Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 6
After Li Sheng put down the phone, he still felt a little unreal.

"Li, what's the matter?"

Li Sheng turned around, it was Popovich.

He just went to find Leonard last night, had dinner with him, and chatted for a while.

It has to be said that this big black man who was once translated as "Kawaii" in China is really a true biography of Duncan, and he has more facial paralysis. No wonder he was called the "two dumb" when he was in the Spurs. The big dumb is naturally Duncan.

Li Sheng knows about the other party's future messes, so he also knows that this guy is actually a slut, who looks simple and honest on the surface, but is actually very shrewd.

He is not worried about getting along with the other party, because smart people can recognize their own situation better.

Now Leonard is still a younger brother in the Spurs, even if Li Sheng is the younger brother, he will not turn against each other for no reason.

Because Popovich is a head coach who hates thorns and values ​​​​personal authority. Rodman was very disgusted by Popovich when he was in the Spurs.

Then he helped Jordan win his second three-peat with the Bulls...

Since then, Popovich has repeatedly expressed his rejection of the spurs. He likes players who are good at tactics, obedient and willing to sacrifice for the team. Most of the players that the Spurs found later followed this path.

Of course, one thing that cannot be ignored is that, as the poorest owner in the league, Holt has to plan carefully and budget for the team is insufficient. Popovich, who is in charge of the team's management and management, naturally has to implement this concept.

So they only buy the right ones, not expensive ones, and go to Europe and the United States to find players for cheap prices. Parker and Ginobili were discovered in this way, so the Spurs are the famous "international column" in the league.

It was Popovich's idea to have a private meeting with Leonard. Popovich seemed very happy when he heard the news. He likes obedient young people, so he invited Li Sheng to his home today, and even brought out his own collection of red wine.

After coaching for so many years, Popovich's salary is of course enough for him to squander. Besides, the holy city is not Los Angeles, where the land price is not so expensive. Popovich's country mansion is not small, and there is a special wine cellar for storing red wine.

He sometimes brings players here to gather here, and people like Duncan often come here secretly to pay a visit, and then take a bottle of red wine from him, watch him scream in distress, and when he returns to the team, he is fined by him to run laps...

So Li Sheng was happy with all this, and didn't think it was a courtesy.

Mrs. Irene is much more enthusiastic and sincere than this old man, so Li Sheng must stay to taste his craft at noon.

The old lady still looks healthy at this time, and she does all the housework she can do by herself. Thinking that she will die of illness in a few years, Li Sheng is also a little bit sad.

"Coach, if—I mean if, a team invites me to coach..." Li Sheng hesitated, but decided to tell the truth.

There is actually no need for him to hide it from Popovich, because his contract is only one year, which means that if he wants to stay with the team next season, he has to renew his contract.

To put it bluntly, when signing the contract, Popovich just calculated that he was cheaper and easy to use as a rookie, and didn't think he had any training value.

As a part-time manager, Popovich invited him over this time, maybe he didn't talk to him about the idea of ​​contract renewal.

Hearing Li Sheng's words at this time, Popovich was stunned for a moment, and immediately smiled: "Don't tell me, you will appear in the uniform team of the Austrian team next season."

The Austars, San Antonio's women's basketball team and a member of the WNBA, failed to make the playoffs this season, and a coach change is not out of the question.

The attention of the WNBA is completely incomparable with the NBA, the gap is much bigger than the NBA and NCAA March Madness, not to mention the salary, and the WNBA season is only half a year...

People go to high places, and water flows to low places. Only when they can't get along in the NBA will they consider going there. Popovich is obviously joking when he said this.

In fact, he also knew exactly what Li Sheng meant. Before Li Sheng could explain, he put down his wine glass, sat up and said solemnly: "Okay, can you tell me which team is so courageous and wants to bet on a rookie like you?"

He felt that [-]% of them were the worst teams. During the playoffs, when the playoff teams were fighting fiercely, the non-playoff teams were not idle.

In other words, they are the first team to prepare for the regular season next season.

Compared with the replacement of players, taking the head coach is also a good way to change. The 75ers, Pistons and Cavaliers have announced coaching changes. The new coach has not yet taken office, which means three positions are vacant.

However, each of these three teams has its own bad methods. The Pistons were weak until Li Sheng was reborn, and the Cavaliers had a short period of glory after James returned.

At this time, they are actively accumulating energy to win back their emperor, planning to gather all three top picks, and they will be able to summon Man KIKING.

As for the 75ers, they are similar to the Cavaliers. The difference is that they only collected two No. [-] picks, and one who believed in the "process" lying in a hospital bed. So they had to sacrifice the team manager Sam Hinkie who had spent a long time with the team. Finally, they grew into a strong player in the East and fulfilled their long-cherished wish to return to the No. [-] spot in the East.

