noveldrama
Chapter 969 969 571 Its Already in the Shape of
Chapter 969 969 571 Its Already in the Shape of
?Chapter 969: Chapter 571: It’s Already in the Shape of Wizards Dan Chapter 969: Chapter 571: It’s Already in the Shape of Wizards Dan Trading Larry Sanders did not upset Arne Trem, as fundamentally, this was the legacy of his predecessor.
He persuaded Yu Fei to keep Sanders simply because the Clippers lacked positive resources, with Sanders being one of the few presentable players.
As long as the Clippers were willing to trade Sanders, they could call any team.
However, whom to get in return for Sanders became a problem.
In the meantime, the Celtics, determined to rebuild, had placed Paul Pierce on the shelf for some time.
Yet, few teams could offer a deal satisfying to Ainge.
Even with Pierce turning 36 in two months, and his average output no longer justifying the status of a star forward, Ainge still believed he could sell Pierce at a high price.
Because he was willing to accept other teams’ bad contracts as long as they gave him draft picks, no matter how undesirable the contracts were.
However, this year turned out to be a slow year in the free agent market.
Apart from Yu Fei’s transfer, the only notable move was the Knicks signing Iguodala, with nothing else of much significance.
When Ainge put Pierce on the shelf, what he met was indifference.
It was an era where even building a team with three all-star players guaranteed no championship, let alone an aging Pierce with reduced appeal for title-contending teams.
Then, the Clippers appeared like Santa Claus.
Inexplicably, they put their youngest valuable asset on the shelf, claiming they would settle for nothing less than an all-star in return.
This stunned the other teams.
No one expected that the first thing Yu Fei would do after becoming the captain was to trade Sanders.
Did the two have some sort of beef?
This was unknown.
Although Trem claimed the GOAT was unaware of the trade, this statement was basically taken as a joke.
WOJ wrote about the inside story of Yu Fei signing with the Clippers, “Ballmer impressed Frye with unprecedented empowerment; from that moment on, the first power broker in professional basketball was no longer Gregg Popovich or Pat Riley, for they didn’t have the authority to make decisions without informing the owner, while Frye did.”
If Trem wanted to trade the team’s best young asset without the “first power broker in professional basketball” knowing, he probably didn’t want to keep his job.
It just wasn’t possible.
Trading Sanders was clearly Yu Fei’s idea, and that was the consensus outside.
Yu Fei himself didn’t mind people knowing this, since any decision by the Clippers couldn’t bypass him. To suggest otherwise would be to take people for fools.
However, everyone speculated that Sanders must have offended Yu Fei somewhere; only Ainge had a clearer line of thought—he directly deduced that there must be something wrong with Sanders; otherwise, why would the Supersonics be willing to trade him?
Yet, after inquiring around, Ainge could not find any issue with Sanders. So, he tentatively used Pierce to inquire about the Clippers’ offer.
Ainge’s recent attempts to trade Pierce across the League had reached Trem’s ears. Trem didn’t think Pierce’s trade value could match Sanders’, but Pierce had one distinct advantage—his contract would expire next summer, freeing up 15 million US dollars in cap space for the team.
Therefore, Trem didn’t mind having a chat with Ainge.
Trem was firm that, in addition to Pierce, he wanted the Celtics to throw in a first-round draft pick.
Ainge naturally refused, as no rebuilding team would give away a first-round pick lightly; after all, rebuilding is an uncertain cyclical process.
Typically, teams undergo a four-year rebuilding cycle, aiming for high draft picks through tanking. If they land a superstar, they could turn their fortunes around; if not, they would have to start over after four years.
Due to its randomness, some teams repeatedly fail, and the Clippers are one of the teams with the richest experience in rebuilding in history.
Ainge’s goal was to trade Pierce for Sanders one-for-one, and if he could extricate a first-round pick from the opponent, it would be a huge win.
However, Trem’s stance was even firmer.
A one-for-one could be discussed, but adding a first-round pick? Goodbye.
Just as Ainge was ready for a protracted battle, another unexpected situation arose for the Celtics.
Doc Rivers, after nearly a decade coaching the Celtics, was unwilling to accompany the team through a rebuild, believing he was fully capable of coaching a strong team.
That sparked an idea for Ainge: since the Clippers currently had no coach, why not trade Rivers to them?
Known as the “King of Being Reversed” in the coaching world, Rivers had only experienced one reversal and couldn’t yet claim the title of “King”. Although he couldn’t lead the Celtics “The Big Three” to a championship, Rivers still secured a lucrative extension with the Celtics due to his exceptional reputation, with a current annual salary of 7 million US dollars, considered a top salary among coaches.
Ainge decided to offer a two-for-one deal, trading Pierce and including Rivers, as long as the Clippers gave an additional first-round draft pick, making the trade possible.
This left Trem stunned.
Ainge was willing to trade even the coach for a first-round pick; he was going crazy.
Trem didn’t know if it was allowed and needed to consult Yu Fei’s opinion first.
Yu Fei also felt his vision go dark when he heard Ainge was willing to trade Rivers. Surely he was the hard-nosed negotiator who sold Rudy Gobert for five first-round picks.