When Stern announced the MVP final result, James couldn't hide the excitement on his face.

Although the All-Star Game MVP is the least valuable of all MVPs, no matter how small a fly is, it is still meat, especially when a player wins this honor for the first time in his career.

He took the trophy from Stern's hand and couldn't help but kiss it excitedly, his eyes reddening.

This scene also drew a burst of cheers from the audience.

In the eyes of many people, this "Chosen Son", who was about to shout to defeat Sun Hao as soon as he entered the alliance, finally began to realize his talent!

In the days to come, fans will have one more topic to discuss.

James's double quotient is very high, and after winning the trophy, he gave a long but very organized acceptance speech, which is very Sun Hao's style.

And surprisingly, at the end of this testimonial, James focused on thanking one person.

'I want to beat him because he's the perfect player I think and I want to thank him because he inspires me to keep going.'

Although James doesn't say who "he" is, everyone knows who "he" is.

Especially when James looked at Sun Hao after speaking, the cheers at the scene reached a peak.

Compared with James, Sun Hao actually only entered the league three years earlier.

But what he has achieved is not something that can be made up for by a difference of many years.

It is no exaggeration to say that the current Sun Hao, in the eyes of James, is like the previous players looking at Jordan, they all need to look up.

The All-Star Game ended, and the eyes of the fans shifted from the All-Star arena to the free trade market.

As in previous years, the trade deadline is shortly after the All-Star break.

However, compared with previous years, this year's performance of the teams was close to the pre-match expectations, and although there were many trade rumors, most of them belonged to the scope of small fights.

The Lakers had a lot of problems, and Kupchak wanted to trade all the players except Sun Hao at the end of December.

But after O'Neal came back, these people suddenly became good at playing again, and those thoughts were gone.

But there is one person who has been rumored all the time.

Michael Finley.

Finley is 32 years old, and his abilities have been declining with age.

Especially after Peyton's arrival, his positioning became a little awkward.

Many people may forget that Sun Hao is actually a dual-purpose guard because of Sun Hao's long-term relationship with point guards.

From the perspective of the configuration of the Lakers, the effect of Payton and Sun Hao partnering in the backcourt is obviously better than Finley's.

So the Lakers sought to trade Finley at the beginning of the season, but they have struggled to find a new home.

It all started with Finley's contract.

Nelson Sr. and Finley signed a seven-year, $90 million long-term contract with Finley in 2001, which will last until 2008.

And Finley performed well at the beginning, this is a contract with an increasing annual salary, and Finley's salary this year is as high as 15.94 million, which is higher than Sun Hao.

But then again, if it wasn't for Finley's contract, the Mavericks wouldn't necessarily agree to trade Sun Hao to the Lakers.

So it doesn't make sense to complain about Finley's contract, the key is how to deal with it.

Of course, rumors are rumors, in history, Finley's contract was bought out directly by the Mavericks helplessly, and it is really difficult for the Lakers to deal with it.

To make a simple analogy, this contract has three years left, and all of them are close to the maximum salary, which is bigger than the two garbage contracts that the Lakers gave to "Deng Yingqiao" and Mozgov in history.

It's impressive how difficult those two contracts are to deal with, and it's hard to imagine how difficult it is.

Time flies, and the trading deadline is approaching in the blink of an eye.

On this day, the teams continued to make small trades, but they basically belonged to the scope of small fights.

The only one that caught the eye was a trade between the Nuggets and the Hornets.

The Nuggets sent former three-point contest champion Walsh Leonard and two future second-round picks to JR Smith in a trade from the Hornets.

The deal was "unexpected, reasonable." ”

Unexpectedly, JR was selected by the Hornets in the first round last year, and although the pick was not very high, the 18th pick was not low.

And as a rookie, he averaged a double-double in points per game last year, which is a great value for money.

Including the cooperation between participating in the slam dunk contest last year and James, it is still fresh in people's memories.

The rookie's second year before he was traded away was a bit surprising in theory.

It makes sense that Smith has already shown his thorn attribute in his second season.

