"Coach, please."

Zhao Yuanzheng handed a bottle of Coke to Louis.

Louis performed the unique trick of twisting the easy-open button with one hand on the spot, and then took a sip of Coke to symbolize victory in the forum.

The Knicks defended their championship.

He defeated the two biggest winners of the 1980s, the Lakers and Celtics.

This is a series with no suspense. Ewing won the FMVP with his outstanding performance and became another Knicks center after Willis Reed, who has one team, one defense, and M/FMVP.

Moreover, this is Ewing's second FMVP trophy.

From today on, he has officially surpassed Bill Walton, is on par with Wilt Chamberlain, and is heading towards Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s third championship. This day may come soon, and then, the only thing standing in front of him is the ultimate

Winner Bill Russell's legendary 11th crown.

That night, the Knicks returned to New York holding the championship cup.

The city is already in a boil.

Louis is not as excited about this championship as he was last year's first championship because there was no suspense in the series from the beginning.

But for fans, their hearts are always hanging before the team takes home the championship.

Now you can cheer to your heart's content.

The next day, Louis was named Coach of the Year.

This is the second time in his career that he has received this honor.

But Coach of the Year, like Rookie of the Year, is something that not many people care about.

Even Mike Brown and others have been the head coaches of the year.

Now, the top priority for the Knicks in the offseason is the draft.

But before the draft, there will be an expansion draft.

The Timberwolves and Magic will join the league this summer.

So Louis needs to discuss with the coaching staff which eight players to protect this year.

Losing Dale Ellis and Michael Cooper for nothing last year left Tomjanovich heartbroken.

"I really don't understand why we need to expand so many teams!" Tomjanovich was filled with resentment. "With so many bad teams, will the ratings get better? All the substitutes from strong teams will be lost.

Now, won’t the quality of the game decline?”

"okay."

Like last year, Louis starts by targeting five players who absolutely cannot be taken away.

Ewing, Wilson, Miller, McHale, and Stockton entered the list that must be kept.

Then, Rodman, whose importance was no different, was also put on the list by Louis.

Now, only two people are left on the Knicks' eight-man protection list.

Also on the protected list are Hornacek, John Salley, Dan Marley, Ronny Sekali, Alex Stevens, Ainge, Song Tao, Brad Rohaus,

Joe Klein.

The good news is that the Knicks have four players whom Louis is not worried about being drafted.

Song Tao, Luo Haos, Klein, and Stevens are basically safe. Moreover, even if they are selected, it will not have any impact on the strength of the Knicks.

Therefore, the remaining two spots are actually a choice between Hornacek, Ainge, John Salley, Dan Marley, and Ronny Seikaly.

Of the three people who are not chosen, two will definitely be chosen.

"We cannot lose Honey." Zhao Yuanzheng affirmed, "He is the best combo guard in the team and can bring high-quality rotations to both positions."

Hornacek was selected as the seventh man without any suspense.

It is not difficult to make this decision, but it is the eighth person who is difficult.

You have to choose between Celi, Seikali, Marli and Anji.

In terms of importance, Selly is the most important. At this time last year, Louis was ready to lose Selly this year, so he tampered with Selly's contract extension.

In the next two years, Selly's annual salary will reach the 2 million level. This will have little impact on the Knicks, whose salary cap has already been inflated, but it is hard to say whether the expansion team is willing to give him 2 million every year.

But even so, Louis still didn't want to take risks.

Like Hornacek, he is a high-quality substitute at the fourth and fifth positions.

For a team that likes to play long rotations, the more swingmen the better.

Moreover, Selly is a selfless player.

As long as the money is available, he is willing to accept the substitute arrangement, does not care about the data, and contributes to the team wholeheartedly.

Marly and Sekali are both rookies. Although they didn't have many opportunities in their first season, they played well.

Moreover, Louis' draft selection is well-known in the industry.

And Ainge, he is in the same situation as Michael Cooper last year.

As a very capable veteran, selecting him can enhance the team's immediate combat effectiveness, guide young people along the way, and inject championship blood into an emerging team.

But without some behind-the-scenes work, the Magic and Timberwolves will most likely not draft Ainge.

The eighth protected list still belongs to John Seeley.

The Knicks' protection list is exactly the same as last year. Outside the protection list, only Ainge, Seikaly and Marley may be selected.

Louis is already prepared to lose two of his players. The one he wants to keep most is Marly, and for this, some work must be done.

"What is the first choice team in the expansion draft?" Louis had never paid much attention to the expansion draft before.

Zhao Yuanzheng has always been sensitive to this kind of thing. He replied without thinking: "Minnesota."

"Who's the general manager in Orlando?" Louis asked.

Zhao Yuanzheng replied: "Pat Williams."

"Hey, isn't this my old friend?" Louis said "old friend" without quotation marks.

Before the 1986 draft, New York won the bidding war and shocked the league by trading that year's second pick from Philadelphia.

Afterwards, Louis traded the second pick from Chicago for McHale and two first-round picks, and what the Bulls finally got was a corpse.

Because Louis was sincere enough in the deal with Philadelphia.

So Pat Williams sighed after the transaction: "Coach Lu is such a loyal person."

Later, he talked about this past incident with others at the NBA annual meeting. In this way, the entire league's management knew that Louis was a loyal person.

As for whether Jerry Krause, Harry Weltman and others bitten their teeth after hearing this comment, there is no telling.

"Give me the number of the Magic head coach's office."

The reason why Louis did not contact the Timberwolves was because they would most likely choose Ronny Seikali.

If two players are of about the same level, give priority to the inside player.

This is true whether it is a draft or an expansion draft.

Not surprisingly, Seikali should be picked by the Timberwolves as their number one choice.

Louis got the phone number and called immediately.

"Hello," Williams said in a soft voice, "Who are you?"

"Pat, congratulations on your reinstatement in Orlando." Louis came up with a standard flattery, "You are the best general manager I have ever seen."

"Thank you, who are you?"

"No, don't you remember me? I'm Louis."

"Oh my god, it's Coach Lu. I didn't expect you to call me at this time. I'm sorry." Williams' voice became gentler. "Coach Lu, you didn't call me just to express your gratitude to me."

May I congratulate you?"

Louis held the phone and sat on the table from the chair, then pointed at the vending machine not far away.

Zhao Yuanzheng cleverly went over and took out a bottle of Coke and a pack of quiche.

"Pat, the main purpose of my call is to congratulate you. It's great to see you back. Our league needs more professionals." Louis complained, "You don't know the consequences of dealing with that group of laymen.

No matter how difficult it is, once they suffer a loss in a transaction, they will find ways to pour dirty water on others to cover up their own incompetence."

"Thank you for thinking so highly of me, Coach Lu. I would like to chat with you for a while longer, but we are about to conduct the expansion draft and there is a lot of work to do, so"

Louis tried to translate the true meaning of Williams' words: If you fart quickly, I am very busy and don't have time to talk nonsense with you?

"Actually, I really just wanted to congratulate you for returning to the league, but when you mentioned the expansion draft, it reminded me of something. Yes, I do have something to ask you about. Look at my brain, I'm only here to be happy for you.

, I almost forgot about the important things. This industry is really not suitable for people. It is easy to forget important things when you get older. Alas."

Pat Williams really wanted to go to the Blue Palace and give Louie a hammer.

"You're older"? You're not yet 30 years old, why are you pretending to be old?
To be continued...