Rekindling the dream of becoming a star

Chapter 399 Planning for the Future
"Is this the Blue Choice for this year?"

Chen Fang flipped through the player list with one hand. One list included basic information about the players and scouting reports, and he had seven lists in his hand.

From the 1,028 people selected nationwide to the 300 people selected in the North-South Elite Competition, and finally the 50 people who went to the United States, only these six people appeared in front of Chen Fang.

These six individuals are the cream of the crop, selected through a rigorous process; they represent the pinnacle of their generation. They are the Chen Wangs in their own stories!

Looking at the unfamiliar names, Chen Fang felt somewhat lost.

He no longer has much information from his past life to help him make the right choices, which is why he spends more money on the scouting system and uses professionals to prevent stories of overlooked talents from happening.

I looked it over again, there are 6 players, 4 defenders and 2 small forwards.

Cheng Yuanlan – born in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province in November 2003, 188 cm tall, with an estimated upper limit of 193 cm based on bone structure measurements.

He is incredibly fast, has a wide field of vision, plays unselfishly, and has a tenacious will. He is a classic point guard, but his weaknesses are his shooting technique and lack of stamina.

Zhao Tianyou – born in Neijiang, Sichuan Province in April 2003, 185 cm tall, with an estimated upper limit of 190 cm based on bone structure measurements.

Excellent shooting ability, sharp breakthrough skills, tough playing style, the chosen one for the shooting guard position. His weaknesses are poor ball handling, limited vision, and a penchant for one-on-one play.

Hua Yaoyu – born in Yangquan, Shanxi Province in February 2004, is 191 cm tall, with an estimated upper limit of 196 cm based on bone structure measurements.

He has strong overall abilities and comprehensive skills. He can play both the 1 and 2 positions. However, he is not good at physical confrontations, rarely makes breakthroughs, and is physically too thin.

Qian Gaojun – born in Jinjiang, Fujian Province in June 2004, 190cm tall, estimated height 195cm based on bone structure measurements.

With a strong fighting spirit and outstanding defensive talent, he has a wingspan of 203cm and is a superb 1-on-1 defender. His skills are relatively mediocre, but his biggest strength is his defense.

Li Jian'an – born in Dongfang, Hainan in October 2004, 195 cm tall, bone circumference 205 cm.

With his perpetual motion-like physical abilities, he has been making a living on the sea since childhood with his father. Known as having "iron lungs," his lean physique contains endless energy, making him the most talented young man in this Blue Ocean Audition.

Having only been playing basketball for a little over a year, and with all his skills at a beginner level, he was able to make it all the way to Los Angeles thanks to his phenomenal performance on the court, which shows just how terrifying his talent is.

With excellent vision and reaction speed, outstanding athleticism, and near-professional lateral and vertical abilities, Garnett has been compared to seven scouts who consider him a dominant force in interior defense and the most suitable candidate for modern basketball.

Dou Wei – Born in Xinyang, Henan Province in May 2004. Height: 201 cm, Bone Spectrum Measurement: 208 cm.

He has post-up ability, loves to facilitate, and has good ball control. He is also the only power forward in this Blue Ocean selection program.

Compared to Joseph Tsai's plan to go to the United States, Blue Ocean seems to have a wide talent pool, but in reality, it has very few semi-finished products. Most of them are ordinary students, at the school team level, and there are very few promising talents from sports schools and clubs.

Firstly, the club has worked hard to cultivate them and will not release them. Secondly, compared to the brands that Cai Chongxin went to the United States for, Weilan is not qualified enough in the professional circle.

Therefore, the players that Weilan can recruit and discover are basically forwards and defenders, and Chen Fang is happy to see this happen.

First, developing a center is a long process. Second, Blue currently doesn't have many strong coaches for developing interior players.

In its second year of operation, Azure is constantly making adjustments. The problems that occurred in the first batch must be avoided in the second batch. We need to do better in terms of accommodation, personal training, and diet.

It is important to monitor players' performance and mental state, and provide timely assistance and support.

The first batch of projects encountered problems in this regard and were essentially abandoned. Weilan fully funds the high school tuition, which is the fundamental reason why parents have confidence in entrusting their children to Weilan.

They are still playing, but the future prospects are unclear. Weilan is actively communicating with them, including transferring schools and hiring excellent trainers, hoping that at least the child can reach the D2 level and make a living in the amateur basketball league back in China.

There aren't many in the first batch who still have a chance to reach D1; out of 50, you can't find more than five.

This is a brutal competition.

