Chapter 1266: Al-Alian Goes to the Lakers

At this time, Duncan thought clearly and said over the phone: "Greg, if you want me to go back, then I will go back."

"OK, then we've decided." Popovich then hung up the phone.

Subsequently, Popovich and Buford began to discuss the transaction.

He would not simply agree to any quotation. He wanted to complete the Spurs' reconstruction from this transaction, so he initiated a three-party transaction to bring in both the Lakers and the Heat.

Just a Duncan is useless, Duncan is old, and Bynum, a guy who was knocked out by Li Ba with one punch, is of little use. Artest can be used, just to bring Kawhi Leonard, but just With these two people, the Spurs cannot complete their reconstruction, and they are not worth the six picks the Spurs paid the Magic. He wants more.

"Are the Spurs crazy? What can we get?" After receiving the quotation, Pat Riley twitched his face.

Likewise, Kupchak's brows jumped.

The Spurs proposed a three-way deal. The Spurs paid Howard and three role players to get Duncan + Artest + Bosh + Parker.

But the deal must be completed, because Nike must let Howard join the Heat or Lakers to form an advantage over the Suns.

And another point is that the Heat and Lakers cannot lose too much in this transaction. It is to strengthen, not weaken.

There is a conflict, a conflict between the Heat and the Lakers, and a conflict between Nike, the Heat and the Lakers.

Several parties had their own interests, and the transaction was not completed immediately and fell into wrangling.

On June 30, the league conducted a new round of labor agreement negotiations.

After two and a half hours of negotiations, without success, the league officially announced that the NBA would be suspended at 0:00 on July 1.

The other teams didn't know how to react, and the Lakers and Heat became anxious.

Because this offseason, there is a super big fish, and they don't want to miss any opportunity.

Therefore, if Howard cannot be traded, the Lakers and Heat will pursue Li Ba with all their strength.

The same goes for Nike behind the scenes. They hope to reach a deal with the Spurs before the shutdown to avoid long nights and dreams.

But Nike will definitely not support the Lakers and Heat's pursuit of Li Ba, so it is the most eager to reach a deal among the three parties.

Finally, at 5 pm on the 30th, with the efforts of Nike, the deal for Howard was finally reached.

The Spurs got what they wanted, getting Duncan + Artest + Parker + Bosh, and paying Howard + six role players.

In fact, what the Spurs paid was six first-round picks.

In fact, Popovich is not satisfied with this deal, but he has no choice. His plan went bankrupt. If Kawhi Leonard can't play, this lineup will have no future, but if Howard can't be retained, this is the only way.

The Lakers got Howard and two role players for Duncan + Parker + Artest.

The Heat got four role players and paid Bosh, which just matched the contract.

The Heat lost the most in this deal, but Nike promised the Heat boss that it would pay a large amount of sponsorship fees to the team, and also promised to recruit other stars to join the Heat in the future, so Pat Riley had no choice but to dismantle the Big Three. The lineup made the Spurs and Lakers perfect.

Before the deal was announced, Gao Yuanyuan got some information through her network and complained to Li Ba:

"Look, this is the world of capital. Nike is really targeting you."

Li Ba thought about the Spurs' lineup and said with some confusion: "What did the Spurs think about using six first-round picks in exchange for this lineup? Does this lineup have potential? This is not reconstruction at all, right?"

"So what? The Spurs selected No. 1 and No. 2 picks like Oden and Beasley. Doesn't it mean that their reconstruction failed?"

Gao Yuanyuan smiled.

"Okay, that's other people's business and it's none of your business? Husband, come and discuss where we should go for vacation?" the girl shouted from the side.

"I'm going to the beach to play." Guoguo shouted.

"No." The girl objected decisively.

"What are we still discussing? We are traveling around the world this time, and we have a lot of time, several months..." Li Ba said.

"Then we need to plan a route. Are we running blindly?" the girl said.

Gao Yuanyuan looked envious and said: "Sure enough, it's better to be a boss. I have time to travel around the world. Now I don't even have time to have children. I just make money for you. Jiehui has complained several times."

"You are also the boss yourself, right?" Li Ba said angrily.

Gao Yuanyuan straightened his expression and asked seriously: "Seriously, if the lockout lasts too long and affects the regular season next season, what are your plans?"

"Will it?" Li Ba said in surprise.

He remembered that the last labor agreement negotiation went very smoothly. Could there be a problem this time?

"What do you think? This time is different from the last time. We have been negotiating since the 2008 financial crisis, and we can't reach a conclusion at all." Gao Yuanyuan said.

"Our market has expanded so much, haven't the management made any money? The Suns make a gross profit of one to two billion every year," said Li Bada.

Gao Yuanyuan said: "The sun is the sun, and there are only a few Suns teams in the league that make a lot of money. Other teams were losing money before the expansion of the football market. After the expansion of the football market, although they made some money, they encountered financial difficulties. It’s a crisis, so we actually don’t make much money, which is why labor and management can’t reach an agreement. The labor side wants to increase the salary cap, but the management not only doesn’t want to increase the salary cap, but also wants to cut the soft salary cap.”

"What will happen if we can't reach an agreement in the end?" Li Ba asked.

Gao Yuanyuan said: "The league will require players to accept a hard salary cap of $45 million, cancel guaranteed contracts, and players will have to cut their salaries by 33%, cancel negotiations on a hard salary cap of $62 million and a total salary of $2 billion, etc. In short, it's very troublesome."

"Should I give up the last year of my contract?" Li Ba asked.

"Whether to give it up or not is another matter. Even if you have a contract, once the league makes a mandatory provision, your salary will have to be cut by 33%." Gao Yuanyuan said.

"If I cut so much, why should I play basketball? I might as well have a few boxing matches." Li Ba said unhappily.

"Big Hammer, Guoguo likes to fight because of your influence." The girl said unhappily beside him.

"Yeah, that's what my dad taught me."

Guoguo is very good at reading faces and shirking responsibilities. She knew that she couldn't make her mother angry at this time, so she looked up and said to her mother.

"Puff!" The girl and Gao Yuanyuan burst into laughter.

Li Ba was embarrassed to be blamed by this leaky little cotton jacket.

At this time, Gao Yuanyuan's cell phone rang.

"Kupchak's." She looked at it, said something, and then answered the phone.

"Hello, Mr. Kupchak, this is Gao."

"Hello, Gao, I want to talk to you about the deal for Yi." Kupchak said, and added: "I hope to reach a deal before the shutdown."

Gao Yuanyuan frowned and looked at Li Ba.

Nike has been targeting Li Ba. If Yi Jianlian goes to the Lakers, it will help Nike. She wants to know what Li Ba thinks.