Pick Westbrook

Chapter 284 Killing the Golden State Warriors Without a Trade

6 month 23 day.

There is only one day left before the official start of the draft.

Office of the Hornets general manager.

Hammond provided Lee with the current Hornets roster.

"Chris Paul, Carl Landry, Jarrett Jack, Marco Belinelli, Emeka Okafor, and Jason Smith are still under contract, and that's what's definitely going to happen right now. players on the team."

"In addition to this, players with expiring contracts include Willie Green, Aaron Gray, Patrick Ewing Jr. and DJ Mbenga. We can consider whether to re-sign them based on their talent and strength."

"It's worth mentioning that David West still has one year left on his contract, but he also has player options in his hands, but judging from West's previous attitude, he is more willing to jump out of the contract and test the waters of the free agent market."

Li Lai nodded. He had a certain impression of David West last season.

The opponent is the undoubted second leader of the Hornets. He is even better than Paul last season in scoring, averaging 19 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists per game.

The reason why the Hornets made the playoffs last season was due to the role and ability of David West, which is beyond doubt.

"David West is a skilled power forward who can shoot and handle the ball and is deadly from the mid-range."

"Although his athletic ability is average, his height and jumping are difficult to be regarded as top players in the same position, but he is very smart, and his low-post offense is extremely good, and he can draw fouls from opponents."

"On the offensive end, he can dribble and hold the ball, and can also play in the low post, and has a wide field of vision. Although the defensive end is not particularly outstanding, it is also at the average level of the league."

"A player like that is in high demand these days."

It was rare to hear that Li Lai had such a high opinion of a player. Hammond couldn't help giving David West a high look, and then said hesitantly.

"So David West's choice to jump out of the original contract is basically a certainty."

"If we want to re-sign him, it is estimated that he will need a not low salary."

Li Lai nodded and said: "The Hornets urgently need to produce results to stabilize the fans, and at the same time let them regain their confidence in this team."

"If we can, we can sign David West even at a slight premium."

"The key is that he doesn't want to come back."

Tai Lunlu was startled when he heard the last sentence, but soon understood what Li Lai meant.

In recent years, the players of the Hornets have been scattered, and the cohesion among the players has long been lost. In addition, the team's record has not yet met expectations, and the original management is like that, which is really easy to chill the players.

It is even more difficult to keep a player of David West's level.

Li Lai suddenly thought of something, looked at Hammond and asked, "How about the draft picks in our hands?"

Hammond immediately showed a wry smile and said: "Now we only have one second-round pick in 2011, and the pick is the 45th overall pick, which is the 15th pick in the second round."

"Next year's draft picks are relatively sufficient. Two untouched first-round picks and second-round picks belong to us, and one is a second-round pick from the Kings."

Hearing this, Li Lai was extremely shocked. He looked at Hammond and said with certainty, "That means we don't even have a first-round pick in our hands?"

Hammond nodded helplessly and said: "The Hornets traded away the current draft two years ago. We have no other choice, so we are destined to be difficult to make a difference in this year's draft."

Li Lai took a deep breath and greeted Dale Demps a hundred times at this moment.

Not a single pick left!

The key is that Dell Demps traded these draft picks and did nothing. There are neither potential rookies nor all-star players.

Li Lai said with certainty at this time: "Release the news to the entire league, the Hornets have completely announced the rebuilding!"

"At the same time, go to David West, I want to talk to him face to face."

At this moment, not only Li Lai and the Hornets are anxious about the reinforcement of the team and the trade of draft picks, but countless teams in the league have already taken action.

Lakers conference room.

Bass Sr. sits in the convention center at this critical juncture.

Beside him are Jim Buss and Jenny Buss, as well as Lakers general manager Kupchak and other high-level personnel.

Kupchak finally hung up the phone.

The elder Bass immediately opened his eyes and asked: "How about the proposal of trading Chris Paul with Garnett and Odom?"

Kupchak shook his head and said: "Although the Hornets have announced a complete rebuild, they said that Chris Paul is not for sale, even if they use Kobe as the main body of the transaction, they will not accept it."

"Hammond also didn't accept any of our discussions about Chris Paul, and what they did didn't even look like they were rebuilding."

After hearing the news, Old Bath closed his eyes with great regret.

