Stern presided over the meeting. He took the microphone and cleared his throat to signal for silence.
"Guys, as we're all here in New York, there's a meeting going on in Seattle, but it's a labor meeting between the players' union and the players' agents."
The bosses in the audience frowned, and the bad-tempered ones were already cursing.
"How much money do those damn vampires want to take from us to be happy?"
"Our big-city team in Phoenix made a total profit of less than one million US dollars last season!"
"At least you are making a profit. We lost more than five million, and most teams in the league are in the red."
"There are no more than ten teams that are truly profitable this season. Except for the Wizards, Bulls, Lakers and Knicks, even if other teams make a profit, it is less than 5 million, which is not enough to sign a second-rate player."
The bosses are very angry. In their view, players' salaries are too high. Many players earn several times more than their bosses in a year. Is this ridiculous?
The players union and agents are still meeting at the moment. It is simply intolerable to continue to increase player salaries.
Stern continued: "I do not represent management, let alone labor, but I support limiting players' salaries. If it continues to increase, all of us will be finished, including those players."
"There is a saying in Lin's hometown that is to kill the goose to lay eggs. This sentence is perfect to describe the behavior of the players' union and agents."
Lin Yu touched his nose. He didn't know where Stern heard this sentence, but it did make sense.
Most players only care about immediate profits and take as much as they can, without caring about the life and death of the team. When all teams are losing money and can no longer continue, these players will also face unemployment. It is not killing the goose to obtain the eggs.
That's why Lin Yu said that the maximum salary regulation is the most valuable clause in the NBA. It ensures the healthy and stable survival of the NBA.
If in other industries, employees want high salaries, it is actually understandable. After all, if you destroy this company, you can still switch to other companies.
However, if the NBA collapses, how and where can we jump to another job? No basketball league in the world can offer such a high salary.
The current appeal of the owners is to limit player salaries. This season, the total player salary accounts for 57% of the league's revenue, which is a quite exaggerated figure.
To operate a team, in addition to paying players' salaries, they also have to rent arenas and hire countless personnel. How much does the coaching staff and scouting team alone cost? There are also various senior executives, which is a huge expense.
Originally, the labor negotiations in 1995 had written in black and white between 48% and 52%. However, in less than two years, the figure soared to 57%. The boss's request for a salary cut has a legal basis.
The labor side's demands are a bit outrageous. They want to increase the player salary ratio to 62%, and then increase the player base salary from the original 150,000 to about 280,000.
It doesn't matter if the basic salary is increased. After all, it's just a small amount of money. What really makes the bosses unbearable is 62% of the salary. They have already lost money to grandma's family, and they want to continue asking for money. Who can bear it?
Some bosses at the scene have stated that if there is no salary limit, their loss-making teams will withdraw from the NBA.
The players are also interesting. They stated that if there is no salary increase, the players will withdraw from the league together and form a new league.
Lin Yu sat in the conference room and listened to everyone's discussion without expressing any opinions. This matter had little to do with him. Anyway, it was the labor that would compromise in the end.
After the meeting ended, Lin Yu was about to leave, but was stopped by Stern.
"Lin, what do you think of this labor negotiation?"
Lin Yu smiled and shook his head: "I don't have any opinion. I believe Mr. Stern can handle this matter perfectly."
Stern burst into laughter, the words being of great use to him.
Lin Yu didn't mean to flatter Stern. With Stern's Machiavellian tactics, how could those players compete with him.
What Lin Yu has to do now is to prepare for the next draft, and then lead the team to the Men's Basketball World Championships.
Speaking of which, the labor negotiations in the NBA have led to a shutdown. For Lin Yu, there is a huge benefit, that is, NBA players collectively boycotted the World Championships. The American players participating in the World Championships are all NCAA college students and CBA (Continental Basketball Association) ) players, to be honest, Lin Yu leading the Chinese men's basketball team can definitely beat this American team to blood.
…
After returning to Washington, Lin Yu received a call from Warriors general manager Ginn.
Their draft pick acquisition has been successful, selling Joe Smith, Donyel Marshall and several role players in exchange for the Magic's No. 15 first-round pick, the Hawks' No. 20 pick and the Pacers' No. 25 pick. .
The Warriors were a little cautious before, but they were still honest. The selection of these three first-round picks far exceeded Lin Yu's expectations.
Since the Warriors are interesting enough, Lin Yu doesn't want to treat the Warriors badly. After all, that is the team that Weber and Rose will play for for many years.
"Mr. Jean, do you still have a good second-round pick in your hands now?"
"I recommend you use this first-round pick to draft Rafe Alston. You just need a point guard."
"I don't dare to brag about other aspects, but I'm still a little confident when it comes to judging people in the draft."
"It can be regarded as a small gift from me to Chris and Jaylen joining the Warriors."
Lin Yu smiled and recommended the streetball king Alston to the Warriors. Lin Yu was not planning to take Alston anyway.
In his peak period, Alston averaged around 13 points and 7 assists per game. He was not considered a first-line point guard, but he was a second-round pick, so he didn't need a bicycle, and the price/performance ratio was already high enough.
