When Yang Jian was promoting the movie in New York, she received a call from Ben Wallace and received bad news.

After Ben Wallace joined the SuperSonics, Steve Oldman thought he had great potential and signed a contract with him. Now Ben and Yang Jian have the same agent.

The manager of the Detroit Pistons contacted Oldman and wanted to offer Ben Wallace a high-salary long-term contract with an average annual salary of 8 million per year. The contract lasted for 5 years, and Ben had never seen so much money.

There was simply no way to refuse this invitation.

Ben Wallace is a free agent this summer. As a short blue-collar insider with no shooting ability, this is definitely the biggest offer he can get. Once signed, the lives of his family will change.

"Young, I really want to continue playing with you, but will the SuperSonics offer me a similar contract extension? After Oldman told me about this, he suggested that I call and ask for your opinion."

Ben Wallace is Yang Jian's die-hard brother, and it is not good to make decisions without asking. Ben revealed the Pistons' offer to Yang Jian. If Yang Jian wants him to stay with the team, he can discuss renewing his contract with the SuperSonics management.

This contract comes at a substantial premium. Ben was an undrafted draft pick before joining the SuperSonics. When Mason was here, Ben was the team's substitute most of the time.

The Pistons offered such a large contract because the team's starting center Bisson Dele was not on the court and immediately announced his retirement. Bisson is so willful. He is not sick or injured and does not want to play. He just wants to go to sea.

If the Pistons don't sign a capable center in the summer, they will have to use soft-boiled Christian Laettner as the starting center next season.

That's bullshit. Even if they make it to the playoffs, they won't be able to get past the first round. If the Pistons continue to behave like this, it will be difficult for Grant Hill to renew his contract and stay with the team after his contract expires. Without Hill, the Pistons will be

Without stars who can attract fans, it would be a disaster.

Of course, Ben Wallace may also stay with the Sonics. As long as Yang Jian communicates with the management and expresses that he must keep Ben, the management will probably give him face and match the Pistons' contract.

How to make Yang Jian play comfortably in the team and keep the teammates he likes is something that the management must consider. Ben Wallace has played with the SuperSonics for three seasons and has Bird Rights. The team can

Super Cap renewed his contract.

Re-signing Ben Wallace with a high salary will cause the SuperSonics' salary to skyrocket. The contracts between him, Yang Jian, and Payton will soon exceed the salary cap.

NBA's new regulations stipulate that 48% of the league's total revenue is the salary cap, and 55% of the total revenue is the luxury tax limit. The salary cap for the 1999-2000 season is US$35.5 million, and the luxury tax is US$40.67 million. High-salary renewals are expensive,

The SuperSonics will have to pay the luxury tax next season.

Yang Jian asked Ben to wait for a while, and called manager Wally Walker to tell him about Ben. The SuperSonics' current situation is also very embarrassing. Ben and Osella Harrington are free agents, and both of them chose

If he leaves the team, the SuperSonics' interior strength will decline again.

After Mason returns, the management is not sure what level he can perform next season. As long as Mason can return to his previous form, not only with excellent defense but also high-post support and mid-range shooting, his annual salary next season will only be 4.86 million.

It is not reasonable for Ben to have a higher salary than Mason. If he does not renew his contract, there will only be two insiders, Mason and Brad Miller, next season, lacking a capable substitute. And even Miller is nothing in the eyes of others.

A big white man with great strength and almost losing the draft.

Wally Walker said: "Yang, I can answer you without asking the boss. We can't give Ben a contract with an annual salary of 8 million. He is a pure blue-collar player, and the Pistons' offer is too high. If we renew his contract, in the future

We have to let go of other potential newcomers, shouldn’t Miller, Mobley, Lewis and others be retained?”

Yang Jian was not angry and said calmly: "Okay, I understand. I'll call Ben and hang up."

Yang Jian can only wish Ben good luck. Maybe he is destined to go to Detroit, and his temperament matches the Pistons very well.

