Date: June 17, 2003.

Location: General Manager's Office at Phillips Arena, Atlanta.

"Ace, are you sure you want to be teammates with Rashid Wallace?" Price asked after reading the trading plan submitted by Liu Mang, after being silent for a long time.

Not only Coach Kruger, but also owner Price didn't think it would be a good thing to pick up cheap like this.

After the consequences of the big dog's greedy situation, Price was also a lot more cautious.

"That's right, I'm sure Rashid will be the best reinforcement for our inside." Liu Mang nodded in response.

"But his defense is a problem," Mike Woodson was not so happy about another offensive player, Boozer was already a pit, and another Rasheed Wallace, he felt that he didn't have enough brains, how to put these two on the court at the same time and how to make sure that the interior line didn't become a black hole, Mike Woodson continued: "And his character is a problem, he also showed that he doesn't want to play center, the Trail Blazers traded him, Ace, we have other people to consider... …”

Mike Woodson signed a one-year extension with the Hawks after the season, for what? Isn't it just for the title of a champion assistant coach? But the deal Liu Mang proposed this time seems to be exactly the same as the idea when the boss's head went into the sea water last year, and he wanted to pick it up when he saw it cheap.

Price and Coach Kruger also persuaded Liu Mang to try someone else?

The management of the Hawks is relatively weak, because the team did not make money before, so the team management can be streamlined, the executive vice president and general manager are Price, and the vice presidents of the other logistics team and operation team are only responsible for their own part of the matter, so there will be a situation where Price was arbitrary last offseason and almost ruined the team.

This year, Price took the initiative to distribute the power, the coaching staff has two voting rights, and the logistics team and the operation team also have one voting power, of course, it is said that there is, but Price still helps to vote.

Although the coaching staff now supports Price's idea of being safe, but now, the initiative to recruit is on Liu Mang's side, although Liu Mang has extended the rookie contract and the renewal clause of the parent team, but he will be a restricted free agent after next season, and there is no idea of renewing the contract in advance at this stage, of course, this is also an important bargaining chip for Liu Mang and the Hawks management to gain the right to speak.

Liu Mang wants too many things this summer, not only Price, but even Coach Kruger feels a headache.

But the trading plan proposed by Liu Mang is not impossible to implement, which makes the Eagles management feel even more helpless.

And if you don't meet Liu Mang's well-designed recruitment plan, Liu Mang won't renew his contract in advance, what if he tests the free market next season?

forcibly wanted to keep Liu Mang, what should I do if Liu Mang directly chose to sign a qualification offer?

It can be seen from Liu Mang's ruthlessness that he will get the Bird clause for another year's final salary, although Liu Mang looks like a gentleman, but he is the same as when he was playing, he is a ruthless person.

"Ace, I understand your feelings, but if we can put Jason or Sharif in the trade chips, we don't have a chance to get a better player than Rasheed Wallace, and Carter has a chance to fight for it." Price continued to persuade.

"BOSS, I understand your concern, but I don't think anyone is going to make us stronger than we were if we didn't have an outside player like McGrady or Bryant, and I want to try once, just once, for the last year, no matter what the outcome of next season is, no matter who trades after that, I don't have any problem with that, even if you trade Sherif and Jason together." Liu Mang said very seriously.

Liu Mang wants to strengthen the core lineup while retaining it, he has to bet, from the experience of Rasheed Wallace that he knows, as long as he gets to a team that emphasizes defense, there is someone who can push him, he can play well.

Liu Mang felt that it was time for him to take on the responsibility of a leader, to let Rasheed Wallace play well like Sabonis did, or to push Rasheed Wallace like Ben Wallace, who would have suppressed Rasheed Wallace's character in the future.

After Sabonis retired, Paul Allen is finally going to start making big changes to the team.

When Sabonis was there, Paul Allen did not perform the act of smashing or breaking up the team's strength because he was concerned about the face of this great star in world basketball, Paul Allen is a real basketball fan, similar to his colleague Ballmer, but Sabonis announced his retirement, and Paul Allen is immediately ready to clean up the team's bloated candidates.

Originally, after the Trail Blazers' playoff journey, the Trail Blaed Trail management communicated with Rasheed Wallace and wanted him to partner with Zach Randolph, who only played more than 15 minutes this season but averaged 9 points and 5 rebounds per game, but Rasheed Wallace publicly stated in an interview that he did not accept playing center, which made Paul Allen put Rashid Wallace on the shelf.

But because of Rashid Wallace's character, so many technical fouls, and this direct public and Paul Allen choking, other teams have shied away from Rasheed Wallace.

If it were the original history, Rasheed Wallace was not traded out all summer, and it was not until the Hawks announced that they would push the rebuild and trade Raheem, who had lost the desire to play, to get Rasheed Wallace back, and Rasheed Wallace played a game, and the Hawks immediately sent Rasheed Wallace to the Pistons in order to clear salary space.

Rasheed Wallace's trade value is mediocre, as long as a star forward is enough, this Hawks can operate, but now the Hawks management has suffered a loss from the Bucks and is cautious.

Price, Coach Kruger, and Mike Woodson glanced at each other and saw that each other's eyes were helpless.

