NBA: Starting with the undercut by Parker and Bowen

Adelman continued, "After negotiations between myself and the King of Sacramento, a deal was finally reached:"

"We traded Steve Francis, Dikembe Mutombo, Carl Landry, and the 2010 first-round pick to the Kings for wing John Salmons."

As expected, A-Shuai still needs to rely on his former team for a trade.

John Salmons was a name Yang Lin vaguely recognized, but not exactly a familiar name.

Yang Lin didn't have a deep impression of Artest during the match he fought with earlier this month.

In that game, Salmons actually performed quite well, making 5 of 7 field goals and 3 of 3 free throws, scoring 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.

But such data was clearly not enough to impress Yang Lin.

Adelman explained to Yang Lin, "John is actually quite good. He's an all-rounder, capable of both offense and defense, and a master of chaotic battles."

"His weakness is that he doesn't have any particularly outstanding ability, and he's prone to making rash decisions. But as a versatile substitute, he's quite cost-effective."

Holy crap! Ah Shuai, why are you talking about cost-effectiveness now? Isn't that Mo Gou's catchphrase?

Adelman, of course, was unaware of Yang Lin's inner thoughts, and he continued with some regret:

"The Kings actually wanted to trade Ron Artest, and their asking price wasn't high. But unfortunately, we didn't have a matching contract."

That's really a pity.

If they could bring in Artest, the Rockets' chances of winning the championship would increase by at least 10 points, or even 15 points.

This guy hadn't regressed yet, and the intensity of the playoffs suited him perfectly.

"Don't dwell on the failed deal," Yang Lin said to Adelman.

"The team traded away two big men, DeCambe and Karl, even though they were the fifth and sixth men in the rotation."

"But with them gone, isn't the four-man rotation in the paint too weak? Has the team considered how to strengthen it?"

Adelman nodded and replied, "I've spoken with the Kings and DeCambe. After the deal is completed, the Kings will release DeCambe, and we'll re-sign him a month later."

I understand, it's the Zydrunner's maneuver from later generations!

Actually, there was a previous version of this operation.

In the 04-05 season, the Celtics made a trade with the Hawks:

The Celtics traded Gary Payton and two other teammates to Atlanta in exchange for Antoine Walker.

After the trade was completed, Payton immediately released his contract with the Hawks and quickly signed a contract with the Celtics.

This move led to the "Gary Payton Rule," which stipulates that if a player is waived after a trade, he must wait at least 30 days (20 days during the offseason) before he can re-sign with his original team.

This kind of operation is not uncommon. For example, McDyess will do it next year, giving up a multi-million dollar annual salary.

The reason why Zydrunas Ilgauskas caused controversy at the time was mainly because the Cavaliers were already at the top of the Eastern Conference before the trade.

This operation resulted in getting Jamison for free without contributing anything.

Will the Rockets' actions cause controversy?

Obviously not, because Salmons isn't good enough, and Mutombo today is far inferior to the Zydrunas Ilgauskas of yesteryear.

Adelman continued, "I also contacted Chris Webber. He accepted my invitation and will be here soon."

This surprised Yang Lin, but after a moment of confusion, it also felt perfectly natural.

Chris Webber, the absolute core of the former Kings, and Adelman's most trusted disciple.

Historically, Webber was supposed to join the Golden State Warriors, the team where he began his professional career, midway through this season.

After playing nine games, he finished his professional career by retiring.

Now that his mentor has invited him and he has a chance to win, he naturally wants to give it another try.

After all, no one wants to be Barkley if they can wear a championship ring.

Back at the training facility, the Rockets players arrived one after another, and Yang Lin indeed did not see Landry or Francis.

Presumably, they received a notification and may have already made arrangements to head to Sacramento.

Uncle Mu then arrived and was chatting and laughing with Yao Ming!

He probably never intended to leave Houston; he just treated it as a month-long paid vacation and was quite happy with it.

