"Nate, send this offer sheet to Philadelphia."
At 9 a.m. on the 29th, in Detroit, Pistons headquarters, Troy Weaver handed his carefully crafted trade offer to assistant Nate Houston.
"Okay, sir." Houston hurried out.
"I don't know if Philadelphia is willing to keep Barkley in the East."
Weaver had no idea, but he wanted Barkley.
Barkley + Rodman, although he loses height inside, Barkley is a superstar who can play on the heads of the three super centers, and his rebounding ability is also very strong. Teaming up with Rodman should be a good choice s Choice.
The Digital Team received an offer from the Pistons, and general manager Billy King couldn't help but scoff. He is a man with dreams. How could he keep Barkley in the East? Of course, he would trade to the West.
Moreover, even if he is willing to trade Barkley to the Pistons, I am afraid that David Stern will veto it after the transaction is submitted, right?
Stern is crazily relying on his own signature. Although the Pistons lost 2:4 in the Eastern Conference Finals, if it weren't for injuries, the Bulls really don't have the strength to win steadily. So how could Stern allow the Pistons to get Barkley? Woolen cloth?
"Hey, the offer is quite sincere. We can still talk about it. It shouldn't be a problem to let them add some chips."
He looked at the Pistons' offer, John Salley, Ulrich, plus a top-five protected first-round pick in 1993.
He made a good deal in his mind. Selly and Ulrich were both the main players of the Pistons. They were both young and could play the main players in the digital team.
This made him hesitate, should he keep Barkley in the East?
After thinking about it, he felt that these chips were not enough for him to keep Barkley in the East, because neither of them was the core of the team, and he hoped to exchange Barkley for a core player.
"Sir, they have responded."
At half past nine, Nate Houston opened the door and came in, but his face didn't look good.
"What do they want?" Weaver asked calmly.
"They want the Iron Fist," Nate Houston said with a wry smile.
"Shet!"
Weaver cursed and took a look at the offer sheet. Not only did he want Iron Fist, but he also wanted John Salley, plus next year's unprotected first-round pick. Is this robbery at gunpoint?
However, Barkley is at his peak and is really excited. Out of his duties as general manager, he still needs to consider this trade offer.
If Tekken is traded, the Assassin can only return to the main lineup, team up with Joe Dumars, and add Barkley and Rodman inside, the lineup is quite strong. If this lineup was available last season, I'm afraid it has the strength to Dead bull, realize the dream of three consecutive championships.
However, with the current state of the Assassin, how can he still play the main point guard?
After thinking about it for a whole morning, drinking six cups of coffee and smoking a whole pack of cigarettes, he finally decided to reject the deal.
The reason is that Tekken really has potential. Assassin can lead the team to two consecutive championships. He feels that Tekken will also have a chance in the future.
Once traded, if Barkley fails to lead the team to win the championship, then he, as the finalist of the deal, will have to bear all the responsibilities, and the boss will probably fire him.
So can Barkley lead the team to defeat the Bulls and reach the finals? Can you lead the team to win the championship?
With Barkley's experience in Philadelphia for so many years, if he had this ability, would Philadelphia still trade him when he was at his peak?
So he finally decided not to take risks and continued to train Iron Fist, hoping that his future would be safer and more certain.
"Nate, tell them that Iron Fist is not for sale, it is still the original offer, and there is no need to protect next year's first-round pick."
After thinking it over carefully, he ordered.
Soon, Billy King in Philadelphia got the news.
The strength and potential of Iron Fist has been proven in the playoffs, especially in the Eastern Conference Finals series. A young man who can compete with Michael Jordan originally hoped to get Iron Fist and complete the reconstruction in one fell swoop, but unfortunately he failed to achieve his goal.
But he didn't give up and submitted a new offer.
"Sir, Philadelphia's new offer is that they want to exchange Barkley for the Iron Fist." Nate Houston opened the door to Weaver's office again.
"..."
Weaver couldn't help but be stunned.
Barkley + Rodman + Ulrich + Joe Dumars + Isiah Thomas, this main lineup has offense, rebounding and defense, which makes his heart tremble. He feels that he can definitely have trouble with the Bulls. .
Even if Isiah dies, Joe Dumars can still play point guard, or let Isiah come on the bench, or use Isiah for a second-rate point guard.
With John Salley on the bench, the entire Pistons lineup from the main team to the bench can definitely be upgraded to a new level.
"Want to take a gamble?"
He was really excited and his heart was beating very fast.
The bet has paid off. If he uses this lineup to defeat the Bulls next season, he may even hope to become the best general manager.
Based on the dispute between the Pistons and the Bulls, if he can interrupt the Bulls' three consecutive championships next season, he will definitely be praised by all Detroiters. If he doesn't want to be the general manager, those fans will let him continue.
