Chapter 186 Prepare for the Christmas War in advance
The day after Kobe Bryant announced his request to be traded, a flurry of inquiry letters landed on Mitch Kupchak's desk.
As a superstar who scored 35.4 points last season and is only 28 years old and in his prime, Kobe's trade value is extremely high.
Many teams also regard Kobe as the capital for their turnaround.
The New York Knicks were the first to make an offer. They took out high-quality young players like David Lee and a scorer with obvious upward momentum like Jamal Crawford, and used Steve Francis to arrive in the 2008/09 season.
The contract will equalize the salary for the next term, plus two future first-round picks.
This is obviously an attractive offer.
There is also the Bulls. Their offer is for Ben Gordon, Andris Nocioni, plus Ben Wallace, who just signed in the summer, to balance the salary.
The Pistons also made an offer, and what they offered was Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and a bunch of draft picks.
Even the Cavaliers got involved. Danny Ferry called Mitch Kupchak and offered a random offer except LeBron James and Lin Yu.
Undoubtedly, Danny Ferry's offer is a bit like adding salt to Kupchak's already bleeding heart.
Mitch Kupchak's approach was to put all trade proposals on hold because Jerry Buss told him there was room for change.
But the next day, Mitch Kupchak gave an interview and explained why he failed to trade Lin Yu from the Celtics.
"Everyone knows that we and the Celtics are mortal enemies, so when there was a deal involving Lin Yu, the normal asking price was two first-round picks, but the Celtics' asking price for us was three first-round picks.
So, it wasn't just one first-round pick, as Kobe knew, but two."
It seemed that Kupchak was shouting to Kobe from afar, explaining why he failed to bring Lin Yu to Kobe.
But Kobe still couldn't understand. He accepted a phone interview with Stephen A. Smith and responded: "Based on Lin's current performance, even three first-round picks are completely worth it!"
Then, Stephen A. Smith asked again: "So, Kobe, is it true that the Lakers can't do anything to make you stay now?"
Kobe's answer was brief: "Really, no!"
Just when the popularity of Kobe Bryant's application to be traded was about to reach the sky, the Cavaliers played the last game of their Western Conference road trip.
At Staples Center, facing the Clippers, the Cavaliers won another victory.
After two consecutive victories, they returned to the Eastern Conference with a record of 2 wins and 2 losses.
However, after consecutive losses to the Suns and Mavericks, North America's evaluation of the Cavaliers has been lowered to below the championship favorites and above the second-tier strong team.
ESPN's Mark Stein believes: "If the Cavaliers can continue to improve their strength and increase the diversity of tactics in the remaining four months of the regular season, they will still have a chance to participate in the championship competition by the end of the season.
.”
Sam Amick of USA Today also expressed his opinion: "Obviously, consecutive losses to the Suns and Mavericks have exposed some problems in the Cavaliers. They have LeBron James and Lin Yu, and the cooperation of LeBron and Lin
There is also a surprising tacit understanding, but from the game between the Suns and the Mavericks, it can be seen that the Cavaliers only have Lin and LeBron. If they want to become the same favorites as the Suns and Mavericks, they must integrate Lin and LeBron.
team."
He further explained his views and opinions: "The so-called integration means that the Cavaliers cannot only have one set of LeBron's breakthrough and ball-breaking style. They must diversify their tactics so that LeBron and Lin have more ways.
Go lead your teammates."
Back in Cleveland, Lin Yu noticed that the Los Angeles Times reported the news about him hanging out in a nightclub after winning the Lakers game, and also included a picture of him dragging Amber Heard.
However, this news was suppressed by the popularity of Kobe Bryant's application for a trade, and it did not cause too much extensive discussion. Naturally, Lin Yu did not get any hint of the success of the conspiracy.
However, through a small number of discussions in the reddit forum, Lin Yu could feel that his conspiracy about "nightclub boarding" was already underway.
"maxmore: It's just an occasional nightclub, there's nothing much to say."
“jharden13: Even if I go there often, I personally don’t think there’s much to say about it. It’s just a hobby.”
"vivian: Oh my God, Lin went to a nightclub in Los Angeles? Why didn't I meet him by chance?"
"..."
The first comment told Lin Yu that the reason for the failure of the stalking was probably because he went to nightclubs less. If he went to nightclubs more frequently, the stalking would have been successful.
In the second comment, he felt that this ID was very familiar, jharden? James Harden? Lin Yu casually clicked on the following, and he felt that this account probably belonged to the real Harden himself.
In the third comment, Lin Yu flipped through the profile page of Vivian, a very charming South American beauty who looked like she should be his crush...
On the first training day after the Western Conference's fourth consecutive guest trip, Lin Yu appeared in the parking lot of the training center as usual.
LeBron James also arrived at the same time. Compared with before, James' attitude towards Lin Yu became colder. The two just said hello.
After entering the training hall, one went to the physical therapy room and the other to the locker room, and they separated.
Lin Yu pushed the locker room door, but failed at the first push. Mike Brown's voice suddenly came from behind: "Wait a moment, I've finished posting the schedule before the Christmas game."
Lin Yu was a little surprised: Mike came so early today?
He waited for a while and the door opened.
"Good morning, Mike, it's the first time I've seen you so early."
"Good morning, Lin. I'm the coach. I usually come late as I should. I came so early today just to post it."
Mike Brown pointed to a schedule behind the door.
Lin Yu looked over curiously.
This is a schedule until the Christmas Day game. After playing four consecutive games in the Western Conference, the Cavaliers' next game will be held on December 15th. It will be a home game against the Seattle SuperSonics.
There were still 10 days left before the Christmas war on the 25th. Lin Yu paid special attention to the Christmas war marked red. The opponent in that game was
Boston Celtics!
Counting forward, the Cavaliers have four more games to play. Their opponents are the Sonics, Magic, Nets and Bobcats, two lottery teams and two teams on the fringes of the playoffs. Neither of them are outstanding.
Lin Yu immediately understood what Mike Brown meant.
"We need to solve our current difficulties and problems before the Christmas game, and then use a victory over the Celtics on Christmas Day to prove that we have the strength to compete for the championship."
"So, we have to prepare for the Christmas war ten days in advance!"