The Whip of the God of Basketball

After all, Joe Johnson's departure cannot be changed. He will leave the place where his dream started tomorrow. A person's personality is closely related to his growth experience. Johnson, who grew up in a close family, is not used to such parting. He hugged Leon at the door of his apartment and shed tears.

This somewhat surprised Leon, because Johnson was always the indifferent and withdrawn guy in the team. He didn't talk much, had a tepid personality, didn't have much leadership on the court, and always played silently. It seems that he does not have such rich emotions, nor does he have any special nostalgia for the Celtics, and he has stated more than once that he does not like the city of Boston. Compared with his hometown of Little Rock, it is too cold and small .

So when Leon drove to Pagliuca's house, he was still a little depressed. In the past three years, he had seen the arrival and departure of many players, and personally promoted some transactions. No one can be indifferent, the little guy who was inspected and trained just left like this, and neither can Leon.

It's just that the beautiful atmosphere at the dining table in Pagliuca's home quickly put him in a better mood. As the eldest daughter of the family, this was the first time Khomeinis returned to her father's house to participate in a more formal dinner after she was an adult. Pagliuca's second wife, Jindi, was a tolerant and virtuous woman. She gave birth to Pagliuca's two daughters and two sons. As a wealthy man, Pagliuca's life style has always been relatively simple. He does not live in a mansion, but an ordinary single-family house. The family eats the dinner made by Jindi in the living room, just like an ordinary American middle-class family. life the same.

This feeling made Leon feel both strange and heart-warming. Whether it was the previous life or the present life, he couldn't remember how long it had been since he had a meal with the whole family like this. Therefore, the inner boredom and distress caused by Joe Johnson were slowly resolved by the laughter at the dinner table.

Leon and Pagliuca tacitly did not talk about basketball. From their point of view, basketball is no longer a kind of entertainment but work. They left more time and topics for Khomeinis to talk about her experiences in Australia. Those Maori, those tribes who are still in the state of primitive society, those strange customs and incredible social system habits. Apparently it was a perfect family reunion, and when dinner was over and the living room was still buzzing with activity, Pagliuca left the table scraps to the nanny, leaving Kindy with Khomeinis and her siblings. Playing cards and watching TV, he himself threw a cigarette to Leon, signaling to go to the balcony on the second floor to get some fresh air.

"Thank you Leon, I thought I would never be able to eat like this at the table with Khomeinis in my life, you have changed her so much, I like to see her like this, just like when I first met her mother ...But I hope you don't go down the same path in the future." At this time, Paliuca was like an ordinary father, hoping that his daughter could live a happy and stable life.

Leon nodded. He didn't know what happened to Pagliuca and Khomeinis' mother. In short, it was a bad memory. The two were smoking a cigarette on the balcony on the second floor against the evening wind. It was already very cold in Boston at the end of December, and the cold current from Canada began to sweep across the northeastern United States, so the two of them finished their cigarettes and went back to the house. In the study on the second floor, Pagliuca began to talk with Leon. Serious business about the team.

"During dinner, I received a text message from Angie. He told me that the league office has approved the deal. As long as the player's physical examination is fine, the official will release the news tomorrow, and the deal will be completed. "Pagliuca made Leon a cup of coffee and talked about the transaction that just happened today.

Leon nodded, thinking that Angie's hands and eyes are indeed in the sky, and the transaction report has just been delivered to the office, and there will be news in a long time. But Leon is not blind. He also has special connections in New York. He also received a text message during the meal just now. He learned that the transaction has been approved and waited to post it tomorrow. But Leon didn't speak, he knew that Pagliuca had more to say.

Sure enough, after sitting down, Pagliuca said to Leon: "This deal has been brewing since this summer. Ever since the deal with the Suns was blocked by you, Angie has been preparing for this deal. He also targeted early. PJ-Brown... I have read his scouting report, it is very exciting, but it is also very difficult, he is the backbone player of the Hornets, there is not enough chips, the Hornets will not and there is no need to move him.”

