"Let’s put that aside for now, Chen. How’s Jamal’s knee?"
After a moment of thought, Jackson decided to ask about the matter that concerned him most.
Jamal Mashburn!
The Lakers had been quite active in the trade market this year.
First, they poached a player from their crosstown rivals, luring away Odom with a big contract.
But they weren’t done yet.
After all, why stop at just one?
They immediately set their sights on the Fast Ship’s muscular powerhouse, Corey Maggette.
The Lakers had always been weak at the small forward position.
Rick Fox was getting old, and Devon George was still too green.
And to compete in the West, especially for a championship, they had to measure themselves against the Phoenix Suns. That meant they needed to figure out how to handle an elite forward like Marion.
And so, Maggette caught Jackson’s eye.
He was a power-type small forward with good size, a strong drive to the basket, and explosive scoring ability. His defense might have been a bit lacking, but at the very least, he could help shoulder the Lakers’ scoring load.
The Fast Ship had already decided to build around Brand, and just like Odom, Maggette’s rookie contract was up, and he was also looking for a big payday.
This time, however, Jackson was left disappointed.
Sterling matched the Lakers’ offer and kept Maggette.
When one plan failed, he devised another.
Jackson set his sights on another target: the Wasp’s Jamal Mashburn.
One of the Mavericks’ former "Three J’s," who had clashed with J Kidd and was the second-youngest player in history to score over 50 points in a game.
The Wasp’s management all but spat in his face, rejecting Jackson without a moment’s hesitation.
Their message was clear: Mashburn was their King Wasp, the apple of Bob Bass’s eye. The Lakers didn’t have any decent trade chips, so what could they possibly offer in return?
But last month, things took an unexpected turn.
On September 13th, before the start of the new season, Jamal Mashburn was in New York for a basketball event when he suddenly withdrew halfway through.
It wasn’t until the 17th that reporters revealed Mashburn’s old knee injury had flared up. He might miss time in the new season, and could even be out for the year.
Further reports then emerged, claiming that Mashburn’s knee had already started to deteriorate back in August, causing him pain.
Seeing an opportunity in the injury, Jackson made another move, proposing a trade for Mashburn centered around Gugliotta and two first-round picks.
Mashburn had made a name for himself with the Mavericks, but after a major injury, he went through a slump for several years with the Heat. However, after coming to the Wasp, his career was revitalized.
Last season, Mashburn averaged 21.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game.
And you couldn’t say those were just empty stats padded on a weak team; the Wasp were a playoff-caliber team in the East.
Because of this, the media had once hailed Mashburn as the best small forward in the East, second only to Hill.
He was a bit older at 31 and still had three years and $28 million left on his contract.
But he was still in his prime and the cornerstone of the Wasp.
Gugliotta, on the other hand, had recovered some of his form after knee surgery. Last season, he put up respectable numbers off the bench with 9.6 points and 4.8 rebounds, making him an important scoring option for the Lakers’ second unit.
He was also 31 years old and in the final year of his $11.67 million contract.
As an expiring contract, he was quite attractive to teams looking to clear salary cap space.
Although the Lakers threw in their ’04 and ’06 first-round picks, that kind of package was nowhere near enough to trade for a team’s cornerstone, an All-Star-level player. One could only say Jackson was being delusional. He was simply trying to take advantage of Mashburn’s recurring injury and potential season-ending status to lowball them.
Most importantly, while all but spitting in Jackson’s face, Bob Bass also made it crystal clear: they weren’t afraid of the injury. The league had Chen Yu. No matter how bad Mashburn’s knee was, Chen Yu could heal it.
So, Mashburn was immediately sent to Phoenix to be treated by Chen Yu.
For Jackson to still be asking about Mashburn’s condition at this point, it was clear he hadn’t given up hope.
"Phil, you can stop thinking about Mashburn. The Wasp are absolutely not going to trade him." Chen Yu didn’t mince words, directly shutting down Jackson’s fantasy.
With a grimace, Jackson let out a long sigh.
The Lakers’ current roster could be considered strong, but there was still a significant gap between them and a championship-caliber team.
Across the five positions, Kobe was of course top-tier, but Yao Ming still needed time to develop. Odom was a question mark, and Fisher was barely adequate. Their weakest position was undoubtedly the small forward.
The key issue was that while the Lakers were enjoying the benefits of Yao Ming’s rookie contract and had cap space, they lacked any truly valuable trade assets.
During the OK Duo era, their salary cap had been completely locked up, so they were left picking through scraps and role players.
Furthermore, there were no suitable small forwards on the free-agent market this year.
Their only real target, Maggette, had been retained by the Fast Ship.
Seeing his dejection, Chen Yu said, "Phil, you should probably just keep your first-round picks and see if you can draft a good rookie. Besides, didn’t you just sign Pippen? He should be able to help with your perimeter defense."
Jackson obviously knew that acquiring Mashburn would be extremely difficult, so he had a backup plan.
He had personally met with Pippen and convinced him to join the Lakers for one more year.
"Oh, right, weren’t there rumors that the Jazz are planning to buy out Glenn Rice’s contract? You could try going after him. After all, he was a key piece of your championship team, his playstyle isn’t too different from Mashburn’s, and he’s *only* 36."
Over the summer, the Jazz made a trade with the Rocket to acquire Glenn Rice.
Their goal was to reach the salary floor.
After parting ways with Ma Long and Stockton, the Jazz had a pitifully low payroll. So, as soon as the trade was finalized, they immediately bought out Glenn Rice’s contract.
