Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 340 James can cross it, but I can’t?
Should good people be pointed at guns?
Not necessarily.

But Wade was willing to give up his position as the team leader to James, so what's the point of being a substitute on the Cavaliers?

What? You said Wade did it for the championship before?
Isn't the goal of joining the Cavaliers to win the championship?

This is also the difference between the Cavaliers and the Bulls that Hansen mentioned.

Hansen was so sure that Malone had a conversation with Wade after returning to Cleveland.

The result surprised Malone. When Malone made the request, Wade quickly agreed.

"For the championship, I am willing to sacrifice."

When it comes to understanding Wade, it has to be Han Sen.

The Cavaliers' first opponent after the All-Star Weekend is the Warriors, which is also the second time the two teams have met this season.

But before that, there is a very critical time node after the All-Star Game: the trading deadline.

With the dust settling on the Irving and Cousins ​​trades, and Bird rejecting all trade proposals involving George, all that's left at this year's trade deadline are some minor fixes.

In a season with the "Warriors", many teams will choose to give up.

However, at the last minute of the deadline, a "jaw-dropping" deal was reached.

The Hawks sent Howard and Thabo Sefolosha to the Hawks in exchange for Boban Marjanovic, Boris Diaw, Portis, and two second-round picks.
The Bulls sent Pau Gasol, Portis, and two second-round picks to get Howard and Thabo Sefolosha;

The Spurs sent Boban Marjanovic and Boris Diaw to get Pau Gasol.

The most shocking part is that Howard, who was able to be traded for James alone back then, has suddenly become so worthless!
You should know that last season the Hawks paid Horford and a first-round pick in order to trade for Howard.

A careful analysis shows that this is the result of multiple influences.

First and foremost, due to the vertical jump rules and age constraints, Howard's dominance on the defensive end is no longer as strong as before.

Secondly, his experience with the Hawks greatly lowered his trading value. The Hawks were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs last season, and Howard even had a big fuss about head coach Budenholzer's use of him. This season, the Hawks are still lingering on the edge of the playoffs.

With no possibility of competing for the championship, it would be better to tear it down and rebuild than to drag it on like this.

This is exactly the same reason why the Nets traded Howard last season.

The Bulls' choice is a chain reaction.

From what Griffin said at the time, we knew that the Bulls had originally planned to rebuild.

But as they got Irving while retaining Butler, an increase was inevitable.

Being able to trade a Gasol who is in much worse shape than before for Howard, although Howard's contract will put them under salary pressure in the future, it is completely worth it at least at this stage.

What's more, they also got Sefolosha in the trade.

After the Heat's rebuilding, Sefolosha was immediately abandoned by the Heat.

The Hawks originally traded for him to enhance their competitiveness, but now that they have decided to rebuild, they naturally need to send him away to make room for the youngsters.

As for Portis, it was the choice made by the Bulls.

During the preseason of this season, something big happened within the Bulls.

During the training session, Portis and Mirotic, two teammates, had a conflict. Portis broke two facial bones of Mirotic with one punch and gave the latter a concussion.

The Warriors have the "Splash Brothers" and the Bulls have the "Blood Brothers".

Punching teammates is considered a relatively bad thing in the NBA, and the Bulls had to choose between the two men.

Although that doesn't mean the Bulls will definitely trade Portis.

The "justice" in the eyes of fans does not exist in the management, and the management is more concerned about interests.

The reason why the Bulls made this choice is very simple. Mirotic is a space-type power forward, and he is a more suitable type to pair with Howard.

As for the Spurs, they simply got lucky.

Boban renewed his contract with the Spurs last summer for three years and $3 million, but his playing opportunities are still limited. Dio is too old to play anymore, and his value lies more in the last year of his expiring contract of $2100 million.

Trading two players who rarely get playing time for Gasol seems like a huge profit.

But Gasol signed a two-year, $2 million contract with the Bulls, and his condition under this contract is worrying.

Of course, Popovich is not worried about this.

He expressed his welcome to Gasol in front of reporters as soon as the trade began.

