170. The Trade Storm

Li Chen finished breakfast with Avril by his side.

After breakfast, as Avril was about to leave the room, Li Chen hesitated for a moment and said, "Avril!"

"Huh?" Avril turned around with a suspicious look on her face and asked in surprise, "What's wrong, darling?"

"I... I'm going back to China this year to see my parents, are you... are you coming?"

Li Chen forced himself to ask the question, stammering Li Chen somewhat helpless.

He never expected that his adoptive mother would watch him play every game, which led to her finding out that he was dating a foreign celebrity. A few days ago, she even started clamoring to see her daughter-in-law.

That's why we're seeing this scene today.

Avril was taken aback at first, then excitedly exclaimed, "Really? I can really meet your parents? That's wonderful!"

Seeing Avril's excited expression, Li Chen was a little confused. What was going on? This wasn't what he had imagined! He had just been worried that Avril wouldn't want to go to China.

After some discussion, the two decided to return to their home country after the talent show ended.

After finalizing the matter of introducing his girlfriend to his parents, Li Chen began practicing shooting basketballs.

As soon as Li Chen entered his own stadium, he suddenly remembered something: the system notification sounded after his championship parade.

It was too noisy at the time, I couldn't even hear what the system was saying.

Then he opened the system notification log.

[Note: Given that you have won the NBA championship, the system will grant you a reward for upgrading your A-rank skill to S-rank Skill.]

Seeing this, Li Chen was overjoyed; he never expected that winning the championship would bring such good fortune. After the initial excitement, the next step was to make a choice.

Li Chen had a wide range of skills to choose from, and he even suffered from decision paralysis for a time. After struggling for ten minutes, he finally chose the support skill [Assist Master].

Because, next he's going to develop pseudo- All-Star Player.

This means that by using a "Assist Master" to develop an ordinary rotation player into an All-Star, of course, this All-Star Player is All-Star Player when playing alongside him. As for what happens after he leaves, well, you can imagine the 20% drop in shooting percentage.

Li Chen did this mainly to fool that bastard Morey. If one All-Star Player can't be traded for Yao Ming, then two will do; if two aren't enough, then three; if three aren't enough, then four. He just didn't believe that old dog Morey wouldn't be tempted.

Put yourself in their shoes; any normal person would agree to this deal, especially since Morey is a despicable man who discards his tools after they've served their purpose.

By the way, this method can also be used to get Duncan away from the Spurs. He believes that Peter Holt will definitely be tempted. Without Duncan, how will that old dog Popovich play?

Furthermore, Leonard can forget about going to the Spurs; they have to snatch him away.

However, Elgin Baylor still needs to be persuaded, so this matter requires further consideration.

Lost in thought, Li Chen began practicing, but he couldn't concentrate on his practice all morning.

Because his phone had been ringing non-stop all morning, first with Yao Ming, Bill Duffy, and then with his National Team teammates.

Li Chen was speechless. "Guys, you chose to go to China in the middle of the night, didn't you?"

Just then, a text message arrived quietly.

Congratulations on winning the championship! But you're still a bit behind me; I already have three championships.

When Li Chen saw Kobe's message, he laughed. Kobe was afraid that he would show off in front of him, so he actually chose to send a message. He was impressed. The Little Blacksmith really went to great lengths to guard against him!

But didn't you know I can send messages myself?

With that in mind, Li Chen's fingers flew across the keyboard, and strings of English words appeared on the screen one after another.

After editing the message, Li Chen grinned mischievously and was about to send it to Kobe.

But after thinking about it, Li Chen deleted the long message he had just edited, then typed "thank you" on the message editing page, and then sent it to Kobe with great pride.

He now has a picture in his mind of Kobe hesitating and struggling after receiving the message.

He'll definitely hesitate about whether to check his own message, and after agonizing over it for a while, he'll finally muster the courage to look at the message he sent, and then... hehehe!

To be honest, Li Chen really did study Kobe thoroughly.

Kobe's home.

Just as Li Chen had guessed, Kobe stared at the phone with a conflicted expression, eager to see what Li Chen would say.

However, he was afraid that he would regret it after reading Li Chen's message. After hesitating for half an hour, he finally mustered up the courage to open the message.

When he saw the word "thank you" in Li Chen's message, he was stunned. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, unable to believe that Li Chen would only say "thank you".

After rubbing his eyes and looking again, he still saw "thank you." The Little Blacksmith was bewildered. This wasn't right! How could this kid not show off in front of him after winning the championship?

But Kobe's face turned green with anger almost immediately.

