Chapter 475 Jordan’s deal done

Jordan has long known about the Knicks from David Frank, and he said: “The contracts of Alan Houston and John Starks are over, and they can be signed and then traded. The Knicks definitely have no room for them. .And to trade me, I also need a lot of chips.”

  O’Neal and Oakley nodded. With Jordan, Alan Houston will definitely have no place, but without John Stackton, there will be a shortage of backup shooting guards.

Jordan continued: “Point guard Chris Childs, with average strength, will earn $3.12 million a year next season. If you keep him, it’s better to dig Kidd from the Suns. Kidd’s annual salary next season will be $5.22 million, although it’s more expensive. , but the strength is several grades stronger.”

   “The Suns will trade Kidd?” O’Neal and Oakley said in surprise.

  Jordan smiled and said: “His agent is secretly contacting some teams, and David has received the news.”

   “The Suns lacked a main shooting guard. Alan Houston signed and traded later, just to trade Kidd.” Oakley nodded.

   “It’s just a little more expensive. Kidd accounted for 5.22 million, leaving only 800 of the space.” O’Neal said.

   Oakley said: “Kidd’s strength is very strong, and he was suppressed by the old team in the Suns. In fact, the annual salary is very cheap, which is considered a child labor contract. The team really has no room, and it is best to find a veteran with a basic salary to come in.”

   He was very worried that he had no chance to stay, he didn’t want to leave the Knicks, he was used to living in New York City.

   Jordan has some regrets. Chris Mullin rejected him just now. If this veteran can be fooled with his basic salary, then the Knicks’ main lineup will be neat, and he can definitely blow up the old K.

   He said to Oakley again: “Charles, next season is your contract year, 2.85 million, right?”

“Yes.”

  Oakley nodded nervously.

Jordan smiled and said: “You stay and help me, we still have 5 million left to fill the remaining small forward main position and backup lineup, although it is a little difficult, but after finding a few basic salary veterans, there should be no Big problem.”

   “Great!” Oakley breathed a sigh of relief.

   “Where’s the head coach?” O’Neal asked suddenly.

  The relationship between him and Nelson is not very good now, because Nelson is a small ball player, and his tactics pursue fast-paced offense and defense, which makes him very difficult to play.

   “It has been negotiated with the management that Phil Jackson will take over the Knicks.” Jordan smiled.

   “Great!” O’Neal said excitedly.

   He likes positional warfare, especially triangle tactics, which are specially designed for stars.

Jordan said: “5, Shark, 4, Charles, 3, find a decent veteran, 2, me, 1, it’s best if you can get Kidd, if that’s the case. The main lineup…”

   When he said this, his eyes lit up, staring at a certain point in the void, as if that was Old K, and said, “This time next year, I will blow up Old K’s team.”

  …

   “Old K?”

   “Chris, it’s me, I have something to do with you.”

   At this time, Chris Mullin’s cell phone rang again. It turned out that it was Old K looking for him.

   “You want to recruit me?” he asked.

   “Hey, are you not sure?” Pharaoh said in surprise.

   “Haha, old K, Jordan called me just now.” Mullin laughed.

   “Don’t pay attention to him, even if he goes to the Knicks, the salary space of the Knicks will explode. What contract can I give you? Basic salary?” Pharaoh said disdainfully.

   “It’s the base salary.”

Mullin smiled bitterly and explained: “I have played for 12 seasons, and now I am entering the end of my career. The highest annual salary I have ever received is $3.33 million, and the last seven seasons have been $2.84 million each year. Although I also want to win the championship, I hope the next contract can’t be lower than this level, you know what I mean?”

   “Understood, people die for money, birds die for food, although the championship is good, but if you can’t be a meal, making money is the first, am I right?” Lao Wang laughed.

   “Yes, old K, that’s what you said.” Mullin also laughed.

Lao Wang thought for a while and said, “We have a lot of people here, and there is enough space at the moment, but I can’t give you a long appointment, because I want to stay and prepare for the appointment of those young people in the future, you understand that, so You can sign a short-term contract, such as one year, and the annual salary will definitely maintain your original level. For the championship, do you want to try?”

   “One year?”

   Mullin thought about it and felt that with his current state, after a year of playing, he should be able to sign a contract in the NBA, so…

   “OK.”

   “Great, the management will contact your broker and the deal window opens and you can sign up.”

  …

   got Chris Mullin, Pharaoh breathed a sigh of relief, it can be regarded as filling the gap after Horry left, and although Mullin is old, he is more comprehensive than Horry, and a veteran who still has strength.

   Now he wants to use his influence to help the management recruit veterans, save some salary space, and facilitate the management to renew Rasheed Wallace in advance.

