naaapseattle Chapter 342 The Cavaliers' Trade and the Lynx's Winning Streak
Chapter 342 The Cavaliers' Trade and the Lynx's Winning Streak
Chapter 342 The Cavaliers' Trade and the Lynx's Winning Streak
On January 1, before the most critical 15-game winning streak, the Bobcats met the Nuggets. I have to say that this is quite a coincidence.
Although it is a back-to-back game, it must be admitted that the Nuggets this season are not even capable of stumbling the Bobcats.
After the disastrous defeat in the Western Conference finals last season, Guagua flew away from the Denver plateau with a heart and flew back to his hometown of New York.
Of course, a fiasco in the Western Conference finals made Guagua's heart fly away. This reason is absolutely far-fetched.
After all, he has already played in the Western Conference Finals. If he has to leave, what should those players who can't even touch the floor of the Western Conference Finals do?
It can only be said that too many strange things have happened this summer.
The Big Three of the Cavaliers are the first to bear the brunt. After all, two of the three are close friends of Guagua.
As a result, the two teamed up and brought Bosh along.
Looking at myself again, it is obvious that those two are no different, but now the O'Brien Cup is drifting away, which is really unacceptable.
In addition, Denver is too small, and my hometown New York is calling again. This heart that wants to go back can no longer be stopped.
Guagua broke out, leaving Laosha, Tianzun, Billups and the Nuggets who are a year older, this season can only rely on Guagua.
In this case, the Nuggets are naturally in chaos.
The Nuggets management headed by Ujiri couldn't hold back anymore.
If there is no accident, before the trade deadline, sooner or later, Guagua will definitely leave the Denver Plateau.
In this game, the Nuggets without fighting spirit are naturally not the opponents of the Bobcats.
But the game was still full of gunpowder. At the beginning of the game, Li Ke played against Artest on the offensive end and Guagua on the defensive end.
Within a few rounds, he was pushed by Artest in a breakthrough.
Who is Li Ke?The strongest pusher on the basketball court, he was promoted to the most tempered player on the basketball court after last season's finals.
Without thinking about it, he pushed back directly.
The referee is "impartial", with one technical offender per person.
Turning around, on the defensive end, Guagua was also provoking.
At this point, Li Ke immediately understood what the two of them were thinking.
These two guys want to get themselves out...
Li Ke touched his chin, looked at the score again, and made a decision.
In the next defense, Guagua vainly tried to challenge Li Ke, turned his back and shot a jumper.
However, Li Ke seemed to have confiscated him, and with a slap, he slapped Guagua's baby directly on the face.
Immediately, the chubby melon face turned blue and red.
The referee stopped the game, and after watching the replay of the video repeatedly, he gave Li Ke a physical foul.
Coupled with the previous technical foul, Li Ke was directly expelled.
It doesn't matter to Li Ke, anyway, if the team can win, the expulsion will also be expeled, and even the suspension will also be suspended...
He no longer cares about his personal data and attendance rate this season.
Anyway, no matter how well he played, he couldn't get any heavyweight personal honors.
When leaving the field from the player tunnel, Li Ke turned his head and glanced at Guagua - half of his face was swollen, and it was a bit difficult to continue playing.
"I have to say, Sheldon's attack is really dark..."
"It's kind of like the 90s."
In the commentary seat, Barkley admired Li Ke very much.
On the other side, Li Ke, who returned to the locker room, checked Guagua's hostility value, and as expected, it went up again.
"It's 91 o'clock, and it's almost full. If it's full, how should I choose the opportunity to copy or remake?"
When the hostility value exceeded 80, what Li Ke got from Guaguana was a B-level low-post attack.
He can remake this B-level low position into his own S-level low position, or he can choose another skill from Guaguana to copy it again.
But think about it, an S-level skill is more tempting.
"Guagua is about to be traded, emmm, I hope it will be sooner, so that I can touch him a few more times in a season."
Outside the locker room, the Bobcats without Li Ke beat up the Nuggets without Guagua.
The Bobcats won their 20th straight game against the high winds of the Denver Plateau.
……
Deals are slow because of the need to negotiate.
The two sides of the negotiation, the one who initiates the transaction, are always bargaining, wanting to use the least price to exchange for the player they like.
And the side that passively accepts the deal is full of thoughts: No, this guy can't leave, or: He can't keep it anymore, so ask for a little more, or a billion more...
