start with scouting

Chapter 686 I wish you a smooth journey

"Come in, don't worry..."

Su Yang signaled with a smile, took little Thomas into the boss's office, and postponed the meeting plan with Xinji.

Thomas Jr. sat down a little awkwardly, crossed his hands and fingers, looked up at Su Yang for a while, and dodged with his head buried for a while.

"What's the specific situation, it's a bit sudden."

Su Yang was quite confused. It is said that this kind of thing should be booked in advance, but in the end, there was no phone call notification, and the chat was started directly.

"It was really sudden, I am very sorry, I know this may affect the team's off-season recruitment plan..."

Little Thomas was apologetic, "It was only half an hour after I was notified by my agent, so I hurried over to find you."

Su Yang smiled and waved his hand, "You don't need to feel sorry, we have already prepared for your potential departure, because you have the right to jump out of the player option and then test the free market, so we have a plan to prepare for your departure as usual, two-way choice..."

There is nothing to hide about this kind of thing, and there is no need to pretend to be a saint. The king and little Thomas have already made each other perfect.

Thomas Jr. showed a little relief when he heard the words, and then said: "The Celtics promised to give me the starting point guard position and give me a four-year long contract. That is a very good opportunity for me. You know a player like me, when he loses his explosiveness, his performance goes down, so I want to take this opportunity to build a good foundation for the future..."

Su Yang nodded while listening, quite agreeing.

Players under 180 can play in the NBA and pay more than ordinary players. They often need speed or explosive power to make up for their height disadvantage. Once they lose explosive power due to age or injury, they will inevitably fall into a precipitous decline.

A typical case is Iverson, the super champion in 96, the peak MVP level, but he had no ball to play in 10 years.

And players like McGrady, even if they lose their stamina and explosiveness due to playing closed games, they can still use good hardware, that is, long arms and long legs to play a wealth of experience, so small players can sign big contracts, it is best not to refuse.

"If everyone still needs me, I can stay and fight for another year and work hard for the fourth consecutive championship..."

Hearing those words, Su Yang interjected: "It's okay, I hope you can get better treatment. You already have the strength of the starting level. You made sacrifices for the team and played as a substitute. You also signed a contract with a salary reduction, which contributed to us getting For the first championship, I can only thank you. I support you to go to the Celtics. Coach Stevens will create suitable tactics for you. You can also stand on the stage of the All-Stars and fulfill your childhood dreams. , I know that you once sat on the bus to challenge your opponents and worked hard to hone your skills. I also know that you once hung yourself upside down in order to grow taller. You have paid a lot, and you deserve it all..."

After an affectionate confession, Thomas Jr. burst into tears.

Su Yang continued: "On the day you officially announce, I will take the whole team to see you off. When you return to the Golden One Center, I will prepare a grand welcome ceremony for you. After you retire, the Kings will always Leave a place for you."

Little Thomas nodded again and again.

Su Yang turned to help the staff officer Thomas Jr. with other potential invitations. Out of confidentiality, he didn't ask how much it was.

The two talked in detail for a long time, and soon it was 09:30.

Hinkie came to knock on the door to remind Tatum to visit the base as planned, and Thomas Jr. got up to say goodbye.

Simply chat with Hinkie about Thomas Jr., and the plan to recruit Gary Payton II has been officially activated, and Rose has already contacted him. His agent, Armstrong, is preparing to at least sign Rose with a middle-class contract, as expected.

Su Yang followed Hinkie to receive Tatum's group, and personally took Tatum to visit the stadium, video analysis center, super large gym, bathing center, audio-visual entertainment area, medical center, swimming pool, restaurant, and awards display center.

"I'm going to do a great job here!"

Tatum confidently Xu Luo, everyone took pictures, and then went to the media center to hold a press conference.

In order to show their importance to the little brother, Curry, Cousins, Antetokounmpo, LaVine and others spontaneously came to the scene to give support. They originally wanted to sit down, but the [-] media that attended the scene exceeded expectations, so they could only stand. Make the atmosphere next to you.

