Volume 5: Unrivaled

Isaiah Thomas rejected Berni's proposal, saying that he had put up the best performance of his career last season, good enough to rank among the league's top ten, and that he would never accept such a cheap contract. The thought left Dennis utterly agitated. Had they only just escaped the tiger's den to enter the wolf's lair? Butler's ball-handling and playmaking had grown increasingly impressive. He wanted Butler to take on more responsibilities, while Rose's body had become increasingly fragile. It would be better for him to recover properly during the regular season and serve as the team's dagger in the playoffs. Butler was deeply moved. He had never expected Rose to be willing to give up his position as the team leader, and immediately stated: In Danny Ainge's eyes, offering such a large contract to a 175-centimeter point guard was already in recognition of Isaiah Thomas's contributions to the team. As Durant and Leonard joined one after another, Isaiah Thomas's importance to the Celtics had steadily declined, and his chances of signing a max contract had become increasingly slim. Kerr also said that he had worked with Leonard for several years and understood him extremely well. He would definitely arrange the tactics best suited to Leonard and allow him to perform even better with the Celtics. Looking over the entire press conference, everyone had put championship contention first. The atmosphere was incomparably harmonious: the stars were united, the coach was wise, and the general manager was capable. It seemed that the glory of the ancient Celtics dynasty was about to return. "Derrick, you were only injured a little more often last season, but they were all minor injuries. We all have great faith in you. You'll definitely recover..." Nike had grown increasingly disappointed in James and wanted to promote