After Nowitzki said his last sentence, he held up the FMVP trophy, and his teammates behind him shouted and jumped excitedly.

It was at this time that many familiar figures appeared in the camera.

Nash, Kidd, Carter, Marion, Chandler...

The "excellent teammates" that Nowitzki mentioned in his speech were not just compliments. If these people were three or five years younger, it would not be a matter of winning a championship, but of starting a dynasty.

However, they are three or five years younger and it is impossible for them to be on the same team at the same time. For them, winning the championship at the last moment of their career means that their career is complete.

Of course, there is also Carlisle. This famous coach who has long been renowned in the league finally vindicated himself with this championship.

Including Cuban, who has devoted himself to the team for so many years and finally waited for the day to be rewarded.

This championship means a lot to most people on the Mavericks team.

Even for the Mavericks, they finally won their first championship in team history.

Xu Yong also noticed Yi Jianlian.

Before we knew it, Yi Jianlian's career honors have already been 2 NBA championships, the same number as Yao Ming.

…

Oklahoma.

Durant also sat in front of the TV with Harden to watch the finals.

At the moment the Mavericks won, Harden couldn't help but shout excitedly, while Durant let out a long sigh.

Compared to excitement, he felt more regretful.

If it weren't for Ibaka's accidental injury, they should be the ones standing on the highest podium at this time.

What's worse is that because they didn't win, Ibaka's blocking didn't show its value. Ibaka's strength will foreseeably decline next season, and their strength will naturally decline as well, making their chances of reaching the finals even smaller.

In other words, they missed the best window to win the championship.

And now thinking back to what Xu Yong had said to him before, "Let's talk about it after you win the championship," he felt really ashamed.

At this time, Nowitzki began his championship speech. When he heard "Basketball, never give up", he was stunned.

After a while, he let out another long breath.

Only this time, there was a smile on his face.

He didn't make it to the finals, and neither did Xu Yong, so if we round them off, they are the same.

Moreover, it took Nowitzki 16 years of persistence to succeed, and he has only completed the seventh year, less than half of Nowitzki's time. What reason does he have to be discouraged?

If Xu Yong knew what Durant was thinking at this moment, he would definitely feel gratified.

But this is the influence of the alliance's ethos.

Just like when the Bulls won the championship before, the Thunder management would imitate the team-building model. James took shortcuts by sticking to a team and was beaten and ran around. Durant naturally would not imitate him. After all, people only imitate successful people. Who would imitate losers?

And this night became a carnival night for the fans.

Nowitzki's story is inspiring, touching and worthy of praise.

The entire social media was filled with the victory music that fans played for the Mavericks.

However, this situation changed fundamentally on the second day.

When the words of victory had been spoken and the joy had slowly faded away, they remembered something else.

Social media was still extremely lively on that day, but instead of singing praises, it was filled with ridicule and mockery.

"Look, other people don't even have the chance to wear a championship ring with their feet."

"Yes, so what if they made it to the finals by stepping on each other? Can they win? Isn't it just giving away the championship again?"

"Can anyone tell me what a sweep is when you lead 2-0 and then get beaten 4-0?"

"Do you understand the value of a runner-up? LeBron has already won two overall runner-ups. If you count the Eastern Conference runner-up, he has won six!"

"If it doesn't work, the league should hold a mid-season tournament. This way, LeBron might have a chance to win the championship. Anyway, who cares what championship it is? Just omit the prefix when counting in the future."

"He can't win the championship no matter what. This season is the weakest season for the Bulls. What can he use to fight Xu later?"

"God is unfair. Why is there only Xu in the East and Leonard in the West? Where should I go?"

"If he really can't do it, go to the CBA and become the real king of the CBA and compete with Master Zhang. I believe he can do it."

"How dare you look at me? Even if you are a king, you have to kneel down in the CBA!"

“You guys really don’t have a happy life!”

"Speaking of disappointment, what did LeBron say in the post-game press conference this year?"

"Sorry, the King did not attend the press conference after the game this year."

…

After the finals, James did not attend the press conference or the team's season summary, and flew back to Indiana alone that night.

Returning to the player tunnel early was no longer enough for him, so he went home early.

No, this is not his home.

Cleveland is.

Let's rewind to April, the end of the regular season and before the 2014 draft lottery.

LeBron James and Rich Paul are discussing returning to the Cavaliers.

"What do they say over there?" James asked Paul Rich, as he had been the one doing the communication with the Cavaliers.

"Daniel (Gilbert) still wants to join as a free agent in the summer."

