Basketball's No. 1 Anti-Fan

Chapter 361 Decision : Agent Basketball

After attending the award ceremony, Hansen and Jokic returned to Cleveland to start summer training.

Han Sen acquired the first-level hook talent [Sky Hook].

As for Jokic, in addition to gaining muscle and weight, Grover also arranged targeted three-point training for Jokic.

Increasing low-post confrontations while improving outside shooting is a huge challenge even for Jokic.

After much difficulty getting the workers to agree to work overtime, the workload naturally has to be maximized.

Fortunately, Jokic is not lonely.

Because not long after they started training, someone came to their house to serve as a sparring partner.

Dedmon got a chance to play in the finals last season, which restored his confidence. Now he is working hard to improve himself.

Although the Cavaliers will most likely add a veteran player even if Nene leaves, he thinks that rotation position can certainly belong to him now.

And to do that, he needs to improve his offense in addition to his defense.

Then what he needs to do is develop the three-point shot.

3D center, a type of player that is even more scarce than 3D players, is his goal.

Han Sen didn't know who showed him the way, but he knew Dedmon could make it.

This is obviously a good thing for the Cavaliers.

Having experienced the dynasty in Memphis, Hansen knew how difficult the third year would be.

In addition to training, Hansen is also paying attention to the situation in the free market.

He was really curious about where James and Green would end up.

Is it as Cleveland fans shouted, that Green was traded by James; or is it that James changes teams every year and continues his nomadic journey in the royal court; or is it that the two of them continue to cooperate with each other.

There won't be any results from the Warriors right away, but there has been some movement from the Bulls first.

In order to appease Irving, the Bulls reached a deal with the Hornets before the free market opened. They sent Howard and this year's No. 31 pick Frank Jackson, and traded for Miles Plumlee, Marco Belinelli and No. 41 pick Tyler Dorsey from the Hornets.

Yes, you read that right. After all the trouble in the playoffs last season, Howard's trading value has dropped again.

You even feel like the Bulls are basically dealing out a junk contract in this deal.

However, dealing with Howard can appease Irving, which is still a good deal.

However, what no one expected was that on the second day after the Bulls traded Howard, Irving requested a trade from the Bulls.

He hopes the Bulls will trade him to the Celtics.

This directly confused the Bulls management.

No buddy, what the hell is wrong with you?

This would be hard to understand for anyone else, but when it comes to Irving...it's still a little abstract.

Irving wants to go to the Celtics and play with Durant. This was made public last season. Now he is unhappy with the Bulls, so of course he wants to leave.

But can't you apply for a trade before others trade Howard?

However, when Han Sen saw this, he remembered that the last time Irving applied for a trade in his "history" was after the free market signing was almost settled.

Irving did it on purpose. He just wanted to express his inner dissatisfaction in this way.

Or, in Irving's mind, he might feel that the Bulls should have traded Howard after the end of the season, and delaying it until now is completely disrespectful to him.

Moreover, from the perspective of team competition, the Bulls are giving Howard away for nothing. The Bulls' strength has further declined, and if he stays, he will be wasting the peak period of his career.

The Bulls management, like the Cavaliers before, did not want to fulfill Irving's wish.

But Irving's attitude this time is very firm. If the Bulls do not trade him, he will refuse to report for the new season. And if he does not go to the Celtics, he will also refuse to report to the new team.

Now, even Han Sen found it abstract.

George's designated next home was directly transferred to Irving!

The Bulls management must be feeling uncomfortable now.

However, since this matter involves negotiations, there will not be any results so quickly.

After you sing, I will appear.

When the time came to July 7, when the free market door opened, James announced that he had chosen to opt out of his player option.

Then, the rumors that Han Sen had expected came out.

Rich Paul said that unless the Warriors trade Green, the possibility of James returning to the Warriors is zero.

In other words, if the Warriors do not agree to James, they will lose James in vain and get nothing in return.

So are there any players at the same level as James in the free market this year?
Yes, Curry.

