Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 231 231. Cracks!Trade McGrady!Make a deal!Grizzlies choose the future?No!I want it now in the future!

After losing to the Mavericks, the Grizzlies have not been questioned by the outside world. After all, even if they lose this game, the Grizzlies still have a record of eight wins and one loss, ranking second in the league after the Boston Celtics.

What fans are really interested in is the verbal dispute that broke out between Grizzlies star Tracy McGrady and assistant coach Casey after the game.

No one knew exactly what happened between the two, but the voice of McGrady scolding Casey was heard by many staff at the time.

McGrady's temper is not bad, but that mouth often says something that shouldn't be said.

In addition, McGrady only made 17 of 4 shots in the last game. He was hung up and beaten by the Dallas Mavericks on both offense and defense, so it was inevitable that he became a little angry after the game.

However, there was a conflict with assistant coach Casey, and fans pointed out that McGrady was suspected of playing big names.

After all, everyone knows that Casey just joined the Grizzlies coaching staff as an assistant coach this summer.

If it weren't for the serious mistakes made by McGrady, it would be impossible for Casey to prevent McGrady from stepping down in front of everyone, and even had conflicts with him.

Some fans said that after the game, McGrady only dared to vent his anger on the assistant coach, but did not dare to have any conflicts with the head coach Luke, which inevitably made the fans feel a little underestimated.

However, the Grizzlies did not reveal anything about the relationship between McGrady and Casey when facing the media, and the tone can be said to be very strict.

At present, the outside world can only speculate on the rumors. As for whether this dispute will affect the next state of the Grizzlies, the outside world is also unclear.

.........

The next day, the Grizzlies lost to the Hornets back-to-back at home. Paul used 16 assists to link the team together, and once again ushered in a big defeat.

Among them, sharpshooter Peja even threw seven three-pointers, which taught the Grizzlies' outside shooters a good lesson.

At the same time, the pick-and-roll tactics between David West and Paul were also superb. The 24 points and 8 rebounds in the game were not only not inferior to Pau Gasol, but even vaguely had some upper hand.

The consecutive defeats made the Grizzlies fans anxious for the first time. Originally, the Grizzlies fans were ready to show their strengths this season, but the two consecutive defeats were like a pot of cold water that directly extinguished the fans' hearts. enthusiasm.

What Grizzlies fans are most afraid of is that the team is only a flash in the pan in the early part of the season, and these two losses are the beginning of the team's true colors.

The Grizzlies not only allowed the Hornets to score 126 points on the offensive end, but also performed extremely badly on the offensive end.

Except for Gerald Wallace's 17 points, 8 rebounds and 3 steals, which still maintain a regular level, everyone else's performance is a bit struggling.

In particular, the star McGrady became the target of fans' crazy complaints after the game.

The reason why the fans complain about McGrady is naturally not how bad McGrady's performance in this game is. Even though the data of 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists is indeed inefficient, what really makes the fans angry is McGrady's attitude on the court.

I don't know if he wanted to get angry with Casey in this way. McGrady seemed to do whatever he wanted on the court throughout the game. Not only did he not try his best on both offensive and defensive ends, but he also gave people a feeling of laziness.

McGrady's indifferent attitude attracted criticism from a large number of fans after the game, especially the Grizzlies fans pointed out that McGrady is a cancer in the team. McGrady must pay at least half of the responsibility for the losses in these two games.

And McGrady's lazy performance also made head coach Luke hide McGrady from the second half. Fans found that Luke had no disputes with McGrady off the court, and even Luke had no communication with McGrady during this period.

However, from the fact that Luke kept McGrady on the bench throughout the second half, it can be seen that Luke was dissatisfied with McGrady's playing attitude, but he didn't communicate with McGrady.

Consecutive field losses are normal for a team that has just completed reconstruction, but McGrady's attitude has become the object of collective crusade by fans.

Now McGrady is not only unhappy with Casey, but offended the entire fan circle. Except for McGrady's personal fans who still speak for him on the Internet, most of the voices are criticizing and questioning McGrady.

