Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 256: Old Knights Gathering

The day after the draft, Hansen asked Rondo to drive his Rolls-Royce and the two drove to Cleveland.

Gay and Randolph were still in Memphis, and when they knew he was leaving, they came to say goodbye to him.

Guy's eyes turned red again. Simple people's emotions are always more easily fluctuating than others.

Han Sen patted Guy's shoulder and said, "This is not a life-and-death separation."

He will also return to Memphis to play, including participating in the All-Star Weekend here next year.

After waving goodbye to Guy and the others, Hansen's attention was once again drawn to the Pyramid Arena in the distance.

At this moment, he felt the wonder of life.

Who would have thought that the scene when I came here four years ago and when I leave now would be exactly the same.

But this time they didn't stop and go, but drove all the way back to Cleveland.

The familiar fresh air, the familiar green plants, and of course the familiar city scenery.

After many twists and turns, he returned to this place suitable for retirement.

But this time they don't have to worry about it themselves, because the Cavaliers have already arranged accommodation for them, a luxury villa near the Quicken Loans Arena.

After achieving a dynasty in Memphis, he returned to Cleveland in glory.

And Griffin came to see him not long after he arrived.

He also brought some things with him, including the access card to the Quicken Loans Arena, the contact list of the Cavaliers management, and so on.

Griffin is a very reliable person.

Moreover, he had known Han Sen for a long time and was very clear about Han Sen's needs.

Of course, he didn't come here just to deliver these things. After all, he didn't have to be the one to do this.

He came mainly to discuss the new season with Han Sen.

The first is the issue of the team’s head coach.

The Cavaliers really wanted to make the playoffs last season.

At the beginning of the season, they signed back former head coach Mike Brown and Jarrett Jack, and later traded for Luol Deng and Hawes.

It’s a pity that we didn’t make it to the playoffs in the end.

Although it can be considered a blessing in disguise from now on, management has decided to part ways with Brown again.

Of course, do you think Han Sen is involved? Of course, there is a little bit of it.

After all, Brown and Hansen did not get along well at the beginning, and the management had no need to keep Brown and make Hansen feel uncomfortable.

If Brown is fired, then naturally we need to find a replacement.

Management's top pick is Mike Malone.

When Han Sen left the team, Ma Long also left.

He has made steady progress over the years and became the head coach of the Kings last season.

But the Kings are a place that not everyone can handle. Although he got along well with the core of the team, Cousins, last season, he only led the team to a record of 28 wins and 54 losses and was on the verge of being fired.

Considering the relationship between Malone and Hansen as a master and apprentice during their time on the Cavaliers, this was a very good opportunity.

Han Sen certainly had no objection to inviting Ma Long back.

Although the two have not worked together for four years, they have not lost contact.

Every time Han Sen won a championship, Ma Long sent him a congratulatory text message.

And after playing in the NBA for so many years, he has a better understanding of NBA head coaches.

In fact, as long as you don’t make things worse and can communicate well with the players, you are already better than most coaches.

After all, the main factor that determines the strength of a team is the players.

Besides, Ma Long also has something in his stomach.

Then, Griffin talked about the subsequent free market.

NBA players are replaced very quickly. Most of the players on that Cavaliers team either retired, like O'Neal and Jamison;

Either they have faded out of the league, and now, besides James and Hansen, the only ones still playing in the league are Mo Williams and West.

Needless to say, West signed a one-year minimum salary contract with the Grizzlies last season and is now a free agent.

Billups didn't play much in the regular season last season, so West had plenty of opportunities and averaged 6.2 points and 2.5 assists per game.

Mo Williams has been wandering over the years, playing for many teams including the Clippers, Jazz and Trail Blazers.

He signed a two-year, $2 million contract with the Trail Blazers last season, averaging 560 points and 9.1 assists per game. He has a player option this summer and will most likely opt out and re-sign.

Griffin plans to sign both back in the summer.

With Malone and former Cavaliers players, Hansen could clearly feel that the management was racking their brains to make him feel a sense of belonging.

Of course, considering what Gilbert said when he first approached him, they more or less wanted to prove that "the Cavaliers failed because of James, not the team."

