CHAPTER 1274: CHAPTER 515: A BIG FISH ARRIVES!

Kobe is a man of action.

The next morning when Zhang Yang arrived at the training ground, he saw Kobe already practicing the basic skills of back play with the help of the trainer and sparring partner, doing it diligently.

Seeing him come, Kobe immediately stopped training, urged him to warm up, personally helped with stretching, and as soon as the warm-up was over, he jumped into teaching back play.

Yesterday, the other two iron kings had already heard that Zhang San wanted to learn skills from the old ironsmith; today, they came early to watch.

Ariza: "Jason, how many days do you think Jack can persist?"

Seeing Ironza with a gloating look, Ji Bugong’s mouth twitched, what’s this mentality!

You couldn’t handle the pressure of the old ironsmith’s teaching and complained after a couple of days of learning skills, thinking everyone is the same as you? Although the teaching intensity of the old ironsmith is indeed a bit high, and the teaching requirements are also somewhat demanding...

Kidd wasn’t as preachy as in his younger days, responding: "I heard from Tim (Grove) that Jack likes to delve into skills. He and Kobe should have plenty in common in this regard."

Ariza shook his head repeatedly: "No, no, no, this is not about having things in common; Kobe is a devil, no one can survive his training."

Kidd: "..."

Back in the day, when he first saw Ariza at the Brooklyn Nets’ draft workout, he thought there was another McGrady entering the NBA. At that time, Ariza had just finished his freshman season and hadn’t even turned 19, possessing a combination of height, mobility, jumping, strength, and shooting talent...

But this talent, whose physical indicators were particularly outstanding and whose mind was considered sharp compared to most players, surprisingly fell to the second round. He was very surprised when watching the draft live.

Later, when Ariza couldn’t settle in the NBA, he was even more surprised. It wasn’t until two seasons ago, when the Lakers traded back for Ariza using a veteran, that he learned why Ariza was picked so low and why he changed teams four times in three years.

Any slightly difficult skill, Ariza found bothersome, complained about the intensity of training, and chose to give up on areas that required hard work... It was heard that there wasn’t much improvement in his college year; his skills were the same after graduating high school and after his freshman year. Even Richard Jefferson wasn’t as troublesome, such a waste of God-given physical fitness.

During the wandering phase of his career’s first three and a half years, besides his physique getting better, his skills and fundamental skills saw almost no improvement until he became teammates with Kobe, then there was a change. But even under Kobe’s pressure, Ariza only focused on the simplest shooting and defense.

Fortunately, Ariza’s talent is truly great. After being trained under Kobe for a year, by mid-last season, he had solidified his starting position. Before last season’s playoffs, he secured a 3-year, $18 million contract renewal, realizing the benefits of hard work, and now has a much stronger subjective awareness of training on shooting and defensive fundamentals.

A while ago, the management wanted to trade Ariza for Artest. Kidd wasn’t very much in favor of it. After a year and a half of partnership, the Three Giants, two centers, and the chemistry with Ariza were already developed. Ariza was continuously improving, and after playing for 5 years, he had just turned 24 on June 30. He was bound to get better, whereas Artest, who was about to turn 30, could suddenly decline at any time. A one-year suspension when he was twenty-four or twenty-five cut off his career, and in the next three years, they were all still in a championship-contending period, so this trade wasn’t worth it...

Seeing Ariza still watching Kobe teach Zhang Yang skills, like he’s watching a show, Kidd didn’t bother with him and went to practice shooting. At his age, maintaining his condition required unbroken training, the intensity didn’t need to be high, but he had to keep practicing.

Kidd felt a bit envious that Kobe could teach Zhang Yang skills; unfortunately, he wasn’t good at scoring. Earlier, he really wanted to mentor Zhang Yang, leaving some of his marks in Zhang Yang’s playing style, but after facing each other in the finals, he temporarily gave up on this idea.

It’s not that he was afraid of making Zhang Yang even better, if that were the case, he would now stop Kobe from teaching Zhang Yang back play. As for Kobe wanting to learn Zhang Yang’s skills, just let Grove help. However, Kobe’s back play couldn’t be taught to Zhang Yang by Grove; it was something Kobe learned from Olajuwon, the Sky Hook, and even Jordan’s back play was something else entirely.

Mainly for the current Zhang Yang, even if he learned it, he couldn’t use it.

The Bobcats have Felton and Millsap, and Zhang Yang doesn’t need to take on too many organizational tasks. In terms of coordination, Zhang Yang isn’t like him, Kidd, and Wolf King. Instead, he’s similar to Luke Walton or Rick Fox, a role in tactical coordination. Zhang Yang’s play style prioritizes shooting above all else.

For this, Kidd wasn’t worried; Zhang Yang had just turned 21...

As the saying goes, the moon will always become full; the Bobcats now look like their core lineup is nearly perfect. With the foundation of the Three Young Guys, Big White Bear and Millsap as an old and young option for coordination, a lot of rookie contracts with defensive talent... But one day, the Bobcats will not be able to afford so much talent.

As the salaries of the Three Young Guys keep rising, Millsap is likely also to secure a contract worth around ten million. With just these four players, they could fill up the salary cap then.

The Mavericks’ salary situation isn’t as severe as the Bobcats’; the Mavericks have more contracts between 5 to 9 million and only have big million-dollar contracts with Nowitzki, Dampier, and Billups, plus Dampier’s contract year is coming up.