Chapter 568 Suns Lineup

   On July 1st, at 9:00 a.m. in Phoenix, Colangelo Jr. met D'Antoni in his office.

   "Mike, I haven't seen you in years, it's great to see you again!"

   "Brian, I hope to be back in Phoenix."

   After the two chatted, they immediately entered the topic.

   "Mike, I want to know, how do you use old K?" Little Colangelo asked very carefully.

  D'Antoni nodded and said confidently: "I have been coaching in Italy for the past few years and have gained a lot. In addition to fast-paced tactics, I have also tried a lot, including positional warfare tactics, and strengthened the team's defensive system construction."

   "That's good." Little Colangelo nodded.

   D'Antoni sighed: "Leaving the Suns was a big blow to me, and I returned to the NBA from Italy with confidence.

   So after returning to Italy again, I decided to change myself, the environment could not adapt to me, then I adapted to the environment. "

   Little Colangelo nodded approvingly and said, "Mike, you are an NBA player, you should understand the importance of stars, especially superstars, to a team in this league.

Especially old K. He is the first player in league history, with 6 championships in 9 years. Although we can't determine how much strength he has left, for various reasons, after his return, everything in the Suns will revolve around him. Operations, including you, and your tactics. "

  D'Antoni excitedly said: "Brian, if I become the head coach, I will definitely develop tactics suitable for him."

   "Well, Mike, you wait outside for a while and have a cup of coffee." Little Colangelo said.

   He needs to make a final decision, whether to make D'Antoni the team's head coach.

In fact, he has always admired D'Antoni, and the two have maintained a pretty good relationship in the past. If D'Antoni can really do what he said, he is still willing to let him become the head coach of the Suns. After all, now he also There is no other better option.

   But he still needs to contact the old K. If the old K does not agree, it will definitely not work.

   "OK."

  D'Antoni left the office in a rather uneasy mood.

   Soon, Pharaoh received a call from little Colangelo. It was after 9 p.m. in China, and he was watching TV with his wife.

   "D'Antoni?"

   Hearing the head coach candidate, he couldn't help but startled.

   Jr. Colangelo introduced the current D'Antoni and said: "Old K, there is no better one in the league now, Big Bird is not willing to come, I even considered Jeff Van Gundy.

   is the assistant coach of the Knicks, the one with less hair who worked with Pat Riley before, you should have met.

   But I think D'Antoni is better, we know him better. "

Pharaoh pondered for a while. Little Colangelo couldn't find a better one, and he had nothing to do. D'Antoni should be D'Antoni. If D'Antoni can really take him as the absolute tactical core and pay attention to defense, it is not No, the big deal will be changed later, it can only be like this for now.

   After he agreed, little Colangelo said again: "Old K, how do you feel about Marbury?"

   "Stick the ball. Until the end, he won't pass the ball." Lao Wang blurted out.

   Little Colangelo was a little embarrassed. Marbury was brought in by him at a considerable cost, and he immediately said, "Well, I'll consider trading him."

   hung up the phone, and Colangelo Jr. invited D'Antoni in again and said, "Michael, let's do it, I'll give you a one-year contract, I hope you and K can cooperate happily, otherwise..."

  D'Antoni was ecstatic, and quickly assured: "Brian, don't worry, the team will use old K as the absolute tactical core."

"That's good."

   nodded, and Jr. Colangelo added: "You said just now that we need to strengthen the construction of the defensive system, so among the members of the coaching staff, I hope to have an assistant coach who is very good at defense.

   Now the league allows zone defense and pays more attention to the establishment of a defensive system, so do you have this candidate yourself, or do you need the team to find it? "

   "I just came back, there are no candidates, the team decides." D'Antoni said.

   Little Colangelo nodded and said, "Jeff Van Gundy, who is currently a commentator at TNT, is trained by Pat Wright and is good at defense. I think he is good, what do you think?"

   "I also think it's good. The Godsman is good at Jagged defense, and Van Gundy should be good." D'Antoni said.

   "Okay, I'll contact him."

  Little Colangelo said here, and added: "I talked to old K just now. He doesn't like Marbury very much. He thinks Marbury is too sticky. I'm going to trade him, what do you think?"

  D'Antoni quickly entered the state and began to think about it as a head coach, saying: "I'm not very familiar with Marbury. Since the ball is sticky, it will definitely have a great impact on the old K, and the transaction is necessary."

   Little Colangelo is very pleased. From this sentence, it can be seen that D'Antoni has really changed.

   Soon, the Suns announced that the team had signed new head coach Mike D'Antoni.

   On the 2nd of July, Lao Wang's second sister and brother-in-law came home and brought back good news that his second sister was pregnant.

   A few days later, as if an appointment was made, Lao Wang's eldest sister also received news of her pregnancy.

