God of NBA point guards

Chapter 614 The Bulls’ second Jordan
In the evening, the special plane arrived in Seattle.

Countless fans drove to pick up the airport. From the airport to the city center stadium, they were all fans' cars. The police deployed a large number of police officers to maintain order.

After getting off the plane at around six o'clock, the bus drove into the headquarters at around nine o'clock. The journey of just a few kilometers took nearly three hours.

What followed was a three-day celebration, with the entire state of Washington participating, and many fans from all over the country rushed to Seattle to participate in the parade and celebration.

After the celebration, Zhou Quan took a good rest at home for three days without going out.

On June 6, the family chartered a small plane and arrived in Los Angeles, met Zhou Jun and Zeng Yu, and then returned to China.

Both Zhou Jun and Zeng Yu graduated from the undergraduate program in four years, studied for two more years as a graduate student, and are now studying for a doctorate. Zhou Jun has been studying for one year, and Zeng Yu has just started.

Zhou Ye has just graduated from his undergraduate degree and has already been admitted to the postgraduate program. It will take him two years to get his master's degree first. He may not stay in the United States during the doctoral stage.

At three o'clock in the afternoon on the 18th, the family quietly arrived in Beijing.

However, I was recognized by some people at the airport, and it took some time before I came out of the airport.

Along the way, Zhou Quan felt that the capital city had undergone some changes compared to last year. There were fewer old urban areas and many new buildings.

Zeng Li specifically asked the driver to go around several Jazz stores, and then around several Starbucks stores. After a comparison, Jazz was obviously better than Starbucks.

"We at Jazz have a first-mover advantage, and our products, funds, management, and operating model are all good. It would be very difficult for Starbucks to catch up with us and steal our market," Zhou Quan said.

Zeng Li said thoughtfully: "Husband, the domestic development is too fast, I want to speed up the expansion model and squeeze Starbucks out of the domestic market.

If they are allowed to develop, they will definitely take away part of our market.The best way is to let them increase investment and give up this market if the profits are not ideal. "

Zhou Quan thought for a while and said, "Then we can only increase our investment. We don't have enough cash on hand right now. Either Jazz will go public or I will sell my shares in Microsoft, and I can cash out [-] to [-] million U.S. dollars."

Zeng Li said: "Three to four billion US dollars, with 2% reserved for personal tax, can get back more than 25 million US dollars, plus the Jazz's own funds, it will be enough to collect [-] billion yuan, which will definitely be enough."

Zhou Quan said: "Starbucks knows that we Jazz have developed thousands of stores but they still want to come in. They will not give up easily, and it is likely to form a protracted war.

It is better to adopt a two-pronged approach, listing and increasing capital at the same time.Starbucks is different from Jazz. Jazz only develops domestically, while Starbucks is expanding around the world. Their use of domestic funds is definitely not as abundant as ours. "

Zeng Li nodded and said: "You can also reduce prices, or reduce prices by giving gifts, to reduce Starbucks' profits."

"It's a double-edged sword."

Zhou Quan thought for a while and said: "Currently, Starbucks stores are mainly concentrated in the three first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and have not yet expanded to provincial second-tier cities. Their stores are mainly leased. Although the fixed investment is small, the operating costs are higher. , now the rent in the three major first-tier cities is not cheap, no more than in the 90s.

Our stores in these three cities are basically owned by Iron Fist Real Estate Company. The real estate company can reduce the rent, thereby reducing Jazz’s operating costs. "

"Husband, this is a good idea! If Starbucks' operating costs are higher than ours and their liquidity is not as good as ours, as long as we lower prices and lower their profit margins, their operations will definitely have problems, and they will not be able to sustain it for a long time. Yes." Zeng Li smiled.

Zhou Ye came up with an idea from the side and said: "Brother and sister-in-law, the price reduction is only limited to the three major cities. There is no need to lower the price in other cities."

"Yes, yes." Zeng Li smiled.

Soon after Zhou Quan's decision, he began to cash out Microsoft's shares in the market through stock brokers.

He invested a total of 5000 million US dollars in Microsoft, which has increased more than seven times over the years. Microsoft has now reached its ceiling and feels that the investment potential has declined. This is the reason why he chose to cash out Microsoft.

The investments of Apple and Amazon will not be moved for the time being. Their development has not yet reached a bottleneck or ceiling, and they still have investment potential.

He will not always hold the investment in these two companies, because he has always wanted to make industrial investment in China, but has not found a project. If there is an opportunity in the future and a large amount of funds is needed, regardless of the investment value of these two companies No matter how big it is, he will still cash out.

While cashing out Microsoft, Jazz also started making plans to go public and prepare to be listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Listing in China is no more troublesome than in the United States and takes longer, but given Jazz's operating conditions, listing should not be a problem.

The SuperSonics management is already dizzy with work.

Many teams have contacted SuperSonics players privately, and Ben Wallace is the most popular. Everyone wants to poach him, with the Spurs and Lakers being the most active.

The Lakers and Postman have already negotiated, and they only have to sign a contract. In fact, there is no position for Ben, but Kupchak is very smart. He believes that Ben Wallace is younger than Postman, and his attributes match O'Neal's defense and offense well. , so if Ben Wallace can be poached, he won't want the postman.

Of course, if the postman is still willing to come, that's fine, and he welcomes it. After all, he only has a basic salary, but if he comes, he will have to be a substitute. With the postman's current strength and status, he may not be willing.

However, the contract is a big problem, and the Lakers have no space. Fortunately, after the big deal comes in, they can renew the contract next year and sign a veteran contract.

However, if they get big money, Kupchak also knows very well that the Lakers' main lineup will be terrifyingly strong, but the substitute lineup will be weaker than now, because trading big money requires space, and space must be made available.

