Chapter 32: The Deal Strikes

In the first three performances, Memphis fans have accepted Li Feng as a Chinese kid, and in the later games of the preseason, Li Feng's performance has been very stable, always maintaining single-digit points plus rebounds and a lot of assists.

Facts speak louder than words, and even though many media outlets are still shouting "preseason doesn't prove anything", their hearts are not as justified as they seem.

Before the start of the 2009-2010 NBA regular season, a trade rumor involved Li Feng, one of the protagonists of this transaction was Li Feng, and the other protagonist was "Queen Bee" Chris Paul.

In recent years, with the departure of Byron Davis, the Hornets have fallen into a rebuild, and in the first year of the rebuild, they only got JR Smith, and in the second year, God favored them and gave them the top point guard in the NBA, Chris Paul, and it was because of Paul's performance that the Hornets executives, they kept David West, traded for Tyson Chandler, poached Peja from the free market with a high salary, and built a team that the entire league was looking for, and the Hornets also got rid of the fish belly label and transformed into an emerging powerhouse.

However, the 07-08 season is their peak, when Chris Paul lost to Kobe Bryant in the MVP selection, that MVP to Kobe, mainly Kobe Bryant is good enough, and there is an important reason, Kobe has never had an MVP, and Chris Paul is still young.

Maybe it's bad luck from the MVP loss, the teams are getting stronger in the West, and the Hornets are getting less and less competitive in the West.

This summer, the Hornets sent away Tyson Chandler, who could play with Chris Paul, and got Emeka Okafor, the Bobcats' interior pillar, and Chris Paul has already expressed his obvious displeasure.

At this time, the Hornets comforted Paul while thinking about who we should trade for if Chris insisted on leaving, this is the NBA after all, it is a business league.

Li Feng's recent performance has naturally entered the eyes of the Hornets, it is undeniable that many people even if they don't think that Li Feng deserves to be on the list, but there is no problem in entering the top ten, and Li Feng has more attractive to the Hornets, that is, the Chinese market, yes, the Hornets are now very bad financially, otherwise they would not have thought of trading Paul.

As soon as the two sides were contacted, the Grizzlies gave a tentative offer, Conley + Mayo + Sam Young, these three young players are the mainstay, plus the sweetness of the salary and draft picks, if this deal can be reached, the southwest division of the West will be more perverted, and the main players of the Grizzlies will be Marc Gasol + Zach Randolph + Li Feng + Rudy Gay + Chris Paul, which makes people salivate when they think about it.

Of course, this is just Chris Wallace's wishful thinking, the Hornets unceremoniously refused, and the purpose of the Grizzlies trade is to at least take Li Feng, although Mayo is good enough, averaging close to 20+ points per game last year, but he does not have Li Feng's Chinese background, the general manager of the Hornets decisively expressed, you can take the "Queen Bee" you can, at least pay Li Feng and Mayo, or Li Feng and Guy.

This is only the preliminary intention of the transaction, if it really wants to enter the formal negotiation stage, the Hornets will definitely let the Grizzlies eat Peja's big contract, the Hornets get Li Feng + Mayo OR Guy, send Peja and Paul away, the lineup will become Darren Collison + Mayo + Mason + David West + Li Feng, Okafor can be sent away, and a good small forward will come over, Okafor, who averages two doubles per game, is not without a market.

Of course, this is just the calculation of the general manager of the Hornets, but this mind Chris Wallace knows what he does, but he is hesitating, Paul is indeed very attractive, 20+10 point guards are not many in the history of the league, but a physical fitness like Li Feng seems to be only Chamberlain, even if he is not a professional, Chris Wallace also knows what Li Feng's physical fitness means, and he knows how much value the Chinese market behind Li Feng contains, and it will be a little bit at the end. Li Feng was chosen by himself in the face of the world's disapproval, is it just to trade Chris Paul? …,

Chris Wallace is still hesitating, and the Hornets did not disclose the negotiation, both sides have concerns, after all, the new season will start soon, not to mention the success of the deal, if it is not successful, the team is estimated to start the new season like this.

However, they all underestimated the strength of the paparazzi, and there is no impermeable wall of time, although the United States is not the United Kingdom, but these paparazzi took a photo of the general manager of the Hornets and Chris Wallace together and the exact words of the Hornets insiders.

The New Orleans City Journal, a local newspaper in New Orleans, kicked a news story about the deal.

"The Memphis Grizzlies want to marry Queen Bee, and a multiplayer deal is about to be made."

The article quoted an insider as saying that the Memphis Grizzlies made a trade request to the New Orleans Hornets, who asked for Chris Paul and Emeka Okafor, and were willing to eat Peja's big contract, and the Grizzlies would send Guy and OJ Mayo plus Li Feng.

This is big news, involving the league's top point guard Chris Paul, and all of a sudden, Paul, Li Feng, Mayo, and Guy have become the keywords of the media.

The day before the news came out in the newspaper, Li Feng had already received a call from Tony, confirming the news, and there was a lot of shock in his heart.

This time, the opponent is far from being able to beat on the field, and the opponent's once glorious past makes Li Feng also feel a kind of pressure.

No one in the NBA is not tradeable, including Jordan, including Kobe, including everyone.

It's a commercial society, and no one is priceless, not to mention that it's now trading an all-star who has been famous for a long time in his prime for a first-year rookie.

Although Li Feng hopes that he can live in the same team as Reggie Miller or Stockton, Li Feng knows that this is just a luxury.

Li Feng's excellent performance in the preseason made many Memphis fans very happy, because after a failed season, the Grizzlies finally have the possibility of a revival, and everyone is looking forward to the early arrival of the regular season to see what kind of changes this rookie will bring to the team.

But when the rumors of the transfer deal were exposed, many people began to weigh the value between the two, between an All-Star who averaged 20+10+2 per game and a rookie who only played a few preseason games, which is more important? Probably many people will choose to believe in a superstar with consistent performance rather than a newcomer with an uncertain future, even if the Chinese have a lot of value.

Not only did Li Feng feel a lot of shock in his heart because of this news, but even many players on the Grizzlies team were considering their position after the deal was reached.

No one thinks about whether this deal will be done, because this is simply an obvious thing, an all-star and a rookie, as long as they are not idiots, they will know how to choose.

For a while, people were panicked, because in addition to the initial news, various versions emerged one after another, and the major media also analyzed what was the most cost-effective deal between the two sides, so that even Rudy Gay was ready to wear the Hornets jersey tomorrow.