NBA: Duncan feels uneasy coaching Warriors

Chapter 126 Thunder deal reached, McCollum speaks out

"The league is a business, and our chips are attractive enough, which is normal."

"Besides, Harden and Ibaka have not met the expectations of the Thunder management. It is normal for the Thunder management to want to change their luck."

Su Chen smiled and said to Dennis Lindsay.

"But Ibaka has been defending for a while, and he has also won the block leader. Hasn't this met the expectations of the Thunder management?"

Dennis Lindsey said in surprise.

Although Dennis Lindsey is an insider in the industry, there will be some communication between the management, but each company still has its own secrets.

The Thunder management is not a fool, even if they feel that Ibaka has not met their expectations, they will not show it.

That would reduce Ibaka's trade value.

As a time traveler, even if Su Chen is not an insider, it is no secret that what has happened for ten years is not a scandal.

"Durant is the core of the team. They gave Durant unlimited firepower. The future big contract will definitely be given to Durant, followed by Westbrook."

"Harden just wants an extra 600 million in total salary, and the Thunder are reluctant. Ibaka should have the same opinion when he joins the Thunder, so it's normal for them to want to trade."

Su Chen went to explain this matter to Dennis Lindsey from the perspective of a time traveler.

"Su, I didn't expect you to be an excellent manager now."

Dennis Lindsey also had some admiration for Su Chen.

Originally, Dennis Lindsay felt that an amateur like Su Chen would definitely be kicked out after a year.

He was only temporarily serving as Su Chen's assistant for a year.

But Su Chen's words changed Dennis Lindsay's view of Su Chen.

"Okay, stop admiring and talk about what they want."

Su Chen picked up the coffee and blew on it.

"They want Giannis."

Dennis Lindsay said.

"Ah."

"Just give it to Gobert, if you want a deal, talk about it, don't forget it."

Su Chen held the coffee and shook it gently.

"Only for Gobert?"

Dennis - Lindsey some doubts.

Although Gobert is indeed playing a very good performance now, his potential is also very high.

But it is not an exaggeration to say that Ibaka has reached the peak now. He has entered the defensive team for two consecutive seasons, and his performance this season will probably enter the defensive team again.

Although Gobert has good potential, it is still a bit unrealistic to change if he wants to match some players with equal salary.

"Of course we only reported Gobert for the first time, and we will slowly add McCollum and Curry later. This bargaining chip can be changed at will."

Su Chen smiled lightly.

"Just report one Gobert, and the other party may ignore it directly, and then we will be at a disadvantage when we talk to them."

Dennis Lindsey said with some concern.

"Don't worry, he's just thinking about it at most, and he won't refuse directly."

Su Chen said to Dennis Lindsay.

This is also Su Chen's grasp of the mentality of Thunder's management.

Ibaka is not in the Thunder's plan at all, and has been disappointed with Ibaka's training.

Sometimes it's so weird, just like some bosses in reality, he never believes that his employees can play well, but thinks that the personnel dug from other companies can do better.

The Thunder management is such a boss. He doesn't believe that Harden can play, nor does he believe that Ibaka can play.

And those who come from outside transactions are full of hope.

At that time, the Thunder traded Ibaka for the bargaining chips of Oladipo, Ilyasova and Sabonis Jr.

Oladipo averaged 16 points per game when the Thunder got it, and Ilyasova is a pretty passable role player.

Sabonis Jr. didn't play a game, and was traded after being selected with the 11th overall pick.

Although Sabonis later became an All-Star, at the time, the Thunder got Oladipo and Ilyasova, the No. 11 pick in the first round.

And now the chips provided by Su Chen, the talent that Gobert is showing now is already a very mature 20+10 monster level.

From the current point of view, McCollum is also a scorer who can adapt to averaging about 20 points per game in the regular season.

The little Sabonis was a gimmick at the time, and he was the son of the old Sabonis.

The little Curry is still last year's FMVP, the younger brother of Stephen Curry, that's not bad.

As long as it can be negotiated, Su Chen feels that the deal won't be too stressful.

At most, we can give full play to the traditional artistic skills of the Timberwolves and give them the pick.

