Chapter 413: Wang Feng is leaving the team? (6000 words for a monthly ticket)
"The Lakers defeated the Brooklyn Nets 4:2 to create a dynasty. Since the 2000-2002 Lakers OK combination won three consecutive dynasties, the NBA has once again given birth to a new dynasty team!"
"Wang Feng won the sixth championship in his career and his second three consecutive championships! The total number of championships officially tied with the god of basketball Michael Jordan!"
"Wang Feng won the FMVP for the third consecutive time and is tied for first place in active service with LeBron James!"
The game is over, but the carnival of winning the championship still continues.
Overnight, the names of Wang Feng and the Lakers appeared on the front pages of the world's sports media newspapers and websites.
Three consecutive championship dynasties are really quite difficult. Looking at recent decades, there are only two three consecutive championship dynasties of Jordan and the three consecutive championship dynasties of the Lakers and OK combination.
As for the so-called odd-numbered dynasty of the Spurs and the Warriors' four-year three-championship dynasty, because they are not three consecutive championships, they can only be regarded as pseudo-dynasties. There is a huge gap between them and the real three-peat dynasty!
Wang Feng is the first player in the past 20 years to lead his team to achieve three consecutive championship dynasties. This reason alone is enough for him to firmly replace James, Curry and others and firmly sit on the throne of the league's number one player.
!
Not to mention that Wang Feng actually owns two three consecutive championship dynasties. In addition to this three consecutive championships from 2019-2021, there are also three championships in the 2015-2017 season. Although this three consecutive championships, Wang Feng is not the first core of the team.
, even in 2015, he could only be regarded as a 3D role player, and in 2017, he moved from the Warriors to the Cavaliers to win another championship. The gold content is far less than the three consecutive championships that Wang Feng led the team as the first core of the Lakers.
But don’t use bean bags as solid food. He has won three consecutive championships with high water content. Moreover, in the three seasons from 15 to 17, Wang Feng is not a pure role substitute player. He is a mixed champion like Battle and Sun Yue. Even if
Although he is not the main core of the team, his role is also very crucial.
In the 15 and 16 seasons, Wang Feng made important contributions to the Warriors' defense as a defensive leader and three-point shooter. In the playoffs, he was responsible for guarding top stars such as Harden, Durant, and James.
In the Cavaliers' championship in 2017, Wang Feng's performance in the finals was not even inferior to that of James and Durant, which was the direct reason why the Cavaliers were able to defeat Yu Yuyong!
Wang Feng definitely has a share of the medals for these three championships, and they can never be defined as champions who win by lying down.
…
As the Lakers achieved their third consecutive championship dynasty, Wang Feng won the sixth championship of his career. Looking back at Wang Feng's honor book, no matter who you are, you can't help but marvel.
"This is too exaggerated."
Six NBA championships, four regular season MVPs, three Finals FMVPs, and four scoring champions!
Even LeBron James would be ashamed of these top honors.
As a well-known honor harvester, even if James' honor is divided into four parts, it is enough for four players to be selected as All-Stars. However, if you exclude the best team and other long-term achievements, the 36-year-old James has actually been replaced by the 28-year-old
Wang Feng is fully suppressed!
Even James is like this, let alone other players in the league?
In just seven years of his career, Wang Feng has already made a mark, leaving all his competitors in the NBA far behind. Except for James, others can't even see the taillights.
After all, in the current league, except for James and Curry, the other players only have one regular season MVP or one FMVP at most, which is far behind Wang Feng in terms of quantity.
The Lakers are crazy happy.
They were so lucky to be able to acquire a phenomenal superstar like Wang Feng. When general manager Magic Johnson signed Wang Feng, he never expected that such a day would come to him.
Just after the finals, Johnson received a call from team owner Jeanne Buss, asking him to renew Wang Feng's contract at all costs. If necessary, he could meet all Wang Feng's demands, including the right to veto transactions and some suggestions and suggestions for team transactions.
The right to decide!
The Lakers know very well that with Wang Feng's strength, as long as he does not suffer serious injuries, he will definitely remain at the top of the league in the next five to seven years. Combined with the Chinese market behind him, his value is even higher than that of James at his peak.
higher!
…
A few days later, the Lakers held a championship parade in Los Angeles. Fans crowded the streets and alleys, and the scene was even better than when they won the championship two years ago.
This is normal. After all, this is a three-consecutive dynasty, so we still have to have such a card.
"Wang Feng! Wang Feng! Wang Feng!"
The fans chanted in unison.
"MVP! MVP! MVP!"
Wang Feng smiled and waved to the fans, which at the same time aroused even louder cheers.
