Chapter 59 The signings are over, the media opening day!
After the Las Vegas Summer League ended, Chen Yan returned to Phoenix to start closed individual training.
Two weeks have passed, and Chen Yan's personal attributes have basically remained unchanged.
The higher the attributes are, the more difficult it is to improve them through training. Chen Yan has long known this.
The purpose of his training is not to increase his attributes, but to maintain his body shape and condition.
Chen Yan is now a professional basketball player, and insisting on training during the off-season is the most basic attitude and quality of a professional player.
Time soon came to August, and the Suns uniform team finally started to take action!
On the first day of August, ESPN released news that the Phoenix Suns signed Barea to a one-year, $800,000 contract.
This is the cheapest guaranteed contract, but Barea is already very satisfied.
That night, Barea made a thank-you phone call to Chen Yan. On the phone, Barea was so excited that he was a little incoherent. Signing this guaranteed contract means that he can continue to stay in the NBA next season.
On August 4, the Suns official website posted news that the team signed Warriors free agent Kelana Azubuike on a two-year, $1.95 million contract (second-year player option)!
Many Suns fans are not optimistic about these two signings. They believe that Barea's height is a flaw. It is difficult to achieve this kind of height in the NBA, while Azubuike has no experience and is just a fool.
But D'Antoni had his own ideas, and he saw the potential of the two through a short trial.
Azubuike can break out, shoot, and cut, and his offensive methods are very comprehensive. His shortcoming is his lack of game experience, and his self-confidence needs to be improved.
In D'Antoni's view, Barea is a very impactful player with good outside accuracy, but he is a bit short and lacks hardware talent.
But D'Antoni has always been eclectic in employing people. He believes that both Barea and Azubuike can exert corresponding power under his own system.
In fact, Chen Yan not only recommended these two players to D'Antoni, he also suggested that D'Antoni take David Lee, Korver, Millsap and Milicic during the summer league.
But in the end, there was no response. Some of them were because the other party's asking price was too high, and some were because D'Antoni thought it was not suitable for the team's system.
Chen Yan has long been mentally prepared for this. The Suns cannot completely recruit according to his own ideas. He is not the emperor and cannot control the team...
It is impossible for other teams to cooperate with the Suns like this and just give them whatever players they want. This is the real world, not a novel.
Of course, it is impossible for the Suns' scouts and front office staff to do nothing but wait for Chen Yan to recommend players.
After some manipulation, they signed free agent Matt Barnes on August 20 for 2 years and $6.1 million.
This is the Suns’ biggest signing this summer!
If Barea and Azubuike are both good guys, then Barnes is a typical bully!
He's responsible for flagrant fouls, trash talk, and irritating opponents.
In a word: He is an old-school tough guy, and there have always been players like this making a living in the NBA.
Chen Yan feels good about this signing. First of all, Barnes played with the Warriors last season. He can quickly adapt to the Suns' run-and-gun rhythm. In addition, his style is very tough.
A team can't be all good guys and good guys, it also needs some tough guys like this!
After signing Barea, Azubuike, and Barnes, the Suns' signings this summer have basically come to an end.
While the main structure remains unchanged, introducing some role players that suit the team's style is enough for the Suns.
D'Antoni has always been superstitious about 7-8 player rotation. Signing too many players would be a waste of resources for the team.
The time has quickly arrived on October 2, which is the day when the Suns training camp begins!
On this day, Chen Yan came to the team locker room early.
The second person to arrive in the locker room was Nash. As soon as he entered the locker room, he greeted Chen Yan cordially, and the two of them chatted wordlessly on their seats in the locker room.
A few months ago, Nash was watching his NCAA game, and in the blink of an eye, he became his NBA teammate. I have to say that this world is really amazing...
In fact, after that meeting, Chen Yan and Nash have been in contact. Nash sent congratulatory text messages when Chen Yan won the NCAA championship and when he was traded to the Suns.
"Yo yo yo! The two MVPs are chatting?"
When the two were chatting happily, Xiaosi walked in.
Nash is the MVP of the regular season twice in a row, everyone knows this.
And Chen Yan, the MVP, is from the Summer League, and Stoudemire was just teasing him.
"Amare, long time no see!" Chen Yan smiled and walked up to say hello to Stoudemire: "I hope you won't hate me this season?"
"How to say?"
"Steve just told me to give me half of the passes passed to you so that you can be happy for yourself."
"Hahahaha!" Xiaosi grinned after hearing this. He didn't expect that this new little brother was quite interesting.
The Suns teammates who came to the locker room one after another also took turns greeting Chen Yan. The overall atmosphere was very good.
After Dior said hello to Chen Yan, he brought a cup of coffee to him, smiled and let him have a taste.
Dior is a famous coffee maniac. He even installed an espresso machine in the locker room just to drink coffee. If Chen Yan didn't play in the NBA, I believe this guy would have become a great barista.
At this time, Diaw was not a flexible fat man, but had muscles. Diaw had always been a player whose physical fitness was underestimated. Fans always thought that he was a technical player. In fact, he could run and jump. On the surface, he was a 'French magician'.
The division' is actually the 'French flying man'.
When he first came to the Suns for trial training, he was very curious about the touch height machine, so he asked the staff what it was.
After the staff explained to him, Diaw asked again: "Who has the highest score in the team now?"
The staff member replied: "Amare Stoudemire."
Immediately, Dior put down the coffee cup in his hand, took off his slippers, and reached the highest point with a slight jump.
The staff was still in shock. Dior put on his slippers, picked up the coffee and said lightly, "It's not that difficult."
In addition to his physical fitness, Diaw also has three-pointers, can defend, can pass, and can occasionally break through. He is an enhanced 3D player. This is why the Suns dared to let Marion go.
He is a top inside organizer, and Nash is a top outside organizer. If the two of them were on the court at the same time, Chen Yan felt that he would eat the cake until his mouth cramps...
The training camp will last for one month, during which the team will make up the roster, and there will also be some preseason games to help the players find their form.
Two days later, the Suns held a media meeting day for the new season at their home stadium, American West Arena.
The so-called media meeting day is the time when players and coaches are forced to allow the media to take photos and interviews.
Accepting interviews from the media, allowing the media to film your team's training, and answering questions raised are basically mandatory rules and are measures taken by the league to build a good relationship with the media.
During the interview session, Nash, Stoudemire and Chen Yan were surrounded by the most reporters.
Needless to say, Nash and Stoudemire are Suns All-Stars and the core of the team inside and outside.
Chen Yan is the star of hope for the Suns, and both the fans and the media have high expectations for him.
Facing various questions from the media, Chen Yan answered calmly.
He had prepared these in advance. He just talked about his prospects for the new season and his evaluation of his teammates and the team. Anyway, he just said some nice words, and then praised his teammates and management.
After the interview, Chen Yan put on the No. 0 jersey and took a set of promotional photos.
After the individual photos of the players, the players specially called Chen Yan, Stoudemire, Nash and Diaw to take a group photo.
The intention of the Suns management is obvious. These four players will be the core four of the Suns in the new season.