As a result, the back and forth grinding, wrangling, time wasted like this, it seems that the transaction should not happen until the last moment of the transaction deadline.
Li Ke hopes that Guagua can leave the Denver Plateau sooner and return to New York sooner.
But for the Nuggets, they are in no hurry.
Because counting this season, Guagua's contract has two years left, and they have the initiative.
The team chasing Guagua, although restricted, must be in New York.
But there are still two teams competing, one is the Knicks already in New York, and the other is the Nets whose new owner Prokhov has promised to move to Brooklyn.
As long as there is competition, there will be price increases, and the Nuggets are even less anxious.
In fact, the Knicks are not in a hurry, because their record is not bad, as long as they get Guagua, they can enter the ranks of the championship favorites they think.
What is anxious is the Nets. The new boss Prokhov has issued a death order. After Billy King lost to Philadelphia, he also needs a successful operation to prove himself.
It is also because of this that Billy King in his previous life made frequent tricks, sending Danny Angie short-lived success.
But in this time and space now, Billy King should not be fooled by Danny Angie again, because the Celtics themselves have not succeeded, so how can they convince Billy King to get KG and the Truth Nets to reap success?
So now, Billy King is staring at Guagua, as well as Brother Pao and Deron who have a chance to win, and is waiting for an opportunity to make a move.
On the other hand, even if they know that the transaction is waiting for the right time, the Cavaliers can't wait anymore, because time waits for no one.
Because of the mediocre record, the Big Three knights, who were once boasted as unprecedented and unique in history, are now only ranked fourth in the East, behind the Bobcats, the bulls who are rising from the dark horse, and the resurgent Celtics.
Such a regular season record is obviously unacceptable.
Starting from the Cavaliers' disastrous defeat to the Bobcats in early December, Danny Ferry began protracted trade negotiations.
No progress was made until mid-January.
The reason why it has been delayed for so long is that they lack the omnipotent bargaining chip of draft picks.
Without draft picks, Danny Ferry can only look for favors.
Or use the method of more for less to swallow some contracts that seem to be not cost-effective, and the Cavaliers can play a role.
Then you have to find the right players, which is as difficult as you can imagine.
Just after the Bobcats finished playing the Nuggets and won their 20th consecutive victory, the Cavaliers finally made an official announcement.
"Because the record is not up to expectations, the team needs to make changes. We decided to send Delonte West and Earl Watson to get Randy Foye from the Clippers..."
So, the first to leave were Delon Tiwest and Earl Watson.
These two point guards, who had high hopes but are now so useless, were packed by Danny Ferry and sent to the Clippers.
Two contracts combined for nearly $500 million, and Randy Foye with a two-year contract totaling $2 million.
The moment Li Ke saw the official announcement, the first thing that came to mind was Foye's characteristics——
This is a combo guard with mediocre organizational skills and basically no breakthrough ability, but accurate shooting, good physical fitness, and excellent confrontation ability.
In his peak season in the Timberwolves, he averaged 16.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
But after signing the two-year, $2 million contract with the Clippers, Foye's performance was mediocre.
Therefore, after Danny Ferry approached, the Clippers decisively chose to untie the set, and exchanged a two-year contract for two expired contracts after dismantling.
For the Cavaliers, a strong combo guard who can provide certain shooting attributes is the most perfect and most suitable role player for the Big Three.
Even Li Ke has to admit: the first step in strengthening the Knights mid-season was a success...
The Cavaliers moved one after another, and after a day, they officially announced the second consecutive transaction.
Third-year power forward JJ Hickson was sent away, and the Cavaliers got Maurice Evans.
This is a three-party deal, mainly involving the Hawks and Wizards.
The Eagles sent Mike Bibby, who was getting older and more hip, to the Wizards, took Jordan Crawford and Maurice Evans, and a first round next year, and traded Kirk Hinrich and Hilton Armstrong from the Wizards.
The Cavaliers just stepped in and traded the young Hickson for Maurice Evans, who was supposed to go to the Wizards.
The advantage of Hickson is that he is young. He was born in 88, just like Li Ke, only 22 years old.
Youth represents potential. So far this season, Hickson has averaged 4.5 points and 2.9 rebounds per game when the Cavaliers are unavailable.
There are not a few teams willing to give this young power forward a try, including the rebuilding Wizards.
Maurice Evans, Li Ke's Dean University President, was the template for Li Ke when he participated in the draft.
There is no need to introduce too much about this guy's style and characteristics. You just need to know that he can shoot and his defense is not bad.
