On June 26, it began to rain in New York. This metropolis at high latitudes is affected by two strong warm currents, and the climate is hot and humid in summer, with frequent heavy rainfall. The rain washes away the heat and dust of the city's day, bringing a rare summer freshness, and people who have been busy all day begin to end the day in the evening and leave their units to return to their homes.

And Danny Angie, at this time, was standing in front of the glass window of the small restaurant on the 18th floor of the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, looking at the pouring rain outside.

Five hours ago, Celtics owner Gross Pike met with Timberwolves owner Tyler here, and the two exchanged views on a Garnett trade and reached some consensus. As the president of the team, Angie certainly knows that the so-called consensus is still two Pacific distances away from the success of the deal, and the meeting between the owners only means that the deal can be put on the bright side to talk about the conditions.

Of course, this is already a big step forward for Angie, originally after the meeting with McHale, he thought that once the Timberwolves' reinforcement deal was completed, the Celtics would have no hope, but he didn't expect such a turnaround. That night, McHale called Angie to elevate the trade talks from general manager to boss.

So on this day, it was Angie who arranged the meeting between Gros Pike and Taylor.

This is also the first time that Gross Pike has really been involved in the team's draft and trade since becoming the owner, and he has previously trusted Angie so much that he will handle everything. Now faced with a deal of this magnitude that could require a lot of money from the team, Gros Peck wanted to get involved and see how such a complex deal could come to pass.

However, when it comes to personal participation, in the end, all the details, decisions and operations still have to be fiddled with by Anji. The two bosses chatted for an hour and a half at the dining room, which can be described as a lively conversation and laughter, but in the end there was no substantive result.

Therefore, at this moment, Angie especially misses Fox Leon. At a time when such rumors are flying all over the sky and it is difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood, Angie especially hopes that this guy with the sharp eyes of a bald eagle can sit next to him and give himself a wake-up call.

Although the two of them often lift each other's bars and dismantle the stage on weekdays, at this juncture, Anji looks at it, and only Leon is the most reliable assistant. The deal will require a multifaceted effort to complete, and Angie can be sure that the last few rumors of a tacit favor must have been unleashed by Leon through his influence in the New York media. Truth be told, if these rumors were to flow out of Boston, they would be too easy to spot, but New York's media is a mixed bag, with a wide range of sources, and it's a good place to fish in troubled waters.

Angie had to admire that Leon had the foresight to give up currying favor with the old guys in Boston, and chose to cultivate his own power in New York, the largest sports media city in the United States.

Therefore, he especially needs Leon to clear his mind and kick the door well in this somewhat chaotic situation.

There are many, many trade rumors in the NBA, most of which look beautiful but end up being difficult to come to fruition. In fact, most of the deals that have been rumored to be completed are nearing completion, and many of them are directly stifled in the general manager's phone line. And most of those deals that are close to taking shape are dead at the door, aborted because of some seemingly insignificant details. It could be a medical check-up, it could be a word from a friend of a football star, it could be a phone call, it could be a piece of news.

In short, the next few hours will decide the fate of the Celtics in the 2003-2004 season, and even the fate of the Celtic seasons in several seasons.

But when Angie needed Leon so much, and Angie also heard that Leon had fallen to New York, there was no news of Leon for two days. Leon's phone was never answered, and he later called Ayatollah Khomeinis, who seemed to have changed his phone number for the draft. After that, he went to Cowens and even Woj, but there was no way to contact Leon, and he seemed to have evaporated from the world, as if he had dissociated himself from all the gossip.

In addition to these two rumors, there are now more than one team that has also made trade offers to the Timberwolves, including the Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, Atlanta Hawks, etc., but Angie can see at a glance that these teams are all here to raise the price, and none of them can give as much leverage as the Celtics, and they don't want the Celtics to pave the way for so long, just to get Garnett.

