Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 294 Nike’s decline is irreversible
The free market is gradually coming to an end, and it was at this time that the Lakers made their choice. They gave up renewing Jeremy Lin's contract and instead signed Dellavedova, who performed well in last season's finals, with a minimum salary contract.

The reason why Dellavedova gave up renewing his contract with the Cavaliers is very simple. He can get more opportunities with the Lakers and even start.

Jordan Clarkson, a second-year player in the Lakers' current lineup, has more sixth man attributes and is not suitable for starting, while Dellavedova's 3D characteristics are suitable for the Lakers.

In addition, there are also many veterans, such as Richard Jefferson, one of the former "Nets Trident", veteran Perkins who had previously partnered with James, "Little Bully" Stoudemire, and Curry's younger brother Seth Curry have also signed with the Lakers one after another.

The Lakers are dreaming of the 2010 Heat team. They are starting to make repairs around the Big Three, and the lineup looks extremely strong.

The landscape of the Western Conference in the new season will be very different from before. It will no longer be a landscape of many heroes competing for supremacy.

The defending champion Warriors, the Spurs with Aldridge, the Rockets with Bosh returning from injury, and the Lakers with the epic Big Three, these four top teams are obviously stronger than other teams.

These teams will not only compress the records of the tank teams, but also the records of the playoff teams. The scenario of the eighth team in the Western Conference with 50 wins will no longer exist.

Another team in the West that has made big moves is the Kings.

At Hansen's suggestion, Gay joined the Kings with a two-year, $2 million contract with a player option in the second year.

In addition, they also signed Rondo, and with Cousins ​​in the lineup, it seems that they have a chance to make a difference in the new season.

There is also a team in the East that is easily overlooked, the Raptors.

The Raptors used a four-year, $4 million contract to lure their starting small forward DeMarre Carroll from the Hawks, and successively signed James Johnson, Scola, and Biyombo to strengthen the inside line. With the addition of the twin stars of DeRozan and Lowry, there is also great potential for the new season.

The Cavaliers, after failing to keep Dellavedova, renewed West's contract for another year, and in order to fill the gap left by James Johnson's departure, they signed Hansen's former teammate Dahntay Jones.

As for TT, after negotiations, the Cavaliers finally reached a 5-year, $7000 million contract extension with him.

Add in the rookie Powell they selected this year and the veteran "Little Prince" Prince they signed last, and the Cavaliers' roster for the new season is basically complete.

Point Guard: Irving, Mo Williams, West
Shooting guard: Hansen, JR, Powell
Small forward: Tucker, Dunleavy, Dahntay Jones

Power forward: TT, Cunningham, Prince
Center: Garnett, Hawes, Jokic
The free market is gradually settling down, but there has been an earthquake in the sneaker market.

Klay Thompson reached a 6-year, $4800 million contract with UA, becoming the third biggest star in the league.

This caused great controversy. You know, last season Nike gave Thompson the FMVP as a disguised bargaining chip to keep him, but he still left Nike and directly joined UA.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Many of this year's popular rookies, such as No. 7 pick Russell, No. 13 pick Mudiay, and No. Booker, did not choose to sign with Nike.

Although not all of them have joined UA, the scene in the past where all the players were scrambling to join Nike has changed.

With the successive defeats of Nike teams in recent years and a wave of abstract operations in the finals, Nike's appeal to players is visibly declining.

When it was late July, Hansen's annual personal training camp also kicked off.

"Old guys" such as Curry, Klay Thompson, LaVine, and Harden reported early.

However, players like Westbrook, Antetokounmpo and Anthony did not come this time.

The friction between Nike and UA is now intensifying. They have been notified that they are not allowed to participate in Hansen's training camp.

Of course, Irving is still the exception.

He must have received the notice, but he still came.

After all, what was wrong with me attending my teammates’ training camp?

Cunningham and Jokic, who had trained with Hansen before, naturally joined him in the training camp.

Then on the first day of training camp, Jokic became the focus of training camp.

Over the past month, under Grover's arrangement, Jokic's weight has dropped to about 260 pounds, but the 260-pound fat man is still particularly eye-catching.

