Many fans were confused when they learned about the Bulls' slutty moves.
Just like these fans can't understand how the 78-win Bulls can have such a hard time beating the Lakers.
Lu Yu knew all this clearly.
And the two are also causally related.
It was because the Bulls had such a hard time beating the Lakers in the Finals that Krause felt that Lu Yu was nothing more than that.
In the eyes of many people, the Lakers are not strong, especially this Lakers, which looks like a paper tiger. Malone and Payton are too old to move forward, and O'Neal and Kobe are having trouble.
But many people have forgotten how much Kobe has improved in the past two seasons.
In Lu Yu's previous life, the Lakers faced more problems. Even Kobe was affected by the Eagle County incident, but even so, the Lakers still reached the finals.
Just because they lost to the Pistons doesn't mean this Lakers team isn't strong.
The Lakers had continuous injury problems that season, which also affected the strength of the Lakers. Furthermore, although the Pistons were ordinary, they were not weak.
As for the Lakers, who will join the Bulls in the Finals, not only do they have no injury problems, but there are also a lot less conflicts between players.
It's just that they have been holding back, waiting to show their edge when they meet the Bulls in the finals.
So many people think this Lakers are not strong.
Among them is Bulls general manager Krause.
Of course, this is not the reason why he gave Lu Yu a non-maximum salary contract.
But Lu Yu knows that Krause is not the only general manager in the league who is constantly making tricks. In his previous life, the Grizzlies even gave Gasol to the Lakers for free. The Suns simply refused to give Ayton the maximum salary and waited until he walked.
The buyer made an offer and then matched it, which made Ayton fool around all season.
League general managers are human beings, and they make mistakes.
How many owners in the league are like Celtics general manager Ainge who never suffers?
After figuring this out, Lu Yu began his counterattack.
"I feel insulted. Jerry should give me the maximum salary. He should drive a truck to deliver the money to me. That's it. I have never heard of regular season MVP, Finals MVP, leading the team to the championship.
Players can’t get the maximum salary, it’s ridiculous.” Lu Yu called Jenny Helen to arrange an exclusive interview, and he said during the interview.
The next day, Klaus responded to Lu Yu's words.
"Lu, I understand how you feel, but you have to know that your worth is even higher than that of the team owner. There is no need for you to deprive our teammates of adequate salaries for millions of dollars."
In a word, if you are so rich, why do you need such a high salary?
Pure moral kidnapping.
Lu Yu smiled. He directly asked Snoopy to release the news. This time it was no longer a small matter like Jenny Helen, but using his own media empire. Lu Yu's sports websites and magazines had already occupied
A quarter of the U.S. market share.
"I will never agree to an early contract extension with the Bulls. If Krause insists on his approach, then he can choose to trade me out."
Will Klaus trade Lu Yu?
He can do some cool things, but he's not really stupid.
Just like when he squeezed Jordan for so many years, until Jordan fought back, he finally gave him a big contract with a low eyebrow.
So when Lu Yu became tough, he immediately softened.
"Lu, you understand I don't mean that. We can still sit down and discuss it."
Then……
There's no after that.
Krause decided to wait until next year to wait for offers from other teams. He could choose to match. Anyway, Lu Yu will be a Bulls player, at least for a few more years.
On June 25, the 2004 NBA Draft was held at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York, USA.
Lu Yu did not go back, but watched the draft live broadcast on Harris' computer in the training hall.
The familiar picture reappeared, David Stern wearing glasses announced the start of the draft.
The Orlando Magic won the No. 1 pick. From the Magic's perspective, their choices mainly focused on two people, one was Howard and the other was Emeka Okafor of the University of Connecticut. After four years in college
Through training, Okafor is obviously more mature, and more importantly, he has won an NCAA championship. However, the Magic value Howard's rising potential more, and they are deeply impressed by the maturity shown by this big boy on the court.
David Stern opened the envelope and read: "The Orlando Magic select...Dwight Howard from Atlanta!"
Another top pick in the high school draft.
Howard became one of three high school draft picks in NBA history, the other two being Kwame Brown in 2001 and LeBron James in 2003.
Howard stood up, as excited as a child.
Well...he was just a child.
The Charlotte Bobcats followed up with the No. 2 pick by selecting Emeka Okafor.