Originally, he planned to facilitate Paul's trade this offseason, so that even if the combination of Kobe + Chris Paul can't win the championship, Chris Paul alone can keep the Lakers at least 5 years from worry.

At that time, Jim Buss only needs to build a team around Paul, and the Lakers will be on the right track ahead of schedule.

Even if he chooses to overthrow and rebuild in the future, he will still have Chris Paul, the top five point guard in the league, at least in exchange for some good bargaining chips.

"It's a pity that things backfired."

Warriors meeting room.

Team general manager Larry Riley rejected the Hornets general manager Hammond's trade call at this moment, and he did not hesitate to reject the other party's idea of ​​​​trading to get the 11th pick in this year's draft.

"Whether Carl Landry or Jarrett Jack is the main body, even if the two are packaged together to the Warriors, I will not accept that the Hornets want to trade for this first-round pick."

Of course, Carl Landry and Jarrett Jack are both players that Larry Riley and the Warriors want very much. At this point, Hammond can be regarded as his favorite.

"But for the No. 11 pick, the Warriors have identified a very valuable potential star."

When it comes to potential new stars, Larry Riley wants to cry.

Originally, the Warriors were optimistic about the player Stephen Curry in the 09 draft, and the Warriors also believed that Curry could lead the team back on track in the future.

As a result, who would have thought that the Bucks would come out halfway.

Now, Stephen Curry is already the league's scoring leader and Finals FMVP-level player.

The better he did, the more heartbroken Larry Riley became.

So this time, it is impossible for Larry Riley to watch his favorite potential rookie be taken away again.

"Don't the Bucks make another mess in this year's draft."

"No, it seems that this year's Bucks were particularly quiet in the draft, and they didn't hear about the move they want to trade."

The Spurs conference room.

Popovich sorted through all the rookie player reports in front of him, and his eyes were fixed on the player file named Kawhi Leonard.

The Spurs have been at a disadvantage at small forward since Bruce Bowen retired in 09.

Because of the weakness of this position, they also failed in the playoffs consecutively, although the Spurs also have Richard Jefferson, a good striker in this position.

But in Popovich's view, Richard Jefferson is far from reaching his goals and expectations, and the opponent is old enough and the salary is extremely high.

For today's Spurs, it is completely inappropriate.

In addition, the GDP trio have already occupied a lot of salary space for the Spurs, so Popovich is also determined to strengthen potential rookie players in this position and release Richard Jefferson's salary as soon as possible.

"It may be difficult to get Kawhi Leonard with the 29th pick in the first round of the Spurs, and an upward trade is inevitable."

Thinking of this, Popovich gave him an extremely headache, and recalled many bad things.

Both Dragic and George Hill were cut off by the Bucks back then. The key is that the latter two have played very well so far.

Especially Dragic, who has already won the best sixth man award.

Every time Popovich thinks of this, he can't wait to tear Li Lai into pieces.

It is also for this reason that the current Spurs basically have no players who can be traded up to get enough picks to select Kawhi Leonard.

Popovich hates it. He originally planned to discuss the upward trade with Larry Bird of the Pacers, but he was directly rejected by the other party.

It is blunt that the Spurs have no players that the Pacers want except for GDP. Unless the GDP is disassembled, there is no need to talk about trading up.

But how could Popovich trade GDP, so at this time he could only look helplessly at other teams.

"If George Hill is in the Spurs, how can I not have bargaining chips."

"It's all about the Bucks and that little bastard Li Lai."

Bulls conference room.

With the Bulls' super performance last season and Rose officially entered the ranks of the league's top stars, general manager John Paxson is determined to find more helpers for Rose next season.

Of course, with the lineup of Luol Deng + Boozer + Paul Pierce + Rose + Noah, the Bulls have no extra salary space to reinforce.

They can only make small knocks on the original basis and get some players with good strength. It doesn't matter if they pay for the future first-round pick for this.

"The Hornets are the first choice at this stage. After all, they have announced a complete rebuild, and the entire team has a big clearance sale."

"But it's kind of intriguing that Chris Paul is still not for sale."

"It stands to reason that the fastest and most convenient way to quickly rebuild and trade the team's most valuable star is the fastest and most convenient way. Could it be that they still expect to use Paul to sell tickets?"

"What's even more strange is that Paul hasn't asked to leave yet!"

Wizards conference room.

