the rest, only noise

Chapter 387 This Is My Last Advice
June 1986, 6 draft day

Before the 90s, the draft was held in the afternoon, so any team that needed to trade, especially a team that wanted to trade a front pick, usually launched a violent attack on the morning of the draft.

The news of the Knicks auctioning the second pick has already spread around the world. Unlike the 76ers, no team has ever made a breakthrough in the negotiation process with them.

Los Angeles and Portland have given up.

Chicago and Boston still want it, and there are some teams with late picks who want to trade a late pick + something else for the Knicks' second pick.

On this day, Louis came to his office at eight o'clock in the morning.

He kept answering the phone, one after another.

Jerry Krause called again.

"Coach Lu, as you wish, we will exchange Kevin McHale for your second pick. How about it? You should be satisfied now, right?"

It is not an exaggeration for Klaus to say that he is humble on the phone, because Louis has basically not had a good tone to him these days.

Louis didn't know why, he had a disgust and full of wariness towards Klaus.

"I can take Brad Dougherty with the second pick and not have to pay him $100 million a year for the next few years. Can you tell me why I would give up a big man with full potential for a power forward who is not aggressive?"

Klaus was a little anxious and had to control his tone.

"You already have Patrick Ewing."

"I think the Twin Towers are a good idea, and Doherty's passing is great. I can play Ewing as a power forward. You know he can play." Louie said on the phone, "Jerry, you're willing to hand over McHale. Go pick Len Bias."

There was an uncomfortable silence on the phone.

"...I didn't say we wanted Len Bias."

"If you want Doherty, it seems that you can only choose to trade with us."

It is well known that the Knicks will use the No. [-] pick to select Benjamin Wilson.

Who is second and who is third between Dougherty and Baias is a question that needs to be seriously considered.

Bias has a higher ceiling.

But this is an era where insiders are king.

When choosing between a certain center forward and another position that can definitely become a talent, everyone will choose the center forward.

"Coach Lu, I think we need to think again."

Chicago suspended negotiations.

A moment later, Baylor stormed into Louie's office and said, "Utah wants to do a deal with us."

"Oh, what kind of business?" Louis asked curiously.

Baylor said bluntly: "They want to exchange one of our players with a future first-round pick."

"Could it be Campbell?" Louie asked.

"No," Baylor said. "They want Antoine Kyle."

"I agree with this deal, but don't promise too quickly, and ask for as many things as possible." Louis said greedily, "Cash, draft picks, everything is fine, don't exchange one for one, don't forget, the initiative is ours."

"Of course!"

Baylor ran back happily like a festival.

Louis looked at the list in his hand, there must be a lot of transactions today.

Moreover, the Knicks will once again be the protagonist of the draft day.

In the past two days, Louis seriously studied the reasons why Chicago wanted to send McHale away.

As another player whose career was indirectly changed by Louie, McHale made his debut in Chicago. After a few years, everyone can see his progress from a substitute to a starter, and then to a low-post core attacker.

In 1984, the Bulls selected Barkley, and the style of play matched him.

McHale is a rare fourth position with the agility of the third position, which can just complement Barkley, who has the defensive speed of the fourth position and the offensive speed of the third position.

This pair, logically speaking, should be the core of the Bulls' team building. Klaus actually dismantled it as soon as he said it, and he was not satisfied with ranking sixth in the Eastern Conference last season?
Louie was impressed with the fat and skinny wing duo in Chicago.

The Bulls are the Knicks' sufferer. The Knicks only won once during the regular season.

McHale's IQ was crushed when he attacked, and Barkley's strength was crushed when he was holding the ball. Neither of them could defend.

Louis checked a lot of information and found a problem.

Barkley is a man of action who wants more ego than glory.

To say he doesn't want to be a champion would be a little unfair.But he really can't control his mouth, he puts on weight every offseason, and plays for a while in the new season to lose weight.

Such a player who can't control himself is best matched with a ruthless character who restrains himself to the extreme and treats his teammates harshly.

Like OK.

McHale is not that kind of character.

Everyone who knew McHale always commented on him with "if he wants to, he can XX".

The correct meaning of this sentence is that McHale is unwilling.McHale didn't care.McHale doesn't want to be what you want him to be.Basketball is not all of his life.

Know who McHale reminded Louie of?

Gong Xiaobing

He is very talented, he can learn everything quickly, and he is the top star in Asia by playing casually, making Koreans pee non-stop when they see him.

If he can improve his own requirements, he should be able to become the best power forward in Asian history before Kong Tianyi and Hachimura.