While the Lakers championship parade was being held, in the Lakers general manager's office, Earvin Johnson smiled and looked at senior agent Bill Duffy in front of him.
"Bill, I believe that this contract can fully reflect the sincerity of our team. Wang Feng is the only core and absolute main force in the team. We are willing to pay all costs to complete the contract extension, and this will be beneficial to both of us.
Wang Feng can pursue more personal honors by staying on the team, and the big football market of Los Angeles can also bring him more commercial endorsements and exposure."
Bill Duffy browsed the contents of the proposed contract in his hand, but his face showed no expression.
If it were in the past, he would already have a smile on his face, and he would have a very polite business exchange with Johnson.
But at this moment, he was not in the mood at all.
Because not long ago, senior members of Team Yao's management team gathered together in Los Angeles because Wang Feng, his employer, had something important to announce.
At that time, Bill Duffy was still confused as to what could cause such a stir? Even Zhang Mingji and others in China were called to Los Angeles.
However, he never imagined that what Wang Feng announced was that he was planning to leave the Lakers next season!
For Bill Duffy, this was definitely news like a bolt from the blue.
As a professional basketball agent, he is more concerned about the benefits that players can obtain than other things.
Wang Feng is undoubtedly the best solution for the Lakers.
Los Angeles is the second largest football market in the United States and has a high degree of exposure. Wang Feng has been elected as the All-Star vote winner for many consecutive years and has a steady stream of commercial endorsements, which can fully prove this.
Moreover, Wang Feng had just won three consecutive championships with the Lakers and was at the peak of his reputation. It was really puzzling to suddenly choose to leave the team without any conflicts with the team.
Wang Feng's decision was naturally opposed by everyone in the Yao team.
But such objections are of no use.
The relationship between Wang Feng and Team Yao is an employment relationship. The latter can advise Wang Feng and provide business development directions and suggestions, but he only has the right to propose, and the final decision-making power rests with Wang Feng.
Wang Feng's attitude was very tough and there was absolutely no room for maneuver.
Bill Duffy could only accept this result unwillingly, and asked a question that he still couldn't figure out: Why did Wang Feng leave the Lakers?
Then he got this answer.
"There is no special reason. The main reason is that after three consecutive championships, I feel that it is no longer challenging to stay in the Lakers. It is too easy to win the championship, so I plan to join a team at the bottom of the league in the new season."
Bill Duffy: "..."
At this moment, he seriously doubted whether Wang Feng accidentally poured champagne into his ears while spraying champagne in the locker room after winning the championship, and then suffered from brain damage?
He has been in the industry for so many years and has seen many reasons why players cannot stay with the team.
He is dissatisfied with the current situation of the team, dissatisfied with his own treatment, does not get along with his teammates, is at odds with the coaching staff and management, etc. But this is the first time he has such refreshing and refined reasons!
These days, team formation is popular, and there are standard or top-level dual-core lineups of the Big Three everywhere. Everyone wants to make their team stronger and capable of competing for the championship, but Wang Feng feels that the team is too strong.
Not challenging?
Do you have masochistic tendencies? If you are not happy when you win, do you have to try what it feels like to lose and be abused?
Of course Bill Duffy didn't know, and Wang Feng was helpless.
Of course he is not a masochist, but who would let the system give such an extremely challenging task?
In order to complete the task and allow the system to be upgraded and open new functional modules, Wang Feng could only bite the bullet and come up with this excuse.
But when he said this, Wang Feng felt inexplicably very happy.
"The Lakers are too strong. It's not challenging to win the championship at all, so I'm going to join a weak team to make it more difficult."
This pretense is really cool! Full marks!
Wang Feng felt happy, but Bill Duffy, who was sitting in the general manager's office at this moment, felt a headache.
"Ahem..."
After hesitating for a moment, Bill Duffy said with a bit of embarrassment. "Erwin, there is something I have to tell you clearly."
"Huh?" Johnson was slightly startled. Looking at Bill Duffy's stiff expression, he felt something was wrong. "What's wrong?"
"I talked to Wang Feng a few days ago, and he didn't seem to want to renew his contract with the Lakers," Bill Duffy said.
"Don't want to renew the contract?" Johnson's eyes widened in surprise. "Why?"
"Well... it's a long story, but in short he has greater pursuits and goals, so he doesn't want to stay with the Lakers. He has won four regular season MVPs and three championships with this team, and he has no more
There is a way to do it better.”
Bill Duffy thought for a long time, but still did not say Wang Feng's original words, but changed to a more euphemistic way of saying it.
Johnson: "..."