When Lu Yu saw Okafor, he thought of Yao Ming. Okafor was also a player who was ruined because of weight gain...
Then the Clippers drafted Livingston.
If he hadn't broken his leg, he would have grown into the leader of the Clippers.
The Wizards drafted Devin Harris.
A man as fast as lightning.
The Hawks drafted Ben Gordon, the Raptors drafted Luol Deng...
Lu Yu did not give Klaus any advice this time because he was no longer willing to cooperate with a general manager like Klaus. Either he would leave the Bulls or Klaus would leave. There was no discussion.
Originally, apart from Howard, there were no particularly outstanding players in this draft.
But there is actually a good player among the second-round picks, and that is Ariza. Perhaps Ariza's role is not that obvious in this era, but if it is put into the small ball era, Ariza is definitely a top 3D player.
Lu Yu turned off the computer. Except for a few occasional deviations, the ownership of other players was not much different from what he remembered.
The most important thing is that as the top player in the current league, he is far less interested in the draft than he was in the previous two seasons.
Unless there is a player he really likes participating in the draft, even watching the draft will be boring.
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The sound of blacksmithing kept coming from the training hall. Wang Fei, who was in charge of counting, glanced at the number 137 on the counter in his hand and frowned slightly. What happened to Lu Yu?
It’s been so long since I trained 500 shots, and I’ve only made 137.
Wang Fei thought of the recent uproar over the contract between Lu Yu and the Bulls, and guessed that Lu Yu might be worried about the contract renewal.
It seems that even top players are still commodities in the NBA...
Finally, the 500-shot training session was over. Lu Yu walked to the sidelines, wiped his sweat, and asked Yao Ming, who was sitting next to him: "What's the date today?"
"No. 31." Yao Ming replied.
The Chinese men's basketball team has been training continuously and playing warm-up matches during this period, and almost lost track of time.
"That should be soon." Lu Yu said.
Yao Ming was stunned for a moment, what's so fast?
Suddenly, he thought of the two news he had seen recently. One was that O'Neal was preparing to travel east, and the other was... that the owner of the Bulls was preparing to sell the team.
Two days later, the NBA exploded.
The headlines of all major sports media in the world are the words "Shark Travels East". The Miami Heat used Caron Butler, Lamar Odom, Grant, a first-rounder and a second-rounder to defeat Shaq with a total of five chips.
O'Neal arrived in Miami Beach from Los Angeles, and the next day the Lakers official website announced that they had reached a seven-year, 137 million super contract extension with Kobe, so the "OK Group separation" incident that had been entangled for a month was finally over!
This transaction occurred half a month earlier than Lu Yu's previous life.
It also shows that the Lakers are not so entangled, they have already made their own choice.
When it comes to the separation of the OK group, many fans' inherent thinking is that Kobe grew up and seized power, and O'Neal was abandoned by the Lakers as he aged. In fact, O'Neal just turned 32 in the summer of 2004. No matter how you look at this age, he still has three years of peak life, and a star like the Sharks
Only a fool would give up in vain, so the real reason is that the Lakers' unwillingness to pay the luxury tax besides Kobe is the culprit!
Many fans believe that Kobe forced O'Neal away!
Although the Lakers are located in the Los Angeles metropolis, the Buss family, the owner of the Lakers, is actually not rich. You can understand it by looking at the Lakers' consistent operations. The Lakers would rather study the rules to the extreme, even if they sign seven or eight minimum-salary players, they are unwilling to break through.
That luxury tax line.
The same is true this time. O'Neal's contract expires in 2006 and he has a player option in 2005, and Kobe's contract expires in 2005 and he has a player option in 2004. According to the "Bird Clause", both of them are qualified to sign a super maximum salary, and this year
The salary cap is only US$43.84 million. If both players renew their contracts with the maximum salary, the luxury tax paid by the Lakers will be truly astronomical!
The Lakers signed a bunch of minimum salary to avoid taxes!
So the first task of the Lakers this summer is to persuade O'Neal to cut his salary. After all, Kobe has a short service life. After signing a 7-year, 137 million contract, Kobe's starting salary in the first year was only 14 million, while O'Neal had already reached 24.75 million US dollars in 2004.
