Paul George interested in joining the Knicks?

Through the media hype and fan gossip, this seemingly unfounded trade rumor seems to have a bit of a sense of truth and falsehood after a day of fermentation. However, no matter how the outside world speculates and fuels the flames, the protagonists of the rumors, the Knicks and Paul George, are silent. Is it a tacit acquiescence not to refute rumors?

As a result, the suspicion in the market is even louder.

"'Pickled Peppers' (Paul George's nickname) is going to join the Knicks? Isn't he the guy the Lakers want? ”

"Can the Knicks really handle George? Isn't it said that the Lakers can't take away the people they want? ”

"George should go to Boston if he is chasing a championship, and this year's Celtics are more powerful than ever."

"I guess Danny Angie is already using his brains to dig up George, and with his relationship with Bird, it shouldn't be a big problem to get George."

This is the main tone of all kinds of rumors. Isn't it weird? Why is Paul George leaving, except for the Knicks, everyone's first reaction is that he is going to the Lakers or the Celtics? Can't any other team attract the superstar?

Why the Lakers or Celtics are preferred?

In fact, these are some of the unspoken rules of NBA trading.

So what are the unspoken rules of NBA trading?

If you sort out the trading trajectory of big-name stars in NBA history, it is definitely a history of blood and tears in which big cities bully small places, and big balls will bully small teams. And if you put this history a little more incisively, it is the "robbery history" of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, the two biggest bigwigs in the NBA, robbing many other teams.

Robbery, yes, you read that right, the Lakers and Celtics trades with other teams are living robbery.

The two male and female thieves of yellow and green not only robbed stars, but also robbed draft picks, not only robbed the players and draft picks they were interested in, but also had a clear division of labor, the Celtics specialized in robbing draft picks, and the Lakers were good at robbing famous stars.

How many "hurtful" things have the Lakers and Celtics done? Any list of a few "glorious deeds" can make people stunned.

Let's start with the Boston Celtics, who rely on their team's fame to rob others, they are arguably one of the most accurate teams in the NBA for rookies, so most of the robbers they rob are draft picks and rookies.

In 1980, the then Celtics drew the No. 1 pick for the first time in history, and then they made a trade that was incomprehensible at the time but shocked afterwards. The Celtics traded their No. 1 pick and another No. 13 pick for the Warriors' pick and Robert Parish. After that, the Celtics used this pick to select Kevin McHale, and formed the Bird, McHale, and Parish championship triangle, while the Warriors, who got the No. 13 pick, selected Joey Barry Carroll (the 1980 draft pick, career stats are okay, but not much achievement) and Ricky Brown, who most people have not heard of now.

The second story is Danny Angie's most proud masterpiece. In 2013, when Kevin Garnett, 37, and Paul Pearce, 36, were entering the end of their careers and preparing to retire with the Celtics, Danny Ainge made one of the most incredible trades of his general manager career. He traded the two near-retirement veterans plus another veteran, Jason Terry and water cooler keeper D.J. White, for a group of inconsequential players and the rights to the Nets' first-round picks in 2014, 2016, 2018, and the Nets in 2017. The deal was hailed at the time as a no-touch deal to drain the remaining value of the three veterans, but it made the Celtics a lot of money. And the most incredible thing about this deal, in addition to the four unprotected first-round picks, is that the four players who were traded together only played 206 games for the Nets, which is outrageously low value for money, and after the Nets suddenly fell last year, the rest can be imagined.

In the end, the best "robbery" case in the history of the Celtics is, of course, the most embarrassing trade in NBA history (there is no one) - the "Lord of the Rings" Bill Russell trade. At that time, the Celtics, who had the second-highest record in the league the previous year, had no chance to choose Russell, but the "Cardinal" Auerbach was very unwilling. So, after losing the team's leading scorer Macaulay and up-and-coming rookie Cliff Hagen, Russell came to the Celtics and started a super dynasty. In other words, if it hadn't been for this unexpected deal, the Atlanta Hawks would have had a chance to complete an eight-game winning streak.

Well, after talking about the Celtics, let's talk about the Lakers, if the Celtics' "robbery history" is already jaw-dropping, then if you look at the Lakers' "criminal history", you can only describe it as shocking. With Los Angeles' unique geographical advantages, the Lakers are always full of advantages when it comes to attracting established stars.