Pagliuca began to talk about some details of the deal, which Leon did not know. He has been busy with team training and construction, but he is relatively closed to these things. Since the trade happened, he has been wondering why the Hornets would agree to send PJ Brown away. He is in his prime, and the Hornets are not in the rebuilding period.

"This is my first real contact with NBA transactions. I know almost nothing about it. This time I can see it for real. Leaving aside those technical details, I think you must understand better than me. , This transaction can be completed with two key people and one key thing.” Pagliuca took out a booklet from the shelf, flipped it through and put it in front of Leon, Leon stepped forward and found This is a photo album of the history of the Celtics team, with old photos of various stadiums from the 1950s to the last glory of the Celtics in the 1980s. There are not only well-known superstars, but also some important but not so well-known figures in the history of the Celtics. For example, Leon saw Siegfried, a picture of him sitting on the bench with a broken knee photo.

Pagliuca turned to the color photo page in the 1970s, among which Havlicek, Dave Cowens, and Leon knew each other. However, when Pagliuca pointed to a photo of a black player hooking under the basket, Leon shook his head, saying that it was too clear who he was, the photo was not clear, his face was black, and the background was also dark . But Leon, the defender, recognized it. It was Phil Jackson, with his signature fluffy hair and his name on his back.

"It seems that our memory genius also doesn't know something. Look carefully at his face. This guy is Paul Silas." Pagliuca smiled and said to Leon. Hearing this name, Leon suddenly realized that Paul Silas, now the head coach of the New Orleans Hornets, was also a Celtics player in the past!

"Yes, Silas is also an old Celtic. Moreover, his head coach position is inherited from Dave Cowens. He was an assistant to Cowens before, and now Cowens has returned to Boston. .You know, with Cowens and Silas, the deal is difficult, but it is possible to negotiate because the relationship and relationship are there, and there is room for reversal.” Pagliuca as a mature and experienced The businessman is still very knowledgeable about doing business.

"With two key people, there is one more key thing. The former general manager of the Hornets was Bob Bass from the Spurs, but this year it was replaced by Jeff Ball. According to the information found by Ainge, the Hornets The main task assigned by the boss to Ball...is to control salary and avoid the luxury tax. PJ-Brown's contract is not big or small, but it does hinder the Hornets' further room for manipulation. This time they traded one The consideration is that by splitting the contract through a transaction, the contracts of Batty and Potapanko are about to expire, and Joe is on a rookie contract, plus draft picks, which makes the Hornets more flexible. "In the NBA trading field, Information transfer is very important.

But even so, Leon still couldn't understand. He asked: "Just to save money, you traded away such a good player as PJ-Brown?"

Pagliuca smiled and said: "The NBA is still a business. And don't think that the Hornets are at a loss. Joe is a player with great potential. His future value may not be less than Brown. The Hornets once missed a Kobe , Maybe they also want to make up for it, I think you should know best about Joe's ability."

Pagliuca's words made Leon fall into silence. By tomorrow, Joe Johnson will really leave Boston.

The two then chatted about the team's salary and future issues. Pagliuca specifically mentioned that Angie's deal is likely to put the Celtics' plan to get Garnett on hold, because Angie believes that with Garnett's salary With Leon's wrist, it is impossible to get Garnett, so he traded to Brown for reinforcements, and he also wanted to let Leon die and introduce Garnett's heart.

Leon just smiled and didn't respond.

But at the end of the final conversation, Leon remembered a question and asked: "You said that Angie started planning this deal in the summer, I remember... Cowens hadn't come yet, right? Bach recalled Cowens, did Alexander-Arnold start helping with the trade?"

Pagliuca shook his head and said: "I did hear that Auerbach wanted to recall Cowens, but the two had a deep grudge, and Cowens didn't want to come back at all. In the end, Danny Ainge came forward and the two talked about it. It was a long time before Cowens agreed to return as an assistant coach."

"That's right..." Leon realized at this time that not all the resources he got were inherited from Auerbach.