basketball boulder

Chapter 149 The Big Shark Journeys East

7 month 13 day.

An ordinary night.

Li Lei finished his extra training and was going to go back to rest with Yao Ming, Zhu Fangyu and Yi Jianlian.

His cell phone rang suddenly.

The contact is: Bill Duffy.

Li Lei suddenly had a premonition.

Normally, Duffy wouldn't bother him late at night.

"Stone, you can't go to Los Angeles!"

On the other end of the phone, Duffy said disappointedly.

Li Lei was stunned.

"The O'Neill deal fell through?"

When he came back to his senses, Li Lei's first reaction was this.

Duffy shook his head: "No, no, no! O'Neal went to Miami, you and him are teammates!"

Li Lei: "..."

This TM is really unexpected.

Me and O'Neal as teammates?
Li Lei was stunned for a long time.

But he couldn't figure it out.

Didn't the Lakers call him by name?

Didn't the official website of the Lakers post all the articles?

Stone, welcome home?

Afterwards, Duffy told Li Lei the news he found out.

It is true that the Lakers have always wanted Li Lei and the Heat wanted O'Neal.

However, instead of switching clubs, the two of them became teammates.

At the last moment of the transaction, Pat Riley gave the Lakers two trading plans.

For the first one, the Heat sent Odom + Grant + Li Lei.

For the second, the Heat offered Odom + Grant + Butler + Cato + two future first-round picks.

Of course, compared to the first plan, the Lakers need to pay not only O'Neal for the second plan, but also need some additions to balance the transaction.

But even so, the two programs are vastly different.

Last season, Cato's contract was considered a junk contract.

But after this season, no one thinks so anymore, and Cato has played value.

And in the O'Neal era, meat shield centers were generally valuable, and it was normal for their salary to be twice that of others.

There is also a first-round pick, which is also a good thing.

Why do the Timberwolves keep rotten?Isn't it the first-round pick that was fined for 5 years?

The Lakers looked at two trade plans and chose the second one.

"Yeah, normal people would choose that."

Li Lei is very fragrant, but Butler + Cato + two future first-round picks are even more fragrant!

The Lakers made a lot of money.

The 33-year-old O'Neal changed for an All-Star in his prime, a second-year sixth man of the year, a meat shield center, a blue-collar power forward with a lot of oil, and two first-round picks.

Isn't he sweet?

Reason told Li Lei: The Lakers' choice is no problem.

But emotionally told Li Lei: It's a joke!

"Stone, welcome home!"

This is a joke!

One day I was still using emotion to impress the players, and the next day I just gave up.

The NBA is a business!
Never talk about feelings.

……

7 month 14 day.

The big shark swam eastward, shocking the entire league.

Li Lei called Odom, Cato, Butler, and Grant one by one.

Odom is very happy: "I didn't go to New York, Los Angeles is not bad."

Odom spent the first four years of his career in the Los Angeles Clippers, so don't know too much about Los Angeles.

Li Lei laughed loudly: "When you go to nightclubs in the future, you don't have to worry about the little gangsters hired by Riley! You can let go and play."

Odom also laughed: "When you come to Los Angeles, I'll take you to the best nightclubs and the most beautiful young models!"

Li Lei: "Play as long as you want, don't waste yourself like a big dog."

Odom said arrogantly: "My capital is incomparable to a big dog."

Then there's Butler.

The gentle man told Li Lei: "Stone, you will always be my best brother, I love you!"

Li Lei said sincerely: "Caron, you too, let's work together!"

Followed by Cato, Grant, these two veterans are not the first time to be traded, it is already very promising.

Besides, this is going to Los Angeles, who doesn't love Los Angeles?
Subsequently, Li Lei contacted Wade.

Wade is also in shock, the two of them will join forces for No.1 in the league next season!

The deal also opened the door to free agency this year.

Kobe and the Lakers immediately renewed his contract.