Han Sen had no objection to these.

However, Hansen did not continue the in-depth discussion with Griffin.

The Cavaliers are in a bit of a state of disrepair right now.

The contracts of Deng and Hawes, who were traded last season, have expired.

In the roster that Griffin brought, besides him, the only players with guaranteed contracts were Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dante Cunningham, Jarrett Jack, Anderson Varejao, and Matthew Dellavedova.

The total salary of these people is only about 4400 million US dollars, which is nearly 2000 million US dollars short of the salary cap.

This means they need to be well run in the summer.

But this operation cannot be done blindly, because it involves the team's tactical system.

The Cavaliers' situation is completely different from that of the Grizzlies.

Before Hansen went to the Grizzlies, the Grizzlies already had a mature team system, and he was like a piece of the puzzle.

But in the end, he became the biggest one.

However, the Cavaliers are now changing coaches and rebuilding the team system, and it is still unknown what style of play they will use in the new season.

Only after these are determined can we sign the required people according to the new system.

So we will have to wait until Malone arrives to find out all this.

However, the free agent market will open in two days, and time is still very tight for the Cavaliers.

Griffin left, but Hansen was not idle either.

He asked Rondo to look for some suitable houses first.

Although he had been in Memphis for four years, he had never planned to buy a house because the place was too chaotic.

In comparison, Cleveland has a good environment and is a livable city. He plans to buy a house this summer.

After working in the league for so many years, it’s time for him to have his own nest.

As for himself, he drove to Quick Loans Arena.

People are creatures with a sense of belonging. Although he has played at Quicken Loans Arena in recent years, it feels different to be back here as a Cavaliers player. Especially when he parked the car and was about to walk in from the door, he looked up and saw the poster and couldn't help but smile.

At this time, on the front of the stadium, there was a unique poster of him wearing the No. 77 Cavaliers jersey.

When he left the Cavaliers four years ago, he lamented that the arena's posters were always not updated in a timely manner. He didn't expect that this time it would be updated so quickly.

The access card given by Griffin was very useful at this time, and he reached the team locker room smoothly.

When he entered the familiar "bathhouse" dressing room, he found that the wardrobe that originally belonged to him had been completely cleaned out and empty, and his nameplate had been inserted there.

Perhaps it wasn't that the arena staff suddenly improved their work efficiency, but that management made the request.

He fumbled in his pocket for a while and took out the nameplate that Griffin had given him.

He had kept it in his wallet as a souvenir.

I've changed wallets a few times, but the nameplate is still there.

But compared to what is in front of you, it has turned a little yellow due to the passage of time.

He inserted the old nameplate in front of the new one.

Looking at the scene in front of me, I couldn't help feeling a little emotional for a moment.

Just like in his previous life when he traveled through time, he always felt like he had just graduated from college and walked out of the campus. Now he also felt like he was still in the Knights and had never left.

After putting his bag in the closet, he began to change his equipment.

He hasn't trained much these days, so it's time for him to move around.

Han Sen was also familiar with the training hall.

He had been practicing for a while when Cunningham pushed the door open.

This guy had originally gone to Miami for vacation, and I heard that he returned to Cleveland and took a flight back early in the morning.

Seeing Han Sen now, he was so excited that if Han Sen hadn't stopped him, he would have thrown his 200-pound body at him like Harden did to Yao Ming.

"Boss, why didn't you tell me before you came so I could pick you up!"

Hearing the familiar yet unfamiliar name again, Han Sen just smiled and shook his head.

After seeing the crazy video of the Cavaliers fans, he chose to keep a low profile as much as possible.

After all, the new season is very challenging and he needs to get himself into the best condition before the season starts.

"Now that you're here, go change your clothes and practice with me," Han Sen said as he began to warm up.

Cunningham nodded and ran to the locker room.

After a while, he came back wearing his training clothes.

The two men fought for more than half an hour.

Cunningham's skills, especially his defense, are improving year by year, which is why he can continue to stay in the NBA as a short center.

Of course, the gap between him and Han Sen was already very large.

Han Sen basically just warmed up.