James couldn't help but frown.

This old guy!

Gilbert certainly wouldn't refuse a free agent joining the team. The Cavaliers have salary space, so why would they refuse a superstar who is given to them for free?

Businessmen are not football fans. The only thing they care about forever is profit.

You have to know that after he left, the Cavaliers have not yet made it to the playoffs, and the attention and market for the team have continued to shrink.

And just speaking from the team configuration, the Cavaliers now have a bunch of young people and lack an older brother to lead them. His type is a perfect fit.

However, joining as a free agent means he will lose his Bird rights and he will lose a lot of money.

The main reason why he allowed the Heat to trade for him was because of the Bird Rights.

"I don't have to go to Cleveland," James said.

"I think there is another option." Rich Paul said immediately. As a worm in James' stomach, he certainly knew that James was speaking in anger. After all, the Cavaliers' chances are so good now, and returning to Cleveland is the only option to restore his reputation under the current circumstances.

James glanced at Rich Paul and motioned for him to speak.

"We can sign 1+1 contracts consecutively, so that we can get the early bird rights and have more say in team decision-making."

Fu Paul's words instantly made James' eyes widen. What a brilliant idea.

First of all, if he goes to the Cavaliers, the Cavaliers' record will definitely improve, including the attention and team revenue, which will definitely come back.

So can the Cavaliers afford to risk losing him for nothing in Year 2?

The answer is obviously no.

So he proposed who to sign, or even who to keep, and Gilbert had no choice but to do it.

Otherwise, why do you think Jordan had such a big say when he was with the Wizards? Everything was business.

Moreover, this contract model can greatly reduce the risk of him being traded like he was before with the Heat, which is great.

"Besides, it's not impossible to get Gilbert to relent."

Fu Paul's next words made James' eyes widen.

"They have a chance to get a top-three pick this year, and it looks like that's a very real possibility, but only if we don't make a decision before then."

Fu Paul's explanation is simple, but easy to understand.

Stern is a person who advocates checks and balances. In order to keep the Cavaliers' market from weakening, he will give them draft picks, but there is a limit. He certainly does not want a team with four true giants to emerge in the league.

So if James revealed his intention to return to the Cavaliers in advance, it would be impossible for the Cavaliers to get the top three draft picks this year.

(This is different from the history that Xu Yong knows. In history, Bennett was already a waste of time when he was selected, and the Cavaliers couldn't even make the playoffs. James' return, adding Wiggins and trading Love to form a Big Three are in the league's interest.)

James can use this to threaten, but of course he can't use this word, to ask Gilbert to sacrifice the draft pick in a sign-and-swap.

In other words, he now has two choices to make, and either one of them will give him the initiative.

"As expected of you, Richie. I'll do as you say."

A few days later, the league lottery results came out, and the Cavaliers had a 1.7% chance of [lucky] winning the No. 1 pick.

…

The draft is coming soon, and Foreman did not look for Xu Yong this year because Xu Yong's advice on last year's draft did not actually play any role (Antetokounmpo did not perform well in the Raptors, and Adams also played in the NCAA).

But Battier found Xu Yong to chat.

Battier is now mainly responsible for draft-related work in the operations department, using the information from scouts to give Foreman some advice.

It is easy to understand why the Bulls would let Battier do this job. Battier has a good reputation in the league and he has very good connections.

During the conversation with Battier, Xu Yong took the initiative to mention someone.

This person is really too easy to get, and as a reborn person, it is hard to miss him.

Nikola Joker Jokic.

From what he knows about history, Jokic is a second-round pick, and it would definitely be worth it even if the Bulls used their first-round pick to select him.

There is no need to worry about the ball possession issue. Jokic only likes to pass the ball and has an alarmingly low desire to score.

"How do you know him?" Battier was a little confused. He could hear that Xu Yong spoke highly of Jokic.

"I heard of him when I followed the national team to Europe for warm-up matches. He was already famous in the Balkan Peninsula." Xu Yong had already said.

Battier nodded with sudden realization. Since Xu Yong agreed so much, it was really necessary for him to find out more about it.

A few days later, just one day before the draft, Battier came to see Xu Yong again.

He brought Xu Yong a piece of news related to Jokic.

"Based on what I've heard, the team probably won't consider Jokic."

"Why?"

"Because he still has one year left on his contract with his Serbian parent team, and his current body shape doesn't meet the NBA's requirements. He's...too fat."