At the start of the season, he started well, playing 21 of 22 games and averaging 11 points per game.

But it was the one he came off the bench that got into an argument with head coach Scott on the spot.

After that, his status in the team fell again and again, from starter to substitute, and finally was directly hidden on the cold bench.

At this time, some people may ask, why does Scott have so much power to directly put the starter on the bench?

Smith is a player who has been focused on being cultivated by the team, and the management will not have an opinion?

This has to start with Smith's style of play.

Smith's style of play when he first entered the league is very different from his future, and he is a standard dunker.

This is also the reason why he was invited to participate in the slam dunk contest when he was a rookie last year, competing on the same stage as James and Sun Hao.

One thing most dunks have in common is that they don't shoot well, and Smith is no exception.

He shot 56.7 percent from the field in his rookie season, but other than that, he shot just 38 percent from mid-range and 28.8 percent from three-point range.

At the end of the day, he shot just 39.4 percent from the field.

This is clearly unqualified for an outside line.

So this year, in order to improve himself, he began to practice three-point shooting hard, and his outside shooting percentage has improved dramatically.

At this time, the Hornets are a team that values pick-and-roll and defensive counterattacks, and they don't want Smith to go in that direction.

It may seem strange to say, but his hard work is at odds with the way the Hornets train.

In addition, Smith always likes some difficult shots in the game, as well as the stabbing attribute.

It's no surprise that Hornets management didn't dispute Scott's decision.

So at this time, the Hornets are naturally happy to trade Smith, who has been hidden in the snow, to get an experienced veteran and two draft picks.

As for the starting point of the Nuggets, we have to start with last year's slam dunk contest.

The All-Star Weekend stage is full of exposure, and the tacit understanding shown by James and Smith in the slam dunk contest is seen by the Nuggets management.

In addition, Smith's defense is good, and his three-point improvement is huge, and his style of play also matches James very well.

As for the thorn attributes, Nuggets management also believes that James' personality can contain players like Smith.

With all of that in mind, it's only natural that they'd trade for Smith.

It is unclear whether the management consulted with James, or whether James took the initiative to request the deal.

Sun Hao was also surprised when he saw this transaction.

In the history he knows, James and Smith didn't work together until much later, and the classic dribble to the end of the game gif was born.

But now, when the fledgling Smith meets James, who is beginning to cash in on his talent, he doesn't know whether the two will recreate the "reunion after a long absence" in history or have a violent chemistry.

To be honest, Smith's talent is outstanding, and he is known by fans as "the highlights are comparable to Jordan".

There is another saying that "JR is not nervous, and every day is an all-star".

If James can hold down Smith at this time, the combination of the two is worth looking forward to.

It was at this time that Sun Hao felt that James was a bit of a gathering of historical generals.

Replicating the kind of miracle that Nowitzki did in history in 2011? It's starting to look good.

Aside from the deal, there isn't much else to watch out for this deadline.

Including the Lakers, Kupchak failed to send Finley out in the end.

To use an inappropriate analogy, this is much more difficult than when the Lakers traded Sun Hao.

Some people may say that it is not okay to post the draft picks backwards? Or maybe change to a shorter garbage contract and deal with it slowly.

Or maybe it really can't be cut directly like the historical Mavericks.

From a purely processing point of view, this is all possible.

But the problem is that the Lakers' current situation doesn't allow them to do that.

When they deal with Finley, they expect a player who is about the same level as Finley, or worse than Finley.

If nothing else, just because the Lakers are still trying to defend their title.

If there is suddenly one less Finley and no return, it will be tantamount to abandoning one's martial arts, and the gains outweigh the losses.

That's where Finley gets the most out of it.

The dust has settled on the free market, and the second half of the NBA season has officially begun.

As in previous years, this is the time when many teams choose to play bad or make the playoffs.

This year in history, because the overall rookie quality of the class of 2006 was average, there were not many teams that were bad.

In the end, many teams did not reach 30 wins, not because they could play badly, but because they were really bad.

Now that Durant has announced his early candidacy, the impact he has brought ...... It's not that big, actually.