   However, Kidd is going to leave, which is a headache. I thought he would leave, but I didn’t expect it to be so fast. I only played for a year. Is it so painful to play by his side?

   But thinking about Kidd’s data, if you want to score without scoring, if you want assists without assists, it is not as good as the data in the Mavericks, and his status is not as good as the Mavericks.

  People are not for themselves, and the world will perish. Kidd chose to leave for his own development, and he must accept this result.

   But in this way, the team still has to find a main point guard, and the Lightning really can’t hold the No. 1 position.

   There is still a shortage of people at the No. 2 position. I really can’t find a good one. This season, Kobe can be on top. Last season, he mainly played defense. Next season, it’s time to strengthen his offense.

   In addition, the quality of black people is more powerful. With Kobe’s physical quality and endurance, he should be able to gain weight again this offseason to 96 kg. Kobe’s confrontation ability will be greatly improved.

  On the afternoon of the 21st, Wang Tiejun and Hoxman flew to Los Angeles.

  He will stay here for a while, do some commercial activities, sign some sponsorship contracts, shoot some commercials, and then attend some events, and support some star friends at the premiere.

   For example, Nicolas Cage’s “Face Change”, he not only had to attend the premiere on the 27th, but also promised to book the show.

  After brother Phil gave birth, the house in Los Angeles is no longer needed, he has already disposed of it, and this time he is also staying in a hotel.

   “Dazhi, where are you now?”

After    settled down, he called Dazhi to ask about the situation.

   “Brother Tiejun, in New York, is participating in the official rookie training camp.” Dazhi said.

   “Oh, how is your English?” he asked in English instead.

   He didn’t quite understand it, so he said it twice, and the other side stammered back: “Yet, not yet, not very good.”

There is no need to ask this. I heard that I haven’t passed the test yet, but the time is short and it is too late. He changed back to Mandarin and said: “Don’t worry, you don’t need to go back to China after the draft, just stay here and practice listening while training. Talk about ability. If you miss your family, take your parents over and say yes.”

   “Okay, Brother Tiejun.” Dazhi said.

“Dazhi, I can tell you that communication skills are very important. You can’t pass this test, and you can’t make it in the NBA, so you must talk more, listen more, practice more, and talk to others if you have nothing to do. You didn’t hire a translator. Do you, keep talking to him, and after a few months, you will be able to pass the test after hearing about your ability, that’s how I came here back then.” Old Wang said.

   “I see, Brother Tiejun.” Dazhi said quickly.

   After chatting for a few more minutes, the two ended the call.

   He went to Los Angeles and was naturally reported by the media. At four or five in the afternoon, he received an invitation to dinner from Lakers owner Jerry Buss.

With    kindness, there is no way to refuse this.

   “Old K, I really hope you can come to the Lakers.” Halfway through dinner, Bass said regretfully.

   “Jerry, Tim Duncan will be great.” Pharaoh laughed.

   Bass shook his head and said: “He should be really good, but what I want most is you, you should be the king of Los Angeles.”

  …

  At 9 am on the 22nd, Jordan and David Frank secretly came to the Knicks headquarters.

   “Michael, I’m so happy to see you!” James Dolan greeted Jordan in person. After the meeting, he gave a hug with a very enthusiastic attitude.

   “Mr. Dolan, it’s nice to meet you too.” Jordan smiled.

  Dolan said: “Michael, you are from Brooklyn, you should come back, the Knicks are your hometown team, and I look forward to you wearing the Knicks jersey.”

   “I also really want to fight for my hometown.” Jordan nodded.

   Jordan came here today because the Knicks are going to negotiate a trade with the Bulls. As the subject of the transaction, of course, he must be concerned about his own trading situation.

  The Bulls are over there with Jerry Krause and owner Reinsdorf, along with several executives.

On the Knicks side are new owner James Dolan, as well as new general manager Scott Ryden, and several executives, as well as Jordan and David Frank.

   However, Jordan and David Frank cannot directly participate in the negotiation. They just sit in the next room and wait for news. If the transaction is uncontrollable, such as the bulls asking for too high a price, he needs to participate in person.

   The Knicks had no general manager before. After Dolan took over, he immediately set up this position and took some power from the president Dave Chacotte. In the future, the team’s transaction affairs will be handled by the general manager.

  Dolan is also eager to get Jordan’s Jordan, afraid of long nights, he paid 20 million more, just for Jordan, so after taking over the Knicks, he hurriedly started negotiations with the Bulls.

  After the phone call, after a brief chat, the negotiation began.