McGrady's personal performance this season is very average. Although the statistics are still star statistics, his personal dominance on the court has declined seriously.

Now there are voices from the outside world that they want the Grizzlies management to trade McGrady, otherwise, if the team continues to play in this atmosphere, the Grizzlies are likely to fall on this perfect road of reconstruction.

However, considering that McGrady is a star traded by the Grizzlies at a high price, and the team's momentum in the early part of the season has been booming, the chances of the management choosing to trade McGrady are slim.

In the end, there is a high probability that the Grizzlies management will still have to do some ideological work on McGrady, and then the two sides will settle down and continue to attack the championship.

.........

In the next few games, the fans discovered that McGrady had a high exemption card and did not appear on the field. The official announcement from the Grizzlies was that McGrady suffered a second-degree calf strain and would miss the remaining games.

However, the fans believe that it was Luke who hid McGrady. There is always a gap between the two sides, and McGrady's performance disappointed Luke, so Luke simply deprived him of playing time.

After all, as early as the Timberwolves period, Luke dared to hide Garnett, who was No. 1 in the league at the time, not to mention McGrady, who has a problem with his competitive attitude and caused public outrage in Memphis.

Many fans speculated that according to Luke's usual personality, this time McGrady will either apologize publicly or be traded. After all, Luke never spoils players. This is a well-known fact in the entire league. .

Compared with the problems of personal status, the problem of the attitude of the players on the court is absolutely unacceptable to Luke.

And lacking these games of McGrady, the Grizzlies still maintain the aggressiveness of the game, but the team's style of play has become more team-based than at the beginning of the season.

After McGrady was absent, Luke did not put Mike Miller in the starting lineup. Instead, Grant Hill took the second position in the starting lineup. It seemed that he wanted to keep the offensive system of the Grizzlies bench as much as possible.

Grant Hill didn't get much playing time this season, but as a starter in the last few games, Hill has played an impressive performance with plenty of playing time.

Especially in the game against the Portland Trail Blazers in mid-November, Grant Hill's performance exploded when facing Roy, the king of the new generation of guards.

The data of 31 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists not only set a new season high, but also suppressed Brandon Roy's performance and led the team to successfully defend the home court.

Hill seems to be using this method to prove to the outside world that although he has already fallen from the altar due to injuries, Jordan's successor is by no means in vain. When Hill starts to take the game seriously, he still has the ability to become a terminator .

However, McGrady's absence still has some impact on the Grizzlies, who are already in the running-in period. The tactical play style implemented by the Grizzlies at the beginning of the season had to be changed at the moment, which made it difficult for the Grizzlies to adapt to this process.

Until the end of November, although the Grizzlies' record of 11 wins and 12 losses still ranks fourth in the West, they have slipped from the championship list to seventh in the league.

As for Tracy McGrady is still in a truce, after losing home to the Hornets on the 12th, Tracy McGrady has been absent for nearly half a month.

In the past half a month, there has been no sound from the Grizzlies team, but the fans have begun to be disappointed with McGrady, and gradually no longer have expectations.

It is worth mentioning that, not long ago, the league announced the player of the week in the East and West, Pau Gasol averaged 23.6 points, 12.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 blocks per game for the second time in the season.

Tied with Celtics star Paul Pierce, becoming the second player of the week to be elected twice this season.

It is Pau Gasol's outstanding personal performance that the Grizzlies can still maintain the aggressiveness of the game during McGrady's absence.

Otherwise, no matter how good the Grizzlies' shooter team is, it will be difficult to kill the game at a critical moment.

Gasol's outstanding performance not only liberated outside shooters, but also allowed teammates around him to participate in the offense more, making the Grizzlies' offense always smooth and becoming the team with the most assists per game in the league.

The average of 30.7 assists per game not only ranks first in the league, but also leads the second-ranked Suns by nearly 4 times, and leads the Knicks, which ranks last in the league, by a full 12 times.

.........

