God's hand behind the scenes

Chapter 422

After the All-Star weekend, the league is back on track.For the teams that hope to win a playoff spot, this is the best time for them to exert their strength. After all, in the previous half of the season, the running-in has been completed. Do you still want to save the victory for the New Year?
For the Pistons, this period of time must also be used well. The current situation in the Eastern Conference is relatively obvious. The 76ers, Pistons and Raptors occupy the first to third places. The gap between the fourth Nets and the Raptors has reached 6 wins. It is impossible to catch up in a short time.The Pistons are 2 games ahead of the Raptors and 76 game behind the 1ers. If they can seize the opportunity, they may not be able to complete the counterattack and become the Eastern Conference champion this season. After all, the state of the 76ers is not particularly good recently. .

The busiest person on the Pistons team is none other than Wei Wei. While he is responsible for continuing to provide targeted training for the Pistons players, he also has to pay attention to the team's operations before the trade deadline.In his view, if some excellent role players can be recruited in advance, then the Pistons can definitely make their name this season, and naturally it is easy to attract better players.

The NBA’s trade deadline is set on the 16th Thursday after the start of each season. After the trade deadline, the league will calculate the team’s total salary for the season based on the team’s latest lineup on the deadline day. Teams will be subject to a luxury tax.Teams are not allowed to trade again until the day before the draft in June, but they can still choose to lay off their own players and sign free agents to solve problems such as sudden injuries.Among them, the team whose total salary exceeds the salary cap can only use the basic salary clause, middle class clause or 6-day short-term clause to sign with free agents.In addition, according to the regulations, if a player is released by the team after March 10 and resumes his free agent status, even if he can continue to sign with other teams, he will not be eligible to play in the playoffs. Picking up leaks also depends on time.

There is nothing to say about the Pistons' starting lineup today. As Thomas' defensive ability improves day by day, the starting five basically have no flaws.But for a team that focuses on defense, players will consume more energy on the court. Even if Chang Wei has been working hard on physical training, they cannot maintain a high-intensity defense throughout the game.In this way, improving the depth of the bench must be put on the agenda, otherwise the Pistons will never win the championship.

Since the introduction of Crawford, the Pistons' main rotation has become Atkins, Crawford, Simmons, Manning and Haywood.In Chang Wei's view, Crawford's ability and potential are beyond doubt. Simmons and Haywood are also considered good rotation players, but Atkins and Manning are still too old, especially Manning. Ning, who was born in 1966, is 37 years old this year. He can’t make more contributions to the team on the court. This is why the Pistons in the previous life traded for McDyess after winning the championship. The addition behind the double Wallace.

Of course, Chang Wei will not let the Pistons introduce McDyess again. Although this power forward is indeed a model of diligence and strength, his leg injury is still too serious, and Chang Wei does not want to get one. ticking time bomb.He does hope to bring a good backup power forward to the team before the trade deadline, but such players are not always available.

The current power forwards in the league are in a very strange state, either they have entered the twilight of their careers, or they are the stars of each team. It can be said that it is difficult to get a guy who is strong and willing to play as a substitute .In fact, Chang Wei still has a candidate in mind, and that is Udonis Haslem, the captain of the Heat in the future. Although this short power forward does not have an advantage in height, he is very suitable for the Pistons in terms of rebounding skills and tough style. .

However, when Chang Wei searched the system, he was dumbfounded to find that Haslem is still playing at the University of Florida, at least until the 03-04 season to enter the NBA.Chang Wei vaguely remembers that Haslem should be an undrafted player. The Pistons can cut off a contract for Haslem in advance this summer, but what should they do this season?

Chang Wei expressed his helplessness. He has already submitted a long list to Dumars, all of whom are power forwards who are more suitable for the Pistons style or have certain development potential.Dumars, who has a lot of trust in him, kept asking other teams for prices with the list, but the result was quite embarrassing. The Pistons basically couldn't come up with any good bargaining chips.Of course, the 2003 first-round pick from the Grizzlies in their hands is coveted by many teams, but after this draft is hailed as the golden generation comparable to 1996 and 1984, no team will Stupid enough to trade a high draft pick unless you get a top star in the league.

Until the last moment of the trade deadline, the Pistons failed to reach an agreement with other teams, which also means that they can only strengthen by signing free agents in the following time.Chang Wei feels a little helpless about this, but he also understands that the Pistons don't have many bargaining chips, and they have to hold on to the draft pick tightly. Whether they can make a deal depends on luck.Now it seems that their luck is very average, and they haven't met anyone who is willing to take advantage of it, so let's do it for the time being!

Brown also felt very helpless. It was indeed beyond his expectation that the team got nothing in the trading market, but he quickly picked up his mood and began to prepare for the next game.As an excellent head coach, you can't always pin your hopes on the reinforcement of the team. Using the existing players to achieve an excellent record is the value that a top head coach should show.What's more, the Pistons are not a fish belly now. They have been putting pressure on the 76ers, and they have been recognized by many neutral fans.

Even if he can't lead the Pistons to win the championship this season, Brown has 100% confidence in his team.Of course, Chang Wei has more confidence than him. In his previous life, both the Cavaliers and the Heat have rapidly grown into the top teams in the league after experiencing a bumper harvest in the 2003 draft. There is no reason why the Pistons with a better foundation cannot do it .In Chang Wei's view, the Pistons have every hope of winning a championship in the near future, and there may be more than one. The combat effectiveness of the grassroots corps is not just talk, they may even reach the height of their predecessors in the "Bad Boys Corps" period.

(End of this chapter)