After the press conference, Colangelo Jr. immediately left the American West Arena. Instead of going home to rest, he rushed back to the headquarters to retrieve information about Rasheed Wallace and the Washington Bullets to study the possibility of a trade.
This research, as Zhang Liyi said, is indeed necessary and feasible for transactions.
Rasheed Wallace played 65 games with the Bullets last season, starting 51, but his starting time was too short, only 20 minutes. This was obviously a false starter, and his position was not fixed, ranging from the third position to the fifth position.
He has played both positions, which shows that his position in the Bullets is not stable and he is filling a leak. Once the main players in these positions are not injured, he will not have a starting position.
He averaged only 10 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 0.6 steals, 0.8 blocks, 1.6 turnovers and 3.2 fouls per game. His field goal percentage was 48.7% and his free throw percentage was only 65%. From the perspective of offensive ability, he can only be considered average and has no super scoring ability.
, as a power forward, his efficiency is not too high, because the low-post offense is less than 18%, which is too small.
But this is just right for the Suns. The Suns have the monster of Old K in the low post. They don’t need a power forward to have strong low post offense. Their scoring ability is also suitable. With Old K’s efficient low post offense, the power forward will not be given much.
Just shoot and average ten to fifteen points per game.
As for the defensive end, he is also quite suitable. Like Ben Wallace, he has a very active defensive attitude and has physical talent, which is much better than Ben Wallace's talent.
In terms of rebounding, if the playing time is increased to 35 minutes, there should be no problem with averaging about seven per game. Although not as good as Ben Wallace, it can still meet the Suns' rebounding requirements for power forwards.
This is the necessity of the transaction. Rasheed matches the Suns' current lineup very well, and judging from the feasibility of the transaction, the possibility of success is also high.
First, the Bullets belong to the Eastern Conference and are not a playoff team. They are ranked tenth in the Eastern Conference this year. The last time they reached the playoffs was in the 1987/88 season. They have failed to reach the playoffs for eight consecutive seasons. This is typical.
It is a bad team that has no interest competition with the Tai Defense Team. It is also the type of team that is most likely to trade with the Suns. It should not refuse to trade with the Suns.
Second, the Bullets do have too many people inside. Juwan Howard, one of the top five generals in Michigan, is the team's unbeatable main power forward. He has played in 81 games this season, started 81 games, and averaged nearly 41 minutes per game. Rasheed
There are few opportunities for Wallace, and there is a possibility of being traded.
Third, the Bullets also traded Chris Webber, the No. 1 pick in 1993, from the Warriors. Webber was injured and only played 15 games this season. He has now recovered. Next season, the Bullets will have Juwan Howard and Chris Webber at the power forward position.
The main center is the 231-centimeter George Muresan. Whether he is at the fourth or fifth position, Rasheed Wallace still does not get many opportunities. At most, he can be regarded as the second substitute at the fourth or fifth position.
The possibility is further improved.
He immediately began to collect information about the Bullets, making several phone calls and contacting many NBA reporters.
Very good, one of the reporters revealed to him an inside information about the Bullets. The Bullets management is currently negotiating a contract extension with Juwan Howard.
"Is his rookie contract expiring?" he asked in surprise.
"Yes, Howard's rookie contract is a 21-year-old contract, and the third year is a player option. This year he has a 228-year-old figure. Now the management is ready to renew the contract with a high salary, which is likely to be hundreds of millions." The reporter said on the other end of the phone,
The tone was very envious.
"What?"
Little Colangelo was startled again, but then he was overjoyed.
The Bullets gave Howard a multi-billion-dollar contract, which means that the main power forward position next season will definitely belong to Juwan Howard. Rasheed Wallace will also compete with Chris Webber at the fourth position, and he will play the fifth position.
The tonnage is too light and inappropriate, which increases the possibility of trading.
At the same time, the Bullets offered Howard a big contract with Yihe. They must clear up some salary space, otherwise they will definitely not be able to accommodate it, and then a trade will be more likely.
Thinking of this, he ended the call with the reporter. Regardless of the fact that it was already one o'clock in the morning, he made a direct call to the Bullets' general manager, Mr. Jerrys Lockell.
"Hello, I'm Lockell."
"Hello, Mr. Lockell, I'm Colangelo from the Suns."
The call was connected quickly, indicating that the other party was not asleep yet.
