"Well, it does happen. I'm not afraid of you knowing it. Anyway, McGrady and his agent Aaron Trim will make this known to everyone sooner or later." Old Pat Williams said although
It wasn't very fast, but you could tell he was unhappy.
"Paul, actually I came to the club so early today, and I grabbed you to ask these things, just because of this matter. During the All-Star Game, T-Mac told John that he hoped to leave the Magic. At that time, we were not very familiar with each other.
He cared about it, thinking it was just him putting pressure on the team's inability to recruit. But now it seems that is not the case at all. Just yesterday, he had a direct phone call with Charlie, saying that he planned to leave the Magic and hoped to be traded. After a while
Alan Trim came and had a formal interview with John and I about this matter. He said that a team had already made an offer for T-Mac and he hoped that we would seriously consider it."
"It seems that the rumors outside are untrue. Is the team he quoted the Houston Rockets worthy of?"
"Yes, how did you guess it?"
"It's not difficult to guess. After the All-Star Game, T-Mac frequently praised Yao Ming, so there were rumors that T-Mac hopes to go to the Rockets. It seems that there are many rumors in the market that are not fabricated by reporters. Some of them may be Trim.
The news was deliberately released."
"It doesn't matter the direction of public opinion or anything else. The key is what you think about the matter itself and whether you want to trade it or not."
Edison crossed his hands in front of his chest and formed a triangle with his fingers. "I don't think we should trade now, but we must be prepared to trade."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
"Yes, I agree with trading T-Mac, but the risk of trading now is too great. I think there are only two situations in which Tracy McGrady should be traded, and the other ones are of little significance to us. First, we can get what we can in the draft.
Howard. As you just said, judging from the current candidates, this draft is not particularly good, and it is incomparable with last year. There is only one Howard who can truly become the cornerstone of the team. Compared with others,
One level worse. Of course, others are not that unbearable. I think this draft is still worth manipulating. Although it is estimated that only Howard can become a top star, many others still have the potential to make one or two All-NBA players.
A star is still very capable."
"You are so optimistic about Howard. That kid is just a high school student. Although his physical condition is very good, his physical condition alone is not enough to be in the league. Look at the Kwame Brown that Michael selected. It seems like a joke now. I think O
Cafu is good. Okay, you said there are two situations, what is the other one?"
"Then we can trade for another top star," Edison paused. "The most realistic target is Shaquille O'Neal."
Old Pat's eyes twitched unnaturally as Edison said the name.
"I know that this guy has severely hurt the team, and can even be said to have hurt this city. But it is undeniable that he is now the league's top superstar, and if there are no major injuries, he will be at least the best for the next three years.
He is still the best insider in the league. Moreover, this guy has a deep conflict with Kobe Bryant. If the Lakers win the championship this year, then it is good to say that the conflict may be alleviated. If they cannot win the championship, the Lakers will definitely rebuild. Then these two people
There must be one who wants to leave. If I were David West, I would choose Kobe. After all, he is younger and more worthy of a gamble. Then trading Shaquille is inevitable. This is our opportunity. We can send t-
MAC adds one or two role players in exchange for O'Neal. The Lakers can form Maddie Kobe's golden backcourt double gun, and I think they can accept it. And with Hill's comeback next season, we can also form a classic combination of inside and outside. By then
We are contenders for the Eastern Conference championship, and if we find a few more suitable puzzle pieces in free agency, we may not be able to win the championship. The disadvantage of this is also obvious, that is, our cycle is short, only 3 to 4 years at most.
, as O'Neal grows older, we have to continue to rebuild." Seeing that old Pat did not stop himself, Edison finished his plan in one breath...
"Shaquille." After listening to Edison's words, Old Pat stood up and turned to the window, looking at the bright sunshine in Orlando in the morning, and fell into deep thought. He won the No. 1 pick that year, and then selected O'Neal.
As soon as O'Neal announced his participation in the draft, everyone who watched basketball had only one comment about selecting the No. 1 pick: "Don't hesitate, pick Shaquille." It is said that during the lottery, 11 teams only had a chance to pick the No. 1 pick, and each team had already booked Shaquille.
The jerseys were made and placed neatly on the back of the chair. There were 11 jerseys with Shaq's name on them, but in the end 10 were sealed at the bottom of the box forever. But what was the result? O'Neal's rookie contract expired four years later.
Orlando was also preparing to renew his contract and start recruiting players to see if they could impress O'Neal and let him stay in Orlando. As a result, during the Olympics, the Lakers announced the signing of O'Neal for seven years and US$121 million. This broke the hearts of everyone in Orlando.
He immediately became a notorious traitor. It can be said that the public opinion atmosphere at that time was comparable to the impact of James leaving the Cavaliers in later generations. But later, the Cavaliers had nothing except James, and they immediately entered the step of rebuilding through the draft.