Veteran fans were impressed by Durant's scouting report that year.

Durant, who was a freshman at the time, showed his unmatched scoring ability, and his scouting report also had a lot of good points: excellent height and reach, excellent shooting ability as a big man, and skillful ball handling, and thanks to his height, he also had excellent passing vision.

Disadvantages: The body is too thin and may not be able to adapt to the intensity of the NBA.

This kind of scouting report is incredible for a show.

But all this is justified, as a big man in the NCAA, he can't even complete a bench press of 84KG once.

That alone is enough to put scouts off.

Historically, the SuperSonics have chosen him, and it's really the high-level draft they're known for.

Now he hasn't studied in college for a year, he is not as good in all kinds of skills as he was in the historical draft, and he is a high school student.

It can only be said that not all high school students are James, and the NBA teams are worthy of being messed up about.

But in the darkness of the night, there are always someone's eyes that can pierce through the darkness.

There are a pair of wise eyes that have their eyes on Durant.

Of course, the owner of these eyes will only be known when he comes out of the darkness.

Turn your gaze back to the arena.

The second half of the NBA season is still going on, and at this time, two things are in the spotlight.

One has to do with free agents.

The trade deadline for the season has passed, but free agent signings haven't stopped.

Because in addition to the trade deadline, there is also a buyout deadline during the season.

The NBA rules that only players who are cut before the buyout deadline are eligible to sign a new team to play in the playoffs.

So before the deadline, March 1, is a high-frequency period for player buyouts.

And this year's trading deadline was a little bustling, but the buyout market was booming.

"Penny" Hardaway, Joan Barry, Jim Jackson, one of the "Mavericks' Three Musketeers", "NBA Rising Star" Tim Thomas, "Mr. 53" Tony Deck, "The Tattoo Man" Marcus Fetzer, former All-Star Antonio Davis, and many more.

For teams that are in the playoffs or in contention for a championship, it's a great time.

For example, the Pistons liked Decker very much and signed him to a contract as soon as possible, allowing him to serve as a backup for Billups.

Jim Jackson was also quickly taken by the Suns.

It was at this time that many veterans, including Hardaway, had a strong desire to join the Lakers.

Needless to say, although the current record is that the Lakers are not as good as the Mavericks, the strength of the defending champion is still the strongest.

These layoffs are basically veterans who are about to retire, who doesn't want to mix up a ring?

There's a special case here.

Tim Thomas.

Compared to the others, Thomas is only 29 years younger, and he is in his prime.

The reason why he was laid off was largely because of the passivity and slacking off during training, which made the team unbearable.

But Thomas didn't realize this, he felt that he was not a talent.

So after being cut, he angrily scolded his former club, the Knicks, for not knowing the goods, and immediately showed favor to the Lakers.

"Sun is the greatest defender on the planet, Shaq is the greatest interior player, and I'm desperate to play with them."

"Los Angeles is the greatest city, and it's been a lifelong dream of me to be able to play there."

……

Aside from everything else, Thomas's kung fu is a bit powerful.

Kupchak wasn't impressed, though.

Thomas's offensive talent is unquestionable, with a space-based interior line, a 40% three-point shooting rate, and a somewhat weakened version of Walker's style of play.

But if Walker is really on his own team, how can Kupchak be interested in this weakened version?

And this guy's defense is much worse than Walker's, the kind that belongs to the complete colander.

Of course, the most important thing is the guy's training attitude, and Kupchak doesn't want to find someone to ruin the atmosphere of the team.

Of course, there is also the chemistry, the Lakers have played very well after O'Neal's return, and unless there is an irresistible temptation, the Lakers do not need to take the initiative to change.

So no matter how Thomas tried to make a fuss, Kupchak didn't react.

It turned out to annoy Thomas.

"The Lakers will regret their choice!"

After saying such a sentence, he turned around and signed with the Suns.

Of course, not many people care about what a small character like Thomas says.

ps: It's the end of the month, cheeky to ask for a monthly pass, and tomorrow to update the 8K guarantee.