Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 207
In short, under Jim's firm refusal, Pat Riley's proposal to trade Wade eventually fell through.

"Mitch, I don't think the team needs to trade to strengthen. Maintaining the current lineup is enough for us to achieve the expected results. Why take the initiative to dismantle a team that has already established a good chemical reaction and replace it with another team. How about half a team?" Jim said helplessly seeing Kupchak's emotions.

Kupchak originally planned to make a big show, and Riley's trade proposal was considered absurd by the outside world, but Jim did not hesitate to exercise his veto power, making Kupchak miss a "closed deal". God's chance.

"Our draft results in the past few years have been so good, I have reason to believe that you can use these three first-round picks to bring good players to the team, Caron Butler was a rookie last year, only older than Dwyane In the first year, Lamar Odom was the all-round forward we needed. We didn't have any immediate loss in combat power, did we?" Kupchak still didn't understand Jim's decision.

"We already have so many outstanding young players, and three more, there may not be so many opportunities to play for them, just like Leandro, they will still be traded in exchange for role players to fill the lineup; Eddie Jones doesn't mean anything to us; Lamar Odom I do like and I'd try to bring him to LA if I had the chance, but it's not the time; and Caron Butler, he might grow As an All-Star player, but Dwyane Wade, his future is limitless." Jim expressed his own judgment.

After the All-Star Game, the Lakers immediately faced back-to-back devil schedules and challenged the Golden State Warriors in an away game. The whole team still felt cold. Fortunately, Garnett's condition has recovered and he supported the team with Kobe. Kobe made 16 of 11 shots , scored 15 points on 13 of 35 free throws, and Garnett scored a large double-double with 31 points and 16 rebounds.

Under the excellent performance of the dual core, the Lakers maintained a slight lead throughout the game, while the Warriors pursued tenaciously under the leadership of Jason Richardson, Clifford Robinson and Van Exel. , the three teamed up to score 76 points, which caused huge trouble for the Lakers, and Van Exel broke out suddenly in the last 2 minutes, scoring 7 points in a row and almost destroying the Lakers. The Lakers narrowly beat the Warriors 4 to 4.

Lakers rookie Dwyane Wade seems to hit the rookie wall, only 9 points on 2 of 5 shots, poor performance, Artest is only 5 of 1 shots.

另一片场地上，热火125比92屠杀老鹰，卡龙·巴特勒10投8中得到17分，拉玛尔·奥多姆15分9篮板7助攻，艾迪·琼斯三分球5投4中得到24分。

"Although the Lakers have won 4 championships in a row, it is all due to Jerry West. Jim Buss is just standing on the shoulders of giants. Look at the people who have traded with him. The team, the Pacers made it to the Finals, the Pistons and Timberwolves went from fringe playoff teams to division title contenders, and now, we have reason to believe, Jim Buss made another mistake He didn't make good use of the call that Pat Riley might have made drunk, after watching the performance of the Heat today, Pat Riley will never propose to restart the trade again." Steve A. Smith commented on Jim's fatuous operation in his column.

For such unscrupulous media people with big mouths and eyeballs, Jim has never bothered to argue with them. Anyone can point out the country.

Of course, private conversations with the team are also indispensable. Others point their noses and start dissing. How can it be done without a hearty slap in the face?

In the game against the Philadelphia 76ers, because Nene, who replaced Malone in the first two games, has been sleepwalking, the Lakers made adjustments, and veteran Campbell played as the starting center.

Although Campbell's statistics are mediocre, and his presence on the court is not as strong as the passionate Nene, but as an old Jianghu, Campbell is well versed in the survival of blue-collar centers. As he did with Divac and O'Neal back then, he made the 76ers' young center Dalembert very uncomfortable. Under Campbell's top defense, Dalembert only grabbed 5 rebounds.

The 76ers relied on Kenny Thomas to score 23 points and 12 rebounds, and barely made it to the fourth quarter. However, in this game, Wade recovered and easily scored 9 points on 7 of 18 shots. Five Lakers scored in double figures. They beat the 5ers 116 to 88 and returned to the top spot in the Western Conference.

Campbell's appearance played a miraculous effect. Karl Malone is still a few days away from his comeback. In the game against the Suns, Phil Jackson continued to use the starting lineup that won the previous game.

The center of the Suns is Jassidi White, who was just traded from the Wizards. In terms of efficiency alone, White averaged 14 points and 4 rebounds in 4 minutes per game, which is quite satisfactory, but considering his worth of 468 million US dollars, the money It is not so cost-effective to spend.

But D'Antoni is really a clever woman who can't cook without rice. The traded Antonio McDyess is still lying on the injured list. At the fifth position, he played a small lineup, but Boozer's leaky defense was not enough to support the team's inside line.

Facing the Suns who were empty inside, the Lakers naturally showed no mercy, hitting a snake and hitting seven inches, whether it was Kobe, Garnett, Wade, or even Artest, they all seized the opportunity and went to the Suns basket to kill Boozer. After struggling with Marion, Bryant continued his hot state after the All-Star Game, and got whatever he wanted in front of Joe Johnson. He easily scored 40 points and helped the team take the Suns away in the third quarter, 104 to 92 , The Lakers won three consecutive victories.

In the other two games, the Houston Rockets played against the Atlanta Hawks at home. After a double-overtime battle, the Rockets beat their opponents with difficulty. Yao Ming scored 41 points and 16 rebounds in his career peak.

Compared with the previous game, which was a bit of a pecking game, the matchup between the San Antonio Spurs and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference was more exciting. With 1 minute and 30 seconds left, the Timberwolves trailed by 7 points, but Arenas and the Madman stood up , the madman first received an assist from Arenas and hit a jumper, came back and blocked Ginobili, and then made a strong three-pointer that caused Duncan's foul, and made all three free throws. The difference was evened out, but Ginobili made a comeback with a layup with 8 seconds left.Arenas finally made a strong 3-pointer and missed the game-winning shot. The Spurs narrowly won 94-92, surpassing the Timberwolves in record and ranking second in the West.

(End of this chapter)