Bishop of the Abyss

Chapter 256 256. Shocking!The deal that shocked the league!The Grizzlies shot thunder!Many teams planned ahead and played badly!
The Grizzlies successfully won the first championship trophy in team history this season, and the city of Memphis fell into endless carnival.

It was a sleepless night for the fans.

Team owner Michael Heisley is even more in a good mood because the team won the championship. Unlike other owners in the league, Heisley's worth is not so strong, which also makes Heisley a little stingy in terms of player operations.

However, as the Grizzlies have advanced by leaps and bounds under the leadership of Luke, the current market value of the Grizzlies has doubled several times compared to last season.

In addition, this championship is the first time for the Grizzlies to stand on the top of the league since its establishment, which makes Heisley attach great importance to the upcoming championship parade.

Even spending a lot of money to hold a grand parade ceremony.

Since the team won the championship, Heisley has held high-level meetings many times, and listened excitedly to the opinions from the management every time, hoping to make this championship parade a vigorous one.

Among them, the head coach Luke who won the championship has received many calls from his boss Michael Heisley. Heisley hopes that Luke can provide some opinions for this championship parade.

After all, when coaching the Timberwolves, Luke led the team to win the championship for three consecutive years, and has very rich experience in the championship parade.

However, Luke's current thoughts are not on the championship parade at all, and he kicked the ball to Bill Lambiel, and asked Lambiel to assist Heisley in organizing the celebration.

As the first championship trophy in the history of the team, everyone in the Grizzlies exudes joy from the inside out, and the Grizzlies fans sing and sing every night, as if the city of Memphis has been transformed into the world overnight. Heaven.

The championship parade no longer aroused Luke's interest. Luke didn't even participate in the discussion when he was coaching the Timberwolves. He only showed up to interact with the fans on the day of the championship parade, which was an explanation to the outside world.

Right now, Luke has more important things to do, and the general manager, Chris Wallace, is recruited by Luke 24 hours a day, on standby at any time, to complete the tasks assigned by Luke.

In the past two days, Luke and Chris Wallace have been running around, and even the high-level meetings held by Michael Heisley have been absent many times, but no one, including the boss Heisley, is dissatisfied with this .

Although I don't know what Luke will do this summer, as long as Luke gives orders, no one in the Grizzlies management dares to complain.

In addition to Luke's 20% stake in the Grizzlies, which is considered a minority shareholder of the team, Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley even gave a death order.

All operations of the team revolve around Luke. No matter how ridiculous Luke's request sounds, as long as Luke nods, the team will give the green light from top to bottom to ensure that everything is implemented in place.

The Grizzlies have several players whose contracts have expired this season, including Mike Miller, the best sixth man who has played his masterpiece in his career, and "Wonder Boy" Outlaw, who has made great contributions in the playoffs.

Judging from the performance of these two playoffs, it is very difficult for the Grizzlies to keep the two in the summer. The two who follow the team to win the championship will definitely become the favorites in the free market and will be favored by other teams. sought after.

Even if the Grizzlies do not have any salary space for a maximum salary contract to completely eat the next two, but if they want to stand out among many team offers, the contract that the Grizzlies will send to the two will most likely be at a premium.

The season has just ended, and the Grizzlies' championship parade has not yet begun. Many teams are already looking to make a move. They are closely watching Mike Miller and Outlaw, for fear that the Grizzlies will reach a contract extension with them in advance.

Mike Miller is definitely an important contributor to the Grizzlies' championship this season. In all fairness, Luke does not want to lose such a player.

But with Mike Miller's explosive performance in this year's playoffs, Mike Miller is likely to get a scalp-numbing contract.

In this case, Luke had to reluctantly give up the competition, focus on this year's free market, and try to find someone who can replace Mike Miller.

Luke's biggest advantage during the offseason is that he doesn't need to spend a lot of money to attract players, and he can use the "God's perspective" to sign the most powerful players with the cheapest contract.

In addition, the most important thing for Luke at present is to package Gerald Wallace in the draft, and strive to get a better star before this year's draft.

The league trading market will not officially open until July, but every year before the draft, each team can make a trade with the current draft pick.

