NBA: Start by torturing Jordan and add points to upgrade

Still in the Eastern Conference, after the Pistons disintegrated, the original pattern of three strong teams competing in the Eastern Conference has been completely broken. In the new season of the Eastern Conference, it is likely to become a competition between the Knicks and the Celtics.

The first team to take action after the Pistons broke up was not the Celtics, but the Nets, who had been chasing the championship but always failed.

Today's Nets no longer have the ferocity they had at the beginning of the century. Their lineup of twin towers and two stars has not allowed them to go further, and after letting Gasol go in the offseason last season, the Nets' record continued to decline.

Their problems are actually very simple: the role players are not strong, the three big superstars take up too much salary space, Kidd is beginning to age, Carter is always tepid, and Yao Ming is attacked by injuries.

In short, for various reasons, almost everyone has eliminated the Nets from the list of popular candidates for the championship.

Under this circumstance, the Nets also chose to rebuild!
They sent away Kidd, the absolute core of the team in the past few years!
The deal involving Kidd is huge! It is not an exaggeration to say that this is the largest deal in NBA history involving the most famous players.

This huge deal involves five teams and four former or current MVP-level top players! Because of this deal, the five teams will play at completely different levels and levels in the new season. Their fate and performance next season will inevitably become the focus of everyone's attention!
This unbelievably huge deal was discussed from the draft until the training camp was about to begin, when it was finally finalized and officially announced!
It took almost three months, and various teams and general managers worked extremely hard to finally work out all the details, barely satisfying most people.

Yes, for most people, one transaction can win multiple things, but it is quite difficult to win them all.

Some people are destined to be sent to unsatisfactory places, and every time this happens, it is time for those shameless people to say: business is business.

But no matter whether everyone is satisfied or not, whether everyone has gone to their favorite team, and whether they can continue to show their strength in a new place, we will have to play to know!

The specific process of this transaction is as follows:
The Nets traded Jason Kidd to the San Antonio Spurs for Tayshaun Prince, Mike Bibby and a 2011 draft pick.

The Spurs traded Tracy McGrady, Mike Bibby and a 2011 first-round pick for Shaquille O'Neal and Steve Francis.

The Magic sent their unprotected draft pick next year from the Trail Blazers, the tenth pick in 05, Bynum, and Steve Francis, who had just been traded for less than half a season, and got Allen Iverson!
The Timberwolves traded Allen Iverson for Jason Kidd.

The Lakers finally traded O'Neal, and along with him went the team's starting small forward Prince. The Lakers got Andrew Bynum, Tracy McGrady and the Trail Blazers' unprotected first-round draft pick next year!
Of course, in addition to these major trading personnel and draft picks, this huge deal involving five teams and a total annual salary of over $1 million also has many details and the addition of minor extra players.

If all those extra players are included, this deal would be a huge one involving 5 teams and 17 players!
Considering that the trade includes top or first-rate players in the league such as O'Neal, Iverson, Kidd, McGrady, Francis, Bibby, etc., it is no exaggeration to say that this deal is the biggest, most shocking, and craziest deal in history!
The birth of this deal is also the result of the right time, right place and right people. If there weren't so many coincidences, if the teams didn't have so many problems, and if the teams weren't so dissatisfied with their own records, box office, ball market, surrounding areas and other situations, this deal would not have happened!
For example, the Nets chose to replace Kidd because they had not made any progress for many years, and exchanged him for a more offensive Bibby and a top-notch puzzle piece Prince to increase the depth of their lineup.

The Timberwolves have failed to win the championship for three consecutive years, especially after being eliminated in the first round last year. They have also lost confidence in the combination of Iverson and Garnett. In addition, Sanders, who led the trade for Iverson, has been fired.

So the team chose to start over and got a more traditional point guard, Kidd. Of course, after getting Kidd, they also saved nearly $300 million in salary expenses. Who made Iverson's salary so high?
As for the Magic, ever since the disintegration of their super lineup, they have been eager to bring in another top-notch star with both strength and popularity to improve the team's half-dead market and ticket sales.

That's why they traded for Francis before the deadline last season.

But unfortunately, they overestimated Francis' box office appeal, so in this offseason, they did not hesitate to send Francis, Bynum, who had been trained for a year but was still extremely bad and showed no sign of improvement, and the Trail Blazers' first-round draft pick away, and got Iverson.

A true top star, a guy who is at the forefront of the league in terms of both strength and popularity!

And Iverson became the biggest victim and the saddest person in this deal.

A star of his age at this time is obviously more eager for championships and winning, rather than going to a weak team to brush up some stats and train new players.

