Time: June 17, 2003.

Location: General Manager's Office, Phillips Arena, Atlanta.

"Ace, are you sure you want to be teammates with Rasheed Wallace?" Price asked after reading the trade plan submitted by Liu Mang and being silent for a long time.

Not only Coach Kruger, but also owner Price doesn’t think it’s a good thing to pick up something cheap like this.

After experiencing the negative consequences of Big Dog's greed for cheap, Price became much more cautious.

"Yes, I believe Rashid will be our best reinforcement inside." Liu Mang nodded in response.

"But his defense is a problem," said Mike Woodson, who was not so happy about having another offensive player. Boozer was already a trap, and with Rasheed Wallace coming in, he felt that he didn't have enough brains.

How can we put these two people on the court at the same time and how can we ensure that the inside line will not become a black hole? Mike Woodson continued to advise: "And his character is a problem. He also showed that he is not willing to play center and open up.

The only one who can trade him is Ace, we have other people we can consider..."

Mike Woodson signed a one-year contract extension with the Hawks after the season. Why? Isn't it just for the title of a championship assistant coach? But the deal Liu Mang proposed this time seems to be the same as last year when the boss's head was filled with sea water.

I had exactly the same idea when I saw something cheap and wanted to pick it up.

Coaches Price and Kruger also advised Liu Mang to try with someone else?

The management of the Eagles is relatively weak, because the team did not make money in the past, so the team management can be streamlined as much as possible. Price is the executive vice president and general manager, and the other logistics groups, operations, etc.

The vice presidents of the team are only responsible for their own part of the affairs, which is why Price acted arbitrarily last offseason and almost ruined the team.

This year, Price took the initiative to share the power. The coaching staff has two voting rights, and the logistics team and operations team also have one voting power. Of course, it is said that they have it, but Price still helps to vote on his behalf, that is, he takes the lead.

Quan is still with Price.

Although the coaching staff now supports Price's idea of ​​playing it safe, the initiative regarding signings now rests with Liu Mang. Although Liu Mang extended the terms of his rookie contract and the contract renewal with his home team, he will not be able to play next season.

He is a restricted free agent after all, and at this stage there is no idea of ​​renewing the contract in advance. Of course, this is also an important bargaining chip for Liu Mang and the Eagles management to gain a say.

Liu Mang wants so many things this summer, not only Price, but also Coach Kruger has a headache.

However, the trading plan proposed by Liu Mang was not impossible to implement, which made the Eagles management feel helpless even more.

And if Liu Mang is not satisfied with Liu Mang's well-designed recruitment plan and Liu Mang does not renew his contract in advance, what will happen next season when he tests the free market?

If Liu Mang is forced to retain Liu Mang, what should he do if Liu Mang directly chooses to sign a qualified offer?

It can be seen from the fact that Liu Mang is so determined to get the Bird clause even after receiving one year's basic salary. Although Liu Mang looks gentle and polite, he is just as ruthless as when he was playing.

"Ace, although I understand your feelings, if Jason or Sharif can be included in the transaction, we have a chance to get a better player than Rasheed Wallace. We have a chance with Carter.

You can fight for it." Price continued to persuade.

"BOSS, I understand your concerns, but if there is no outside player like McGrady or Bryant, I don't think anyone will make us stronger than before, and I want to try it once, just once, finally.

One year, no matter what the result of next season is, no matter who is traded after that, I will not have any objection, even if you trade Sharif and Jason together." Liu Mang said seriously.

If Liu Mang wants to strengthen the core lineup while retaining it, he must make a bet. Judging from the experience he knows of Rasheed Wallace, as long as he comes to a team that emphasizes defense, there will be someone who can supervise

If his people are there, he can play well.

Liu Mang felt that it was time for him to take on the responsibilities of a leader, like Sabonis who allowed Rasheed Wallace to play well, or like Ben who originally suppressed Rasheed Wallace's character in the future.

Wallace pushed Rasheed Wallace like that.

After Sabonis retires, Paul Allen finally begins to make drastic changes to the team.

When Sabonis was here, Paul Allen was concerned about the face of this great basketball star in the world and did not act to destroy or dismantle the team's strength. Paul Allen is a true basketball fan, and his colleagues

Ballmer is almost the same, but Sabonis announced his retirement, and Paul Allen was immediately ready to clear out the team's bloated roster.

Originally, after the Trail Blazers' playoff journey, the Trail Blazers management communicated with Rasheed Wallace and wanted him to play with Rasheed Wallace, who only had a little over 15 minutes of playing time this season but averaged 9 points and 5 rebounds per game.

Zach Randolph, who has unlimited potential, partnered in the post, but Rasheed Wallace publicly stated in an interview that he did not accept playing center, which made Paul Allen release Rasheed Wallace.

Put on the shelves.

But because of Rasheed Wallace's character, so many technical fouls, and this time he directly publicly criticized Paul Allen, other teams avoided Rasheed Wallace.

If it were the original history, Rasheed Wallace was not traded out throughout the summer. It was not until the Eagles announced that they were pushing for reconstruction and traded out Raheem who had lost his desire to play, that Rasheed-Wallace was traded out.

Wallace got back, and Rasheed Wallace played one game. In order to clear salary space, the Hawks immediately sent Rasheed Wallace to the Pistons.

The trade value of Rasheed Wallace is very average, as long as a star forward is enough. The Eagles can operate it, but now the Eagles management is very cautious after suffering the losses of the Bucks.

