Rodman is 32 years old, but he wants a long-term contract with at least 18 million U.S. dollars for five years and an average annual salary of 3.6 million U.S. dollars, not much smaller than Jordan's contract. This is something he can't do. The Pistons simply can't do it now. It is impossible to offer Rodman such a big contract. He can't get it here, and the boss can't get it even more.
At this time, he thought that it would be better to package the deal and trade the Trail Blazers' main center Clifford Robinson.
Robinson was the No. 9 pick in the second round in 1989. He was only 26 years old. This past season, he averaged 31.4 minutes per game, 19.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 2.2 blocks. He was both offensive and defensive, and the important thing was that his contract was not big. , the second contract signed last year, there is still a four-year contract of 11 million, which is much smaller than the contract Rodman asked for.
Clifford Robinson and Ronny Seikaly team up. The defense may not be as good as Seikaly and Rodman, and the rebounding is not as good, but the offense is better.
The Pistons' future goal is to stabilize the ball market and reduce operating costs, not to chase the championship. However, they must strive to enter the playoffs, otherwise operations will be more difficult, so after careful consideration, this transaction should be feasible.
In addition, he also took a fancy to Rod Strickland, an important rotation guard of the Trail Blazers. The 27-year-old was the 19th pick in the first round of 1988. He started 35 games last season, averaging 31.7 minutes per game, 13.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 7.2 assists. 1.7 steals, shooting rate as high as 48.5%.
Both offense and defense are good, and his assist ability is very good. He can be used as an important rotation in the back line. Joe Dumars + Tribolt + Rod Strickland, the three of them form the rotation lineup of the back line, which is also the best in the entire league. It should be at a first-rate level, and with the addition of Seikali and Clifford Robinson, there will be no problem reaching the second round of the playoffs.
Then the Trail Blazers received a response from the Pistons, Iron Fist + Rodman, in exchange for Tribolt + Clifford Robinson + Rod Strickland + the first-round unprotected pick in 1994, 1996 and 1998.
The Pistons are willing to put Rodman, the two-time rebounding champion, into the trade list. This is an unexpected surprise. Clifford Robinson did not perform well against David Robinson in the first round of this year's playoffs. The Blazers were compared. Three eliminations, so trading him for Rodman would be great.
However, Rod Strickland is the Blazers' key training target. He is 191 centimeters tall, can play two positions, and has good offensive and defensive organization.
Moreover, with the addition of three future first-round picks, the price is too high. For Iron Fist alone, the Blazers will be hollowed out.
However, owner Paul Allen wanted Iron Fist, and general manager Hans Wells hesitated again and did not respond in time.
…
At this time, Troy Weaver also responded to the Warriors.
"Iron Fist + Rodman, for Bugs + Billy Owens + Sprewell + Chris Mullin?"
When Warriors general manager Gary St. Jean saw the quotation, he smiled bitterly and murmured: "The four main players have been replaced. Will Iron Fist play alone next season?"
He shook his head, such a deal would definitely not work.
Mullin is the spiritual leader, but he can be traded, because after the arrival of Iron Fist, it is best to send the previous leader away to avoid causing internal strife.
The other three are all young players and are the future of the Warriors. It is certainly possible to trade one or two for Iron Fist, but trading them all is not possible. At least one must be left as a helper for Iron Fist. Good potential players are not easy to find.
In order to trade Chris Webber, he not only sent Anfernee Hardaway, but also attached three first-round picks. Of course, these three picks were traded from other teams. He accumulated a lot of draft picks. The Warriors' The future is still there.
But he still prefers to trade with draft picks, because several young people on the team have already played, and the draft is unknown and the uncertainty is high.
His plan is that it is best to let the Pistons pick one, and then send one or two future draft picks, which is acceptable, and then leave the other three main players to be Iron Fist's helpers.
Of course, the Pistons are most likely to pick up Xiaochong, so the Warriors' lineup next season will be very good. The remaining three main players, plus Iron Fist, Mathieu Leonis, Alexander, and the newly acquired With the signed No. 1 pick Chris Webber, with a lineup like this, they should have no problem making the playoffs next season.
"Webber..."
When he thought about the No. 1 pick, he was very happy because he had already settled the contract with Webber.