"You want Rasheed Wallace?"
"Yes, you can't use him, but we still have some use. I can trade Ben Wallace. Although he is an undrafted player, you can see his performance. The postman can't do anything about him. He can't bite him."
Lockell was a little surprised. Although the season is over, the team's main focus is on renewing the contract with Juwan Howard. There is no news about trading Rasheed Wallace, and the trade window has not yet opened. The Suns are
Are you targeting Rashid?
However, he intends to trade Rasheed. In the past season, due to serious internal injuries, Rasheed got some starting opportunities, but there will be no place for Rasheed next season. Plus, once the agreement is reached with Howard,
In terms of the contract, he also needs to clear some space before he can complete the contract extension with Zhu Wan, so trading Rashid is actually imperative.
He began to consider this deal, and what attracted him was not the Suns' players, but the first-round pick in the hands of the Suns.
The Suns are very rich. They have three first-round picks this year. Rasheed Wallace was the fourth pick in the first round last year. He has to bargain hard and try to beat the Suns.
He thought about it. Among the Suns' current lineup, Michael Finley would be fine, and the Bullets also lacked a potential perimeter player.
He didn't put his idea on Old K. It was unrealistic, and the Lightning didn't want him. He was too old. Apart from the first-round pick held by the Suns, Finley was the only bargaining chip that could attract him.
As for Ben Wallace, forget it. Don't try to fool Colangelo. He won't use a power forward with both offense and defense like Rasheed Wallace to trade Ben Wallace.
He is an offensive idiot, and he is also a guy whose real height may not be more than two meters.
"Mr. Colangelo, give me Michael Finley and the Hornets' first-round pick this year, and you can take away Rasheed Wallace." After thinking carefully, he gave him the bargaining chip he wanted.
"Finley can't do it, you can take Ben Wallace. In addition, I can give you our Suns' first-round pick. We need the Hornets and Cavaliers' picks ourselves, and we can't give them away." Colangelo refused immediately.
.
"I don't need Ben Wallace, but you have to give me the Hornets' signing." Lucaire said immediately.
"This won't work." Colangelo refused again.
The two began to bargain, and at first neither was willing to give in.
After more than ten minutes of discussion, Colangelo Jr. agreed to send Finley and the Suns' last pick in the first round. This was his final bottom line.
Finley was the 21st pick in last year's first round, and with this year's last pick, two first-round picks were exchanged for someone the Bullets didn't need. He thought it was enough.
In the end, Lucaire chose to give in. After all, he also wanted to trade Rasheed, and the Suns did have a good bargaining chip. Now that the draft is approaching, it is difficult to trade for a first-round pick from other teams, and the last pick is also a first-round pick.
, and Michael Finley's talent is also good, both offensive and defensive. The Bullets have no shortage of inside players and need young outside players with such potential.
In this way, the two negotiated the deal late at night.
Colangelo Jr. is very satisfied. The combination of old K and Rasheed Wallace should not be weaker than the combination of old Kac Green last season.
Then after completing the deal with the Mavericks, there will be no problem at positions 1, 4 and 5. Robert Horry will play the main small forward, and his performance in the playoffs is considered stable. There is no need to change this anymore. We only need to consider the issue of the main shooting guard.
At least how to trade Kidd. It was originally planned to be Person Finley, but now that Finley is gone, he plans to trade with the Cavaliers' No. 20 pick in the first round. At most, he will get Ben Wallace and Person. I believe the Mavericks will
promise.
Ben Wallace withstood the postman in today's game. His defensive strength should attract a lot of people's attention. He already has trading value. He can also be a bargaining chip if he signs first and then trades.
Now he still has the No. 13 pick from the Hornets, and he wants to use it to select a guard.
At least which one he chooses, of course he wants to choose one who is ready to compete and try his best to win the championship next season. There will not be much opportunity to train rookies.
The next day, May 8, the second round continued.
In the morning, Colangelo Jr. contacted the Mavericks and offered his bargaining chip again, the Person Cavaliers' unprotected first-round pick in 1996.
The Mavericks were a little angry, but when they saw the Suns' bargaining chip, they didn't refuse. Both of them were young players. The important thing was that the Cavaliers had a good pick, and they couldn't trade the first-round pick now.
Colangelo Jr. and the Mavericks renegotiated the trade plan and used the reputation of the Colangelo family to ensure that they would not change their minds again.
