In the Nehu battle, the Lakers fought hard for four quarters and suffered a lot.

The next day, they lost to the Heat in back-to-back games in Miami, losing two games in a row.

However, the Knicks recharged their energy after a day's rest and welcomed the return of Mario Chalmers. Then they faced the Nets at home and achieved another difficult victory.

With their two-game winning streak in early February, the Knicks secured their first place in the league.

As for the trade of the sixth man, there was finally a response after two games.

"Lin, regarding the transaction, the latest progress is this."

The first person to call was Donny Walsh. It was not that he was more proactive than Steve Mills, but that the Wizards he had hired had already had contact with the 76ers, and the general situation was already understood.

The resumption of negotiations is more like a re-statement of their stance, stating that they are very interested in the Wizards' Nick Young and the 76ers' Lou Williams and are still unwilling to give up.

"I contacted the Wizards and 76ers again, and their attitude was still the same as before, and they firmly rejected our trade proposal."

"After that, I contacted the king..."

The Wizards and 76ers just called and asked, and if they refused, they refused. The King is the focus of Donny Walsh's work.

"Jeff Petry told me John Salmons could be traded, but we needed to face competition from the Bulls."

Lin Yu's mind has automatically filtered out the Wizards and 76ers. Now, all he can think about is the John Salmons trade.

The outbreak of John Salmons started last season. The Kings were rebuilt. The first person to benefit was Salmons. He got the main position and averaged 12.5 points per game in the first season.

By this season, the Kings' reconstruction was more thorough, Salmons got more of the ball, and his scoring average surged to 18.3 points per game.

You know, this season is already John Salmons' seventh season in the NBA.

The first few drivers had been on the bench, but until this season broke out, Salmons can be said to be a representative of the late bloomer.

If Lin Yu's memory is correct, John Salmons' peak will start from this season and last for two or three seasons.

As for the Kings, Salmons, who is almost 30 years old, has little potential. Naturally, they will not refuse the outside world's purchase of Salmons as they are rebuilding.

What's more, the Kings also have problems that need to be solved, namely: they need to solve the luxury tax problem.

Although they are already in a state of reconstruction, the Kings' salary is full. They have Brad Miller with a big contract of 12 million US dollars, Kevin Martin and Kenny Thomas with more than 8 million, and Bowen with more than 6 million.

Bea Jackson, Mickey Moore, Benno Udrih and John Salmons, who all have more than 5 million dollars, have a total salary of more than 1 million dollars above the luxury tax line.

This means that they have to pay taxes on the excess portion, and the reason why they are willing to trade Salmons is to save this tax.

"Tell me about the Bulls competition."

In fact, at this point, everything becomes clear. Whether the Knicks can get John Salmons depends entirely on the Bulls' bid.

"The Bulls' focus is Brad Miller, and their core bargaining chip is Andre Nocioni, plus Drew Gooden and Cedric Simmons as additions..."

Andrea Nocioni averaged 10 points and 4 rebounds per game this season, which is good data, but he still has a four-year contract worth a total of US$28.5 million in the future.

Drew Gooden also averaged 13 points and 8 rebounds per game, but he has been suffering from injuries recently and is in a sharp decline stage, but his contract expires this year.

Cedric Simmons has almost no playing time, so let’s not mention it.

Overall, the Bulls' bargaining chip was not outstanding. They basically captured the king's desire to avoid taxes, and it was considered a robbery.

If the Bulls can rob, that means the Knicks can also rob.

"Then talk to them."

Lin Yu's words were tantamount to a decision.

Donnie Walsh continued: "We are already talking. The Kings hope that we can take over Brad Miller's contract..."

With the addition of Brad Miller, Lin Yu started thinking again.

Brad Miller's style is characterized by offensive support and is not the starting center that the Knicks need. And his contract has two years left, which is close to US$12 million this year and more than US$12 million next year.

If they take over Brad Miller, the first thing the Knicks need to consider is how to deal with Brad Miller.

"Brad Miller, are there any other players you would like to have?"

"Yes, yes, the Bulls are very interested in Brad Miller, and their interest in John Salmons is only incidental."

"So, if it turns out to be Brad Miller, what's the King's asking price?"

Donnie Walsh was silent for a while and gave the result: "Shannon Brown plus Mario Chalmers, Gakwame Brown, if salary balance is needed, we also need to get rid of Steven Hunter.

But the Kings are unwilling to take over Steven Hunter because they want to avoid taxes."

"In other words, we have to find a third party to balance the salary?"

"That's right."

On the phone, Lin Yu was already shaking his head. This deal seemed easy to complete, but in fact it was already a bit of a deadlock.

To take over Brad Miller, he has to find a new home, and he also has to find a third party to send Steven Hunter away.