Of course, in addition to his size, there is also Jokic's performance on the court.

In the past month, in addition to training with Hansen, Jokic also participated in the team's summer league.

After 5 games, his statistics are 8 points, 6 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. It can't be said that he has a bright future, just mediocre.

But in training camp, his performance was clearly better.

It may sound strange, but there is a very important reason: there are better teammates in the training camp.

Jokic is still relatively immature overall. Apart from his well-organized back-to-the-basket shooting in the low post, the rest is his innate and highly creative passing.

Many of his passes can be described as unimaginative, and if the receiver fails to react in time, the ball will become a mistake.

This was one of the reasons why his play was limited in summer league, but in training camp, better teammates can catch his balls better.

When the first day of training camp ended, Curry couldn't help but ask where Jokic came from.

"Let me introduce you. This is our team's rookie, Jokic." Han Sen acted as if this baby was the pride of our family.

"Joker?" Curry was stunned.

"Jokic." Hansen corrected his pronunciation.

"He will help you in the new season." Curry must be thinking about what it would be like when Green and Jokic face off on the court.

On the first day, Curry was impressed by Jokic's presence, but on the second day, he no longer paid attention to Jokic because Hansen was shooting long three-pointers just like him!
No, brother, when did you steal my skill pack?
Fortunately, Han Sen made fewer long throws later on, but more three-pointers from above.

Now it's Klay Thompson's turn to be depressed.

No, how come you stole my skill pack too?
During this training match, the Splash Brothers were somewhat doubting their lives.

If Hansen can still shoot three-pointers like this in the new season, I really don’t know how his opponents should limit him.

By the end of August, Hansen's training camp for the year was declared over.

Han Sen's three-point talent was effective, but the effect was not as good as expected.

The only downside to this business war between Nike and UA is that it has reduced the quality of his training camp.

It seems that we still have to rely on the regular season to improve.

The training camp is over and it's time for everyone else to go back.

Before parting, Hansen and Curry talked about the new season for a while.

"You're going to have a hard time in the new season."

The Warriors' "Splash Brothers" are now UA players, and it has become very difficult for them to get to the free throw line.

"Didn't you beat Miami last season?" Curry seemed to be prepared, after all, he no longer had a shooting cylinder last season.

"Then see you in the finals." Han Sen and Curry made an agreement.

He has to get up from where he fell. Of course, he can only get up after defeating the Warriors and winning the championship.

After seeing off the others, Hansen took Cunningham and his two rookies, Jokic and Powell, to a nearby mall.

They passed by an NBA sporting goods store and went in to have a look.

"You can take anything you like tonight. I'll pay for everything." Han Sen also gave them some benefits.

When they heard this, the two rookies were excited. They had just signed contracts with the team and received very limited salaries. Han Sen did not go in, but sat at the door and waited.

Jokic was the first to come out. He was holding a pair of Shaq Nosis retro sneakers, an All-Star commemorative jersey from O'Neal's Magic period, and a large backpack with the league's logo printed on it.

"You like Shaq?"

"Who doesn't like Shaq?" Jokic replied with a smile.

As his English level has improved, his self-confidence has increased a lot compared to when he first came.

After a while, Powell also came out, holding only a very ordinary basketball training suit in his hand.

Han Sen took it and looked at the sign. It was only $100.

"I told you to take whatever you wanted, but you took this?" Han Sen was speechless by Powell's behavior.

Are you helping me save money?

Powell scratched his head in embarrassment.

After leaving the store, Cunningham leaned over to Hansen's ear and talked to him for a while.

After they finished shopping in the mall and got in the car, Hansen handed a bag to Powell.

Powell thought he was asked to hold it for him, so he quickly took it.

"For you." Unexpectedly, Han Sen said to him.

When he opened the bag puzzledly and saw the pair of sneakers inside, his eyes suddenly became red.

Those were the sneakers he had seen at a sporting goods store before, but because they were priced at $1500, he hesitated for a long time before finally giving up the deal.

He was just a second-round pick, and that was enough for his living expenses for a month.