I believe that Xinji is in heaven... Ah bah, in the venture capital industry, he must be silently gratified for them.

Of course, that’s what’s going to happen in the future. At least for now, these three teams are still real fish. Although there are potential rookies in the team, such as Kyrie Irving, it’s a joke to really expect them to lead the team.

So it is foreseeable that they will still choose to play badly to earn draft picks next season. Will such a team be a good place for Li Sheng?

For a bad team, one advantage is that there is no record pressure. After all, many times it is actually bad.

So how to play the role of training rookies while performing poorly is the difficulty.

Popovich actually did similar things back then. In the 96-97 season, Admiral Robinson was reimbursed for the season, and the Spurs temporarily adjusted their strategy in order to win a good draft pick.

So they successfully overwhelmed the Celtics that year, grabbed the No. 97 pick in 20, and successfully signed Duncan, the core of the team for the next [-] years, to the Spurs.

This incident has also become "Cardinal" Auerbach's biggest regret!

But Popovich can do this, but it doesn’t mean that Li Sheng can do the same, not to mention that he is a rookie at all. If the rookie season coaching is just a poor coach in the transition period, it will be a great damage to his reputation and career.

Generally, coaches with aspirations would not make such a choice, not to mention that Li Sheng has a better choice. He is used to winning in the Spurs and can still compete for the championship. Would he be willing to play badly?
The name Li Sheng proposed was beyond his expectation: "Thunder..."

"The Oklahoma City Thunder?"

"Is there a second Thunder in the league?"

Popovich opened his mouth, took a sip of red wine suddenly, and then spit out a dirty word before asking, "Are you sure they want you to coach?"

If he is just an assistant coach, he might as well stay in the Spurs. He has already thought about training him well next season.

Li Sheng has always been very obedient, and arranged the tasks assigned to him in the team very well. Even if there was no finals and he lacked some spirituality, he would still choose to renew his contract.

Still for that reason, cheap, but also usable.

If he can really get the hang of it, it will be even better to take over his position in the future.

As a result, there is actually a team wanting to poach corners now?

Li Sheng shook his head and said, "I don't know. It was the Thunder boss who asked Mr. Presti to call and invite me to meet with him. I'm not even sure it must be about this matter."

If we don't talk about this, which one can we talk about, are there more Indians in Oklahoma City or more Indians in San Antonio?

Although Bennett is equivalent to two Holts, he has a father-in-law of a large consortium, which determines that the two have different visions and actions.

Don't look at Bennett letting go of James Harden for a mere few million before, but in the future arms race, he will also spare it, but it seems a bit late to make a move at that time, wasting the best opportunity.

In recent years, because the Thunder's performance has been one of the best in the Western Conference, and it is the only team in the four major leagues in Oklahoma, the ball market is quite hot, so Bennett's reason for increasing investment also has the courage to change.

At least compared to the core players, the change in the position of the coach should be the place with the least damage but the most likely to bring about the biggest change.

"Well, I should have thought about it a long time ago. If we win a championship, we will become the goal of the entire league. The value of the players will increase, and some people will not be able to keep them next season."

Popovich looked a little helpless. After a while, he shook his head and said with a smile: "But what I didn't expect is that the first target they stare at will be you."

The Spurs just won the championship, which is the most watched time.

The so-called winners will not change easily. Generally, in the second season after winning the championship, an NBA team will not dismantle its championship lineup at will if there is no accident. There are very few situations like Dallas. Who is called such a wonderful boss.

But the good thing is that the contracts of the core and main rotation players are relatively stable at present, not to mention GDP, the up-and-coming Leonard is only in his second year as a rookie, and he can still implement the team option in the next year and can renew his contract in advance.

Tiago Splitter, Danny Green, Boris Dior, Patty Mills and others are also in the contract period, and others can't dig them out if they want to. It will take at least the summer of 14 to consider renewing the contract.

The current championship lineup can play piecemeal while keeping the basic set unchanged, and it will be stable for at least another two years.

In contrast, in fact, Li Sheng's departure should have the least impact on the team, and it may not even be as good as Gary Neal, who made two free throws at the critical moment of the finals.

Well, there is a high probability that Neil will not stay with the Spurs next season. He wants a bigger contract. For a player like him, after winning a championship, making money is the first priority. The Spurs will definitely not be able to meet his needs.

"Well, at least you're honest. Son, my door is open for you at any time. If things don't go well there, you should come back next season."

Hearing Popovich's words, Li Sheng was a little moved when he thought of his guidance in his memory, and nodded solemnly.

However, he has already made up his mind. If this meeting is possible, he must find a way to impress Thunder Boss and not waste this precious opportunity given by the system.

(End of this chapter)