As time went by, the big fish in the free agency market were signed one by one, and the media felt more and more that the future of the Nets was bleak.

In the eyes of experts, the Nets' interior line is too poor, and it would be nice to say if Jason Williams hadn't retired, but now that he has retired, coupled with Van Horn being traded, the Nets are left with inexperienced rookies and veterans, and there is no strong point to speak of, which can be called the weakest team on the inside.

However, with the efforts of Nets general manager Stefansky, Michael Cage was finally persuaded to join the Nets with a veteran base salary.

Michael Cage joined the NBA through the draft in 1984, and this era is also known as the NBA's strongest draft year, giving birth to superstars such as Jordan, Olajuwon, Barkley, and Stockton.

For many fans, Michael Cage is an unfamiliar name, but in the late '80s, Cage was also a well-known figure in the league. As a rebounder, in the 1987-88 season, Cage averaged 13 rebounds per game while contributing 14.5 points, and was named the NBA rebounding champion.

It's a pity that Cage is 37 years old and has long fallen to the top, but he still has an advantage compared to the rest of the Nets.

This is also why Cage is willing to join the Nets, nothing more than having the ball to play, and possibly even becoming a starter.

After signing Cage, Stefansky is still under a lot of pressure, even if Cage can still play his residual heat, but after all, he is a 37-year-old veteran, and his playing time must be limited.

After signing Cage, the Nets have a total of five interior players, and they are Michael Cage, Jamil Fayk, Jim McIlvain, George Muraysan, and second-round rookie Evan Eschmeyer.

In addition to Cage, there are two players who can be used: Jamil Fayk and George Muresan.

Among them, Jamil Fayq has excellent frame protection ability, but his scoring ability is poor, and he can only rely on secondary attacks.

As for George Muressan, he used to be brilliant, this is a full 231 centimeters, and together with Manute Bol, he is known as the tallest player in NBA history.

In 1996, George Murraysan was selected as the NBA's most improved player, and in 1996-97, he ranked first in the NBA in single-season shooting percentage for two consecutive years, averaging 14.5 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game in his peak season.

Unfortunately, Georges Muresan's height is a double-edged sword, and from a positive point of view, no opponent can pose an effective aerial threat to him. But his speed of movement is extremely slow, and it is almost mythical to expect him to drop back quickly to defend fast breaks, and even in a solid positional attack, the disadvantage of defense and rotation speed often hinders the team's rotation system rather than improves it. His speed is so slow that he can be seen as a one-stop tool by opponents, which is also a unique in NBA history.

Because of this, Stefansky can only continue to seek high-quality interior players in the free market, but unfortunately the Nets' appeal is limited, and they still did not sign high-quality interior players until the team's training day.

In this regard, Chi Liang is also helpless, he has also made contact with 'Fliggy' Barkley, even if Barkley has fallen to the top, he can still play a strong strength, which can undoubtedly greatly strengthen the strength of the Nets.

It's a pity that Ji Liang played too late, and the Rockets had already signed Barkley for a high price of $9 million a year.

Chi Liang is also helpless, after all, he is a rookie who joined the NBA last year, and his connections are limited, and there are only a few people in total who can be chatted, so naturally he can't help.

On September 15, due to the reconstruction, the Nets assembled early and held their annual media day, where they were interviewed and took core makeup photos.

Before entering the stadium, Chi Liang ran into a person, who was more than half a head shorter than himself, with a big nose and mouth, it was the new head coach Doug Rivers!

If it weren't for Ji Liang, Rivers would have coached the Magic team and won the honor of best coach in his first year.

Now, everything has changed, and I don't know if he will be able to win the best coach this year.

Judging from later generations, Rivers has an excellent reputation, and his age makes it easier to get closer to the players.

Knowing people well is one of Rivers' specialties, and the team is like an army in his hands. No matter how strong or weak the team is, he can coax the players well and work for him, and he is also a very sincere good person, so he has a lot of friends in the league.

To put it simply, Rivers is the best of the 'babysitter coaches' and is extremely good at mixing teams.

However, no one is perfect, and in terms of employing people, he trusts veterans and the standing lineup, and rarely brings too many surprises to fans. In a way, Rivers is a little too self-obsessive.

In conclusion, Rivers is a charismatic coach and undoubtedly a good manager.

"Oh, finally seeing you, Ji Liang!" After seeing Ji Liang, Rivers immediately smiled and took the lead in greeting.

He remembers very well that if it wasn't for Ji Liang taking the initiative to recommend him, the Nets would not have invited him.

Although the Nets are weak on the inside, the roster is significantly stronger than the Magic and is clearly more promising.

To some extent, Chi Liang has the grace of recommending Rivers, needless to say, the two belong to the same camp.

Chi Liang reacted very quickly, immediately shook Rivers' hand and said, "Doug, it's a pleasure to meet you, I believe that with your coaching ability, you can definitely become an excellent coach!" ”

"Where, where!" Coach Rivers showed an embarrassed expression and began to walk into the arena side by side with Ji Liang.

In the arena, there are already several players waiting, who are either rookies or marginalized members of the team,

Among them, the one who attracts the most attention from Chi Liang is undoubtedly Corey Margety, who is relatively strong and strong, and his strength is not small at first glance.

Margeti's characteristics are obvious, his excellent jump shots, and the way he scores by rushing inside to draw fouls and sending himself to the free-throw line make him one of the best players in the league in both free throws and free throws.

"Good morning, Coach Rivers!"

"Hello, Chi Liang!"

At the first time, these players hurriedly lowered their posture and took the initiative to greet Chi Liang and Rivers, the former is the core of the team, and the latter is the head coach, with the ability to let them get more opportunities to play.

"Hello!" Coach Rivers doesn't have anything to say, for him, these are fringe players, and with his character, there is little chance of using them in the future.

On the other side, Ji Liang nodded politely, although he valued Margety, he also knew the occasion and continued to chat with Coach Rivers.

These players are also very self-aware, and may have thoughts in their hearts, but they never dare to disturb them.

Time passed slowly, and his teammates came to the stadium one after another, except for a few teammates, Chi Liang felt familiar at most, especially black players, many of whom looked similar, and it took a while to get along.

At this time, Chi Liang gathered Billups, Eric Williams and Armstrong around him, the first two were traded with him, and the latter was a newcomer and did not have familiar teammates, so he naturally stood on Chi Liang's side.

It didn't take long for Kendall Gill to arrive almost at the meeting time.