basketball pope

Chapter 307 [Advance showdown, historical deviation]

After the All-Star weekend, the Wizards management quickly gave Yang Rui a reply, willing to give him the right to trade and draft, have equal right to speak with the manager in the management, and offer a high salary of 5 million over five years.

There is still a long time before the end of the season. The two sides have reached a verbal agreement. As long as this contract is signed, Yang Rui will enter the ranks of top coaches.

In 1999, Phil Jackson signed a long-term contract with the Lakers, and it was only 5 years and 3000 million. Jackson's qualifications are much higher than Yang Rui. Next season, the two will be the highest paid coaches in the NBA, Pat Riley, Nelson Sr., etc. No such treatment.

Signing Yang Rui, the Wizards management has no objection, the Raptors' strength in four seasons is obvious to all, and Yang Rui's performance in leading the team is enough to make people ignore his age.

The regular season continued, and Yang Rui had dinner with Glenn Gruward and owner Richard Peddie in Toronto, indicating that this was his last season with the Raptors.

The Raptors management often inquired about Yang Rui's intention to renew his contract, and was willing to offer a high salary to retain him with the best conditions.Yang Rui had a very pleasant time here, and everyone had never had a conflict, so he didn't want to hide it from them.

"We won the championship together this season, and we have no regrets. There will be a good coach who is willing to join the Raptors in the summer, or Tom (Thibodeau) will remain, and he can also do well."

Richard smiled bitterly: "I don't think anyone can do better than you. Are you leaving Toronto for your girlfriend? I see that the movie you invested in is about to be released."

"No, I just want to change the environment, find some excitement, and live more fun." Yang Rui smiled: "So, I will choose to go to a bad team."

"Can you tell me where you're going?" Glenn asked.

"Secret."

The Wizards are also in the East and will be the Raptors' opponent next season.Yang Rui has no confidence in defeating this perverted team he built by himself.

In the summer, Brad Miller and O'Neal Jr. are completely free agents. They can decide whether they want to leave or renew their contracts.Coupled with the maximum salary extension of Carter, it is impossible for the Raptors to retain the full lineup.

Even so, the Raptors lineup is scary enough. Reed, Kirilenko, and Parker are all excellent immediate combat powers. As long as the coach who takes over has no problem with his mind, the Raptors are still strong.

The two blessed Yang Rui without showing any dissatisfaction. Yang Rui has done enough for the team.

On the trade deadline, there were only a few deals in the league, and there were fewer inspirational teams.

The Mavericks have a habit of making surprising moves at the last minute, and last season they also completed a five-man trade at the deadline for Juwan Howard.This year, the Mavericks got former All-Star guard Van Exel, center LaFrentz, French guard Vahard and former Spurs champion guard "Little General" Avery Johnson from the Nuggets.

The Nuggets acquired former All-Star Juwan Howard, Tim Hardaway, fringe power forward Harvey and a 2002 first-round pick.

The biggest weakness of the Mavericks is the center position. LaFrentz is more suitable for partnering with Nowitzki than Howard. The rate is 14.9%, and the three-point shooting rate is 7.4%.

There are many big men in the Mavericks who can shoot, and Wang Zhizhi's position in the team is bound to be affected.

The Kings and Yang Rui have changed in their previous lives. They should have traded point guard Jason Williams for Mike Bibby last summer.But the Grizzlies, with Baron Davis, are improving every season and have no shortage of point guards.That famous deal was aborted.

"White Chocolate" Jason Williams has attracted a lot of fans, but he doesn't like to pass the ball in front of him in order to get the top five.In terms of strength, he is not as good as Bibby, the organization is not stable enough, and the defense is even worse.

This Kings team is a little weaker than Yang Rui's previous life, and it is difficult to beat the Lakers.

On the deadline day, the Grizzlies wanted a different shooting guard and sent Bibby to the Rockets for the Rockets shooting guard Michael Dixon.

Dixon remains healthy in the Rockets and has good numbers this season, averaging 16.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3 assists per game.Bibby has 13.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 5 assists in the Grizzlies because of limited possession of the ball. This is a win-win deal.

In addition to trading Dixon, the Rockets also want to send the "big dream" Olajuwon.Olajuwon wanted to compete for the championship and didn’t want to hurt the Rockets, so he signed a small contract first, and then wanted to trade to other teams to exchange players or draft rights for the Rockets.In the summer, the Rockets offered a three-year, $38 million contract for the 3-year-old dream and was rejected.

In Yang Rui's previous life, Olajuwon joined the Raptors. The Raptors management thought at the time was that the team had played 7 games against Iverson in the Eastern Conference finals the year before, and there were first-line superstars like Carter, plus Ola Zhu Wang can hit the championship. ?
As a result, the deal made the Raptors miserable, and the two draft picks were exchanged for a year of big dreams, but it did not change the team. Although the Raptors made the playoffs in 02, Carter was injured and the team was knocked out by the Pistons in the first round.After Da Meng retired, the team went straight to the lottery in 03.

Now, of course, the Raptors don’t need Olajuwon, and other strong teams are unwilling to send draft picks to replace a veteran who is about to retire. Olajuwon can only end with the Rockets.In a sense, this is also good news.

The Knicks put "madman" Sprewell on the shelf, but unfortunately his reputation is too bad, no team is willing to send good chips, and he is forced to stay in the team.

The person the Knicks want to send away is Grant Hill, who has the highest salary in the team and has been reimbursed for two consecutive seasons, and the team has to pay a lot of luxury tax.

The goal of the Knicks this season is to be rotten, the defense of the perimeter players is poor, and Ben Wallace can't seem to be useful, and his avatar is weak.The reason for the decline in defense is that the team let go of Bruce Bowen and regretted it.

Now Bowen is the starting small forward with the Spurs, and he's doing well.

The Raptors were injured again in February, but fortunately they are not core players.

Backup center Mark Jackson suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and was out for the season.His luck is really bad, this season is a contract year, and if not reimbursed, he will almost certainly get a stable contract.With this injury, both the Raptors and other teams will consider his injury history when signing.

After waiting on the bench for an opportunity, the team's number one sparring coach, Jaren Collins, finally got the chance to play.Without Jackson, the Raptors have a weaker interior lineup, but it's not the end of the world, they still have two meat shields.

Backup swingman veteran Dan Marley also missed at least 4 weeks with a right wrist injury, which has little impact on the team.

The Raptors have only lost three games this month, leading the league with 52 wins and 7 losses, but they have little hope of breaking the record again.

On March 3, the Raptors challenged the Rockets away, and Carter was injured again.

Carter made a breakthrough and made a layup, dodged and moved the ball in the gap and missed the hoop. He immediately took off a second time and grabbed the offensive rebound himself. When he landed, he stepped on Eddie Griffin's foot and sprained his ankle. .

For a star who loves to jump, even without Bruce Bowen's mischief, he can step on other people's feet sooner or later, which is inevitable by chance.

Carter's injury is not serious, and a two-week break is necessary. To be on the safe side, he has to be observed by the team doctor. If he can't, he will take another two-week break.Yang Rui will not let players play with injuries, and will keep his strength in the playoffs.

(End of this chapter)