On December 28, the Rockets defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 103-83 on the road, a 20-point victory.

On December 29, the Rockets hosted the Toronto Raptors in a back-to-back game, easily defeating them 91-79, securing their fourth consecutive victory.

On December 31, the Rockets will host the Golden State Warriors.

After three quarters, the Rockets led 80-78, a two-point advantage.

In the final quarter, Yang Lin and others made a powerful entrance, determined to defend their home court and achieve a five-game winning streak.

Unexpectedly, they were dealt a heavy blow when Anthony Davis hit a three-pointer with five seconds left in the game, opening the curtain for the Warriors' offense in the final quarter.

Ellis, Jackson, and Harrington followed closely behind, each opening fire.

With a score of 37-15, the Warriors had only four players score in the final quarter, yet they still handed the Rockets a crushing defeat with 22 points in that quarter.

In this game, the Rockets not only lost by a large margin, but also lost a key player.

Wilcox twisted his ankle while grabbing a rebound, accidentally hitting Biedrins' foot and is expected to be out for a week.

Fortunately, Webber and Salmons officially joined the team yesterday.

The Rockets' frontcourt will not be completely depleted due to Wilcox's absence.

Because Scola was already wearing the Rockets' number 4 jersey, Webber did not accept the transfer and ultimately chose to wear the Rockets' number 84 jersey.

The Rockets lost to the Golden State Warriors 95-112, concluding all their December games.

The Rockets played 14 NBA regular season games this month, with a record of 8 wins and 6 losses, which can only be described as average for the month.

But there's nothing we can do about it.

After three consecutive losses, Yang Lin was suspended; McGrady was injured and sidelined, which naturally affected the team's progress.

After two months of competition, the Rockets have a record of 22 wins and 9 losses, ranking fourth in the league and second in the Western Conference.

The Boston Celtics have a record of 26 wins and 3 losses, giving them a commanding lead in the league.

The Pistons have a record of 24 wins and 7 losses, ranking second in the league.

The Spurs have a record of 21 wins and 8 losses, ranking third in the league and first in the Western Conference.

The Rockets have already faced off against the Second and Third, and currently have a record of 1 win and 1 loss against each other, with neither team having a superior record.

As the new year begins, the Rockets' players fly to Boston for their first game of the year, ready to challenge the Celtics, the league's biggest boss this season.

Just as the media touted before the season began, the Big Three of Garnett, Pierce, and Ray Allen were indeed a formidable force.

After the start of the season, they firmly held the top spot in the league standings with their unparalleled performance.

Judging from the current situation, they will likely remain in first place until the end of the regular season.

Of course, their remarkable achievements are also closely related to their position in the weak Eastern Conference division.

In the 29 games the Celtics have played so far, they have faced Eastern Conference teams 21 times, with a record of 18 wins and 3 losses, losing to the Magic, Cavaliers, and Pistons.

They have a record of 8 wins and 0 losses in 8 games against Western Conference teams.

However, so far, they have not played against strong teams such as the Spurs, Suns, Rockets, and New Orleans Hornets.

Last month, they narrowly defeated the defending champion Jazz 104-98 by 6 points.

However, Kirilenko was absent from that match.

Their best record against the Western Conference teams is a home-and-away sweep of Kobe's Los Angeles Lakers, completing a season sweep.

Both games were blowout victories by more than ten points, with Kobe completely lost in the Celtics' defense.

一场21投9中拿到28分，一场25投6中拿到22分。

But Kobe also had something to say: What kind of lineup do we have? And what kind of lineup do they have?

The Houston Rockets' away game against the Boston Celtics attracted a great deal of attention from the media and fans.

The Rockets are currently second in the Western Conference, which is pretty good. They can be used to test the Celtics' true strength as a Western Conference powerhouse.

The only slight disappointment is that T-Mac, one of the Rockets' three core players, is sidelined due to injury.

Even after thorough testing, flaws will still be found in the final product.