After the awards, the group returned to Portland, where owner Paul Allen was already waiting at the airport for the heroes to return triumphantly.

Another wave of sweeps to win the championship made the Trail Blazers fans feel a little regretful!

Because these two championships were won at other people's home stadiums, they Trail Blazers fans couldn't see their home team win the championship with their own eyes, and they naturally felt a little regretful in their hearts.

But anyway, it's good to win the championship, and what more bikes.

……

With three days to go before the parade, Richard spent the whole day in his office the day after returning to Portland.

Everyone else can relax, but Richard can't relax at all, because there is so much on the plate.

Richard received calls from Heat head coach Pat Riley and Magic head coach Doug Rivers.

They called, naturally, to see if they could get Richard to help persuade Maddie to consider his team.

Both teams are quite hungry for Maddie.

The Heat, with Mourning, Mashburn and Tim Hardaway at the core, still have enough salary space on hand to give Maddie a salary cap.

If they can get Maddie, their lineup will not dare to compete for the championship, at least they can dominate in the East and become the existence of the Eastern Hegemon.

As for the Magic, they also have plenty of salary space......

Richard naturally didn't give these two head coaches any accurate words, and now Maddie has nothing to do with the Trail Blazers, how can Richard be a lobbyist.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Richard saw Maddie in his office.

Maddie is here to say goodbye......

Richard was quite satisfied with this, and Maddie's behavior of coming to him to say goodbye made Richard feel some goodwill.

At least not without saying goodbye......

"Young man, have you figured out where to go?" Richard said with a smile.

Maddie nodded, "Ready to go to the Magic, they're getting a good salary, and listening to Doug Rivers, they're going to make a big move!" ”

Richard couldn't help laughing, Dougreaves said that the big move really didn't lie to Maddie.

Now the Magic have begun to make contact with the Pistons, and they want to get Grant Hill from the Pistons, and then pair it with a young and unlimited Maddie, as a basis to attract Duncan to join.

Richard is also unsure whether Duncan will eventually choose to join the Magic, after all, the Magic are still quite attractive to him.

Friend Grant Hill is gone, plus Maddie, and if Duncan joins, this Magic team will directly become the top powerhouse in the league.

Originally, Richard really planned to bring in Duncan this offseason......

But now it seems that there is no such opportunity, Duncan is also a complete free agent at the moment, and Richard will get Duncan a maximum salary.

……

The situation on the Magic side, Richard is ready to pay attention to a wave, if Duncan really goes to the Magic, it may not be a good thing for the Trail Blazers.

If Duncan leaves, the Spurs will be finished, and the Trail Blazers will have one less opponent in the West.

All you need to do is figure out how to get the Lakers......

"Well, I wish you the best of luck in Magic!" Richard patted Maddie on the shoulder and said with heartfelt wishes.

……

Sending away another powerball star, Richard must not have felt very well.

The main reason is that Richard has no way to get any benefit from Maddie's departure.

Like Martial Saint Jackson, when he was traded by Richard, he got quite a lot of chips and got Artest and Maddie......

Now that Maddie is gone, it is equivalent to Wu Sheng's single exchange for Artest, which is actually not a loss.

The main Artest is a rookie contract, and the Martial Saint is going to sign a big contract this offseason!

It is rumored that the Raptors are not ready to give the Martial Saint a maximum salary contract, but the contract amount is quite a lot, and the 6-year contract of 50 million US dollars is not shabby......

Now it's up to Martial Saint to agree to this contract. 、

If Richard hadn't made that deal with the Raptors, he would have been able to watch Martial Saint Jackson being signed by other teams now, and he wouldn't get any benefits!

After all, how could the Trailblazers offer Martial Saint such a hefty contract.

Now at least in exchange for Artest, a four-year cheap coolie, it is not a loss.

……

Now that Harrington's transaction value is extremely high, Richard is not ready to keep it in his hands, and continuing to consume Harrington's words is completely harming others and himself.

Keeping Harrington for another year would make Harrington's trade value lower, after all, two years left on his rookie contract and one year left on his rookie contract are certainly not the same thing.

Besides, if Harrington joins other teams, he can also get more playing time, which is good for Harrington.

As soon as Maddie was sent away, Richard called Harrington into his office.