Since Leon doesn't show up, many things need to be thought about by Angie herself. Standing in front of the glass window and looking at the big fish, Angie calculated in her heart, putting aside the difficulties caused by the complex trade process in the NBA, there are several unstable factors, or difficulties, in this transaction at present.

First, the asking price of the Timberwolves, the Timberwolves have not officially made an offer yet, but judging from McHale's tone, they are likely to want Antoine Walker plus Gilbert Arenas plus the team's top pick, and possibly add some addition, which can almost form a starter for an NBA team. With such a big price, Anji will definitely not agree.

However, Anji also knows that trading this thing, selling a house will always ask for a sky-high price to improve the bottom line of his own interests, and it will definitely be negotiable in the future, which he is not particularly worried about.

The second point lies in the internal opinion of the Celtics, until now, there is still a second voice within the Celtics, who believe that arrogant players like Garnett are not suitable for the Green Shirts, and they need a pure green blood player who was drafted by the Celtics from the beginning and was raised by the Celtic culture. Because Cross Pike is not the only boss, the entire shareholder group is now very divided.

If the Timberwolves agree to a trade in the end, but the Celtics internally veto the trade, it will be a joke.

The third, and quite important, point is the intention of the protagonist of the trade, Kevin Garnett. Garnett has been embroiled in trade rumors since the offseason, but he has never made any statements or statements, but is at ease on vacation in his hometown of South Carolina, and everything related to him has been exposed by his agent and friends.

There is no doubt that Garnett's own inner thoughts are the most important, and this is the most elusive thing for Angie right now.

The rain outside the window was getting heavier and heavier, and there was still an hour and a half before the start of the draft, and Angie was about to go.

……………………

At this time, hundreds of miles away in Mordin, South Carolina, Kevin Garnett is in his old villa, and the small town of Mordin in the evening has a unique charm, which is Garnett's favorite time of day. Because he still remembers that when he was in high school, he would play on a small court near his park during the holidays, and every evening, the park caretaker would come and chase him with a broom. And he would pretend to leave, and then sneak back to the court, taking advantage of the evening sunset to complete one shot after another.

Now, he has a separate basketball court in his own courtyard, with sturdy carbon baskets, plastic flooring and excellent drainage, but that doesn't give him back the feeling he felt when he played in a small park until sunset.

He's grown up, he's 27 years old, next season he's going to get 28 million, making him the highest-paid person in the entire NBA season, he's the richest player in the league and a successful businessman, and there are countless people who love him and countless people hate him. He loved basketball, he loved Minnesota, he loved the Timberwolves, and he was an emotional man, and he thought more than once that he was going to spill all his blood on the ice and snow of Minnesota until the ice melted there and brought them a championship.

But eight years have passed, and no progress has been made.

Garnett looked at the slowly setting sun, thinking of the recent trade rumors, the news Andy Miller sent him, and the man in Boston, who wanted to get him for years of persistent statements, and he found that his heart was a little shaken.

Because of this, he also fell into distress, that kind of violent contradiction.

"Finals ......" Garnett's mind flashed a word, the Boston Celtics actually reached the Finals this season, and just two years ago, at that All-Star Game, he said that he wanted to fight for him by qualifying for the championship, he laughed it off, and now he has achieved it.

There is nothing more exciting and admirable for a man than fulfilling his promises.

The sun had completely set, and Garnett got up from his balcony chair, and he decided to watch TV in the evening and watch the draft convention. At this time, Brandi, the wife downstairs, shouted, "Kevin! You've got your friends coming! ”

"Friends? Who could it be? ”

(I'm sorry, because of the network problems at the time of writing, the two chapters were saved and saved to be confused, and the first half of this chapter was also missing, so I hurriedly added it, and I really feel very, very sorry.) But tomorrow it's going to be a big closure.,There will be a small outbreak.,I hope you book friends will support more.。 Once again, I'm sorry and I'll send you a red envelope. (To be continued.) )