Then, it was gone.

Apart from that, the only two players at the next highest salary level are Gordon Hayward and Blake Griffin.

Griffin and the Warriors, it's like a pair of eyesores, they just don't get along.

Hayward is quite suitable, but his level is obviously a level lower than James.

Moreover, he is doing well as the leader of the Jazz and may not be willing to be the fourth in the Warriors.

It has to be said that James' 1+1 contract is indeed ruthless and accurately controls the Warriors management.

This time Green's cleverness backfired and he ended up with a mouth full of fur.

With two big dramas in the East and West, the fans' mentality of watching the show can be greatly satisfied.

Han Sen was also training while waiting for the results.

It is July 7, the second day of the free market.

The free market was particularly quiet on this day, or rather, other teams were also waiting for the results of Irving and James.

But on that day, an old acquaintance of Hansen came to Cleveland.

Yao Ming, or more accurately, Nu Zhao Ri Yue, came to Cleveland specifically to find Han Sen.

He is now the chairman of the Basketball Association, so it is natural that he is looking for Han Sen for the national team's business.

When the jersey was retired in February, the two had a brief exchange.

Long before Yao Ming took office, Southeast University had successfully applied to host the 2019 Men's Basketball World Cup.

This is also the first time that Tokyo University has hosted a world-class basketball event since the 2008 Olympics.

The two men sat down and talked a lot. Yao Ming was talking about his participation in the Olympics that year.

"I knew very well at the time that it was my only chance in my life to fight for my own life."

Yao Ming expressed his feelings about why he had to sacrifice his entire career.

The game can be restarted, but life cannot be repeated. Once you miss this opportunity, you will miss it forever.

Han Sen agreed to Yao Ming's invitation. On the one hand, he had some similarities with Yao Ming, and the opportunity to play in a big game at home was only once. On the other hand, it was also because Yao Ming was now the chairman of the Basketball Association.

The first time Yao Ming came into contact with him was when he was injured. Yao Ming came to remind him not to play for the national team while injured. At that time, he had a very good impression of him.

However, Han Sen put forward a condition to Yao Ming.

Now that I'm here, I might as well share the Shanghai dance steps with Jokic.

Hansen had been to Olajuwon's cram school before, and he knew that Jokic definitely didn't have Olajuwon's speed. In comparison, Jokic and Yao Ming were actually closer.

Especially in the application of low-post techniques, Yao Ming can provide Jokic with great help.

Just when we were practicing, the social media, which had been quiet all the time, suddenly broke out a big news.

Curry, who had previously remained silent in the fight between James and Green, spoke out:
"We have achieved success in 2015 and we cannot afford to lose any of our members."

This choice is actually not surprising. If James is willing to sit down and talk with Green, Curry is willing to be a peacemaker.

But now he has to choose between the two, and he can't stand on James' side because Green represents the Warriors' meritorious group.

If he had chosen James, the Warriors locker room would have been completely blown up.

Curry's statement basically put an end to this farce.

That's not just what Curry means to the Warriors, but also because he is also a free agent this year.

If Curry is really pissed off and leaves, the Warriors will be completely finished.

So James's strategy was broken by Curry, and he is destined to never return to the Bay Area.

James, it’s so miserable!

He can no longer go to New York and Los Angeles, the two largest cities.

Cleveland, the so-called hometown now also belongs to Hansen.

Now that he can’t go back to the Bay Area, where else can he go?
Even Han Sen had no idea what the answer to this question would be.

It was July 7rd, and there was a lot of movement in the free market that day.

One of the big fish in the free market, Hayward announced his return to the Jazz with a five-year maximum salary.

Although there has been no movement from Griffin, Hayward's move has cut off the Warriors' retreat.

If the Warriors want to find a replacement in the free market, they can only move down and look for players of the level of Jrue Holiday, Millsap, and Gallinari.

Now the pressure on the Warriors management has increased.

Yao Ming returned to the University of East after coaching Jokic, and Jokic also used Dedmon to test the results of the training.