After Battier finished speaking, Xu Yong remembered that in history, Jokic did play overseas for a year after being selected before entering the NBA. The reason was that he loved drinking Coke too much and was as fat as a ball.

It’s no wonder that he fell to the second round, because generally speaking, if a player has no self-control, he can’t play in the NBA.

Jokic was selected only because he is a freak and has outstanding static talent.

"Do you have any other recommendations?" Battier asked.

Xu Yong thought about it and shook his head. He had been concentrating on training this summer and had not had time to pay attention to this year's draft list.

Unless you put the draft list in front of him and let him look at it one by one, maybe he can remember some familiar names.

And more importantly, the Bulls' current roster is already relatively complete, and it will be difficult for selected rookies to get a chance.

Just look at Ennis. He had basically no chance to play in his rookie season. If he doesn't have another chance this year, he will probably disappear from the NBA.

…

On June 26, the 2014 NBA Draft was held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

This year's draft has one characteristic: it's been hyped up a lot.

Two key words: first, it is called "the best draft in the past decade", and is comparable to the 2003 Platinum Generation [Diamond Generation];

The second is Wiggins. Before the draft, Wiggins' agent Bill Duffy posted a picture of Wiggins jumping on social media.jpg.

In this picture, Wiggins' running touch height is shown to be a terrifying 383.3cm.

Although Wiggins did not participate in the joint tryout in Chicago, this picture alone is enough to make everyone imagine.

You should know that Xu Yong's running reach was only 375cm.

Some of Wiggins' statistics from the Cavaliers' tryout have also been leaked, including a height of 2.01 meters with shoes, a wingspan of 2.13 meters, and a running-start jumping height of 1.12 meters.

This kind of dynamic and static talent is extremely rare in the history of the NBA. He is also called the next Vince Carter by mainstream media such as ESPN, and another "chosen one" after James.

Xu Yong is also preparing to watch the draft at home. He is curious about whether the Cavaliers will trade Wiggins for Love.

After discovering the ball possession problem, if he were the Cavaliers management, he would definitely not want Love, but would choose Gasol Jr., Noah, or even Bynum.

Because asking for Love means Davis has to play the five position, and based on his understanding of Davis, Davis's willingness and effect in playing the five position are actually not good.

Before the draft officially began, there was a VCR of the rookies. In addition to Wiggins, several popular players in this year's draft, including Jabari Parker, Joel Embiid, Aaron Gordon, Julius Randle, Zach Lavine, etc. were on the list.

Judging from these names that Xu Yong feels extremely familiar with, the quality of this draft is actually quite good.

The draft started soon, and there was no suspense about the Cavaliers' choice. They selected Wiggins with the first pick.

But in fact, before the draft, even though Wiggins was highly hyped, the favorite for the No. 1 pick was Wiggins' university teammate, the French-Cameroonian Joel Embiid (Philadelphia accent) from the University of Kansas.

With a height of 2.13 meters and a wingspan of 2.28 meters, he is highly flexible, light on his feet, and fast among players of the same height. Such a big man will always be a favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the draft no matter which year.

However, he suffered an injury in college and underwent surgery for a stress fracture in his right foot last week, which ended his rookie season.

The Bucks selected Jabari Parker with the second pick, and Embiid ended up going to the Philadelphia Digital Team as Xu Yong knew, and the [process] began.

The draft went on and the Timberwolves selected shooting guard LaVine at 13th overall.

During this process, Xu Yong had been reading the tweets from famous reporters, but there was no news about Wiggins' trade.

James is not returning to the Cavaliers?

But he soon realized that the Wiggins trade might not take place at the draft.

When other teams know that you are trying to form a super team, they will all want to rip you off in a trade, and the trade may not be successful.

The reason why the Bulls didn't form the lineup of Wade, Bosh, Rose, him and Noah was because of this.

So the Cavaliers should not be in a hurry. After all, Wiggins is already in their hands. They will most likely wait until the free market opens or even after the dust settles.

The draft is going on very quickly and it will soon be the Bulls' turn to pick.

The Bulls have both of their picks this year, No. 25 in the first round and No. 55 in the second round.

However, before the Bulls made their choice, Xu Yong saw a piece of news on Twitter that the Bulls and the Thunder had reached a deal.

The Bulls sent the 25th and 55th picks to the Thunder in exchange for the 30th and 46th picks (the Hornets' picks acquired in a trade last season).

The Thunder then selected Clint Capela with the 25th pick.

Capela, that’s interesting.

The Bulls are not short of centers this year. Hawes performed well last season, and his playing style complements Adams, so it is normal not to have Capela.