Fortunately, owner Jerry Buss is willing to go all out, and the Lakers' current operations can support that much luxury tax.

The current problem is the negotiation with Ben Wallace. Kupchak promised a five-year, 5 million contract, which is the largest contract the Lakers can currently accommodate, but Ben Wallace's agent asked for six years, 3000 million. The gap is a bit big, it's a deadlock, and the Lakers basically can't dig.

The same is true for the Spurs. David Robinson is old and is not as good as the postman. If he can get a big player and David Robinson can play as a substitute, that would be perfect.It's just that the Spurs are not as rich as the Lakers. Ben Wallace's agent demanded tens of millions in annual salary and a six-year period, which directly scared the Spurs away.

However, Ben Wallace's agent is only quietly contacting other teams, and Ben Wallace has not applied for a trade to the team, while Rashard Lewis's agent has already applied for a trade to the management.

In addition, Bowen and Desmond Mason also requested trades from the management.

After he received the trade applications from three people, he was in a good mood. Mason has always been a substitute, Bowen only played defense but not offense, and Lewis was also someone he had always wanted to trade.

He believes that as long as Ben Wallace is retained, supported by the Iron Fist King, and matched with some high-quality role players, the Sonics will become a super strong team again.

He is also quietly contacting other teams and preparing to trade these three people who actively applied for trade.

After the Bowen trade, Corey Maggette can play the main role at the third position, Arenas can play the main role at the second position, and only the fourth position needs to find a main force, which is not very difficult.

He wants to find a power forward with mid-range shooting, defense and low-post offense to replace Lewis.

On the 22nd, Zhou Quan suddenly remembered Ben Wallace. He forgot to talk to Whitsitt about Ben Wallace and quickly made a phone call.

The fact that Ben Wallace wanted to leave the team was not something Ben Wallace told him, but something he inferred based on some words that Ben inadvertently revealed during the chat.

Big Ben hoped to renew his contract in advance, get tens of millions of annual salary in SuperSonics, and get a long-term contract. His agent had already approached Whitshit before, but Whitshit said he would consider it. This result is obviously not very good. .

"Iron Fist?"

"Bob, do you plan to renew your contract with Ben in advance?"

"Yes, I will renew his contract in advance next season."

"Next season? Bob, what if he and his agent can't wait? Why don't you talk to him now?"

"That's fine. But the King of Iron Fist, his agent requires a long-term contract plus an annual salary of tens of millions. I'm afraid...it's a bit difficult?"

“What should the salary cap be next season?”

"Well, the league's operations have been good in the past two years, probably close to 4000 million US dollars. I have calculated that if we give him an annual salary of tens of millions, we will have to cut other positions. Corey Maggette, Arenas, they are all Young people with potential must reserve some space, and I also need to find a main power forward. Our space cannot lock up Ben Wallace's long-term contract."

"Then you mean to trade him?"

"The Iron Fist King, I really hope to keep him, but his requirements are too high."

"Bob, try to keep him. It's hard to find a good center now, even if you pay tens of millions of dollars a year. If you give up your big budget, you may not be able to find a suitable center. Next season, I will continue to fight for the championship. ." Zhou Quan said firmly.

He also understands that Whitsitt's job is such a big space. His contract alone will occupy more than 1000 million, and the remaining 2000 million will be shared by more than a dozen other people. If the boss is given 1000 million, there will really be nothing left. Nothing left.

But Ben Wallace is best left, and the bench lineup can be weakened. At most, he and Ben can play more time.

After Ben renews his long-term contract, young people such as Corey Maggette and Arenas will have to renew their contracts in the future. It is very likely that they will leave because there is no space, but that is another story, and it can be ignored for now.

"Okay then, I'll contact his agent right away."

Zhou Quan didn't talk about Da Ben before, but now that Zhou Quan asked to keep Da Ben, Whithit didn't insist and immediately agreed.

He then contacted Ben's agent and completed negotiations with them to make up for it and renew the contract in advance for 6 million in six years. The agent was a little reluctant, but Ben Wallace agreed.

He didn't take the initiative to apply for a trade, he simply didn't want to leave the Sonics and wanted to continue playing with the Iron Fist King.

Big contracts and long-term contracts are actually just a reflection of one's own status and worth. It can't be that other teammates on the team whose status is not as good as his have higher contracts than him, right?

As for financial interests, he looks honest, but he actually has some brains. The example of Rodman is there. Wouldn't it be good to invest with the Iron Fist King? Why leave?
Now he has 1000 million US dollars on hand, and the Iron Fist King has promised him that he will take him into the market as soon as the bear market is over. He is not crazy if he leaves at this time.

He doesn't want to be the boss, he just wants to be the second "Rodman" and strive to become a billionaire before retiring.

On June 6, Zhou Quan sold all of his Microsoft shares, cashed out US$28 million, transferred US$3.32 million back to China through a Swiss account, and then increased his capital to Jazz Coffee Company by RMB 2.5 billion.

This day is also NBA draft day.

However, there were no popular rookies. In the end, the Bulls selected a point guard, Jay Williams, with the No. [-] pick.

Williams is the best college player in the United States, won the Naismith and Wooden Awards, was selected as the best player of the year by the Associated Press, ESPN Magazine, and CBS TV. He is also a backup candidate for the U.S. team at this year's World Men's Championship.

The Bulls selected him not only because of his super talent and praise from all media, but also because he is the best defender in this generation. The Bulls hope to select the second "Jordan" or "Iron Fist King" and have high expectations for him. Very big.

After the draft, the trade window opens, and trades can be made once the freeze period has passed. At this stage, only contact negotiations and other work can be conducted publicly.

After the second three consecutive championships, the SuperSonics finally ushered in a major overhaul, with meritorious players leaving and trading.

(End of this chapter)