When Popovich returned to his office, he sat in a leather chair for a long time.

Spurs are an affordable team, and no one knows that better than him.

Since he's been at the helm, there haven't been a few seasons in which he's paid the luxury tax.

And now the problem is not only to pay, but also to pay a large sum.

The $25 million luxury tax is no joke.

He thought for a moment and dialed Holt's phone, and the lazy voice of the Spurs owner rang over there, "Haha, Greg, you old guy, why don't you call me for a leisurely offseason?" Missing my wine? ”

"Old thing, I think you know better than I do what the Spurs are trying to solve this offseason." Popovich deliberately gritted his teeth and said, "Now that most of the problem has been solved, there is one last problem left." ”

"What?"

Holt asked.

Although Popovich did not knowingly ask, he still replied, "Renew Deng Hongfei's contract." ”

"Is there any problem with renewing Deng Hongfei's contract?"

Holt asked again.

"On that note, I need to hold a shareholder meeting."

"Shareholder meeting?"

Holt was surprised, "What are you doing with such excitement?" ”

"We are discussing matters related to the renewal of Deng Hongfei's contract, and I am sure that the shareholders' meeting is absolutely necessary."

Popovich said with great certainty.

"Well, old Greg, you just don't want me to go on vacation, Cheng, I believe you, I'll contact them."

"Okay, I'm sorry for you."

Popovich put down the phone and took a deep breath.

In the eyes of the outside world, the Spurs are very poor, because the owner Pete Holt is only worth 200 million, which is really poor compared to other team owners who are worth tens of billions at every turn.

So it's normal not to be able to pay the luxury tax.

But in fact, Spurs are not poor, and although Holt is the owner of the team, he is not the only one who owns all the shares.

Spurs also have many shareholders, and many of these shareholders are wealthy businessmen.

It's no exaggeration to say that almost all of San Antonio's plutocrats have their stakes in the Spurs.

So Spurs are not short of money, which is why Popovich asked for a shareholder meeting.

It has to be said that Holt is fast.

Because many shareholders are enjoying a comfortable and chic life in other places, or are busy with official business, there is no way to get together.

Therefore, it is directly held in the situation of online meetings with video screens.

"Greg, what do you want to say when you brought us here?"

"Isn't it just renewing a player's contract?"

From time to time, various voices sounded in the conference chat room.

Holt never spoke, and Popovich could imagine that behind the screen, Holt must have been watching the show.

He paused and said straight to the point: "I want to talk about the renewal of the contract of the player Deng Hongfei now. ”

"I have estimated with RJ that the luxury line standard for next season is estimated to be 85 million, but now we have little salary space left, and if we want to sign player Deng Hongfei, we must pass the luxury tax line."

"So I have to come and ask for everyone's opinions."

As soon as his words fell, one shareholder after another said, "Isn't it just to sign a player, you can just watch it yourself." ”

I don't know if these people really don't understand or pretend to be confused.

In short, they didn't seem to understand the meaning of Popovich's words.

However, there are also people who directly point out the key points and ask directly: "Do you want to cross the line?" How much does it cost to cross the line and how much luxury tax do you have to pay? ”

Popovich replied straight to the point, "A conservative estimate of $20 million in luxury tax." ”

"Conservative estimate of 20 million ......"

In an instant, the atmosphere that was still quite active suddenly cooled down, and no one spoke, and I didn't know whether I was thinking or not wanting to speak.

Anyway, I cut a few pictures at random, and my face was not very good-looking.

"Greg, I said you were crazy."

After waiting for a long time, someone finally opened his mouth, "The luxury tax of 20 million, plus the player's salary, means that you have to spend more than 30 million, or even 40 million a year, to renew a rookie?" ”

"Even if this rookie is great, he's not LeBron James, he's not Kobe Bryant."

"He's nothing more than an Asian defender."

"yes, and Asian players generally don't have a long professional lifespan, so it's worth the price?"

"I've seen this Deng Hongfei game, and it played very well, but I don't think it's worth so much money."

Everyone's attitude is extremely consistent, anyway, Popovich understands it, it is nothing more than that he does not want to give this money.

Of course, he had a way to deal with it, and if he hadn't thought of a reason to convince them, he wouldn't have asked Pete Holt to convene this meeting.

"Admittedly, we're going to pay a lot of money to sign him, but I think it's worth it."

"Number one, his level of quality is definitely worthy of a top salary, and we've all seen his ability to change the game in the playoffs."

"Second, although this player is just a rookie, I hope you don't forget, he is from China, he has a huge Chinese market behind him, how big the Chinese market is, I believe I don't need to say that you know very well, right? I have passed you a document, you can take a good look at it, the document explains in detail how much our ticket, advertising, peripheral and other revenue has increased after Deng Hongfei joined the team, which is completely obvious. ”

"As his performance gets better and better, his commercial value will also increase, and we can also expand our popularity in China step by step."

'Also, he's a player with a lot of potential, so I think it's not just about signing but about signing a long-term contract.

"Start in four years, preferably 4+1, and at most we can use the final year as a team option."

"I'm not kidding, you can look at the statements I sent you, his own value, he can definitely write off the luxury tax, and even have a surplus, and the positive impact of this on our team is immeasurable."

"I can expect that in the future, not only in China, but in the whole of Asia, we at Spurs will be the team that will be the most concerned."

"You're all smart people, it's impossible not to understand what I'm talking about, so for all the reasons above, I think he has to be signed."

"I hope you will read the document as soon as possible, and then give me a reply, there is not much content in the document, you can read it in ten minutes, and draw conclusions."

"Whew."

Buford, who was watching the whole time, took a deep breath, and I have to say that as a professional manager, he was also persuaded by the old man's words.

.。 m.