On the private plane flying from Seattle to Boston, the laughter and chatter in the cabin seemed to have nothing to do with the last row.
Midway through the cabin, Garnett, Gary Payton, and Rasheed were playing cards. Gary Payton loudly mocked Garnett's terrible card skills while chugging beer. Having just completed a historic massacre on the road, the adrenaline of these core players hadn't completely subsided.
But the atmosphere was completely different in the last row of the cabin.
Chauncey Billups Billups leaned back in his chair, holding the technical statistics sheet in his hand, but his gaze had already drifted to the dark night sky outside the window. His brows were furrowed, and his fingers unconsciously crumpled the edge of the paper, clearly indicating that he was preoccupied.
Lin Qi walked down the aisle with a glass of ice water, noticed his unusual behavior, and sat down in the empty seat next to him.
"What are you thinking about?" Lin Qi asked.
Chauncey Billups turned his head, opened his mouth, and initially wanted to swallow back his polite words, but his straightforward nature ultimately prevailed. He put down the technical statistics sheet in his hand, looked directly into Lin Qi's eyes, and said, "Mr. Lin Qi, I have a question that has been on my mind for a long time, and tonight I want to hear the truth."
"Speak," Lin Qi said calmly.
"Why did no one ever contact me when the team was negotiating contract extensions and planning for the future with other players this summer?" Chauncey Billups's voice was low, carrying a hint of tension and resentment typical of young people. "Is it that in your eyes, I'm simply not important? Am I just a bargaining chip that can be discarded at any time, or a passerby filling a roster?"
Lin Qi was slightly taken aback. He clearly hadn't expected that this usually quiet and reserved third-place scholar would harbor such deep anxiety and misunderstanding.
Lin Qi chuckled and shook his head, " Chauncey Billups, you're thinking too much. You're not only in the team's long-term plan, but you're also an extremely important part of the core structure. If I didn't have faith in you, you would have been traded away as trade bait this summer. Don't forget, Boston is a team aiming for the championship. I've carefully considered every spot on the roster; there's never a freeloader here."
Hearing this, Chauncey Billups's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, but his eyes still held a hint of doubt. "Then why hasn't anyone told me how the team plans to use me?"
"Because at that time, I felt that even you yourself hadn't figured out whether you were a point guard or a shooting guard." Lin Qi's smile faded, and his tone became serious and frank. "The coaching staff and management had a clear assessment of you. You have excellent physique, strength, and shooting foundation, but your problem isn't simply a lack of ability, but rather that your point guard skills, game reading, and consistency haven't matured in tandem. You still have many shooting guard offensive habits, which is unacceptable for a playmaker."
Lin Qi looked at Chauncey Billups, who was listening attentively, and pointed out his technical shortcomings incisively.
Chauncey Billups opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found himself speechless.
Lin Qi patted his knee and continued, "Your biggest problem is that you get hot-headed when you get the ball. You jump as soon as you're half a step past the screen, you dare to force a shot even when there's no space in the mid-range, and you're half a beat slow to pass the ball when facing a double team. You're too eager to prove yourself with a difficult shot, and you've forgotten how to break down the defense and how to pass the ball to the most comfortable teammate at the right time."
Chauncey Billups was stunned as he listened to Lin Qi's precise, almost scathing analysis. He had thought that the management simply didn't value him, but he hadn't expected that the other party could see through even his impetuous little actions and anxious mentality on the field.
"So, the coaching staff has already devised a multi-year plan to address your weaknesses," Lin Qi said, meeting his gaze. "From now on, in practice, don't always rush in headfirst. Every time you set a screen, you need to pause for two seconds, consider whether the defense will go around the screen, move up, or double-team, before deciding how to handle the ball. We need to change your reckless driving to using your lower body to hold the defender, learning to pressure your opponent with rhythm and physicality, instead of relying on brute force."
At this point, Lin Qi changed the subject.
"I specifically brought Ron Harper over last year, not only to bolster the roster, but also for you. Ron is a championship-caliber combo guard; you need to watch closely and learn from his experience and rhythm on the court. And Gary, his performance on the court is your best mentor."
Chauncey Billups listened, his brows gradually relaxed.
"Of course I want to keep you in Boston with a long-term contract. But then again, it's unfair to tie you down with a low-salary contract now before you've really made it. What if you really become valuable in a few years and then feel like you overpaid when you signed that contract? You might develop resentment and argue with management over salary... Haven't we learned enough lessons from this in the league these past few years? Look at what Sean Kemp did in Seattle, and how Pippen was constantly seething with anger in Chicago?"
Lin Qi looked at the young man who was deep in thought and offered him two extremely frank options.
"I originally planned to talk to you about this after the season ended. But since you've brought it up today, I'll be frank with you too. You actually have two paths in front of you: First, if you're not satisfied with your current situation and insist on finding a place outside to immediately become a starter, then you can look at the free agent market next summer. With your talent, getting a short-term contract of two or three million to prove yourself isn't difficult."
"The second option is to stay in Boston and follow the long-term path we've laid out for you. If you're willing to temporarily set aside your obsession with starting positions and steadily play as a substitute for Gary and Ron for a few years, focusing on honing your skills... I will provide you with sufficient financial security."
Lin Qi stretched out his finger and tapped it lightly on the table.
"I'll offer you a fully guaranteed 6-year, $24 million contract, averaging $4 million per month. In today's salary environment, that's an incredibly lucrative guarantee. And when the contract reaches its later stages and conditions are right, the reins of this team's perimeter offense will be handed to you."
The engine roared deep and steady inside the cabin.
Chauncey Billups stared blankly at Lin Qi, his mind reeling from those words. What he had initially perceived as indifference and neglect turned out to be a well-thought-out, long-term investment.
All the doubts from the outside world, the fear of being labeled as a parallel import, and the sense of disappointment at appearing during a downtime event were completely shattered at this moment by this heavy trust.
Chauncey Billups took a deep breath, his clenched fists gradually loosened, and his furrowed brows finally relaxed.
"I'll sign." Chauncey Billups raised his head, his eyes no longer filled with confusion.