"Nate, you go out first."
He locked himself in the office all afternoon and did not come out. Occasionally, Nate Houston went in. The inside was filled with smoke, like fog.
At five o'clock in the afternoon, Weaver finally made a decision and personally called Billy King. The two talked for twenty minutes.
…
Time has entered July, and the Olympic Games are getting closer and closer.
"Xiao Quan, it would be great if you could play in the Olympics one day."
When watching the news broadcast that night, there was some news about the Olympic Games. Zhou Jianguo said with envy and anticipation.
"I'm not from a sports school, so no one above me probably knows about me now." Zhou Quan shook his head.
"If I had known you were playing basketball now, I should have let you go to a sports school." Zhou Jianguo said.
"Go to a sports school, join the city team or the provincial team. If you succeed, you will have a chance to join the national team, but you won't have the chance to play in the United States." Zhou Quan laughed.
…
In early July, the CCTV Sports Department finally found out Zhou Quan’s information and obtained it from the NBA.
Minister Ma Li, Xu Jicheng, Sun Zhenping and others were a little surprised. They are now the people who have the most exposure to the NBA in the country, of course through the video tapes sent to them, so they are the people who know the NBA best in the country, even better than the national team. learn.
Of course, I haven't had personal contact with it, and my understanding of just some highlights is only very superficial, not as profound as Zhang Lili's.
But even though it was superficial, they were surprised and felt that Zhou Quan's strength was not bad. Now that the Olympics were about to start, they felt it was necessary to tell the relevant parties the news.
They had contact information with the Basketball Department, so they notified the Basketball Department of Zhou Quan's news, and a staff member answered the phone.
However, the Basketball Department was busy preparing for the Olympics and did not respond to the news. No one knew whether the staff member reported the news, not even CCTV, and the matter ended in nothing.
…
"Zhou, the matter with the postman has been finalized."
On July 12, Philip called from the United States.
"Tell me."
"We have already negotiated with the WBC to have a regular boxing match in Los Angeles, a six-round format, and they will arrange it for us. But the prerequisite is that we must apply for a boxing license in California."
"What if I can't apply?"
"Then you can only go to some fighting matches, which don't require a license. Zhou, although you have practiced boxing at UCLA, you don't have enough training time. In this case, you will need some professional boxing training after you return to the United States."
"No problem, you ask Swelton to adjust the training plan."
"OK."
…
Time soon came to late July. On the 18th, in almost a month, Zhou Quan completed four trainings.
Ball control training has improved ball control, ball sense, and breakthrough by one level. They are now level 92, 92, and 88 respectively.
Layup training improves the layup level. Now it is level 94. This task can be done once.
This is what Zhou Quan is most happy about. After his layup skills are improved to level 95, his finishing skills at the basket will reach the top level.
The step-back jump shot has been upgraded to level 87, and this task can be completed 4 times.
Throwing has also been upgraded to level 91, and you can still do it once.
The Olympic Games will start in a few days, and it's time for Zhou Quan to return to the United States. The air tickets have been booked.
The next day, he drove his family to Hubei to visit his grandfather, stayed one night in Wudang Mountain, and then separated from his family and flew from Hanwu City to the capital and then to Los Angeles.
At noon, the plane arrived at the Capital Airport. When it came out, it happened to meet the Chinese Olympic delegation setting off, a huge team of several hundred people.
Zhou Quan and others watched together. It would be a lie to say he was not envious. As an athlete, who doesn’t want to fight wearing the national flag?
Didn’t you see that Isiah Thomas completely broke up with Jordan and John Stockton over the national team?
He also saw the men's and women's basketball teams. A large group of tall men stood out together.
This men's basketball team is very strong, especially with a large number of outside talents. Some domestic media even call this group of people the golden generation.
In fact, he himself is very conspicuous. His shoes are 191 centimeters tall, which makes him stand out among a group of ordinary people. Moreover, his outfit is completely different from the domestic dressing style of this era, with fashionable casual sportswear and a pair of handsome iron fists. A generation of basketball shoes, and wearing a very pretentious pair of sunglasses, in the eyes of others, he looks very foreign.
Yes, it is said that he is fashionable, and he is also very handsome. There are many people around him looking at him from time to time, especially some girls, all staring at him.
"Follow up, keep up!"
Liu Yumin, Director of the Basketball Department and Olympic Basketball Team Leader, walked beside the team and shouted to the members of the men's and women's basketball teams.
She also noticed Zhou Quan and couldn't help but take a few more glances. In these few glances, she saw something.
For example, Zhou Quan's basketball shoes appear to be very high-end foreign products. Such shoes are not available in China. The national team's basketball shoes are specially purchased from abroad.
Another example is the basketball bag Zhou Quan is carrying, which has the Skechers logo on it and obviously contains a basketball.