"Fuck, you bastard, you little brat."

Kobe had an urge to smash his phone. He realized that all his hesitation and indecisiveness had only caused him trouble and made him struggle with anxiety for so long!

"Li Chen, I challenge you to a one-on-one fight, and I'll beat you until you question your existence!" Kobe thought fiercely, then picked up the phone to challenge Li Chen to a duel.

Just then, Kobe received a phone call. After a moment of surprise, Kobe said expectantly, "Mr. Cook, I hope to play with him."

At this moment, all NBA teams were shaken, and each team was eager to get started.

Rewind to an hour earlier, in the Clippers' General Manager Office.

"Mr. Sterling, no, absolutely not," Elgin Baylor vehemently denied.

Donald Sterling, unusually amiable, said, "Elgin, you need to understand, Alvin caused me to lose nearly ten million dollars. I can't keep him on the Clippers. You also said that Li Chen has special feelings for Alvin, so what will happen if he knows about this? You should understand why I'm doing this."

Elgin Baylor still shook his head, saying, "Sterling, Chen, is the Finals MVP! He's the Most Valuable Player, the core of the Clippers. If we trade him, we might become a weak team, and your losses will be even greater then... you..."

But before Elgin Baylor could finish speaking, Donald Sterling waved his hand to interrupt, saying, "Elgin, I've already considered this situation, so this is just a test to see what kind of offers each team can make."

Elgin Baylor still disagrees with Donald Sterling trading Li Chen, who has proven his worth this year.

But the Clippers belong to Donald Sterling; he's the owner of the team, and Elgin Baylor is just the general manager.

Finally, Donald Sterling lost his patience and directly ordered Elgin Baylor to release the news that he wanted to trade Li Chen, then slammed the door and left.

New York.

Dolan was somewhat surprised when he heard the news. He felt that Donald Sterling must have lost his mind; how could he make such a foolish decision?

However, he then laughed. If this guy wasn't stupid, how could he have had a chance?

But Dolan was somewhat frustrated because he realized he didn't have any assets that would entice the Clippers.

Dolan paced back and forth in his office, racking his brains for over an hour, but couldn't find a feasible solution.

Now he's starting to regret it. If only he hadn't tanked and had signed another All-Star Player! He wouldn't be in this situation with no assets left.

Why don't we talk to that good-for-nothing Thomas and see if he has any ideas?

Fuck, everyone says he's useless. What good could he possibly do? He's not even as good as me. Dolan felt disgusted just thinking about it.

It's not that I'm not trying hard enough! It's just that there are too many useless people around me.

Dolan thought for another hour or so, and finally came up with a solution that was not really a solution: to find David Stern, the NBA commissioner.

He thought the NBA commissioner was there to serve the team owners, and now that he was in trouble, he naturally had to turn to David Stern.

So he called David Stern.

The content of the phone call was to get Li Chen to the New York Knicks, no matter the cost.

David Stern's lips twitched when he heard Dolan's request. He thought to himself, "The Knicks have nothing to their name right now, and you want to snag a big fish? Are you kidding me?"

However, Dolan is an NBA team owner, and David Stern has to consider a crucial issue: the New York basketball market.

If the Knicks can improve their record, it will be extremely important for the development of the league.

Actually, he still preferred to send Li Chen to the New York Knicks.

If Li Chen can really lead the Knicks to success, David Stern clenched his fist, perhaps it could increase the league's fan base.

But here's the problem: the Knicks are tanking and have nothing to show for themselves, so how are they going to compete for Li Chen?

Actually, David Stern was somewhat surprised when he heard that the Clippers wanted to trade Li Chen. In his opinion, even if Donald Sterling, that miser, wanted to trade Li Chen, it would be during the 2005-06 season.

But he never expected Donald Sterling to be in such a hurry.

Wait a minute, David Stern suddenly realized something: the Knicks had the worst record, which meant there was a lot of room for manipulation.

In the Los Angeles Lakers' General Manager Office.

"Phil, if we get Li Chen, what are our chances of winning the championship next season?" Mitch Kupchak asked expectantly.

After careful consideration, Phil Jackson conservatively estimated, "There's an 80% chance of winning."

Hearing this, Mitch Kupchak was overjoyed. He knew that the 80% chance that Phil Jackson mentioned was equivalent to 100%.

Yes, he has high hopes for the backcourt duo of Li Chen and Kobe.

Moreover, given Li Chen's status as Kobe's friend and his selfless playing style, the Lakers are unlikely to experience internal conflicts again.