At the end of November, when the outside fans had been discussing the matter between the Grizzlies and Tracy McGrady, Memphis’ famous reporter Thomson suddenly broke the news that the Grizzlies had officially put Tracy McGrady on the shelves and are currently actively listening to other teams’ trade offers .

Although the Grizzlies have not officially confirmed the news, the spread of the gossip still makes outside fans start to discuss it.

When Luke abandoned McGrady for half a month, the fans knew that McGrady was likely to be traded by the team.

After all, Luke has never been used to players playing big names under his own hands.

But when the news about this came out, the outside fans still became no longer calm, and felt terrified of Luke's decisive courage.

You know, the Grizzlies paid a lot for Mike Conley and Gay in order to get Tracy McGrady this summer.

Although McGrady's performance has disappointed the fans and the team, the Grizzlies still need a lot of courage to really make the decision to put McGrady on the shelves.

Needless to say, the value of Tracy McGrady's trade, there are not a few teams in the league that are interested in Tracy McGrady.

Even though McGrady's ability to lead the team has been questioned, as one of the few popular stars in the league, McGrady still stands at the top of the league's pyramid and is the core that all rebuilding teams need.

The biggest problem facing the Grizzlies right now is what kind of bargaining chip can McGrady get back. There are not a few players in the league who can reach the star standard, but there are not many players who can be traded by the team.

The Grizzlies deal will directly affect the team's next destiny. Even though Luke has always been known for building teams in the league, fans are still nervous.

In addition, some senior experts in the industry suggested that during McGrady's absence, the Grizzlies have proved that no top scorer can still play well.

Therefore, the Grizzlies can consider using Tracy McGrady to trade for some players below the star level, so as to enrich the depth of the lineup, and it is not necessary to make up a combination of the Big Three.

However, Luke has never made progress in building the team. Even general manager Chris Wallace has difficulty offering advice. What the Grizzlies will eventually become depends on Luke's positioning of the team and his success Down operation.

…………

As time enters December, although the Grizzlies have not officially confirmed the news that McGrady will be traded, the failure to refuse means that the Grizzlies have acquiesced to this statement.

According to gossip, many teams in the league have had contact with the Grizzlies in private, but the Grizzlies are very cautious about this deal, and they may have to wait for a while to formally conclude the deal.

Meanwhile, the Grizzlies, who lacked Tracy McGrady in the second half of November, still maintained a decent level of competition.

As of the beginning of December, the Grizzlies' record of 12 wins and 15 losses ranked fourth in the Western Conference and sixth in the league. They are still the top team in the league.

And Gerald Wallace has also ushered in a recovery in the near future. After McGrady's truce, Wallace took on more responsibilities on the offensive end.

近几场比赛华莱士场均能够贡献17.1分7.3篮板2.6助攻2.1抢断以及1.8次封盖，在保持联盟顶级防守水准的同时，进攻端也有不俗的发挥。

Now the overall coordination of the Grizzlies is getting better and better. Every movement on the field can be called a human movement, especially the linkage between supporting players and shooters, which has become a beautiful scenery.

After all, before the Grizzlies, no team in the league would arrange such a huge tactic for shooters.

The Grizzlies this season may not be the team with the best shooting ability in history, but the Grizzlies are attacking this goal.

…………

On December 12, local time in the United States, while the outside world was still actively participating in the discussion, the Grizzlies officially released a news announcing that the team had officially reached a deal with the Sacramento Kings.

In this transaction, the Grizzlies will send the star McGrady + "Little Flying Squirrel" Stoudemire in exchange for the Kings' Kevin Martin + Mike Bibby + the first-round pick in 08 and a special case of 350 million transactions.

With the occurrence of this transaction, the alliance immediately fell into an uproar, and all the topics of discussion focused on this transaction.

The King's team record this season is a bit embarrassing. It is currently ranked No. 11 in the Western Conference with ten wins and ten losses.

It has not been a day or two since the Kings wanted to return to the playoffs. Now that they have the opportunity to get McGrady, the Kings management will naturally not miss it.