As one of the best shooting forwards in the league’s history, Glenn Rice also fit Jackson’s criteria.
Since the Phoenix Suns’ roster was already set and they were just chatting idly, Chen Yu didn’t mind offering Jackson some advice.
"*Only*... 36?" Jackson shot Chen Yu a resentful look and said, "Chen, if you came to the Lakers, then I’d sign him."
’He’s 36 and riddled with injuries. If Chen Yu weren’t on the team’s staff to keep an eye on him, who the hell knows what kind of shape he’d be in.’
But that was obviously impossible.
However, Chen Yu’s words sparked an idea in Jackson’s mind, and a name inexplicably popped into his head.
Andrei Kirilenko.
Jackson crossed his arms. He suddenly realized that the young player from the Jazz seemed to be a perfect fit for the Lakers’ current roster needs.
Here was a player with good height, incredible agility, a well-rounded skill set, and a decent-enough three-point shot.
Most importantly, his help defense was outstanding.
Last season, he averaged 2.2 blocks per game.
That stat ranked him eighth in the league for blocks that season.
Crucially, he ranked first in blocks among all small forwards.
And he had done it all while coming off the bench.
This was a guy with elite help-side shot-blocking.
For the upcoming season, Jackson was planning to double down on defense.
But limited by a lack of defensive personnel, Jackson wanted to experiment with a zone defense.
Odom had caught his eye because of his excellent help defense, which meant Kirilenko, who was similarly gifted in that area, would also be a superb option.
Jackson felt he could definitely use Gugliotta in a trade.
For instance, he could trade Gugliotta for Glenn Rice and Kirilenko.
With Ma Long now on the Phoenix Suns, the Jazz were shorthanded at the power forward position.
Rumor had it that Sloan even wanted Kirilenko to play power forward.
Matt Harpring had an excellent season last year and had solidified his starting role.
And Gugliotta, a former "Wolf King" after all, was still serviceable. Plus, he was on an expiring contract. Not only would he help them reach the salary floor, but he would also free up cap space the following year, facilitating the Jazz’s rebuild.
The more Jackson thought about it, the more sense it made.
Kirilenko’s averages of 12 points and 5.3 rebounds coming off the bench last season were more than enough to prove his immense potential.
The only problem was that the Jazz would be reluctant to let him go, meaning the Lakers would have to bleed assets to get him.
"Chen, I just remembered I have something to do. Keep an eye on things here for me," Jackson said, before hastily departing.
He had to quickly find some information on Kirilenko and discuss the feasibility of the trade.
Chen Yu watched him go but didn’t give it much thought.
In Chen Yu’s opinion, Jackson was just spinning his wheels this year.
Snatching the championship from the Phoenix Suns was not going to be easy.
Kobe was undoubtedly getting better, but Hardaway was no slouch either.
Then there was Yao Ming; he was still too raw and needed time to develop. At his current level, he was clearly no match for O’Neal.
Most importantly, the Phoenix Suns’ current roster was truly flawless.
Unlike the Lakers of the OK Duo era, where O’Neal would get swarmed in the paint with no one on the roster able to step up and help him.
But the Phoenix Suns had McDyess, who perfectly compensated for O’Neal’s one last weakness.
Therefore, no matter how you looked at it, the Lakers were no match for the Phoenix Suns.
At least, not at the moment.
Looking across the entire Western Conference, Chen Yu felt the only team that could pose a real threat to the Phoenix Suns was the Spurs.
After the trade market opened, the most persistent rumor about the Spurs was their desire to trade for Rasul Nestorovis of the Wolves.
The goal was to fill the void left by David Robinson’s departure.
In the end, however, that trade never came to fruition.
The Spurs remained as pragmatic and practical as ever.
Of course, to put it another way, they were just being cheap.
First, they pried Old Horry away from the Lakers, and then they seized the opportunity to persuade Mutombo, who had been bought out by the Brooklyn Nets, to sign with them.
Their goal was clear: to take down the Phoenix Suns.
While Mutombo no longer possessed his former All-Star-level ability, he was still plenty tough, his defense was solid, and he was an old rival of O’Neal’s. He could ease some of Duncan’s defensive burden in the paint, and that was enough.
In another three-team trade, by absorbing Ron Mercer’s bad contract, they managed to acquire the Turkish player Hedo Turkoglu from the King, adding more height to their front line.
He also brought a capable three-point shot from the perimeter.
And all of these moves were clearly targeted at the Phoenix Suns.
Combined with the increasingly formidable duo of Duncan and Parker, the Spurs remained the Phoenix Suns’ greatest rival in the West.
Just as he was lost in thought, Nelson approached with Old Curry.
"Chen, everything’s ready," Nelson said.
The training facility was small, a fact that couldn’t be helped. So, the first order of business had been to install the high-definition cameras throughout the gym, along with a full suite of data analysis equipment.
Of course, getting the equipment was the easy part.
Last season, several other teams in the league had also brought in similar systems.
But Chen Yu’s system was more competitive because he was the pioneer. Having developed it with the Phoenix Suns for two seasons, he had already built a highly effective data model.
That was the real key.
After the sports science lab was established, this model was continuously refined and improved, eventually becoming a core asset of his consulting firm.
Today marked the completion of the equipment’s calibration and its official launch.
Otherwise, Chen Yu wouldn’t have come to Los Angeles in person.
Chen Yu waved to Lambis in the distance, signaling for the practice to begin.

Comments

Loading...