Jeff Petri, the No. 8 pick in 1971, retired after 8 years of playing with a knee injury, worked in the company after retiring, and then entered the management of the Trail Blazers, led the team to the finals twice as the general manager during 90~94 years, and from 94 onwards, he served as the team's president and team general manager, monopolizing power, and won the title of best general manager twice in 99 and 01.

Just by looking at this resume, you know that this is not a bad general manager, you must know that the Kings team that swept the league at the beginning of the 21st century was built by him.

But that's what he did, swapping Chris Webb and Bibby for a bunch of junk contracts, trading Peja for Artest, and then Artest for the Rockets.

As people get older, their judgment on certain things will be skewed, which also makes him one of the spokesmen for the most junk management.

"JJ Hixon plus Marcus Thorton, how about a first-round pick for you next year?"

"No, I wouldn't do that."

What Tang Tian didn't expect was that Petri directly rejected his proposal.

Despite all the things he said later, Petri also seems to be interested in playing and developing young players, and is reluctant to give away next year's first-round pick.

Hanging up the phone, Tang Tian frowned.

It seems that after four games, even someone like Petri has an idea of the team's approximate strength, and basically sets the tone for the season.

But it shouldn't.

If he's not mistaken, the Cavaliers traded Hickson for the Kings' protected first-round pick in '11, and now he adds another Thorton.

And if you look at the chips alone, the chips you got from trading Artest last year are much worse than the ones he offers now.

Just as he was thinking about turning his gaze to Suns management, Keith Jones knocked on the door and entered.

"It's a proposal from Dante to increase sales of merchandise, and this lad is very motivated." Jones had a report in his hand.

In addition to player trade signings, the NBA manager team is also responsible for some sales of merchandise and so on.

Tang Tian took it and looked at it, in addition to some conventional sales methods, there were also customized products such as Tang Tian's bobblehead doll, which engaged in hunger marketing.

"This kid, I'll have to charge him." Tang Tian complained.

Jones chatted a few words and was about to go out, Tang Tian remembered something and opened his mouth to stop him.

"Case, you were with the Rockets last season, how did Morey do that deal with Artest? I reached out to their general manager, Petri, and it didn't seem to be that easy to communicate with. ”

"Yes, Petri is an old fox, he's been doing this for a long time, and he didn't agree with it at first, but it's not him who really makes the decision for the Kings, it's the team owner, Gavin Marouf, who is now in charge of the Marouf family."

"That's ......," Tang Tian realized.

Speaking of which, there are several NBA owners, one is completely indifferent to the team, such as Heat owner Mickey Allison, the Heat team is basically Pat Riley covering the sky; There are also those who occasionally take care of things, such as Alexander of the Rockets, which is also the practice of most bosses; Finally, there is the one who basically exercises the power of the president and will often interfere in the management of the team, which is represented by the Buss family of the Lakers.

Now it seems that the Ma'rouf family is also like this.

"You make an appointment with Gavin Ma'auff and say I want to have dinner with him."

The next day, Don flew to Sacramento and met the Kings owner at Gavin Ma's home.

After a brief greeting, Tang Tian quickly went straight to the point.

"No, no, no, Jeff just talked to me recently, the main goal of the Kings this season is to develop Tyreck, and we won't give away next year's first-round pick." After hearing this, Maruf immediately waved his hand and refused.

"I think Tyrek is a very strong rookie, he played five games, averaged 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game, although the sample size is not very large, but he is likely to be the fourth man to complete his rookie season 20+5+5 after Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and LeBron James."

"yes, we had a great draft this year." When Maluf heard Tang Tian say this, he immediately laughed.

"So I think that even a rookie with such strong combat power, if he doesn't have enough records, it will be a big blow to his morale." Tang Tian went on to say that his words were not fooling, in fact, the reason why Evans in his previous life became a rookie is the representative of the peak, in addition to team training and injuries, missing the playoffs for consecutive years is also a little bit of his fighting spirit.

Ma'a'llf lowered his head and didn't speak, he was thinking.

Seeing Ma'ruf's reaction, far less resolute than Petri, Tang Tian knew that he had found the right person this time.

"So, now we have Terek, we have Kevin Martin, Benno Udri, Jason Thompson, Omi Kasby, and a bunch of young, motivated young players, and it's time for the season."

Ma'ruf still didn't speak, but he had already looked up at Tang Tian.

"JJ Hickson was last year's No. 19 pick and has great talent, but what we need is a three-point interior lineman, like Ryan Anderson, and Karl Landry has a limited height and is more than enough to play as a substitute, but it's a bit reluctant to play a starter ***J will shine when he arrives at the Kings, and Marcus Thornton has also shown scoring explosiveness recently, and he will be the biggest guarantee of firepower on the bench when he arrives at the Kings."

Marufu nodded thoughtfully, he already felt a little moved by Tang Tian's words.

"Look at us again, you can see that I'm going to use people in the regular season, we don't want to be this season, so we need a first round, even if it's a lotto first round." Tang Tian continued.

Ma'Rouf was overjoyed when he heard this, and the implication of this sentence was that the Kings would make the playoffs next season.

"If you're really not at ease, you can add a top-three pick to the draft pick, so that if you have a cornerstone player, you can make another selection." Tang Tian finally said that this was his bottom line.

Ma'a'ruf remained silent.

Just when Tang Tian thought he was going to call Petri, he finally raised his head and spoke.

"You add a future second-round pick."

"It's a pleasure to work with."

Tang Tian got up and stretched out his hand.

Sure enough, the deal still has to find the right person.

Shortly after returning to Cleveland, Tang Tian received a call from Petri.

Reluctantly, he had to listen to Marouf.

After the phone call, the two sides negotiated the details of the transaction, and the next day, the alliance officially announced the transaction.

The Cavaliers sent JJ Hixon, Marcus Thornton, and a 2011 second-round pick to the Kings for a 2010 first-round pick (top-three picks protected).