What the fans didn't expect was that the Grizzlies didn't use McGrady to trade a star, but reached this deal with the Kings that was more like a future-focused deal.

这笔交易中灰熊获得了两位核心球员，其中凯文马丁场均能够贡献23.7分4.5篮板2.1助攻以及1次抢断，高达40%的三分球命中率同样是联盟最出色的外线投手之一。

But strictly speaking, Kevin Martin is an outside scorer, not a shooter, and his average of 23.7 points per game also ranks sixth in the league.

Apart from the defensive ability that needs to be improved, Martin is definitely the essence of this deal. At the same time, some fans found that Martin's style of play is very suitable for the Grizzlies' offensive system. If nothing else, Martin will definitely get along very well with this Grizzlies. .

至于另外一位球员迈克毕比同样是一位准全明星级的球员，上个赛季毕比场均能够贡献17.1分3.2篮板4.7助攻以及1.1次抢断，三分球命中率同样稳定在36%左右。

Although due to the rise of Kevin Martin in the new season, Mike Bibby sacrificed some shots and declined in personal data, but the data of 13.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.3 steals per game is still very good.

In particular, the increase to 40% of the three-pointers, and the fifth-ranked defensive efficiency of all point guards in the league represent Bibby's maturity.

What fans really wonder about this deal is the first-round pick.

The outside world agrees that the Grizzlies will use McGrady in exchange for some combat power to get one step closer to the championship in the new season. As a result, this deal looks more like a future profitable deal to the outside world.

No one knows whether this signal means that the Grizzlies will give up their hope of hitting the championship in the new season, but the Grizzlies after trading McGrady are still expected by fans.

After all, the Grizzlies have played so well without McGrady during this period. Now that the team has exchanged McGrady for two outstanding players, the Grizzlies have no reason to play worse.

Luke listened to all the doubts and discussions from the outside world, but he never gave a positive response.

Because only Luke himself knows that this deal does not mean that the Grizzlies have given up on the present, but is an operation that is grasping both now and in the future.

McGrady's competitive state this season has undergone an imperceptible decline, although with experience and personal comprehensiveness McGrady is still one of the best stars in the league.

But in terms of scoring ability alone, Kevin Martin is no longer inferior to McGrady, and his shooting ability is even better. With the double Gasol's inside support, he can perfectly integrate into this Grizzlies.

As for the deficiencies on the defensive end, Gerald Wallace also helps to defend. When Martin only needs to concentrate all his energy on the offensive end, Kevin Martin is definitely one of the best scorers in the league.

Kevin Martin averaged 20 points per game in six seasons in his career, and double figures in nine seasons, and his three-point shooting rate remained at around 40% all year round.

If it weren't for the defense that dragged down Martin's career prospects, Kevin Martin would definitely become a top star in the league.

This season, Martin's scoring average ranks sixth in the league scoring list, and his average free throws per game ranks first in the league. He is definitely the scorer with the most offensive means in the league.

Martin is not only good at outside shooting, mid-range, breakthrough, foul, these are Martin's routine.

Even before the rise of James Harden, Martin was once hailed by fans as the league's most foul-making player.

As a result, it was never expected that the waves behind the Yangtze River pushed the waves ahead, and Harden was so talented on the road of touching porcelain, even Magneto King Barry was willing to bow down.

The joining of Kevin Martin will improve the overall fault tolerance rate of the Grizzlies and make the Grizzlies more smooth on the offensive end.

And Mike Bibby's personal ability is also far stronger than "Little Flying Squirrel" Stoudemire. With Mike Bibby leading the second team to grab points, the depth of the Grizzlies' lineup can be improved by far more than one level.

As for the first-round pick, needless to say, any first-round pick, no matter whether it is high or low, can play a coveted value in Luke's hands.

The outside world believes that the Grizzlies value the future in this deal, and the deal with the Kings is just a helpless choice, but Luke will use practical actions to tell everyone that the Grizzlies not only want the future, but also the present.

McGrady's departure is not a disaster, but the tranquility before the Grizzlies take off.

(End of this chapter)