"Ernie, how did Doon's trial go?"
"Herb, to be honest, Duan's physical talent is not as great as the outside media has boasted.
But don't worry, I will follow your instructions and communicate with the Seattle SuperSonics management to trade back the draft picks that originally belonged to us.
Duan's immediate combat ability is pretty good, although he may not be able to grow into the second Ray Allen.
But they can form a backcourt double-gun with Michael Reid to make up for the lack of firepower after Gary Payton left.
Next season, we are still expected to reach the playoffs. If we can find the right winning puzzle piece in the middle of the season, we may be able to realize our desire to win the championship. "
While Ernie Grunfield was looking at Duane who was dueling with Michael Redd on the court, he was on the phone with Bucks owner Herb Kerr to report on the work situation.
"You should know that I only have two requirements for your current job. One is to reduce taxes, and the other is to capture Doune."
Herb Cole has not had time to pay attention to the Bucks' affairs because his family business has been operating poorly in recent years and is in urgent need of large amounts of capital. He only made two requests to the team's general manager Glenn Field.
Originally, Herb Kerr's plan was to sell the Bucks. It just so happened that Jordan had lost all his talent and money in the Wizards and had nothing to do after retiring, so he wanted to buy an NBA team.
The two had a good conversation at the beginning, but the key is that Milwaukee is at the bottom in terms of market size and is currently only slightly better than Memphis.
Although the Bucks' record has been good in recent years, their market value is still not high, only about US$150 million.
Herb Cole wanted to sell it for a premium of 200 million, but Jordan was only willing to offer 100 million, and he only offered 50 million, and he had to find a partner for the rest.
You know, Herb Cole spends more than 80 million on the Bucks every year. In order to compete for the championship, he has paid the luxury tax for several consecutive years.
Look at the Spurs. They are both in a small market. In fact, the market is much larger than the Bucks. However, the Spurs barely paid any luxury tax when they won the championship.
It was also because the family had no money that made Herb Cole realize that just loving basketball and just throwing money at it was of no use.
So Herb Cole changed tactics.
Payton's contract is about to expire in a mid-season trade in order to reduce taxes in the offseason, even if he gives away All-Star player Ray Allen and this year's first-round pick.
After learning that Chinese player Du En had good potential and a first-round draft prospect, Herb Cole, who realized that cutting costs alone was not enough, wanted to use the Chinese market to increase revenue.
Originally, their family ran a chain of department stores. China's cheap goods and huge market are exactly what their family business needs.
It is precisely for this reason that winning Duane through the draft has become a top priority for Herb Cole and Glenfield.
Herb Cole was too busy with his responsibilities to manage the team's affairs.
At this time, Grunfield heard that Duen was not that strong. He only needed to trade Payton and give him a first-round pick to win Duen, so he didn't ask any more questions.
The Bucks have an excellent relationship with the SuperSonics. The relationship between the owners is good, as is the relationship between the general managers and coaches.
Bucks head coach George Karl previously worked for the SuperSonics.
Payton has long been rumored to be leaving the Sonics. Under such circumstances, the Bucks are willing to send an All-Star to the Sonics, plus this year's first-round pick, which is evident.
Because of the friendly relationship, as the general manager of the Bucks, Grunfield has no problem getting back the first-round pick from the Sonics.
It is worth mentioning that the first-round pick traded by the Bucks to the SuperSonics was the 14th pick in the first round, which was right in the middle of the first round. One step forward would be a lottery pick.
Grunfield is also a seasoned player and can see Duane's potential and immediate combat effectiveness.
Duen is indeed good in actual combat, but after all, his dynamic talent is holding him back. Because of his limited talent, there is a high probability that he will not be able to take on important tasks in the playoffs.
This kind of player may have a chance to enter the Little Green Room, but he is not good enough to be selected in the lottery.
Therefore, the 14th pick in the first round is basically guaranteed to win Duen.
After the trial, Grunfield also examined Duen's character and asked about Duen's wishes to see if Duen was willing to play in Milwaukee.
"Milwaukee? If your team is willing to choose me, I am willing to play for your team." Du En thought about it carefully, and it was not impossible for Milwaukee.
If the Bucks can really select him with the 14th pick in the first round as they promised, it is impossible for Du En to be as addicted to people as Yi Jianlian, make trouble unreasonably, and openly express his unwillingness to play for the Bucks.
Although playing in the Bucks, it is almost impossible to win the championship. But isn’t there an example like Antetokounmpo?
There is a saying that Antetokounmpo's championship was not glorious, but we must also admit that he can win the championship if he can stick to a city like Milwaukee, which is much smaller than Cleveland, and without the care of cliques, black whistles, and the league's three No. 1 picks in four years. Winning a championship is indeed not easy.
Having said that, today's Bucks can be considered a good place for Du En.
The main reason is that the Bucks' configuration is not bad. Although they cannot win the championship, it is still very simple to reach the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.
Point guard Alien Cassell is the same type of player as Billups. He is good at post-up play, can connect the team and organize the offense, and he is also a big-hearted player.
As a rookie, he won two championships with Olajuwon and became the core of the team. He also led the Bucks and Timberwolves to the conference finals respectively, and helped the perennially bad Clippers win the tiebreaker with the peak Suns in the Western Conference semifinals.
At the end of his career, he can also help the Celtics' Big Three win the championship.
Meeting such an excellent point guard teammate early in his career naturally helped Duan a lot.
Let's talk about the shooting guard's golden left-hand Michael Reid, who has Ray Allen's off-ball running and three-pointers, as well as the big dog Robinson's breakthrough and mid-range.
It may not be feasible for him to be the boss and lead the team to achieve results, but if he is the deputy, it would be perfect.
No one would dislike an off-ball expert like Reid who doesn't take possession of the ball, can open up space, and also has the ability to hold the ball.
It can be said that Reid is a version of Klay Thompson with a weakened defensive ability.
Once Duane joins the Bucks, he can form three Musketeers with Cassell and Reed.
Unfortunately, it is difficult for the jump shooting team to win the championship.
James has just entered the league and does not have the strength to compete in the finals, plus he is also in the Eastern Conference.
Therefore, Duan will not be as lucky as the Mavericks and Warriors players to be able to lead the jump shooting team to win the championship.
But taking a step back and thinking about it, relying on the identity of a Chinese player, he was trained as a prince in the Bucks.
Become a ball tyrant and occupy more penalty kicks, absorb more blood from Cassel and Reid, and then reap more dividends from the Eastern Conference. In his rookie season, Duan may be able to score goals as a starting defender or forward in the Eastern Conference All-Stars. All-star game.
Starting in the All-Star Game is still an achievement, right?
Once the new template is loaded, maybe Duane can evolve into Kobe or Durant.
Of course, even if you evolve into Pierce, as long as you make progress, that's a good thing.
Anyway, Duan has already met two good brothers, Anthony and Wade. In order to achieve NBA championship success, it will not be impossible in a few years.
As the saying goes, I would rather have a chicken head than a phoenix tail.
Being the younger brother in the Pistons is worse than being the boss in the Bucks!