Magic Johnson, who is the number one point guard in history, has a superior basketball IQ, and has five championship rings and three regular season MVP trophies, instantly understood what Bill Duffy wanted to express.
Wang Feng does not have any conflicts with the team or is dissatisfied with the team's offer, but this is the most troublesome thing for him.
If someone in the team has a conflict with Wang Feng, the problem can be easily solved. The player can be traded directly to leave the team, and the coaching staff and management personnel can also be fired. Even Wang Feng is dissatisfied with Lakers coach Walton, as long as he is not the general manager.
No problem.
But the problem is precisely here. Wang Feng does not have a conflict with the team, but because winning is so smooth, he has strange ideas. What should we do?
Johnson looked at Bill Duffy blankly, and the latter looked at Johnson longingly.
"Ervin, I want you to know that from a personal perspective, I very much hope that Wang Feng can stay with the Lakers. This will be beneficial to his subsequent business development. However, I am only an agent, and it is Wang Feng who ultimately makes the decision.
Bill Duffy said while shaking his head. "So I hope the Lakers management can find a way to make him change his mind. I will also try my best to delay and persuade Wang Feng."
"...I understand." Johnson nodded, feeling dumbfounded for a moment.
What's going on? There are actually team management and player agents standing on a united front, working together to find ways to persuade players to do such a weird thing.
But at the same time, Johnson still felt a haze in his heart.
Since Wang Feng has such a firm attitude when facing his agent, it can be seen that he is definitely serious. Can the Lakers management really persuade Wang Feng even if he comes to persuade him?
Johnson still remembers Wang Feng's approach when the Lakers wanted to free up salary space to pursue top stars such as Leonard and Durant, and were therefore unwilling to renew Butler's maximum salary in advance.
He directly announced publicly that if the team did not renew Butler's contract, he would submit a trade application.
Not everyone can do this kind of hard-on approach to management.
If Wang Feng is really determined, I am afraid that the Lakers will not be able to keep him no matter what conditions they offer. Then... what will the Lakers do?
Although he ostensibly agreed to Bill Duffy, Johnson had already begun to plan in advance the remedial measures if Wang Feng really left the team.
…
A few days after the Lakers' championship parade, the NBA draft was held as scheduled.
The Detroit Pistons selected point guard Cade Cunningham with the No. 1 pick, the Rockets selected shooting guard Jaylen Green with the second pick, and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who received the third pick, selected post player Evan Moe.
Bully.
Wang Feng has no way of knowing the strength of this new generation.
When he traveled through time, these players had only played one season. Cunningham, the top pick, averaged 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, which was pretty good. Jaylen Green, the second overall pick, also averaged 17+ points per game.
The winner of the Rookie of the Year award among this rookie class is Scotty Barnes, who was selected with the fourth overall pick by the Toronto Rams.
Starting from this draft, Wang Feng will no longer have the advantage of foresight as a time traveler. The time node for his time travel will be around early June 2022, which is the time for the Eastern and Western finals of the 21-22 season playoffs.
Node, he has no way of knowing where things will go from this point in time.
However, Wang Feng has no confusion or fear about the unknown future, or in other words, with his current strength, he no longer needs these. With his strength, he is the most dazzling and top league star no matter where he goes.
During the draft, there was one thing that left Wang Feng speechless. That was that members of the Lakers management and owner Buss family, as well as some players, such as Butler, Ingram and others, formed a lobby group with Wang Feng.
They had a long talk and tried very sincerely and sincerely to persuade Wang Feng to stay on the team, even giving him the right to veto the trade and building a statue of Wang Feng outside the Staples Center, which went beyond the status of the player.
Wang Feng expressed that he was very touched, and then decisively rejected the other party.
There is no other way. If he wanted to leave on his own and was persuaded by the Lakers management, he might still be wavering and hesitant.
However, leaving the Lakers was not Wang Feng's original intention, but a task of the system. Although the system also clearly informed that this task is optional, if you are not willing to give up, the system's rewards will still be assessed and distributed in the original way.
But Wang Feng is not a salty fish who is used to lying flat. Since the system has given tasks and the tasks are so difficult, one can imagine how effective the new functions brought by the system upgrade will be.
In order to complete the system tasks and get the opportunity to upgrade the system, Wang Feng decided to formally reject the Lakers.
"This season, I will definitely not renew my contract with the team. I hope everyone can get together well. If possible, I am willing to leave a fortune for the team and use the sign-and-trade method to trade from other teams.
Get some quality players and draft picks."
Wang Feng's answer made the Lakers completely give up, and Johnson immediately began to implement plan B after the contract renewal failed.