Tatum was flattered by such a battle.

Lindsey, who accompanied the ESPN team, first asked: "Coach, this should be the first time in your career that you have selected a rookie with the second overall pick, so please tell us, in your eyes, Jayson Tatum is better than you were before. Will Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic be another MVP player?"

After the voice fell, the reporters on the field booed and cheered, and Curry, LaVine and others standing next to them were also full of curiosity.

Tatum was slightly nervous and excited.

You must know that is the prediction of the first coach Su Yang. So far, Durant and Westbrook have been reached. Curry, who was not chosen by Su Yang, has also successfully verified it. Harden also has that trend. It can be said that he has never missed it. The key Su Yang doesn't give that kind of evaluation to any rookie. For example, LaVine and Brogdon don't. It's not a kind of words to motivate players.

"In my opinion, becoming an MVP-level player is more important than winning the MVP award, because the MVP award is only awarded once a season, and even Michael Jordan has been defeated. At present, in our team, Jan Nice already has that kind of strength, but he can't win the MVP for the time being, and he made a lot of sacrifices to achieve three consecutive championships."

Su Yang intends to take care of the emotions of the whole team, "The same is true for Cousins ​​and George who has already left, so my expectation for Tatum is that he can grow to the MVP level. He has that ability, but it still takes some time to develop." temper..."

Everyone in the venue cheered and applauded, and Tatum also smiled in relief, thinking that it seems that I need to work harder.

Between questions and answers, the press conference ended.

Su Yang took Tatum to meet Curry and others, and then returned to the office to hold a postponed meeting with Hinkie.

The departure of Thomas Jr. freed up another $1200 million in salary space for the team. The focus of the meeting became whether to use that space to sign a strong player. After all, the position of shooting guard and power forward is still one player short.

Su Yang weighed in for a long time and made a decision: "Forget it, there are no suitable players, why not let it go and see if you can avoid the luxury tax and delay the triggering of the luxury tax for three consecutive years, so that you may renew the contracts of LaVine and Cousin in advance. Smith and Grant et al."

Not to save money.

It's for a longer-term consideration, delaying the triggering of the luxury tax penalty for three consecutive years, maybe it will be a big deal.

As for cap space, waste is waste.

Anyway, it’s useless not to sign someone. Curry renews the contract with the bird’s right cap. Calculated according to the rules of 150% of the previous year’s salary, it only takes up about 2700 million salary space, but after signing the contract, it will occupy 3468 million space. It doesn't matter if you put it at the end to renew the contract.

Hinkie nodded: "Tatum's salary for the new season is 629 million US dollars according to regulations, and Giannis triggers the option to get 2247 million US dollars. After my preliminary estimate, our total salary is close to 1.14 million US dollars. The luxury tax trigger line for the season is 1.2 million US dollars, which means that Thomas' departure can just help us avoid triggering the luxury tax..."

"Thomas is really my lucky general!"

Su Yang heard the words with emotion, "I also want to thank the Celtics for their bold move. Maybe it can help us stay in LaVine for two more years. At that time, we will first use the bird rights to renew the big contract, and then think of a way after triggering the super luxury tax. We must Thanks Danny Angie…”

In a blink of an eye, on June 27th, Su Yang flew to Los Angeles to participate in the league's first season awards ceremony.

The Kings' results were not bad, Thomas Jr. won the best sixth man, Brogdon won the best rookie, Antetokounmpo won the most improved player, Su Yang won the best head coach of the year, and the MVP was without any suspense. Take less and confirm Su Yang's prophecy.

After the award presentation, Su Yang went to work at MT company.

Three days passed quickly, the free market officially opened, and Curry officially announced that he would jump out of the final year of his contract.

WOJ then broke the news that the Celtics will soon sign Thomas Jr., offering $8000 million over four years.

Su Yang immediately sent a message to Thomas Jr. to express his congratulations, and by the way invited Jeff Green to meet to discuss joining matters.

　Zhou Qi made his NBL debut in 14 minutes, 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)