Curry with the No. [-] pick in the draft.

Seeing this unexpected choice at the time, Presti had already moved his heart to win Griffin.

It's a pity that Griffin was taken away by the Grizzlies with the second pick, and the Thunder could only pick Harden as originally planned.

Since Presti chose Harden, he is naturally very optimistic about the player's development.

But how optimistic he is, and what kind of expectations he has for Harden's future development, Presti himself is not particularly clear.

At least as far as the performance of the new season is concerned, Harden is not bad, basically meeting expectations.

It's just that his status in the team is the same as the chronological order when he came to the Thunder, and he must be ranked behind Durant and Westbrook.

In Presti's mind, the Thunder's real non-sale items are only two people, Kevin Durant and Westbrook.

Their potential and talent are visible to the naked eye. Needless to say, Durant, Westbrook has also performed very well this season.

He and Durant have a breakthrough, a shot, a ball, and no ball. Once they grow up in the future, they will definitely shine.

In this regard, Presti is still very determined.

As for Harden, he's more of a jack-of-all-trades player in Presti's mind.

Personally, he is more lazy than Durant and Westbrook.

In normal training, Durant and Westbrook are the last to leave.

Both will practice until dark, and Harden will go home earlier to rest.

Durant is the core boss to be cultivated by the team in terms of ability and team tactics.

But in terms of leadership temperament and character strength, Westbrook is more prominent.

Compared with Harden, he is not very competitive, little brother, and he has no complaints about being a substitute.

Harden's data this season is 9.9 points per game, which is a bit worse than Gordon.

Gordon's performance in terms of statistics is basically the same as Westbrook.

"Gordon can also play as a substitute. He defended Kobe very well. Three-pointers and breakthroughs are all what the team needs. If he was in the Thunder last season, we would definitely not be squeezed out of the playoffs. However, But why did Smart give him to us?"

Presti is excited about Gordon for Harden.

But he couldn't understand Min Congda's motives.

The two teams are direct competitors, why should they trade their strong players?

Gordon is still very young and has great potential. After Gordon's performance last season, a normal team will definitely keep him and wait for him to grow and develop slowly.

Instead of using it for a player at the same position who has the same potential but is currently not performing as well.

Especially since the opponent is still a direct contender for the Western Conference playoffs, this is too unreasonable.

If something goes wrong, there must be a demon. Presti smelled the conspiracy, and decided to hold a meeting to discuss it.

So, Presti called the Thunder management over and had a short meeting.

As soon as he explained the conditions and content of the deal with the Clippers, the meeting room immediately exploded.

How can anyone trade like this?Everyone talked about it, thinking that there must be fraud.

"Does Gordon have a problem with his physical health? He suffered a serious knee injury in college. This is a hidden danger."

"Smart is a man who has always acted deceitfully and surlyly. He doesn't play cards according to the routine. You have to be careful."

"Gordon is still young, and his injuries in the regular season did not affect his performance in the playoffs. I don't think there is any need to worry about injuries. Anyway, when the trade is made, there will be a physical examination."

"Gordon's defense is better than Harden's, and I think Gordon already has certainty, and Harden ... not sure."

One of the team's scouts mentioned the word "certainty" and it got to Presti's heart.

Whether it is a trade or a draft, it is essentially an investment, and what investors hate the most is risk.

How to minimize the risk is always a matter for investors to consider.

Therefore, investors will try their best to do things with certainty or high certainty.

In this way, the risk can be minimized, the profit may not be the highest, but the loss will not be the largest.

Gordon entered the league a year earlier than Harden, and the age difference is almost the same.

The biggest difference is that Gordon played an extra year and played in the playoffs.

He's proven he's going to be a really good shooting guard.

There is a possibility of entering the All-Star, maybe next season he will be able to enter the All-Star.

And Harden's first season has yet to reveal the certainty of an All-Star.

From this point of view, Gordon is a better investment than Harden.

Still, Presti couldn't get around the question: What was Smart's motivation?
He could see the certainty in Gordon, and Smart could certainly see it, too.

So why would he give up such certainty and trade Gordon for Harden?

Could it be that there is something in Harden that he didn't see that was discovered by Smart?

Presti believes that his research on Harden is still very thorough.

But Smart's ability to see people made him doubtful.

Curry is a good example.

This situation is really confusing.

At this time, a senior executive put forward an idea.

He said: "Sam, I was thinking, will Smart clean up the players selected by the previous management for the sake of power struggle? You see, Jordan and Kaman have all been replaced. Now it's Gordon's turn. Randolph and Davis have just been traded to the Clippers, and Smart gets along well with them. Those players who came to the Clippers earlier and were selected by Olshey must be leave."

As soon as he said this, his mind immediately opened up.

Someone said: "That's right, Olshey has been dispatched to China. What kind of basketball talent discovery is there? What can be discovered there? He was dispatched."

"Not to mention Olshey, even Sterling is under control. Smart is suspected of usurping the Clippers' high-level power. It is said that he and Anschutz are very close."

"Smart is a manipulator, he's very good at it, the whole team is under his control."

Everyone was discussing again, Presti calmed everyone down and said, "Where did you all hear these gossips?"

Someone said: "On NBA-Batman, the inside story of the Clippers' power struggle is often updated."

"You also watch NBA-Batman?"

"Of course, have you paid attention?"

"Followed, I will swipe to take a look every day."

"I heard that old Dunleavy pulled his eyelids when he was young?"

"Really? I said it's a little strange to look at his eyes..."

"Okay, okay!" Presti felt that the meeting was going in a strange direction.

No matter what everyone says, the final trading decision is still made by Presti himself.

In fact, his heart has been shaken and he is determined to trade, but the last trace of reason tells him that there is a problem.

He decided to ask the team's owner, and Clay Bennett only asked one question after hearing Presti's report: "After the transaction, can the future salary space be healthier and more economical?" ?”

Presti thought for a while and said, "Yes."

"Then go ahead and do it."

(End of this chapter)