Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 336: If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them (Passive Version)

Irving's trade has been put on the agenda, but such a big deal obviously cannot be completed all at once.

Prior to this, Irving also returned to the Cavaliers.

The other players didn’t know what happened and just thought it was Irving’s normal “little temper”.

It was also at this time that the 2017 All-Star voting had begun.

The results of the first round of voting are out, and Hansen and Irving are still leading the Eastern Conference backcourt.

In mid-January, Deron suffered a knee injury and needed to rest for about two weeks.

Malone did not choose to give the rotation position to rookie Dejounte Murray at this time, but gave it to sophomore Norman Powell.

This was an unconventional choice, but it came as a surprise to Cavaliers fans.

In the next half month, Powell averaged 18 points in 8.7 minutes per game, with a three-point shooting percentage of 40%.

His template during the draft was Tony Allen. Although he is only 1 meters tall with shoes, his wingspan reaches 93 meters and his performance on the defensive end is also remarkable.

Moreover, there was a period of time when he was on the court with Hansen and Jokic at the same time, which gave the Cavaliers an inspiration: the Cavaliers seemed to no longer necessarily need a real point guard.

Because when the ball is in the hands of Hansen and Jokic, the Cavaliers' offense runs most smoothly.

It was during this period that the truth could no longer be hidden, and news that the Cavaliers were trying to sell Irving began to be revealed by the media.

The Cavaliers once asked about the price of Conley of the Grizzlies, who is averaging 40.5 points and 20.5 assists per game with a 6.3% three-point shooting percentage this season and is performing at the peak of his career.

Although there is some water in this data, because he signed a historic five-year, $5 million contract extension with the Grizzlies in the summer, which made his ball possession rate and average shots per game both career highs, the Cavaliers are still seeking to bring Hansen's former partner to Cleveland.

However, the Grizzlies do not consider Conley to be for sale. They believe that the leadership role Conley brings to the Grizzlies cannot be replaced by Irving.

The Cavaliers have also communicated with the Pelicans. The Pelicans are very interested in negotiating a trade for Irving with Jrue Holiday, but they expressed concerns about Irving's professionalism and are unwilling to include a first-round draft pick in the deal.

The Celtics and the Cavaliers are actively negotiating. They are willing to send out trading chips mainly consisting of Thomas and Crowder in exchange for Irving, but the Cavaliers do not intend to do so.

What can be felt from these trade rumors is that, like Bird's previous attitude, Irving's frequent off-court incidents this season have caused his trading value to decline to a great extent.

At the end of January, the results of the 1 NBA All-Star voting were released.
Hansen and Irving were both named starters for the Eastern Conference for the second consecutive year.

This is expected. Irving's statistics have not declined this season. In addition, his playing style and Nike's promotion have kept his popularity high.

What is unexpected is that Jokic was selected as a substitute for the Eastern Conference team!

Han Sen didn't expect this either.

Because purely from the data point of view, Jokic's average performance of 16.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game so far this season is obviously not enough.

However, the All-Star substitutes are different from the starters. The substitutes are selected by the league coaches.

All I can say is that the way coaches look at players is different from the perspective of fans.

However, Jokic's selection also has a lot to do with the environment.

The Cavaliers' current record is ahead of the Celtics and ranks first in the Eastern Conference. Similarly, Green, who was selected last year, has statistics that are even worse than Jokic.

Moreover, the starlight in the east has been relatively dim in recent years.

So although Jokic's selection was a bit unexpected, it is not incomprehensible.

Of course, his selection was met with great doubts from the outside world.

After all, those who can be selected as All-Stars in their sophomore year are all potential superstars, and Jokic, as an international player, is much less popular in the United States.

After the results came out, reporters also interviewed Jokic during the Cavaliers' open training session and asked him how he viewed the outside world's evaluation.

Jokic's answer was also quite shocking:
"I wouldn't pick myself either. I'm not fit for the All-Star Game."

Han Sen was standing nearby at the time, and seeing the guy's gloomy face, he guessed that he must have had plans for an All-Star vacation.

This is the resentment of a worker whose vacation was disrupted.

You should know that when Silva took office in 2014, some players, led by James, complained that the All-Star Weekend holiday was not long enough.