But the Timberwolves just don't care. They just want to sell this little star who tried his best in the playoffs last season but couldn't carry the team alone, as if the Timberwolves' sweep in the first round last season was all Iverson's fault!
But no matter whether Iverson is satisfied or not, no matter whether he is willing to play for the Magic, a bad team, everything has been decided and he has become a victim.

As for the Spurs, they were almost completely defeated by their opponents in the divisional semifinals last season and failed to put up any decent performance or resistance.

Bibby's poor performance due to aging and unfamiliarity with the local climate is also considered to be one of the important reasons why the Spurs lost so easily in the playoffs.

The second important reason is the conflict between McGrady and James!
These two guys have some conflicts in terms of position and playing style! Or rather, the conflicts are quite serious!
In his first season with the team, McGrady was willing to sacrifice himself and reduce his shots. He even lost his scoring title for this. However, sacrifice and concession did not make the team better. Instead, McGrady's sensitive heart played tricks again. He always felt that he did not get enough respect in the Spurs.

He also always feels that he is no worse than James and is unwilling to just be the second in command of the team.

Then, he and the team completely broke down on the issue of contract renewal and could not reach an agreement at all. Popovich and Buford saw that the relationship between McGrady, the management and James was not very good and was on the verge of breaking down, so they simply did a major reconstruction and traded McGrady away directly.

The one who left with him was naturally Bibby, who performed poorly.

And the people the team recruited are also the helpers that James longed for.

A more pure backcourt finisher, James doesn't want his teammates to have those who like to hold the ball for a long time and organize the offense.

It is always best to have only one organizer for the team, so the team found Francis, who is more suitable for finishing, prefers personal offense but has average organizational skills.

But in this deal, no matter how many All-Stars he was or what kind of statistics he achieved, Francis was clearly just a by-product.

The Spurs' real target is O'Neal!
After all, considering that Bosh's playing style is more outside-oriented and not a traditional inside one, and Nesterovic is not up to the task, the Spurs lost the past two playoffs because their inside line was blown up.

So this time, Popovich and Buford tried their best and finally found a real top center for the team!

O'Neal!
Even though O'Neal will be 36 years old in the new season, and even though his peak period is visibly coming to an end.

But this is O'Neal!
In the finals of last season, O'Neal was still able to kill all the teams, scoring 40+20 and 50+20 in a single game! If he hadn't always met Lin Tian, ​​the Lakers would have won the championship and even created a dynasty!

O'Neal in this state can be traded for just a draft pick and a McGrady, which is definitely a good deal!
After all, although O'Neal's peak period was only 1-2 years, Francis' peak period was only 3-4 years at most due to injuries and playing style.

But James and Bosh were in their prime, and 2011 was their peak period. That's why the Spurs threw away their first-round pick so easily.

With James and Bosh, the Spurs' 2011 draft pick will inevitably be somewhere below 25th.

Not worth the money at all!

Especially, it was O'Neal that was traded for! Popovich has always dreamed of coaching a super inside player. From David Robinson to Tim Duncan, Popovich has always had a dream of coaching a super inside player!
Now, this dream has finally come true!
Even if O'Neal is just at the end of his peak, he is still the league's best center!

The more important reason is: O'Neal was brought from the Lakers!

This means that the Spurs got one O'Neal and the Lakers lost one O'Neal. With one inside and one outside, that's two O'Neals in total!

Now, don’t the Spurs have the final say in the Western Conference?

As for the Lakers getting McGrady, Popovich said: You McGrady and James are incompatible, how can you and Kobe be compatible?

Absolutely impossible!
Especially, Popovich still has a secret in his hands!

Maddie's physical examination report!

Although this guy has had pretty good attendance in recent seasons, his health risks are still significant!
This guy's spine and waist have considerable risk of injury and irreversible severe wear and tear!

In layman's terms: If you're not careful, this guy will be out for the season! How many games he can play depends entirely on luck!

Anyway, Popovich estimated that the Lakers were just a team on the edge of the playoffs, at most 5th or 6th.

Not worth mentioning!
If we don’t meet, it’s fine. But if we do, won’t they beat you to death? Of course, there is also the Lakers!
The Lakers' trade of O'Neal was almost decided after the end of the season. The only suspense was where O'Neal would go and who would join the Lakers.

Originally, according to the idea of ​​the new general manager Kupchak, O'Neal must be sent to the East to prevent this guy from meeting the Lakers four times a year, and possibly meeting them early in the playoffs. This would be embarrassing for everyone.

But on the one hand, O'Neal himself didn't really want to go to the teams in the East that wanted him, because those teams were not very competitive. On the other hand, Buss gave the order at the beginning of the offseason: This deal was not about making a huge profit, but about a good parting.

