Next, the Knicks informed Alan Houston that he had been traded to the Bulls, and also informed John Starks that the team would sign and trade him.
The two of them were mentally prepared, but they were still very uncomfortable after hearing the news.
Especially Alan Houston, who defected from Detroit to New York. Unexpectedly, he was given up after playing only one season, which made him feel particularly uncomfortable.
But neither he nor John Starks had any choice but to accept this ending.
After dealing with the two Houston players, they still needed to trade in two first-round picks, and they were unprotected. The management immediately started looking for trading teams.
This year's picks have been determined, and they contacted all the suitable teams one by one. Finally, they exchanged John Starks from the Heat for their first-round pick No. 25 this year, and then used their own 1997 first-round pick.
+Chris Childs, in exchange for Seattle's 1997 first-round pick.
The Heat and SuperSonics both have good regular season records. Both picks are very low, but they also meet the requirements of the Bulls, which can be regarded as the necessary chips to trade Jordan.
Now the Knicks need to clear out a batch of contracts, buy them out directly, or trade them out to make room for Jordan's virtual space.
Phil Jackson has come to New York, signed a head coaching contract with the Knicks, and then, together with Jordan, began to discuss lineup issues with the management.
"God's Coming"
Basically, according to Jordan's vision, the main lineup has been roughly determined, with center O'Neal, power forward Oakley, small forward undecided, shooting guard Jordan, and point guard undecided.
Phil Jackson agreed with Jordan's suggestion and brought Kidd over, but now that Alan Houston is gone and he doesn't have any good bargaining chips to trade with the Suns, it's a bit difficult.
General Manager Layden tried to contact Colangelo Jr. After the call was connected, they exchanged pleasantries and then said: "Mr. Colangelo, I am willing to use the unprotected first-round pick of the Knicks in 1999 + the first round draft pick in 1996."
What do you think about trading No. 19 pick Walter McCarty to Kidd?"
Colangelo was disgusted when he heard that the Knicks wanted to trade Kidd. Do you think I'm a fool? Let's not talk about bargaining chips. How could I send Kidd to New York?
"NO, Mr. Layden, you should be aware of the competitive relationship between our two teams." He immediately firmly rejected the deal.
"I'm afraid there is no way to get Kidd. We must either use Charlie Ward or find another point guard."
After hearing Colangelo hang up the phone, Layden said helplessly to Jordan and Phil Jackson.
There is nothing the two can do. Indeed, the Suns are not stupid. How could they send Kidd to the Knicks?
On the 27th, in Los Angeles, Lao Wang shot commercials all morning and had lunch with Dameng at noon.
"Old K, I won't be polite when I meet you next season. You have to be careful. Defending the title is not that easy. Our Lakers will be very strong." Dameng said proudly.
"Don't say that, if you dare to threaten me, I will come to the Lakers and you will go to the Suns." Lao Wang joked.
"Get out!" Dameng said angrily.
In the afternoon, Lao Wang went to the studio to shoot a commercial for half a day. In the evening, he went to the theater for the premiere of "Face/Off".
Hawksman arranged for him a silver powerhouse Rolls-Royce. It was not easy for him to arrange a car because of his physique.
As the new NBA champion and FMVP winner, Lao Wang can also be regarded as one of the most popular sports superstars in the United States. His appearance immediately attracted the attention of the media. The shutters of Katcha Katcha kept ringing and the spotlight was on
The lights flashed together.
"Hey, old K."
Nicolas Cage saw Lao Wang appearing and hurriedly came forward to greet him.
"Hey, Nicholas, I wish your movie will be a big hit, and it will become the box office champion last week, and it will not come down for a month..."
When Lao Wang met, he said a lot of nice things, which made Cage laugh so hard that his face broke.
"Old K, I'm glad you can come."
"Mr. Alan Birds, this is what it should be."
This movie was produced and distributed by Paramount Pictures. President Frank Alan Burds also attended the premiere. He is also a VIP customer of K Martial Arts Hall and often attends the parties of the martial arts hall. At this time, he came up to talk to Lao Wang
He gave me a hug and his attitude was very warm.
Alan Burz then introduced other people to Lao Wang, such as another leading actor John Travolta, director Wu Yusen, etc.
Travolta is also a VIP customer of the martial arts gym. Lao Wang greeted him familiarly and then chatted with John Woo for a few words.