"They don't understand Paul's value. Paul will have a career resurgence here."

You can definitely hear the confidence in Popovich's words, but of course, whether this confidence can become a reality, perhaps only time can tell.

The Cavaliers did not make any moves on this deadline.

The previous deal greatly enhanced the Cavaliers' lineup depth, but it also brought great rotation challenges to Malone.

Deron, Powell, JR, Korver, Covington, Cunningham, Nene, plus the starting five, Malone can either make a big rotation for Korver or squeeze one of them out of the rotation.

Malone chose the latter, as Powell and Nene had gradually fallen out of the rotation before the All-Star Game.

Management also asked Nene if he needed a trade, but Nene chose to stay.

What he’s after at this stage of his career is a championship, and in his mind there’s no place with a better chance than in Cleveland.

So even though there is competition, the Cavaliers' team atmosphere is still good, and they have smoothly transitioned to the second half of the season.

The excitement of the Christmas game between the Cavaliers and the Warriors is still vivid in our minds, and their second matchup of the season is naturally attracting a lot of attention.

And for the Cavaliers players, especially Hansen, this game is even more special.

It's hard to persuade a ghost who wants to die with kind words. Looking back now, Irving's departure was inevitable.

But if Green hadn't interfered, Irving would at least have left after the end of this season.

But now, Irving has exploded ahead of time, and the Cavaliers are forced to make a trade.

So Hansen was ready to teach Green, the culprit, a lesson.

The game was played at the Warriors' home court, and the Cavaliers arrived in Oakland the day before the game.

On the same day, James was asked questions about Wade during an interview with reporters.

"I'm happy for my good brother DW. He joined a championship team. It's a good turn for his career."

"I have had conversations with him before. If he chooses to buy out after the trade, I will undoubtedly recruit him to our team. I am looking forward to fighting side by side with him again. It's a pity that it didn't happen in the end."

It was not until James mentioned it that fans suddenly recalled the Heat's peak Big Three.

Wade and James also worked together to win two runner-up titles.

"Did he really contact you?"

On the day of the game, Hansen saw the news and couldn't help but chat with Wade.

Wade smiled and shook his head: "That's nothing, he's always been like that."

Void made up some things that never happened to establish his own character, and Wade confirmed it. This is a LeBron hater. "You are really a good person." However, Han Sen couldn't help but tease again.

Wade must have owed James a lot of money in his previous life.

On game night, Oracle Arena was packed.

The Big Three from TNT also came to the scene and began to predict the results of the game before the game.

"The Cavaliers lost two of the five games before the All-Star Game. After trading Irving, their performance is obviously not as good as before. It will be difficult for them to win tonight's game." Kenny Smith's analysis is very rational. You have to know that before Irving was there, the Cavaliers relied on Hansen's record-breaking performance to win the game.

"My opinion is exactly the opposite of yours. The Cavaliers' lineup depth has been greatly improved after the trade, and their strength after running-in will be stronger than before." Barkley's opinion is exactly the opposite of Smith's.

"The Warriors' rotation is not bad either," Smith continued to refute.

Neither of them could convince the other, and then they both turned their eyes to O'Neal.

"You know, I'm a famous knight."

After the opening ceremony, the starting lineups of both sides were announced one after another.

Cavaliers: Hansen, JR, Covington, TT, Jokic
Warriors: Curry, Thompson, James, Green, Pachulia

When the Cavaliers' starting lineup was announced, it caused a commotion at the scene and made Kerr's eyes widen.

This time, two starters were replaced at once, which was a big surprise for Malone.

The game started quickly and Jokic jumped for the ball for the Cavaliers.

Hansen dribbled the ball across half court.

Although Malone had adjusted the rotation after Wade was traded to the Cavaliers, the experience of actually playing as a starting point guard was still very special for Hansen.

Of course, Curry will not be his opponent.

In fact, not to mention Han Sen, Thompson on the opposite side was also very strange, because he had to concentrate on defending Han Sen from the backcourt.