But he didn't want to.

Barkley has only played for two seasons, and his performance is amazing. With that size, that kind of speed, that kind of explosive power, his upper limit is too high to be seen clearly, but McHale has played for six years, and he can basically see the upper limit.

So Krause needs to find a player who can spark Barkley's inner fireworks.

In this draft, there are two such players.

Wilson, who was booked by the Knicks, and Len Bias.

He's a "cool" player, as can be seen on tape of his games at the University of Maryland.

Bias was one of the few players who could make himself look cool in the shorts era.

He is fearless and never backs down. He has an unusual recklessness when he plays, and the arrogance when he dunks makes people want to rush to the scene to beat him.

Louie from the future knew the style would become all the rage in the '90s, eventually forcing David Stern to enact a dress code to curb swelling street style after Allen Iverson entered the league in baggy pants and furrows.

If Krause sees him as a hope of salvaging Barkley's professionalism, he's definitely willing to give more leverage than McHale.

In Louie's office, the calls went from eight in the morning to two in the afternoon.

Before the start of the draft, Jerry Krause was determined to trade the second pick.

He called the Blue Palace in New York again.

"If you need anything, please speak up." Louis was seriously impatient.

"Coach Lu, it's me." Klaus hated his current posture extremely, he was too humble, "We decided to increase the bargaining chip, this is our final bid."

"tell me the story."

"Kevin McHale is still the subject of the deal. In addition, we are willing to provide two protected draft picks."

"continue."

"1988 first-round pick, top-three protection."

"1990 first-round pick, top-five protection."

"I see, I will seriously consider it, please wait for my call."

The moment Louis/Klaus hung up the phone, his mood was different.

Klaus is like a condemned prisoner waiting to be executed, and Louie is happy.

McHale has the strength of a top 50 superstar, of course, this was in Louie's previous life.He's teamed with Bird, and the redneck is a jerk who doesn't allow his teammates to let up.

This is also the reason why McHale and Bird have a bad relationship.

Bird was cruel to himself, and he was cruel to others, and McHale would never be able to see basketball as the only thing in life that Bird did.

However, without Bird by his side, he was so mediocre that it was difficult for him to be selected as an All-Star in the Eastern Conference. After six years, he had no results, let alone the top 50, even if he was selected as the top 100 superstars in NBA history, he might not necessarily have his share.It's not that he is not strong enough, but that he is likely to be missed when selecting candidates.

This is the magic of great players. The magician saved Kareem Abdul-Jabbar after the age of 30. Bird can also improve the level of the players around him. No one knows what Pippen will develop without Jordan's day and night training.

But having said that, the ability to make people around you better is also different.Some people are equal to all beings, and some people just need players' personalities.

Just as Louie decided to call Chicago back to seal the deal, Boston called.

The caller was Jane Volker, and Auerbach had been driven mad by Louis.

At this time yesterday, Auerbach personally called and wanted to trade the second pick.Louis opened his mouth to ask for three first rounds, and exchanged four first rounds. The old man was so angry that he hung up the phone.

"Lu, we have prepared two trading plans."

Louis said helplessly, "Please tell me."

"In the first plan, we send John Long, the No. 1987 pick this year, the first round pick in 1989 and the first round pick in [-], in exchange for the No. [-] pick in your hands; in the second plan, we send Bill Lambiel."

"Are you crazy?"

Walker said with a smile: "We are determined to win-in addition to Bill, the second set of trading plans also includes the 1987 first-round pick and 20 cash."

"you guys"

What should Louis say?
Obviously they had been persuaded before, don’t choose Baias, don’t choose Baias, but they still dismantled their dynasty team, and prepared two very attractive trading plans in the way that Auerbach hates most—sending future draft picks.

"Lu, what do you think?"

If Louie made this deal and let the Celtics go to Bias, the final result would definitely be good.

The Celtics dismantled the lineup, and then Baias would still kill himself. The strength of the Celtics would definitely suffer a major setback, and the momentum of the dynasty might come to an end.

But in any case, Louis will never forget where he started.

He has learned a lot during the six years in Boston. People from Auerbach and KC Jones have treated him very well. Although the camps are different now, he hopes that the Celtics will maintain their current competitiveness. When he rises, he will defeat them.

What sense of accomplishment is there to destroy the Celtics in this way?

Because of his own ambitions, and Boston's kindness to him, he would not make this deal.

"You are late, Mr. Jane, the transaction has been completed." Louis said calmly, "Don't think about Lun Bias anymore, this is my last advice."

(End of this chapter)