74 million in 2015, a super rookie contract. He is very optimistic about Chris Webber, otherwise he would not trade with the Magic.
Fortunately, there are many young people in the team and the contracts are not big, otherwise Webber's contract would not have been secured.
As for the Iron Fist deal, he sighed. Now he was doing the deal under the pressure of his boss. In fact, the boss did not agree to trade Iron Fist, especially after providing Weber with such a big contract, and the boss even more disagreed to take the money. Come out and give Iron Fist a billion-dollar contract.
Thinking of this, he regretted giving Webber the contract, but the No. 1 pick, if he doesn't give the contract, will he give up the contract?
If Iron Fist is sure to be traded to the Warriors, he can trade Webber's signing rights, but Iron Fist's deal is not certain, so he can only get Webber first.
But let’s talk about the deal first, settle one end first, and then go to the boss and ask him to get the money.
He revised the offer sheet, crossed out the names of Owens and Sprewell, added a 1994 first-round pick, calculated the salary cap, and asked his assistant to send it over.
"Bug + Chris Mullin?"
On the Pistons' side, Troy Weaver saw the Warriors' new offer sheet.
Xiaochong is younger than Tribert of the Trail Blazers, and Mullin is a swingman. He can play the third position when he comes. In this way, the three main perimeter players are in line, and their strength is better than Zhou Quan + Joe Dumars + Wuerl. Richie is more average in total, and at least there will be no more weaknesses at the 3rd position.
But he still feels it's not worthwhile because Mullin is already 30 years old. Who knows how many more years he can play? Moreover, he felt that Tekken could exchange these two people and add a first-round pick. Wouldn't it be a waste to add Rodman?
In addition, after trading Rodman, they are also short of a power forward.
Thinking of this, he suddenly thought of magic.
The Magic also want to trade Iron Fist, and they want to trade with the No. 1 pick before the draft, and the current No. 1 pick Chris Webber is with the Warriors, and Webber can play power forward and center, so why not...
After thinking for a while, he called Gary St. Jean's office number.
After chatting with each other, they immediately got to the point and said: "Mr. Jean, this quotation can only be exchanged for one Iron Fist person at most. You understand this, and we will lose money just like this.
Now we have a lot of options, the Lakers, the Trail Blazers, you know, if you want Iron Fist, you have to add Chris Webber. "
"What?" Gary St. Jean was stunned.
His mind was spinning rapidly, and Weaver's words actually made him a little moved. Didn't the boss want to take out the money? Then just trade Weaver for Iron Fist, and then add a few players, so that Iron Fist's contract can be released, and the boss doesn't need to Also take out the money.
Weaver continued over there: "You may not know that the Magic originally planned to use their No. 1 pick to trade with us, but unfortunately, the Iron Fist cannot stay in the East, so now it is easier for you. Mr. Jean, you can Choose between Chris Webber, and Iron Fist.”
Is there still a choice? No matter how good Chris Webber is, can he compare with the three super centers? The current transaction value of Iron Fist can definitely be exchanged for any player in the league, except Michael Jordan.
"So Mr. Weaver, what else do you want?"
He knows that it is absolutely impossible for the Pistons to trade Iron Fist and Chris Webber alone. That is something no fool would do.
"We bring out Iron Fist and Rodman, you bring out Chris Webber, Tim Hardaway, Billy Owens, Sprewell." Weaver said.
"Two for four? That's impossible."
Gary St. Jean refused at first, and then said: "Either Billy Owens or Sprewell, you can only choose one."
"Two for three, no, Iron Fist is definitely qualified to replace three of these four people." Weaver didn't do it either.
Gary St. Jean thought for a while and then said: "Well, let's do this. We don't want Rodman, we just want Iron Fist, and give it to the three of you, Chris Webber, Tim Hardaway, and Chris Mullin."
He did this for another purpose, to free up some salary space.
Weaver thought for a while and it seemed pretty good. Mullin was an All-Star in his playing years, the other two were talented young people, and one was the No. 1 pick. It was pretty good that Iron Fist could get back three such players. .
"OK."
He agreed, but then added: "Mr. Jean, have you settled Weber's contract?"
"I just signed it yesterday."
St. Jean suddenly felt a little bad because he thought about Webb's contract and the current situation of the Pistons.