This night, O'Neal showed off his power and defeated Ewing. At the same time, the Knicks played strong defense. Hardaway had a bad touch and only scored 18 points. The Sharks led the team to regain a game at home and played against the Magic.
It became a one-to-one tie.
In another game, Mosaic showed strong offensive capabilities. The Big Three once again exerted their strength and won two consecutive away games. The atmosphere was high.
However, the Big Three kept a low profile and did not make any high-profile victory remarks.
On the 9th, the second round continues.
This time, the Bulls and Pacers started the game first, and the Suns and Jazz started half an hour later.
The Bulls started the game by overwhelming the Pacers. In the 7th minute of the first quarter, Reggie Miller was suddenly injured, and it was quite serious. He was immediately injured and was forced to stop playing. He was reimbursed for the season. The backbone of the game was gone. This caused the Pacers to lose hope of winning. The Bulls
Successfully won the G2 battle.
The game between the Suns and the Jazz fell into a tough battle, which was even more intense than the previous game.
After all, Ben Wallace only played for one season. Whether it was defensive skills or game experience, he was far from the Postman's opponent.
In the last game, Postman faced him for the first time. I was not familiar with him and his defensive effect was good. But this time it was different. The Postman was above the level, using the big one to fight the small ones. Although his strength was good, he suffered too much from his height and could not carry it.
Come on, the defensive effect is far inferior to the previous game.
Seeing that Ben couldn't defend the postman, Westphal had no choice but to switch defenses and let Lao Wang and the postman face off.
But this caused another trouble. After the postman was pulled out, Lao Wang followed him out, and Ben faced the meat shield Spencer under the basket.
Don't think Spencer is just a wooden pile in front of Lao Wang, but when facing Ben at the basket, his tonnage advantage is very large. He is the same as the postman at 130 kilograms. Ben even used the strength to eat milk, and some
Unable to bear it, he squeezed into the basket repeatedly. After receiving the ball, he directly pressed Ben to dunk. He hit two goals in succession. The Suns' rebounding was also a little out of control.
In the end, Lao Wang had no choice but to come back and sit at the basket, with Ben facing off against the postman.
Although Ben couldn't guard Postman today, he was able to reduce some of his shooting percentage, which was pretty good. Postman's scoring was still difficult to offset Wang Tiejun's low-post offense.
Relying on Lao Wang's low-post offense and the better performance of the three outsiders than in the previous game, the Suns still had a slight advantage. In the second quarter, Wilkins' wild bombing led by 12 points.
, if we keep playing like this, we should have no problem winning this game.
There was hand-to-hand fighting on the inside, and the fighting was also fierce on the outside.
The No. 1 position is the most intense position, and the confrontation is very strong. Stockton kept making small moves. In the third minute of the third quarter, he stepped on Lightning's right foot again during a breakthrough, and Lightning fell.
He fell, his right knee hit the floor, and he was injured.
Fortunately, it was a hard injury. I hit a big bone. It wasn't broken. It just hurt a lot. But the injury shouldn't be serious. I have a chance to come back in the next game.
On the sidelines, Stern looked natural, but in his heart he was unhappy with the Jazz and dissatisfied with John Stockton. This point guard's little tricks were really a little too much. No wonder he was selected as one of the four villains by the media.
Lightning was injured, and the Suns were immediately in trouble. Perry was completely unable to withstand Stockton, lost control on the outside, and couldn't get the ball inside. The situation began to tilt towards the Jazz, and the points gradually caught up.
Lao Wang was angry, but he couldn't cause trouble to John Stockton, so he took out his anger on the postman and directly switched places with the boss.
Next, the postman was in trouble. He could avoid it on the defensive end, but he couldn't avoid it on the offensive end. Old K switched to defend him, directly raising the confrontation to the highest intensity, and suffered several elbows in a row.
However, the situation of the game still failed to change. The Postman was indeed guarded by Wang Tiejun. His tonnage was similar to that of Lao Wang, and his movement speed now felt not as fast as Lao Wang. However, the Jazz changed their tune and let the Postman hold off Lao Wang, and then strengthened other positions.
The attack has achieved good results.
Especially in the air-cutting tactics after the pick-and-roll, Ben alone could not withstand the inside cut at the basket, and Person and Perry could not catch up with Hornacek's outside cut on the outside. There was a problem with the defense.