The Grizzlies have three first-round picks and one second-round pick this year, plus Gerald Wallace who is destined to leave the Grizzlies. These assets are enough to make other teams shine.

In just two days, the number of teams that provided trade offers to the Grizzlies reached three.

Although Gerald Wallace, who just won the best defensive player this season, was thrown into the sidelines by Luke, looking at the entire league, no team can resist this temptation.

However, Gerald Wallace is the best bargaining chip for the Grizzlies this summer. The players traded must not only be recognized by Luke, but must also be top stars in the league.

This requirement alone makes many teams regretfully discouraged.

After all, not every team can produce top-level stars, and not every team is willing to trade top-level stars casually.

In the first few days, Luke took the lead in targeting Kobe Bryant, who led the team out for several consecutive seasons.

Hearing the news that Luke planned to join forces with him, Kobe did show yearning, and even became excited.

But after thinking about it, Kobe declined Luke's invitation.

It is not difficult to see from Kobe's expression that Kobe was equally frustrated with this choice.

But the tough Kobe still chose to stay with the Lakers, wanting to prove his worth in the city of Los Angeles, and rejected the shortcut of joining the Grizzlies to win the championship.

Since "Shark" O'Neal left the Lakers, Kobe has never led the team to win a championship trophy.

This caused Kobe's three championship rings to be questioned, and he was ridiculed and ridiculed by the outside world, saying that Kobe can only win the championship if he hugs O'Neal's thigh.

For Kobe, betraying the city and choosing to take a shortcut with the Grizzlies is obviously a choice that he cannot accept.

Especially after "Shark" O'Neal left, Kobe has never proved his ability to lead the team, so leaving in such a disheartened way is definitely not what Kobe wants to see.

Even though it takes a lot of courage to reject Luke's invitation, and you have to be prepared to regret it in the future, Kobe's answer still poured cold water on Luke, and he can only regretfully miss the opportunity to join forces with Kobe.

Seeing that Kobe was hopeless, Luke immediately turned his attention to other players and started the next move.

Chris Wallace was so busy that he beat the back of his head and became Luke's mouthpiece for dealing. He traveled back and forth between Memphis and other cities many times, trying to complete every task Luke gave him.

It's already mid-June after the finals, and the draft will start at the end of June. Luke has been racing against time.

Even before going to bed, I can't help but re-filter the memories in my mind to make sure that nothing of value is missed.

…………

"Lu, good news! Good news! Chris has already started to force the team. If it goes well, we should be able to reach this deal before the draft."

"But Chris said he needed our help. Do you think we should leak some information to the outside world?" Chris Wallace shouted excitedly when he opened the door and ran into the office.

Hearing that Paul had an accurate answer, Luke was not too surprised, but there was still a smile on his face.

"Thank you, this time."

"However, I still have to tell Chris that it is inconvenient for the team to intervene directly in this kind of matter. We can only release some news through other channels. The real finality of the matter depends on his means."

"If the league labels it as an illegal recruitment, even if both the Grizzlies and Chris are interested in this deal, the league will definitely stop it."

"Notify the operation side, release some news appropriately, help Chris share some pressure, and let the Hornets management know the seriousness of the matter, but we must pay attention to the heat."

The plan to team up with Kobe fell through, and Luke immediately set his sights on Chris Paul.

As early as the playoffs were not over, Luke had some exchanges with Chris Paul in private.

This season, the Hornets have the third-best record in the Western Conference, which is considered the team's brightest moment in recent years. Unfortunately, the Hornets, who entered the playoffs, have never been able to make further progress. They were eliminated by the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant in the semifinals.

The team's performance in the playoffs also dissatisfied the head star Chris Paul, and some conflicts broke out with the team's management.

The behavior of his teammates around him kept dragging his feet, which made Paul have long thought of leaving the Hornets, but there was no better place to go. In addition, the team management has always promised to strengthen in the offseason, so Paul has not proposed a deal for a long time. Apply.

However, as Luke got in touch with Paul in private, the two hit it off quickly and planned to join forces in the new season to once again attack the championship.