However, this deal will not be given to the first round, and two or three in the second round will be enough to satisfy the Thunder.

"Okay, then I'll do it."

Seeing that Su Chen was so confident, Dennis Lindsey didn't have much to say.

After all, his job was to assist Su Chen, and Su Chen was the one who made the decision, and there was nothing to say if Su Chen made the decision.

Dennis Lindsey also did what he said, and used the landline in the office to directly call the Thunder management.

Su Chen didn't go out either, just sat and drank coffee.

The negotiation between Dennis Lindsey and the Thunder will not be settled in a while.

Su Chen was not in a hurry, and asked the secretary to bring in a plate of pastries, just a little hungry.

For the deal with Thunder, Su Chen has no intention of offering anyone other than chips.

If you need to balance the salary chips, you can directly get the balance from the Timberwolves water dispenser.

Ibaka's contract this season is only more than 1000 and [-] million. Speaking of it, it is still a very high-quality contract.

Of course, it doesn't matter if the contract is bigger, the Timberwolves' salary space is far from the luxury line.

As for whether the negotiation will be successful, Su Chen is still confident.

The data of Gobert and McCollum maintained such luxurious data during the Timberwolves' 20-game winning streak. Who dares to say that Gobert's data is fake?

You swipe the data to swipe [-] consecutive victories and come out to see?

There is still some gold content, let alone McCollum, Gobert's talent is really visible to the naked eye.

Before the draft, many people thought that Gobert's height, wingspan and speed were very good, but they were very worried about whether Gobert could play at the NBA level.

That's why I fell down.

But looking at it now, Gobert not only adapted to the intensity of the NBA level, but played very comfortably.

It can be said that after verifying that Gobert is sufficient to adapt to the intensity of the NBA, Gobert's value has also risen.

As for the reasons for the recent poor record, everyone knows this.

The Timberwolves have taken a lot of games off recently, even Su Chen himself has taken turns off.

This is to forcibly win [-] consecutive victories and bring the necessary recovery time. Now the Timberwolves have basically recovered.

We negotiated for a while.

Dennis Lindsey has finally concluded negotiations with the Thunder.

"They basically agreed to the trading plan with Gobert, McCollum, and Seth Curry as the main body. Other bargaining chip players are still negotiating, and the number of second-round picks is still negotiating."

Dennis Lindsey's expression was a little surprised.

He originally thought that when he clearly refused to trade with Giannis, the Thunder management would directly hang up the phone.

But in fact no.

After he reported Gobert, the first reaction of the Thunder management was not fury, but hesitation.

After catching the hesitation on the other side, Dennis Lindsey immediately realized that this deal was worth talking about.

The Thunder asked to add Butler and Middleton, but Dennis Lindsey had roughly touched the Thunder's psychological bottom line, and gradually replaced the chips with McCollum and Curry Jr.

Dennis Lindsey was very surprised when the main deal was negotiated.

He originally thought that this deal was a no-go, even if there was a deal, it wouldn't be settled today.

It will probably go through a long tug-of-war negotiation, with everyone pulling back and forth, and the real decision will not be made until the trade deadline.

Trading is not such a simple matter.

For players like Gobert and McCollum, the Thunder will let the team's analysts analyze them carefully.

The statistical data is used to make a report list, and then the management meets to make a decision after research.

There are hardly any hasty one-off deals.

The fact that the Thunder can agree to be so decisive means that the Thunder has already studied and analyzed players like Gobert McCollum in advance.

The offer for Giannis at the beginning was actually just a smoke bomb for the Thunder, because who can tell that Giannis is really not for sale by the Timberwolves.

"It's not bad. The Timberwolves can choose the players in the rotation list with equal salary. They will give two or three players in the second round, and they will pay if they want more."

Su Chen didn't care about these insignificant things at all.

Players outside the rotation lineup were originally not used by Su Chen.

As for things like the second round, which can be bought with money, anyway, the boss pays for it, showing a sense of arrogance.

"Su, I think you don't want to be a coach someday, and it's not bad to change careers to be a manager."