Wu Yusen came to Hollywood in 1993 and has been around for some years. The first movie he directed was the ultimate target, with a box office of 30 million US dollars. This movie opened the way for him to Hollywood. Last year
He made Broken Arrow, which has a box office of 70 million, and is developing very smoothly. The investment in Face/Off this year is over 100 million. It is a typical big production. He has high expectations for this movie. He hopes that through this big production, he will be officially promoted to Hollywood.
Great director position.
He is now considered a rising director in Hollywood. In terms of development, he is even better than Cheng Long. In the film industry, he should be the one with the best development in Hollywood among the Chinese.
However, although he has developed well, he has no arrogance in front of Lao Wang. Not to mention any superstars in the NBA, K Martial Arts' connections in Hollywood alone make him intimidated.
So when I say hello, my face is full of smiles, very friendly.
After chatting outside for a while, some supporting celebrities came one after another. Lao Wang was basically familiar with them, and eight out of ten were VIP customers of the martial arts school. Everyone entered the theater together.
When it was almost eight o'clock, Nicolas Cage and the main creators of Face Off also came in.
On the right side of Lao Wang is Wu Yusen. Paramount specially arranged for the two Chinese to sit together, and next to him is Cage.
After Cage came in, he did not sit down. Instead, he walked up to Lao Wang and said with a serious face: "Old K, you lied to me last time."
"What did I lie to you about?" Lao Wang asked confused.
Cage said: "You said I was born in the year of dragon. I went to Chinatown and wanted to get a dragon tattoo, but the tattoo artist told me that I was born in the year of rabbit. He suggested that I get a Bugs Bunny tattoo. I found it difficult to accept a Bugs Bunny tattoo on my body, so I refused.
Already."
"Ha ha……"
Lao Wang burst out laughing, people around him looked sideways, and Wu Yusen next to him also fell down laughing.
On the evening of June 28, the 1997 NBA draft was held as scheduled at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Lao Wang didn't go to New York, so he watched the talent show in a hotel in Los Angeles.
At eight o'clock, the draft officially began. After Stern gave a speech, Lakers general manager Jerry West, who held the No. 1 pick, handed over the envelope from the Lakers.
Taking the envelope from the staff, Stern took out the letter, took a look at it, and then said with a smile: "The Los Angeles Lakers selected Tim Duncan from Wake Forest with the No. 1 pick in the first round."
"No surprises, no suspense!"
Lao Wang muttered something, and then thought about the Lakers' lineup. Center Dameng is 34 years old, power forward Tim Duncan is 21 years old, shooting guard Eddie Jones is 26 years old, and point guard Nick Van Exel is 26 years old. These four
The average age of the main players is less than 27 years old. This is a very mature main lineup, full of combat effectiveness, and everyone's scoring ability is not weak.
Moreover, both Jones and Van Exel are still on their rookie contracts, plus Duncan, whose salary is not high. This lineup is also very stable, and there will be no major changes for at least three years. It is very stable.
"If Duncan plays top-notch offense and defense, the Lakers will be very strong next season and very troublesome."
He feels that this Lakers should be much stronger than the Jazz. If Duncan and Dameng both play at a first-class level, they will definitely be a super strong team at the championship level. His Suns are not very sure of defeating this Lakers.
Especially now that so many people on the team have left, including Kidd, it’s really troublesome!
But fortunately, we got Chris Mullin, we finally have one more helper, plus Kobe, the trolls, and using Kidd to trade for a good point guard, we should not be weaker than the Lakers.
The second pick is the Spurs.
Popovich has been wanting to die for a while now. David Robinson has been refusing to contact him. He had to contact his agent Austin, hoping to retain Robinson, but the other party always refused, and he gradually gave up.
Now with the second pick in hand, he can only choose an inside man to replace David Robinson.
He chose Van Horn. Although he was a bamboo pole, his skills were pretty good anyway, so he was considered a good choice at this young age.
Then it was the Celtics' turn. The general manager was Danny Ainge, who had just taken office a few days ago.
David West, the main point guard who played for the Green Team for three years, has refused to renew his contract and entered the free market. He wanted to choose a point guard, but he chose Billups.
The draft continued, and the Menglong selected Tracy McGrady with the ninth pick.
In the end, the Suns selected a forward named Stewart at the end of the first round.
The first round ends and the second round begins.
He was drafted by the Kings with the ninth pick in the second round.
Lao Wang then called. Although Da Zhi was happy, he was worried about not getting the king's contract. He comforted him: "Don't worry, if David Frank doesn't have this ability, I won't let you sign him.
