After defeating the Wizards away from home, the Knicks returned to their home court. With the only point guard available was Anthony Johnson, they defeated the 76ers in a hard-fought battle and restarted their winning streak.
In this game, Lin Yu found another good prospect for the Super Six, Lou Williams, who was already the 76ers' sixth man last season.
This season, his possession of the ball has further increased, and his scoring and other statistics have also increased.
Lin Yu submitted this new goal to Donnie Walsh, and the feedback he received was still three simple words - "Not for sale!"
But Lin Yu could clearly feel that Donnie Walsh was perfunctory, or that Donnie Walsh and Steve Mills did not try their best.
They seem to be very resistant to making a trade at this moment, and the reason is that the Knicks' current chemistry is great, and a trade may destroy the current chemistry.
Lin Yu could only shake his head. He had nothing to do with Donny Walsh and Steve Mills before proceeding to the last step.
As for what’s the last step?
Naturally, he went directly to James Dolan, put pressure on him and directly intervened to start the transaction.
Until the sixth man issue is resolved, and the injuries to Lowry and Chalmers are still affecting the Knicks, the Knicks can only bite the bullet and continue their regular season journey.
It was said that they were biting the bullet, but they were indeed biting the bullet, because right after that, they faced the Chicago Bulls.
Facing veteran Anthony Johnson, No. 1 draft pick Derrick Rose exploded, as if he was in a no-man's land, and Luol Deng also once had a confrontation with Lin Yu.
But in the end, the Knicks' solution was to let Lin Yu play the one position against Rose, thus curbing Rose's explosion.
Relying on Lin Yu's key defense, the Knicks made a wave and took away the victory.
Another difficult victory, Lin Yu has already felt the physical, physical and mental exhaustion brought to him by long-term high-intensity combat in the middle of the regular season.
The next day, the Knicks faced the Suns at home.
They lost a game away from home and deserved revenge when they returned home.
In this game, the Knicks team performed abnormally and lost another game. The winning streak that had just accumulated to three games came to an end.
But more importantly, I am afraid that this defeat by the Knicks was already their third since the New Year, and they were double-killed by the Suns, who are in poor form this season.
In November and December, and even in October with two or three games interspersed, the Knicks only lost three games in the regular season of a little more than two months.
Time entered January of 2009, and in more than half a month, the Knicks had already lost three games.
In Lin Yu's view, the Knicks' so-called chemical reaction has begun to decline. Fortunately, it is just a decline, not a landslide.
Taking advantage of the fact that he had only lost three games in January and still had time, Lin Yu held another meeting with the management.
It's the same old tune again: He needs a trade and a sixth man who can score in isolation with the ball to help him share the pressure.
As a result, Donny Walsh still expressed his helplessness with his hands: "Lin, like you, I also want to trade signings to solve our problems, but trading is not what you want to do. You also know that I have already
I made three attempts at your request. Jeff Green’s asking price is too high, and both Nick Young and Lou Williams are not for sale..."
"But, Donnie, you are the president of operations of the team. It is not me who should be looking for a suitable trade partner, but you, Steve, and the same is true for you."
Of course, Lin Yu couldn't let Steve Mills hide aside and watch the show.
But after Lin Yu pointed at him, Steve Mills imitated Donnie Walsh and spread his hands.
If Lin Yu still has some scruples about Donnie Walsh, Lin Yu has no scruples about Steve Mills, the general manager who was retained entirely due to his hand-in-hand operation in the past quarter.
"Steve, what are you trying to say? Do you think trading is as difficult as Donnie does?"
Lin Yu directly attacked Steve Mills. Steve Mills looked embarrassed and still spread his hands and gave a completely different answer:
"No, I just want to say that our results are great and there is no need to trade."
"Our results are great? Hey, Steve, have you been on vacation in the past half month? Don't you know that we have lost three games since January?"
"It's just three games. Is there any team in the NBA that never loses?" Steve Mills argued: "This is just a normal fluctuation in a long regular season."
“Is it normal to have 8 wins and 3 losses in 11 games?”
"Of course, as long as we are still number one in the league, it is normal."
"Alright alright."
