The Godfather of Basketball

Porter is also there, but he is still recovering from his back injury. It's a bit like the first time I met Deron, standing next to the court, watching his teammates train while riding a bicycle.

Seeing this scene seemed familiar, what Tang Tian had to do was similar to what he had done before.

The only difference is that Deron originally represented the immediate combat power, while Porter represented the future of the team.

Tang Tian greeted Mitchell and the others, and then went to find Potter.

Seeing Tang Tian approaching, Potter quickly got off the bicycle.

However, compared with Deron at the beginning, he is much more shy off the court.

Tang Tian chatted with him for a while, feeling like chatting with those college students in his previous life.

After the face-to-face meeting, he then entered the system.

The system hasn't shown much in the past two years, and he hasn't used honor points, so there are 5 points left in his account.

Entering the system this time, in addition to exchanging an iron waist for Porter, he also exchanged an iron knee for Anthony by the way.

Now that Anthony has been decided to start and signed a 2-year contract, this pay must be made.

Otherwise, in the state of the Knicks last season, this "little melon" would directly become a "little bitter melon".

Potter was pedaling his bicycle, and felt a warm current rushing over his waist. Looking at Tang Tian standing on the sidelines, he felt an inexplicable sense of intimacy.

Well, it must be because the other party is the boss and he has personally come to relate to himself.

Anthony was on vacation in Europe, and he was hugging a sexy model at the moment. He suddenly felt his knees warm up, and Tang Tian's figure unconsciously appeared in his mind.

"Honey, what's the matter?" Seeing his dazed eyes, the model smiled and hugged his waist.

"It's okay." Anthony shook his head awkwardly, feeling indescribable.

When the time came to the end of September, the team members returned from vacation one after another.

Including core players such as Irving, George, and Butler, even Anthony returned to the team for training in advance.

The Nets aim to defend the title, but with the 76ers in the East and the Warriors and Rockets in the West, this will be a very difficult thing.

However, after falling behind 0-2 last season and then sweeping the Warriors 4-0 last season, the morale and mental outlook of this team are very good.

Anthony also integrated very quickly, and his condition looks very good.

However, even if he has iron knees, it will be difficult for him to return to the level at the peak. Now it is at most 60 to 70%. The most obvious degradation is the poor defense. The decline in movement speed makes him only play the fourth position. .

After Tang Tian exchanged it for him and Porter, now there is only one honor point left, and he can't exchange it for anything else. He can only let Rogers catch his defensive habits alone.

Because more of the active area at the fourth position is on the inside, this is easier to deal with than Irving.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it is the beginning of October, and the footsteps of the new season have come unconsciously.

The Nets' preseason is similar to the past two seasons, basically half-time running-in and half-time fumbling for team rotation.

The difference between the results and the past two years is that both aspects surprised the coaching staff and the outside world.

After the running-in of last season, the Nets started the new season and produced an amazing chemical reaction. The passes between Jokic, Irving, George and Butler on the field were dazzling, and the Nets played like mercury. .

With this tacit understanding, even without Anthony, the strength has improved greatly compared to last season.

In other words, if they play another round of finals against the Warriors team from last season, they might just be swept away.

In the rotation stage, Mitchell's performance also made everyone's eyes shine. He has changed from a pure assaulter last season to a tactical core. He can take care of his teammates while attacking himself, and his passing accuracy is better than last season. Significant progress has been made.

Although the Nets lost Rondo in the summer, Mitchell is now self-reliant.

Yi Jianlian and Kuzma also cut in seamlessly, and the two will definitely become the most important rotation in the new season.

What is surprising is the point guard and small forward positions.

After Murray played a marginal player for two seasons, this season finally ushered in an opportunity, and he finally grasped it.

More mature and more oppressive defense, more stable shooting, still impactful rebounding and passing ability reaching the league average level, his performance in the preseason surpassed this year's No. 7 pick Sexton , will be the first substitute behind Irving.

This result is also in line with Tang Tian's expectations.

Murray still has a very good physical talent. If he hasn't improved in two years, he can only be sold like Brogdon.

Tucker was traded away, Mitchell, Porter and Kuzma are also stronger offensively than defensively, and the defensive ability of the backup lineup will be insufficient, and Murray can make up for this very well.

Another surprise is the small forward position.

Maybe it's because of the injury for a long time (only played 3 games in college). Although he exchanged for the iron waist, Porter didn't show his own characteristics. The soft touch like Durant in high school was in the preseason. It turned into iron, and there were rookie fouls on the defensive end.

The superstar embryo has only shown the embryo, and it will take some time before it takes shape.

Ding Yanyuhang, who was originally the second substitute at the small forward position, seized the opportunity.

Although his body is relatively weak and his upper limit is not too high, his 100% devotion in the game allows him to fully exert his ability.

The active movement in the fast break, the impact of positional warfare, and the filling and toughness in defense all left a very deep impression on the coaching staff and fans.

After 7 preseason games, he averaged 7.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game, shooting 46% from the field.

His performance allowed him to defeat other teams with no guaranteed contracts and successfully stayed on the team's final roster, and also won himself a position at the bottom of the rotation.

After finishing the preseason, the team's rotation was finally determined.

Starting lineup: Irving, Butler, George, Anthony, Jokic.

Substitutes (in order of rotation): Mitchell, Yi Jianlian, Murray, Kuzma, Ding Yanyuhang/Bah a Moute.

Bench players: Sexton, Porter, Robinson.

After the end of the preseason, the new season officially kicked off.

Before the start of the regular season, ESPN performed a wave of strength rankings for each team as usual.

The five-star warriors ranked first without any suspense.

ESPN's official evaluation is: As long as Cousins ​​can recover to 60 to 70% of the level, they will be invincible in the league.

The defending champions are in second place.

ESPN's comment: After the introduction of Anthony, the Nets' lineup looks stronger, but after losing consecutive core rotation players such as Oden, Rondo, and Tucker last season, they lost the advantage of the bench and want to defend their title in the new season It will be difficult, but the starting core is basically the same, which makes them the strongest team outside of the Warriors.