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However, the Timberwolves have two important problems.

First, Anthony Towns has been selected to the All-NBA Team and All-Stars in the past three years, which does not meet the system's mission requirements. If Wang Feng wants to go to the Timberwolves, then Towns will inevitably be sent to the Lakers as a trading chip.

Only then.

Second, the Timberwolves are a team in the Western Conference. As we all know, the Western Conference is much more competitive than the Eastern Conference. If nothing else, there are several teams equipped with the Big Three, including the Big Three Warriors, the Big Three Clippers, and the Pelicans.

The Big Three of the Pelicans and more.

On the other hand, in the East, although the Nets, Bucks, 76ers and other giants are also very strong, they all have some weaknesses. The Nets have the time bomb of Irving, and the Bucks only have Antetokounmpo struggling to support them. 76

The partnership between Harden and Embiid still doesn't have any great hope, at least until Wang Feng travels through time again.

"Timberwolves and Cavaliers..."

Wang Feng was a little confused for a while.

…

The time soon came to June 30, and the NBA free market began.

The free market in 2021 has been somewhat mediocre.

The performance of each team is stable, and there is no news about any particularly big-name stars changing clubs. The only players whose contracts have expired are not very well-known.

Many media originally believed that there would be no particularly big news this summer. The only suspense might be how the Clippers would sell the All-Star player Russell Westbrook they had acquired.

The majestic regular season MVP, the historical triple-double king, has now become a negative asset. If you want to give it away, you will not get any benefits. The Clippers even have to supplement the draft picks before any team is willing to take it. No one is willing to take it.

.

But there's nothing we can do about it. Westbrook's salary is as high as 41 million U.S. dollars, and it will be a terrifying 44 million U.S. dollars next season. Any team that wants to accept it must consider it. It is not that easy to sell.

No one expected that after the free market opened in Gujing Mubo, a piece of news that shocked the entire alliance suddenly swept across the entire network.

According to an unknown person in the Lakers, the contract renewal process between the Lakers and Wang Feng is not going smoothly. It seems that Wang Feng does not want to stay with the Lakers, but wants to leave the team. As for the reason...it seems that it is because he feels that winning with the Lakers is too boring.

It's challenging.

Maybe this unknown person himself felt that Wang Feng's excuse was a bit too lame, so he had to use words like this to describe it.

But even so, fans who heard the news still felt that it was too fake. What kind of joke was this?

I originally thought this was just fake news. It is not uncommon for the league to break out some fake news during the offseason, but soon some people began to realize that something was wrong.

Something seems really wrong!

After the news broke, neither the Lakers nor Wang Feng's management team immediately came out to refute the rumors. Instead, they remained silent. In addition, in the past few days, most players whose contracts have expired have successively completed contract extensions with the team.

However, there has been no news about Wang Feng completing his contract renewal.

What the hell is going on? Is it true that Wang Feng is not going to renew his contract with the Lakers? Is it true that there was some conflict between Wang Feng and the Lakers during the contract renewal process?

Wang Feng's fans are a little better. They follow their stars wherever they go. The Lakers are just more prosperous in Los Angeles, but the die-hard fans of the Lakers are different. They immediately became anxious.

The Lakers have waited for so long and finally welcomed a phenomenal superstar, who is as dominant as Jordan or even better. Having won three consecutive championships, they are happily preparing to welcome the team's second one.

The arrival of the three consecutive championship dynasty, but now they are suddenly told that Wang Feng is leaving the team? Who is not in a hurry to replace him?

Although with the current strength of the Lakers' lineup, even if Wang Feng leaves the team, they will still be a very competitive team in the Western Conference with only Butler, Ingram, Kuzma and other players.

To win another championship is a bit of a fantasy.

What these fans don't know is that in the past few days, the Lakers management has contacted many teams and asked for quotations for trading Wang Feng, including the Timberwolves and Cavaliers, two teams that Wang Feng is more interested in.

team.

When they learned that there was actually a chance to get Wang Feng, these teams couldn't believe it, as if a pizza fell from the sky and hit them in the face.

Without any hesitation, all teams offered the highest offer they could match.

However, Lakers general manager Magic Johnson is not satisfied with these offers.

They have no choice but to trade the player who is leaving the team, but he is the strongest player in the league today. This is just like trading James in 2012 or Curry in 2016, and it is even more exaggerated.

If possible, he would like to completely wipe out the opponent's entire team before he would trade Wang Feng.

But he didn't have a choice. There were only a few teams that Wang Feng gave him as his intention. If it wasn't the team he wanted to go to, Wang Feng wouldn't agree to a sign-and-trade.

Wang Feng, whose contract has expired, has fully fulfilled his obligation to play for the Lakers and is a complete free agent. He can even sign with the team of his choice as a free agent.

Therefore, in this transaction, Wang Feng is the only one who has the initiative, and everything is decided by him.

In fact, Wang Feng has thought about joining the Cavaliers directly as a free agent.

The current Cavaliers fully meet the system's mission conditions. There is no All-Star or All-NBA player on the team, and there are young players with full potential such as Garland, Sexton, and Mobley.

After joining the Cavaliers as a free agent, he can use these potential players as bargaining chips or directly as targets for training and development, which will be more helpful for Wang Feng to achieve his mission goals.

But after thinking about it, Wang Feng felt that that was still a bit bad.

He has been very happy with the Lakers for the past four years. Although the Lakers management has been in constant internal strife, they have always given enough respect to Wang Feng, the core of the team, and basically met all Wang Feng's requirements, and did not hesitate to do so.

I made every effort to vigorously promote Wang Feng.