Coach Kruger looked at Liu Mang, who had his own ideas and was so determined, and felt that the child had grown up and his wings were stiff, although he didn't know whether this firm idea ended well or badly, but he had crossed the stage of waiting for the team to make arrangements, leaving the team aside, Coach Kruger was very happy about it.

Give him a hand! If you succeed, you will succeed, and if you fail, it is also a kind of growth.

Coach Kruger asked solemnly, "Ace, are you sure you want to be teammates with Rashid Wallace?" ”

"Of course, trust me, coach, I know him, you're going to be happy to have an interior like that, Mike, you don't have to worry about his defense, he's going to do a good job, trust me." Liu Mang was also very serious, and unconsciously, Liu Mang's tone was full of demagogy: "We have the best defensive coach, the most enlightened head coach and boss, we will succeed, I will definitely lead my teammates to success next season, we will not fail!" ”

Coach Kruger groaned for a moment and said, "Okay, I'm in favor of this proposal, Mike, what about you?" ”

Mike Woodson looked at the guy who changed his mind and did not accept the invitation of his mentor Larry Brown and continued to stay with the Eagles, that is, Liu Mang's firm expression, and smiled helplessly: "Okay, Ace, go crazy with you, I also agree." ”

“…… You really don't take money for money! Well, I'm in favor, Ace, if the deal is done, you'll have to renew it early! Price made a weak offer.

Since Price's erroneous recruitment last offseason, his authority has been greatly damaged, and if he fails to renew Liu Mang's contract this time, and let Liu Mang run away because of dissatisfaction after playing next season, he estimates that he is not far from being transferred to a position with no real power.

Liu Mang wants to keep the core of Raheem, Jason Terry, Mohammed, and Ratliff, Price and the coaching staff are a little helpless, if they can use one or two of these people as bargaining chips, it is not that they can't impress the management of some teams with unstable superstars.

For example, Carter, although he is not a superstar because of his defensive and playing attitude, his strength is not worse than that of a superstar, but his desire to win is a little lower, especially because the injury has completely healed, and he still has the attitude of trying to hit the basket and fly up, and he has not played his all-round skills to the fullest effect at all.

Coupled with the forced participation in the slam dunk contest, Carter and the Raptors management have a bad relationship, and anyone with a discerning eye can see that Carter will not stay in the Raptors for a long time, and it is not impossible to give the right chips.

But Liu Mang bit his nerve and wanted to fight with these people for another year, so there was no way but to come to a roundabout way of trading.

It's not easy, and you can only consider it from the perspective of draft picks.

As for Prince and Boozer, they are not considered to be traded for the time being, the two still have three years of rookie contracts, a salary of millions, such a cheap contract, with starter-level strength, is quite important for a championship-contending team, and the first three years are not in the Hawks management's trade plan...... Of course, if you can get a superstar, it doesn't care so much.

But having a cheap contract is the key to every championship team, and the OK combination can win the championship because Kobe Bryant's contract renewal only had a starting salary of 9 million at the beginning, and the Lakers only have a dual core, and they can have enough money to give out in terms of role players, and in the summer of 1999, the Lakers got a bunch of high-quality role players, and they lasted for three years.

Of course, after three years of playing, the Lakers' group of role players have all squeezed their abilities dry.

Since the introduction of the salary cap in 1984, the rookie bonus has been the key to winning the championship!

The Lakers' post-80s post-treble won by having a free pick pick to select Jordan's senior James Worthy.

The Bulls won two triples in a row, relying on a surging salary cap, plus Pippen's cheap contract and Jordan's four-year, $16 million contract when he won his first triple.

The Rockets won two consecutive championships, relying on Olajuwon's salary of more than 3 million, which gave them room to bring in Drexler, a glider with an annual salary of up to 9 million.

The Spurs' 99-year championship was based on the dividends of Duncan's three-year rookie contract.

When there is a starting forward like Prince who will only have a salary of 1.02 million next season or the first backup of the forward guard, and Boozer who will pay 970,000 next season, there is no doubt that the Hawks can spend more money on starters.

In particular, Liu Mang's one-year rookie bonus extended next season, with a salary of 720,000 US dollars, gives the Hawks more money to spend on other players.

And Liu Mang's side, he sacrificed so much, and extended the right to renew the rookie contract for the parent team for more than a year to get a year's final salary, not only to have bird rights, but also to directly exceed the salary cap and get the top salary.

What's more, because of these teammates!

If he couldn't win the first championship with these teammates who had grown up together from the beginning, he felt that he would definitely leave a regret that he would never erase.

Extending the rookie contract by one year can get more money from the fourth year, and at the same time give Jason Terry and others room to renew their contracts, for Liu Mang, this wave is not a loss.

"Okay, now that we've set a goal, let's start acting, we can't let others take the lead," Price is also a person who does what he says, otherwise he wouldn't have been so iron-headed last year, and was fooled by the Bucks, "Long, I now appoint you as the team's head coach and deputy general manager, and you have the right to discuss transactions with other teams, I'll communicate with the Trail Blazers, Long, you go and communicate with the Celtics......"