NBA: LeBron James wants to team up with me

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Regarding the matter of Millsap's stay, Wang Chong already had an idea.

It's true that Millsap has not yet reached the peak of his personal ability and still has a lot of room for improvement. However, if he is renewed with an annual salary of over 10 million, in Wang Chong's opinion, it will still be the same. The gain is worth more than the cost: it's too expensive.

As a time traveler, Wang Chong, who has the ability to foresee and predict, can already select cheap, high-quality players in the draft and the free agency market. There's no need to pay a high price to keep Millsap.

After all, the current Bulls, with Wang Chong, Garnett, and Billups, have very little salary cap space left. Wang Chong is not obligated to help the team owner save money, but considering the future development and recruitment of the team, there's no problem in making the most profitable decision.

Therefore, when he learned that a team was willing to offer Millsap an annual salary in the tens of millions, Wang Chong was already planning to let Millsap go.

But letting go is letting go, and he still needs to use Millsap to gain some chips.

As a restricted player, the Bulls have the right to match any contract offered to Millsap by any team in the league. As long as the Bulls are not willing, no one can get Millsap.

Wang Chong's plan is to use other teams' desire for Millsap and maximize the benefits by letting him leave the team through trades.

From the perspective of the outside world, 2009 is a small year for the draft, but from Wang Chong's perspective, it is a great year for the draft, second only to the golden generation of 2003 in the last decade. MVPs, Stephen Curry, and James Harden are also top superstars like Blake Griffin, DeMar DeRozan, Jrue Holiday, Jeff Teague, and other All-Star players.

Wang Chong's original plan was to intercept guard Stephen Curry, who was expected to be selected by the Warriors during the 2009 draft.

Curry, the best three-point shooter in NBA history, a powerhouse who changed the entire league with three-pointers, won four NBA championships in his career, and has two MVPs and one FMVP.

Over the next twelve years, Curry will be one of the league's top superstars, and what Wang Chong values most is his character rather than his personal ability.

Unlike James, Kobe, and other arrogant leaders, Curry's personality is not dominant. He is a standard team player and is willing to make sacrifices for the team and the game's victory.

As the team's first core player and absolute leader, this kind of personality might seem a bit dominant, but as the second leader of the team, he is simply the perfect candidate.

Wang Chong's own growth roster is Kevin Durant, and in theory, he is one of the players, besides Klay Thompson, the other Splash Brother, who is more suited to partner with Curry.

If the Bulls can successfully acquire Curry, they will be the strongest championship contender for the next ten years.

When Curry entered the draft, he was not the favorite. Although he performed well in the NCAA, many scouts still looked down on him due to his average physical condition and poor ability to confront. His long-range shooting ability was also questioned.

This also caused Curry to fall to the seventh pick in the first round before being selected by the Golden State Warriors. Above him were the four guards, Harden, Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio, and Jonny Flynn.

Of course, there were also teams that valued Curry's ability and development potential. For example, the Golden State Warriors, who have a good eye for talent, selected Curry, and the New York Knicks, who had already announced before the draft that they were determined to acquire Curry. "As long as there's a chance, I will definitely choose Curry."

The butterfly effect caused by Wang Chong led to profound changes in the league's situation.

The Knicks had no interest in Curry because they received the number 1 pick in 2008, Derrick Rose. The Golden State Warriors were unlucky to only receive the tenth pick in the lottery, which was seventh compared to the original seventh pick in the first round. The order was delayed three times.

This also gave Wang Chong a lot of maneuvering space and opportunities.

His plan is to use Millsap as the main trade chip through a sign-and-trade method to obtain a first-round pick in the top ten to select Curry.

The Bulls' management still needs to figure out the specifics of the operation. ——

On June 20, the Bulls held a championship parade in Chicago, the city where their home stadium is located. The scene from last year was repeated. They won the championship for the second consecutive year, which also excited local fans. In Chicago, they were even more excited. They had every reason to believe that the Bulls could win the championship next season, that is, the 2009-10 season, and win three consecutive championships to establish dynasty dominance.