Dennis Lindsey said sincerely.

When Su Chen asked him to talk like this, he was quite nervous at first, but it was only after the whole negotiation that Dennis Lindsey found out.

Su Chen has already taken the management of Thunderbolt into consideration.

"However, it's a bit strange that they can agree so quickly."

Dennis - Lindsey some doubts.

"The Thunder don't want to train Ibaka anymore, but they are still a playoff-level team. They are eager to make an early trade and run the lineup."

Su Chen said to Dennis Lindsay.

As of today, in fact, the entire schedule is almost one-third of the way.

It's not too early to say.

Although the three of Gobert and McCollum Curry have shown some immediate combat power, they are still rookies who need to be cultivated after all.

The lineup also needs to be adjusted.

When they came to the Timberwolves to trade, they had already done the Timberwolves player report.

They also felt that Su Chen would probably agree to the deal, because Su Chen and the Timberwolves signed a gambling agreement. If the Timberwolves did not make it to the playoffs, Su Chen would not even be able to get the salary of the head coach, and he would not be able to find it in the NBA. job loser.

The current Thunder is full of a petty air.

They didn't want to give Ibaka a big contract, and felt that Ibaka would definitely not be able to keep it, so they simply came to the Timberwolves to exchange for some potential rookies to retrain themselves.

As for competing for the championship, they don't have the awareness yet, and they can let Harden go for nothing in order to save 600 million.

Especially in the last season, after the Thunder was eliminated by the Grizzlies, the Thunder is now more stingy in hedging the championship.

You know, the Grizzlies were swept by the Warriors last season, and they were eliminated 1-4 by the Grizzlies.

While this disappointed the Thunder's management, they wanted to replace the current chips with cheap and potential ones.

Today's Thunder lineup structure is a starting lineup with Durant and Westbrook as the core.

Due to Westbrook's low attendance rate this season, Reggie Jackson, who is the sixth man, needs to be on top of the starting lineup from time to time.

Perkins' current strength is no longer that of Perkins in the Celtics championship era, and now his ability has declined a lot.

But now the Thunder's Adams has not grown up and is in a state of obscurity.

Thunder is now scarce center, even if Perkins so decline, they let Perkins as the starting center.

Gobert, who has already shown 20+10 level of combat power, can successfully fill the inside line of the Thunder.

McCollum can provide firepower output from the bench when Reggie Jackson is on top of the starting lineup. If he plays well, he can also serve as the starting shooting guard to assist the second youngster.

After proposing Gobert and McCollum, the Thunder was very excited, but still hesitated.

When Dennis Lindsey proposed to Curry again, the Thunder finally made up their minds and they sent out the power forward who has won consecutive blocks and the best first defense.

In particular, Dennis Lindsey gave the Thunder a lot of initiative in the second round and match players, which made the Thunder eager to trade.

Such a big-headed Timberwolves, what to do if they don't make a deal and run away.

Besides, they traded earlier, and they can run in a few more lineups, which is the best of both worlds.

"Haha, in short, we have really made up for the team's shortcomings now. I am too confident about making it to the playoffs."

Dennis Lindsay laughed.

Dennis Lindsey also knows that the biggest shortcoming of the team now is the inside.

Gobert is not as good as imagined, and he is not compatible with the real core cornerstones of the team, Giannis and Butler.

Muscala is at the level of a substitute who can play more than 10 minutes to [-] minutes.

"Playoffs? Maybe we can reach a higher position."

Su Chen smiled lightly, put down the coffee cup, and stood up.

Although Ibaka is a power forward, with Giannis' presence, it is completely sufficient to sweep the inside and help defend and rebound.

If you only ask Ibaka to do defense, then he will tell you how strong his defensive ability is.

Although Ibaka did not get dpoy, he also won the second place in the dpoy votes.

The young Ibaka is the peak Ibaka, and Ibaka's decline came after he played closed.

The current Ibaka has not played in a closed game yet, and Su Chen will not let him play in a closed game.

The rushing Heat James, Ibaka can take the Heat James under confrontation in a positive way.

It sounds simple, but it's a difficult thing to do.

