the rest, only noise

Chapter 782

In Louie's previous life, Billy Owens' actions were nothing more than emulating the story of Dominic Wilkins 10 years earlier.

In this life, Wilkins went to the Lakers smoothly, and there was no incident of "I hate polygamy the most" ([-]).Therefore, Owens can only be the pioneer in this field and pave the way for Kobe and Francis to do the same in the future.

Future fans will have a hard time understanding how valuable Owens was to the NBA in 1991.

He is a combination of Tragedy and Bird. Future fans will wonder about this and feel that he is OJ Mayo in the 90s, a CJB known as a combination of Janco.

But the problem is that Mayo did not have absolute dominance before entering the university. After entering the NCAA, he was successively surpassed by Beasley and Rose.

As for Owens, his potential has never been bankrupt, and his hype has never stopped. Until he played his first NBA game, fans all over the United States regarded him as a combination of tragedy master and Bird.

Considering the current status of the tragic master and Byrd in the arena, how strong is the combination of these two people?
Therefore, as long as Owens is determined not to play for the Kings, there are countless teams willing to be the receiver.

What terrified Louis the most was that Lewis Shafier actually called and asked, "Exchanging Hank Geithers for Billy Owens, is there any trick, Coach Lu?"

Louis had already had a lot of opinions about his blind trade with the Celtics, but he didn't expect his condition to worsen after the draft.

He didn't really think that the Miami media called him the godfather of the Heat, so he was really the godfather, right?

"If you want to make this deal, don't call me again." Louis said in a deep voice.

"Come on, Coach Lu, didn't I come to ask for your opinion?"

"My opinion is that you should wash your head with cold water now, sober up, and then earnestly seek information, and keep in touch with me, if you want to take advantage of this mess."

"Okay, I will do as you say."

"Why are you still standing still?"

"Do I really have to wash my hair in cold water?"

Louis asked with a smile; "Do you think I'm joking with you? Just say whether you wash it or not?"

"Wash, wash, I'll go wash."

Shafier hung up the phone.

Louis found Baylor and asked him to help find out the inside story of Owens' chaos.

At present, the king does not intend to give up Owens.

They hoped to sit down with Owens and have a good talk, but Owens was determined.

On the other hand, a very unusual piece of news came out of Portland.

Rick Pitino, who has been in charge of the Blazers for four years, decided not to renew his contract with the Blazers after friendly negotiations with the team.

On the other hand, head coach cover letters can be found everywhere in the Blazers general manager's office.

The most high-profile candidate among these candidates is former Lakers coach Pat Riley.

In addition, Phil Jackson dismissed from the Bulls and intends to return to the Knicks, but Louie introduced him to Orlando.

The general manager of the Magic is John Nash, who has known Louis for many years. Their head coach has just finished class and is short of people.

Louie didn't want Jackson back for two reasons.One reason is that the Knicks coaching team has too many people. In the decision-making circle alone, there are Tomjanovich, Zhao Yuanzheng, Billy Donovan, Doug Mo and Jeff Van Gundy, who has just turned from an assistant to a full-time assistant.Another reason is that they are afraid of luring wolves into the house.At the beginning, he asked Jackson to be an assistant coach because of the other party's reputation, the status of the old Nick and the fact that he had not established a foundation when he first arrived in New York.

Now, Louis has turned the Knicks into his own shape up and down, and Jackson has also been the head coach of the Bulls for two years. Will he be willing to be an assistant coach all the time?Thinking of his various deceitful actions in the Bulls and Lakers, Louis didn't want the same thing to happen to him.

Keeping the status quo, he and Jackson are still talking and laughing friends, if something really happened, they might not even be friends.

April 7

Louie meets Jack Hikma and Chris Jackson at the Blue Palace.

Shikma is a humorous white man, and his inside skills impressed Louie.

Although he offered to retire with the Knicks, Louie has no plans to extend his contract.

After all, he is over 35 years old. In this era, only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can maintain a competitive state over the age of 35.

Last season, Sikma still averaged 10 points per game in the Sonics, but when he came to the Knicks, his role was different.

Louis wants him to support the team's second team like Sam Bowie did in the 1989-90 season.

"No problem, Coach Lu, I will definitely do my best." Sikma said affirmatively.

Compared with Sikma, Louis' most important signing this summer, Chris Jackson, did not show the legendary eccentricities.

The rumored Jackson was an eccentric, selfish, assertive, invisible and inefficient guard.

But the first thing he said when he saw Louis was: "Hello, sir."