Hansen brought the ball to the frontcourt, Covington and JR squatted in the left and right corners, and Jokic moved to the high post to play pick-and-roll with Hansen.

After setting a pick-and-roll with Thompson, Jokic quickly cut to the basket. Hansen also took a quick stop and jump shot when he was mismatched with Pachulia, forcing the opponent to move his center of gravity backward.

Another benefit of Wade not being in the starting lineup is that Hansen no longer has the psychological burden of "making Wade play better" and can go all out.

Pachulia's ability to defend smaller players is worse than Jokic's, so Hansen's shot was easy.

However, his hands were not warmed up after the opening and he missed every shot.

But Jokic grabbed the offensive rebound and scored on the second possession over Thompson.

Although Hansen missed the shot, his quick shot forced the Warriors to switch defense, which was equivalent to pinning Pachulia outside.

Green's positioning and rebounding abilities are indeed outstanding, but it is difficult for him to compete with TT and Jokic alone.

The Cavaliers took the lead and James took the ball to attack.

However, he was entangled by Covington in his first breakthrough.

It turns out that Covington is simply the "James Terminator".

His height, wingspan, and speed seem to be tailor-made for James.

Especially the weight, which was originally at a disadvantage, has now perfectly matched after James lost weight.

James was forced to stop the ball before he even reached the three-second zone he was most familiar with. After he faked a dribble and realized he had no chance, he had no choice but to stop the ball and look for his teammates.

Bad things happened.

Because of the Cavaliers' lineup, Hansen was directly facing Curry. After JR's long-cherished wish of starting for more than a year was fulfilled, he was very active, quickly bypassing the pick-and-roll and following Thompson.

Neither of the Splash Brothers had a good chance to run, and James could only throw the ball to his good brother Green.

Green turned into a rim-catcher and shot a three-pointer that went right out of the rim.

Green's interference in the Christmas game triggered Irving's outburst, but Hansen's trash talk was not without effect.

After the Christmas game, Green's performance declined significantly, especially in three-pointers.

Last season, his three-point shooting percentage was 38.8%, a top-notch performance in the interior.

But this season it fell to 30.8%, which is below the passing line.

The money earned off the court can allow Green to make concessions to James on ball possession, but that cannot guarantee his performance on the court.

The rebound was secured by Jokic.

However, the Warriors retreated quickly, and the Cavaliers did not have the opportunity to directly launch a defensive counterattack, and both sides fell into the frontcourt position.

Hansen continued to play pick-and-roll with Jokic, and this time Pachulia jumped faster at Kerr's shout.

Although Hansen missed the shot just now, Kerr obviously didn't want to give him such an easy chance again.

Han Sen also accepted it with a smile, changed direction and accelerated past Pachulia to break inside.

Green quickly came over to assist.

Pachulia tried his best to defend Hansen from behind.

Cole prepared a double-bread cheese sandwich for Hansen.

If it were a normal time, Hansen would most likely pass the ball to TT, because Jokic would have already jumped out to create space after reading the defense.

But Han Sen chose not to do that tonight.

He gathered his strength and soared into the air across Green.

Green also jumped up to stop Hansen.

But he soon found out that it was too late.

He simply grabbed Han Sen's shoulders with both hands to prevent Han Sen from making any move.

But he still underestimated Han Sen's determination. Han Sen continued to try to shoot after the aerial confrontation.

Hansen ultimately failed to score the goal, but his force caused Green to lose his balance in the air and fall to the ground.

Before that, the referee pointed to Green on the ground, indicating that the latter had committed a defensive foul.

Before Green had the time to complain, the moment he looked up, he saw Hansen's crotch passing over his head!
Han Sen hurdles!
This instantly angered Green.

He turned over angrily and tried to push Hansen, but Jokic on the side reacted quickly and used his big body to block Green.

Although the little fat boy usually looks gentle, the Slavs have a fighting nature in their bones.

Just at this moment, Han Sen turned around.

After seeing Green was still excited, he said with a puzzled look on his face:
"LeBron has already crossed it, so what's wrong with me crossing it?"

(End of this chapter)