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Chapter 187 No Not For Sale

Bai Miaomiao stopped Qin Fei.

Qin Fei smiled and said, "Don't worry, the season is over, I have a lot of time."

In addition to this interview, there will be a series of reports on the characters that Xu Jicheng has agreed to interview, so Qin Fei will not be able to leave Seattle for a while.

After coming out of the arena, many fans on both sides stubbornly refused to leave.

When college games were lost, there would still be tears in the eyes of some fans, but now there are no beautiful female fans with tears in their eyes, only a group of fans who got drunk or lost their bets.

The atmosphere occasionally becomes unpredictable, but fortunately, the law and order in Seattle is not bad. The police cars flashing red and blue lights scrambled around the arena without any conflicts.

But the sound of "clang clatter" beer bottles falling to the ground will not be missing, adding a bit of disturbing sound for no reason.

The fans of the Jazz were all smiles. The team eliminated the opponent who eliminated them last year. Although a little tired, they reached the finals after all. Now there is only one opponent left, and the championship trophy seems to be close at hand.

It is really not easy to say that the Jazz have waited for a long time and finally waited until today. This is the first time in the history of the team to reach the finals.

The opponent is the Bulls.

Looking at it this way, the Jordan-era Bulls entered the finals five times, changing opponents each time.

The opponents of the first three championships were the Lakers, Trail Blazers and Suns. Last year it was the Sonics, but this year it was replaced by the Jazz.

The media's view of the Jazz's entry into the finals is that the old tree is blooming, and it is the result of insisting on the two-man duo for many years.

It’s just that whether the Jazz can win the championship, the outside world’s opinion is negative. The funniest description is that the Chicago Bulls are like veterans on the court, while the Jazz are new to the finals and are in love. The two are not in the same dimension.

So the media want to hear what the Jazz think, but the Jazz are very indifferent and don't like to be interviewed. Malone wanted to say something, but was stopped by the head coach.

When Sloan faced the interview, he boasted about his opponent in the previous round.

"The Seattle SuperSonics are a respectable opponent. In many games, we are only a hair away from the game, and they are still young and have a lot to do in the future."

If you win the game, you have to push your attention to the opponent. If you want to say that the Jazz's style of play has been formed over the years, it must be inextricably linked to this low-key coach.

People turn their attention back to the Seattle Supersonics, which has ended the entire season. The first focus of attention is the core player in the team, "Rain Man" Sean Kemp's contract extension.

This issue had already been discussed before the start of the 96 season, and at the beginning, Kemp had a little temper because of the team's "dishonesty".

Fortunately, this matter was suppressed later, and Kemp also returned to training games.

Now that the season is over, this matter has come up again, and it must be resolved.

On the second day after the series ended, Kemp's agent Tony Dart came to the office of Sonics general manager Wally Walker.

Wally Walker, with blond hair and gentle manners, made a cup of coffee for his agent with a smile.

Tony Dart is still well-known in the agent circle, but outside fans don't know much about it. The best player he owns now is Sean Kemp, so he attaches great importance to this negotiation with the general manager.

Wally Walker was initially just a consultant to replace his predecessor Rob Whitsett (1986-1994 Supersonics president and general manager, Black Eight left after the blame). In the past two years, the boss was more satisfied with Wally Walker's work, and Wally Walker became the general manager of the team.

But in essence, Wally Walker is just a young man with little experience in the general manager job.

"Actually, you are clear about my reason for coming. It is a pity that I failed to win the championship this season, but Kemp himself still wants to renew his contract with the Supersonics. He loves this land and this city."

Tony Dart cut to the chase, pushing the coffee aside.

Wally Walker listened to the agent's speech very seriously, and then said: "We have never denied this. He has always been one of the best players in Seattle. In the past few years, we have achieved great success, including this season. In fact, we also reached the Western Conference Finals. The boss is very satisfied with the team's operations and record."

"Sean actually has a market, and you are the most aware of this, so you should understand that this contract renewal will be a good opportunity to be honest and honest."

