CHAPTER 558: CHAPTER 274: 2015 NBA TRADE DEADLINE_2

Moreover, both of these first-round picks were unprotected.

This involves a specific timeframe, the summer of 2016, the summer when the new collective bargaining agreement took effect.

Coincidentally, Durant’s contract was set to expire that summer of 2016.

If the Heat had always been unsuccessful, whether Durant would choose to leave at that time would be a topic worth discussing.

Once Durant left, and with the Heat’s weak performance, those first-round picks would become very valuable.

So, the Suns were gambling.

Of course, all of this was predicated on the fact that Dragic had signed a 4-year, $30 million contract in 2012, which had a player option that summer.

This season, he averaged 16.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game, and he was sure to get a big contract that summer, which meant that his current contract was effectively only half a year long. Only if he were traded to a team willing to extend his contract would he have any trade value.

The Suns were actually willing to offer him an extension, but Dragic himself stated he didn’t want to stay.

His reason was that the current management’s team-building strategy had reached a point that even he, an old Suns veteran, couldn’t tolerate.

The Suns had three point guards that season who could start: Little Thomas, Bledsoe, and Dragic.

They were forced to play a dual point guard lineup all game, and one person still had to come off the bench.

The direct consequence of this was an extremely poor team atmosphere.

After all, last season Dragic averaged 20.3 points and 5.9 assists per game; continuing to play would have turned even a big contract into a bad one.

The Heat were also gambling. Riley must have known that if the Heat couldn’t succeed in the next two years, they wouldn’t be able to keep Durant.

As for whether this had anything to do with losing to the Cavaliers before the All-Star game, that remains unknown.

But now, the Heat’s roster was truly terrifying; starting five players, plus Chalmers, Seferosa, and Vucevic, just this 8-man rotation in the playoffs was enough to drive any opponent to despair.

Then, the strengthening trades by various teams began to roll out.

The Thunders, in a three-way trade, sent out Reggie Jackson as the main piece and acquired Kanter from the Jazz to reinforce their interior line.

The Lakers also used two protected future first-round picks plus an add-on, traded from the Nuggets to get Mozgov, to fill the interior void after Varejao’s season-ending injury.

Right after that, the Celtics used the Grizzlies’ first-round pick previously acquired and an add-on to trade for Little Thomas from the Suns.

After successively sending Dragic and Little Thomas away, the Suns acquired Brandon Knight through another three-way trade.

Now you can fully understand why Dragic wanted to leave; the Suns just sent away two point guards and then immediately traded for another.

Sometimes the thought processes of NBA general managers really make you think that the person in that position is JR.

In this three-way trade involving the Suns, the 76ers sent Michael Carter Williams to the Bucks in exchange for a first-round pick.

Recalling McCallum’s NBA debut with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 12 assists, and 9 steals nearly secured a quadruple-double and shocked the league.

Even in his first week as a professional, he averaged 20.7 points, 9 assists, and 4.3 steals, leading the team to a three-game winning streak, becoming the second rookie after O’Neal to receive Player of the Week.

At that time, fans said, "He completely lives up to his name."

That was totally the mode of an unbeatable protagonist in a novel.

Although his performance declined afterward, he still averaged 16.7 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 6.3 assists in his rookie season and was named Rookie of the Year.

And now, it was just his second year as a rookie.

The Bucks getting him was like adding wings to a tiger.

Of course, Hansen knew, McCallum’s situation was similar to Mozgov’s; wrong era.

His defense and passing were good, but unfortunately, he had absolutely no shooting and couldn’t develop shooting; a point guard without shooting in the era of small ball would turn into something similar, more vividly demonstrated by Ben Simmons in the future.

At the very last moment on the deadline day, the Cavaliers and the Celtics reached a trade, sending Bargnani and acquiring Kevin Garnett.

Garnett really came to the Cavaliers!

At that moment, Hansen didn’t have time to worry about why this trade happened; he pulled out his long-untouched 58 accounts and started pushing his own grouping agenda.

He even thoughtfully used O’Neal joining the Cavaliers as a comparison.

Never mind the difference between ages 37 and 39, or whether it was a third-best trio; none of those mattered in any significant way.

Indeed, just as Hansen had anticipated, once he got things started, the social media frenzy followed one after another.

Especially the LeBron fans, after all these years, they finally found evidence of Hansen getting involved!

Starting with the Heat and ending with the Cavaliers, not only did the trade deadline of this year become highly topical, but according to official statistics, up to 41 players were traded, making it the busiest trade deadline in NBA history.

The end of the Grizzlies’ dynasty was like the scene after Jordan had retired, every general manager was crazy about winning the championship that year.

Two days after the trade deadline, as the Cavaliers were training in the gym, Lue and Garnett showed up at the door, chatting and laughing.

God knows how Lue managed it, he and Garnett had never been teammates before.

Under Lue’s guidance, Garnett walked straight to where Hansen was.

Upon meeting, Garnett shook Hansen’s hand and bumped shoulders as a greeting.

"Welcome to Cleveland Village," Hansen also welcomed Garnett in a humorous way.

Although he was puzzled by Garnett’s arrival, that was not the main point. The main point was that Garnett had indeed come.

Although Garnett was no longer the "Wolf King" and could not significantly enhance the Cavaliers in terms of strength, he could bring experience to the team.

This team was young, but severely lacked playoff experience.

As for past grudges and such, Garnett didn’t care, and there was even less need for him to care.

After chatting with Hansen, Garnett then met with other Cavaliers players.

Though league status is somewhat elusive, Garnett’s peak ability was undeniable, earning him considerable respect from the players.

Lue had initially just wanted to bring Garnett to greet the teammates, but unexpectedly, Garnett took off his training clothes and wanted to join in.

"I’m not here to fool around," he also interrupted Lue’s continued persuasion.

After a brief warm-up, Garnett directly joined the Cavaliers’ training.

He even played a full scrimmage with the Cavaliers.

Hansen was somewhat surprised; Garnett had never played the "One Star and Four Shooters" tactical system before, but his tactical positioning was quite skillful.

There was once a saying that Garnett was the center with the highest basketball IQ in the league because he could play positions one through five.

Although that statement might be exaggerated, it indeed had some manifestation.

However, what surprised Hansen even more than the basketball IQ was Garnett’s attitude.

Although it was only his first day with the Cavaliers, even just the first training session, Garnett’s trash talk was incessant on the court.

Hansen, having played against Garnett, knew well how effective his trash talk could be, but this was a bit too intensive.

Or rather, a bit too much.

This was supposed to be a normal training session, but Garnett made it more intense than an official game.

This made many Cavaliers players feel uncomfortable.

By the end of the training, the players who had initially greeted him with smiles almost all instinctively kept their distance from him.

"David traded us an old dad," even Conningham couldn’t resist complaining to Hansen after the training.

In the United States, "old dad" is similar to a jerk, someone unpleasant.

Conningham’s statement meant something similar to "He’s like an imposing father figure to us."

Hansen patted Conningham on the shoulder, not saying much.

Garnett didn’t seem to be putting on an act; no one would intentionally offend all their colleagues on their first day at a new company.

The only reasonable explanation was that he had always been this person.

Was this a bad thing?

Hansen thought not.

Just like when he played the role of the villain at the Grizzlies, having someone pushing from behind was a good thing.