"Is this kid playing basketball? The family situation is really good!" In the blink of an eye, she and Zhou Quan passed each other.
…
On the afternoon of the 22nd, Zhou Quan arrived in Los Angeles and was picked up by Roger Philippe.
"Zhou, you scored 20+10 in the Eastern Conference Finals. From the end of the Eastern Conference Finals to now, sneaker sales have been okay. I don't think there will be any problem with the $8 million in the second year."
"That's good."
This is also good news, and Zhou Quan is very happy.
Next, he stayed in Los Angeles for training, and Philip and trainer Swelton had arranged everything.
Strength training, technical training, at the same time.
In addition to these, Philip also found him a professional boxing gym and conducted three hours of professional boxing training every day.
"Zhou, don't be careless. There are media reports that Oakley and Larry Johnson have been doing boxing training every day during this period." Philip reminded.
"Don't worry, I won't be careless." He said seriously.
In the boxing gym, he mainly trains boxing steps, dodges, and actual combat.
There was very little strength training, and the postman and others he fought were all insiders, and their muscle explosiveness was not as good as his, which meant that his boxing speed was not as good as his, so there was no need for professional boxing strength training.
With full spatial imagination, he has first-class strike accuracy, but he also needs first-class dodge ability to strengthen his defensive capabilities.
The full level of spatial imagination also makes his dodge ability very powerful, but it also needs the cooperation of boxing pace.
Needless to say, actual combat is the only way to turn your potential into strength.
On the 23rd, a school girl who was a few years older than him contacted him. His name was Cheng Lin, the one who sang Xin Tianyou and was the first female pop singer in China. After falling out of love in 1990, she went to study in the United States and became a fan of Michael Jackson at UCLA. She was a student of Madonna's teacher, Sass Riggs, and had connections with him.
"Zhou Quan, are you back from China?"
"how do you know?"
"Look at the news. The Los Angeles media has reported it."
"Oh, junior sister, are you okay? Come out and get together if you have nothing to do."
"Okay, I have time. But Zhou Quan, are you embarrassed to show off your seniority in front of me? I'm half a year older than you, so you entered UCLA a year earlier than me."
"That school girl, our status has been determined since you entered UCLA."
"Name, you damn thing!"
…
On the 25th, the Olympic Games begin.
On this day, the NBA's trade freeze period ends, and teams can officially trade.
At the same time, the league announced the salary cap for next season, which is approximately US$1.4 million, an increase of US$1.5 million from last season.
However, the NBA has not yet introduced a luxury tax system. That is to say, according to some rules, such as veteran contracts, teams can exceed the cap and renew the contracts of eligible players on the team. No luxury tax will be levied on the part of the salary that exceeds the salary cap.
But the team cannot exceed the salary cap to sign players who are not from the team.
…
David Stern had just sat down on the executive chair in the morning when special assistant Hawk Houston brought in a cup of coffee and placed a stack of trade applications on his desk.
"Thanks!"
While drinking coffee, he read the transaction applications and approved several in succession. When he picked up the seventh transaction application, he was stunned.
"Barkley just changes the weekly rights? What do the Pistons want to do?"
He immediately put down his coffee cup and began to study the Pistons' lineup. His brows furrowed during this study.
"No, if Barkley goes to the Pistons, with the Pistons' lineup, the Bulls may not be able to handle this deal next season?"
Iron Fist's strength is good, but there is still a long way to go before Barkley. If Barkley is allowed to replace Iron Fist as the core of the Pistons, and the Pistons' original lineup is added to it, then the Pistons' strength will not take off?
What he wants to do now is to support Jordan, and the best way to support Jordan is to let him win the championship and keep winning, preferably a three-peat dynasty. The Bulls have won two consecutive championships and will be very successful next season. There is hope of winning the championship.
"The transaction was rejected by the alliance? Why?"
At nine o'clock in the morning, Weaver received the notice from the league and was stunned.
"Basketball reasons, the league informed us so," Nate Houston said.
"What the hell is this?" Weaver cursed.
He stood up and walked quickly around the office. After calming down, he ordered: "Nate, this transaction must not be leaked, do you understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Nate Houston nodded quickly, but he reminded: "Sir, Philadelphia and the league may also leak this matter."
"Then we can't control it."
Weaver said helplessly, and then cursed: "Damn league, what the hell is the reason for basketball?"
The league vetoed the deal, and the news caught him off guard.
It doesn't matter if the trade is rejected, but if the news is leaked and Iron Fist knows that the team wants to trade him, it will be troublesome. Iron Fist is likely to be dissatisfied and will probably no longer support his work, and Detroit fans will also scold him. he.
In Philadelphia, Billie King was also very disappointed and could only turn around to look for other trading possibilities. At this time, the Suns sent their offer sheet.
(End of chapter)
