Although he acted very free and easy, the departure of Butcher was a huge blow to the Trail Blazers.

Even if the two first-round picks are exchanged for two immediate combat abilities, it cannot offset the loss of one of the league's top offensive power forwards.

However, Randolph did not express his position to the management until the new regulations were announced, which proved that he was struggling until the last moment, that is, he made up his mind to leave.

Therefore, neither Liu Xiu, nor the coaching staff, nor the management tried to persuade him to stay.

After getting along for so many years, we know each other very well.

If Randolph started making a fuss early, just having a little temper and just trying to calm him down, and only said it when the time came, that would mean he had made up his mind.

Randolph's departure is something the Trail Blazers management has never thought about. They are all ready for Randolph to stay in the Rose City forever.

When this happens, not only Liu Xiu, but also the coaching staff is reflecting. Cai

When we came up with the new system, I didn't ask Randolph if he was willing to do it. I just thought that Randolph could play and could play well. I just took it for granted that Randolph also liked it because Randolph usually played fast. It was a pleasure to attack, so I thought so.

In fact, Randolph occasionally complained, but no one took it seriously... In the end, no one was angry. This time it was really the butcher who had a "loose heart and a fat body".

After learning about this situation, in the past month, the coaching staff talked to every player on the team about the new system. The new players also communicated with each other and emphasized the style of play.

The first one he came to was Ray Allen, and they chatted for the longest time. He took the initiative to find topics. They chatted for the whole day. As long as Ray Allen didn't want to drive him away, John Nash kept insisting on chatting.

Although there was no change in Ray Allen's expression, John Nash could feel that he was happier, perhaps because he felt valued...

John Nash madly complained to the vice president that Ray Allen was more awkward than he thought, but Ray Allen's ability made them willing to accept this torture.

Just like during the All-Star Weekend, Paul Allen personally presented the 4-year, $64 million contract extension to Ray Allen, who was about to turn 34.

Randolph officially changed teams and did not interrupt Liu Xiu's training plan. On August 4, Liu Xiu joined the Outlaws, Nash, Anthony, Ray Allen, Batum, Dragic and others. It takes a total of three weeks to participate in the 'Kobe Bryant Training Camp', a 14-day training period, with two days of training and one day off.

This year I focus on three-pointers, step-backs, and three-threat skills. Learn around these three points.

His triple threat will definitely not reach the level of Kobe, Anthony, and Pierce, but he doesn't need to be that strong. He just needs to learn the skills in this area so that he can have more options when launching an offense.

Liu Xiu chose these three points because they can be combined very effectively. With Kobe, Nash, and Anthony, it would be a waste not to develop this combination.

Both Feng Zhizi and Da Shen can trigger the rapid learning mode, Dong Ge can be used as a reference.

Kobe actually didn't want to teach him, but a certain killer who had just arrived in Los Angeles came to his house that night with a big food box, fed him two pounds in one meal, and was forced to train to lose weight together.

The Son of the Wind has been quite depressed in the past two years. I was not in this mood originally. It was like going on vacation during the All-Star Weekend.

However, Liu Xiu entertained him very well during the playoffs. He stayed in Portland for many days during the playoffs. Originally he just wanted to watch Liu Xiu and Paul's playoffs, but Liu Xiu provided him with the ball throughout the whole process.

Not only the tickets, but also gave him super VIP cards to many bars and nightclubs in Portland. The discounts were astonishingly high. As a result, he stayed in Portland for more than a week, and then when it came to the Western Conference Finals, he couldn't help but run away.

Come here and wait until the finals are over...

They had a good relationship with each other. After the season, Liu Xiu invited him to train together in August, and he readily agreed.

Although the past two years have not gone well, and the team has made trouble this year, he still has to make full preparations before the start of each season and look forward to the dawn.

On Randolph's side, he went to Atlanta to settle his contract and accommodation, and then came to Los Angeles to have a drink with Liu Xiu, but he did not stay to train together, but went to Rio to participate in the summer carnival.

Liu Xiu seriously doubted that the Eagles would eventually buy back a 140-kilogram fat man after spending 4.5 billion.