Without talking about the four Hall of Fame superstars such as Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and "Magic" Johnson (yes, the above four god-level players were all bought by the Lakers for cabbage prices), let's talk about a few superstars close to us.

Kobe Bryant: In the 1996 draft, the Lakers forcibly traded the team's starting center Vlad Divac from the Hornets for the "Black Mamba" Kobe, just because Kobe preferred the Los Angeles Lakers, he was unwilling to report to the Charlotte Hornets. Such a simple and strange reason allowed poor Charlotte fans to miss out on the second-highest scoring superstar in NBA history (at the time when the NBA did not penalize rookies for not reporting to the team).

Pau Gasol: In the 2007-2008 season, the Lakers traded All-Star power forward Pau Gasol from the Grizzlies for Kwame Brown, two water cooler keepers, two first-round picks, and the signing of Gasol Jr. (who was a second-round rookie at the time and drafted but did not sign with the team). After the completion of this deal, the league was shocked, some people said that the Lakers only paid the price of a pack of cigarettes in exchange for Gasol, the league's most versatile power forward at the time, and Popovich even angrily denounced the Lakers for "a few coins in exchange for $100", which is a naked robbery.

Shaquille O'Neal, Carl Malone, Gary Payton, Steve Nash, etc.: Backed by California, Los Angeles, and Hollywood, the Lakers have always had a super advantage in recruiting free agents. In the past, it can be said that as long as the Lakers are interested in free agents, they will inevitably be able to grab them, and the Lakers' ability to recruit players privately is also quite accomplished. It is precisely because of this that after Chris Paul and the Lakers reached a trade intention, the league rarely forcibly halted the deal, which makes people think.

Are you surprised after reading these amazing deals? However, this is the NBA, and this is the "criminal history" of the Celtics and Lakers robbing small teams.

After reading the "robbery history" of the Celtics and the Lakers, will you wonder if the New York Knicks, as the richest team in the league and the largest city in the United States, have not done anything bad about "robbing" small clubs?

No, not really.

The New York Knicks are really a magical team in the league, and in their history, instead of relying on their super market attraction to rob the stars of those small teams, they have been playing the role of philanthropists in the shelter for troubled youth.

Those players who have physical problems or have head problems are the targets of the Knicks' containment, and those problem players that other teams are afraid to avoid have left footprints in New York. Speaking of which, this can be regarded as the "history of blood and tears" of the Knicks.

Simply complain about a few, players with bad brains such as the "madman" Sprewell (choking the coach's neck), the "bad boy" Strickland (drunk driving, hitting teammates, scolding the coach), the "lone wolf" Marbury (drunk driving, falling out with teammates, coaches, and the media), and "Nerve Knife" Smith (too many deeds, see the previous description for details) and so on; Players who are not in good health include Stoudemire "The Glass Man", Anfernee Hardaway the "Bigger Glass Man", and Derrick Rose, who could fall at any time.

They were full of problems before they came to New York, and they were even more problematic after they came to New York, so much so that in the end, the Knicks had to play the role of a garbage contract shelter.

The "wronged" Knicks are not the image that the team owners and fans want, so James Dolan brought in Phil Jackson.

Having said that, when James Dolan hired Phil Jackson as the president of the team, in addition to his unique management ability, he also hoped to use his experience coaching the Lakers to polish the Knicks well, and strive to combine the market advantages of New York and the personal charm of the "Zen Master" to attract several famous stars and quickly complete the reconstruction plan.

However, when Phil Jackson first arrived in New York, he first experienced infighting with general manager Steve Mills and star Carmelo Anthony, and then, after signing Jojim Noah, he was scolded by fans for being incompetent and losing money, and almost lost his position as president.

If it weren't for Roy's unexpected appearance that saved the "Zen Master", it is still unknown where he would sit and do anything now.

Therefore, when he finally sat firmly in the position of president this year and was ready to show his talents, when he saw the rumors that Paul George was going to join the Knicks on the Internet, he also had a flash of inspiration, since he is sitting on the New York Knicks, the largest market in the league, why not rob a few famous stars like the Los Angeles Lakers back then?

Robbing a football player? Good idea, just as Phil Jackson was figuring out which team to rob, Roy came......