Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 197 "Who did you say LeBron replaced?"

There is still no news about where James is going, but the Rockets made some small news.

They used a three-year, $3 million contract to lure Jeremy Lin from the Knicks.

The contract may not seem like a big deal, but the Knicks were unable to match it because it involved the "Arenas clause."

Arenas was a second-round pick by the Warriors and performed well. Later, the Wizards exploited a loophole in the rules and made an offer that the Warriors could not match to poach Arenas, performing a "get something for nothing" play.

The league subsequently introduced new terms that set offer limits for second-round picks, requiring that the first-year salary of the offer contract cannot be higher than the middle class.

However, this limitation only stipulates a two-year contract, because even the first-round pick's contract is a maximum of four years, so this leads to a situation where the offer contract can increase significantly in the third year.

For teams that don't have much salary space, if they match the offer, they will have to bear the risk of paying a huge luxury tax for the player in the third year.

Therefore, this type of contract is also called a "poison contract" by the outside world.

In fact, this has already happened to Jordan of the Clippers last season. Those teams that know how to play will basically not sign short-term contracts of one or two years with rookies.

For example, this year the Warriors signed Green for three years.

However, Jeremy Lin's outbreak was completely unexpected, and the Knicks could only give up in tears.

Just after Jeremy Lin was poached by the Rockets, the Knicks announced that they had reached a deal with the Suns.

They traded for Nash from the Suns after sending four second-round picks and some cash.

This was a sign-and-trade contract. Nash first reached a three-year, $3 million contract with the Suns.

Nash had previously announced that he would not stay with the Suns, and the Raptors and Knicks were among his possible destinations.

Jeremy Lin's poaching pushed the dominoes, leading Nash to finally choose to join the Knicks and fight for the championship at the end of his career.

The free market was in turmoil, and Hansen met Jamison at a fishing spot on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Because his leg was still in a cast, he could only greet Jamison while sitting.

Jamison leaned over and gave Hansen a big hug, looking very excited.

It was fun to brush up stats in Cleveland, but after doing that for so long, people got tired of it. Now that he can fight for the championship with Hansen, his feeling can only be described in four words: a dead tree comes back to life.

"You are lucky. This was originally intended for LeBron." Han Sen said, pointing to the fishing gear next to him.

"Speaking of LeBron, I heard before I came here that his team really wants to go to New York now." Jamison sat down with a smile.

Now the rumors about where James is going are flying everywhere, Jamison is in the East, so the news he knows will be more reliable.

"That's not surprising, but he can't go."

Han Sen remembered that James had said that he wanted to play with Nash. Now that Nash had gone to the Knicks, which was his favorite team, he would naturally want to go even more.

It's just that Nash went to the Knicks, and the Knicks now have draft picks, so they may even form a super lineup of Nash, Anthony, James, and Howard.

Under this background, there is no way Riley would let James go.

Ultimately, Riley's wishes are decisive in deciding where James goes.

Stern was able to have a say in where Paul went because the Hornets were under league trusteeship at the time.

Neither the league nor Nike can dictate the league's normal transactions.

In the next few days, Jamison accompanied Hansen in fishing.

But unlike when he was in Cleveland, Jamison ended up with nothing for several days in a row.

"It must be the fishing rod's fault." Han Sen gave the most reasonable explanation.

It wasn't until the fourth day, when Hansen was about to change Jamison's fishing rod, that he finally caught a fish.

It was not just one pound, nor two or three pounds, but a giant Asian carp weighing eight pounds.

Jamison is holding the big carp, and Hansen is taking a photo of him.

Just after taking the photo, Thomas called him.

"What did you say?"

"Which KD?"

After Han Sen hung up the phone, he was still stunned.

"What's wrong?" Jamison asked curiously as he put the carp into the fish basket.

"LeBron's deal is done."

Jamison took out his phone in confusion, but did not see any relevant news.

Of course, there was no news at this time, because Thomas got the information in advance thanks to his powerful network of contacts.

"Where was he traded to?"

"Thunder."

"Thunder? LeBron would want to go there?" Jamison was surprised.

The Knicks, Clippers, Spurs, you can even say the Rockets, but the Thunder is a real small market, and the owner doesn't have much money.