"What's his contract amount?" Weaver asked.
"Oh, $74 million in 15 years," Gary St. Jean said.
"What?" Weaver was stunned.
Crazy, the average annual salary is nearly 5 million, and Jordan can't get this amount.
If the Pistons had the money, why would they trade Iron Fist? If they added tens of millions, they could keep Iron Fist.
"Mr. Jean, we don't want Webber anymore. Let's replace him with Sprewell, plus Tim Hardaway and Chris Mullin. What do you think?" Weaver immediately changed his mind.
He didn't ask for Billy Owens because Owens was seriously injured last season and was reimbursed after playing only 37 games. This was one of the reasons why the Warriors did not make the playoffs. After the serious injury, the future of the second overall pick was uncertain. .
Gary St. Jean was actually a little disappointed because he had no choice but to go to the boss to get money. He nodded and said: "OK, that's it, we've made an agreement."
The two reached a verbal agreement and just waited for the transaction freeze period to end before the transaction could be formalized.
…
On the morning of the 6th, the Seattle media suddenly broke the news that Ballmer was in acquisition negotiations with SuperSonics, and Ballmer's personal assistant revealed that if the acquisition is successful, SuperSonics will join the competition against Iron Fist.
"Ballmer?"
After Philip got the news, he immediately informed Zhou Quan, who was training at the golf course. Zhou Quan was a little surprised. Is this business tycoon also investing in sports? Perhaps he is influenced by Paul Allen?
Yesterday, Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen promised to renew his contract in advance immediately after the transaction and provide him with a contract that he was absolutely satisfied with, which was better than the contracts between the Warriors and Lakers. Therefore, he agreed to the Trail Blazers joining the transaction, but with The Lakers were the same, but they didn't refuse and went to talk to the Pistons themselves.
Now that there is one more SuperSonics team, it doesn't matter. The more competing teams, the better for him. He immediately put it down and concentrated on training.
…
After Gary Payton saw the news, he felt bad everywhere in his body.
If the Sonics were acquired by Ballmer and then traded Iron Fist, what would be the bargaining chip? It's 100% because he is the main point guard. He doesn't want to go to that shithole in Detroit, not even to the death.
"Damn Iron Fist, damn Ballmer!"
But there was nothing he could do. While cursing, he could only pray to God that Ballmer's acquisition failed.
Paul Allen was still staying in Los Angeles and had not returned to New York. When he heard that his old partner Ballmer was acquiring the SuperSonics and also wanted to trade Iron Fist, he immediately made a call.
"Hey Paul, how are you?"
"Steve, we are partners."
"Haha, Paul, give it to me this time. I need Iron Fist to be the spokesperson of Microsoft in China. This can promote Microsoft's development there."
"No, I have a better way. After I get him, I will personally send him to Seattle and let him sign with Microsoft. You can save a lot of money to acquire the Sonics."
"Okay, Paul, let's play fair."
"Haha, you'd better acquire the SuperSonics first and then talk about it."
…
On the Warriors' side, after hearing the news, Gary St. Jean immediately contacted Troy Weaver and confirmed the deal with him again.
He hoped to sign a letter of intent with the Pistons, but Troy Weaver refused, which was somewhat detrimental to the Pistons.
As for the Lakers, Buss and West contacted the Pistons repeatedly, but the Pistons kept delaying, so they knew they were in trouble. The Pistons probably didn't like their bargaining chip.
But they have no choice. The Lakers only have these things, and they don't even care about the draft picks, so they can't come up with more valuable chips.
Jerry West contacted Roger Philippe again and wanted to put pressure on the Pistons through Zhou Quan, but Philippe directly refused.
Just kidding, although he very much hopes that Zhou Quan can go to the Lakers, Zhou Quan is not interested in the Lakers. How could he do that?
Anyway, Zhou Quan's attitude is there. He will talk to the Pistons himself. In principle, he will not pick the team.
At three o'clock in the afternoon on the 6th, the Warriors suddenly announced unilaterally that they had reached a trade agreement with the Pistons.
The Pistons brought out Zhou Quan, the Warriors brought out their main point guard Tim Hardaway, their main small forward Chris Mullin, and their main shooting guard Latrell Sprewell, one for three.
The news immediately spread throughout the United States.
(End of chapter)