Lin Yu knew that he could not convince Donnie Walsh and Steve Mills, so he chose to end the meeting.
On the way back, Lin Yu got into Amanda Gray's car.
He was puzzled as to why Donnie Walsh and Steve Mills were so resistant to trade.
He raised this question, and Amanda Gray also thought about it for a while, and finally gave the answer after a long time: "There are three possible reasons. First, it is indeed difficult to carry out the transaction because the Knicks have little leverage."
"Secondly, your situation is indeed excellent. Many managers who are not very active will choose to hold on to the basic market at this moment."
"Finally, to put it simply, in a team with a decentralized power system, no one is willing to make mistakes on their own initiative."
Lin Yu understood Amanda Grey's last point in seconds.
Now the Knicks, Donnie Walsh and Steve Mills can all take the initiative to conduct trade operations, but why don't they use this power?
Quite simply, no one wants to make mistakes on their own initiative.
Although active trading does not mean making a mistake, with active trading, the probability of making a mistake definitely exists, and if you always respond passively, you will never make a mistake.
And as long as they don't make mistakes, they won't be fired.
"Okay, Amanda, I probably understand."
Lin Yu is not so anxious about trade signings. After all, there is still almost half a month until the trade deadline.
Of course, he has already thought about it. Even if he is not in a hurry, he will do the preparations before the transaction.
For example, from his personal perspective, he would make a list and use it as a basis to conduct some tentative transaction negotiations before the deadline.
#
At the end of January, the decline in the Knicks' record was already obvious.
Losing to the Suns is equivalent to being double-killed by the Suns this season.
This was a very bad result, and what was even worse was that after losing to the Suns, the Knicks rebounded to win against the Grizzlies at home, but immediately lost to the 76ers on the road, marking their fourth loss in January.
On January 26, the Knicks faced off against the Celtics again. In this unwinnable game, Lin Yu completely overdrafted himself.
He sprained his thumb, suffered cramps in his thighs, and led the team to a tragic victory.
Although they won, the tragedy of this game led to the next two games, the two games in which the Knicks gave birth in January, all ended in losses when Lin Yu sprained his thumb.
It ended, a wave of two consecutive defeats.
The Knicks' record in January is fixed at 10 wins and 6 losses, which is a completely unsatisfactory record for the league's number one Knicks.
They had only lost three games before January, but lost six straight games in January, bringing the Knicks' losses to nine.
But the above is still not decisive. What is decisive is that the Knicks' record of 37 wins and 9 losses has been tied by the Lakers.
In other words, now, the Lakers and Knicks are both No. 1 in the league.
Even in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics with 37 wins and 11 losses and the Cavaliers with 35 wins and 10 losses are already infinitely close to the Knicks.
Early in the morning on the first day of February, Lin Yu first learned from the newspaper that he had lost the January Eastern Conference Best of the Month. He was in a bad mood and directly dialed Hollins' phone number.
"Leon, it's like this. I'm going to take a leave for the morning training... I'm going to find Donnie and Steve to trade for reinforcements... Don't worry, after the training in the afternoon, I will stay in the training hall and...
This period of training makes up for the lack.”
Although Lin Yu emphasized on the phone that he would make up for the missed training, Hollins said that Lin Yu did not need to make up for it at all.
"No, Lin, please rest more during this time..."
Hollins knew very well that the Knicks were able to maintain a winning rate of more than 50% during this period of time because of Lin Yu's overdraft.
On the offensive end, Lin Yu needs to stand up and score at critical moments. On the defensive end, Lin Yu is also needed to prevent the opponent's arrows. Lin Yu needs to do the dirty work and the glamorous work. This is really too taxing for Lin Yu.
Big.
If Lin Yu continues to be overstretched like this, the sprained finger will be just the beginning. Lin Yu will be like Kobe and gradually become full of glory.
But Lin Yu still insisted on making up for it, and he never compromised on training.
After breakfast, Lin Yu was fully armed and ready to go out and take the subway.
At this time, he thought that as the first person in the NBA this season to go out for negotiations, he actually had to rely on the subway. Isn't it too cheap?