While players and fans happily celebrated their championship, the Bulls' management was very busy.

Leading the team to win two consecutive championships made Wang Chong's status with the Bulls even more transcendent. The management did not dare to neglect his requests. Furthermore, the suggestions Wang Chong gave also gained support from the team owner.

If the Bulls really offer Millsap a contract with an annual salary in the tens of millions, the Bulls will definitely face luxury tax penalties next season.

Although the owner of the Bulls is not the cheapest owner in the league, he is not as generous as the owners of the Knicks and Lakers. Naturally, it's great to save some money.

Therefore, the management couldn't spare any effort in promoting Wang Chong's request, and their work didn't end there.

Millsap was not the only player on the Bulls whose contract was expiring at the end of this season.

Kevin Garnett's contract, one of the Big Three, also expired. Garnett, who won two consecutive championships with the Bulls, strongly desired to stay with the team. However, after all, his opponent was the top star of the league. His last contract was for 100 million USD for 5 years. Although he was about to turn 33, his value was still high. The Bulls' management still needed to negotiate with Garnett's agent.

In fact, the number of teams in the league interested in Garnett was much greater than those interested in Millsap. Although Garnett was about to turn 33 and his prime was almost over, his popularity alone was enough to interest many teams, and many extended olive branches.

This is simply different from Millsap, who does not have a starting position with the Bulls, has limited playing time, and is eager for more playing time and opportunities.

Garnett, who won two championships with the Bulls, loved the team so much that he wouldn't consider any other team unless the Bulls offered him a scandalous contract extension.

The Bulls' management predicted that Garnett's renewed contract would have an average annual salary of at least around 20 million. Even if Garnett was willing to make some sacrifices to strengthen the team, it would still be around 18 million.

Garnett was worth 18 million, Wang Chong was worth 16 million, and Billups was worth 12 million. The Bulls still faced a lot of salary pressure. The Big Three lineup was very strong, but the price wasn't exactly low.

Of course, compared to teams like the Lakers and Cavaliers, who had to pay high luxury taxes, the current Bulls lineup was definitely the most cost-effective, high-quality, and economical.

It's just that Wang Chong plans to make the Bulls' lineup even more cost-effective in this draft. In addition to acquiring Curry, Wang Chong also had another goal: the second-round pick, Danny Green.

The 2009 rookie class not only had many stars but also many outstanding role players in the second round, including Danny Green, Patrick Beverley, Marcus Thornton, Chase Budinger, and several other capable role players.

Among them, Danny Green was definitely Wang Chong's favorite candidate. He was also a high-quality 3D player who could eventually stand out in the NBA. He could perfectly replace James Jones' tactical positioning in the current team.

By acquiring both Curry and Danny Green, the Bulls' outside firepower would reach unprecedented intensity.

Of course, Danny Green was not an immediate excellent player. Even if they acquired him, it would likely take one or two years to develop him, but it didn't matter. The Bulls could definitely afford to wait.

Currently, Billups remained the main player in the Bulls' point guard position. Unless something unexpected happened, Billups should hold up until 2012 before his condition deteriorated significantly due to injuries.

Before that, in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons, Billups would still be a standout player at point guard. Over those two seasons, he averaged 19.5 points, 5.6 assists, and 16.8 points, 5.4 assists per game, respectively, maintaining over 70 games played.

This meant that Billups could still play for the Bulls for at least one or two more years.

Wang Chong had already thought about this in advance. After the team selected Curry, he would start alongside Billups, combining point guard and shooting guard roles, not as a traditional point guard. He would play as a shooting guard, and his confrontation ability wouldn't be strong enough, but that didn't matter.

The Bulls had Garnett, Wang Chong, and Gasol on the defensive side, and they were strong enough. Even if Curry was a little weaker on the defensive end, considering the help he could provide to the Bulls offensively, it was completely acceptable.

