noveldrama
Chapter 973 973 572 The Summer That Is About to
Chapter 973 973 572 The Summer That Is About to
?Chapter 973: Chapter 572: The Summer That Is About to End_2 Chapter 973: Chapter 572: The Summer That Is About to End_2 Rivers jokingly said, “I think Joel Embiid isn’t too shabby either.”
Yu Fei smiled and replied, “Of course, my ultimate goal is to lead the team to the top, but I know it’s not going to happen in one year. With our current lineup, the most realistic goal is to have a good season, to mend the psychological scars left by the Sterling era for Clippers fans. As for the playoffs…”
“My goal is the divisional finals.”
Hearing an active player talk about season goals like an owner made Rivers feel somewhat awkward. But he knew that the man in front of him really did have the power of life and death over the situation.
And the goal he proposed was quite practical.
This was vastly different from the rumors that “Frye has been Wizards Dan-ified” circulating outside.
At least the Yu Fei that Rivers met was a very down-to-earth person.
Whether it was his view of the Clippers or his plans for the future, Yu Fei gave Rivers an indescribable sense of clarity.
It was truly incredible.
A man who had won eight championships in the past eleven years could actually accept not aiming for the championship in the new season.
“I got it,” said Rivers, “What do you need me to do?”
“Play to your strengths, Doug,” Yu Fei said, “You need to build a top-notch coaching team. Remember, choose the best of the best, and don’t worry about funding. You have to know, Mr. Ballmer is so poor that all he has left is money.”
This truly was the Clippers’ biggest advantage—Ballmer was extremely wealthy.
“There’s also one more important thing you’ll need to do,” Yu Fei continued.
Rivers asked earnestly, “What’s that?”
“Chauncey Billups is considering leaving Los Angeles to return to Detroit,” Yu Fei said, “I hope you can persuade him to stay.”
There was quite a bit of bad blood between Yu Fei and Billups. Back in the day, they were fierce rivals in the Eastern Conference, and the brawl in the Palace of Auburn Hills between the Bucks and the Pistons caused the Bucks’ dream of a three-peat to shatter. Of course, the Pistons also suffered from the incident, failing to clinch what would have been considered one of the biggest upsets in sports history in 2004.
Over the years, Yu Fei and those from the “Pistons camp” didn’t get along, so this was a job that only Rivers—the coach respected by all black players—could do.
Rivers asked, “Chauncey will be 38 next year, do we really need him?”
“Most teams probably don’t,” Yu Fei said, “but Giannis might. A seasoned guard could be of great help to him.”
“Giannis?” Rivers asked, puzzled.
Rivers didn’t even know the name of this Greek Freak.
“Our rookie this year, he’s quite special,” Yu Fei added.
“How special?” Rivers asked curiously.
“Let’s put it this way,” Yu Fei said with a smile, “imagine you’re playing a basketball video game on a computer, and you’ve created a point guard. Then suddenly you decide to stretch that point guard’s height to seven feet.”
Rivers’ eyes widened.
“That’s right, that’s our Giannis,” Yu Fei emphasized, “He’s going to be very special.”
Afterwards, Yu Fei continued with his training, while Rivers stayed to watch, occasionally making comments. The two gradually developed a camaraderie between coach and player from “getting to know each other.”
That evening, Rivers had dinner at Yu Fei’s house, and afterwards, on the way home, he called Billups.
When he found out that Billups was in Los Angeles, he went directly to his home.
This was the first task Yu Fei had set for Rivers, and he knew he could not mess it up.
After meeting Billups, Rivers used his irrefutable eloquence and personal charm—as DeAndre Jordan had said, “I’m a man of my word, until Rivers showed up at my doorstep with a whole team.”—and ultimately, he successfully convinced Billups to change his mind.
Rivers specifically emphasized a few points: the GOAT wanted him to stay, as veterans like him are treasures for any team; he still had something left in the tank, and it made no sense to waste his final year in a declining place like Detroit. And if he really wanted to retire in Detroit, there was no rush in this one year. He could sign a one-day contract with the Pistons next year, symbolically play one game, and then retire, wasn’t that also ending his career in Detroit?
Billups was persuaded, and he decided to stay in Los Angeles for another year.
This was the first time Rivers showed Yu Fei his charm.
Yu Fei was very satisfied. A coach who often choked at crucial moments still managed to keep a job, definitely had something about him.
Although this “something” wasn’t quite enough for coaching, it was still useful.
Afterwards, the Clippers received an unexpected piece of good news from the free agent market.
Veteran Zaza Pachulia, who had played for the Bucks for many years, had been wanting a 4-year, 20 million US Dollar contract since the end of the season.
But now that the Bucks had three max contracts, their salary cap was severely bloated. Giving Pachulia 5 million wasn’t a problem, the issue was the terrifying luxury tax that would result afterward.
This dragged on until August, when the Bucks thought Pachulia would cave in and accept their offer of 10 million US Dollars over three years.
Unexpectedly, Pachulia turned around and accepted the Clippers’ offer of 8 million US Dollars over two years.
This was an unexpected windfall for the Clippers.
Although Pachulia couldn’t solve their lack of talent at center, at least they had someone serviceable now.
Plus, Pachulia had also followed Yu Fei in the early years with the Bucks, so they were old acquaintances.
After signing Pachulia, the Clippers’ free agency operations were essentially concluded.
They had Yu Fei, Griffin, and Pierce as the core framework, with Giannis Antetokounmpo as the team’s future plan. To solidify this plan, they kept Chauncey Billups on board as a guide, and now they had signed Pachulia to fill the gap at center.