As for the current second batch of 6 people, as long as they develop steadily, they have a good chance of reaching D1. In this respect, in terms of results, Blue Ocean is not worse than Cai Chongxin's team.

Chen Fang proposed the "100-person plan" at the annual meeting, which aims to cultivate 100 players who can enter the D1, D2, and D3 levels within five years, with at least 20 of them reaching the D1 level.

Chen Fang confidently outlined a grand plan to Wang Zhen and the domestic team: 20 D1-level players would provide the national team with more options in every position and enrich its tactical system.

These 20 players can go to Europe to play, go to Australia to play, return to China to participate in the draft, and play in the CBA.

At that time, the club will actively hand over the best prospects to us. Azure's future plan is to select 10 D1 players every year.

The Blue Ocean Academy will become the most trusted training institution for amateur and professional clubs, as well as the State Sports Commission. If we persist for ten years, by 2030, the Chinese men's basketball team will definitely become a world-class team.

As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. This year marks the second year of the Blue Sky Ten-Year Plan, and Chen Fang is full of confidence.

He handed the list to Drew, and that summer, Rockstone expanded and welcomed its first partner.

Drew, an old friend of Chen Fang, will make Rock more acceptable in North America. In terms of player development and recommendations, Drew will use his network of connections to add strong momentum to the plan.

"You will personally take care of these six people!"

"Of course, I chose them all." Drew smiled. He joined Rock because he saw that Chen Fang would definitely become a giant in the alliance. If he didn't take advantage of this opportunity, when would he?
After giving his instructions, Chen Fang had to go and do something else.

Upon arriving at training ground number 10, four boys were quietly waiting for him.

Zeng Fanbo, Cui Yongxi, Qin Changzheng, and Wang Junjie.

Wang Junjie's appearance was something Chen Fang did on a whim. After coordinating with Edson, the head of NBA player development, Chen Fang transferred Cui Yongxi from the Australian NBA training camp to his own hands. Since there was another Chinese person in the same batch, namely Wang Junjie, he also took him along.

As for domestic relations, Chen Fang asked Yao to handle it. In short, Chen Fang had this intention: to maximize the value of the information he knew.

Zeng Fanbo followed the same tactic, paying a price to acquire ownership of Shougang, but both of them retained hidden clauses allowing them to join Guangzhou and Shougang clubs, giving these two clubs priority signing rights once they enter the CBA.

In contrast, Wang Junjie comes from a typical school background. In junior high school, he represented the Hailiang basketball team and won the provincial middle school basketball championship multiple times. He also won the U13 national championship. In September 2019, he received an offer from the NBA Global Elite Program and successfully joined the program, going to the NBA Academy in Australia for training.

He is the fifth Chinese person to join the NBA's global program, following Li Tianrong, Peng Senao, Qu Honglin, and Cui Yongxi.

In Chen Fang's knowledge, there was very little information about Wang Junjie, but at least he knew that this young man had made it into D1 on his own, which was already quite remarkable.

Azure has plenty of money, but it's unrealistic to acquire every player at a high price.

Chen Fang used the money wisely, placing high hopes on these four teenagers.

First, Zeng Fanbo needs to transfer schools because his current school isn't competitive enough and isn't suitable for him at this stage of developing his skills.

Previously, there were no resources, but now that Chen Fang is here, things naturally need to change.

Chen Fang had already made a plan. Except for Qin Changzheng, who would stay at his alma mater Chaminard, the other three would transfer to schools in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. The schools there were top-tier on the West Coast, and the advantage of being there was that they could make full use of Pan Shi and make the most of their time.

Within two years, Chen Fang plans to send all four of them to the teams in the D1 League that are best suited to them.

Everyone needs to reach the starting lineup level, and Chen Fang has only one requirement for them.

A guaranteed four-star high school student, aiming for five-star king!
His biggest ambition is to hone his skills in Division 1 and earn a spot in the NBA draft, whether in the first or second round, to enter the NBA.

This is the significance of Chen Fang's persistence.

Upon seeing Chen Fang appear, the boys became somewhat agitated, but apart from Wang Junjie, the other three remained relatively normal.

When Chen Fang walked up to the boy, Wang Junjie was so excited that his face turned red.

"I just finished dealing with Azure's matter," Chen Fang said.

The four teenagers didn't quite understand, but that didn't stop them from nodding vigorously. Chen Fang then had them sit on the benches in the stands and explained the Blue Sky Project to them.

