"Pat, you mean... you want me to reduce Zhao's playing time and limit his performance on the court?"
"Yes, only if his performance is not good enough, the team can lower the price..."
Pat Riley looked at the stunned team coach Eric Spoelstra and nodded in response, "Eric, we have worked together for many years, starting from the 2008-09 season. Very happy......."
"You can be the head coach with peace of mind, and I will guarantee all the team's transactions and support you in coaching the team... We did this in the past, and I still hope that we will cooperate like this in the future... "
"I didn't want to destroy him. On the contrary, I chose to do this just because we needed him..."
"The annual salary required by Zhao is too high. It is impossible for the team to satisfy him in the past two years. In that case, the salary space will be completely locked... We need stronger assistants to assist the Big Three. These all require money, and we need With cap space, we can’t pay the luxury tax every season..."
Pat Riley's words made Eric Spoelstra fall into silence.
After a while, he said, "Okay! For the sake of the team, I will help you this time."
"However, Pat, I hope you won't treat these players badly in the future. It's not easy for them either..."
"Of course! How could I treat them badly?"
Pat Riley took down head coach Erik Spoelstra with a smile on his face.
This conversation was extremely confidential, so it was not known to anyone outside.
After Zhao Feiyang left Pat Riley's conference room, he did not take the matter more seriously. After all, it is normal to talk about contracts. It is a "confrontation" between players and teams, and bargaining is the norm. .
The first break was over quickly.
The list of Eastern Conference teams entering the second round was also released smoothly.
Among them, the Indiana Pacers will play against the Washington Wizards, while the Miami Heat's opponent is the Brooklyn Nets.
In the West, after a fierce battle, the teams entering the second round are the San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Los Angeles Clippers.
Compared with the sweeping situation in the East, the strength in the West is more balanced.
The St. Anthony Spurs eliminated their rivals the Dallas Mavericks 4-3 in the first round, and the Los Angeles Clippers also eliminated the Golden State Warriors 4-3.
This was even more true for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 4-3.
The only difference was between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets. The Trail Blazers, with the cooperation of LaMarcus Aldridge and Damian Lillard, only defeated their opponents 4-2, which was the first time in the season. The much-anticipated super combination of James Harden and Dwight Howard did not produce a chemical reaction at the start.
After the Chinese player Jeremy Lin lost his starting position, although he averaged 10+ points per game, he was not reused by the head coach.
The situation in the East and West is like this, and the semi-finals are coming one after another.
The Miami Heat waited for their opponent, the Brooklyn Nets, at the AmericanAirlines Arena.
First round.
In the lineups of both sides, the Heat's starting lineup remains unchanged, while the Brooklyn Nets are controlled by Deron Williams at the first position, the shooting guard is handed over to Shaun Livingston, and the forward and swingman Joe is controlled at the third position. .Johnson is in charge.
As for the positions of power forward and center, they are handed over to Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett respectively.
Such a lineup is not too bad even compared to the Big Three.
Except for Shaun Livingston, who has never been in the All-Star Game, the other four players have all been in the All-Star Game.
Joe Johnson has played as a substitute for the Eastern Conference All-Stars, and Deron Williams, needless to say, was once a regular in the All-Star Game.
Especially Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who were also one of the Big Three of the Boston Celtics when they joined forces.
It has also created very brilliant achievements.
It's just that he is older now and cannot compare to what he was back then, but he has enough experience that ordinary players cannot deal with.
The game started after the referee threw the ball. The Heat took the lead to get the ball and attack. After the ball passed halftime, Mario Chalmers transferred the ball to Dwyane Wade, who held the ball. In singles, he broke through from the left to the basket.
After encountering a double-team, Dwyane Wade transferred the ball away, and LeBron James in the right corner took a shot after receiving the basketball.
Snapped.
The basketball hit the rim.
Kevin Garnett and Chris Bosh were having a heated battle under the basket. Not only did the two engage in crazy physical confrontations, but they also kept trash-talking each other.
Seeing the rebound bounce out, Kevin Garnett jumped up first and tried to catch the ball. But the moment he jumped high, Chris Bosh also moved.
He jumped suddenly and instead of forcing a collision with Kevin Garnett, he knocked the basketball away from Kevin Garnett's hand.
Snapped.
The basketball bounced off and hit the right side of the basket.
The next moment, LeBron James has jumped up. The whole audience exclaimed, no one knew when he came.
In short, LeBron James grabbed the basketball and dunked it.
boom.
The ball went in.
The Heat hit such a powerful shot at the start that the fans on the sidelines cheered.
The Big Three's offense was still strong, and the Heat maintained a lead of about 5 points until the end of the first quarter.
By the second quarter, according to the previous rhythm, head coach Erik Spoelstra would replace Zhao Feiyang at this time, but this time, Erik Spoelstra did not do so.
"Lei, you continue to go up and organize the attack."
"Tony, you go and play No. 2!"
Coach Eric Spoelstra skipped Zhao Feiyang and directly asked substitute Tony Douglas to replace Zhao Feiyang.
Out of trust in coach Eric, Zhao Feiyang did not hesitate too much. Although he was a little surprised, he still obeyed the command of coach Eric.
However, from the beginning of this quarter, Zhao Feiyang has been sitting on the bench watching the game. Especially when the Heat were leading season after season, he had no chance to express himself.
Until the end of the fourth quarter, there were only the last 3 minutes of the game.
When the score between the Miami Heat and the Brooklyn Nets was 80 to 100, Zhao Feiyang finally got a chance to play.
"Zhao, it's your turn!"
Coach Eric waved to Zhao Feiyang.
Zhao Feiyang couldn't be happy at this time, and the remaining three minutes were undoubtedly completely garbage time. Even the Brooklyn Nets themselves have given up. What else is there to play in such a game?
Zhao Feiyang was a little depressed.
"What's going on?"
"Did Coach Eric have some plan? He wanted me to be the team's secret weapon? That's why he reduced my playing time?"
