Chapter 398 Public opinion explodes, the Rocket Dynasty begins!
"Come on, the difference between us and the Celtics now is the draft pick."
"They feel that Ray Allen is still young and can maintain a good state for at least 2-3 years, so they asked us for two first-round picks, and they are unprotected first-round picks."
"But Pat (Riley) does not accept such a plan, and we are still in a stalemate."
Spo replied.
"I definitely can't agree to this."
"We got Dwight, but we only gave away two first-round picks."
"Thunder does still have a lot of gas, but the Celtics really have their mouths open."
Wade shook his head and said.
Howard was standing aside, looking a little embarrassed.
The Heat were able to acquire him with such a small bargaining chip, and Howard himself made a lot of efforts.
First, he has been playing in Orlando since his rookie season.
Howard has been working hard to help the team grow step by step from a weakling in the Eastern Conference to a strong team that reaches the finals.
The Magic recognized his efforts and were willing to let him go.
Secondly, Howard's desire to leave the team is very strong.
The Rockets' strength leads the league, leaving him with no hope of winning a championship with the Magic.
Therefore, Howard made it clear to the Magic management that he is willing to fulfill the remaining contract but will not renew it.
Magic executives are not fools either.
They know that with the team's current configuration, it is impossible to compete with strong teams such as the Rockets and Heat in the short term.
Forcing Howard to stay is nothing more than selling tickets for two more years.
When Warcraft's contract expires and he leaves as a free agent, the Magic team returns to before liberation overnight!
It's better to take action in advance, at least to get back some valuable assets.
Combining the above two points, the Heat can trade for Howard so easily.
But now, they want to repeat the old trick and acquire Ray Allen at an extremely low price. Naturally, the Celtics will not agree.
After all, the Celtics just won the championship two years ago and are not in a hurry to win the championship now.
Even if there is no hope of winning this season due to Garnett's retirement, the Celtics still have enough patience to wait for the next chance to compete for the championship.
Moreover, the Celtics are not worried about Ray Allen leaving when his contract expires.
The rookie they selected this year - Avery Bradley, is good both offensively and defensively, with a tough style of play, and can completely replace Junzi Lei in the future.
To sum up, if the Celtics are not given enough bargaining chips, it is impossible for them to let him go!
Howard can see this, and James and Wade are naturally very clear about this.
"We don't have time to wait! The trade deadline is here in less than two weeks."
James spoke.
time does not wait.
After the trade deadline, it will be difficult to make reinforcements!
The Celtics grasped this point and dared to ask for huge amounts of money.
"The last time the Heat won the championship, they paid a huge price and traded for Shaq (O'Neal) from the Lakers."
"Now that our configuration is very strong, we are just missing the last piece of the puzzle!"
"Coach, I hope you can communicate with the management."
"Sometimes...it's more important to grasp the present than to place hope on an illusory future!"
James said seriously.
When Wade and Howard heard this, they both nodded silently.
"Okay, I'll go talk to Pat early tomorrow morning."
"I believe he will also support us."
"Anyway, he came up with our slogan this season."
Si Bo said with a smile.
The three giants were stunned for a moment when they heard this, and then looked at each other and smiled.
The Heat’s slogan this season is – allin!
............
Two flowers bloom, one on each side.
As the fans left the stadium one after another, the Toyota Center finally became quiet.
Shen Fei led the main force into the home team's locker room.
Originally, he wanted to appear suddenly and give the team members a surprise.
But I don't know who leaked the news. The moment Shen Fei stepped into the room, all kinds of champagne was sprayed at him!
The players laughed, surrounded the Asian youths, and celebrated happily.
Shen Fei is not the kind of person to sit still.
He is also very happy that the team can create history.
After receiving a bottle of champagne from Mark Jackson, Shen Fei started "spraying" each other with his teammates.
The celebration lasted for about 5 minutes before Shen Fei raised his hand to ask everyone to pause.
"I have a few words to say to you."
"First, today's victory is very important! So... each person will receive a bonus of 1 million US dollars! It will be credited to everyone's cards one after another within this week."
"second..."
"Roar!!!"
As soon as Shen Fei finished speaking, the scene was filled with excited howls.