“Changzheng was in the first batch, and now it’s the second batch.” Chen Fang pointed at Qin Changzheng, and all three of them showed surprised expressions. They had always thought that Qin Changzheng was from some club. Cui Yongxi had tried to get information out of him many times, but after being warned by Chen Fang, Qin Changzheng did not reveal a single word.

This summer, Qin Changzheng has been consistently superior to them, even the shortest one was mercilessly slaughtered by Changzheng.

So when Chen Fang said it, the three of them immediately felt pressure about the Blue Sky Project.

They were all bright and intelligent; otherwise, they wouldn't have stood out and come to America.

"Giving you resources is the best option, but the allocation will be adjusted every year, with changes in funding and training." Chen Fang said this to prevent them from becoming complacent and to make them feel the pressure.

Just like the college entrance examination, what they were taught was Tsinghua University and Peking University, and they had no other aspirations.

"This time, there are six very strong ones, and Drew is leading them personally."

Of the four boys, only Qin Changzheng was immediately nervous. Who was Drew? Chen Wang's first trainer. It could be said that Chen Wang's triple rocket jump was largely due to Drew. The media had already revealed this.

Moreover, Drew is Tatum's trainer, Bill's trainer, and holds a very high position among North American trainers. "The three of you, I will have Cal Hannon come. You will take care of your school training as well, and you should stay at Rock on weekdays."

"Master, what about me?" Qin Changzheng asked, dissatisfied.

"You? Stay quietly by Coach Perez's side and learn how to play combo guard properly." Chen Fang's tone was exceptionally stern, which frightened the kid so much that he immediately shrank back.

“I’ll be in Panshi on weekdays, and I’ll personally lead you every month.”

"Great!" the three boys cheered. It was such an honor to become Chen Fang's apprentice.

Chen Fang also smiled. Kobe had his Mamba disciples, and while he didn't have that level of influence, he could still get a Chen Wangzong. These were all top talents in the country, and he would make a huge profit.

"Go train." Chen Fang waved for the boy to continue training.

After leaving Panshi, Chen Fang headed to the Clippers training center.

The preseason starts the day after tomorrow. On October 4th, the Clippers will play four games to help their new players integrate into the system more quickly.

When they arrived, Lawrence was waiting in the parking lot.

"What is it that makes you wait here for me?" Chen Fang asked with a smile, gesturing for Ilya to leave first.

After Ilya left, Lawrence said, "Please come to my office to discuss the contract renewal."

Looking at Lawrence's beaming smile, Chen Fang nodded and asked, "Don't we need Duffy to come?"

"Others need it, but you don't," Lawrence replied meaningfully.

"Because the Clippers will accept all your requests," Lawrence then explained.

This is a major taboo for managers. Generally, when negotiating contract renewals, one should not reveal their bottom line, especially for management.

But for someone of Chen Fang's caliber, these things are meaningless; kneeling down and praying for Chen Fang to sign the contract is more realistic.

Chen Fang didn't reply, but instead put his arm around Lawrence.

"Relax, I'm not leaving the Clippers."

Soon after, Chen Fang entered the conference room and saw Wenger.

Wenger got up and came over to welcome him. He now understood his position: Chen Fang was someone he could not afford to have any ulterior motives towards.

"Long time no see, you look much better!" Chen Fang said with a smile.

"Thank you, yes, thank you for your contributions to the team. I have benefited greatly from them. Thank you very much!" Wenger's words also showed his humble attitude.

The three sat down, and Wenger handed over a draft contract.

Chen Fang took it, glanced at it a few times, and then put it aside. His actions made Lawrence and Wenger's smiles freeze.

NBA first-round draft picks typically sign four-year contracts, with the first and second years guaranteed and the third and fourth years being team options.

After a player's third year of their rookie contract expires, the team can offer the player an early contract extension.

This is the rookie player's second and most crucial contract. It will not only determine the player's income for the next few years, but also whether the management will include the player in the team's growth opportunities, that is, the core framework for contending for a championship.

Players who deliver performances that live up to or even exceed their potential during their rookie season may be eligible for a super-sized contract.

Unlike regular contracts, players' annual salaries will be 30% of the salary cap instead of 20%, allowing players to earn higher salaries, provided that certain criteria are met.

This is the "Roose Clause".

The new clause in the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement stipulates that only players who have been named MVP during their rookie contract, or who have been selected as an All-Star starter twice in the All-Star voting, or who have been selected to the All-NBA Team twice (regardless of which team they were on), will be eligible to be included.

However, in 2016, the Rose Rule was adjusted, and the All-Star game was canceled.

Chen Fang will naturally fit the bill; he's already in the best lineup.

