the rest, only noise

Chapter 381 Gossip Louis

Everyone is not a fool. Louis proposed this to solve the problem of space expansion brought about by Ewing's terrifying big contract.

Although the salary cap is linked to the total revenue of the league, Ewing's contract is too big. In the next year or two, he will occupy 60-70% of the team's space.

The Knicks won the No. [-] pick again this year, and the contract will definitely not be small at that time. If there is no solution, the signing will be troublesome.

What Wiltman hates the most now is the Knicks and Louis. The No. [-] pick in their hands originally belonged to the Cavaliers.

If there is no damn deal, why would they need to negotiate with the 76ers now.

"It's only good for our family?" Louis' smile was friendly and gentle, "Harry, where did you start?"

Wiltman said with reason: "Only you have similar problems, because you rely on your own ball market and income to open big contracts at will, especially Patrick Ewing's terrible contract. Since you have done this kind of thing, you should bear the consequences yourself, instead of asking the league to set new rules to make you act cheaply!"

"It makes me regret that you think so. If our proposal is not passed, I hope you will never encounter this difficult day. But you said that this proposal only benefits our family, which I cannot agree with."

Louis had already anticipated the various reactions after making this proposal.

Now he responded with a relaxed expression: "In the past few days, at least half of the people here have called the general manager's office of the Philadelphia 76ers. Because Philadelphia is preparing to sell their own draft picks, why don't they keep them? Because they have encountered the same problem. The limited salary cap prevents them from signing a No. [-] pick."

"Isn't that right, Coach Road?" Stu Inman said, "Philadelphia sold the draft because their financial situation is in trouble."

"They do have a financial problem, but it's also true that they don't have enough cap space to sign a No. [-] pick."

"So, how can this be said to benefit our family alone?"

"Any club may encounter this problem." Louis brought the topic back, "If some talented players cannot enter the league in time because of this problem, it will be a loss for the entire league."

"Besides, I haven't finished my proposal yet."

"I just stated the content of this proposal, but did not say what the team that activated this proposal would have to pay."

Stern is not disgusted with Louie's proposal.

"Lu, can you tell me the rest?"

"of course."

Louis also said the rest.

"Since this is a supplementary clause, there is a price to be paid to activate it. All clubs that exceed the salary cap and sign rookie contracts with players must pay corresponding fines. The amount of fines is 1.5 times the total amount of excess. 20% of this money will be used as league funds, and the remaining 80% will be shared equally among the clubs as compensation."

After Louis finished speaking, he glanced at everyone like a leader.

"That's what our second proposal is all about."

Stern once again asked the representatives of the teams to start discussions, and the opinions were still inconsistent, but the number of people who supported Louie grew from nothing.

Finally, they start voting.

Now that there is compensation, they don't care what it means to let the Knicks sign rookies over the salary cap.

Louie's second proposal was passed on the spot by a vote of 18 to 4 with 2 abstentions.

Jerry West of the Lakers made a proposal that Louie thought made sense.

Increased team registration from 12 to 13 to ensure more options when a team hits an injury wave.

This is still an issue that needs to be communicated with the players union.

Don't think it's easy to add someone to the roster.

If the additional person needs extra money and is not included in the salary cap, the union will naturally accept it.If it is included in the salary cap, and if the original salary cap shared by 12 people is changed to 13 people, there will be different opinions.

The extra person is just a marginal person, and it doesn't cost much.

In general, the NBA annual meeting is still mostly wrangling.

It is almost impossible for any general manager to propose a rule with loopholes that can be exploited and then passed by all.

This is what Auerbach often did back then. In order to get his proposal passed, Auerbach would choose to mention it when the meeting was about to end.Because at that time everyone's attention is no longer in the meeting.

After the annual meeting, Auerbach took the initiative to find Louis.

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me," Louis teased.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Auerbach asked.

"It means literally. This is my advice, not a suggestion. Please think carefully about how to do it yourself." Louis didn't want to reveal too much.

Auerbach is obviously interested in Bias, and he will find a way to get the top three picks.

Now Louis can basically be sure that Baias is the one he thought of.

In his impression, the poisonous dog who killed himself was the key figure for the Celtics to turn from prosperity to decline.