What’s interesting to Xu Yong is that Capela was a teammate of Harden in the Rockets in history.

Now Harden did not go to the Rockets but stayed in the Thunder, and Capela was selected by the Thunder. This is really fate.

When it came to the 30th pick, the Bulls also made their choice.

When he saw the person who was chosen, Xu Yong felt that it made sense.

Kyle Anderson, a swingman from UCLA, averaged 14.9 points and 6.5 assists per game in his just-concluded sophomore season.

With Battier's retirement, the Bulls need to add this kind of forward-guard swingman.

And looking at his draft report, his static talent is excellent, with a height of 2.02 meters and a wingspan of 2.20 meters. Unfortunately, he has no athletic talent, so his draft pick was not high.

Xu Yong was quite familiar with Anderson. First, he was the "Human Creeping Essence". This guy's playing style was different from others.

The second is that Anderson once went to China on a "roots-seeking journey" and he has Chinese ancestry.

After the first round was over, Xu Yong turned off the TV and continued practicing.

Ding Yanyuhang has not announced his candidacy this year, and there is nothing exciting in the second round of the draft.

It was two hours later when he finished training, and when he came back he found that he had missed a call.

It was Shane Battier calling.

He called back, and when the other side picked up, Battier asked him if he had watched the second-round draft pick.

Then he learned that the Bulls used the No. 46 pick and two future second-round picks to make a deal with the Pistons in exchange for the No. 38 pick, and then used this pick to select Jokic.

This surprised him a little, but it seemed to make sense.

Because the Bulls' second-round picks have been really worthless in recent years, and the previous first-round trade gave them an extra mid-second-round pick, which means the original one draft pick became two.

It makes perfect sense to choose one that a team needs and keep the other as a reserve draft pick.

So, Jokic and him, like Capela and Harden, have some kind of fate?

…

The draft is over and the free market is about to begin.

Led by James (player option), Bosh and other 2003 generation superstars, this year's free market is destined to be not quiet.

Indiana, Office of the President.

Opposite Larry Bird, Rich Paul was sitting opposite him at this time.

Just now, Rich Paul made a request to him, asking him to send James to the Cavaliers through a sign-and-trade deal.

He was shocked when he first heard the news because James had never told him that he was leaving the team before.

Even on the night of the finals, he knew from a brief exchange with James that the latter's choice would most likely be to opt out of the contract and then sign a new contract with the Pacers.

I didn't expect this to be the result.

However, he did not show anger, but more disgust.

As a well-known star, he was not fond of James, especially since Nike often used the method of stepping on him to promote James.

It is no exaggeration to say that if he had not resigned due to illness, the Pacers would not have been able to trade for James.

Especially in this year's playoffs, James's foot-tapping behavior made him feel disgusted, but he couldn't speak up because of his identity as the team president.

Now, James actually wants him to cooperate.

"Larry, I believe the Pacers should have no reason to refuse to do this, right?" Seeing Bird's face changing, Rich Paul continued to ask.

Yes, James was determined to leave, and even the Cavaliers were forced by him to agree to a sign-and-trade as early as April.

Then it would definitely be better for the Pacers to accept the Cavaliers' draft pick than to lose James for nothing.

"That's impossible." Bird said coldly.

"Why?" Bird's reaction made Paul very confused. He didn't even want the free draft pick?

"Why?" Bird asked with a hint of sarcasm, "Why should I cooperate with someone who left?"

Fu Paul could now hear that Bird was angry.

This is understandable. Bird is not an ordinary manager. As a super star and a legendary figure, he is proud.

Rich Paul calmed down and then began to reason: "Although LeBron failed to bring a championship to Indiana, he brought the Pacers to the finals after many years. That is a great achievement, isn't it? Even Reggie Miller has never done it in Indiana.

In addition, the Indiana market has grown rapidly in the past two years due to the addition of LeBron James. I think there is no reason for the team to refuse such an offer."

"You are right, but I refuse." Bird didn't want to continue listening to Rich Paul because the two sides could not see eye to eye.

People like Rich Paul think that two or three draft picks at the end of the first round are already huge benefits, but for him, compared to those, asking the team to cooperate with James is the most unacceptable, because that is the dignity of the team.

And don't think he doesn't know that James is after the Bird Rights. James is so disgusting to the Pacers, the Pacers will never give him what he wants.

Rich Paul wanted to speak more, but Bird had already stood up and signaled that he could leave.

