Eight Hundred and Forty-Six. Human Touch that Makes People Love and Hate

"Just trade Rudy. I don't want to ask why, and I don't want to ask why you only get such a small return, but why are the Spurs the target of the trade? They only need a powerful forward and center to complete the system, so why would they trade Rudy?" Send it there? Tell me why..." Sun Ce yelled at the phone.

At 5 pm on June 19, 2011, Google Sports reporter Wojn Naworski broke the news that the Spurs and Grizzlies had reached a deal.

The initial details of the transaction were that the Spurs used the Mavericks' 26th overall pick in this year's first round, which they obtained from the Rockets, and the Spurs' own two non-guaranteed first-round picks in 2013 and 2015, for a non-guaranteed contract next season. Alonzo Key and Gary Neal, the 10th-year undrafted draft pick who still has two years of partial contract guarantees left. After sending these two non-guaranteed contracts to the Grizzlies, the Spurs have space and obtained them from the Grizzlies. Rudy Gay.

In the eyes of fans, this deal is comparable to the Lakers using Kwame Brown to rob Gasol from their Grizzlies team. It’s not about the value of the deal. The three first-rounders are still eye-catching, but it’s about Gay. Effect on the Spurs!

After Sun Ce finished his rant, Chris Wallace on the other end of the phone said: "Rudy wants to go to the Spurs. He wants to give up the starting position to Paul. He is worried that he has not played for a year and will not be able to integrate like Paul." Our current system.”

"He wants to give Paul the starting job. How about you trade him to the Timberwolves, Pistons, or Bobcats..." Sun Ce continued to spray.

"We respect his ideas and hope he can have a good future. We are a championship team. It would be inappropriate to send him to a weak team in exchange for draft picks because he has not played for a year..." On the other end of the phone Chris Wallace said weakly.

Indeed, after such an operation, he himself felt quite retarded.

But... their team has always been like this. If you ask him to do it again, he may still do it.

Moreover, the management unanimously believes that Paul George is more suitable to partner with Sun Ce than Gay, who has an overly casual mentality. They have begun planning to correct Paul George. Gay has been included in the transaction scope. This can be said to be entirely because of Gay. It was caused by a shoulder injury that cost him a year, and I always felt a little sorry for Guy.

Three first-round picks are not bad, but if the Grizzlies are given a full offseason and talk slowly, the Spurs have enough time to figure out how to combine and trade future draft picks to acquire one or two potential prospects. They have draft picks in the lottery, but the lockout is only ten days away. Who would be stupid enough to trade with them at this time?

If other teams are involved, when they know that the Grizzlies are going to trade Gay to the Spurs, it would be good if they don't stumble so that the Grizzlies get less in return.

This is not a game. If you want others to contribute high draft picks, then they will.

Why?

Just like the Cavaliers, this past season, their first-round pick was with the Grizzlies. They didn't mess it up like they did in the original time and space, but worked hard to win. If they didn't get the pick back, they wouldn't be able to win. Don't want the Grizzlies to get the top three picks.

When Sun Ce heard this, he stopped roaring. What should he say?

He feels so bad about his current thoughts. He actually thinks that this kind of management is very good, and Guy has gone to a good place, and he is also happy about it... However, from the perspective of "business", it's such a loss. , Capitalizing on the enemy.

After breathing for a while, Sun Ce said, "Okay, I understand."

Sun Ce was about to hang up the phone when the other end of the phone said quickly: "Noah, wait a minute, we have another deal..."

Sun Ce joked without waiting for the other person to finish his words: "Are you ready to send warmth again?"

"Send warmth...this is too much an adjective."

"Tell me, who are you going to send?"

"We agreed a few days ago that the Mavericks would contact our players, and Mike and the Mavericks reached an intention to join forces."

This time Sun Ce heard Chris Wallace's words and didn't care about whether to send warmth or not. He remembered that the Grizzlies took the initiative to send Gasol and Big Gasol to win the championship. Conley wanted to go to the Jazz, and Gay wanted to Going to partner with Cousins ​​seems to be almost a waste. As long as the current star is no longer in the future plan of the Grizzlies management, they will choose to meet the requirements of these former stars as much as possible.

Sun Ce has calmed down now. He can only choose to accept this situation. He said that sending Guy to the Timberwolves is just an angry talk. Sun Ce also thinks that Guy going to the Spurs is so suitable for his team.

But what does it mean to let the Mavericks have contact with their own players? And it’s “we”, not “someone”!

Sun Ce asked in confusion: "Chris, is our team going to disband?"