"Stevens, let's go and compile a list of the teams that wanted Harrington before!" Richard said to Stevens.

Stevens went to look for the list, and Richard looked at Harrington with a smile.

"Congratulations, young man, maybe in two years you will be one of the highest-paid players in the league!"

"Thank you coach for training! It's an honor to be a part of West Lafayette! Harrington is more shy, and he is also numb at the moment.

Richard smiled and nodded, he was worthy of Harrington's gratitude, if it weren't for the god-making mission, Harrington's rebounding strength would be relatively ordinary, averaging about six rebounds per game, which can't be said to be too good for a two-way forward.

But at the moment, Harrington is capable of averaging eight rebounds per game, and his achievements in the future may be a little higher than normal.

That's why Richard was able to accept Harrington's thanks with peace of mind.

"Okay, don't talk so much nonsense, you should know that we have plans to trade you, now you can tell me if there is a team you would like to go to, if so, I will try my best to meet your requirements." Richard asked straight to the point.

There's no need to hide it, this kind of win-win thing, Harrington can't accept it for no reason.

"Coach, I want to go to a weaker team......"

Harrington is a little embarrassed, he's not the kind of player with ambitions, and at the moment he might prefer to be the second leader of a team, or even the big boss, and get a max contract in two years.

As for winning the championship, Harrington has two championship rings on hand, at least at the moment, he doesn't have much to do with it.

So he doesn't really want to go to the strong team.

There are naturally top stars in the strong team, and if he joins, it will definitely not be cultivated as the cornerstone of the team.

Richard nodded, want to go to the weak team? It's easy to do.

If Harrington said that he wanted to go to a strong team, then Richard would feel a little difficult, because the strong team would not have any chips in their hands to trade Harrington.

"Alright, Al, go back and wait for news first, and I'll give you a satisfactory answer in three days!"

……

"BOSS, this is the team that called Harrington before, and several more teams have called in the past few days, a total of thirteen teams!" Stevens quickly put together a roster of teams.

Richard took it and took a look, and without saying a word, he directly crossed out several teams with outstanding records such as the Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, and Heat.

These teams are strong teams and don't meet Harrington's requirements.

Besides, these teams have a lot of draft picks on hand, and since Richard wants to trade Harrington, the main purpose must be to want draft picks.

These teams certainly don't have any decent draft picks in their hands......

So Richard crossed out these teams without saying a word, although the relationship between the Philadelphia 76ers and Richard is very iron, but Richard can't give them a Harrington for nothing.

The relationship is good, the brothers are still settling accounts, the value of a Harrington is quite high, if Richard really gives Harrington for nothing, I'm afraid all the Trail Blazers fans will have to go crazy.

Now every decision Richard is actually responsible not only for himself, but also for the countless fans of the Trail Blazers.

……

After crossing out the strong teams on the list, Richard simply crossed out those teams at the goalkeeper level in the playoffs.

These teams are hovering around the top eight in the East and West, and if they get Harrington, there is a good chance that their record will improve a lot, and the draft picks will still be very low.

Richard had suffered such a loss, and he had suffered such a loss when he traded with the Hornets before, so he had a big eye this time and directly targeted those real fish belly teams.

As a result, there aren't many teams left to consider.

Several teams such as the Hawks, Cavaliers, Wizards, and Warriors are quite sincere.

They are willing to trade Harrington for their unprotected draft picks for next year, and of course, they also know that it is only a first-round pick, and Richard will not agree to a trade unless his brain is in water......

So they more or less took on some other chips.

But none of these chips were satisfied with Richard.

For example, the Wizards even thought of trading Harrington with a flying car and a first-round pick......

"Coach Walker, I'd like to ask if you guys are serious about your chips?" Richard made a call to Walker, the Wizards' current head coach.

The speed at which the Wizards have changed coaches in the past two years is amazing......

"Coach Lee, this is a trade offer made by Michael, I don't have that much authority over this kind of thing......" Coach Walker said bitterly to Richard.

"Jordan?!"

"Who else could it be if it wasn't him......"

Richard thought about it and called Jordan directly.

"Michael, if you're really sincere, it's obviously impossible to get a player like Harrington with a flying car and a first-round pick." Richard said unceremoniously.

"Lee, do you remember what you traded the flying car for from the Wizards?"

