It is not difficult to exchange the No. 14 pick for the No. 10 pick. As long as the Pacers are given some benefits, Shen Fei believes that he can do it.
But, his ambition goes beyond that.
In Shen Fei's impression, the Pacers are definitely the biggest winners in the 2010 draft.
They selected George with the 10th pick, and Lance Stephenson with the 10th pick in the second round.
These two signings directly created the "Iron-Blooded Indiana Legion" two years later.
Shen Fei clearly remembered that the Heat, with their top three giants, almost stumbled against the Pacers.
Among them, George has become the core of the team and is nicknamed by Chinese fans as General Qiao from Yincheng.
And "junior brother" Stephenson also performed very well, and is only one step away from being an All-Star player.
Shen Fei's plan was to directly copy the Pacers' plan and bring both of them to the Rockets.
In this way, under the influence of the [Spiritual Time Room], George and his juniors will soon grow into All-Star players, which is very helpful for improving the team's strength!
Shen Fei told the executives present this idea.
"Manager, you have a promising rookie, okay."
"But which player are you going to use as a trade chip?"
Bruce Dio asked immediately.
"Zeiss Budinger."
Shen Fei smiled and said a name.
"What?! You want to trade Budinger?"
Dio was dumbfounded.
Budinger is a dark horse selected by the Rockets with the 14th pick in the second round last year.
In his first season, he scored 8.9 points in 20.1 minutes of playing time and was successfully selected to the All-Rookie Team.
It can be said that Budinger was the Rockets' biggest gain in last year's draft, and Houston fans have high hopes for him.
"Manager, when Adelman was here, he was training Zeiss as the next Parsons."
"Perhaps, he can take a step further this year and become the cornerstone of the team."
Dio advised earnestly.
Shen Fei's expression was calm and he didn't care at all about what he said.
Budinger's career average is 7.9 points.
In other words, his rookie season is already the peak performance of his NBA career.
Budinger has absolutely no ability to become an All-Star or even the cornerstone of a team.
Seeing that Shen Fei had not changed his mind, other senior executives wanted to persuade him again.
But just as they were about to speak, the Asian manager raised his right hand, indicating that there was no need to say more.
Everyone looked at each other and said nothing.
Isn't he just a potential rookie? Since your general manager doesn't like it, just change him.
"But even if we use Budinger and the No. 14 pick to select the two rookies you want, it's still impossible for us to win the championship this season?"
Dio asked again.
"What's the rush? You have to eat your food one bite at a time."
“Who is the scouting director?”
Shen Fei asked.
"it's me."
A gray-haired old Mediterranean man took a step forward and introduced himself: "My name is Chris Wallace, manager."
"Um."
"Show me the latest free agent list."
Shen Fei ordered.
Soon, Wallace handed over a list.
Shen Fei quickly browsed through it from beginning to end, then borrowed a pen from his assistant and circled a few names on the list——
Tony Allen, PJ Tucker, and Tracy McGrady.
"As soon as the free agent market opens, you immediately arrange for these three to come over for trial training."
With that said, Shen Fei handed back the list.
Wallace took it and looked at it, calling it a good guy!
First up is Tony Allen.
This 28-year-old defensive back served as Ray Allen's substitute last season and performed well in the Celtics.
Throughout the season, Tony Allen averaged 16.4 minutes per game, contributing 5.5 points, 1.8 rebounds and 1 steal.
During the playoffs, he even played an important role in defending the star players on the opponent's forward and defensive lines.
Last season was the best playoff performance of his Celtics career.
"Would Celtic let go of such a quality player?"
Wallace wondered.
Shen Fei nodded without hesitation.
If nothing else happens, the Celtics will select Avery Bradley in the draft and therefore give up Tony, who has similar functions.
"Starting today, you can contact Tony Allen, and be sure to sign him as soon as the market opens."
Shen Fei ordered.
Seeing that he was so sure, Wallace no longer hesitated.
However, the other two names on the list gave Wallace a headache.
He knew this Tucker a little bit. He was also a defensive forward. He was strong but lacked size and was considered unable to gain a foothold in the NBA where there were many players.
"If I remember correctly, PJ Tucker is still prospecting for gold in Europe, right?"
"Manager, is it really necessary for a player like this to be called in for a tryout after being selected and then given up without playing in the NBA?"
Wallace didn't want to do useless work and confirmed again.
"A championship team not only needs star players, but also blue-collar workers who do the dirty work."
"In the past few years, we often suffered losses in games against the Jazz. The main reason was that the back line was not strong enough."
Shen Fei did not answer the other party's question directly, but explained it from another aspect.
"Okay, even if these two are here to improve defense, what about Tracy McGrady? He was sent away by us just last year and now we have brought him back?"
Wallace finally asked his most puzzling question.
Seeing the old man's puzzled expression, Shen Fei couldn't help laughing.
In fact, this signing belongs to his personal selfishness.
In his previous life, Shen Fei was very sorry that the Yao-Mai combination failed to go further in the playoffs.
It is even more difficult to let go of the fact that in order to come back in the playoffs, t-mac forced himself to play in a closed game, and then fell from the altar, only to be kicked out by the Rockets.
Although McGrady has long lived up to his former courage, it is not a loss to sign him back with a minimum salary contract.
Shen Fei still remembers that McGrady during the Hawks era had wonderful moments when he blocked James in one-on-one defense.
"Signing t-mac back is just an idea of mine. It's just a basic salary. No need to say more."
Shen Fei admitted frankly.
"Okay, after the meeting is over, let's start preparing for the draft."
"The alliance is about to undergo great changes. We are standing at the juncture of the times, and the opportunity...is right in front of us!"
Shen Fei's eyes were bright and he said to the senior executives.
"Okay, since the manager said so, let's do what he said first."
"We do our best."
Everyone felt the confidence in his words. Although they still didn't believe the lie that Shen Fei would win the championship this season, they no longer refuted it.
Let’s wait until the end of the draft for everything!