The free market was unusually quiet for two days.

Just as the time came to July 7, with two days left before the free freeze period, Irving's drama in the Eastern Conference came to an end.

The Bulls were finally forced to agree to Irving's application.

However, in the end, they did not simply reach a deal with the Celtics, but rather a four-party deal.

This four-party trade is no less than an earthquake for the Eastern Conference.

The specific contents of the transaction are:

The Bulls sent Irving and Jimmy Butler in exchange for Fultz, Jahlil Okafor, Zizic, John Collins, Jerryd Bayless, and draft picks from the Celtics and Pacers.
The Celtics sent Isaiah Thomas, Crowder, Zizic, and a future unprotected first-rounder to get Irving;

The 76ers sent Fultz, Jahlil Okafor, and Jerryd Bayless to Jimmy Butler and Crowder;

The Pacers sent 2017 No. 19 pick John Collins, a future first-round pick, and a future second-round pick to get Thomas.

The most surprising team among them was naturally the 76ers. They had always believed in the process, but in the end they gave up their faith.

But in reality, Sam Hinkie, their navigator who started “the process,” had already left before last season’s draft.

Now that they have the opportunity to improve the team's strength, they will naturally choose to take action.

After the trade, the 76ers have a very competitive lineup in the Eastern Conference: Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler, Crowder, Saric, and Embiid.

Embiid shot 36.7% from three-point range in his rookie season, so the spacing of this lineup is not as bad as imagined.

If Embiid can stay healthy in the new season and the 76ers management can make good use of this wave of rookie benefits to strengthen the bench lineup, their competitiveness will be considerable.

The Celtics are the least surprising. Isaiah Thomas' performance against the Cavaliers last season was very up and down. If the Cavaliers are taken as their target, upgrading the point guard is a must. With the chips they have, Irving is their most ideal target.

And Durant also has a strong personal preference for playing with Irving.

As long as Irving stops causing trouble, the Celtics' strength on paper after the trade can be said to have been greatly improved.

As for the Pacers, Teague's contract is expiring, and they can use their limited draft picks to trade for All-Star level Isaiah Thomas to keep Paul George, which is acceptable to them.

As for Bird's disdain for Thomas, in May of this year, after the Pacers' season ended, Bird resigned from his position as the team's president of operations and quit his job.

If there was anything surprising, it was probably that Han Sen didn't expect George to not request a trade in the end.

All I can say is that his words as an "idol" did change some of George's ideas.

As for the Bulls, with Irving making such a fuss, they might as well just take them down. They have long had the intention of rebuilding, so they just start over.

All they got in this deal were young people.

From the perspective of purely transaction reconstruction, they made a lot of money.

But if you show Hansen the chips the Bulls have obtained, Hansen's comment is just one sentence: The Bulls really have no hope of revival.

This is really a situation where no one can beat it.

In fact, if Irving had not criticized James at the beginning, Nike should have tried its best to encourage James to join the Bulls this year.

After all, Chicago is a big city, and Irving and James' technical styles are very compatible.

But unfortunately there is no if.

The drama in the East has come to an end, and the developments in the West have become more eye-catching.

When it came to July 7, the freeze period would have ended if it was delayed any further. It was at this time that James finally announced his new decision on social media.

"New Orleans is a traumatized city that needs a sports renaissance, and I will be there to build the future with Anthony Davis."

When this decision came out, social media exploded.

"Fake news, right? LeBron is going to a small city like New Orleans?"

“Is this poverty alleviation basketball?”

"Don't tell me, don't tell me. Right now it seems that only AD meets the requirements. He is strong enough but has little experience. If LeBron goes there, he will be the boss and the team will be competitive."

"Why should AD be your second in command, LeBron? Isn't the son of the United States better than you, the son of the former heaven?"

……

Amidst the debate, someone silently sent a message.

After the end of last season, Anthony Davis fired his original agent and his new agent is named Rich Paul.

(End of this chapter)