Since Wang Feng cannot be renewed, the Lakers must use the limited time to complete reinforcements as soon as possible after the free market opens, to prevent the Lakers from falling from the clouds after three consecutive championships due to Wang Feng's departure.
Wang Feng is willing to leave the team in a sign-and-trade manner, which makes Johnson very happy. At this stage in the league, Wang Feng's transaction value is definitely at the highest level. Any team is willing to pay a huge price to get a top star with six championships and four MVPs.
However, Wang Feng immediately posed another problem to Johnson.
There was only one condition for him to accept the sign-and-trade, and that was that he had to be traded to a team with a regular season record winning percentage below 30%.
This troubled Johnson and surprised him at the same time.
Wang Feng was actually not making excuses, he really wanted to go to a weak team!
…
Now that the decision has been made, Wang Feng must start preparing in advance to complete the task.
The first thing he needs to determine is the new team for next season.
However, according to the system mission requirements, there are not many targets for Wang Feng to choose from.
This season, there are only six teams with a regular season winning percentage lower than 30%. There are three teams in the Eastern Conference, namely the Cleveland Cavaliers with 24 wins and 58 losses, the Orlando Magic with 21 wins and 61 losses, and the bottom team in the Eastern Conference with 19 losses.
The Detroit Pistons won 63 games.
There are also three teams in the West, namely the Minnesota Timberwolves with 24 wins and 58 losses, the Oklahoma City Thunder with 22 wins and 60 losses, and the Houston Rockets, who not only have the lowest record in the Western Conference, but also the lowest record in the entire league, with only 17 wins and 65 losses.
Team.
Wang Feng could only choose one of these six teams, and he also had to consider whether any players on the team had been selected to the All-NBA Team or All-Stars in the past three years.
On this basis, Wang Feng should try his best to choose a team among these six teams with better potential and a better chance of reaching the finals.
In this case, Wang Feng first eliminated the two teams, the Houston Rockets and the Detroit Pistons.
These two teams are both completely rotten at the root and unable to turn around in the short term. Among them, the Rockets may be slightly better. They traded Harden to the 76ers and got some more good players for the Rockets.
chips and draft picks, but even so, Wang Feng would not consider the Rockets. The reason is very simple, it is the Mo Dog incident.
Although Mo Gou has moved to the Philadelphia 76ers, this does not mean that the Rockets can wash their hands. Mo Gou’s departure is not the result of his idiotic remarks, but due to other reasons. The Rockets’ actions in the Mo Gou incident
The attitude shown is enough to make all the die-hard Rockets fans in China understand that the so-called home team in China is all false. The Rockets are not even as good as James and other players. At least they can speak impartially.
Now that Morey has left, the Rockets are licking their faces again in an attempt to repair their relationship with Chinese fans, but who will pay attention to him?
The reason why Chinese fans like the Rockets is actually the Rockets from Dayao's era.
Apart from the team name and location, today's Rockets have nothing to do with the original Rockets during the Dayao era. Even the team owner has been changed from Alexander to Fertitta.
After the Mo Dog incident, not many people still have any nostalgia for the Rockets, which has long been transformed. Especially after Wang Feng was born, Chinese fans also had a new destination.
He will never look back at the Rockets again.
After excluding the two teams, the four teams left in Wang Feng's vision are the Cavaliers Magic in the East and the Timberwolves and Thunder in the West.
Compared with the Pistons and Rockets, the situation of the Magic and Thunder is slightly better. At least there are still some promising players on the team and they have bright development plans for the future.
As for the Cavaliers and Timberwolves, they are the best solutions in Wang Feng's mind.
In another time and space, in the 2021-22 season, the Cavaliers were just shy of reaching the playoffs, while the Timberwolves successfully returned to the playoffs with seventh place in the Western Conference.
The Cavaliers have young and outstanding point guards like Darius Garland in their lineup, and they have just selected high-quality insider Evan Mobley with the third pick. Their overall strength has made a qualitative leap compared to the 20-21 season.
As for the Timberwolves, the lineup is even more luxurious.
Anthony Towns, the No. 1 pick in 2015, Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in 2014, and Anthony Edwards, the No. 1 pick in 2020, were selected last season. It can be said that the No. 1 picks are all gathered together.
It's unimaginable that such a luxurious No. 1 pick would only rank third from the bottom in the Western Conference with a record of 24 wins and 58 losses. This shows that the Timberwolves are really rotten to the core.
In another time and space, Wiggins should have been traded to the Warriors long ago in exchange for D'Angelo Russell, the second overall pick in 2015. With the help of Russell, Towns and Edwards,
With joint efforts, the Timberwolves finally successfully returned to the playoffs in the 21-22 season.