   "Brother Fei, we have to work hard and strive to give birth to a younger brother and sister for Zhou Zhou next year, what do you think?" Old Wang said excitedly.

   "I think Zhou Zhou doesn't want his younger siblings now. The last time I teased her, she said no." Fei Ge said.

   "Zhou Zhou? Come." Old Wang waved and shouted.

   "Huh? Dad."

   Zhou Zhou, who was beating up the doll, hurried over, holding a doll in each of his two little hands and dragging his legs upside down on the floor.

   Old Wang asked, "Will your parents give you a sister?"

   Zhou Zhou raised the doll upside down in his left hand and said, "This is my sister."

   Old Wang's face twitched, and he teased again: "Then have a younger brother?"

   Zhou Zhou raised the doll upside down in his right hand and said, "Brother."

   "This is a doll." Pharaoh corrected.

   Zhou Zhou shook his head, dragged the two dolls to the trash can next to them, and threw the two dolls in directly, shouting, "No, this is not fun."

  Pharaoh's face darkened, good brothers and sisters, no, they are good dolls, you throw them in the trash?

   "Brother Fei, you have to educate Zhou Zhou, she's taking too much care of her younger siblings." He said to Fei Hong earnestly.

   Brother Fei said helplessly: "She didn't like dolls since she was a child, but she gave her the most toys. What can I do?"

   "Hurry up, put away all the dolls at home, don't get used to throwing them away, you will really throw your younger siblings in the trash in the future." Old Wang urged.

   "Puff!"

   Brother Fei burst into laughter for a moment, then looked at Pharaoh and asked with some doubts: "Husband, why do I think you have lost some weight now, have you lost weight??"

   "Oh, I am losing weight, reducing the load on my lower limbs. I have lost 5 kilograms, and now I am 130 kilograms." Pharaoh explained quickly.

   "I think it's better to lose another 10 kilograms. You are still too heavy, tired!" Fei Ge said quickly.

   "What are you tired of working on?" Old Wang teased.

   Brother Fei blushed and glared at Lao Wang angrily.

  …

   In early July, little Colangelo flew to the capital of China and visited Lao Wang.

   The purpose of Little Colangelo's visit this time is of course to know more about Pharaoh's situation and prepare for the new season's lineup.

  To be honest, he didn’t have much confidence when he came, but after he came, what awaited him was ecstasy. He never imagined that Old K was in such a good condition now that he couldn’t see any signs of serious injuries.

   In terms of strength, although it is not as strong as before, its dominance is not as good as before, but it still has the strength of an All-Star, and it is still in the recovery stage, and its strength should be improved.

   In addition, he is very supportive of Lao K's weight loss, because Lao K is getting older, and only weight loss can make his career longer.

   And D'Antoni is coaching, and the proportion of fast break tactics must be very large. Old K's current speed is completely capable of fast break.

   But D'Antoni also said that Old K has the ability to launch fast breaks, so in fast break tactics, Old K is more of a fast break initiator and consumes little.

   Jr. Colangelo returned to the United States, found D'Antoni, and told about the situation of old K. D'Antoni was about to get excited.

   "It's incredible, Lao K can maintain a 11.7-second 100-meter speed at the age of 29. It's incredible!" He kept admiring.

   "Yes, I don't see any sign of him being seriously injured at all."

Little Colangelo is still very excited when he thinks about it now, but immediately reminded: "Michael, after all, old K is almost 30 years old, so you must pay attention to controlling the playing time when using him, and pay attention to the fast break ratio. ."

  D'Antoni nodded quickly and said, "Don't worry, Brian, old K is the initiator of my fast break tactics. He will replace many point guard duties, and he will not be used for fast breaks a lot of time."

  …

  The time came to late July, on the 25th, the NBA announced the end of the freeze period and the trading market officially opened.

  The first signing occurred, the Lakers signed David Robinson with a minimum salary.

  Admiral is 37 years old and in better shape than Ewing, but he has also entered the end of his career and may retire at any time, so joining the Lakers with a basic salary must definitely want to win a ring before retiring.

   The second signing occurred, the Suns signed Patrick Ewing for a minimum salary.

   The two super centers have achieved nothing for more than a dozen seasons, and now they have joined with a basic salary for the championship, which makes people feel a sense of sadness, but no one said anything gossip.

   However, when Ewing joined the lousy team, the Suns, it aroused ridicule from the media, saying that when he went to the Suns, he could only embrace the lousy team of old K.

  The Suns have been a bad team in the league for five years since Pharaoh left in 1997. They have no fighting spirit. After the players they cultivated finished their rookie contracts, they all flew away.

   And the Suns used to play a second-tier market in the league in the era of Pharaoh, but now they have fallen back to the third-tier, or even the fourth-tier, and the market has been seriously sluggish.