The peak Heat Zhan rushed up, and if ordinary insiders rushed to block shots, they would be easily dunked.

First, the speed of the inside line is inherently slow. When facing the Heat Zhan when moving past, the larger tonnage can only be used as a cushion for the Heat Zhan.

Second, the bounce on the inside line is generally not high. Even if you stand in a good position in advance, the Heat Zhan uses the method of tomahawk dunking.

Ibaka was able to hit James' dunk head-on because of his fast bounce and high wingspan.

With Ibaka's current speed, he can easily defend against small players.

If you want to play unlimited defenses, then Ibaka is the answer to the center position.

When a team has Ibaka, Antetokounmpo, and Covington, the three top defenses, it can be said that it is difficult for any player to get by.

But Ibaka is not without weaknesses.

Ibaka's downside strength is a bit weak. When he meets the Spurs in the playoffs, Ibaka will be infinitely educated by the old Duncan.

In fact, in the original timeline, Ibaka was educated once by the elderly Duncan and Nowitzki.

But for Duncan, Antetokounmpo can be matched, and Ibaka is responsible for assisting defense.

Antetokounmpo's core strength is not bad, and at the same time he has excellent static talent, and his height and wingspan can prevent Duncan from suddenly hitting the board with a hook.

Antetokounmpo defends Duncan, and Ibaka can calmly double-team.

Besides, Duncan is still an old version after all, if it is the peak Duncan, the two double teams will not be of much use to Duncan.

Although I didn't get Lopez and Gasol Jr., it's pretty good to have Ibaka.

Besides, Gasol only has mid-range shots and no three-pointers, and his speed is not very fast. It is really not necessarily better than Ibaka for the Timberwolves who are stacking forward defenses.

"Next, we can set our goals higher, let's just be the championship."

Su Chen looked out the window and smiled.

As the deal was about to be concluded, some rumors began to leak out.

For a while, the news that Gobert and others were going to be traded was also spread all over the sky.

And the game at the Target Center in the evening seems to confirm this.

In the game between the Timberwolves and the Wizards.

Gobert, McCollum and others were directly wearing training clothes and had no intention of playing at all.

You know, in the past games, both McCollum and Gobert have always been the team's starters.

But if he doesn't play now, it's basically verified.

Many Timberwolves fans didn't even pay much attention to tonight's game.

But Su Chen tonight is more concerned about the game.

The team's recent record has been very poor, and the rest has almost slowed down for a while, and it has also recovered a little.

Timberwolves starting lineup: Mike Muscala (C), Giannis Antetokounmpo (PF), Luol Deng (SF), Andre Iguodala (SG), Jimmy Butler ( PG)

Wizards starting lineup: Marcin Gortat (C), Nene Hilario (PF), Trevor Ariza (SF), Bradley Beal (SG), John Wall (PG) )

In order to rehearse Ibaka's offensive tactics in advance, Su Chen let Muscala, an insider with three points, play the team's starting lineup.

Su Chen felt familiar with the Wizards lineup.

Bill Wall's backcourt combination is considered a classic backcourt combination in memory. Although they haven't had any good results, they are regulars in the playoffs.

The combination of Gortat and Nene is equally classic.

However, this classic lineup was slowly broken up with the advent of the small ball era.

It is a bit of a sigh to say it.

Although this combination is classic, it is not very strong.

The Timberwolves, who have been rested for eight games, are now setting sail again, and facing the Wizards is a heavy blow.

This game was played back and forth, but after the Timberwolves improved their concentration, the intensity slowly increased.

At least it's back to the normal regular season level.

Wall, a point guard who doesn't have a three-pointer, faces the Timberwolves surrounded by insiders, and it is difficult to score goals.

The Wizards' two insiders themselves don't have much shooting, at most they can make mid-range shots, and the Timberwolves' rotation speed can easily make up for mid-range shots.

For this kind of team without shooting, the core point guard still focuses on breakthroughs, and the Timberwolves can be regarded as restrained.

This is because Ibaka didn't come, otherwise the defense Wall faced would be even more overwhelming.

