October 30th, third floor of the Auerbach training center.
As Lin Qi walked into his office, Assistant General Manager Sam Presti quickly followed him in with a hot coffee, closing the door behind him.
"The league office just released the official referee report for last night's opening game. There were 54 fouls called in total, 27 for us and 27 for the Cleveland Cavaliers," Presti said, handing over a clipping from the morning newspaper, a smile on his face. "Also, Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Jim Parker called twenty minutes ago, specifically asking for you. I told him you were still on your way, and he had his transfer secretary keep the line busy; he sounded quite urgent."
Lin Qi hung his coat on the hanger, walked to his desk, sat down, and pressed the speakerphone button.
Jim Parker's slightly tense voice immediately came through the receiver. "Lin, good morning. Did I disturb your breakfast?"
"Good morning, Jim," Lin Qi said, taking a sip of his coffee. "Just got in. Last night's game was exciting; your high school kid had a lot of energy, especially his fast break in the fourth quarter."
Parker chuckled awkwardly on the other end of the phone, his tone slightly strained. "Come on, Lin, let's skip the pleasantries. Anyone with eyes could see how LeBron got those last few points."
Parker paused, then tentatively steered the conversation toward serious matters.
"I called today to talk to you about the players. I watched your fast-paced style of play last night, and Rick's ability to orchestrate the fast breaks is truly impressive. However, right now your perimeter offense mainly relies on Chris Paul ( Pierce ) and Dwyane ( Wade ), and after a long regular season, the ball handlers are taking a lot of toll. Do you need a wing scorer who can create offense independently and dunk on fast breaks?"
"Rickie averaged 20.6 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists last season. He's only 24 this year, just entering his prime," Parker began his habitual statistic reading. "He can handle the ball and score one-on-one; his physical attributes are undeniable. Your frontcourt rotation is too crowded right now, like Tayshaun Prince, Gerald Wallace, or Mehmet Okur. These young guys are solid defenders, but their offensive development abilities are limited. If you get Ricky over there as the primary offensive option, Chris Paul can save a lot of energy during the regular season."
Lin Qi leaned back in his chair and casually picked up the morning newspaper on the table and flipped through it.
Jim, didn't you read the newspaper this morning?
Lin Qi interrupted his sales pitch calmly.
"This morning's Cleveland Plain Dealer and Akron Beacon, along with the ESPN column, and even I received a fax. Your local Cleveland reporters have spilled the beans on the locker room."
"From the first day of training camp, Ricky and Darius Myers would place a portable speaker in the middle of the locker room and blast loud rap music all day long. While Chris Paul Russ was explaining defensive positioning in front of the whiteboard, the two of them would be chewing gum with headphones on. During scrimmages, Ricky would rather shoot over two defenders than pass the ball to LeBron who was cutting to the basket, and afterwards he would order LeBron to go to the street corner every day to buy donuts and carry his training bag."
"As for on-court discipline, last season, specifically in March of this year when you played the Utah Jazz, Ricky, in an effort to achieve a triple-double, received the inbound pass on the baseline and threw it directly towards his own basket, grabbing the rebound himself. Jerry Sloan almost rushed over to fight him on the sidelines, Sean Stevenson fouled him, knocking him to the ground. The league didn't even credit him for that rebound afterwards. You expect me to trade one of my young players for someone who would even shoot at his own basket to pad his personal stats?"
Parker remained silent for a long time on the other end of the receiver, finally abandoning his negotiating stance and letting out a sigh.
"Lin, you're incredibly well-informed. Those local reporters are just stirring up trouble. To tell you the truth, after the game last night, Ricky made sarcastic remarks in front of the reporters, saying that LeBron was impressive in the fourth quarter, scoring alongside benchwarmers. At that time, Nike's basketball operations director, Lynn Merritt, was sitting in the hallway outside, looking extremely displeased."
"At one in the morning, Merritt called owner Gordon Gund directly to his home. Nike had just spent ninety million dollars on LeBron, and they absolutely wouldn't allow a troublemaker with a huge contract to isolate their star player in front of the whole nation. Gordon woke me up in the middle of the night and gave me a firm order: no matter the cost, Ricky had to be removed as soon as possible."
Parker's voice sounded tired.
"Gordon may be blind, but he's not deaf. He heard the boos in the arena after yesterday's game perfectly clearly. Lin, you Boston have so many promising defensive prospects on your bench. Give me a Tayshaun Prince, or Gerald Wallace, as long as they're solid defenders and listen to the coach. I'll even throw in a future second-round pick and trade Ricky to you to get me out of this mess, okay?"
After listening, Lin Qi turned to look at Presti Presti beside him, shook his head, and smiled mockingly.
" Jim, your brother John Parker is the general manager in Chicago," Lin Qi said, taking a sip of water. " The Chicago Bulls just acquired Shaq, and they're desperately need a scorer in the backcourt. Ricky's got the physique, he can fly and dunk, why don't you just give him to your own brother?"
"Don't even John," Parker chuckled wryly on the phone. "I called John at six this morning. John gave me a real dressing down, saying that if I dared to hand Ricky Davis over to the Chicago Bulls, I wouldn't be getting a Thanksgiving turkey dinner this year. He said if Shaq saw Ricky trying to get a triple-double by throwing the ball up his own rim, he'd strangle him in the locker room shower."
Presti couldn't help but laugh out loud in the office.
Lin Qi put down his cup and dropped his joking tone.
" Jim, let me make this clear. In Boston, tactical discipline is more important than statistics. I won't trade Prince, Gerald Wallace, or even Okur for Ricky Davis."
Parker sighed, his voice filled with disappointment. "Even you don't want him, so which of the teams in the Eastern Conference that are vying for a playoff spot would dare to take him on?"
"Teams that want to win don't need him, but you can try a different approach," Lin Qi suggested. "Stop fighting tooth and nail in the Eastern Conference, go ask the Clippers in Los Angeles."
Parker paused for a moment. " The Clippers?"
"Yes, go find Donald Sterling and Elgin Baylor," Lin Qi leaned back in his leather chair, slowly analyzing for him, "You know Sterling better than I do. As long as tickets sell, as long as there are Clippers players dunking every day in the highlight reels, he doesn't care about defensive positioning or whether rap music is playing in the locker room. Ricky, with his explosive athleticism, is perfect for meeting the Clippers ' ticket-buying needs."
Parker pondered for a moment on the other end of the phone, then his voice brightened noticeably. " The Clippers... the Clippers have a bunch of expiring contracts, which would perfectly balance their salaries."
"We'll have more leverage if we wait until mid-December when the teams' contracts are unfrozen," Lin Qi said. "Alright, Jim, I've got the strategy. Go call Elgin Baylor."
"Thanks, Lin," Parker breathed a sigh of relief. "When we come back to Cleveland for the away game, I'll treat you to steak."
"No need for the steak, just don't try to push this kind of trouble onto our team again next time."
Lin Qi hung up the phone.
The office fell silent. Presti spread out the game schedule folder in his hand. " The Cleveland management is currently under immense pressure from Nike. In order to keep LeBron James on their side, their subsequent trades will likely be disrupted for a while."
That's their own business.