Fu Paul looked extremely unhappy. He had predicted everything, but he never expected Bird to be so tough.

However, because the person opposite him was Bird, he couldn't get angry. He could only force himself not to get angry and left, then snorted in his heart.

The Pacers lost James in vain, and based on his understanding of Bynum's character, he knew that he would most likely fall into depravity without James. By then, the Pacers would never be able to recover, and Bird would just have to wait to be ousted from Indiana again!

After Rich Paul left, Bird picked up the phone and called his assistant:

"I'm going to New York. Please prepare for me."

…

Cleveland.

A private mansion.

After four years, Gilbert and James finally met again.

James was smiling, and Gilbert was also smiling. James took the initiative to reach out and gave Gilbert a big hug.

With this hug, the grudge from four years ago became a thing of the past, and the next step for everyone was to make money together.

Of course, this meeting was not just about the two of them, but also about James' closest brother, Rich Paul, and the Cavaliers' current general manager, David Griffin.

Griffin had already discussed the contract issue with James before, and in the end the Cavaliers had to accept James' request for a 1+1 contract.

There is no need to explain the reasons, it’s all for the benefit.

What they are talking about now is another thing, which is who to choose to become the fourth giant.

Thanks to ESPN's hype, Wiggins' trading value is now considerable, and he can basically be exchanged for an All-Star who is at his peak.

For example, Noah of the Rockets.

The Rockets had already asked them for a price before the draft was over.

Because they couldn't make the playoffs, the Rockets had to start considering rebuilding.

"Joakim Noah is the most suitable candidate." Griffin is the voice of the Cavaliers.

He started working for the Cavaliers in 2010, but was promoted to general manager this year.

This is a very subtle personnel change. Since Griffin and James had no previous interaction, there is naturally no conflict.

Replacing him is actually a reflection of the team's efforts to ease the conflict with James.

Griffin's suggestion is the same as what Xu Yong had thought before, to choose a center who can defend and does not take up the shooting right. Not only will the Cavaliers' strength be improved, but there will also be no problem with competing for the ball.

"I have discussed this with LeBron, and we have a more suitable candidate," said Rich Paul, speaking on behalf of James.

"Who?" Gilbert also looked curious when Griffin asked.

"Kevin Love."

"Love?" Griffin was stunned for a moment when he heard the name, then turned and looked at Gilbert.

Obviously this choice surprised them, because Love also plays the power forward position, overlapping with Davis.

"Kevin is a top rebounder. He had 30+ rebounds in a single game last season. More importantly, he has outside shooting, can create space, and can complement AD in offense and defense. He is a second-team player." Rich Paul gave a series of explanations, which can be summed up in one sentence: Love is strong enough.

Yes, Love averaged 26.1 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game for the Timberwolves last season. He averaged 6.6 three-point shots per game with a shooting percentage of 37.6%. This performance made him the best power forward in the league last season.

"If we choose Love, the distribution of our ball rights next season will be a problem," Griffin reminded.

"I think that should be the head coach's business." Fu Paul replied indifferently.

By the way, the Cavaliers invited back former head coach Mike Brown last season, but the team did not make the playoffs last season, and with James' return this time, they have fired Brown again (although Brown and James got along well before, James will not like a coach who has been proven to be a failed combination).

The head coach who was recently confirmed is "Euroleague Head Coach of the Year" David Blatt.

Only Blatt was not present, otherwise, after hearing what Paul Rich said, he would probably have cursed on the spot.

Gilbert frowned at this time. Fu Paul was too strong.

Just from the brief exchange just now, Paul's tough attitude even makes people feel that this Cavaliers team does not belong to him, but to James.

The room was inexplicably quiet, and the atmosphere seemed frozen.

Griffin's mind was racing at this moment, and he finally spoke to break the silence: "So, are there any backup candidates?"

Griffin's question was very clever. He was actually trying to find a second candidate that both parties could accept.

"We are not sure now that we can trade for Kevin Love. As you said, he is a second-team player," Griffin explained.

Fu Paul didn't expect Griffin to ask this, and turned to look at James.

James had been leaning on the sofa since he sat down in front. He finally sat up straight and said, "Andrew Bynum."

Bynum is doing a pretty good job as the younger brother of the Pacers, and the two had good chemistry last season.

Hearing this, Gilbert's frown relaxed, and Griffin nodded in agreement.

Bynum is no weaker than Noah, and he doesn't occupy the ball as much. His problem is his personality. However, since James can control Bynum, then Bynum is a suitable candidate.