"
When he said this, he felt relieved.
Next, the Suns used the previously traded Cavaliers pick in the second round to select a high school student named Stephen Jackson (the future Wu Sheng did not receive a guaranteed contract from the Suns), and finally used their own late pick in the second round.
A center named Mark Blount.
However, Lao Wang doesn't know whether these players can stay with the team. Even the late first-round pick who can get a guaranteed contract may be traded away as a partner.
The draft was over, and at this moment, news was suddenly announced that the Bulls traded Pippen and Toronto to acquire Tracy McGrady, the ninth pick in the first round.
"..."
Chicago, Draft When he saw this, Pippen was about to change the channel. He was shocked by the news and was completely stunned.
He was also looking forward to renewing his contract with the Bulls in advance, and at least signing a big contract worth tens of millions. Unexpectedly, he became a bargaining chip and was thrown to Canada. How could he feel embarrassed?
"Klaus, you idiot, why didn't Michael Jordan kill you and leave you here to harm me?" After reacting, he roared with great grief and anger.
"Menglong traded Pi Er, are you asking him to help sell tickets? Haha!" Lao Wang laughed.
After the draft is over, the NBA's trade window officially opens, but there is still a month-long freeze period. Until the league clearly calculates last season's operating income and expenses and announces the salary cap for next season, the freeze period ends and no formal trade can be made.
But during the freeze period, teams can conduct trade negotiations and contact players.
Lao Wang is still staying in Los Angeles, his business activities have not been completed, and he has to wait for his two sisters to return to China together. The time to return to China has been arranged, and he will leave on the 2nd.
Starting from the 29th, the free market opened, and many players were put on the shelves. At the same time, many related transaction news also broke out one after another.
For example, when Jason Kidd was put on the shelf, the media speculated whether the Suns were going to collapse because they had a new owner? Then could Old K be traded? So Lao Wang’s phone was called by reporters and some team general managers.
It was blown away.
At 9 o'clock in the morning that day, a news shocked the league that David Robinson would swap teams with Olajuwon.
This news is very certain because it was revealed to the media by Spurs general manager and head coach Popovich. He publicly accused David Robinson's agent Austin of helping the Lakers poach the Spurs, but he did not attack David Robinson.
This made David Robinson and the Lakers very passive. They sent a trade offer to the Spurs after the draft last night. They didn't expect Popovich to make such a move today.
"What?"
As soon as Dameng got up from the bed, the phone rang. It was his agent Dan Fagan, telling him shocking news. He couldn't believe it.
"I confirmed to the Lakers that it was David Robinson who took the initiative to propose a trade to the Lakers. He wanted to take your place in the Lakers. Hakeem, he is so bad!"
"David Robinson, you, you, you..." Dameng Lung was so angry that he was so angry that his face was as red as blood and he almost had a cerebral infarction.
He was still dreaming of teaming up with Duncan to win the championship last night. As long as he wins the championship again, his historical status will definitely enter the top ten, but now?
"Admiral, I curse you to never win a championship in your life." After regaining consciousness, he roared with great grief and anger.
"Hakeem, I'm sorry, I can't help you. The Lakers think David Robinson is two years younger than you and has a smaller contract, which is more beneficial to the Lakers." Dan Fagan said.
"Forget it, Dan, I want to be quiet." Dameng said and hung up the phone.
But just as the phone hung up, it rang again.
"Who?"
He picked up the microphone and yelled very harshly.
"Hakim, you are angry, so you already know the news about your transaction?" Lao Wang's voice rang through the microphone.
"I saw it."
Dameng is extremely depressed. This bastard of the Lakers allowed him to fail for a season with the Lakers, but as soon as they drafted Tim Duncan, they had to trade him. Do you think he is inferior to David Robinson?
"Hakim, who initiated this transaction?" Lao Wang asked.
"Dan Fagan just told me that it was David Robinson who initiated it, and the Lakers agreed. This bastard, he wanted to come to the Lakers to win the championship, but he actually used me as a bargaining chip." Dameng said dissatisfied.
"Then what are you going to do?" Lao Wang asked.
"What can I do? Retire? I finally got this big contract, but I can't retire." Dameng said very depressedly.
"Well, I wish you a happy stay in the Spurs." Lao Wang said.
After ending the phone call, he couldn't help but sigh: "Trading the Big Dream for David Robinson, who is two years younger, the NBA is really a business! No one can't be traded."