Chapter 245: Big Ben and Little Ao
In this list, there are not only the names of dozens of players, but also their ages, contracts and even teams.
Chi Liang first glanced at the top players, they are all NBA famous stars, including Juwan Howard, Sean Kemp and others, in addition to high contracts, the most prominent point of these players is that they are all in a period of decline.
If such players are traded, not to mention whether they can maintain their form, the annual salary paid every year alone is a large amount, which will cause a great obstacle to the team's recruitment, and at the same time, these players have been the boss for a long time, and it is likely that they will also challenge Chi Liang's core position.
In addition to a few famous players, there are also several typical representatives of high salaries and low abilities in the back, who are not stars but can get big contracts, and they are all famous garbage contracts in the NBA.
Therefore, just after a glance, Ji Liang skipped these players who signed big contracts and began to look at the players behind him, mainly young players.
These young players, they don't have much reputation, most of them are fringe players in their respective teams, and the rest are also team substitutes. Their advantage is obvious, that is, they have a low annual salary, and among them are players who will become famous in the future.
Soon, Chi Liang found a bright spot in this list, and his eyes were focused on one name - Ben Wallace!
The future four-time Defensive Player of the Year may not be great for scoring, but his defense, rebounding, and blocking abilities are quite good, and he is a veritable interior gate.
Ben Wallace was sent to the Magic team this summer, and he successfully seized the opportunity to impress the current Magic head coach with his defense, becoming the starting center of the Magic team.
Of course, this is also related to the fact that the Magic team does not have a high-quality interior line, which has also become the main reason for Wallace's position.
In Ji Liang's previous life, Ben Wallace was going to join the Pistons next season, and then he ushered in a burst and began his road to glory
However, it also has to do with Wallace's participation in Pete Newell's training camp, which strengthened his footwork and low-post singles skills, allowing Wallace to make great strides in attack, at least his opponents won't let him go any longer.
In Chi Liang's previous life, Ben Wallace can be said to be the most famous draft pick in the NBA, not tall but mainly center, known for his iron and blood defense, and won 4 times Best Defensive Player, a championship and multiple All-Stars.
This can be said to be a miracle, and no one thought that the undrafted could achieve such a great achievement.
There is no doubt that for Ben Wallace, Chi Liang is naturally extremely greedy, although Ben Wallace has almost no offensive ability, but his defense is far superior to several interior lines of the Nets, he is a top defensive gate, the offense is not enough to make up for the defense, coupled with Chi Liang's ability to assist in defense, it is enough to make the Nets a strong defensive team.
Ji Liang put a tick in the Ben Wallace column, as for whether he can get Wallace, it depends on the operation of the team. However, judging by the Magic's weak interior lineup, trading Wallace is not very likely.
So, Chi Liang continued to look for the target, and not long after, in the last column of the list, he saw an extremely familiar name again - Jermaine O'Neal!
O'Neal Jr., 211 centimeters and 120 kilograms, was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 1996 NBA Draft at No. 17, creating the youngest NBA player at the time.
Judging from the order and age, the Trail Blazers are very optimistic about O'Neal Jr.'s potential, but unfortunately, the Trail Blazers have too many star insiders, including Sabonis, Rasheed Wallace, Schramf, and Brian Grant this season, resulting in O'Neal Jr. not getting much playing time.
Last season, for example, O'Neal Jr. played 35 games, but averaged less than nine minutes per game, almost as many as the team's fringe players.
However, although O'Neal Jr. has been sitting on the cold bench with the Trail Blazers, it does not mean that the Trail Blazers are not optimistic about him. Because the Trail Blazers completed a contract extension with him ahead of schedule last season, and the contract is still 4 years and 24 million.
A backup center who averages less than 9 minutes per game can get such a high contract, and the Trail Blazers management is naturally not stupid, even if the Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen has money, but he will not easily give such a contract to a bench player. This shows that the Trail Blazers are optimistic about O'Neal Jr.'s potential and almost see him as the future of the team, perhaps as long as Sabonis can't play anymore, he can succeed in the position.
O'Neal Jr. signed this contract, in addition to the generous contract offered by the team, it is also related to his age, and he himself thinks he can wait a little longer.
Of course, with the Trail Blazers' consistent urine over the years, O'Neal Jr. has no hidden worries in his heart, and no one knows whether the Trail Blazers will strengthen to get All-Star interior players in the future.
Unlike Ben Wallace, who is seriously biased, O'Neal Jr. in the future is more balanced in attack and defense, with a combination of skill, height and passion. He's a strong low-post defender and blocker, with a good team defense, excellent rebounding, and a league-high defensive efficiency.
Chi Liang knows very well that when he waits for next season, O'Neal Jr. will be traded to the Pacers and quickly become the core of the Pacers' team, and he has won 20+10 All-Star data for many seasons.
In addition, in the playoffs last season, Chi Liang also played against O'Neal Jr. many times, and O'Neal Jr. at that time gave him a lot of trouble and almost made the Nuggets collapse. And O'Neal Jr. has a good personality, plays passionately, and is a suitable person to be a teammate.
Without hesitation, Chi Liang also put a tick on Little O'Neal. Compared to Ben Wallace, the probability of getting O'Neal Jr. is greater.
There is no way, there are too many interior stars of the Trail Blazers, and O'Neal Jr. can't get much playing time at all, so he must have the idea of leaving the Trail Blazers.
"General Manager Ed, I have chosen, in fact, these two interior players have the strength of the team's starters, but they lack opportunities, if they get them, it is likely to make up for our team's interior shortcomings!"
In order to get them, Chi Liang said a lot of good things for them, hoping to get the attention of General Manager Stefansky.
Even if he is the cornerstone of the team, the decision to trade reinforcements will be made by the team management, and he can only make a few suggestions.
"Ben Wallace, Jermaine O'Neal, their price must not be high, presumably the rest of the management will agree!" Even if the names of these two players have not been heard much, Stefansky gave Chi Liang face very much, and finally chose to agree.
It didn't take long for Coach Rivers to select a few players, and unexpectedly, there was also O'Neal Jr. among them.
Unlike Chi Liang, Stefansky doesn't pay much attention to Coach Rivers, which has to do with Rivers' status in the team, and he hasn't proven himself yet.