Paul is very important to the Hornets, and it is not an easy task for the team to trade Paul willingly.

In the face of Chris Paul's forced palace again, the Hornets will most likely adopt the method of commitment and reinforcement to retain, but this time Paul has decided to go, and the Grizzlies are fanning the flames, the chances of the Hornets' management compromising are still very high.

Even if the Grizzlies will definitely have to pay a lot of chips to get Chris Paul, as long as the Hornets management does not hold the idea of ​​​​burning everything together and causing mutual damage, Luke is still very willing to sit down and talk to the Hornets, and even send future suggestions for the Hornets. team assets.

The Grizzlies' current goal is very clear. Compared with the future, the Grizzlies who won the championship this season value the present more.

Judging from the structure of the entire league, the chances of the Hornets wanting to win the championship are as low as freezing point. Even with Chris Paul, a superstar, it will be difficult to break out of the West within a few years.

The Grizzlies are like a mountain that cannot be overcome in front of the Hornets.

Sitting down calmly to negotiate a deal is undoubtedly a good result for both teams.

But what Luke is afraid of is that the Hornets management has a brain cramp, holding Chris Paul firmly in his hands with the idea of ​​​​destroying everything, and finally ending up with both sides.

But now it is clear that Chris Paul's determination to force the Palace team is very obvious. With the Grizzlies watching from the sidelines, as long as the Hornets management has a vision, this deal is still very hopeful.

Unless the Hornets open their mouths in the trade negotiations, so that Luke has no desire to talk with him, Chris Paul is definitely the star that Luke is determined to win this season.

In addition to the best defensive player Gerald Wallace, the Grizzlies currently have multiple first-round picks, as well as Kyle Lowry and many other young players with potential.

Once the deal with Chris Paul is reached, the Hornets can get very high-quality chips from the Grizzlies.

The biggest question now is whether the Hornets management has the determination and vision to abandon the present and look to the future.

For another team, Luke is at least [-]% sure that he can persuade the opponent to sit down and talk.

But the Hornets' management is notoriously chaotic, and when their temper comes up, they will basically die with their opponents with a bomb.

The chaotic management structure makes Luke not have much confidence to reach this deal, but as long as there is a slight chance, Luke will find a way to win Chris Paul.

…………

In mid-June, the Grizzlies' championship parade officially began. This time, the owner Michael Heisley can be said to have spent a lot of money, and the configuration of the championship parade can be called luxurious.

Driving around the main streets of Memphis for many times, the multi-layer relationship was opened up and down, just to make the championship parade last longer, so that Memphis fans will always remember this historic moment.

As the first hero of the Grizzlies winning the championship this season, Luke's appearance drove Memphis fans into a frenzy. Until the championship parade ended, the city of Memphis was still in joy.

The fireworks that were set off all night, as well as the 24-hour taverns, and all kinds of fans discussing the parade and celebration on the avenue, all show the prosperity of Memphis at this moment.

But before the fans woke up from the shock of the championship parade, the Grizzlies dropped a depth bomb before the draft, disturbing the entire league!
On June 6, local time in the United States, the Grizzlies officially announced that the team has officially reached a deal with the New Orleans Hornets.

In this transaction, the Grizzlies will send "Best Defensive Player" Gerald Wallace + Kyle Lowry + Milicic + 08 first-round picks, second-round picks and 10-year first-round picks in exchange for Hornets star Chris Paul + Rathall Butler.

The birth of this transaction directly caused a thunderstorm in the alliance, causing the entire alliance to fall into an uproar, from the shock at the beginning to the fear after the reaction.

The league's No. [-] point guard, Chris Paul, actually joined the Grizzlies through a trade, which made many teams planning to hit the championship next season scold their mothers instantly.

Even the team held a high-level meeting overnight, planning to reshuffle the team lineup during the offseason, and strive to trade back some draft picks and young players, so as to facilitate the team's poor performance next season and tactically suppress the ambitions of the new season.

　I went to the Qixi Festival today, I have been busy all day, I am exhausted, I will take it easy tomorrow, and then continue to explode!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)