Lin Yu thought for a moment and decided to continue the deal: "Then find a third party to handle Brad Miller and Steven Hunter at the same time."

"Ok, let me look for it."

Donnie Walsh didn't say anything. After all, it's not that easy to find a third party at this time and take out a contract worth up to 15 million US dollars combined.

After discussing the John Salmons deal, Lin Yu did not hang up the phone and continued to ask: "What do the Suns and Warriors say about the remaining Pistons?"

"I gave those to Steve."

"Steve?" Lin Yu frowned. There was no news from Steve Mills yet. He was either perfunctory, or he had some suspicions and was in the wrangling stage.

But he is not in a hurry. Anyway, now, as long as he is willing, the John Salmons transaction can be completed immediately. At least, the Knicks already have a spare tire.

The regular season in February is still going on, and with Chalmers' return, the Knicks' backline crisis has been resolved.

This was quickly reflected on the court. After defeating the Nets, the Knicks went to the away game to challenge the Heat and won an easy victory that they had not seen in a long time.

After this game, Steve Mills, who had not heard from him, finally called Lin Yu.

"Lin, it's about the transaction..."

"I contacted the Pistons first. They are open to the Allen Iverson trade..."

Iverson's toxic attributes were amplified by the Pistons, who were swinging between rebuilding or not rebuilding, and conflicts between him and Richard Hamilton, the Pistons management, and the Pistons coaching staff had begun to erupt.

The Pistons are no longer willing to keep Iverson. Pistons coach Michael Curry even expressed his view very implicitly in an interview that Rodney Stuckey, who is also a combo guard, is the future.

Basically, it is equivalent to telling everyone that Iverson is not the future of the Pistons and that he will leave after this year's contract expires.

"What's their asking price?"

"Kwame Brown, Nazr Mohammed and Shannon Brown, three for one, you know, Lin, AI's contract is too big, this offer is basically sealed."

For the Pistons, they now need a center to free Rasheed Wallace and allow Tianzun to return to the fourth position.

Therefore, they directly asked for the old general Nazr Mohammed.

As for Kwame Brown, the 10 million contract is purely used to balance the salary. It would be impossible without him.

On the other side of the phone, Lin Yu shook his head: "No, Steve, Nazir can't be given to them. Let's change it to Chris Wilcox. We can try it with them and we should be able to succeed."

The Pistons still want to sell Iverson. If they can get Kwame Brown and Shannon Brown, a quasi-starting-level center and a potential combo guard, it will be considered a loss stop for them.

After all, Chauncey performed well with the Nuggets in the Western Conference, while Iverson had too many mistakes and a huge decline, which has made Joe Dumars very distressed.

Joe Dumars has never been a hesitant person. It can be seen from the fact that he let go of big money to save money, sent Billups away for changes, and even cultivated Rodney Stuckey for reconstruction.

, he is a decisive person.

It's just that sometimes, if you are too decisive, you will always make mistakes in judgment.

"The Suns are also looking for a deal, but their focus is on Shaq."

"Shaq?"

Lin Yu suddenly became interested. If it was Shaq, then the sixth man transaction could be temporarily stopped.

"We have no chance in multi-party transactions."

"Tell me more specifically."

Although Steve Mills emphasized that the Knicks had no chance, Lin Yu still wanted to know more about it in detail.

"To be specific, the Suns will send the Sharks to the Cavaliers, and the Cavaliers will bid Ben and Anderson Varejao, Daniel Gibson, who just renewed his contract in the summer, and this season's rookie J.J. Hickson, and two first-rounders.

, the Suns will get Varejao, Daniel Gibson and Hickson, and in the first round, Ben will return to Detroit, and the Suns will get an expired contract from Detroit..."

Lin Yu frowned, he understood what Steve Mills meant when he said there was no chance.

The Suns' asking price is too high, and indeed, although the Suns' record is not good, at least the Sharks still average 17.8 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, and their attendance rate this season is not low.

Now, the Suns have to deal with the Sharks and get Varejao, who averaged 8+8 per game this season, and Gibson, who has good potential, as well as an expiring contract and a first-rounder.

The Knicks obviously can't afford such a bargaining chip, at least they can't afford two first-rounders.

For the Cavaliers, they are also gambling.

This season, their performance has been suppressed by the Knicks. Even the Celtics, who have declined in comparison, are at a disadvantage. They even have no advantage against the newly emerged Magic.

Faced with this situation, Danny Ferry has made a desperate move.

There was little chance of acquiring Shaq, and Lin Yu was not prepared to learn more. Anyway, he only needed to know that the Cavaliers trading for Shaq would not pose a threat to the Knicks, and that was enough.
To be continued...