However, the Thunder do have bargaining chips, Harden, Ibaka, Westbrook, and Perkins, who are most likely to satisfy the Heat's appetite.

And even if the Heat are still not satisfied, these chips are more than enough to attract a third party.

"So who did they trade for LeBron?" Jamison's curiosity was aroused.

"KD."

"Which KD?"

Well, Hansen and Jamison looked at each other at this time because they asked the same question.

But does the Thunder have a second KD?
Obviously not.

The Thunder traded Durant for James!
"What the hell!" Jamison cursed after he reacted.

At this time, Jamison's phone also received a pop-up message.

The Heat's trade was officially announced.

The Heat sent James, Mike Miller and McRoberts to the Thunder in exchange for Durant and Perkins.

Han Sen stroked his chin and pondered for a while, finally figuring things out.

This transaction was very sudden, which means it was unexpected.

In this kind of sudden transaction, Riley basically makes the decision quickly.

In other words, it was the Thunder that made the offer to the Heat, and then Riley made the decision without saying a word.

Not to mention them, I guess James and Durant, the two protagonists of the transaction, are more surprised than them.

But this is very reasonable, because if he were Riley, after seeing the Thunder's offer, he would want to fly to Oklahoma City and tie Presti onto the plane, for fear that the Thunder would go back on their word.

So what is the Thunder's motivation for wanting James?
If it was before, Han Sen would find it difficult to understand, but after experiencing his own early contract renewal, he should be able to understand it now.

I have to say it a thousand times: for small-market teams, championships are important, but money is more important.

The commercial value that James can bring to the Thunder is obviously greater than that of Durant.

Of course, there is a premise here, that is, the Thunder suffered a crushing defeat to the Grizzlies in the Western Conference Finals last season, leaving the team with no hope of breaking out of the West.

Since they can't win the championship anyway, they might as well think about how to make more money. After all, the Thunder are good at drafting, and Durant was trained by themselves, so there is actually no loss.

And to put it another way, the lineup of Westbrook, Harden, James and Ibaka is not bad either.

After sorting it out, Han Sen couldn't help but laugh.

Putting aside the question of whether Harden will stay on the team, the fact that Westbrook and James are on the same team is enough to make the picture look good.

As a time traveler, Han Sen is the only one who knows what it is like for these two brothers to be on the same team.

They all want to hold the ball, they all want to get defensive rebounds, they all want to make fast breaks, they all like statistics...

I don't know if they will start a fight as the fight goes on.

If Harden hasn't been sent away in the end, the only thing we can do is split the basketball in half.

"The Heat will be difficult to play against." Jamison, who had recovered from his shock, continued.

Wade, Durant, Bosh, Perkins, the Heat did get the center and small forward they wanted, but they were deluxe versions.

Putting aside the issue of the dynasty, the difficulty for the Grizzlies to defend their title this season has directly increased to a higher level.

……

"What did you say?!"

Durant had just finished his hard training in the training hall and sat down to rest when he received a call from his agent.

His first reaction was disbelief.

I worked hard to practice my skills and was about to fight that Korean thief to the death, why did the boss surrender first? !
But after calming down, he couldn't help laughing again.

He actually knew more about the ball possession issues within the Thunder last season than anyone else.

It's just that he has a good relationship with both of them, so it's hard to say anything.

What's more, it wouldn't matter what he said, because neither Westbrook nor Harden would give up the ball just because of him.

So he could only improve himself through hard training.

Now that he has been traded, he no longer has to worry about those problems.

Moreover, the Heat is obviously stronger than the Thunder, which means that his chances of defeating Hansen are increasing.

Since we can't beat Hansen in the West, we'll do it in the finals.

He must win this battle of man's dignity!
Another point is that he is actually a Seattle fan and is unhappy about the team's move to Oklahoma City.

Now that he has been traded by the Thunder, when he returns to Oklahoma City, he no longer has to suppress his dissatisfaction.

Thunder, the new season is waiting!

……

"What did that bastard old Pat Riley do!"

When James learned that he was sent to the Thunder, he was furious.

Oklahoma City is a typical agricultural city, even more rural than Cleveland. Does he go there to sell agricultural products?
Riley didn't show any respect to him at all, it was just a banishment!