"Zen Master" Phil Jackson was disappointed and refused to renew his contract with the Lakers.

The Lakers then invited coach Rudy Tomjanovich.

Tang Shuai is the founder of the Mosaic dynasty and Yao Ming's first NBA head coach.

If you still don't remember who he is.

Then think about the head coach who was punched in the head by Washington.

"Never underestimate the heart of a champion!"

This is what he said.

After that, the teams signed contracts one after another, and various transactions are also in progress.

It is worth mentioning:
The Nets signed and traded, sending Kenyon Martin to the Nuggets.

Martin got the first big contract of his career, 7 years and 9000 million US dollars.

The Nets got three first-round picks.

They also wanted Nene in 02, but the Nuggets insisted not to give it.

The main reason is that the salary space of the Nets has exploded, and they can't keep Martin, who only wants a big contract, so he can only cut his flesh and let him go.

The Mavericks released Nash.

The Mavericks chased Dampier wholeheartedly and ignored Nash. Cuban only gave Nash an insulting offer, and it was just a show, without even saying a word of retention, and secretly forced Nash to leave.

Nash left the team angrily and accepted a six-year, $6 million contract from the Suns.

Of course, the Mavericks finally managed to get Dampier.

The Warriors signed and traded Dampier to the Mavericks.

The Jazz signed Boozer.

Boozer and his agent tricked the Cavaliers management into giving up the $70 team option for the final year of their rookie contract and promising to re-sign with the Cavaliers for a 6-year, $4100 million contract .

But as soon as the Cavaliers gave up, Boozer turned around and signed a 6-year $6800 million contract with the Jazz.

The Cavaliers couldn't match because of the problem of salary space, so they could only watch Boozer leave.

Suddenly, the entire NBA was full of curses.

"Carlos Boozer!"

"fraud!"

"traitor!"

……

Especially the fans of the Cavaliers, can't wait to eat their meat and sleep their skins!

The bosses of various NBA teams also criticized Boozer.

The degree of notoriety of this incident can be ranked in the entire history of the NBA.

It is incompatible with the "loyalty" that the owners of the teams work hard to cultivate.

It can be said that, except for the Salt Lake City fans who regard Boozer as the "successor of Malone", there is no one who does not scold Boozer.

This is a matter of character!
But then something happened, which was also quite interesting.

"Boozer has long been dissatisfied with the Cavaliers management."

This season, James, Boozer, and Big Z led the Cavaliers to the ninth position in the East, only one win away from the playoffs.

Therefore, the outside world generally believes that James + Boozer is also a golden combination, comparable to the "Li De" combination of Li Lei and Wade.

If you count the attributes of one inside and one outside, James + Boozer is even more promising than the Li De combination.

Boozer, however, felt slighted.

The Cavaliers put all their attention on James.

For James, the Cavaliers sent Ricky Davis away, and all possessions were given to James.

A quarter of Boozer's shots this season have come from grabbing offensive rebounds himself.

His dissatisfaction with the Cavaliers has accumulated for a season, and his departure is not a sudden incident. He may have wanted to leave a long time ago.

Things in the world always have a cause and effect, there is no deception for no reason.

If the Cavaliers paid more attention to Boozer, Boozer probably wouldn't do the same.

Of course, cheating is definitely not right!

Boozer's "anti-bones boy" is a given.

The back of the head is born with anti-bone!
Subsequently, Rasheed Wallace renewed his contract with the Pistons.

The defending champion has guaranteed the integrity of the main lineup, and the Pistons are all there.

Next season, the Pistons will still be a mountain on top of the other 29 teams.

It is worth mentioning that: Bobcats entered the NBA this summer, the NBA officially expanded to 30 teams.

After that, the Spurs renewed their contracts with Ginobili and Robert Horry successively, and the veteran strong team Spurs did not change much.

The trading market is full of hustle and bustle, and the Athens Olympics is finally here.

(End of this chapter)