The Godfather of Basketball

Jeff Petri, the No. 8 pick in 1971, retired after playing for 8 years because of a knee injury. Since 1994, he has served as the team president and general manager of the team, with all the power, and won the title of best general manager twice in 1999 and 2001.

Just looking at this resume, you know that this is not a bad general manager. You must know that the Kings team that swept the league in the early 21st century was created by him.

But it was him who traded Chris Webber and Bibby for a bunch of rubbish contracts, and Peja for Artest, who then traded to the Rockets.

As people grow older, their judgments on certain things will be biased, which also makes him one of the spokespersons of the most trashy management.

"JJ Hickson plus Marcus Thornton, what about your first-round pick for next year?"

"No, I won't do that."

What Tang Tian didn't expect was that Petri directly rejected his proposal.

Although he said a lot later, it seems that Petri also intends to play badly and train young players, and is unwilling to send out next year's first-round pick.

After hanging up the phone, Tang Tian frowned.

This is a bad start. It seems that after four games, even someone like Petri has a good idea of ​​the strength of the team, and basically set the tone of the season.

But it shouldn't be.

If he remembers correctly, the previous Cavaliers traded Hickson for the Kings' protected first-round pick in 2011, and now he has added Thornton.

And just looking at the bargaining chips, the bargaining chips obtained by trading Artest last year are much worse than what he provides now.

Just when he was considering turning his attention to the Suns management, Keith Jones knocked on the door and came in.

"Here's a proposal from Dante to increase the sales of peripheral products. This guy is very motivated." Jones held a report in his hand.

In addition to player trading and signing, the NBA management team is also responsible for the sales of peripheral products and so on.

Tang Tian brought it over and took a look. In addition to some conventional sales methods, there were actually customized products such as Tang Tian's bobblehead dolls, engaged in hunger marketing.

"This kid, I have to charge him." Tang Tian complained.

Jones chatted for a few words before going out, Tang Tian remembered something and called to stop him.

"Case, you were in the Rockets last season. How did Morey trade for Artest? I got in touch with their general manager, Petrie, and it didn't seem that easy to communicate with."

"Yes, Petri is an old fox. He has been in this business for a long time. He disagreed with it at the beginning, but the real decision of the Kings is not him, but the team owner Gavin Marouf, who is the current ruler of the Maruf family. "

"This way..." Tang Tianruo realized something.

To put it bluntly, there are several types of NBA bosses, one is completely indifferent to the team, such as the owner of the Heat, Mickey Arison, the Heat are basically covered by Pat Riley; there are also those who occasionally take care of things , For example, Alexander of the Rockets, this is also the practice of most bosses; the last one is to basically exercise the power of the president and often interfere with team management. The representative is the Bass family of the Lakers.

Now it seems that the Maruf family is also like this.

"You make an appointment for me with Gavin Marouf, just say I want to have dinner with him."

The next day, Tang Tian flew to Sacramento and met the owner of the Kings at Gavin Maruf's house.

After a simple exchange of pleasantries, Tang Tian quickly got to the point.

"No, no, no, Jeff just talked to me recently. The main goal of the Kings this season is to train Tyreke. We won't send out a first-round pick for next year." Marouf immediately waved his hand and refused after listening.

"I think Tyreke is a rookie with strong immediate combat power. He played five games and averaged 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game. Although the sample size is not very large, he is likely to become Oscar Robertson, Michael After Jordan and LeBron James, the fourth person who completed the 20+5+5 rookie season.”

"Yes, our draft this year is great." Maruf immediately laughed when he heard Tang Tian say this.

"So I think that if a rookie with such a strong combat power does not have enough records, it will deal a great blow to his spirit." Tang Tian continued, his words were not foolish, in fact, Evans in his previous life The reason why he became a rookie is the representative of the pinnacle. In addition to team training and injuries, his failure to make the playoffs for years is also sapping his fighting spirit a little bit.

Maruf lowered his head and said nothing, he was thinking.

Seeing Maruf's reaction, which was far less resolute than Petrie's, Tang Tian knew he had found the right person this time.

"So, now the team has Tyreke, Kevin Martin, Benno Udry, Jason Thompson, Omi Casspi, a bunch of young and energetic young players, it's time to fight. Fighting season."

Maruf still didn't speak, but he looked up at Tang Tian.

"JJ Hickson was the No. 19 pick last year. He is very talented, but what we need is a three-pointer, like Ryan Anderson. Carl Landry's height is limited, and he is more than enough to play, but he is a starter. It’s a bit reluctant, but JJ will shine when he comes to the Kings, and Marcus Thornton has also shown explosive scoring power recently, and he will be the biggest guarantee for the firepower of the bench when he comes to the Kings.”

Maruf nodded thoughtfully, he already felt a little moved by Tang Tian's persuasion.

"Looking at us again, you should be able to tell that my regular season hires are not our ambitions for this season, so we need the first round, even if it is a first round out of the lottery." Tang Tian continued.

After hearing this, Maruf beamed with joy. The implication of this sentence was that the Kings would make the playoffs next season.

"If you are really worried, you can add a top-three pick protection to the draft pick, so that if you have cornerstone players, you can make another choice." Tang Tian finally said, this is his bottom line.

Maruf remained silent.

Just when Tang Tian thought he was going to call Petrie, he finally raised his head and spoke.

"You add another future second-round pick."

"Pleasant cooperation."

Tang Tian stood up and stretched out his hand.

Sure enough, the transaction still has to find the right person.

Not long after returning to Cleveland, Tang Tian received a call from Petri.

Reluctantly, he had to listen to Maruf.

After the phone call, the two sides negotiated the details of the deal, and the next day, the league officially announced the deal.

The Cavaliers sent JJ ​​Hickson, Marcus Thornton and a second-round pick in 2011, and got a first-round pick in 2010 (top three pick protection) from the Kings.