Louie was happy to see Celtic weaken, but not in this form.

Anyway, he made his debut in Boston.He had quite a few friends there, and Auerbach was kind to him, and he would definitely remind him of such things.

What Auerbach couldn't understand the most was Louis' attitude of affirming that there was something wrong with Baias.

He would have scoffed at anyone else, but Louie was different.

He didn't believe Louis would lie to him, and Louis had no reason to lie to him.The Knicks have the No. [-] pick, and they can take whoever they want.

What Auerbach didn't understand was that there was no sign of Bias not being able to play. He was tall and strong enough, and he had a Celtic temperament.

Auerbach had known Bias since his freshman year.

Last year, Bias, who was ready to participate in the draft, was persuaded by Auerbach to come back.He hopes that Bias will practice in the NCAA for one more year and give the Celtics some time to prepare.

Auerbach sees Bias as Bird's perfect successor. He'll be Bird's toy, an elite athlete who can play both forward positions, a hyper-aggressive jerk who can support the Celtics' offense off the bench, a rebounder who can go head-to-head with monsters like Barkley, and who can throw up alley-oops frequently in games. He will definitely have more dunks than Sampson.

For Sampson and Bird, he is a perfect backup.

Auerbach just couldn't think of what Louis was implying.

"You better tell me all you know!"

"Reed, I have no obligation to tell you. I shouldn't even have said that to you." Louis didn't give up his principles, "I've given you the advice, what you do is up to you."

Auerbach failed to wring more information from Louie.

Louie then joined a party of several other general managers.

There was talk of the Sixers selling the No. 76 pick, and since the Knicks hadn't shown any interest in it, when Louie came in, they treated him as just another outsider.

"I heard that the Celtics put the eighth pick and John Long in the chips to trade the second pick with Philadelphia."

Sacramento Kings executive Joe Axelson said with a smile: "I really don't understand why they would do that. This year's hot rookie doesn't look attractive, and Patrick is not on the same level."

They are so optimistic about Ewing, Louis is very pleased.

If they were to ask Louis, Louis might say that Ewing is not as good as Doherty at this stage.

His purpose of saying this is naturally to be humble. Specifically, he hopes that some of them will speak up and spread his words, so that Ewing will try his best to blow up the opponent when he meets Doherty next season to prove how wrong Louis is.

"Lu, I think you should be the most annoying person." Pistons coach Chuck Daly joked, "There are at least five potential first picks."

"Actually, there are only three." Louis said, "And, we already have a conclusion internally."

"Is it convenient to disclose?"

"No, this is the biggest suspense before the start of the draft."

A large number of people guessed that the Knicks would choose Doherty, and a small number of people guessed Bias, and only Daly guessed it right.

Louis didn't care whether they guessed the answer right or wrong, always kept a sense of mystery, and listened carefully, collecting as much information as possible.

Not to mention, when these idle general managers criticize others, they are all gossip kings.

Everyone has their own channels, their own sources of news, and it is difficult to distinguish the true from the false from the things they say.

Some are definitely fake.

For example, Akerson said that the Blazers added Xavier McDaniel to the trade.

This is bullshit. In one season, McDaniel has established a notoriety similar to Oakley. Jordan and Drexler need a thug next to him. This person is definitely one of Portland's not for sale.

Like this kind of obvious fake news, Louis can distinguish it on the spot.

Other news is much more interesting.

Offer from the Blazers, offer from the Bulls, offer from the Cavaliers.

Especially the offer from the Cavaliers.

Clippers deputy general manager Carl Scheer (Carl Scheer) said: "Roy Sinson has injury concerns, but he played 82 games last season. This is a perfect cover. I think Cleveland will definitely put him in the trade. He is a very attractive player."

"Roy has a potential injury?" Louis asked, "Is it the knee?"

"I don't know, but it's true. People in Cleveland don't believe in his future. Instead of waiting for him to rot, it's better to trade him at the most valuable time."

When the news spread through the general manager's mouth, Louis believed that the 76ers would hear it too.

Will they take it to heart?

Louie continued to walk around them, wearing nothing but a pair of ears.

(End of this chapter)