"The thing is like this," Chris Wallace explained: "Because of an agreement we made with the Mavericks, we promised them that after the season, except for you, Mark, Paul, Otspeth, and Zach Gram, and Sean, whose contract expired, they could choose a player from our team to trade. In the end, Carlisle chose Mike, and Mike also wanted to go to the Mavericks. He wanted to have more performance opportunities, and the Mavericks agreed. Trade Kidd to us."

Conley for Kidd?

Hearing this deal, Sun Ce felt very strange. He didn't care about the agreement. He didn't lose this time. He had to make some progress compared to next year. Although the improvement was not big, there was definitely improvement. Conley's potential crisis of the right to fight for the ball and Conley's Renewing the contract is definitely not cheap, starting at about 7 to 8 million, and the contract will get bigger and bigger in the future... Kidd is indeed more suitable for their Grizzlies team.

Sun Ce paid a lot of attention to Conley, still relying on the 150 million contract. In the original time and space, he had specially checked that after Conley's rookie contract was over 6 million US dollars, he would renew the contract for 5 years. When the contract expired in 2016, the salary was over 9 million US dollars. Everyone thought he would get a 5-year contract of 70 million or at most 90 million for 5 years, similar to Hassan Whiteside's future contract. Who knew he would get 150 million all of a sudden...

Conley in this time and space has playoff experience and his big heart is revealed. He may be a little more expensive. The renewal contract will probably be similar to Kidd's current one. The trade is okay. Moreover, Kidd is really more suitable for the Grizzlies than Conley in the current situation. At least he does not need to occupy a starting position and has more experience. The key is that Kidd is still stronger at present.

Sun Ce was not surprised that the Mavericks started trading veterans after winning the championship. In his opinion, the Mavericks have no other non-saleable players except Nowitzki and Yao Ming. Yao Ming's non-sale is only for commercial reasons.

It's just...

Sun Ce said: "I don't like playing with Kidd."

Chris Wallace on the other end of the phone thought Sun Ce would continue to criticize, but who knew that this sentence would come out!

"Noah, Kidd is very suitable for us. He can complete your role of leading the rotation lineup in the second lineup. He is more suitable than Mike. With such a substitute, you can play more easily. Although this is a bit too much for Mike, we think that with Kidd here, our point guard line will be stronger." Chris Wallace explained.

"I know, I said I don't like partnering with Kidd... If I have to find a suitable player to lead the second team, I thought of someone, I can try to trick him... No, let him agree to come to us, don't rush to complete the deal, let them wait a few days, give me some time." Sun Ce suddenly thought of the guy who lost his integrity in his later years...

"Okay, that's no problem, who do you want?"

"Help me borrow the boss's plane and arrange the route to Phoenix."

"Watt?"

...

...

"Brother, Phoenix is ​​much more prosperous than I thought! It's not worse than Los Angeles! I thought that the United States was all small villages except New York and Los Angeles."

"Arizona is quite strange. They used all the money in the state to build this city. I lived here for a year before."

"Just like our Beijing?"

"That's about it."

"Is that so, brother, where are we going now?"

"Find Nash and take him to our Mengcun!"

At noon on June 20, Sun Ce and Zu Ge arrived in Phoenix on the team owner's private plane.

Zugoose is already on summer vacation, so Sun Ce has to take her with him. Even if she doesn't have a vacation, he has to let her take a leave, at least she will be happy to see it, so as not to think of the wise operation of her own team.

Although it is full of human touch, from last night to now, the comments from the media and fans that Sun Ce has seen have been mocking their team.

Not only Sun Ce can see how strong the Spurs will be after Gay joins the Spurs, everyone can see it. In people's eyes, it is really the same effect as sending Gasol to the Lakers.

And the timing is different. At that time, the Grizzlies were playing badly to win the draft pick. Now the Grizzlies are second in the West, and the Spurs are first in the West!

Although sending Gay away did not affect the strength shown by the Grizzlies in the season that just ended, it made the already strong Spurs even stronger.

And Sun Ce is more autistic. Let's not talk about Leonard's defense. Leonard almost didn't have the strength of averaging 20 points per game until the 15-16 season, and it took four years to cultivate! The Spurs are still the kind of team that would rather let Leonard use his poor singles to grow year after year. Of course, Leonard was selected as the second defense in his third year and won the best defensive player in his fourth year. His defensive performance is much better than Gay's early years.

However, with Gay's physical condition and playing talent, it is impossible for him to be better than Leonard when he is with Popovich, but he will definitely not be worse. When Sun Ce was a rookie, the team was able to win. Gay defended seriously, and his single defense and assist defense were both excellent.

This almost directly promoted the improvement of the Spurs system, and when the three horses were younger, they got a forward core with enhanced offense and a defense that needs to be improved.