"No, it wasn't a wizard then, it was a Washington bullet!" Jordan asked with a wry smile.

Richard was stunned, the transaction of the flying car was the first transaction Richard made after the crossing, and he was naturally quite impressed.

In that trade, Richard traded the Flying Car for Wizards backup power forward Rasheed Wallace and a first-round pick from the Nets.

Richard used this draft pick to pick Kobe......

It is equivalent to saying that Richard used a flying car to get Rashid and Kobe Bryant!

"Ahem, Michael, it's boring for you to say this......" Richard said with a dry laugh.

It's really not interesting to say this, the Flying Car was really worth that price at that time, and the Wizards can't say that they suffer by a rookie off the bench and a first-round pick.

But now the situation is completely different, the flying car is not the same flying car as before, and Harrington is not the Rashid of that time.

At that time, Rashid's stats were not at all comparable to Harrington's.

"Can't you help my brother?" Jordan asked, a little sadly.

In Jordan's opinion, it is really unreasonable......

When Richard took a flying car, no, it was not a flying car, it was a tattered classic car, and it was replaced by Rashid and Kobe!

A double MVP Kobe Bryant, and a Rashid who got the highest salary in the Bulls!

Now the Wizards want to return the flying car to Richard, but Richard obviously doesn't look down on it......

Even if they were to get a first-round pick, Richard didn't want ......

"Maddie is leaving, your Trail Blazers are now short of a backup point guard, let Ginobili start, just let the Flying Car play the bench, I think it's quite appropriate!"

"And our first-round pick, you can get a reliable newcomer next year, no matter how you look at it, it's a good deal......"

Jordan spoke.

"Ahem, Michael, I want to help you, but I'm definitely not going to want a flying car, for the Trailblazers, the flying car is not even worth a dime!"

"So what do you say? Our Wizards are so good now, who can you look up to other people except Hamilton who doesn't sell? Jordan asked speechlessly.

Richard was also speechless, the wizard was so rich, he really didn't like it......

"Then there is no way, Michael, I can only have a chance to work together again in the future......" Richard said with a smile.

At the moment, Richard is not actually a headless fly, he still has a goal.

For example, he has some favorites for the Suns' hacker Marion, but the Suns have shown little interest in Harrington.

Then Richard called the knight again.

The knight was a bachelor and gave two trading plans.

One trade plan is for them to trade '99 No. 8 pick Andre Miller for Harrington.

Andre Miller averaged about 11 points and 6 assists per game in the season just ended, which is quite good for a point guard.

Richard is actually a little excited, but the problem is that Miller doesn't have three-point ability, which doesn't fit Richard's tactical system.

Another trade package offered by the Cavaliers was to protect their first-round picks from 2001 and 2003......

If it weren't for the protection of the top three, Richard probably agreed to this trade plan without saying a word.

Because of the 03 draft year, the Cavaliers have the champion in their hands!

But now that he has a top three protection, Richard's interest has decreased a lot......

After walking around the trading market, Richard reluctantly found that it seemed that knights had become his only choice.

The main thing is that the Trail Blazers don't want the kind of player with a big contract at the moment, which eliminated several teams......

And other teams that are willing to give up newcomers plus draft picks in exchange for Harrington are the newcomers they give, and Richard is not looking down on them.

It's not as good as the Cavaliers' draft picks......

In the end, Richard made a direct decision and made a trade with the Cavaliers, trading Harrington for the Cavaliers' first-round picks in 2001 and 2003.

The main thing is that the Knights are valuable, that is, Andre Miller, otherwise, Richard is estimated to have pulled something out of the Knights' hands.

Harrington got two first-round picks, but in fact, Richard didn't think he made money.

But Richard is well aware that these two draft picks could trade the Trail Blazers for rookie players far beyond Harrington's value.

2000 was a small year for the draft, but 2003 was a big year, and 2001 was not bad.

For example, in the '01 Cavaliers' first-round pick, Richard was even able to pick a high-quality player like Joe Johnson.

As for 03, because of the protection of the top three in the first round, the Trail Blazers estimated that they would not be able to get their hands on it, and they could only get the Cavaliers' first-round pick in 04.

But even so, the Cavaliers were also lottery draws in '04!