He suddenly thought of Kobe's suggestion to buy a helicopter.
"How about buying one?"
Lin Yu squeezed into the subway and began to think about this problem.
Almost half an hour later, Lin Yu arrived in Madison. He entered the office area and took off his disguise.
Then, he appeared in front of Donnie Walsh and Steve Mills.
Let's get straight to the point: "Donnie, Steve, you should know the purpose of my coming here."
"Of course, for the sake of trading."
Donny Walsh smiled bitterly: "But the problem is still that we don't have a suitable goal."
Steve Mills remained silent, and Lin Yu turned to him: "Steve, what about you, do you still think that the team's chemistry is great and we don't need to trade?"
Steve Mills stopped talking, and Lin Yu didn't want to get an answer from him.
Now, the Knicks' three-man management team, not counting Alan Houston, who has no sense of presence, Lin Yu actually recognizes Donnie Walsh more, and Steve - who has turned his back on him once he has firmly established himself as the general manager.
Mills was quite disdainful.
"Well, Donnie, let's talk about your problem. I have a suitable target."
Lin Yu directly threw out a list.
"Follow this list, ask for prices one by one, and then inform me of the results as soon as possible."
Lin Yu's words were very coercive, but this was exactly what he wanted to do. The reason why he delayed the transaction and signings for so long was to pursue the victory now.
He wants to completely control the Knicks, and the disagreement over trade and signings is a fight.
The final result of the battle was that Lin Yu won. Naturally, he wanted to pursue the victory without giving Donnie Walsh and Steve Mills any chance to react or resist.
Donnie Walsh could only nod. He saw the list listed by Lin Yu.
Wizards' Nick Young and 76ers' Lou Williams are on the list.
In addition, there is the Kings' John Salmons, a scorer averaging 18 points per game so far this season.
Allen Iverson of the Pistons, if he is willing to accept the position of substitute.
Leandro Barbosa of the Phoenix Suns was once a Super Six player, and if the Suns are willing to sell him at a low price.
Grant Hill of the Phoenix Suns has greatly improved his attendance rate this season with the help of the Suns Miracle Doctor, and it is completely sufficient as the sixth man.
The Warriors' bunch of scorers, including Corey Maggette, Monta Ellis, Jamal Crawford and Stephen Jackson, can also be considered if they are willing to sell.
There are many choices, it all depends on how the Donnie-Walsh negotiations go.
If the progress is not good, Lin Yu may even consider taking action personally. In short, the signings in the middle of the season must be in place.
Donny Walsh agreed, but he still had questions.
"Another question, Lin, I need to know which of the current Knicks can be traded, which should not be traded unless necessary, and which are not for sale."
Lin Yu nodded. This was indeed very important. He listed it roughly: "Kyle, Wilson, Zach, DeAndre, James and Ricky are not for sale. Mario and Nazir are not for sale.
Don’t trade unless necessary, and the rest can be traded.”
Donnie Walsh frowned. According to the list given by Lin Yu, among the players available for trade, the most valuable player is the young Shannon Brown, followed by Kwame Brown in the era of center scarcity.
The transaction value of the remaining players is completely negligible.
Lin Yu couldn't help it. The list he gave was completely reasonable.
First of all, the team's starting lineup, except for Nazr Mohammed, is definitely not for sale.
The young Jordan will be the Knicks' main center in the future, and he is not for sale.
The newcomers James Posey and Ricky Davis are here for the championship, so naturally they cannot be given away as trading chips.
Nazr Mohammed can be traded, but if there is no starting-level center on the books, then don't trade unless necessary.
The same goes for Mario Chalmers. If the sixth man acquired in the trade is not a combo guard, Chalmers should not be traded unless necessary.
The rest are all on the tradable list.
The two with the highest value, Shannon Brown's position is not too important, Ricky Davis can play, and with Lin Yu, there is no shortage of substitutes at this position.
Not to mention Kwame Brown, that deformed contract was signed just for the purpose of trading.
Lin Yu didn't care whether it was difficult or not for Donnie Walsh. Anyway, he had given away the task of trading and recruiting.
"That's it, Donnie, I still have to go to training, please contact me again..."