But now that I am older, the oil in the fuel tank has actually bottomed out.
It can only be said that for the Cavaliers, Maurice Evans is the type of player they desperately need.
After two trades, the Cavaliers' roster went from 15 to 14, but they managed to make up a usable rotation.
Four guards, Randy Foye, Daniel Gibson, Eddie House and Wade.
Four strikers, Anthony Parker, Maurice Evans, Le Bon and Bosh.
Finally, at the center position, Varejao starts, and the big Z and Dampier's substitutes remain unchanged.
This rotation lineup also seems to have a little fighting power, and Danny Ferry has tried his best.
Next, he just needs to wait for the wave of layoffs after the trade deadline.
The wave of layoffs refers to the fact that in the middle of the season, many teams that have made reinforcements before the season, but find that their reinforcements are useless in the middle of the season, will lay off those veterans who are likely to hinder the growth of their young players.
For example, Artest, Battier and even Billups may be waived for the Nuggets who are still persisting at the beginning of the season.
For another example, the Wizards who have just traded for Mike Bibby may also lay off Mike Bibby.
What the Cavaliers are waiting for is this wave of layoffs. Using the wave of layoffs, they will sign a few more capable veterans.
Li Ke is actually optimistic about the upper limit of the Cavaliers' Big Three. He thinks it is higher than the Heat's Big Three.
Because the Cavaliers' Big Three has Varejao, and the Heat's Big Three did not have a qualified and reliable center from beginning to end.
This led to the fact that when the Heat beat the Pacers in those years, when they met Roy Hibbert, they could be blown inside.
But now, the Cavaliers have Varejao, and unless they encounter a monster, there is basically no possibility of being blown up.
Complementing the group of role players in other positions is equivalent to making up the lower limit of the Cavaliers.
And the upper limit, with the Big Three, is naturally infinitely high.
"Let the Cavaliers make up two more, this season is really hard to say."
Li Ke is full of confidence when playing Lebron, but if Wade and Bosh are added to Lebron, Li Ke will not have much confidence.
After all, two fists are no match for four hands...
……
The Cavaliers made several reinforcements, and the Bobcats' winning streak continued.
On the 17th, the Bobcats returned to the East, but they were still on the road. The opponent in this game was the 76ers.
The 76ers have recovered a bit this season, mainly because the second-year point guard Ju Holiday has improved significantly, and veteran Elton Brand has recovered.
But in the final analysis, this 76ers lacks a big core, no matter how good the record is, it is also a fake strong team.
When I met the Bobcats, a really strong team, I immediately pulled my crotch.
Although Curry made 20 of 5 shots, although Captain Jack made 5 turnovers, although his teammates were a little out of order.
Li Ke, who left the game early in the last game but was not suspended by the league, used a mid-range shot to blow up Iguodala's defense, scored 38 points alone, and led the team to victory.
On the 19th, back home, the opponent was still the 76ers, no change!
Curry, who was pulling his hips, broke out, and he scored 9 three-pointers to determine the world, even without Li Ke's continuous efforts.
In this way, in mid-January, the Bobcats' winning streak came to 1 games.
The 22-game winning streak is very familiar, yes, it is the Rockets' winning streak in the previous life.
But in this time and space, the Rockets don't have a 22-game winning streak.
Their winning streak was ended by the Bobcats led by Li Ke as early as the 21st game.
Therefore, in terms of surpassing, the Bobcats have already surpassed the Rockets at that time.
But deep in Li Ke's heart, he still regards the 22-game winning streak as a hurdle.
I looked at the opponents in the next stop, on the 20th, the away game, back-to-back against the Bulls.
"It's another strong duel, and what the hell is the battle for the top spot in the East..."
Coincidentally, every step of the Bobcats' winning streak has to be against a strong team.
But Li Ke knew that this was too normal.
"Who made me miss 18 games, and in those 18 games, there is no strong team?"
The first 18 games of the season were almost full of fish, and the rest of the games were mostly strong teams.
As a result, the 23rd game of the Bobcats' winning streak, the Chicago United Center, a much-watched Eastern Conference matchup is about to start.
Li Ke vs Derrick Rose, the battle between the best rookies.
Rivers vs. Thibodeau, a master-student duel.
And, Li Ke asked for two tickets from the Bulls. This time, not only Xiao Guo was invited to watch the game live, but also Xiao Guo's opponent, Anthony Davis...
(End of this chapter)