noveldrama
Chapter 954 954 566 The Final Suspense
Chapter 954 954 566 The Final Suspense
?Chapter 954: Chapter 566: The Final Suspense Chapter 954: Chapter 566: The Final Suspense After the All-Star Weekend, the news of Jerry Buss’s death dominated NBA headlines.
Then there was Kobe, at Old Buss’s memorial service, promising to take the Lakers to the playoffs.
Only this promise was not as compelling as the one in the main timeline, because although the Lakers were not championship contenders at the moment, securing a playoff spot was not a problem at all.
Then came the various experts’ expectations for the upcoming trade deadline.
The major uncertainties involved whether the SuperSonics would trade Amar’e Stoudemire, whether the Celtics would trade Rajon Rondo, and whether the Cavaliers would trade John Wall.
These three trade situations that attracted outside attention could serve as a weathervane for the future of these three teams.
Stoudemire was part of the Durant trade, and at the time of the trade, people generally believed Stoudemire’s importance was greater than the second overall pick that selected Irving, because the SuperSonics were contenders, and Stoudemire was meant to fill the void left by Chris Bosh and DeAndre Jordan.
However, to date, Stoudemire’s recovery has not been as fast as expected, and he was troubled by a back injury; his performance after returning showed no improvement.
The SuperSonics had lost faith in him.
A star player, if only in a period of recovery, would at least have one or two games that make people believe that he could return to his peak performance once he finds his condition; such a phenomenon has never occurred with Stoudemire.
He didn’t look like a star at the start of the season, and even less so after returning from his back injury.
The SuperSonics’ gamble had failed halfway.
Now that Yu Fei and Clay Bennett’s conflict had become public, if they did not find a way to enhance the team’s competitiveness to win back the GOAT’s favor, they might very well lose the man who single-handedly rewrote Seattle’s professional basketball history this summer.
This was the outside world’s reasoning for why Stoudemire would be traded by the SuperSonics.
Yet, the entire analysis was completely detached from the actual situation of the SuperSonics.
It was a classic case of outsiders being clear-headed while those involved were lost.
From the beginning, the SuperSonics had placed their hopes on Irving. They had vaguely foreseen today’s situation as early as last summer.
The decline of Stoudemire from a top ten player in the league to an average starter might have been unexpected, but it did not cause them to panic. The primary purpose of trading for him was to find a reasonable excuse to let go of Bosh.
This was almost an irony for Stoudemire—his biggest role had been played before he even participated in his first game for the SuperSonics, and his subsequent performance was irrelevant to the team.
At least, Clay Bennett was extremely satisfied with the trade. They not only got rid of Bosh but also acquired an outstanding young player like Irving.
Another reason speculated by the outside world for the SuperSonics possibly actively trading Stoudemire was that Yu Fei had semi-publicly expressed an intention to test the free-agent market. To retain him, the SuperSonics might go to any length, even bundling multiple future draft picks with Stoudemire, to get back a prime All-Star and win back the GOAT’s favor.
Discounting the facts, this speculation was not unreasonable.
But that is based on the premise that Yu Fei commits to stay and re-sign with the SuperSonics; otherwise, Bennett would not overleverage the team’s future for a hazy hope.
The situation of the SuperSonics was difficult; they were anxious and tense, as doing nothing would not improve their relationship with Yu Fei; but to improve the relationship, they’d have to pay a steep price.
Smart people like Presti had already prepared for the worst—if Yu Fei left after this season, they could still build around Roy and Irving. Stoudemire would enter a contract year next season, and although he wasn’t worth re-signing, his expiring maximum salary contract would still be attractive to teams craving cap space.
They just needed to wait until next year for the value of this ‘bad stock’ Stoudemire to climb back to a level worth letting go of.
In the end, they decided to stand pat.
The reason for the Cavaliers trading Wall was very simple: his combination with James was as logically dissonant as Huang Bo acting in a romance scenario with any beautiful actress.
Wall couldn’t play off the ball, and although James could, his on-ball threat was too significant for any coach to let prime James play off the ball.
Forced to play without the ball, Wall lacked shooting ability. After losing his tactical role, he could only stand on the outside with hands on hips, unable to create space, and even crowding James’s drives; it’s a pairing the King couldn’t stand.
After an initial period of adjustment, James began using his media resources to generate trade opinions, adopting an ambivalent attitude towards the topic of trading Wall.
James never discussed trades in specific terms in public, but he would put pressure on management in abstract ways.
For example, before All-Star Weekend when the Cavaliers were losing streaks, James said, “I am patient, but if I lose my patience, you will see a completely different me.”
Under such pressure, the Cavaliers, to increase their competitiveness, had no choice but to reluctantly put Wall on the trading block.
Some people couldn’t help joking that James left Cleveland for three years, yet it took him less than half a year to turn the Cavaliers’ three years of savings into ‘cash.’
Some outspoken media personalities even sarcastically commented: “This could be the most important skill LeBron learned from his father he’s never met—draining everything from the other party for his own pleasure. Once the other side has nothing left to be squeezed and turns to ask him for accountability, he’ll take off just like in 2009.”