Price, Coach Kruger, and Mike Woodson looked at each other and saw helplessness in each other's eyes.

Coach Kruger looked at Liu Mang who had his own ideas and was so determined. He felt that the child had grown up and had strong wings. Although he didn't know whether the outcome of this firm idea was good or bad, he had overcome the childish wait.

In the stage of making arrangements for the team, regardless of the team, Coach Kruger is very happy about this.

Help him! If he succeeds, he succeeds. If he fails, he will suffer a big fall, which is also a kind of growth.

Coach Kruger asked seriously: "Ace, are you sure you insist on being teammates with Rasheed Wallace?"

"Of course, trust me, coach. I know him. You will be very satisfied with having such an inside man. Mike, you don't have to worry about his defense. He will do a good job. Trust me." Liu Mang was also very serious. I don't know.

Unconsciously, Liu Mang's tone was full of confusion: "We have the best defensive coach, the most enlightened head coach and boss. We will succeed. I will definitely lead my teammates to success next season. We will not

Will fail!”

Coach Kruger pondered for a moment and said: "Okay, I agree with this proposal, Mike, what about you?"

Mike Woodson looked at the firm expression of Liu Mang, the guy who changed his mind and refused to accept the invitation of his mentor Larry Brown and instead stayed with the Eagles, and smiled helplessly: "Okay.

Come on, Ace, let me go crazy with you, I agree."

"...You really don't use money as money! Well, I agree, Ace, if the deal is completed, you have to renew the contract in advance!" Price weakly put forward a condition.

Since Price made the wrong signing last offseason, his authority has been greatly damaged. If Liu Mang fails to renew his contract this time and Liu Mang runs away due to dissatisfaction after the next season, he is probably close to being eliminated.

It's not far off to be transferred to a position with little real power.

Liu Mang wants to retain the core lineup of Raheem, Jason Terry, Muhammad, and Ratliff. Price and the coaching staff are a little helpless. If they can bring out one or two of these people,

As a bargaining chip, it is not impossible to impress the management of some teams with superstars whose status is not stable.

For example, Carter, although he is not a superstar due to his defensive and playing attitude, his strength is not worse than that of a superstar, but his desire to win is a little lower, especially because he has fully recovered from his injuries, and he is still the kind of player who is trying to impact.

His attitude of flying around the basket completely failed to give full play to his comprehensive skills.

In addition, Carter was forced to participate in the slam dunk contest, and Carter and the Raptors management were at odds. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Carter would not be able to stay with the Raptors for long, so it was not impossible to give him the right bargaining chip.

But Liu Mang gritted his teeth and wanted to fight with these people for another year. He had no choice but to resort to roundabout ways of trading.

This is not easy, and it only needs to be considered in terms of draft picks.

As for Prince and Boozer, we are not considering trading them for the time being. They still have three-year rookie contracts and millions of dollars in salary. Such a cheap contract has a level of strength, which is very important for a championship team.

, it was not part of the Eagles management's trade plan for the first three years... Of course, if you can get a superstar, it won't matter so much.

But having a cheap contract is the key to every team competing for the championship. The OK combination can win the championship because Kobe's renewed contract only has a starting salary of 9 million at the beginning, and the Lakers only have dual cores, so they can have enough role players.

With the money, the Lakers acquired a bunch of high-quality role players in the summer of 1999, and they lasted for three years.

Of course, after three years of playing, the Lakers' role players have all exhausted their abilities.

Since the introduction of the salary cap in 1984, rookie bonuses have become the key to winning the championship!

The Lakers' last three championships in the 1980s relied on the free No. 1 pick to select Jordan's senior James Worthy.

The Bulls won two three-peat championships thanks to a huge salary cap increase, Pippen's cheap contract and Jordan's four-year, $16 million contract when he won his first three-peat.

The Rockets' two consecutive championships relied on Olajuwon's salary of more than 3 million, which gave them room to bring in Drexler, a glider with an annual salary of up to 9 million.

The Spurs' 1999 championship relied on the dividends from Duncan's three-year rookie contract.

When there are forwards like Prince who will only have a salary of 1.02 million next season or the first substitute at forwards, and Boozer who will have the first substitute inside with a salary of 970,000 next season, for the Hawks, they can undoubtedly

More money to spend.

In particular, Liu Mang's extended one-year rookie bonus and salary of US$720,000 next season gives the Hawks more money to spend on other players.

As for Liu Mang, he has sacrificed so much, extending the right to renew his rookie contract with his home team for more than one year and getting one year's base salary, not only to have bird rights, but also to directly exceed the salary cap and get the maximum salary.

.

What's more important is because of these teammates!

If he couldn't win the first championship with these teammates who had grown up together from the beginning, he felt that he would definitely have regrets that would never be erased for the rest of his life.

Extending the rookie contract for one year will allow him to get more money starting in the fourth year, while also giving Jason Terry and others room to renew their contracts. For Liu Mang, this wave is not a loss.

"Okay, now that we have set a goal, let's start taking action. We can't let others get the first step." Price is also a person who does what he says. Otherwise, he wouldn't be so hard-headed and was defeated by the Bucks last year.

Flirting, "Lang, I now appoint you as the team's head coach and deputy general manager. You have the right to discuss transactions with other teams. I will communicate with the Trail Blazers. Lang, you go and talk to the Celtics."
Chapter completed!