In the 10th minute of the last quarter, the game entered the final moment. The Suns were leading by 7 points when Lightning was injured, but fell behind by 5 points.
This time the Jazz attack.
The Postman didn't attack for a long time. This time, they borrowed Stockton's pick-and-roll and got rid of Wang Tiejun on the right wing. They got the opportunity to hit Perry in a misplaced position and caught the ball for a jumper.
After Wang Tiejun forced his way past Stockton, he swooped forward and knocked the jumping postman to the ground.
"Well!"
The postman groaned when he fell. The combined weight of the two of them was over 260 kilograms, which he could bear alone. No matter how strong his body was, he couldn't bear it anymore. His eyeballs were almost squeezed out, and he was out of breath for a moment.
Don't come.
"Karl?"
Stockton was shocked and ran over quickly.
"yeah!"
The home fans, who had been angry for a long time, cheered and applauded continuously.
"Karl's ball has already been shot. This is a flagrant foul! A second-level flagrant foul..."
Jerry Sloan jumped up in anger and yelled angrily.
Westphal angrily yelled at the Jazz bench: "When Stockton stepped on lightning just now, you didn't say it was a flagrant foul. He stepped on it at least five times today. I'm counting for him.
With."
On the sidelines, Old Colangelo said to Stern: "Mr. President, it was just an accident. Old K blocked the shot, not a deliberate foul. He made no unnecessary moves at all."
Stern nodded and said: "The referee will make a fair decision."
He believed that Old K would not commit a flagrant foul in front of him, but he also knew Old K's character. This time he knocked over the postman during the block, so he should have taken advantage of the situation.
The referee made a penalty. The postman's ball had already been shot and missed. This time it was considered an ordinary physical foul, with two free throws and one throw.
But the postman couldn't fight anymore and was helped down. Jazz was worried about internal injuries, and he was also afraid, so he went directly to the hospital.
Wang Tiejun has already committed three fouls. Including this technical foul, it will be four fouls. He continues to stay on the court.
Next, Stockton executed a free throw.
His free throw shooting percentage was over 80%, which was quite accurate, but it seemed to have been affected by the postman's injury. He missed the first free throw but made the second free throw.
104:98, Jazz leads by 6 points, Suns attack.
Although there was no postman, the Jazz did not admit defeat. Stockton still had an absolute advantage when facing Perry, preventing Perry from almost making a mistake in the backcourt.
Fortunately, because the postman was injured, Stockton restrained his dirty moves a lot. With the support of teammates Person and Horry, he still pushed the ball into the frontcourt.
Once the ball reaches the frontcourt, there is no suspense.
Wang Tiejun first circled around the outside, and when the human shield Spencer came out, he suddenly started cutting in, bypassing his opponent and diving into the paint area.
Perry advanced to the frontcourt at this time, saw Lao Wang cutting into the paint area, and immediately passed the ball in without hesitation.
The team couldn't open up. Antoine Kyle, the power forward who replaced the postman, had already returned to defend the basket. He was 206 centimeters tall and weighed 110 kilograms. Under Lao Wang's body, he was like a child.
Lao Wang rushed to the basket, blocked Kyle with his left hand, and caught the ball with his right hand. At this time, Spencer had already caught up to his right side, and he was double-teamed after catching the ball.
But for him, he didn't care at all. As soon as he got the ball, when the double team was formed, he immediately joined the ball, and the chain of iron mountains on the left and right broke out instantly.
"Bang! Bang!"
As the impact sounded, Kyle on the left flew out first and was directly uprooted. Spencer, the human shield on the right, was also knocked back a step.
"Bang!"
In the next moment, he turned around and dunked with one hand, slamming the ball into the basket.
"The use of the shoulder in leaning strikes must be prohibited."
The game between the Bulls and the Pacers has ended. The Bulls have won their second consecutive victory. Now all the head coaches and general managers of the league are paying attention to the game between the Suns and the Jazz. Seeing this scene, they all came up with this idea.
Yes, Lao Wang's chain of blows just now used his shoulders. This kind of side blows cannot be completed through the back.
Of course, he didn't move his shoulders, it was all about the movement of his feet, so that his body could achieve the purpose of impact.
They are all great experts and know very well that if the use of shoulders is prohibited, the purpose of limiting the old K can definitely be achieved.