  Although Wang Tiejun is back now, no one has any confidence in his state. Even those Suns fans who hope that the Sun King will return are actually just a feeling, and they have no hope for the strength of Pharaoh after his comeback.

  Many Suns fans only hope that Wang Tiejun can end his career with the Suns, so he just wants to come back.

   At this time, Colangelo Jr. had already contacted the Mavericks, and he wanted to trade Nash with Marbury.

Nash went from the Clippers to the Mavericks and became the main control of the Mavericks, but the Mavericks are now Dirk Nowitzki's team. People are not worthy, so the Mavericks have long been interested in trading Nash.

   In addition, Nash's contract has two years left, and he will definitely need a big contract to renew it at that time, and the Mavericks owner Cuban doesn't like him and is unwilling to give a big contract, so he has to trade even more.

   Now that D'Antoni is coaching the Suns, the fast-break ratio must be very high, and now the old K has lost weight and accelerated, and the 11.7-second 100-meter speed can fully adapt to fast-break tactics. Trading Nash should be good.

   The only pity is that Nash has no defensive talent, so in other positions, he must cooperate with a few defensive giants to help him fill the gap.

  In the end, the Suns and the Mavericks reached a deal, the Suns paid Marbury, the Mavericks paid Steve Nash, and the 2003 first-round first-round pick protected by the top five.

Both of them were players of the golden generation in 1996. Nash is also playing good data now, but Marbury is an All-Star who has averaged 20+ per game for several consecutive seasons, and the value is higher, so the Mavericks paid a first-round pick. .

The    deal was quickly delivered to Stern's desk, awaiting his approval.

   He looked at it, basically changed it one by one, it didn't matter too much, and passed.

   "I was traded?"

   Marbury was very upset after being notified by his agent.

   He was traded from the Timberwolves to the Nets. He was traded to the Suns at the Nets because he did not cooperate well with Yao. Now he was traded to the Mavericks. He has become a Ranger that everyone dislikes. Why is this?

But it’s okay, the Mavericks are now in good strength. Nowitzki and Mike Finley are both All-Stars averaging 20+ per game. With him, the team has three All-Stars who are 20+. He will be in the Mavericks in the new season. Championship, to make those who gave up his team regret.

   By the way, the Suns traded me, wouldn’t that mean old K?

  Damn old K, you are all disabled, and you are waiting to die when you come back in the Suns. What are you trading me for?

   He was very depressed. First Yao, then Lao K, he had to leave when he met Chinese people. In the past, he wanted to go to that mysterious country, but now he feels that he doesn't want to go to China in his life.

   "Old K, I want you to look good in the future."

   He secretly decided that when he encounters the Suns in the new season, he must teach this disabled first person in history.

   As for Nash, he was also a little depressed. When he went to the Suns, the old K was useless, and the rhythm must be very slow. His speed advantage could not be used at all.

"Ugh!"

  Thinking that Kobe has won four championships and has become the core and leader of the Lakers, he still has nothing, so he can't help but lament.

   At this time, Colangelo Jr., who completed the transaction, is analyzing the Suns' lineup.

In addition to the old K, the team now has Marion, Nash, Anfernee Hardaway, Joe Johnson, and Stoudemire. These are several major players and potential rookies. The lineup is far from enough. He must at least build A rotation of eight to nine people.

   In addition, the old K is back. Although the boss said that he will not hesitate to invest in the championship and the luxury tax will not be capped, as the general manager, he also needs to do his job well and try to achieve the best results with the least investment.

   And a team that relies entirely on the owner's investment is not sustainable. The team's operations must be maintained within a reasonable range, and then the owner will invest appropriately.

   Therefore, some Hardaway with high salary and low energy, he wants to trade away, the annual salary of more than 10 million is not worth it at all.

   He thought of the Knicks. Since Jordan retired last year and the Sharks swam westward, the Knicks fell directly from the championship to a bad team. In order to find players, the Knicks have spared no effort.

   He took a fancy to the madman, and after getting the madman, he can let Joe Johnson play the 3rd position, which should be good.

  Unfortunately, after contacting him, the Knicks actually rejected him, because the Knicks couldn't see Hardaway's current strength, so he had to contact the second trading target, the Clippers.

   The Clippers have a versatile player who can play five positions, and that is Lamar Odom. There is one year left on the rookie contract. Clippers owner Sterling wants to save money and is likely to choose a trade in advance.

Sure enough, after he contacted, the Clippers really wanted to trade Odom, but when they heard that the bargaining chip was Hardaway, they immediately refused. There is no other reason. Hardaway is too expensive and not worthwhile. It is better to keep Odom in the future. um.

  Little Colangelo knew that he was in trouble, Hardaway was going to break his hand, he shouldn't have gotten it in in the first place, and he made the boss lose money again.

   (end of this chapter)