For players, winning the MVP award is extremely difficult; to achieve it, they can only try their luck in the All-Star Game and the All-NBA Team.

This is why some players create news and hype; high exposure means a greater chance of making the All-Star team, and they also pursue data greed, because the selection of the All-Star team is based on data.

This all amounts to money, with gains and losses amounting to tens of millions annually.

Chen Fang's contract extension was supposed to begin in the summer of 20, but the Clippers couldn't wait any longer. They had to show their sincerity and present their proposal ahead of time.

The Rose Rule also has an implicit rule: each team can only have two Rose Rule players. Last year, Anthony Davis didn't go to the Celtics because of this.

Because Kyrie Irving, who was playing for the Celtics at the time, had previously signed a contract extension under the designated rookie exception, and the Celtics acquired Irving through a trade with the Cavaliers, and Anthony Davis's contract extension with the Pelicans was also of this type, the Celtics cannot acquire Anthony Davis through a trade unless they give up Irving.

In practice, the maximum salary for designated rookies does not necessarily reach 30% of the starting salary cap.

Typically, teams will negotiate with players who meet certain criteria, such as being selected for the All-NBA Second Team, where the starting salary for a new contract is 27% of the salary cap; for the All-NBA First Team, it's 28%; and for winning MVP, it's 30%.

Therefore, the starting salary for the first year of the designated rookie maximum contract will fluctuate between 25% and 30% of the salary cap.

This is why players and management repeatedly argue over contract renewals, because there are no standards, and it's purely a matter of who can talk the better.

The contract also includes clauses that benefit the player, such as a full guarantee clause, which means that the player will receive their full salary regardless of their performance during the contract period.

The player option allows players to choose whether to terminate their contract before it expires, thus giving them more room to negotiate their contract.

Trade bonus: If a player is traded, the team needs to pay an additional bonus to the player.

Incentive clauses allow players to receive additional bonuses if they achieve specific performance goals (such as being selected for the All-Star team or the All-NBA team).

All of this was written in the contract. It can be said that the Clippers truly submitted unconditionally. As Lawrence said, you don't even need an agent, we don't need to negotiate, you just need to sign.

It's quite lavish to have blank checks placed in front of you, allowing you to fill in any amount.

"I feel the management's sincerity. Let Duffy take a look at this first, and I will talk about it in principle."

The two, who were sitting upright, immediately leaned forward a little more upon hearing this, their eyes locked on Chen Fang's face.

"The money will be handled according to the terms of the labor contract; the amounts for other clauses will be discussed in detail later."

"I hope the Clippers can build a salary structure that breaks through the salary cap and takes risks on the luxury line."

"The competition in the NBA will be fierce in the future, and I hope that more of our supporting players and players who have already developed good chemistry with their teams will stay."

“Jaren, Porter, Zubac, Butler, these are the core framework.”

Lawrence and Wenger glanced at each other and realized that Chen Fang had been talking to them about the team's salaries, not just his own.

However, this does not mean that when team leaders renew contracts, the management should still make a statement on the general direction and come up with a feasible plan to win or defend the championship. The core of the plan is to bring in new players and retain key players.

Retaining a superstar is not just about a huge contract; it's also about the management's blueprint for the team's future.

Who to keep must be confirmed, and who to bring in must also be clearly stated.

The four people Chen Fang mentioned earlier are the ones he absolutely has to keep. If he can't reach an agreement with these people, Chen Fang's contract renewal won't go smoothly.

Having understood Chen Fang's meaning, Wenger didn't bother to have Lawrence relay the message and stated directly: "They are all people we highly regard, and we already have a detailed contract renewal plan."

"This is good news. You can communicate with them in advance and show me the plan first. If you encounter any difficulties, I will take charge of coordination." Chen Fang said domineeringly, but the two of them showed their joy again.

Chen Fang's meaning was clear: he wasn't just trying to get more pay for his brothers, but rather he wanted to do it within a controllable range.

Although Ballmer has made it clear that he is willing to negotiate any terms in order to retain Chen Fang.

However, as management, Wenger and Lawrence still need to demonstrate professional ethics, and Chen Fang's statement put their concerns at ease.

“Everything is as you wish.” Wenger stood up, leaned forward, and extended his hand to Chen Fang.

With his right hand in hand, Chen Fang extended his still-healing left hand and grasped Lawrence's.

The three clasped hands, and Chen Fang said, "May we leave behind a glorious chapter in the history of the NBA, a chapter that belongs to us together."

(End of this chapter)