'04 was also a big year for the draft, and this good pick could give the Trail Blazers a strong shot for Iguodala, Al Jefferson or Josh Smith.

Therefore, a loss is definitely not a loss.

……

After the deal was finalized, Richard broke the news to Harrington.

Harrington must have been quite happy with this, and Richard didn't lie to him and really traded him to a garbage team.

Garbage in garbage......

The Cavaliers currently have a Kemp who is about to be scrapped on the team, and a rookie point guard Andre Miller, and if Harrington joins, he will probably be treated as a god by the Cavaliers management.

Want to have the right to sell? Give it to it, anyway, Camp is finished, isn't Andre Miller a point guard just doing the work of passing......

When do you want to play? Give and give, as long as you can play, you can play for 48 minutes in every game!

Harrington couldn't stop thinking about his happy life in the future.

In such a team, if you desperately brush up the data, before the end of the rookie contract, you can get a 20+8 data, which is enough for Harrington to get a maximum salary contract.

……

Harrington nodded his head, agreeing with Richard's operation.

In this case, because Harrington himself has a contract and the trade targets are draft picks, the two sides have nothing to hide, and directly disclose the trade plan of the two parties.

Richard sent Harrington and the Cavaliers pulled out two draft picks and a rookie player with one year left on his contract, and the deal was done.

The reason why the Cavaliers took out this player was actually mainly to match the salary, and Richard couldn't think about it.

Anyway, the Trail Blazers are also short of people, so they just use these cannon fodder players to make up the 13-man roster.

……

The news of the Trail Blazers' sale of Harrington still caused a big stir in the league.

As a defending team, any news about them can attract the attention of fans......

The team sold Harrington, although the Trail Blazers fans were a little reluctant, but they also knew that Richard would not make a loss-making deal, and the final beneficiary of this deal must be the Trail Blazers.

……

The lottery is long over, and the Trail Blazers have three draft picks in their hands this year.

A 29th pick in the first round and two second-round picks with lower picks.

With the draft just days to go, Richard finally sold the two second-round picks......

Two second-round picks swapped for one second-round pick from the '01 Warriors.

The main reason is that these two second-round picks this year are useless at all, and Richard has decided to use their bottom-of-the-line first-round pick to choose the golden left Reede for insurance.

……

In late June, the annual draft begins.

In this year's draft, the Trail Blazers were quite low-key, and they just used the first round of the bottom sign in their hands to get a 198-centimeter-tall quarterback player.

Michael Reed, a junior from Ohio State.

Richard's choice of Reed is actually quite surprising, mainly because Reed is a little less well-known and a little older......

According to Richard's usual selection characteristics, the players he won in the first round are generally some extremely young players.

Before the start of the draft, Reed was probably selected in the middle of the second round in the predictions of major media, and even some media predictions did not have Reed's name in the list at all.

……

Now that Richard has selected this junior player, it means that this player is estimated to be an underrated player, otherwise, Richard would definitely not have made a move.

By the time the draft was over, the Trail Blazers had often held trade conferences with other teams in previous years.

But this year they didn't hold any press conferences, and obviously this year they didn't make too many moves like they did in '97.

Michael Reed is the Trail Blazers' only takeaway from the draft this year.

……

For a while, the media from all sides were quite confused.

With the departure of Maddy, didn't the Trail Blazers say that there is a lack of point guards?! Why did you choose a standard height quarterback now......

Could it be that Germany has the potential to play point guard here?!

Many reporters have gone to find Reed's college game footage, and through analysis, it seems that Reed is not capable of playing point guard......

This is quite strange, is it that Richard is not ready to be a point guard?!

……

The point guard naturally has to ask for it, and in fact, Richard is having a headache about the point guard right now.

If there is any reliable point guard in this draft, then Richard will definitely be selected even if he pays a price.

But now the problem is, this damn draft kid doesn't have a decent point guard.

In desperation, now Richard can only start playing the idea of rookie point guards from other teams.

There's only one Ginobili point guard, so that's definitely not going to work......

It's impossible to let Ginobili come on the court and beat him for 48 minutes!

With the exception of Ginobili, there are no players on the Trail Blazers who can take on point guard duties.

Mobley can't do it, and neither can old Curry!

So the most urgent thing in front of Richard now is to find a reliable point guard.