If Li Chen joins the Lakers, he can definitely break Russell's 11-year championship streak.

But here's the question: will things really be that simple? Phil Jackson isn't optimistic about this trade.

"Mickey, don't get too excited. This isn't going to be easy."

Mitch Kupchak, who was excited, was slightly stunned and looked at Phil Jackson in surprise.

At this point, Phil Jackson explained, "Don't forget, we live in the same city as the Los Angeles Clippers."

Hearing this, Mitch Kupchak's heart sank. Yes! He had been too excited and had completely forgotten about it.

It's worth noting that the Clippers' fan base exploded in two seasons because of Li Chen.

If Li Chen were to join the Los Angeles Lakers, most Clippers fans would very likely become Lakers fans. Only Elgin Baylor and Donald Sterling would do something so foolish.

"I can persuade Li Chen to play for the Lakers."

Just then, Kobe had just pushed open the door, said confidently.

The two looked at Kobe, who had barged in without knocking, and then exchanged wry smiles.

Phil Jackson said, "Kobe, Li Chen is a guaranteed player right now, he has no say in anything! So even if you're good friends, it won't help."

Hearing this, Kobe's heart sank. He clenched his fists. He really wanted to play with Li Chen, to stand at the top together, but now...

Finally, still unwilling to give up, he asked, "Is there really no other way?"

"Kobe, all I can say is I tried my best," Mitch Kupchak said.

Kobe let out a long breath; he knew how difficult this trade would be.

On the other hand, when Odom called Li Chen was completely stunned.

What's going on? Is my Finals MVP award a fake? I just won the championship and I'm being traded? What... what is this all about?

Did Donald Sterling know he wouldn't sign with the Clippers after his contract expired? Or was there another reason?

At this moment, Odom muttered, "Fuck, what kind of mess is this? After all this fuss, we brothers have ended up swapping teams. But the Heat are a good fit for a training maniac like you."

Odom's words snapped Li Chen out of his thoughts.

"Lamar, there is no way I will be traded from the Clippers to the Miami Heat."

Odom was taken aback. "What, what, what do you mean by that?"

"Because Riley couldn't afford the price Donald Sterling was asking for."

"Fuck you, you bastard, that hurts! Am I really that bad?" Odom was furious!

It's not that you're bad, it's that comparing yourself to someone who's cheating is a mistake in itself.

Of course, Li Chen wouldn't say these things, so he calmly replied, "What do you think?"

Odom "..."

Li Chen now seems to have figured out Donald Sterling's tactics.

His strategy is to see himself as a stepping stone, and if a team makes a big financial sacrifice, Donald Sterling won't miss the opportunity.

Just after hanging up with Odom, Elgin Baylor called, repeatedly reassuring Li Chen that the team wouldn't hand over Li Chen and that Donald Sterling was just testing the market's reaction.

Of course, Elgin Baylor wouldn't talk about Alvin Gentry at this time.

Elgin Baylor's words proved his guess to be correct.

So, in the ensuing bidding war, each team offered their bare minimum.

Lakers: Traded O'Neal and a valuable first-round pick.

Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki for Li Chen, plus a valuable first-round pick.

Cuban really likes Li Chen now, especially his performance during the NBA Finals when he stepped up whenever the team was in trouble.

Americans have a very strong sense of individualism, and Li Chen's behavior just happened to hit Cuban, a fan's sore spot.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Pick any player and draft pick except Garnett.

The Timberwolves offered a very attractive deal, but it fell short compared to the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.

Of course, besides Wolf King Garnett, the Timberwolves didn't have any other good assets. They were mostly role players and didn't have any young stars like James or Anthony, so the Clippers didn't even consider them.

Keep in mind that Li Chen is a young core player, and he can be used for at least 10 years.

Memphis Grizzlies: Gasol, Mike Miller, Jason Williams, and several draft picks.

At that time, Gasol was able to put up 17.7 points and 7.7 rebounds, making him a solid second or third option in the paint.

Miller is also a good outside shooter, like Pope and Kuzma now, capable of averaging more than 10 points per game with a good shooting percentage.

Jason Williams is also a good pitcher.

Miami Heat: Odom, Caron Butler, Brian Grant, one first-round pick, and one second-round pick.

Odom averaged 17.1 points and 9.7 rebounds per game at the time, making him a decent blue-collar Power Forward who was particularly tough on the court.

Butler and Grant were both promising young talents who were already quite well-known at the time.

The Clippers have not responded to any of these offers.

As for the Knicks, they did not participate in the bidding.