But the Magic still had Hardaway, the top swingman at the time. Orlandoans pinned all their hopes on "Penny", hoping that he could lead the team to good results, proving that O'Neal's choice to leave was a mistake. But this consequence
As a result, Hardaway suffered a cartilage injury in his left knee that season and underwent surgery but did not receive proper recovery. Originally, Hardaway needed at least four weeks of rest after the surgery, but after just 20 days, the team forced him to recuperate on the grounds of poor team performance.
Hardaway, who had not recovered from his knee injury, was asked to go into battle. The result of this was that Hardaway injured his left knee again after playing only one game after his comeback and had to rest for another three weeks. On January 6, 1997, Hardaway once again
He returned, but the pain of left knee tendonitis stayed with him for the rest of the season, and even paved the way for Hardaway's entire career of knee injuries.
Because of the feud between O'Neal and the Magic, Old Pat had many concerns. Although the NBA is said to be a business, after all, it is still people who control the business. People have seven emotions and six desires, including love and hatred. No matter how rational a person is, it is inevitable that he will end up in a certain situation.
Sometimes, even though he knows that this is not possible or bad, he is still blinded by his emotions, and then makes a stupid mistake. Old Pat turned around and said to Edison.
"Besides Shaquille, is there no other choice? In addition to Shaquille, there are several top superstars in the league. Can't they do it?"
Edison smiled helplessly and replied, "Of course there is, but Williams, if you think about it calmly, you will know that anything else is unrealistic. There are only a few people at the same level as O'Neal in the league. They can be counted on one hand. The Spurs
Duncan of Timberwolves, Iverson of the 76ers, Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, and our Tracy McGrady; from a commercial point of view, there is also Yao Ming, and from a potential point of view, last year's No. 1 pick James. But what do you think of the Spurs and Timberwolves?
Will they choose to trade their ace core? They are now a strong team, and they have not reached the point of trading the core to tear down and rebuild. O'Neal is the only candidate who is likely to make a mistake."
"You're right, Paul, but..."
"Williams, there's nothing to worry about now. T-Mac seems to have made up his mind to leave, otherwise he wouldn't have asked his agent to come and have a showdown with Mr. Charlie. If it's delayed until this time next year, we'll be stuck and have nothing.
There is no hope at all. We can only completely destroy it and rebuild it. And I don’t think Mr. John Weisbrodt can watch the team fail. He is an ambitious man. When he first entered the NBA, all he wanted was success.
In fact, he is not the championship or at least the top four in the Eastern Conference. He will never accept or tolerate the team ranking at the bottom and rebuilding. He is not an old man who has experienced many ups and downs in the NBA. He does not have the patience. He must now want to establish a
Regarding his own prestige, t-mac is now clearly provoking him. Originally, McGrady was the team's top player, and Mr. Weisbrod might still have concerns, but now that he did this, John just drove him away.
In fact, it is already destined that T-Mac will leave Orlando at this point, so I now believe that the key to our work is how to make the most of McGrady’s worth and obtain the greatest benefits for the team.”….
"Paul, you know, the current situation is that T-Mac wants to go to the Rockets. If we choose to trade with the Rockets, what do you think?"
Seeing Old Pat, Edison did not continue the analysis just now. Edison sighed helplessly.
"To be honest, Mr. Williams, in my opinion, trading with the Rockets is not a good choice. Unless we can add Hill to this transaction, we will not get any benefits. The best result is
The team's strength remains as it is, otherwise it will be a complete defeat, which will help the Rockets. And even if we add Hill to the trade, it will only allow us to let go of our baggage and rebuild better and faster."
"Is it that bad? How did you come to this conclusion?"
"I believe the Rockets have actually been in contact with you and Weisbrod?" Seeing Old Pat nodding, Edison continued, "The Rockets must have used Francis as the subject of the transaction. In order to make us feel less disadvantaged, he should
We also added old cat Mobley, and then added one or two role players. Our requirement should be Tracy McGrady. Houston will definitely not agree with us adding Hill, so for salary matching, we should also add Juwan Howard.
, and then use draft picks or role players to smooth out the final salary gap. It should be roughly like this, yes."
"Yes, the trade plan proposed by Dawson (referring to Rockets manager Carroll Dawson) is very close to what you guessed. It seems that you have worked hard and your abilities are getting better and better. It is not in vain that Mr. Charlie and I are talking about
Is this trading plan bad for you? I think it’s okay.” Seeing that Paul Edison’s inference was very accurate, Old Pat was in a good mood.
"Thank you for the compliment. But I do think this deal is really bad for us." As he said this, Edison took out the pen and paper he carried with him (this is also a good habit left by Edison's owner).
While writing, he analyzed the pros and cons of this transaction. Old Pat looked at Edison's analysis seriously and nodded or shook his head from time to time.