The Warriors have center Dampier, power forward Webber, swingman Rose, and point guard Alston. The lineup is already impressive. At least it will be easy to reach the Western Conference playoffs.
Gene was ecstatic in his heart. Every transaction that Lin Yu had made in the past year and a half could be called a classic case. Some people had previously questioned the transactions between Xiao Ou and Nash, thinking that Lin Yu had lost money in these two transactions.
However, it was not until the second half of last season, when O'Neill and Nash emerged, that everyone realized that where they were losing money, they were making money.
Xiao Ao was exchanged for Laigler. Now Xiao Ao has already achieved his worth. Let alone one Laigler. There is no way to exchange Xiao Ao for twenty Laigler tied together.
Needless to say, Nash, many teams want a point guard with his style, such as the Lakers. If Nash can match O'Fatty, it would be unimaginable.
If O'Pang can keep catching the ball under the basket, it will cause terrible damage.
And Nash himself has strong offensive firepower. The reason why the offensive end was hindered in the Eastern Conference finals was because he encountered Jordan. What can be done.
No one doubted Lin Yu's judgment anymore. Now that Lin Yu recommended Alston to the Warriors, Gene was extremely grateful and thanked Lin Yu profusely.
How did the outside world know that Alston was recommended by Lin Yu? If Alston does well by then, wouldn't it be Gene's credit?
Then Gene can sit more firmly in the position of Warriors general manager.
"Thank you, Lin, I owe you a huge favor."
"No matter what happens in the future and you need my help, just give me a call."
Gene didn't have a good impression of Lin Yu at first. After all, Lin Yu had humiliated Warriors coach Carlesimo. However, after this contact, Gene felt that Lin Yu was really interesting and he liked Lin Yu very much.
"It's easy to say. It seems that I usually don't have anything to trouble Mr. Jean." Lin Yu said with a smile.
Gene murmured in his heart, is there really nothing he needs help with? When you are at odds with someone, do you really not need your own support?
…
After hanging up Gene's call, Lin Yu called Karl Lao again and told him that he had reached an agreement with Ben. When the contract could be signed, Ben would go to the SuperSonics to report.
"Thank God, Lin, you are my best brother."
"How can I thank you? We have a first-round pick with the 26th overall pick. Let's give it to you. It's of no use to us keeping it anyway."
"Maybe you can get a future superstar in your hands."
Karl Sr. reciprocated the favor. After winning the big deal, their SuperSonics lineup has become infinitely more perfect.
Big Ben sits under the basket and is responsible for interior defense and rebounding. Outside, he has gloves on Payton, Vin Baker, Schrempf, Jose Hawkins and others. Just thinking about it makes Old Karl excited.
The main reason why the SuperSonics failed to advance to the Western Conference finals this season is that the defense at the basket is not strong enough. The top teams in the Western Conference, the Spurs have the Twin Towers, the Lakers have O'Fay, the Jazz have Malone, how can a mere Vin Baker do that? Parry.
Now that I have a big book, the situation is completely different.
The key is that they took the big money without paying any price, and they didn't need to give the Wizards any chips.
Old Karl felt a little sorry, so he simply gave Lin Yu the 26th pick in the first round. The value of this pick was not very high.
Lin Yu accepted the first-round pick with a smile. As Karl Lao said, this first-round pick can really sign a star for Lin Yu.
After talking to Karl Lao, Lin Yu took out a pen and paper and started planning for the next draft.
Lin Yu currently has an insane amount of first-round picks in 1998.
The No. 5 pick in the first round obtained from Greencap's deal with Snow, the No. 8, No. 15, No. 20, and No. 25 picks in the first round obtained from the Webber and Rose trade, as well as those sent by Old Karl With the No. 26 pick, the Wizards themselves also have the 29th overall pick in the first round.
7 first round picks!
There is also a second-round pick that the Wizards brought with them with the 29th pick in the second round. There is nothing to say about this pick. It can only be used to select Brad Miller, who should have been undrafted.
With 8 draft picks, Lin Yu's heart was beating wildly. He wanted to catch all the rising stars of the 1998 class in this draft!
It's a bit exaggerated to say that he can catch them all in one fell swoop. After all, Lin Yu will definitely not be able to win all the new stars with high picks.
Lin Yu first wrote 5 Vince Carter on the paper, which meant that Lin Yu was preparing to select Vince Carter with the No. 5 pick.
Then there is 8 Dirk Nowitzki.
15. Matt Halprin. Under normal circumstances, Halprin was selected by the Magic with the 15th overall pick. Later generations of fans did not have a deep impression of him, and his name basically did not appear in some rearranged lists of the 1998 draft.
However, in Lin Yu's eyes, Halprin is definitely an underestimated player. He is white, but has the athletic ability of a black man. He is highly motivated to defend, has an extremely fierce defensive style, and has excellent offensive firepower. He is a very classic retro-type small player. forward.
