Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 1006 1006 583 Persistent Hatred_2

?Chapter 1006: Chapter 583: Persistent Hatred_2 Chapter 1006: Chapter 583: Persistent Hatred_2 Klay Thompson’s position in the Warriors’ Team was delicate.

In terms of strength, he probably ranked fourth in the starting lineup, behind Lillard, Leonard, and Joe Johnson, on par with David Lee. However, his 3D potential had received high praise from Warriors advisor Jerry West.

However, to fit all these players into the starting lineup, the Warriors had to keep Leonard as a power forward long-term, even though Leonard was more suitable as a small forward. Because Thompson and Johnson’s positions overlapped, the team had to make adjustments.

If the Warriors brought in a star big man, then Thompson would inevitably be relegated to the bench.

Therefore, this trade was not unthinkable for Miles.

“We need to discuss this internally …” Miles hung up the phone.

Trem immediately called Yu Fei to report the trade progress.

Yu Fei had always been open to trading Griffin.

Since Antetokounmpo would inevitably develop inside eventually, the best positions for him were power forward and center combined with a traditional center who could protect the basket and shoot threes, like Brook Lopez. Griffin, although performing well now, was not suitable for the Greek Freak in the long term.

If he could get equal value in return, Yu Fei wouldn’t mind trading Griffin.

Unexpectedly, the Warriors made a huge offer from the start.

Klay Thompson? If this trade went through, Yu Fei could imagine how intense the team’s perimeter shooting would become.

Currently, Thompson was averaging 16 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists per game for the Warriors, with shooting splits of 42+40+82, his performance as a perimeter shooter was phenomenal and his defense was commendable, arguably one of the best 3Ds currently.

But no matter how good a 3D is, if you could get the league’s top power forward, most teams would not hesitate to trade.

Miles convened a management meeting to discuss the trade, where most people agreed with it.

Acquiring Griffin could immediately open a championship window for the Warriors.

The only one firmly against it was “LOGO Man”.

At the meeting, West argued vehemently and refused to budge, finally threatening to resign.

Just in terms of position, West, just an advisor, had no actual administrative power internally, but as a highly respected legendary figure, his influence in the meeting even surpassed that of Miles.

With such a stand, he was willing to use resignation to obstruct the trade and the Warriors had to call off the deal.

Eventually, Miles and his colleagues reached a consensus to put the trade on hold.

After making a decision internally, he texted Trem, clarifying the Warriors’ stance—they decided to test the playoffs with their current roster again, if they did not achieve satisfactory results by the end of the season and the Clippers still wanted to trade Griffin, they could talk again.

Trem forwarded the text to Yu Fei.

This outcome was not surprising; in Yu Fei’s memory, West had indeed done similar things before.

But the current situation of the Warriors was completely different from the past.

Lillard was not Curry, and without the “Splash Brothers” bond between him and Thompson, plus with Leonard as a potential core, the Warriors were unlikely to prioritize unbeatable perimeter shooting as they did in the main timeline.

Therefore, after they suffered heavily on the inside, perhaps they would come back to trade.

Yu Fei was in no hurry.

As long as he wasn’t in a hurry, the Clippers’ management wouldn’t be either.

The 2014 trade deadline was destined to be the most uneventful in history.

Howard did not go, neither did Evans.

However, Evan Turner did move.

The Bucks sent Turner to Denver, receiving Jimmer Fredette and three second-round picks in return.

It was a rather unremarkable trade because it wouldn’t affect anything.

Yet, the Clippers who had just missed out on Thompson did not miss any opportunities to strengthen their team.

Trem then called the office of the general manager in Philadelphia, which was having a fire sale, to exchange a second-round pick for Spencer Hawes.

Hawes was undoubtedly the type of inside player the Clippers needed the most.

He averaged 13 points and 8 rebounds, with a three-point shooting percentage of 39%.

Numerically, he was not someone you could just get for a second-round pick.

But considering that the 76ers were a bottomless losing team, the value of his average 13+8 was undoubtedly discounted. Moreover, Hawes was a typical “start strong, fade later” type of player.

Take this season for example, he averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds in November, with shooting splits of 51+50+80, almost having an All-Star appearance in this era of declining centers.

Then this month, Hawes’s monthly averages dropped to 8 points and 8 rebounds, with shooting splits of 32+28+78.

It’s hard to say whether the environment in Philadelphia had corrupted him, but such poor recent performance drastically dropped his trade value.

For Sinky, such a player had no value worth keeping, better to swap for draft picks sooner.

So, when Trem proposed trading Ronny Turiaf, who could hardly get on the court, and second-round picks for 2015 and 2016 for Hawes, Sinky agreed readily.

Upon learning he was traded to the Clippers, Hawes excitedly tweeted: “I can’t wait to play for the Clippers!”

Yu Fei interacted with him: “Your jersey number is the same as Kwame’s. How will you guys resolve this issue?”

Hawes replied, “We’ll resolve this dispute with rock-paper-scissors.”