Suddenly there was no nostalgia for the butcher's departure and he was left to blow the cold winds of the Appalachians.

He now understands the reason why Butcher doesn't like the new system. It's not that he doesn't like to play for a long time as he thought before, but because except for the contract year, it's impossible for this guy to start with 120 kilograms like last season.

Hitting small balls with a heavy tonnage of more than 130 kilograms will kill people.

Afterwards, he also met with three new teammates: Bibby, Maurice Evans, and Cunningham.

Cunningham is indeed a mature player who entered the NBA after finishing college. He averaged 3 points per game in the Salt Lake City Summer League and won the scoring title.

In this kind of semi-professional game, he showed off his outstanding characteristics in college very well. He was a little uncomfortable with the three-point line. When the defensive end was shrinking, he occasionally forgot the three-second defense rule, but these two habits

It would be great, he can show his ability to defend from 2 to 5, and he is the one with the best forward defensive performance among the 8 teams in the Salt Lake City Summer League.

Bibby played 80 games with the Hawks last season, averaging 9 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals per game, shooting 42% from the field...but his three-point shooting rate was as high as 39%, and he averaged 1 three-pointer per game.

.

While Dragic is still training, there is finally a reassuring point guard on the bench who can reduce the support pressure on Diaw, Gasol, Hill and others.

The key is that Bibby's contract has expired. If it works, try to stay. If it doesn't work, forget it. Moreover, for such an experienced veteran, he is in another contract year, so his transaction value is not bad.

Bibby looked at Liu Xiu with emotion. A few years ago, when Warden was still a rookie, their Kings team was the half-time champion...and then nothing happened.

Maurice Evans, undrafted in the 2001 class, has rich experience in the game. He once played in the Finals with Yao Ming, and later played as a starter for the Lakers for more than a year. He was sent to him as a bargaining chip in the trade for David West.

Hornets, last season with the Hawks, he averaged 7 points and 3 rebounds per game, and his 39% three-point shooting rate and averaging 2 three-pointers per game were his highlights.

Although the two people who came back from the trade played a desperate role on the court, their combined effect may not be as good as Randolph's standing there doing nothing on the court.

But it can be seen that this is the reward for the hard work of the management and coaching staff.

It must be appropriate, and the risk of long-term contracts holding you back must be eliminated...

We also have to prevent the emergence of a super strong team. This has been done, and it also planted a nail in the East. Millsap and Randolph have a good relationship. The two of them played together in the Hawks, and both of them are very tough. , the eastern powers will have a headache.

Butcher went to form a 206 frontcourt trio with Millsap and Josh Smith. The matter was a foregone conclusion and could not be changed.

Liu Xiu had a dinner date with Randolph, and after meeting his new teammates, he put this matter aside completely.

Next, there is a new stage where there is no longer a butcher as a helper.

…

Breaking points came early this year in the offseason, but they were few and far between.

The Mets' top stars from the 2001 and 2003 classes will become unrestricted free agents next summer.

As for why the 2003 class became unrestricted free agents together with the 2001 class... because the first contract extensions of the top players in the 2003 class were basically 3+1, while most of the 2001 class's contracts were 5+1.

This summer, many teams vacated space in order to acquire Randolph. They failed to acquire Randolph and did not give long-term contracts to other players. Instead, they signed some one-year contracts to make do with it and prepare for next summer. .color

The more extreme one is the Knicks. This summer, more than 40 million US dollars in contracts will expire. After next season, another 50 million US dollars in contracts will expire. However, the Knicks do not even have a mid-level contract this summer. I am willing to give, but I am not willing to sign a long-term contract.

Even the Knicks were unwilling to give David Lee, a top power forward capable of averaging 20+10 points per game, a long-term contract. They only gave him a one-year, US$7 million contract just to make room for next summer. With a space between US$30 million and US$35 million, two non-designated veteran contracts can be offered with maximum salaries.

After Randolph changed teams and the Sharks and Big Ben swapped, the biggest deal was that the Jazz sent Chandler and draft picks in exchange for Emeka Okafor.

