When Lin Yu left Las Vegas, he only took away a three-point champion trophy and a stack of newspapers and magazines with headlines about him winning the three-point champion.
In the dunk contest during the All-Star Weekend, Lin Yu’s old teammate Gerald Green became the dunk king of this dunk contest. However, this dunk contest was far less exciting than the previous ones, and the gimmicks and topics were also far away.
Far from enough.
Because of this, all the limelight of the slam dunk contest was stolen by Lin Yu, and the headlines the next day were all about Lin Yu. Who made him break the record of the three-point contest in a row and go straight to Lin Crazy?
"From 27 to 28 points, Lin Yu had the craziest personal performance in the three-point contest!"
"The real three-point king and two record-breaking Chinese Lin!"
Although he got the headline, Lin Yu still felt it was a pity.
"It's a pity that the three-point contest doesn't get enough attention. If it were a slam dunk contest, maybe I would still have a chance to steal..."
He thought of Dwight Howard's Superman meme. Although this meme was already in Howard's hands, Lin Yu could use this idea to create a meme that could be called the Monkey King or Qing Gong.
stem.
Thinking of this, Lin Yu suddenly had the idea of improving his personal fitness and participating in the dunk contest.
On the third day of the All-Star Game, all the stars gathered for the much-anticipated battle. Although Lin Yu was the starter, Lin Yu failed to get a chance to perform.
His condition was very average. He played more than six minutes in the first quarter and only scored 5 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists on 2 of 5 shots. He withdrew from the competition for All-Star MVP early.
In the second quarter of the game, Lin Yu took four consecutive three-pointers and hit two of them, raising his personal score to 11 points.
He found Mike Brown and simply proposed that he would not play in the next game.
Mike Brown was happy to see the result and quickly put Lin Yu on the bench.
As a result, in the first All-Star China Derby in NBA history, Lin Yu and Dayao were not the protagonists. One only played 13 minutes and scored 11 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block on 4 of 9 shots.
He only took 3 shots, hit 2 goals, and scored 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
Lin Yu's role was not taken away, because the Eastern team lost the game.
As for the Western Conference team that won the All-Star game, Dayao's role was taken away by Amare Stoudemire, who was drafted in the same year.
Stoudemire scored 29 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks, but the MVP went to Kobe Bryant, who scored 31 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals.
Lin Yu had a good fight and naturally left with nothing.
During the four-day trip to the All-Star Weekend, in addition to the three-point championship, what he gained was a "nightclub soup" joke and getting to know several major figures of the Pan-03 generation.
The "Four Heroes" or its variants are already on the way.
Overall, his first All-Star Game trip was quite successful.
"See you in the regular season tomorrow, LeBron!"
Back in Cleveland, Lin Yu waved goodbye to James. He was about to go home and rest for a day, but Jeff Schwartz came to visit again.
"Danny Ferry contacted me and asked about your willingness to renew the contract in advance."
At Lin Yu's home, Jeff Schwartz sat on the sofa opposite Lin Yu, watching Lin Yu play video games on the huge TV.
Renew in advance?
Lin Yu thought for a moment: "What is his purpose?"
Jeff Schwartz immediately introduced to Lin Yu: "There are generally two situations for early contract renewal. One is full of sincerity. He may provide you with a contract extension that is at a premium compared to your own value.
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"The other type wants to lower the price. He doesn't want to sit back and watch you enter the free market. When the time comes, you may receive malicious offers from certain teams, and this kind of malicious offers may be something he doesn't want to see...
"
"So, what is Danny Ferry's specific idea?"
Jeff Schwartz shook his head: "It's not clear yet. If you think we can negotiate an early contract extension, I can try Danny Ferry's words."
Lin Yu nodded: "Okay, let's try it."
"Then, you have to tell me how big the contract extension you want is."
Renew the contract? Lin Yu thought for a while.
He is now in the third year of his rookie contract. Because he joined the Cavaliers through a trade, he now has early bird rights and is not restricted by the Gilbert Arenas clause and can directly sign a maximum salary.
So, now his appetite has also increased.
After thinking about it, based on his performance this season and his possible future growth curve, at least his contract is slightly higher than that of Joe Johnson, who just signed with the Hawks next door.
The contract signed by Joe Johnson and the Hawks was US$52 million over four years. Lin Yu decided that his bottom line was US$60 million over four years, with an average salary of US$15 million.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, he suddenly thought that James seemed to have reached an early contract extension with the Cavaliers.
"By the way, Jeff, do you know the details of LeBron's contract extension with the Cavaliers?"
Jeff Schwartz nodded: "Four years, $60 million, final year player option."
James' contract is 60 million in four years, and he also wants 60 million in four years. Does it seem a bit too much?
After thinking about it, he made a decision: "Then I also want 60 million US dollars in 4 years. Of course, this is a preliminary offer. If the Cavaliers agree, then even better. If not, my bottom line is 56 million US dollars in 4 years.
The average salary is 14 million, and the last year must also be a player option."
Player options are necessary, and James cannot be allowed to run away before him. Then, the original sure thing may be gone.
When it comes to contract renewal, how much money you can get is secondary. The main thing is to control the length of time. This is the key.
Jeff Schwartz immediately agreed: "Okay, no problem, I will go find Danny Ferry tomorrow."
But he did not leave immediately, but paused hesitantly, and then couldn't help but said: "Lin, I think we can talk about the contract extension."
When Jeff Schwartz mentioned this, Lin Yu also hesitated.
After much deliberation, he decided to tell the truth.
"Jeff, let me tell you the truth, you have too many players. Besides me, there are also star players like Paul. There is not much energy that can be shared with me."
"You should know Dayao's agent team. He initially hired Bill Duffy, but later, Yao changed his agent and directly formed a team specifically to serve him. The reason is that he has a team behind him.
The Chinese market is huge, and super agents like Bill Duffy simply cannot meet his needs."
Lin Yu said with some embarrassment: "Actually, Jeff, we also have such a problem now. I need a team, but you can't give me this team."
Jeff Schwartz was stunned for a moment. He had thought that Lin Yu might not renew his contract, and thought of Lin Yu's reasons. In Lin Yu's rookie season, his work was too derelict.
Unexpectedly, Lin Yu's real reason was that he needed a team dedicated to serving him.
Jeff Schwartz really cannot give Lin Yu a team dedicated to serving Lin Yu, because in comparison, although Lin Yu is a dense giant tree, Jeff Schwartz's other employers are equivalent to
A forest.
It was impossible for him to give up a forest and choose Lin Yu, a single giant tree.
The two were silent for a while, and Jeff Schwartz smiled: "Okay, Lin, during the last four months of the contract, I will still do my best to fulfill my responsibilities, but you have to find someone as soon as possible.
He can replace my agent."
Lin Yu nodded: "I will."
In this way, Lin Yu made up his mind to form a team of his own at the beginning of his journey to becoming a superstar.