Of course, Gobert also has this effect. After all, the Wizards have poor shots, and Gobert is still very strong in defense when he does not use the scope.

However, the Gobert deal has been finalized, and Gobert will not be able to play this time. Immediately after the official announcement, he will go through the medical examination process.

Timberwolves 97:85 Wizards.

The Timberwolves also relied on defense to easily win the game.

The Timberwolves' record has also become 22 wins and 7 losses.

After the game, Gobert, McCollum and others were not in high spirits.

Originally, they thought that the team supported them to make them the cornerstone.

But now the team has notified them, they were traded.

Gobert is okay. He has a more inflated mentality now, and he feels that the new team Thunder will not have much adaptation process.

The Thunder lacks insiders, and he used to be the main insider.

Little Curry is actually fine. He was originally undrafted and could not enter the league, but now he has the ball.

The most lost is McCollum.

After the game, he glanced at Giannis, his eyes full of unwillingness.

Perhaps this was planned from the beginning.

The Timberwolves' first-round picks are consecutive, and the Timberwolves don't have to worry about the people they are optimistic about being robbed by other teams.

However, Giannis is one pick above him.

This seems to have settled the future positioning of him and Giannis in the Timberwolves team.

This rank seems to be an insurmountable class.

Originally, he thought that the recent increase in his role was because the team had seen clearly who was the cornerstone of the team.

For a time, he felt that he was slowly becoming the leader of the team, and that big man Giannis was his second-in-command.

But now it seems that he is the clown.

He glanced at Su Chen again.

In the eyes of the coach, he may never have looked at him directly.

McCollum clenched his fists.

The Thunder are a strong team in the Western Conference, and the Timberwolves have done so much this season to make it to the playoffs.

He will do his best in the next game between the Thunder and the Timberwolves, kick the Timberwolves out of the playoffs, and make the coach who looked down on him the loser of the betting agreement!
Thinking of this, McCollum let go of his fist, and the expression on his face relaxed.

He was originally the winner of the most improved player. At this moment, McCollum has never had such motivation in his heart.

Post-match press conference.

Just when the game was over, the Timberwolves officially announced the deal.

The Timberwolves sent Gobert + McCollum + Seth Curry + Muhammad + two rounds, and traded Ibaka from the Thunder.

As soon as the news came out, it immediately caused a lot of discussion.

The reporters who participated in the post-match press conference all got the news, and the reporters were very excited for a while.

They can interview the person in charge of this transaction in the first time.

When Su Chen came into the room, he saw excited reporters one by one.

He could also think that, after all, he set the official announcement time for this matter.

The earlier the official announcement, the earlier the medical examination process, and let Ibaka report earlier.

"Excuse me, Coach Su Chen, you said a while ago that Gobert was the best player in the Timberwolves' 20-game winning streak. Why was he traded?"

The first reporter to be drawn asked sharp questions.

"I did say he could be the cornerstone of the team, but the Thunder lack a center and they need that kind of cornerstone."

"Gobert is indeed very good, his defense is historical level, I am optimistic that he can become a dpoy in the future."

Su Chen had already thought of such an answer.

This answer stunned the reporter for a moment.

Recalling it, it seems that Su Chen did not say that Gobert is the cornerstone of the Timberwolves, but a player who can become the cornerstone.

After hearing Su Chen's answer, the other reporters couldn't hold back.

It seems that the deal for Gobert was premeditated by Su Chen.

When touting Gobert, he kept a hand, which made Su Chen boast that Gobert was too high in trade value and at the same time get it back.

It has to be said that Su Chen's cunning level surprised many reporters.

"Gobert can become a dpoy, but he traded so many chips for Ibaka who has no dpoy. Is it understandable that this is a mistake?"

Since Su Chen had already thought about the transaction issue, another reporter immediately asked about it.

"We need to get to the playoffs, Gobert's future is great, but that's the future."

"Ibaka is a member of the best first defense for two consecutive years. His arrival can improve the overall defensive temperament of our team."

"At the same time, he also has finals experience, which is very rare. He will help our other players grow."

Su Chen said eloquently.

Su Chen didn't hide it, but told the reporter clearly that he traded for immediate combat power.