“First, we want three unprotected first-round picks, excluding the first-round picks from the Knicks, Pacers, Suns, Jazz, and Lakers.” Jerry Krause proposed the first round. trading conditions.

Scott Raiden looked at Dolan and said, “Boss, the conditions are not too harsh, Michael is still in his prime, and the three unprotected first-round picks are worth it. It’s the conditions set that limit our trade. The range, this is a bit of a hassle, they want the top pick.”

   “Can it be done?” Dolan asked immediately, wanting only to get Jordan.

Scott Raiden thought for a moment and said: “Alan Houston was the No. 11 pick in the first round in 1993, and now he’s played, he can get back one or even two late lottery picks, plus John Starks, those two plus a few hoops should lead to three unprotected first-round picks.”

   “Then promise them,” Dolan said decisively.

   “Second, we want Alan Houston.”

   After the Knicks agreed to the first, Jerry Krause offered a second.

This irritated Scott Raiden a little, grabbed the assistant’s microphone and said solemnly: “This is impossible, Mr. Krause, we can’t conjure three unprotected first-round picks for you out of thin air, Alan Houston. It’s a bargaining chip for the trade draw, you either want someone or you want to sign, he is worth two first-round picks, you can only choose one of the two.”

   Klaus over there also knew that his request was excessive, and immediately changed his mind and said, “Then we can have no one, but do we want four first-round picks?”

   “Four?”

  Scott Raiden has a toothache, where is he going to find four unprotected first-round picks? And also limited the scope of the transaction, which is very troublesome.

   “Mr. Krause, Jordan is almost 35 years old after all, I don’t think he’s worth so much.” He started to bargain.

“Mr. Layden, you can go and see his performance in the finals just past, so this is our bottom line. As the first player in active service and the first player in history, this is also what he should be worth, otherwise he is right. A humiliation for him.”

  Jerry Krause’s attitude was very tough, he didn’t step back, and he also raised the Jordan banner.

  The Knicks can only negotiate first, and the negotiation is temporarily suspended.

Jordan and David Frank were invited over. After knowing the conditions of the Bulls, he was a little angry. He didn’t care that this trade would overdraw the Knicks’ potential. He was angry at the attitude of the Bulls, which was to completely squeeze his value. what!

   But he can’t say anything. This trading chip has not broken through his bottom line. After all, he can’t think that he is not even worth four first-round picks, right?

   “Can you raise four unprotected first-round picks?” Dolan asked.

  Ryden shook his head and said, “If the transaction is completed, our first-round picks for the next few years will be worthless and cannot be used for transactions, but can only be sold.

  Alan Houston, John Starks, Chris Childs, Charlie Ward, Oakley, except for the five of them, everyone else has little transaction value and can only be a leader. ”

   “Oakley better stay,” Jordan interjected.

  Ryden nodded: “Then there are only four left, Houston and Starks have to sign and then trade, four of them, and our own first-round pick, should be able to trade four.

   However, it is a bit troublesome to not be protected, it must pay a higher price, and it is also difficult to trade with the bottom team, and the trading scope is further limited. ”

   “Then promise them, and then you go to raise first-round picks right away,” Dolan said immediately.

   “I’ll talk to the Bulls again, and they don’t have any trump cards. Michael is determined. The asking price is too high. Once the negotiation collapses, they can’t stand the pressure of the league and Michael.” Reiden said.

   “Let’s talk then,” Dolan said.

Laydon nodded, motioned his assistant to contact the Bulls again, took the microphone and said, “Mr. Krause, three other teams’ unprotected first-round picks, maybe two other teams’ unprotected first-round picks. Protecting the first-round pick, plus Alan Houston, that’s our bottom line. If you say no, then we’re going to call it quits and Michael’s going to retire, you know.”

   His words also put a lot of pressure on the Bulls. Jordan went to the Knicks. They knew this attitude very well. If the deal really collapsed and forced Jordan to retire, then they really got nothing.

   The point is, Jordan retired and then came back, still going to the Knicks, but they would lose everything.

   Of course, they could not buy out the contract, pay one year’s salary, and limit Jordan’s ability to return next season, but there is no point in doing that.

   First of all, Stern would not allow it. At the beginning, they promised Stern face to face that they would make a step back in the Jordan transaction, and that would offend Jordan and his fans to death, so this method is not desirable.

In the end, the Bulls agreed to the Knicks’ counter-offer, Aarons Hughton + two unprotected first-round picks. The restriction of the two picks is to exclude the Suns, Knicks, Lakers, Jazz, Pacers and other four teams. The team’s first-round pick.

  The transaction is negotiated, just wait for the transaction window to open, and the transaction can be done as soon as the ice freezes, and both parties are relieved.