Therefore, Sun Ce should look at Zu Ge more and look at the beautiful little sister to calm down the emotion of wanting to hit someone.

...

Sun Ce had already contacted Nash last night. Sun Ce took a taxi to Nash's house, and Nash was already waiting.

Entering the living room, there was nothing to say. Nash asked directly: "I don't think it's a good thing for you to come to me at this time."

"We are going to trade Conley for Kidd." Sun Ce said very directly. The other party was Nash, so there was no need to beat around the bush.

"The Mavericks traded Kidd for Conley? Are they crazy or are you crazy? But from the lineup, this is a win-win deal. They have an equally stable future point guard core, and you have a better veteran substitute." Nash analyzed, but was confused. What did Sun Ce say this for.

"Steve, you haven't exercised the player option yet? I remember you have the first player option this year." Sun Ce said.

He remembered that Nash's contract was similar to the 4+1+1 contract of James, Wade, and Bosh, and he could opt out of the contract after the first year of the contract.

"Yes, you want me to go to Memphis? If you trade for Kidd, you won't be short of point guards!" Nash asked puzzledly.

"No, I don't want to partner with Kidd. He just won the championship. It feels like we are hugging his thigh. I want to win the championship with you. Do you dare to play together?" Sun Ce's tone was very provocative.

Nash did not answer, but began to analyze: "The Spurs got Gay and successfully strengthened the front line. They only need to find a center to help Duncan, who has lost weight, carry the center. Duncan returns to the power forward position. The Spurs team defense will come back. They will definitely He is the favorite to win next season;

The Mavericks traded Kidd for Conley, avoiding the risk of Kidd's possible degradation. With Yao and Terry, Conley's offensive organizing ability is sufficient, and Nowitzki is in such good shape, they may be the first team to win the championship. Popular;

And you gave away Guy in vain, and now you don’t want Kidd, why do I think you can win the championship? The Lakers wanted me, the Heat wanted me, Kobe and James both contacted me, but I turned them down. "

This is reasonable. After analysis, the Grizzlies are indeed not a good target for Nash, but Sun Ce can be rude: "They can't give you the salary we can give. When we traded Gay, we had an 11 million Transaction exceptions...

And what’s the point of going to the Lakers and Heat? Just like I don't want to partner with Kidd, it would be more fun if you come to our place. How about it? Do you want to play? "

Sun Ce answered the question without following the routine, and Nash asked again without following the routine: "Do you think I am more suitable for you than Kidd?"

Sun Ce responded: "No, Kidd is more suitable, but I don't like him.

Steve, think about it, how wonderful it would be if we could recreate the glory of the dance company together...

That's wrong. We don't need you to defend like Kidd. We have Tony, Paul, Sean and me. Our perimeter defense is good enough. We have a rotation time to play run and gun, and your shooting Ability can lead our team, and I can continue to learn techniques from you. "

As we talked, we somehow got on the right track.

Sun Ce simply and directly explained the Grizzlies' role arrangement for Nash. Nash nodded: "This is very convincing."

Seeing Sun Ce looking at him like that, Nash and Sun Ce looked at each other for a while, and finally lost the battle and said with a smile: "It is really luxurious for our team to have the assist leader last season as a substitute for you."

After hearing Nash's words, Sun Ce knew that it was done!

Sun Ce also laughed and said: "If you want to start, I can try to win the best sixth man..."

"Will the substitute win the regular season MVP? Hahaha, I will play with you this time!"

Nash was joking by letting Sun Ce play as a substitute, but he feels very special now.

He felt like he had returned to the youthful and frivolous days of his youth, and it was the youthful and frivolous nature of a teenager in his mind. He had never been frivolous back then. When he was young, he almost couldn't hit the ball.

Facing Sun Ce, Nash had that young and frivolous feeling that he had fantasized about but didn't dare to do!

…

…

On June 22, 2011, the Grizzlies, who had been ridiculed recently for having water in their heads, once again made a trade!

T.N.T reporter Zach Lowe broke the news that the Grizzlies, Mavericks, Suns, and Hornets have reached a four-way deal!

The Suns sent Steve Nash in exchange for the Hornets' 2014 first-round lottery-protected pick, the Mavericks' 2015 first-round pick, the Mavericks' second-round pick this year, and the Grizzlies' $11 million trade exception. .

The Hornets sent away a 2014 first-round lottery-protected pick and a 2014 second-round pick to acquire Jason Kidd of the Mavericks and Darrell Arthur of the Grizzlies.

The Mavericks sent Jason Kidd, a 2015 first-round pick, this year's second-round pick, and a four-year, $36 million sign-and-trade for Mike Conley.