Not a coach, not a buddy, not a black person-style "what's up" but a "hello" and a "sir."

This is the so-called "weird personality"?Not as slang-mouthed as a black man, but a bit like a well-educated young white man, weird?

Louie didn't think it was weird, but he didn't think Jackson was a good character either.

He was a reserved and well-spoken man who reminded Louie of Dale Ellis.

"CJ (Jackson's nickname), I won't give you a position right away, because you just came here, and I don't know you very well. Before the training camp starts, you have to do a comprehensive physical examination, and then win your position through training camp and preseason performance." Louis said calmly, "Except for Brad Rohaus, the Knicks have no extra positions for useless players."

"I see, sir."

The Knicks also encountered a little problem with the contract extensions of Stockton and Sely.

Baylor wants to lower the price, but both Stockton and Salley are the team's meritorious service, and finally ushered in their own contract years. Of course, they also want to sign big contracts when the salary cap is soaring.

Stockton wants a multi-year contract with a salary of 300 million a year.

Baylor wants to hit 250 million.

Salley also wants a big contract, although his numbers are mediocre.

He has averaged around 5-6 points and 5 rebounds per game all year round, but he is a key player in the murder press.If it weren't for the Knicks, his data would be better than it is now. Even if it is to compensate him, he should be given a big contract.

However, Baylor believes that after Sely becomes a vegetarian, he will not be able to maintain his state for a few years, and the big contract will definitely fall on him in the end.

After Louis heard the news, he came to Baylor himself.

"You are here, what do you think about the contract of those two guys?" Baylor wanted to find out about Louis.

"For the general (Stockton) contract, you can be generous and pay as much as possible, but you need to open a long-term contract." Louis paused, "As for Sely, try to keep the price as low as possible, and the contract renewal period should be controlled within 4 years."

Louis remembered that in his previous life, Sely was in the last three consecutive bulls lying on the crown.

Considering how lacking the inside line the Bulls are, and how precious a man with mobility like him is, if he can only play as a substitute for the Bulls in the last three consecutive rounds, it means that his competitive state has dropped significantly at that time.

Louie gave the direction, and Baylor knew what to do.

On July 7, the Knicks and John Stockton reached a six-year, $8 million contract extension.

If the change in average player income can't be felt in Wilson, then Stockton is definitely a good case.

In 1988, Stockton and the Knicks reached a four-year contract extension of $4 million. At the time, this salary was second only to the maximum salary contract.

But now, the annual salary of one million is just a cloud.

In just four years, Stockton's annual salary tripled.

Since Stockton, a white player who plays with his brain, has a relatively long peak period, signing a long-term contract with him is guaranteed.He himself is willing to sign a long-term contract to guarantee his life. Only superstars like Wilson and Ewing would consider signing a short-term contract to maximize his personal interests.

Back then, Ewing’s annual salary of 300 million was majestic, but now there are so many top players with an annual salary of 300 million. Even John Sely signed a three-year 3 million contract extension a few days later.

Salley has a team option for the third year of his contract.

After completing the contract extensions for Stockton and Salley, theoretically, all the operations that the Knicks should have this summer have been completed.

Louis can rest assured to divert his attention to other places, appreciate the chaos caused by Owens' illness, and maybe take advantage of the opportunity to make a profit. Even if he can't make a profit, it's good to dig holes for others.

April 7

Negotiations between the Kings and the Owens camp officially broke down.

According to sources, the Kings threatened Owens that if he failed to sign with the team on time and report to training camp, they would hold on to the other side's right to sign until he retired.

Owens was even more stubborn, telling the general manager of the Kings face to face: "If the only way for me to play in the NBA is in Sacramento, then I would rather not play. I can go to Europe, Asia, or even Africa, but I will never go to California."

It’s not too big of a deal to watch the excitement. The New York Times, a professional accountant who has been on fire for 100 years, sneered at Owens: “Billy Owens has brought the moral standard of professional players to a lower level, far lower than that of Irvin Hayes and Rick Barry. You keep saying that you will not go to California, because the California team that selected you is not called the Lakers. If it was the Lakers, you would climb to Los Angeles even if you had to climb.”

Owens dared to say that, and he was not afraid of being ridiculed.

The kings considered Owens their chosen son.

It turned out that Owens was the son of the reverse. For the Kings, who were in desperate need of reinforcement, selling his signing right at the beginning of the offseason, when Owens was most valuable, was the only way to stop the loss.

([-]) In reality, Wilkins refused to report after being selected by the Jazz, and was picked up by the Eagles.

(End of this chapter)