noveldrama
Chapter 971 971 571 Its Already in the Shape of
Chapter 971 971 571 Its Already in the Shape of
?Chapter 971: Chapter 571: It’s Already in the Shape of Wizards Dan_3 Chapter 971: Chapter 571: It’s Already in the Shape of Wizards Dan_3 But Sanders looked too enticing.
Young, excellent in defense, he was the kind of cornerstone player that could elevate the team’s defensive ceiling. Although the team couldn’t expect him to contribute much on the offensive end, his defense was absolutely reliable. Plus, he was young, who knew if he’d develop better offensive skills in the future?
What was most enticing was Sanders’ contract, offering great value for the money.
He had one year left on his rookie contract, then he had signed a four-year deal worth 44 million US dollars, allowing the team to have him without any worries until the summer of 2018. It was undoubtedly a high-quality and cost-effective contract.
Ainge’s personality of “it’s a loss if it’s not advantageous” was so smitten by Sanders, it was dizzying.
In August, after days of negotiations, the Celtics finally gave up on acquiring a first-round pick. At the same time, they announced the trade under the guise of “fulfilling Pierce’s championship dreams” and “letting Rivers bring talent to a strong team.”
This was destined to be one of the weirdest trades in NBA history. The Los Angeles Clippers sent Larry Sanders to the Boston Celtics in exchange for head coach Doc Rivers and Paul Pierce.
When the trade occurred, Celtics die-hard Bill Simmons couldn’t help but express his mixed emotions on social media with a string of crying and laughing emojis.
He grieved over Pierce’s departure, saddened that a Celtics soul could not end his career with the team like his predecessors. But he was also pleased that Rivers had been traded.
Yes, he had been traded!
His grudge with Rivers dated back to the early 2000s. As soon as Rivers took charge, he tanked according to Ainge’s plan, and Simmons would write articles criticizing him regularly. Eventually, Rivers couldn’t bear it anymore and called Simmons a “clown” in an interview, which set their enmity in stone.
What Simmons didn’t expect was that the first thing Yu Fei did after coming to the Clippers was to trade Sanders.
This prompted Simmons to tweet: “I am increasingly convinced that the Clippers are a cursed team. Look, Frye at 30 has already begun to act like Jordan at 40. I bet this is just the beginning!”
Simmons’ comments naturally attracted attacks from Fei’s fans, but he was used to it.
This trade indeed caused a huge stir in the public. The consensus among many discussions was that no one thought the trade was beneficial for the Clippers.
More interestingly, many were discussing Yu Fei’s role in this trade.
Some believed that Yu Fei was the initiator, while others thought he was just someone who gave his consent. Yu Fei’s go-to reporter, Marc Stein, suddenly fell silent, knowing the truth was not favorable for Yu Fei, so he claimed to be ill and announced he would not be releasing any NBA news anytime soon.
His avoidance only fueled more speculation. After all, if it had been something favorable about Yu Fei, Stein would have hastened to announce. His choice to remain silent suggested something, didn’t it?
Stein felt helpless because Yu Fei would not let him clarify, as if leaving the public to speculate was somehow beneficial to the GOAT’s reputation.
Larry Sanders, who had been traded, faced it all calmly.
“It’s no big deal,” Sanders said, “Playing anywhere is the same.”
People couldn’t help but admire him; being traded from Los Angeles to Boston and still remaining so indifferent truly showed a general’s demeanor.
“The GOAT is destined to pay the price for his arrogance this time!”
“Exactly, Frye is now turning into another Wizards Dan; he’s forgotten who he is!”
“There’s no source proving Frye is involved in this, can you haters calm down?”
Similar comments frequently appeared on social media.
Yu Fei knew very well that behind this one-sided media backlash, there must be someone stirring the pot, but he didn’t care.
In the past, he had also made a turnaround from being universally criticized.
When he first signed a short contract with the Bucks, the public almost treated him as a heretic. Compared to the media onslaught then, this bit of negative publicity was nothing but a minor issue for him.
When Sanders’ issues came to light, these comments would dissipate like smoke.
Moreover, while the outside world accused him of running a one-man show, he reveled in it. It was best if a one-man show could truly be a one-man show.
The Clippers were indeed under his command now, and he had nothing to hide about that.
After the trade was completed, what needed to be sorted out next was the team’s core lineup.
With Sanders traded, the Clippers’ center position was vacant, as there wasn’t a single trustworthy center left in the team. Additionally, with very few options left on the trading market, Yu Fei held little hope of reinforcing the center position through free agency. Thus, he had prepared to let Griffin take turns playing as the center next season.
Considering Griffin’s relatively short arm span, his ability to guard the basket might not be leak-proof, but it would certainly be intimidating.
Therefore, Yu Fei believed that his average blocks per game would reach a new career-high next season.
Besides the interior, they also had the Greek Freak to develop.
The Bucks had already demonstrated how to train Giannis once before; they just had to replicate it.
Pierce would also occupy a starting position. Based on Yu Fei’s impression from last season when he faced Pierce, he estimated that the veteran still had a starting level performance and combined with a big heart developed from years as a team leader, he definitely would excel in crucial plays more than an average starting player.
Looking at it this way, four out of the five starting positions were fixed; the remaining one didn’t matter.
If there were no further reinforcements, this would be the core framework of the Clippers for the new season.
Since his rookie season, Yu Fei had never played with such a barren roster.
Looking at the lineup, they could only aim to reach the semifinals, and whether they could make it to the Western Conference Finals to face the legendary 14 Spurs would depend on luck.
Fortunately, the Clippers had always been a lousy team, leading a team that was vying for the lottery last season to the division semifinals wouldn’t be a blot on Yu Fei’s record.
He and Griffin needed to mesh, and the Greek Freak also needed to grow. They also had to use the salary space freed up by Pierce next summer to sign a star player. Until then, what he needed most was patience.