General manager Ernie Grunfeld is having a headache at the moment, and he is thinking about how to get rid of the contract of Billionaire Rashard Lewis.

But such a high-salary and low-energy contract is difficult to trade even with a first-round pick. The key is that Ernie Grunfeld does not want to send the first-round pick of this year's draft.

Because the Wizards were lucky to get the fifth pick, they are also planning to use this draft pick to find a future potential star partner for John Wall.

Ding!Ding!
At this time, Ernie Grunfeld's phone rang. He opened it and saw that the note said Bucks general manager Hammond.

"No, isn't Hammond fired by the Bucks? Why is he calling me at this time?"

Pacers meeting room.

Team president Larry Bird is anxiously waiting.

Then a high-level Pacers team came over and said nervously: "At present, we have not been able to continue to get in touch with David West. The free market has not yet opened. Our contact with players at this time is regarded as illegal recruitment, so it is limited. Heavy."

"It was not easy to get in touch with David West's agent before, and now it seems that they are also extremely cautious about this issue."

"The best thing for us at the moment is to wait until July 7 when the trading market opens and then get in touch with David West."

Larry Bird shook his head directly rejecting the proposal.

He is very clear that the competitors of other teams will not play their cards according to common sense at this time, and whoever takes a step slower is doomed to lose completely.

The Pacers made it to the playoffs last season with great difficulty. Although they were eliminated by the Heat in the first round, the combination of Danny Granger + Roy Hibbert has been able to form a climate in the East.

Larry Bird also wants to replicate the way the Bucks played against the Heat next season, and plans to trade for a player with very fierce offensive firepower at the power forward position.

Among the power forward players who can get this season, David West is the strongest one, so Larry Bird is bound to get this.

"Wait, Mr. Bird, Hornets general manager Hammond called and asked if we were interested in David West."

Several hours ago.

David West's home.

Li Lai and Hammond came uninvited. Although David West received them, he was embarrassed by their thoughts and proposals.

"In the past few days, I have heard that the Hornets has finally been taken over by someone. I am very happy that this team finally does not have to be played by the management in a state of no owner."

"But it has been three years, and the three years of chaos have already wiped out my expectations for this team."

"Coach Li Lai, I no longer have any attachment to this team."

Li Lai could understand the situation that the opponent had encountered in the Hornets in the past three years. After all, Li Lai couldn't bear it after spending only one day with Dale Demps, let alone three years.

But Li Lai still tried his best to persuade the opponent, saying: "But now that I am here, I hope to build this team into a championship team."

"Of course, if you want to say that you can win the championship next season, this is too underestimating the championship, and it is too underestimating those strong teams in the league."

"Three years against three years, I am confident that within three years, the Hornets will be brought to a strong team at the championship level."

David West was shocked when he heard this sentence.

He knew that Li Laicai led the Bucks to two consecutive championships, and also helped the team quickly complete the reconstruction within three years, and Li Lai beat the equally famous Carlisle in this year's finals.

But in David West's view, there are still many head coaches in the league who are stronger than Li Lai. The most fundamental reason why the Bucks can win the championship is that Westbrook and Curry are the strongest in the league. Defender combination.

Coupled with Cousins ​​​​who has already shown the embryo of a superstar, why should the Bucks have no chance to win the championship.

But can Li Lai reproduce such a miracle?How many Westbrooks and Currys are among the rookies every year?How could Li Lai choose such a player every time?

David West shook his head affirmatively. He thought it would be impossible for Li Lai to reproduce such a miracle again.

If David West remembers correctly, the Hornets didn't have any first-round picks this season, so why did Li lead this team to such a rapid rise?
Just rely on Chris Paul and his David West?

David West couldn't help looking up into the distance at this moment, and then heaved a long sigh.

The Big Three in the West, the Lakers, the GDP Spurs, the Mavericks who have just reached the finals, the Rockets with Yao Ming, and the newly promoted Kings and Grizzlies.

How many of these six teams has the Hornets played?
As far as the matchups last season were concerned, the Hornets always lost more and won less against these teams, and even did not win a game when facing the Lakers.

"this is the truth."

Li Lai saw David West's determination to leave the team from David West's eyes, but he still did not intend to give up and continue to persuade him.

"Although you are ready to jump out of the 700 million contract in the last year, how much salary will the team that chooses you be willing to offer?"