Most of the first-round picks that the Timberwolves could handle were given to Su Chen. During the offseason, it was clear that they wanted to win now.

Having said that, everyone also felt that the Timberwolves had implemented their own strategy.

That is to win in the moment.

Next, the reporters asked some more questions.

Su Chen also used the official Che Rulu language to deal with them one by one.

There was no news from Su Chen.

Instead, some reporters adopted a curve strategy to interview the traded players.

"From the moment I entered the league, I was a part of the league, and the transaction was also part of the league."

Gobert was reminded by his agent that he spoke very well.

At the same time, Curry has the size of his big brother, and he didn't say anything out of the ordinary.

It's just that McCollum was a little arrogant, and Giannis was lowered by Giannis from the beginning, which made him a little dissatisfied.

Even though his agent had given him template words, he still couldn't hold back.

"The Thunder still have a game against the Timberwolves next, and I will kick the Timberwolves out of the playoffs."

"If other teams let the Timberwolves into the playoffs, it's best not to meet them in the playoffs. I will personally eliminate the Timberwolves."

The young and energetic McCollum still did not adopt the official formula given by his agent.

In the face of media interviews, McCollum spoke out what was in his heart.

No matter what other people think, the media is happy and has something to write about!
The next day.

The trade between the Timberwolves and the Thunder has also become a hot topic.

"The first big deal after the start of the season: The Timberwolves sent Gobert, McCollum, Seth Curry, Muhammad, the second round in 2015, the second round in 2016, and the Thunder got Ibaka. "

The trade deadline is still a long way off.

Although there are some transactions during this period, they are usually small transactions.

And the two teams that produced the deal are also very subtle, one is the second in the West and the other is the third in the West.

On the whole, the Timberwolves are at a loss.

Because Gobert's prospects are so good, although McCollum is not as good as Gobert's prospects, he is also very good.

Not to mention, there is a rotation player like Curry.

But if you have to compare the immediate combat power, it seems that the Timberwolves' immediate combat power has improved a little.

After all, Ibaka is already the player who has won consecutive blocks and has been selected to the best first-defense team. Those Timberwolves players have no honor.

But some people think so.

If Gobert continues to maintain his current level, he will even be able to match Ibaka's level this season. After all, Ibaka's rebounding ability and top defense ability have been proven to be relatively average.

Not to mention the old Duncan, even the old Nowitzki can also educate Ibaka.

As for Gobert's top defense ability, when he faced the old Nowitzki last time, he already showed a better performance than Ibaka.

At the same time, Gobert also has excellent rebounding ability, which is already better than Ibaka at this stage.

After all, Gobert is tall and long, which is an inherent advantage.

There is another very important point.

The current Thunder is Durant's team, and Ibaka's pick-and-roll level is very average. This is the reason why the Thunder is dissatisfied with Ibaka.

As for the quality of Gobert's cover, it is very obviously high-quality.

Durant is good at shooting, even when the quality of the team's pick-and-roll coverage is relatively low, he still has a very good output.

The arrival of Gobert can improve the level of coverage and allow Durant to play better.

It's just that Gobert just replaced Ibaka, and many people feel that the Thunder have nothing to lose.

Gobert's adaptability to the Thunder is obviously higher than that of Ibaka.

Not to mention, McCollum is also a scorer with a good ability to hold the ball.

And also more upbeat.

"McCollum: I want to kick the Timberwolves out of the playoffs with my own hands. "

McCollum's post-match interview also became a hot topic.

For a while, the revenge scene between McCollum and the Timberwolves also attracted a lot of attention.

Fans love to watch this excitement.

I want to see whether McCollum is proud or proves that the Timberwolves are right to give up on him.

Of course, the coolest thing about this kind of drama is to see McCollum revenge his old club.

Fans are excitedly discussing this topic.

It was almost shouting and fighting, and fighting.

As for Curry, in this transaction, he seemed a bit low-key.

He is not the subject of this transaction.

But he is Stephen Curry's younger brother after all, and people are also looking forward to what little Curry will do in a different environment.

(End of this chapter)