, if O'Neal can accept a smaller contract, no matter how serious the conflict between him and Kobe is, the Lakers management will find ways to mediate it.
Of course, this request was rejected by O'Neal without hesitation. Then O'Neal went to Miami, where the Miami Heat gave him a five-year, $100 million contract extension!
After the Lakers released the news of trading O'Neal, almost all teams in the league sent offers. Jim Buss, the son of the old Buss, said this in an interview: "We told Shaq that we are very grateful for your contribution to this team."
The contribution brought by the city, but you know we will not leave you in the West, so you can choose any of these teams in the East, and we will meet all your requirements!"
We can't leave you in the west. Go to the east and harm Lu Yu!
This sentence definitely means to whitewash oneself, but it is true that they cannot stay in the West. The Grizzlies offer really good chips, Pau Gasol, Mike Miller, Jason Williams and some draft picks.
, this bargaining chip is definitely better than the Heat's, but the Lakers still refused!
The Lakers almost traded for Gasol this year.
In addition to the Heat, the Wizards' offer in the Eastern Conference was also very competitive, but in the end it was Pat Riley who attracted O'Neal.
A reporter asked O'Neal what attracted him to choose the Heat. O'Neal said this: "Pat Riley came to me at that time, and I asked him will you return to the court to coach? He said there will be that moment, and then I
It’s coming!”
Just like that, the first big trade of the offseason was completed.
O'Neal travels east!
Of course, there are other deals that are quite big, but they pale in comparison to O'Neal.
For example, Tracy McGrady's transaction.
The Magic and the Rockets reached a deal, and the Magic traded Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Gaines to the Rockets in exchange for Francis, Mobley and Cato.
None of this is important.
Immediately afterwards, another big news broke out. A consortium led by Jessica Alba appeared out of nowhere and purchased the Chicago Bulls for US$600 million.
How is it possible that the team that won two consecutive championships was acquired?
No owner is stupid enough to sell a championship team unless... the other party gives too much.
You must know that in 2000, Cuban bought the Mavericks for only 280 million US dollars, and in Lu Yu's previous life, in 2010, Lacob bought the Warriors for only 450 million US dollars.
Today's Bulls are considered one of the teams with the highest market value in the NBA. Due to their geographical location, the Lakers' market value is slightly higher than that of the Bulls, only 400 million.
Lu Yu owned Yao Ming's Rockets in his previous life, and until Yao Ming retired, the market value never exceeded 500 million.
The Bulls boss originally didn't want to sell, but after thinking about it, his annual revenue seemed to be a lot, but he didn't have much money in his pocket. In the end, he could only earn more than 500 million with tears and blood.
When he bought the Bulls, he only spent 16 million.
David Stern was recently troubled by the news about the Bulls contract extension. After he met and talked with Jessica Alba, he also agreed to Jessica Alba joining the Bulls.
.
Buying a team in the NBA is a complicated matter.
The team belongs to the owner's assets, and the owner has the right to sell his assets. However, in the NBA, you can't just sell it if you want. The NBA has relevant procedures and regulations, and the team must be sold in accordance with the rules.
The 30 teams in the NBA are a whole, and they all have interests with each other. Because it involves the interests of the league as a whole, one boss cannot make the decision.
The Board of Governors, composed of team owners, has the power to make important decisions about the league.
According to regulations, the transfer of any NBA team must be approved by the Board of Governors. In addition to the owner of the selling team, at least 22 owners of the other 29 teams must vote in favor before the team can be put on the shelf.
Selling the team cannot be done casually, and the value of the team needs to be evaluated by the NBA's specialized financial committee.
Of course, the appraised value is not the final sale price.
In Lu Yu's previous life, the Rockets were valued at US$1.65 billion, and the final sale price was US$2.2 billion. The difference was mainly due to taxes, operational value-added, equity premium, etc.
Therefore, Bulls sold for 600 million this time, which is 200 million higher than the market value. In fact, the normal selling price should be around 500 million. With an extra 100 million, the boss of Bulls certainly wants to sell.
You know, the Eagles and Suns have also changed owners. The Eagles sold for only 300 million, while the Suns sold for 400 million, which is much worse than the Bulls.
It’s just that many people are surprised that they have never heard of this woman named Jessica Alba?