Moreover, if they truly needed to face a team with top shooting guards like the Lakers, the Bulls could also have Billups and Curry switch defenses. Billups was only a tiny bit taller than Curry. One shouldn't underestimate the defensive abilities of this player, who had been selected for the all-defensive team. ——

On June 25, 2009, Wang Chong was thinking about it. To be precise, it should be the start of the draft that most teams in the league were paying close attention to.

At the Madison Square Garden Arena in New York, USA, the 2009 draft officially began.

Unlike the previous two years, this time Wang Chong attended the draft in person for the first time, which fully demonstrated how much importance he placed on Curry.

The Bulls' management had been actively operating these days and had some clues. However, the selling price from the other side was slightly higher, which made the Bulls' general manager, John Paxson, hesitate.

"Wang, are you sure we have to pay this much to get this pick?" Sitting in the box, watching NBA President David Stern walk on stage with a happy face, he still couldn't help but ask Wang Chong next to him.

"Don't worry, John, I know what I'm doing. He's definitely a superstar worth any price we pay. His importance is much greater than you think!"

Hearing Wang Chong's words, John Paxson didn't feel comfortable.

Although Wang Chong had proven many times in recent years that he had a unique vision that most NBA scouts couldn't match, after all, this was a big bet. If the bet was wrong, the Bulls would be in trouble in the coming years. He feared that his future would be overextended in advance.

It's just that no matter how much he disliked this deal, he could only obey Wang Chong's strong request. Who gives Wang Chong a position with the Bulls that is higher than anyone except the team owner?

Even as the general manager of the team, he could only honestly obey Wang Chong's arrangements, otherwise, he might lose his job.

At this moment, David Stern on stage had already begun to announce the number 1 pick in the first round.

"The Oklahoma City Thunder's pick is... wing forward Blake Griffin, who stands 2.08 meters tall!"

The crowd erupted in applause. Griffin, dressed in a suit and leather tie, smiled, put on a baseball cap with the Thunder logo, and walked onto the stage, but his smile seemed a bit forced.

As the overwhelming favorite to be the number one pick in the 2009 rookie class, Griffin's only competition was Hasheem Thabeet. It was already certain he would be the number one pick.

It's just that Oklahoma was not an exciting city, and it was even more different from Los Angeles, where his intended team, the Clippers, was located.

But there was no way. The butterfly effect caused by Wang Chong prevented the Clippers from obtaining the first pick in 2009. They only got the second pick and, of course, couldn't compete with the Thunder for Griffin.

The butterflies flapped their wings vigorously. With the second pick, the Clippers didn't select the original number two pick, Thabeet, known as the best number two pick in history. Instead, they selected the extremely talented guard James Harden.

In fact, Harden joined the Clippers more than ten years earlier, and it was in the form of a club exchange with Griffin. Wang Chong was confused when he saw the twisted draft process.

Wang Chong couldn't know what kind of development Griffin would have with the Thunder, but Harden was definitely lucky to join the Clippers.

Unlike his time with the Thunder, where he was the third brother behind Durant and Westbrook and played as a backup for three full years, the Clippers' backcourt was dominated by the aging Beard, Baron Davis. The rookie Eric Gordon would definitely train Harden as the team's core after selecting him, and his rise would be much faster than before.

Then, Thabeet was finally selected with the third overall pick, and it was still the Memphis Grizzlies who selected him.

The Grizzlies were very unlucky. They had so many correct answers, yet chose the worst one.

As always, the Kings selected Tyreke Evans, known as Little James. This kid's rookie season was quite explosive, averaging 20+5+5 per game. He became the fourth player in history to achieve such numbers in his rookie season. Among the players who performed best, the other three players before him were Jordan, Oscar Robertson, and James.

This also made everyone believe that Evans would become a new star comparable to these three superstar legends.

However, things went against expectations in the following seasons. After Evans' technical characteristics were known and adapted to by other teams, his level never improved significantly. His performance wasn't as good as the previous year.

End of this chapter

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