He smiled and waited for the players to finish cheering before continuing:
"Second, I customized a watch for everyone. I hope everyone likes it."
After saying that, Shen Fei waved, and the assistant on the side distributed the watches to the players present one by one.
The players picked up the gift boxes and took a look...
Good guy, it turned out to be a Richard Mille diamond watch!
Every NBA player is either rich or expensive. Naturally, he knows that any watch from this brand is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"Boss, are you too generous?!"
"After all, that's 20 million yuan!"
Lori said in surprise.
"Boss, is your family in need of bodyguards? I think I can still work a part-time job."
Tony Allen joked.
"Manager, you are spending too much money. In fact, you just need to express your intention."
"Honest" Dayao said.
He said this for his teammates.
Shen Fei smiled slightly and said lightly: "You are worth it."
As soon as he said this, the locker room burst into warm applause again.
"Finally...tonight, you are the creators of history. I hope that in the future you will also become the founders of the Rockets dynasty."
"Our glory has just begun!"
"Keep working hard, this season's championship will definitely belong to Houston!"
Saying that, Shen Fei stretched out his right fist.
This kind of occasion is perfect for getting some chicken blood.
Naturally, Shenfei will not miss this good opportunity to empower its employees!
The Rockets generals responded immediately and raised their right hands together.
"let''sgorockets!"
Mark Jackson took the lead in shouting.
"let''sgorockets!!!"
The players responded in unison.
............
At the same time, discussions about the Rockets are in full swing on major social media.
Naturally, the first to bear the brunt are Rockets fans:
"Ten years of fire honey, here uninvited! I took a special day off today and stayed in front of the TV just to watch the Rockets break the record. This day off is not in vain!"
"Witness history! Today, we have become the holders of the longest winning streak in league history. In the future, we will also hit the Bulls' regular season win record!"
"I just want to ask - who else! Who is there!"
"Who can stop our Rockets? I looked at the schedule. The next few opponents are not strong, and it looks like the winning streak will last for a long time! It can't be the Bobcats that end us, right? Hahaha?"
...
The fans expressed their joy with every word they spoke to each other.
And ESPN's famous commentator, A-Smith, posted a tweet.
The tweet read:
"Yesterday when I was preparing game materials, I accidentally turned over last year's Rockets team roster."
"I was surprised to find that since Shen Fei took over as general manager of the Rockets, only Yao Ming is still on the team. The rest of the players, whether they are starters or substitutes, have all been cleared and left the team."
"In other words, this season's Rockets can be said to be a brand new fleet built by Shen Fei!"
"Based on my humble knowledge, there is no other team manager in the history of NBA who can achieve such great achievements!"
As soon as this tweet was sent out, it quickly attracted a large number of comments from fans.
Regardless of whether he is a Rockets fan or not, the comments section is full of praise for Shen Fei.
It can be said that this young Asian boss has conquered the hearts of all beautiful Chinese fans.
What’s even more interesting is that the next morning, Shen Fei received a call again from Lampard, Under Armor’s marketing manager.
Lampard said excitedly that after the Rockets broke the record, Curry and George's signature shoes ushered in another wave of purchases.
As soon as U.S. stocks opened this morning, Under Armor's stock price rose again by 3%.
You know, today's stock market can be described as "green grassland".
The existence of Under Armor can be called a little red among the green.
"Boss, do you think we will become the number one sports brand in the NBA?"
Lampard asked at the end of the call.
“Just this year!”
Shen Fei replied confidently.
Two days later, the unstoppable Rockets faced their next opponent-the Memphis Grizzlies at the Toyota Center.
Before the game, Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins clearly expressed his intention to win.
There are two reasons.
First, the Rockets are creating new history. No team wants to be the backdrop, and naturally the Grizzlies do the same.
Second, halfway through the season, the Grizzlies are ranked eighth in the Western Conference.
But the ninth-place Suns are only 1 game behind them.
Every next game is related to the Grizzlies' playoff spot.
Therefore, both emotionally and rationally, they all have reasons to win tonight!
As for the Rockets, the players naturally hope to continue to expand their winning streak.
A war is about to break out!
