Henson simulated many times in his mind with Tim. Connelly had a conversation between them, but not once did he think of the other party saying Nikolai. Jokic is not for sale.

It seems that all of Henson's guesses are correct. The Nuggets wanted to shoot Nurkic in order to correct Jokic. Fight for the best chips without delaying your future. I have to say, Tim. Connery's thinking is still very clear.

In an instant, Henson's reinforcement plan was directly in vain. That's right, Henson does have a badge that increases the trust of the opposing general manager when trading. But when the general manager of a team doesn't want to talk to you at all, the badge is completely useless.

For the first time ever, Henson's reinforcement plans were thwarted. The position of general manager is not so easy to sit in.

"Next, shall we continue to offer?" Bird sat down in a leather chair disappointed, and mid-season reinforcements often don't go so well.

Henson thought for a few seconds, then shook his head helplessly, "I don't think so, there is no need to continue quoting." Tim. Connelly didn't lie, and he didn't want to take advantage of the opportunity to raise the price, but he really didn't want to trade Jokic. ”

Henson knows very well that if a general manager wants to raise the price, he will at least listen to the other party's offer and then say "this player is not for sale" to test the opponent's bottom line.

But Connelly didn't even listen to the initial offer, and directly expressed his attitude. This shows how resolute he is.

"You've always said you have a backup plan? What is it? Bird seemed to suddenly remember something, and his eyes fell on Henson again.

"The plan...... It will take some time. Well...... Some time. Bird, is there a schedule for NBDL league games? Rather than dwell on the immediate failure, Henson immediately threw himself into the implementation of the new plan.

"The schedule of the NBDL? Yes, yes, but what do you do with it? What does this have to do with the reinforcement plan? ”

"You'll know, Bird. Christmas is just around the corner, and the playoffs are less than four months away. If you want to enable this backup plan...... We move fast. ”

Henson looked out the floor-to-ceiling window at the sky, hoping that the high-risk candidates would also allow Henson to get a high reward to match......

※※※

The battle with the Knicks ended the Pacers' 13-game winning streak. Connelly's direct rejection of Henson's trade request has made Henson's current job even worse.

But Henson wasn't so easy to beat, and since his long talk with Sager, Henson was hardly afraid of any odds.

After all, what could be harder than death? If even death can't stop Sag, then what can stop Henson?

With this belief, Henson led the team to defeat the Stevens-led Boston Celtics for the second time this season on December 22 and successfully avoided a losing streak.

After this game, Stevens had planned to keep Henson for dinner tomorrow night, but Henson politely declined the invitation of his best friend.

After all, it's almost Christmas, and Henson wants to spend more time with his family.

So on December 23, Henson would have had the opportunity to carry out his plan. But in order to spend Christmas with his family early, he gave up. As a result, the implementation of the plan had to be postponed for a few more days.

Family and work must be taken into account. Now, he can't put all his energy on basketball.

On the 23rd and 24th, Henson spent the perfect Christmas holiday with his family. He took Angeli to the ski slopes for snowing, and also took Emily to the baby swimming pool to try the waters.

On the 25th, Henson was forced to go to the Christmas War. Adam. Xiao Hua, that guy, naturally will not let go of any opportunity to squeeze out Henson's commercial value. So when the summer heard that Henson was returning, he immediately added the Pacers to the roster for the Christmas game.

And for the first time in two years, Henson hasn't spent Christmas with his family.

That night, Henson beat the Bulls without Thibodeau and Rose at home. Originally Jimmy. Butler and Henson would be the best gimmick of the game, but during the game, Jimmy Henson. Butler didn't get much room to play at all.

With George and Antetokounmpo taking turns defending, Jimmy. Butler shot 3-of-12 from the field and shot a low 25 percent.

Since Henson's return, Jimmy. Butler's anger is always nowhere to be placed. He arrives at the Banker's Life Arena with anger and ends up leaving with rage.