The Grizzlies sent Mike Conley, Darrell Arthur, and the $11 million trade exception from the Spurs to acquire Steve Nash from the Suns and the Hornets' 2014 second-round pick. .

Seeing that the Grizzlies have another trade, fans feel that they have something to laugh at. The labor negotiations make fans worried, and it will be even more uncomfortable if they don't have some fun.

However, this deal... the Grizzlies didn't suffer a loss!

Not only did he not suffer a loss, Conley exchanged for Nash... this was robbery! Conley is a restricted free agent, so he actually traded Nash back like this?

Unlike Kidd, who no longer has the core strength, Nash was the assist leader in the season that just ended! With Nash's ability to maintain his condition, he is expected to be the favorite to lead the assists next season. The Grizzlies just used Conley to replace Nash?

What are the Suns trying to do?

Moreover, Conley went not to the Suns, but to the Mavericks. The Mavericks traded Kidd for Conley... This is also incredible.

If Kidd is sent out for someone else, maybe the Mavericks will be criticized, but if Conley is replaced, it will be a bloody gain for the Mavericks.

In fact, fans think that the exchange of Conley and Kidd can be said to be a perfect deal between the two teams, and the win-win situation cannot be better.

For other teams, Kidd may be too old, and for other teams, Conley is not suitable to be the core.

But if these two people swap, there will be no problem at all.

Who knew that Kidd was actually sent to the Hornets!

The Grizzlies traded Conley for Nash and Darrell Arthur for a second-round pick.

Fans online said hell, the Grizzlies can actually rob!

However, fans understood the inside story after seeing the follow-up exposure.

The information revealed by the Suns during the interview was that Nash took the initiative to apply for a trade with the Suns and wanted to go to the Grizzlies. The Suns were not opposed to such things. Nash stated that if he was not traded, he might choose to opt out of the contract, and the Suns would not refuse.

The Suns originally had a plan to rebuild, but with Nash, their record would not be that bad.

But they would not take the initiative to abandon Nash. It's just time. They can wait for two or three years.

When Nash had a favorite next home, the Suns did not refuse.

Nash did not go to the Grizzlies directly. He still wanted to leave something for the Suns and chose to trade after executing the player option.

Nash wanted to go to the Grizzlies, which fans can understand, but how did the Mavericks and the Hornets come out?

These two teams also benefited. The biggest concern of the Mavericks next season is that Kidd may age. Now that Conley has been replaced, there is no need to worry about these problems.

The Hornets got the No. 1 pick. Some media reported that the league gave it to them on purpose because the Hornets were finally going to sell it. No matter how the pick came from, they would definitely choose Irving. With Kidd leading the team, it would be perfect. It is not easy to get Kidd with a lottery-protected first-round pick, even at this age.

So, this is a rare win-win deal for all four parties.

But it still puzzled the fans. Sending Conley to the Suns, the Suns couldn't say no. He can't be the core, and there is nothing wrong with being a qualified main point guard. Why should they help the Mavericks and the Hornets?

The media and fans have been investigating for a few days. The Hornets and the Suns don't know why it turned out like this. It was the Grizzlies who proposed it.

The Grizzlies refused to answer such questions, and the Mavericks also kept silent...

At this time, some media pointed out that if there was no 11 million trade exception for trading Gay, there would be no way to trade for Nash now. In terms of strength, compared with the Grizzlies' lineup that just entered the Western Conference Finals, the Grizzlies' strength has not decreased but increased, and Nash has expressed his willingness to accept the change of role... The Grizzlies don't have to force a starting lineup with two point guards, and the rotation may be better.

But some people refuted that the Grizzlies could obviously trade Nash directly with Gay. If Nash's active application for a trade is true, then the Suns would not refuse Gay, a first-class small forward who is less than 25 years old, and the Mavericks and Spurs would not benefit.

As for the mysterious hype of the Grizzlies, from the robbery of trading Gay, to the robbery of trading Conley to Nash and a future second-round pick, there are too many things that the media and fans cannot understand in both transactions. The media keeps trying to understand in depth and the fans want to explore the inside story.

Until the draft was about to start, the inside story was still not explored... Just like the trade of Gasol that year, there were rumors that Jerry West assisted his old club, but in fact Jerry West resigned from the Grizzlies in July 2007, and Gasol was sent to the Lakers in December 2007. At that time, the general manager of the Grizzlies had changed from Jerry West to Chris Wallace. Although Jerry West and Chris Wallace had a so-called master-disciple relationship, this kind of transaction must be agreed by the boss. If it was just a casual trade... McHale sent Garnett to the Celtics and was forced to resign not long after.

This transaction, like that time, no one came out to explain why the transaction took place, becoming another thing without an answer but controversial.