However, Han Sen was not in a hurry to train. After the match, the two of them sat on the sidelines and chatted.

"Boss, if you don't come, I think I will really go to play in the CBA in two years." If a player plays in a weak team for a long time, his value will slowly decrease.

"But now that you're back, I feel like no one will want to run into us in the new season."

Han Sen couldn't help laughing when he heard this. This guy must have read a lot of news about him.

"Tell me about the team's situation." Han Sen asked.

The reason why he didn't talk to Griffin before was because the players knew the players better than the management.

Cunningham has been a substitute for the Cavaliers in recent years, first playing for Jamison and then for Thompson.

After his contract expired last season, the Cavaliers renewed his contract with him for three years and $3 million.

Although the contract and role are not big, he has become an "old man" of the Cavaliers as time goes by.

There should be no one who knows the situation of the Cavaliers better than him.

"Kyrie is a very contradictory person. He is extremely confident and believes that he can handle everything, but his emotional intelligence is very low. Boss, do you know? He is the kind of person who says we need to unite as one before the game, but then leaves everyone aside when he goes on the court and keeps working alone with the ball."

Han Sen rubbed his forehead subconsciously. He knew Owen was a worry, but it seemed that he was more worried than he expected.

"But he's a nice guy off the court. He always gives us gifts at Christmas and he often helps those in need in the community."

Irving can be said to have the most complex personality in the NBA.

"As for TT, he's probably the toughest guy I've ever seen on the court, but he has a bad temper, and he often goes to nightclubs. God knows how that guy manages to be full of energy the next day after coming back from nightclubs."

Han Sen laughed after hearing this.

Thompson is not too surprising, after all, he is the only guy in the NBA who can break the Kardashian family's tight defense.

28 cards and the like are just legends, if you want to be really tough you have to go for TT.

"Spencer has a nickname called Needle. Although he has not been with the team for a long time, he is the most popular guy. Just like his nickname, he is good at passing the ball and connects us together off the court. He is also a food expert and hairstylist, which is very cool."

Hansen's understanding of Hawes is very limited. In past encounters, his impression of him is just a big guy who can shoot three-pointers.

Now it seems that he can do a lot more than imagined, a bit like a copycat of Jokic.

"Lol is a very calm guy, a natural leader and a real team player, but I think he doesn't seem very happy here and he should leave this summer."

Deng is a player who is easily overlooked. Although Hansen knows that he got a big contract with the Lakers in his "history", it was more due to injuries and age.

Before his decline, he was one of the best second-tier forwards in the league, and now he still has the strength of a quasi-All-Star, making him a very cost-effective forward.

And his defense is also excellent, much better than Gay.

"Matthew is the hardest-working guy on the team, boss. I rarely see guys who train as hard as you do, and that guy is one of them."

Cunningham also specifically mentioned Dellavedova among the substitutes.

Hansen was quite impressed with him, because the Australian backcourt duo, Dellavedova and Mills, were almost 40 years old and could still hammer the outside line of the Eastern University men's basketball team.

From this perspective, the Cavaliers' lineup last season was not as bad as imagined. If anything, it might be that Irving's ability to lead the team was not good enough.

In other words, the Cavaliers lacked someone who could control Irving.

Griffin acted quickly enough. By the time Hansen went to Quick Loans Arena for training, he had already flown to Sacramento.

Then on the same day, Malone reached a buyout contract with the Kings, and then turned to the Cavaliers to reach a four-year, $4 million contract.

The day before the free market opened, Hansen met the dusty Malone at the Quicken Loans Arena.

Compared with four years ago, Malone now looks obviously much older. Although he is only 43 years old, he has white hair on his temples.

The pressures of being an NBA head coach and an assistant coach are completely different.

The master and the disciple met, smiled at each other, and then gave each other a tight and strong hug.

It is worth mentioning that the salary a head coach can get from being bought out or being laid off is different, and Malone also made a financial sacrifice here.

But who told Hansen to return to the Knights?
Once upon a time, both of them were just supporting roles of the Cavaliers and could not decide the fate of the Cavaliers.

But this time, they will be at the helm of the Cavaliers.

(End of this chapter)