However, the competition was not as intense as expected.
As soon as the Rockets came up, they showed what it means to be a master of kings!
It was Yao Ming who took the lead.
Facing the defense of Marc Gasol, the 25-year-old center from the Bullfighting Nation, Dayao hit a hard shot under the basket and a fadeaway mid-range shot.
Subsequently, McGrady and Curry also successively showed their respective offensive talents.
First, T-Mac received the pass at the top of the key and hit Rudy Gay for a three-pointer.
Then, Curry suddenly used a cold arrow in the counterattack and hit a super long three-pointer.
In just three minutes, the Rockets hit a 10-0 shock wave!
This dream start directly caused the Grizzlies coach to call a timeout.
But the Rockets' momentum was not interrupted by the pause.
After the game restarted, George completed the steal on the defensive end.
Then, he carried the ball through half court and passed the ball back to Curry.
The cute god immediately fought with Griffin at a 45-degree angle on the left.
With the intimidation of shooting, Curry attracted the attention of two Grizzlies players.
Griffin took the opportunity to suddenly cut inside.
Curry saw this, flicked his wrist, and delivered the ball to Lifen with a precise pass.
The next moment, the white monster comes out of the cage!
"bang!"
A stunning flat-frame dunk helped the Rockets continue to expand their lead.
And this strong start also directly affected the confidence of the Grizzlies generals.
In subsequent games, they also tried to counterattack, but they did not achieve very good results.
As time went by, the score difference between the two teams continued to increase.
At the end of the third quarter, the Rockets' lead had reached 25 points!
What completely defeated the Grizzlies was Curry's magical operation.
In the last minute, the Grizzlies' offensive round.
Rudy Gay singled out George and made a pull-up jumper from the corner...
"Duang!"
The ball hit the side of the basket and bounced out.
Ben Wallace blocked Randolph behind him, and Curry had quick eyes and quick hands to collect the rebound.
Then he will start to speed up and launch a counterattack.
Conley saw this and hurried forward, trying to block Curry's way.
After all, the Grizzlies have been beaten hard by the Rockets' fast break in this game.
But Curry was very fast, and Conley didn't stop him at the first time.
Seeing that the opponent was about to walk away, Conley pulled Curry from behind in desperation.
Rockets No. 30 suddenly staggered and lost its center of gravity.
But he did not stop moving, but when the referee's whistle sounded, he threw the ball with one hand with his right hand...
This is a shot from the Rockets half court!
However, due to the long distance, neither fans nor Grizzlies players paid much attention.
It wasn't until the basketball drew a weird arc and got closer and closer to the basket that they realized something was wrong!
"No..."
Conley murmured to himself, already having an ominous premonition in his heart.
The audience at the scene also raised their hands and began to expect a miracle to happen!
...
...
The basketball seems to have been flying in the air for a century.
"Bang~"
"Shua~"
Finally, the ball hit the backboard squarely and bounced into the net!
"wow~"
"omg, this ball can actually be scored????"
“This is skyfucker (Ku Ritian)!!!”
The fans were instantly excited.
Curry scored a three-pointer and got an additional penalty!
Amid the cheers of the audience, Meng Shen walked to the free throw line and easily hit the extra free throw.
The score difference between the two teams instantly reached 29 points, approaching the 30-point mark!
But Curry's performance isn't over yet...
During the transition between offense and defense, after Conley passed half court with the ball, he stopped and prepared for the final attack.
He waited until the last 6 seconds before taking action.
But what Conley didn't expect was that Curry predicted the direction of his breakthrough and blocked it directly.
Seeing that there was not much time left, Conley was about to hand the ball to Gay next to him, allowing the larger latter to try the final shot.
But his passing intention was too obvious, and Curry predicted it successfully again.
The cute god made a sideways move, intercepted the ball, and rushed toward the Grizzlies half.
At this time, the number on the timer only has two seconds left.
Conley was worried that Curry would once again perform a super long three-pointer, so he did not give up defense.
He rushed behind Rockets No. 30 with a single step, stretched out his right hand, and took the basketball from the latter's hand.
"Bang..."
During the steal attempt, Conley's shoulder bumped into Curry.