Chapter 100 The king changed hands and the plan to poach Shen Fei!
After defeating the Thunder, the Rockets have achieved an astonishing 11 consecutive victories.
However, head coach Mark Jackson also saw the fatigue of several core players during the game.
Therefore, after discussing with Shen Fei, he decided to let all the players in the starting lineup except George take one game off.
After all, the Rockets' goal this year is to win the championship, not to pursue regular season results.
Two days later, they will be at home against the Sacramento Kings.
............
This year's Kings team is extremely turbulent.
But anyone with a discerning eye knows that they brought this upon themselves.
Originally, the Kings selected a talented newcomer in 2009 - Tyreke Evans.
This tall point guard with both physical and technical skills was able to average 20.5, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game in his debut season.
That year, Evans beat Curry to become the Rookie of the Year.
This also makes many fans believe that the Kings have found the core of the team and the future is bright.
But the next season, the Kings management and coaching staff began their troublesome operations.
They feel that Evans is tall and can play the No. 2 or even No. 3 position.
General Manager Carrasco even announced that the Kings will build Evans into the next James!
But, contrary to expectations...
In his second season, after being pushed to the shooting guard position, Evans showed obvious discomfort and his data declined across the board.
The reason is that he originally had strength and size advantages in the point guard position, but when he moved to the 2nd position, these advantages were minimal.
In addition, Evans is not very fast, so he becomes an ordinary starting-level shooting guard.
According to normal people's thinking, what the Kings should do at this time is to bring order to the chaos and let Evans return to the No. 1 position.
But as the saying goes, there is only the wrong name, not the wrong nickname.
The Kings’ “rookie black hole” nickname is not for nothing!
Carrasco slapped his thigh and decided to push Evans to the small forward position.
As a result, Evans' data continued to decline this season, and the Kings' record also plummeted.
They have played 10 games so far and they have only won 3 games.
However, this is not the worst!
The Kings' owners, the Maloof brothers, purchased the team in 1999.
After several years of operation, they reached their peak in 2002 and reached the Western Conference Finals. However, they lost to the Lakers after seven games, and they fell into a trough after that.
This also gave the Maloof brothers the idea of stopping their losses and leaving.
They once wanted to move their home stadium to wealthy Las Vegas, and later they wanted to sell the team to the owners of Seattle.
But these ideas, without exception, have not been approved by the NBA.
In the past two years, the Maloof brothers have made many mistakes in their other business decisions, resulting in a disruption in capital flow.
At this time, they were on the verge of bankruptcy and had to sell the Kings in order to obtain sufficient cash flow.
To put it simply, the current Kings not only have a poor record, but the young core of the team cannot be cultivated, and even the boss needs to be replaced.
The person who is about to acquire the King is an IT tycoon from India - Vivek Ranadive.
This business tycoon, who is worth as much as 8 billion US dollars, decided to expand his business into the sports circle.
The Kings, which has a long history, is his touchstone!
At this time, he was in a mansion in San Francisco, discussing with a group of think tanks his plans to acquire the team.
As a self-made business tycoon, Ranadive knows very well that professional matters should be left to professionals.
He likes basketball, but at best he is just a fan.
Ranadive has no idea how to manage the team and lead the Kings to glory.
But he knows that the current team management cannot be reused.
Since losing to the Western Conference Finals in 2002, the Kings have not made the playoffs in 18 years.
A good hand but a poor hand shows the incompetence of the management.
"Now we must first find an excellent general manager to shoulder the burden of the team."
Ranadive said seriously.
Immediately, a group of think tanks began to discuss.
Everyone spoke to me and made many suggestions.
Among the many names, a young man who was also Asian aroused Ranadive's strong interest.
"This Shen Fei..."
"Dong dong dong!"
As soon as Ranadive spoke, there was a knock on the door.
The door opened, and a young woman walked in vigorously.
Her shawl-length hair was black and thick, with natural and beautiful curls, and her big eyes were sparkling. She said with a hint of anger: "Dad, how many times have I told you that you need to call me to discuss team matters, and you are here again." forget!"
"It's my fault."
"Just now the housekeeper said you were resting, so I didn't disturb you. I originally planned to tell you the outcome of the discussion."
Ranadive quickly reassured her that he had always been very doting on his daughter.
"Miss Ajiali, good afternoon."
All the staff members greeted the woman one after another.
After all, this is the apple of the boss' eye.
"Okay~ If I fall asleep next time, just wake me up. The team's affairs are more important than rest."
Ajiali was no longer angry and smiled.
Her facial features have both the softness of the East and the depth of Europe and America, which makes people marvel at the "wonderful craftsmanship" of nature.
Coupled with the temperament of a child of a wealthy family, Ajiali clearly had no airs at all, but the staff present did not dare to look directly at her.
"knew."
Ranadive said with a smile.
"By the way, I just heard that you were discussing the general manager of the team?"
Ajiali asked.
"Yeah. I think it's good to have a young Asian manager."
"Kleiza, please retrieve Shen Fei's information."
Ranadive said to a staff member on the side.
Immediately, part of Shen Fei's information appeared on the laptop screen.
Ajiali browsed it carefully.
"He took over as the general manager of the Rockets in June 2010. One week after taking office, he completed his first transaction, acquiring the No. 10 pick in the first round and the No. 10 pick in the second round from the Pacers."
"In the draft a few days later, he used the two picks to select Paul George and Lance Stephenson, and signed two undrafted players - Jeremy Lin and Ish Smith. "
"Signed Tracy McGrady, Tucker, and Tony Allen in free agency in July."
"Trade with the Clippers in October to acquire Blake Griffin."
...
The "great achievements" one after another made Ajiali more and more surprised.
She had also seen some news about Shen Fei on Twitter before.
However, there are mixed reviews of Shen Fei on social media. Ajiali only thinks that he is a very controversial general manager.
But now, with this "report card" of several months before her eyes, she couldn't help but be shocked by this young manager's ability.
"The current core lineup of the Rockets, except for Yao Ming, is basically signed by him."
Ajiali commented.
"That's right."
"It took him less than half a year to completely transform the Rockets."
"Last year the Rockets were shut out of the playoffs, but now they are firmly at the top of the league. Such progress is really terrifying."
Ranadive sighed.
"You mean... you want to invite him to be our new general manager?"
Ajiali asked curiously.
Ranadive nodded noncommittally: "However, it should be quite difficult to recruit such talents."
"However, once we successfully poach him, he will definitely help us quickly improve the team's strength."
Ajiali's bright eyes flashed and she said excitedly.
"Indeed."
"It just so happens that the Kings will play a game with the Rockets in two days. I plan to see in person who this Shen Fei is."