Although this is what the Lakers should do, Wang Feng's rise will definitely bring a lot of benefits to the Lakers. More than half of the advertisements on the court are bought by Chinese manufacturers at high prices, and various domestic commercial endorsements and broadcast agreements are all

The requests came one after another, and Wang Feng's requests were all considered from the perspective of winning for the team, such as trying to protect Butler, asking to draft Jordan Poole, etc. In the end, it was the Lakers who benefited.

But many things cannot be directly measured by stakes. Wang Feng is still very grateful to the Lakers for their support, which is why he made the decision to leave some wealth for the Lakers.

James' decision that year was actually a sign-and-trade approach. The Cavaliers received two first-round and two second-round picks from the Heat, as well as a $14.5 million trade exception and a first-round swap pick.

Although these five draft picks did not bring much benefit to the Cavaliers, they at least got something.

When James later returned to the Cavaliers from the Heat, and when he went from the Cavaliers to the Clippers, he joined as a free agent. Neither the Heat nor the Cavaliers received any benefits, but this is understandable.

James brought two championship trophies to the Heat, and also brought the Cavaliers the first championship in team history. It can be said that James has made great achievements, and even leaving when his contract expires is considered relatively honorable.

From this point of view, it is completely understandable why Oklahoma City Thunder fans hate Durant so much.

When Durant left the Thunder to join the Warriors, he joined directly as a free agent and left nothing for the Thunder. He looked like a ruthless scumbag.

Wang Feng has brought three championships to the Lakers. Logically speaking, it would be completely reasonable if he left directly. Even powerful players in the team such as Butler are his legacy. As long as the current lineup can be maintained, it will be a good thing for the next few years.

It will still be one of the strongest players in the Western Conference this year.

In the end, he chose the sign-and-trade method to leave more wealth for the Lakers, even as a thank you to the Lakers for their support, help and tolerance for him over the past four years.

…

As time went by, the news that Wang Feng was leaving the team began to become more and more intense, and even various weird versions began to be spread out.

Some people speculate that there must be an irreconcilable conflict between Wang Feng and the Lakers. Perhaps other Lakers players were dissatisfied with Wang Feng occupying a large amount of the ball and protested collectively.

Some people also speculated that when Wang Feng renewed his contract with the Lakers, the Lions asked for the right to veto trades and even the right to decide on the team's lineup, which led to the breakdown of negotiations between the two parties.

Looking at these news, not to mention Wang Feng, even everyone in the Lakers management found it very funny.

If the problem is really like what these said, it would be easier to handle. The Lakers have already promised important rights such as trade veto rights, and no one among the Lakers players is dissatisfied with Wang Feng.

The maximum-salary contract for Jimmy Butler, the team's second-in-command, was forced by Wang Feng to sign with the Lakers by threatening to leave the team. Ingram, the No. 3 player, was almost traded away from the Lakers in exchange for a top star, also at Wang Feng's request.

Those who stayed, including Lopez, Kuzma, Jordan Poole and others, were able to get the opportunity to play because Wang Feng's suggestions to the head coach were adopted.

The players in the Lakers who are currently worth a little have all received favors from Wang Feng. It’s too late to be grateful. Who would be dissatisfied with Wang Feng?

This is the most uncomfortable point. No one believes that Wang Feng is really idle. He feels that winning with the Lakers is too easy. He wants to add some challenges to himself before choosing to leave the team. But this is the most ridiculous reason.

is the real reason.

While there are rumors spreading all over the city, the Lakers' trade negotiations have also reached a deadlock.

After some screening and deliberation, Johnson finally decided on Wang Feng's two favorite teams, the Timberwolves and the Cavaliers, because the bargaining chips these two teams could offer excited his heart the most.

The Cavaliers made a direct and unreserved attack, willing to send Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, plus three first-round picks in 2023, 2025, and 2027.

Darius Garland is the fifth overall pick in 2019. He plays as a guard. He performed very well in the regular season this season, averaging 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per game. He has excellent physical fitness and great potential. He is very hopeful to become a player in the future.

All-star level guard.

Colin Sexton is also a defender, the eighth overall pick in 2018. This season he averaged 24.2 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. This is the second consecutive season in which he averaged 20+ points per game in the regular season.

Although the positions of Garland and Sexton slightly overlap, they are both combo guards. They also started at the same time for the Cavaliers this season, and they work well together.

Moreover, in addition to two emerging players with All-Star potential, the Cavaliers also gave out three first-round picks, which can be said to be full of sincerity.

In contrast, the Timberwolves' bargaining chip made Johnson a little upset.

The Timberwolves are willing to send Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in 2014, Malik Beasley, and two future first-round picks.

Compared with the two emerging players of the Cavaliers, Wiggins is the No. 1 pick, but he is already 26 years old. Although he has averaged 20+ points per game in his career, his upper limit can be seen at a glance.

As for Beasley, as the 19th pick in 2016, he did not show much value at all in the four years with the Nuggets. Instead, after being traded to the Timberwolves in the 19-20 season, he briefly performed brilliantly, so he was kept.

This season he averaged 16 points and 5 rebounds per game, which is a remarkable performance.

Johnson knew very well why the Timberwolves were only willing to offer such chips when facing Wang Feng, the league's number one player.

If it is certain that Wang Feng can be kept, the Timberwolves will never let him go. Whether it is Towns or Edwards, they can take it if they want it, without any problem.

However, although Wang Feng is prepared to sign first and then trade, he is not prepared to sign a five-year long-term contract. He will only sign a three-year contract extension, and the third year is still a player option.
To be continued...