Okafor averaged 13 points, 10 rebounds and 7 blocks per game last season. He is tough on offense and good on defense. He is already a fully mature center when he enters the NBA. His only shortcoming is that his back is weak and he is often injured.

After that, there were no big trades, and the championship-level teams couldn't make big moves. Seeing that the Trail Blazers were missing Randolph, they were very excited and wanted to strengthen them. However, in recent years, each team's reinforcements have been poor. It has reached its limit, that is, it has reached the end of a cycle stage, and there is nothing left to do.

Weak teams are waiting for next summer, or they are in bad shape, and have no and no desire to make big moves.

The Trail Blazers drafted a new player and traded Randolph for two players and two draft picks, but there was nothing left to do.

The only news that Liu Xiu got was that Gasol had successfully lost weight, that Gasol had made significant progress in his high-post jump shot, that Gasol had good talent for quick transitions in positional battles... and other news.

The management and coaching staff took the trouble to 'report' to the players how outstanding Gasol's talent was and how fast he was improving, but there was nothing they could do about it.

Liu Xiu was not calm about Randolph leaving the team, let alone others?

Only Ray Allen didn't seem to have any reaction at all, and everyone else went crazy when they first learned about this.

The only one who is truly happy is Gasol.

This summer, the team caught Gasol training like crazy, losing weight and practicing skills. On the one hand, they used Gasol's talents and abilities to appease other players.

But the coaching staff has some personal emotions inside.

The damned Spaniard smiled silly during practice, and he smiled so sincerely that the coaching staff, who had just lost their top star inside, really wanted to gang up on this guy.

Time passed day by day, and in late August, the "Kobe Bryant Training Camp" ended, and the learning time was over. Liu Xiu re-polished the training methods in aspects such as step-back and triple threat stance, as well as very important technical skills.

The second half of the training mission for the 'Advanced Physical Card' was also completed during this period. During the previous business activities in Europe, China and Asia, I practiced most of it, and my physical strength was successfully improved from 93 to 94.

Liu Xiu, who had gained a lot, began to play freely, leaving the baby to her parents. Anne Hathaway's parents also lived in Los Angeles this summer and could help take care of it. The young couple traveled for more than half a month.

He worked so hard to wake up Kobe Bryant at 3 o'clock every morning to start training, but no one reported it. When he went out to travel, the media started hyping him up for not doing his job properly, not training during the offseason, and becoming the best active player. Lazy.

When Liu Xiu saw these news, he complained to Anne Hathaway: "Are they saying that I worked hard before? Do you want to say thank you to them for their supervision?"

Anne Hathaway couldn't stop laughing. She really wanted to record the scene of her man complaining and send it to the media to make them angry.

By mid-September, the young couple returned to Portland. Liu Xiu's parents had returned home with their children. Liu Xiu returned to the team and started working. Anne Hathaway also continued to go back to school to study. She was busy with work and had an orderly life. back to normal state.

Liu Xiu returned to the team 10 days earlier than in previous years. The management and coaching staff said it was unexpected, but it was not that surprising.

After all, the team is different.

At this time in previous years, Butcher had already begun to greet his teammates in Portland to eat, drink, and gamble. Now, it is only Warden's turn to lead his teammates... This is what the coaching staff originally thought.

Until one afternoon, the vice president saw Liu Xiu cheating... No, he was pointing out the number one parallel importer——

"Kwame, the butcher is gone, you are the only pillar of our team..."

"What you have to do is not only support the inside line on the court, but also become the face of the team! After Butcher leaves, you will be the second in charge of our team!" Cai Cai

"Yes, you have to learn to get along with your teammates like him. The boss is not easy to mess with. The second brother is the one everyone relies on."

"Why are you afraid that you can't do well? You are no worse than a butcher...you...you...you are all from the 2001 class, and you are the second brother of the team!"

The vice president was speechless and felt a little sorry for the warden.

My little brother's IQ is too tight, and it's actually quite difficult to fool him. The top pick in parallel imports has been trained by the god of basketball to be very self-aware.

But after that, Kwame Brown really followed Randolph's example and acted like the team's second boss, holding various VVVVVIP cards provided by Liu Xiu and taking his teammates to play together.
To be continued...