"Thanks, boss." Powell's voice choked.

This voice also reminded Han Sen of Powell's reaction when he called him.

"Don't learn to use that name like Dante, and next time I tell you to take whatever you want I'll mean it literally. You see Nicholas understands it very well."

"Okay boss."

Han Sen held his forehead with his hand, but said nothing more.

Seeing Powell's red eyes through the rearview mirror, he knew that this guy must be a good young man.

After finishing the training camp, Hansen started his planned trip to Africa with Ajiali.

Unlike their previous visit to the University of Tokyo, this time they were not going to do brand promotion, but simply to have fun.

They went to Tanzania.

Tanzania is one of the earliest countries in Africa to develop tourism. It not only has large wildlife parks such as the Serengeti National Park, but also Zanzibar Island, Africa's most natural diving paradise, which is perfect for their vacation.

By the way, before Han Sen traveled through time in his previous life, he often watched a blogger's videos recording his work in the tourism industry in Tanzania.

And one advantage of vacationing in Africa is that it is not easy to be recognized here, so you will have a lot more freedom.

On Sang Island, Han Sen experienced outdoor snorkeling for the first time in his life with Ajiali.

How to say it, when he really sees the rich underwater world with his own eyes, he will find that he seems to be in a parallel world.

There are too many creatures beyond our cognition and too many unimaginable scenes.

The ocean and the land are completely two different worlds.

After the snorkeling, you can eat all kinds of freshly caught seafood in the beach house, including lobsters, various fish, shellfish and crabs.

Sometimes you have to sigh that there is a reason why there are so many lazy people in Africa, because the natural resources are so abundant.

However, most Africans don't eat these seafoods because in their tradition, they classify things like lobsters as insects.

And because of the lack of seasonings in Africa, the only ways to cook it are roasting and boiling, with at most some tomatoes.

For example, lobsters and crabs taste good when steamed and eaten directly, but some shellfish and sea urchins have a fishy smell and will not taste good without spices.

This time Han Sen came prepared. He brought a chef and seasonings so that he could cook and eat right away.

He and Ajiali even grilled a grouper themselves.

Sprinkle salt, cumin, pepper powder, etc. on it, listen to the sizzling sound, and smell the aroma, which will make people subconsciously drool.

After finishing their trip to Sang Island, they went to the national park.

There, Hansen chose a little lion with a friendly personality.

After hanging a "Young King" sign on it, it was ready to be shipped to the United States.

It was already early September when Han Sen returned to the United States.

Although there are no plans to visit Dongda this year, commercial activities are still necessary.

He also began to frequently participate in business interactions.

It was at this time that TMZ broke the news that a reporter photographed Harden dating Khloe Kardashian. Although the latter had filed for divorce from Odom as early as 2013, the court has not yet officially announced the verdict.

This also attracted great attention from outside fans.

Han Sen was also asked this question when he attended the event.

"I don't know much about marriage laws in the United States."

This was the only reply from Han Sen, but he knew that Harden would be defended in the new season.

Kardashian's defensive ability is at a historical level and can only be broken by TT.

However, soon, another news related to Harden reported by ESPN covered the original news.

On this day, a large truck loaded with Adidas sneakers drove to Harden's home in Houston, officially signing a 13-year, 2 million endorsement contract with Adidas, making Harden the new top star of Adidas.

This instantly caused the alliance to go crazy.

You should know that the Rockets are one of the three super teams that Nike planned last summer. Now that Harden has switched to Adidas, it means that Nike has directly lost the Rockets.

The Lakers became their only hope in the Western Conference, and they were now facing a siege by the other three super teams.

As for the Eastern Conference, although the Heat look stronger than last season, who can guarantee that they can beat the Cavaliers?

You have to know that the Cavaliers defeated them last season, and the young players on the Cavaliers' team will grow this season.

Coupled with Thompson's transfer to UA and the change in the signing intentions of new players, all of this is telling:
Nike's decline is irreversible. If they still cannot succeed in the new season, the league may really have to turn to the UA League.

(End of this chapter)