What Tony Dart means is that the number of contracts the Supersonics open actually proves Kemp's status in the Supersonics, which depends on the meaning of the uniform team.

Contract negotiation is nothing more than asking for a price and paying back the money when it lands.

Although Wally Walker is young, he is not weak. He resolutely did not ask first, and even practiced Tai Chi: "We have always attached great importance to Sean's contract extension. In the past season, we have negotiated and negotiated many times. I really want to know Sean's thoughts."

Agent Tony Dart was even more in a hurry. He was actually quite clear about Kemp's thoughts, and then he talked about several contracts signed by the Supersonics last summer.

"Forget about the other contracts, Jim's contract (a large contract with an average of 500 million US dollars per year) really annoyed Sean very much."

Speaking of this incident, Wally Walker was also a little embarrassed, because he signed the contract.

Because the team traded Johnson for Qin Fei at that time, the team lacked a young insider, and Jim was able to contribute 14.9 blocks in 2.1 minutes in the Bullets.

This season, Jim was fine in the regular season, averaging 18 points, 3.8 rebounds and 4 blocks in 2 minutes per game. However, in the playoffs, the disadvantage of his thin body was magnified, especially after the second round, he was basically in a state of being abandoned.

Wally Walker can say that Tony Dart doesn't understand the market, but he can't say that George Karl doesn't understand the ball. If the coach doesn't use it, there must be a reason for it.

"This matter is over anyway, but referring to Jim, Sean's contract should at least be more sincere than him, right?"

Tony Dart glanced at the embarrassed Wally Walker, took the initiative to give a step down, and by the way led to the next discussion about Kemp's contract renewal.

Wally Walker pondered: "What does Sean think about the contract?"

"Sean means to want a long-term contract of 6 or 7 years. You know, Sean is only 28 years old this year, 6 years or 7 years, then he will be 34 or 35 years old when this contract ends. With reference to Karl Malone or Hakeem Olajuwon this year, Sean should still be at the peak of his career at that time."

Tony Dart speaks eloquently.

Wally Walker:

Tony Dart cited an example from last year and took out a document: "Last summer, Juwan Howard renewed his contract at a price of 7 million for seven years. I know you like data. Here is a comparison between Juwan's data and Sean's data."

Last season, Juwan Howard, who signed a big contract, averaged 19.1 points, 8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.3 blocks per game, shooting 48.6% from the field, leading the team to eighth in the East, and was swept by the Bulls in the first round of the playoffs.

For comparison, Kemp averaged 18.7 points, 10 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1 block per game in the regular season last season.

Juwan Howard was the nightmare of the major general managers during this period. There is really no comparison. No matter how you look at it, the current Kemp is far better than Howard.

Wally Walker glanced at the document, which also listed the performance of several other players who signed big contracts last summer. From all aspects, Kemp is worthy of a big contract.

At the same time, Tony Dart also revealed that some teams have begun to approach him, hoping to sign Kemp. If the Sonics can't give Kemp the answer he wants, the possibility of Kemp leaving Seattle cannot be ruled out.

The current situation is somewhat different from Qin Fei's previous life.

In Qin Fei's previous life, Kemp had a lot of trouble because of Jim's contract. In fact, to some extent, it hurt the team. Later, the Supersonics fell apart due to various other factors.

After Qin Fei came, he really played the role of glue. Kemp liked this little brother very much, and with Payton's persuasion, Kemp didn't make trouble for a long time, and finished the season seriously.

Of course, there has been no shortage of gossip outside the venue, including a certain baby coming out of nowhere and so on.

This is one, and the second is the rise of Qin Fei, which brought about a chain reaction.

Wally Walker has no way to make a decision now. He has to continue to discuss with the coaching staff before he can determine the summer operation.

The first step of the negotiation is actually like going through a routine process. Wally Walker is prepared for whatever price Kemp will offer. The next thing to do is to continue to negotiate the contract, and the other is to appease the emotions of Kemp and his team, so the attitude is very important first.

As for whether Kemp will continue or sell, everything is still unknown before the arrival of the free market.

In the NBA, anything is possible and nothing is for sale.

(End of this chapter)