Silva finally agreed to the request and extended the All-Star Weekend to seven days.

In other words, Jokic lost the longest holiday of the season, which is equivalent to the 11-day holiday of the Eastern Conference. It would be strange if he was happy.

When Jokic's answer was reported by the media, the questioning voices quickly disappeared.

It’s not that I no longer question it, but I just can’t find the angle to do it.

Shortly after the All-Star voting ended, Griffin came to Hansen.

He showed Han Sen some of the options currently on the negotiation table.

The first offer came from the Bucks: Jabari Parker, Greg Monroe and Matthew Dellavedova.

Parker is 2 meters tall and is a swingman. As the No. 03 pick in 2014, he can contribute 20+ points per game this season. He has also developed the three-point shot this season, averaging 3.5 shots per game with a hit rate of 36.5%.

Monroe is a 2-meter inside swingman. His arrival will greatly enhance the Cavaliers' inside bench depth.

The return of veteran Dellavedova can also fill the Cavaliers' loss at point guard.

However, Hansen just glanced at it and skipped the offer because Parker was a useless player and had the risk of injury.

As for Monroe, he is even more useless. The Cavaliers already have a player of the same type, TT, who has even better defense.

Moreover, sending Irving to the Bucks is not a good choice. The Bucks already have Antetokounmpo and Middleton, and they just lack a good point guard.

If Irving is sent over there, the Bucks will rise early and become a big problem for the Cavaliers in the East.

The second offer came from the Suns: Eric Bledsoe, TJ Warren, and the 2017 first and second round picks.

This was also skipped by Han Sen, because it was equivalent to trading Irving for Bledsoe, which was not cost-effective no matter how you looked at it.

Han Sen continued reading and quickly scanned most of the plans.

Because these trades are basically centered around exchanging point guards for point guards, but after the trades, it is equivalent to a downgrade for the Cavaliers.

He stopped halfway through the video, turned around and asked in confusion, "Are there no Pelicans?"

He had also seen those rumors, and he was quite interested in trading Irving for Holiday.

Although Holiday's three-point shooting is relatively poor, his defense is very good, which can free him up on the defensive end and share some of the organizational pressure.

"They're targeting DeMarcus Cousins ​​now."

"And Holiday's contract expires this summer, and they still won't add a first-round pick."

Han Sen nodded.

If that is the case, there is indeed a risk. If Holiday doesn't like staying in Cleveland like Deng did, and just leaves, then it would be a huge joke for the Cavaliers to trade Irving for Holiday's six-month usage rights.

Hansen then scrolled down and soon saw the Celtics' offer.

Thomas Jr., Crowder, rookie Zizic and a first-round draft pick.

It must be said that this is the most sincere offer Hansen has seen so far.

Thomas is at his peak, Crowder is also a top 3D player, and there are rookies and draft picks. It's just that the Cavaliers can't send Irving to the Celtics, and it's even more impossible for Hansen to be a tactical supplement to Thomas like Durant.

At this point, you are almost done with the quotes.

Hansen's final gaze was fixed on the Bulls' offer.

This is the only offer that involves a third team.

The chips the Cavaliers can get are: Wade, Covington, Korver, and the 2017 first round.

The name on this list that attracted Hansen was Covington.

Covington is 1 meters tall, has a wingspan of 98 meters, is a stable three-point shooter, and has outstanding defense. He is one of the best 2D players in the league.

Maybe the "one of" can be removed, because when they played against the Bulls before, he caused more trouble to Hansen than Claude.

Moreover, Covington can defend from the 2nd position to the 4th position, and his defensive effect on James is also quite good, much better than Tucker in the current Cavaliers lineup.

Although the Cavaliers won the Christmas game, it was impossible for Hansen to take care of both James and Curry at the same time on the defensive end.

The trade for Covington was well worth it.

As for the rest, Wade is still averaging 18+ points per game for the Bulls this season, and Korver is the most stable off-ball shooter in the league, consistently contributing 40%+ three-point shooting percentage. Two years ago, he averaged 6 three-point attempts per game with a 49.2% shooting percentage (53.2% in his early years).

Their arrival will also greatly enhance the Cavaliers' bench strength as he said before.