David West paused and said, "The agent told me that with my free agent market this year, it shouldn't be a problem to win a contract with an annual salary of around 1000 million."

Li Lai said directly: "The Hornets are willing to offer you a higher salary, how about 1200 million a year?"

David West was stunned and did not rush to refuse.

In fact, David West's career so far, the 4-year rookie contract plus the subsequent 5-year 4500 million contract that decreases year by year, strictly speaking, he has not yet won a career contract.

For the 31-year-old David West, this is likely to be the last big contract he can get in his career.

The agent told David West that the Pacers intend to take him away with a two-year, 2 million contract.

But David West is not satisfied with this contract, whether it is the number of years or the amount.

What he also wants is a big contract of more than 3 million per year for 4 to 1200 years.

Seeing David West's extremely conflicted appearance, Li Lai also knew that there was something to be done, and he hurriedly continued to say: "The league will implement a new labor agreement, and a very big change has been made in the Bird clause."

"Even if you sign with the same annual salary of 1000 million, the Hornets can give you more room for growth, and you can continue to retain the bird rights."

"So except that you have lost confidence in the Hornets, I can give you more from any angle, and the Hornets are more suitable for you."

David West remains silent.

Li Lai continued: "Well, David, sign a big contract with the Hornets first."

"I will respect your opinion. If you really decide to go and which team to go to, I will send you to that team without reservation."

"Of course, if you would like to stay with the Hornets, I will also raise my hands to welcome you."

David West naturally knew what Li Lai meant by these words. In fact, Li Lai never concealed his intentions.

After keeping David West with the contract, even if he wants to leave in the future, the Hornets can get the final value from David West.

In fact, since he participated in the NBA draft in 2003 and was selected by the New Orleans Hornets with the 18th pick in the first round, David West has played for this team for 8 years.

It would be a lie to say that there is no emotion at all.

David West is not like those superstars who shoulder countless honors and responsibilities. At this stage of his career, all he wants to choose is the best decision for himself and his family.

And of course, there's money.

David West said: "If possible, I actually want to do something for the Hornets."

Li Lai nodded and said at this moment: "This time I came to you, and I did have other considerations besides wanting to keep you."

"The Hornets are in an extremely precarious situation right now. They have no draft picks, no potential rookies, and the players are either good or bad. With the current situation, let alone rushing out of the West, it is extremely difficult to even make it to the playoffs." difficulty."

"It was extremely difficult for the Hornets to make it to the playoffs last season."

"So, I do want to keep any players of value at this point."

David West was a little surprised by Li Lai's frankness, and after thinking about it, he nodded and agreed to Li Lai's plan.

After all, it is likely to be the last big contract of his career, and he is indeed not immune to it.

Hammond on the side immediately showed a look of excitement, and then quickly discussed the signing details with David West.

At this time, David West also called his agent to discuss together.

When leaving David West's house, the other party's agent specifically said: "Mr. Hammond, if possible, please send David to the Pacers."

Hammond was about to persuade him to say something, when Li Lai also stopped him.

People have their own ambitions and come from different interests.

Li said: "Please pass it on to David, we will work hard to make this happen, but no matter where he plans to go, the door of the Hornets in the future will be open for him."

Hearing this, David West's manager also gave Li Lai a grateful look.

6 month 24 day.

The entire alliance seems to be calm, but in fact it is already dangerous.

The general managers of all the teams are holding back at this time, waiting for the upcoming draft.

Inside the Hornets box.

Hammond also breathed a sigh of relief at this time, and finally finalized the last deal, and he finally successfully completed the task assigned by Li Lai.

Although there are trading clues provided by Li Lai and easy-to-successful trading targets, after all, there is only one day to manipulate.

Whether it is the Hornets or the trading team, it is a very urgent matter.

"We managed to get two first-round picks."

Hammond said with some credit.

Li Lai nodded.

Originally, in his opinion, it was very good for Hammond to trade for one first-round pick, but two first-round picks were far beyond his expectations.

Of course, in Li Lai's original expectation, the three draft picks are the best. As long as they have these three draft picks, the Hornets can quickly complete the reconstruction.

But the management of the Golden State Warriors bite the first-round pick too tightly, no matter how hard Hammond makes, the opponent will kill him and refuse to trade.

"So, the strongest 3D Klay Thompson is destined to have no hope with me."

　First chapter tonight

　　
　
(End of this chapter)