Giving up three rookies with excellent offense in order to renew their contract is not courageous but stupid. Especially Miller and Yang Jian are very effective in pick-and-rolls now. He can also defend the penalty area and develop support skills.

Instead of strengthening defense, Yang Jian prefers to attack and win. He can only defend.

More importantly, the mentality of these newcomers is different from Ben. Ben already has two championship rings, and the three newcomers have not won a championship with the team, so their desire to win may be stronger.

Yang Jian called Ben and chatted for a while, clearly telling him that the SuperSonics management did not want to renew the contract at a premium.

Big Ben feels regretful but can accept it. Now that he has won the championship, the most important thing is to make money, and he will be a rich man soon.

An hour later, Wally Walker called Yang Jian again to talk about this year's draft.

"This year we only have one pick at the end of the first round, and the second-round pick has been traded out. At that time, the media was not optimistic about the Sonics. I think the transaction value is the greatest, in exchange for some cash. Yang, we probably can only do it in the free market.

Sign inside players who want to compete for the championship." Wally Walker said a little embarrassed.

Many fans feel that the SuperSonics management did not do a good job and did not bring better teammates to Yang Jian. Once the two strong black men left in the summer, fans will definitely raise questions again.

Wally Walker is not afraid of fans questioning, he is afraid of Yang Jian being angry. Everyone in the management feels that the loss of the championship to the Spurs this season is directly related to the Sonics' lack of inside strength. If the inside strength becomes even weaker next season

,Can Yang Jian not be angry?

Yang Jian asked: "Are there any candidates in the free market?"

"You can take a look at the free market list. If there is anyone you want to cooperate with, I will contact you. For the time being, the only candidate is AC Green." Wally Walker replied.

Yang Jian sighed: "I don't think he will join. He has won two championships with the Lakers. If he becomes a free agent, he is more likely to join the Lakers than to join the SuperSonics."

AC Green is a famous iron man in the league. In a parallel world, he joined the Lakers and won a championship ring with the team in 2000.

Wally Walker asked: "Do you still want to see the rookie list?"

"I've seen it. There are too many rookies in the team. It's impossible to sign more rookies and train them. If we want to win the championship next season, what we need is immediate combat capability."

"Indeed, the overall strength of this rookie class is not strong, and our last pick in the first round is too low, and the scouts have no good candidates. Even if I select someone, I am actually prepared to trade the player out immediately. The team has no choice.

Train him." Wally Walker agreed with Yang Jian.

Yang Jian smiled and said: "It doesn't matter if you trade the first-round pick. I have a rookie I want to partner with. Any second-round pick outside of the 50th place can be selected. So I suggest that I change it to a second-round pick. If I use the first-round pick,

It would be better if we could trade for an inside player."

"Is there anyone among the inside players that you want to cooperate with? You can't exchange those who play well. We can try to trade those who don't have the data." Wally Walker asked.

"Is there a list of players that may be successfully traded? I'll take a look and get back to you."

"I'll send the information to your mailbox in a moment. Who do you want to pick in the second round? At what pick?"

"Be on the safe side and trade for a draft pick with the 50th overall pick. He is a defender and is very suitable to be the team's sixth man. His style is similar to mine. We have played against each other in the international arena. He said he imitates my playing skills.

His skills, breakthroughs and shooting are all good."

"Can 50 people like this be selected?" Wally Walker said.

"Yes, because he has a contract and cannot join immediately, and he is Argentinian. Foreign players are discriminated against."

"..." Wally Walker didn't know how to respond. Yang Jian was the most discriminated foreign player back then.

The Argentinian Yang Jian was talking about was none other than the famous Vulture... Manu Ginobili, who is still the Pampas Eagle.

Under normal circumstances, Ginobili would not be able to play in the NBA until 2002. Yang Jian did not intend to let him join the SuperSonics early, but he was very unhappy with the loss to the Spurs this season and strengthened his determination to dismantle the Spurs lineup.
Chapter completed!