Even though the Cavaliers don't have a first-round pick in this year's draft, the Bulls' pick will most likely bring in a mid-first-round pick.

Hansen finally chose two, one from the Bulls and the other from the Pelicans, which was not included in the current offer.

Because if they can convince Holiday and the Cavaliers to reach an early contract extension after the trade, that would be a more suitable option for the Cavaliers.

And sending Irving to the West is better than sending him to a rival team in the East.

By February, Irving's trade was finally settled.

The Cavaliers reached a three-way deal with the Bulls and Hawks.

The Cavaliers sent Irving, Dunleavy, and Hawes to the Chicago Bulls for Wade, Covington, Korver, and the Bulls' 2017 first-round pick.
The Hawks sent Korver to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Dunleavy, Hawes, and the Bulls' 2019 first-round pick.
The Bulls sent Wade, Covington, and first-round picks in 2017 and 2019 to get Irving.

Although rumors had been circulating before, when the deal was officially reached, it still caused a stir in the league.

After all, this is the first time in NBA history that the defending champion traded the team's second-in-command during the defending season.

James fans were in a frenzy.

This time they didn't talk about Hansen and the team, because it was obvious that Irving becoming Wade would be a definite downgrade for the Cavaliers.

Some James fans were so excited that they almost cried.

From 2003 to 2016, after waiting for 13 years, James is finally going to win his first championship in his career!

The day after the deal was done, Wade passed the physical examination, but because he had to rent a house and a series of other things, he probably wouldn't meet the Cavaliers until tomorrow.

But that very night, Han Sen received a call from Wade.

Wade only talked about one thing on the phone, which was bullfighting in the training hall.

On the way to the training hall, Han Sen had a lot of thoughts.

He had previously put the Bulls' trade plan on the table, more because of Covington, which was aimed at the Warriors.

Wade's arrival can be considered an accident, or a coincidence.

But Wade is so special to him.

Because Wade was the first NBA star he came into contact with.

And before he entered the NBA, Wade also gave him a lot of help.

But afterwards they did not become teammates, but became opponents on the field.

Then he ruined Wade's championship dream time and time again.

There are both gratitude and resentment. They could be considered as two people with a lot of gratitude and resentment.

But what they didn't expect was that they would become teammates again at the end of Wade's career.

Life is so wonderful sometimes.

You know, time flies. It has been 8 years since they first met.

Han Sen parked the car outside the training hall and walked in.

The new training hall was put into use last summer and, like the renovated locker room, is very high-tech.

When he walked to the door, he could already hear the sound of a basketball hitting the floor.

I pushed the door open and saw Wade.

Compared to 8 years ago, the biggest change in Wade now is probably his big cheeks.

In fact, if we consider the normal career of a guard, Wade has just turned 35 and is still at the tail end of his prime.

Like Kobe, he was 38 years old last season and was still able to play at an All-Star level.

However, Wade's knee has accelerated his decline. He can still play, but he no longer has the dominance he had in his peak.

Hansen has been playing against the Heat over the years, and he should have the deepest feeling about Wade's strength changes.

When Wade heard the door open and saw Han Sen, his expression was actually very complicated.

The Cavaliers offered him a contract last summer, but he rejected it.

Like West, as an old-school player, he did not want to join Hansen, who had defeated him time and time again, because such an act of surrendering to the enemy was despised by them.

But trading is not something you can do.

And he hasn't had a smooth season in Chicago.

Because he was not very effective as a point guard, head coach Hoiberg even wanted him to play as a substitute.

The last time he was a substitute was when he was a rookie, which made him feel very humiliated.

So in a sense he jumped from one kind of humiliation into another.

But looking at Han Sen and thinking back to the grudge between them, he smiled with relief.

Maybe this is fate.

-Dividing line-

2017 All-Star Eastern Conference starters: Irving, Hansen, DeRozan, Durant, Antetokounmpo
Substitutes: Isaiah Thomas, Lowry, John Wall, Paul George, Jimmy Butler, Millsap, Jokic
Western Conference starting lineup: Curry, Harden, Leonard, James, Anthony Davis

Substitutes: Westbrook, Conley, Klay Thompson, Gordon Hayward, Cousins, Jordan, Gasol

(End of this chapter)