CHAPTER 1271: CHAPTER 514: ZHANG SAN: KOBE, WANT TO LEARN? I’LL TEACH YOU!

A few days passed in a blur, August arrived, and Felton came to Hidden Mountain, along with Ingles who had finished his summer league duties, joining the training.

Upon meeting, Felton complained about Alan Anderson going to Europe to make money. Not everyone is as open-minded as Zhang Yang, and he was quite dissatisfied about it. After hearing Zhang Yang’s perspective, he calmed down a bit, but never having gone through tough times himself and lacking empathy, he couldn’t fully understand Alan Anderson’s choice.

Just like in the original timeline, Jordan offered him a 4-year, $37.5 million US dollar contract in the summer of ’09. With his average of 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 7 assists at the time, it was a lucrative offer. However, to change teams, he refused to renew the contract and signed a one-year, $5.5 million US dollar qualifying offer. Even when everyone told him he wouldn’t get such a contract from other teams, he insisted on changing teams. This decision was something those black players who rose from the bottom couldn’t comprehend.

In the end, the two of them weren’t from the same world. They just happened to be on the same team and spent four unforgettable years together on the basis of no conflict of interest, developing a brotherly bond. If they weren’t playing on the same team, even as neighbors, they wouldn’t get along.

However, Little Fatty’s self-adjustment ability has been honed over the years, and he chose to use training to divert his attention.

That night, Harden was whisked away by Felton, moving out from Zhang Yang’s place to stay in a hotel with Felton. Here in Hidden Mountain, as a wealthy area, there are many high-end clubs...

A few more days passed, and the date was August 6th. On this day, two high-profile trades occurred, drawing Zhang Yang’s attention.

The Mavericks used Josh Howard as a bargaining chip to acquire Caron Butler and DeShawn Stevenson from the Wizards.

Billups, Caron Butler, Artest, Nowitzki, sixth man Terry... this lineup left Zhang Yang speechless.

Another trade, also by the Wizards, used Jamison as a bargaining chip to get Big Z’s expiring contract and the Cavaliers’ 2010 first-round pick.

The Cavaliers got Jamison for just a first-round pick, without having to pay Big Z’s last year’s large contract... Zhang Yang remembered Stern seemed to be looking to change the rules to prevent such occurrences from happening again.

As the trade was completed, media reported that Arenas was being shopped by the Wizards, but there were no takers.

Back then, the Wizards’ Big Three were famous, but now they had become a thing of the past overnight.

Two days later, on August 8th, the Toronto Raptors unexpectedly announced they had completed a 5-year, $55 million contract with Turkoglu.

This signing surprised Zhang Yang. He had previously been amazed by news that Turkoglu was about to sign a 5-year, $50 million big contract with the Trail Blazers. He didn’t remember Turkoglu ever playing for the Trail Blazers, so the turnaround was shocking!

Subsequently, media reported that the Trail Blazers had been aggressively pursuing Turkoglu since the free agency began. Turkoglu had been in Portland for almost a month, being treated well by the Trail Blazers, and the contract discussions were nearly finalized. However, Turkoglu hadn’t signed yet, waiting for a higher offer, which he eventually got. The Trail Blazers couldn’t match the offer from the Toronto Raptors, and Turkoglu departed for the North without looking back.

Zhang Yang checked the Trail Blazers’ salary situation and found that the Trail Blazers were potential beneficiaries of the ’rookie bonuses,’ with Roy, Aldridge, and Oden all still on rookie contracts. The trash contracts from the ’Prison Team’ period, and the contracts that needed paying after buyouts, mostly ended after last season, reducing the total salary to over $51 million, freeing up $8.61 million in salary space.

Using this as an initial calculation, the Trail Blazers could offer Turkoglu a maximum 5-year, $50.96 million contract. The Toronto Raptors offered him a contract with a starting salary of $9.3 million, leaving a gap of under $700,000. It might not seem big, but it was decisive.

Signing Juwan Howard was likely just a verbal agreement for the Trail Blazers, waiting for exceptions to fill the salary cap later... now it seems there’s no need to dismantle the mid-level exception.

Zhang Yang felt the saddest part for the Trail Blazers was having eyes only for Turkoglu. After being duped, the other three small forwards they had the conditions to fight for in the free agency and trade market—Artest, Marion, Caron Butler—had all found new teams.

It was quite an amusing situation, having the conditions to benefit from the rookie bonuses, but the duck on their plate still managed to fly away.

However, Zhang Yang had not heard any intention from the Magic Team to renew Turkoglu’s contract. After offering a 4-year, $32 million renewal during the All-Star weekend which was refused, there was no more news of this kind... Was this an extreme reflection on abroad over local from the ’90s? Couldn’t they keep them all?

He remembered last summer, Howard signed a 3+1 type 361 contract with the Magic Team; there might be more twists to watch later. Without Turkoglu, half of the Magic Team’s system was gone.

Within days, the Magic Team’s management answered Zhang Yang’s doubts by trading Alston, Tony Battie, Courtney Lee... and a bunch of other players to the Brooklyn Nets to acquire Carter.

He remembered, Carter seemed to have partnered with Howard.

According to the trade news, Carter averaged 20.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists last season, with salaries of $16.3 million next season and $17.3 million the following season.

If it were any other team doing this operation, Zhang Yang would be perplexed, feeling it was unruly and questioning the purpose, unable to see the rationale. When the Knicks Team wanted McGrady, at least there was the 2010 salary space clearance plan... but with the Magic Team operating like this, he wasn’t surprised at all.