On the contrary, Wade, who scored 21 points, has a bit of a back-to-shine taste. But Wade during the Big Three a few years ago couldn't take the Pacers, let alone Wade in his twilight years now?

106-91, Henson continued his undefeated record in the Christmas game.

After the game, a large number of reporters gathered around Henson to ask him how he felt when he played the Christmas game again after three years. Henson retired two years ago, and three years ago Henson spent Christmas in the hospital. Therefore, Henson has actually been absent from the Christmas war for a short time.

See Henson so popular, Jimmy. Butler smiled helplessly. Although the game was lost, Jimmy. Butler was even more convinced that he was right to leave the Pacers in the first place.

Because in Indianapolis, there's only one person who can be the master, and that's Henson. Joe. If he stays with the Pacers, Butler believes he has only one life to live in Henson's shadow.

At the Bulls, at least he's still an out-and-out star.

※※※

"As I said, I don't like to comment on players from other teams."

When asked again how to comment on Jimmy. Butler's performance, Henson prevaricated impatiently.

That kid made 3 of 12 shots, what else can Henson say? But if you tell the truth, it will definitely hurt the harmony again. Such an obvious pit, Henson will not jump.

After pushing aside the annoying reporters and entering the locker room, Henson immediately looked at the NBDL schedule that Bird had sent him a few days ago on his phone.

NBDL is the abbreviation of the NBA Development League, and if it is explained in relatively easy-to-understand terms, it is considered the second-level league of the NBA.

NBA teams usually send some young players who are temporarily unused to the development league for training, while some players who have the strength but have not been given NBA contracts for the time being will also play in the NBDL and wait for opportunities.

Once a Wesley. Matthews and Danny. Green spent a year in the Development League, and it was only after Henson took over that he brought them back. And Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue, who are very familiar to Chinese fans, have also played in the Development League.

And if next season, the Rockets really want to sign Zhou Qi. Then nine times out of ten, that lad will also be thrown to the development league to test the waters.

It can be seen that although the development league does not receive much attention, the salaries of the players are not even comparable to the CBA's big-name foreign players. But I have to admit that the Development League is still one of the highest level basketball leagues in the world.

Even if the players who come out of there don't play in the NBA, it's more than enough to go to the Euroleague or the CBA to pan for gold.

Most NBA teams have their own development league team to get some ready-made firefighters in case they need to hire them urgently. Or when you need to delegate rookies, you are not afraid of finding a place to put them.

The Pacers are no exception, and the Fort Wayne Mad Ants are a second-tier team affiliated with the Pacers.

Despite this, Henson almost never went to the Mad Ants to ask for a pass. For one, when Henson was around, the Pacers' lineup was usually very stable. Second, Henson really doesn't look down on the strength of the players in the development league.

It's not that Henson discriminates against the players of the Development League team, just look at the annual MVP selection of the Development League, and you can see how far this league is from the NBA.

Last season's Development League MVP winner Jarrell Brown. Stokes, who played only two games with the Nuggets this season, scored a total of 3 points and 2 assists, was cut again.

14-15 Development League MVP player Tim Brown. Fraser, who averaged just three points per game with the Pelicans this season......

Unless it is a rookie who is actively delegated by an NBA team to exercise, 99% of development league players actually do not have the strength to play in the NBA.

And the Pacers, who used to be a championship team, naturally won't bring people from the Development League.

But this time, Henson unexpectedly set his sights on the Development League. That's why Bird was surprised when he heard that Henson wanted the NBDL schedule.

Because as far as Bird knows, there are no particularly strong players in the Fort Wayne Mad Ants right now.

What Bird didn't know, however, was that Henson's NBDL schedule wasn't actually because of the Mad Ants.

On the schedule, on December 31, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants will play the Raptors 905 at home. Henson drew a red circle on this day, and this was another chance for him to carry out his backup plan after Christmas!

Henson's attention is not on his own subordinate mad ants, but on the Raptors 905 who come from afar. A player who caught Henson's attention during the joint tryout is playing for that team......