But he is very powerless now, and this is the sadness of not having the power to veto a trade.

Only when the phrase “players are just commodities” happened to him as a commercial player did he feel the feeling of impotence and rage.

"If we had asked for the right to veto a trade when signing the contract, we wouldn't be so passive," Fu Paul said with emotion.

James looked at Rich Paul, his eyes bloodshot with anger.

After thinking for a while, he picked up his phone and called his agent Leon Rose instead of Riley.

"Our cooperation is over."

After hanging up the phone, he looked at Fu Paul again and said, "Rich, from now on, you are my agent."

Fu Paul was stunned. He didn't expect that his words of emotion would make James make such a decision.

But what followed was an uncontrollable ecstasy.

Among the "Four Horsemen", he had previously played a role similar to that of an aide, but now he finally has a role to play.

And being James' agent means a lot of money.

He was almost about to kneel down in front of James and shout "Long live the emperor".

"King, actually we only need to be patient for two seasons, then we can go back to the East." Restraining his excited heart and trembling hands, Fu Paul began to persuade.

He actually understands James the best among the Four Horsemen, and James actually doesn't want to go to the West at all.

After all, that kind of purgatory is a place that tests one's true strength. Even with the Nike halo, it would be difficult for him to break out.

But if we stay in the East, regardless of whether we can win the championship or not, at least we have a great chance of reaching the finals.

At that time, as long as the data looks good, even if my teammates lost and I didn’t, at least I can save face.

James didn't say anything, but he could only agree.

The biggest inspiration this incident gave him was that no matter where the next contract is, he must get the right to veto a trade.

"In fact, even if we can't get the trade veto power, we can still sign a 1+1 contract later. That way, we can not only get back the Bird rights, but also keep the initiative firmly in our hands." Fu Paul continued.

Upon hearing this, James reached out and patted Fu Paul on the shoulder. It seemed that his decision to let Fu Paul be his agent was right.

……

After the news of James and Durant swapping teams spread, the entire league experienced an earthquake.

James' journey to the West and the Heat's terrifying lineup will undoubtedly make next season full of highlights.

However, the fans haven't had enough fun discussing this yet. The series of subsequent chain transactions that came with this deal made the fans fully realize how crazy next season will be.

The first is Ray Allen.

He had conflicts with the Celtics a long time ago. After seeing that the team prioritized renewing Garnett's contract and only gave him a two-year, $2 million contract that was almost a beggar's play, he decided to take revenge on society and announced that he would join the Heat with a three-year mini-mid-level contract.

Now, the Heat's lineup for the new season will be more terrifying than ever before.

Soon after, a bigger deal was exposed, and the Thunder unexpectedly chose to send Harden away.

The Rockets, 76ers, Thunder and Nuggets reached a four-party big deal.

The Rockets sent Bynum to the Nuggets in exchange for Harden, Maurice Harkless, Vucevic, and the Nuggets' 2013 second-round pick.
The 76ers sent Andre Iguodala, Maurice Harkless, Vucevic and a protected first-round pick in 2015 in exchange for Bynum and Harrington.
The Thunder sent Harden to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Afflalo, the 2014 Nuggets first-round pick, and the 2015 76ers protected first-round pick.

The Nuggets sent Afflalo, Harrington, the 2013 second-round pick and the 2014 first-round pick to get Iguodala.

As soon as James arrived, Iguodala followed him to the West!

At the same time, the Magic in the East also reached a consensus with Howard, and Howard was sent to the Nets.

The Nets sent out chips centered around Brook Lopez and three future first-round picks to get Howard.

Including Joe Johnson, whom they signed in the free market before, and Deron who finally chose to renew his contract, the Nets formed an F4 super lineup of Deron, Joe Johnson, Gerald Wallace and Howard.

The Nets have also become a team in the East that can compete with the Heat on paper.

The two giants in the Eastern Conference are competing for supremacy, and in the Western Conference... the Grizzlies, Lakers, Thunder, Spurs, Mavericks, Nuggets, Clippers, Jazz, and Rockets.

This is no longer purgatory, it is hell!
(End of this chapter)