So, after casually asking around in the East and finding no suitable team, Kupchak turned his attention to the West.

After several discussions and chatting with Kobe and O'Neal for a long time, Kupchak finally made up his mind and made a deal that satisfied both Kobe and O'Neal!

O'Neal went to the Spurs, a team that had the strength to compete for the championship and had a relatively complete lineup.

The Lakers gained Kobe's good friend McGrady and a rough draft pick who is still waiting to be developed, Bynum. In addition, the Lakers also got the Trail Blazers' unprotected draft pick next year in this deal!
Based on the Trail Blazers' current state and personnel configuration, this draft pick is likely to be a top ten pick!

In other words, the Lakers traded O'Neal and Prince, who were at the end of their prime, for McGrady, who was at his prime, a top-10 rookie to be developed, and a future draft pick that would be at least in the top-10!
The deal was done, and Bass was quite satisfied anyway!
That was the deal he wanted.

O'Neal was happy, they parted ways amicably and remained friends, and the team got a pretty good reward!

Happy!
What kind of results and outcomes these five teams will achieve after this super trade will depend on their fate and the abilities of their head coaches!

It is also worth mentioning that in addition to this big deal, a small story also happened between the other two strong teams in the West.

It's more of an accident than a story.

The Suns asked Nash: What kind of teammates do you want in the new season?

Coincidentally...the Mavericks also asked Nowitzki: How do you hope to strengthen the team in the new season?

What’s even more interesting is that the two guys gave pretty consistent answers.

"I want Steve."

"I want Dirk."

Then?

Then when the two teams first came into contact, it was so harmonious.

"I have a business deal I want to discuss with you!"

"What a coincidence! I also have a deal I want to discuss."

……

Then the management of the two teams almost got into a fight.

I'm sincerely looking for you to do business for mutual benefit, and you open your mouth and ask for me to be the cornerstone and absolute core of my team?

Deceiving too much!

How shameless!
You are making a fool of me!

Naturally, the deal was not concluded in the end and was aborted.

Neither Nowitzki nor Nash were able to wait for each other.

This is basically the situation in the West.

And in the east, something quite important happened, which could even be called an earthquake.

Auerbach is gone.

The greatest and longest-serving player in NBA history, who created countless topics, shaped countless glorious moments and was the chief architect of the Celtics, the No. 7 team in NBA history, passed away quietly one night in mid-July.

His funeral and farewell party were actually quite low-key. Apart from his former disciples and some good friends, no reporters or irrelevant people were invited to attend.

Everyone just quietly mourned this respectable elder.

Auerbach has lived under the spotlight all his life, and he is always accompanied by flowers, applause, lights and the teams he built with his own hands.

From the beginning, he ignored the extremely serious racial problems in the United States at that time and selected Bill Russell against all odds, and then gathered Bob Cousy, Havlicek and others to create the unprecedented 8 consecutive championships.

Then in the 80s, Bird was selected, and Parish, McHale and others were gathered together to create another golden age for the Celtics.

Even the Celtics' decline in the late 80s and early 90s cannot be blamed on Auerbach, as he left assets to the team.

But no one could have imagined that Len Bias, the super genius who was said to be able to beat Jordan in college, would kill himself by taking drugs the day after being selected by the Celtics with the second pick, and go straight to heaven.

No one could have imagined that Reggie Lewis, the absolute core of the team in his prime, would suddenly die of a heart attack.

The sudden deaths of these two people cast a tragic shadow on the Celtics throughout the 90s.

Fortunately, as time went on, after Auerbach almost completely let go of the team's affairs and only had the title of consultant but almost completely ignored the affairs, the Celtics finally saw signs of improvement.

They selected Howard and signed Duncan. Although the team still did not win the championship, everyone believes that they can continue to challenge for the championship in the next few years!
Then, just when everything was going smoothly, Auerbach left forever.

At his memorial service, Bird's eyes were red, and he said nothing, staring blankly at everything in front of him, as if he still couldn't believe it. He always felt that the irritable but charismatic old man would suddenly jump out, then laugh and say to everyone: "I got you!"

But unfortunately, he waited for a long time, but no one jumped out, and he only waited for Danny Ainge.

This former teammate, this old buddy who had had many disputes with Bird but reconciled with him and had worked together in Indiana for a year, also sat next to Bird with red eyes.

"Larry, the doctor said that the old man still has at least 6-18 months to live. As long as he doesn't work too hard, doesn't use his brain too much, doesn't strain his mind, and as long as he rests well, he can enjoy a longer life."

"But he just couldn't let go of the team, he just couldn't calm down, and he couldn't rest until he saw the team win the championship again."

"Larry, do you understand what I mean?" (End of this chapter)