In his peak season, he had close to 18 points and 8 rebounds, which was impressive enough on both offense and defense.
20 Ricky Davis, "wrong rim ricky", Ricky who shot the wrong basket. Because he wanted to get a triple-double, he shot towards his own basket and wanted to take a self-shooting rebound, so he has such a nickname.
In addition to a hard triple-double, he also has the famous saying, "I thought the team selected James to assist me."
The James here is naturally LeBron James.
Before James joined the Cavaliers, Davis averaged 20.6 points, 5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. He was indeed a first-line shooting guard in the league, but he just didn't have a good brain.
But no matter whether his brain is good or not, as long as he has strength, it is enough. Lin Yu simply wants to fatten him up and then sell him for chips.
25 Al Harrington, a top combo forward who averaged 20 points and 6 rebounds per game in his peak season. He can play at the third and fourth positions. He was also a well-known defensive star in the early stages of his career. However, he was traded due to injuries and successive trades in the middle and later stages of his career. , the defensive level has dropped a lot.
Under normal circumstances, he would be selected by the Pacers with the 25th pick. If Lin Yu can win him, he will definitely make a profit. It would be great to be able to select such a versatile forward with both offense and defense with the 25th pick.
26 Rashard Lewis, like Harrington, is also a combo forward, but his offensive ability is much better than Harrington. In his peak season, he averaged 22 points and 6 rebounds per game, and won a super player worth over 100 million yuan. Contract, his defense is not as good as Harrington in the early stage of his career, but he is worse than Harrington in the later stage.
Halprin, Davis and Harrington are all quasi-All-Stars. They have played All-Star-level data, but have not been selected to the All-Stars.
But Blade Lewis is different. He has actually been selected to the All-Star twice and is a true first-line star.
29 Cuttino Mobley, the old cat Mobley was normally selected by the Rockets with the 41st overall pick. He performed well in his rookie season and gained the trust of Tang Shuai. In his peak season, he averaged nearly 22 points and 4 rebounds per game. .
However, Mobley's value is not high in Lin Yu's opinion. He is 193 centimeters tall, but he can only play shooting guard and has no organizational skills at all. If it were placed in the league ten years ago, his height would be okay as a shooting guard. However, At this point, it's a bit of a disadvantage, and it's easy to be beaten on the defensive end.
Fortunately, Lin Yu has goggles in his hand. When he is ready to fatten up Mobley, put special goggles on him and let him play point guard. He will definitely be able to play the level of a super point guard. Lin Yu takes it out. The transaction is almost always accurate.
I bought it for a super point guard, but after I got it, it lost the goggle effect. Without any organizational ability, I could only play shooting guard, which was a huge loss.
58 Brad Miller, a seven-foot point guard, organization center, the ultimate center in the Princeton system, a top undrafted player, you will earn it if you get it, and Lin Yu must not miss it.
The worst of these eight players are also quasi-All-Stars. With these eight players in hand, the depth of the Wizards' lineup for the new season will be simply unfathomable.
In addition, Lin Yu also wants to win Dazhi. Dazhi is not well-known at the moment. A second-round pick is enough. Lin Yu is going to let Unseld spend money to find other teams to buy a mid-level pick. With the second round pick, it won't be a problem to win the big one.
This means that Lin Yu will win nine players in the next 98th draft!
After the Wizards left Webb, Rose and Ben, Jamie King should also leave, and Ray Jackson was accepted into the coaching staff by Lin Yu. After removing these five people, the Wizards roster still has 9 people.
Winning 9 players in the draft, and acquiring Madman and Witherspoon from the trade with the Warriors, it means that Lin Yu has 20 players in hand in the new season!
This does not include the ten fringe players Lin Yu signed to "raise pigs".
"Good guy, thirty players? Is it so outrageous?" Lin Yu was dumbfounded. He himself was shocked by the number of players in the new season.
He also said before that Nelson was crazy and used more than 20 players to test the lineup in one season. His side was even more outrageous, with the number of players reaching 30!
…
"What? Are you going to trade draft picks?"
Unseld was speechless. The Wizards already had eight draft picks, so they still wanted to trade?
"Lin, tell me the truth, are you in the human trafficking business? Otherwise, why would you need so many people?"
"Let me count how many players we have with guaranteed contracts for the new season."
"God, thirty men!"
"If you give each of you a gun, there are enough people to conquer Hawaii!"
Lin Yu laughed. He also knew that this number of people was indeed a bit outrageous, but he was really not messing around. So many people had their own uses.
Especially those ten fringe players, they absolutely must be signed. Lin Yu owes a lot of debt, and he expects these people to help pay off the debt.
"Okay, hurry up and help me find a second-round pick. It should be around the fifteenth pick in the second round."
"When the new season starts, you will know why I want so many players."
Lin Yu said with a smile.
Unseld had no choice but to leave and helped Lin Yu acquire the second-round pick. In the evening, he received the 46th pick of the second round from the Forest for $300,000.
Everything is ready, and all he needs is the east wind. Lin Yu is ready to have a big fight in this year's draft.
