Although not all players on the Timberwolves went to plead for Dwight Howard, with Zhao Feiyang and Kevin Martin and other main players on the court, the required cards were enough.
Subsequently, the team's general manager Sam Mitchell also reported the news truthfully.
The team's top management also held another meeting regarding the matter.
"So now we have to make a choice, either to buy out Dwight or not to keep him... The team has communicated with many clubs, and they are unwilling to accept Dwight's poisonous contract. If they don't buy it, If it breaks down, it can be said that no club will be willing to trade with us..."
"But once we buy out, we will lose a lot of money... plus an inside man who is pretty good but has a problem with his attitude. Moreover, once Dwight leaves, our inside man still needs to find a capable substitute member. ....."
"Otherwise, once we reach the Western Conference Finals, the inside problem will become our Achilles' heel..."
General manager Sam Mitchell gave a burst of analysis at the meeting.
He handed over the information of each department of the team to the boss and shareholders for viewing, and also informed the shareholders of the efforts made by each department regarding transactions.
He also informed the players one by one of their wish to keep Howard.
After such a wave of explanations, shareholders fell into silence.
They are businessmen, and businessmen care about profits. Judging from the current situation, trading Howard obviously cannot make them more profits. Even for the sake of long-term development, they will still suffer.
Therefore, this deal is undoubtedly not a good deal.
"If that's the case, I'm in favor of keeping Dwight. Even if he doesn't perform well enough, we can wait until the end of the season before trading him..."
"I'm also in favor of staying."
"Me too. If he continues to indulge himself later, we can consider the corresponding punishment... But for now, let's see his performance..."
Shareholders have come forward one after another to express their opinions.
Most people were supportive, even team owner Taylor.
As a result, the meeting successfully passed the decision to retain Howard.
When the news reached Howard, Howard was extremely happy. Howard was also extremely moved after learning that Zhao Feiyang and his party had stood up to plead for him.
He rarely took the initiative to invite his teammates to his mansion, including the team's management and senior executives.
Only this time, there was no blonde.
With Howard's official return, the Timberwolves' internal problems have also been solved. They seem to be on the right track after experiencing a series of conditions at the beginning of the season.
After that, the Timberwolves won six consecutive games. Compared with the previous difficulties, this six-game winning streak can be said to be quite smooth, and the team completed it smoothly without spending much effort.
Howard's performance in these six games was also extremely good. He not only averaged 10+ rebounds per game, but also averaged 16+ points per game.
Although this is inseparable from Zhao Feiyang and his pick-and-roll cooperation, it has to be said that it is really a big change for Howard, who never helped others to pick-and-roll before, to take the initiative.
After winning six consecutive games, the Timberwolves ranked fourth in the Western Conference.
At this time, the teams ahead of them are the Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Coincidentally, in the next two games, the Timberwolves encountered the second-ranked Spurs and the third-ranked Thunder respectively.
The Timberwolves were on the road against the second-placed Spurs.
Zhao Feiyang played the whole game in this game. He scored 41 points alone and also sent 6 assists and 3 rebounds. Howard played 36 minutes and scored 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
Strong performances from both men helped the Timberwolves win.
The Timberwolves also played on the road against the third-ranked Thunder.
This time Zhao Feiyang played 38 minutes. He scored 39 points by himself, and sent out 8 assists and 3 steals.
Howard was very strong in this game, blocking opponents under the basket one after another, and for a while the Thunder was unable to fight back.
Not only that, he and Adrian cooperated well on the offensive end, and the two continued to work together to put pressure on each other.
In the end, Howard scored 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks, while Adrian scored 11 points and 7 rebounds.
For the Thunder, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook also performed very well. Together they scored 63 points.
Unfortunately, except for them, everyone else's performance was average.
In the end, the game was won by the Timberwolves.
After defeating these two teams, the Timberwolves played seven more games. Their record in these seven games was quite impressive. They won all of them without losing anything. It can be said that they have defeated all opponents in the Western Conference.
Except for the Golden State Warriors who can pose a threat to them, other teams seem to be unable to suppress them anymore.
Their continuous winning streak finally allowed them to rush to the second place in the Western Conference and gradually stabilized.
This also gave Timberwolves fans finally hope.
The outside world has also begun to speculate about the performance of the Timberwolves. In particular, some celebrities and commentators began to evaluate the possible performance of the Timberwolves in the playoffs.
"If nothing else, the Timberwolves should be able to advance to the second round!"
"No, we still underestimated them in the second round! If they can remain stable, then the Western Conference Finals is entirely possible."
"Currently it seems that the Warriors pose the greatest threat to them. Now the Warriors have won more games than them. I wonder if there will be any changes in the future..."
As the schedule continues to move forward, two-thirds of the NBA regular season has gradually passed.
At this time, the results of each club are basically fixed, and the rankings will not change much.
The top four teams in the Western Conference are the Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The top four teams in the Eastern Conference are the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, and Atlanta Hawks.
It looks like a playoff pattern has emerged in the East and West.
According to the practice of previous years, if nothing unexpected happens, these teams will basically compete in the Eastern and Western Conference finals!
And there is a high probability that the final championship will be one of these teams!
However, at this stage, in addition to the records of each club that attract fans' attention, what attracts the most attention from the outside world is the annual All-Star Game.
This time, NBA officials opened the voting process early.
