After hanging up the phone, Presti sat in her office and fell into deep thought.

After hearing Min's trade chips, Presti admits that at one point he was moved.

This season, the Clippers have risen to prominence in an unbelievable way, under the leadership of an airborne manager.

Many of Smart-Min's operations and transactions are not very reliable at first glance, but in Presti's opinion, they are very sophisticated.

For example, Ryuzak Randolph renewed his contract with Randolph early because Randolph was in his playing years.

A low-level master like him is hard to come by in the league, and it's a pity to give it up casually.

Renewing the contract in advance is in your hand, you can use it if it is easy to use, it is not easy to use, and it has enough transaction value.

There was also a trade for Kaman in exchange for Gasol Jr., which was criticized by the Los Angeles media at the time.

When the Clippers make the playoffs, Los Angeles fans will find that Gasol Jr. is also very good.

As a 28-year-old center forward, Carman has run out of potential and overlaps with Randolph in terms of position and function.

Since Randolph is retained, it is natural to trade for Karman in exchange for a younger and more potential insider.

One sign and one deal are good operations in Presti's opinion.

The only thing Presti couldn't understand was why Min Congda picked Curry with the top pick in the draft.

Seeing this unexpected choice at that time, Presti had already moved his heart to take down Griffin.

Unfortunately, Griffin was taken away by the Grizzlies with the second pick, and the Thunder had to pick Harden as originally planned.

Since Presti has chosen Harden, he is naturally very optimistic about the development of this player.

But how optimistic he is and what kind of expectations he has for Harden's future development, Presti himself is not particularly clear.

At least in terms of performance in the new season, Harden is okay, basically meeting expectations.

It's just that his position on the team, like the chronological order in which he came to the Thunder, must be behind Durant and Westbrook.

In Presti's mind, there are only two people who are really not for sale for the Thunder, Kevin Durant and Westbrook.

Their potential and talent are visible to the naked eye, and not to mention Durant, Westbrook has been playing very well this season.

He and Durant burst out, one shot, one with the ball, one without the ball, and once he grows up in the future, he will definitely shine.

Presti is still very sure about this.

As for Harden, he's more of a jack-of-all-trades player in Presti's heart.

Personally, he is more lazy than both Durant and Westbrook.

In normal practice, Durant and Westbrook are the last to leave.

Both will work out until dark, while Harden will go home early to rest.

Durant is the core boss of the team in terms of ability and team tactics.

But in terms of leadership temperament and strong personality, Westbrook is more prominent.

Harden is not competitive in comparison, little brother, and he has no complaints about being a substitute himself.

Harden's stat this season is 9.9 points per game, which is a cut short of Gordon.

Gordon's performance in terms of statistics is basically the same as Westbrook.

"Gordon can also play off the bench, and he defends Kobe very well. Three points, breakthroughs, all the team needs. If he had been with the Thunder last season, we certainly wouldn't have been squeezed out of the playoffs. But why did Smart hand him over to us? ”

Presti is heartwarming about Gordon for Harden.

But he couldn't understand Min Congda's motives.

The two teams are direct competitors, so why trade their strong players?

Gordon is still very young and has a lot of potential, and a normal team will definitely keep him and wait for him to grow and develop after a normal team experiences Gordon's performance last season.

Instead of trading for a player in the same position who also has potential, but is not as good as he is currently performing.

Especially since the counterparty is a direct contender for the Western Conference playoffs, which is too counterintuitive.

There must be a demon when things go wrong, and Presti smells the conspiracy in it, and he decides to have a meeting to discuss it together.

So, Presti summoned people from the Thunder management for an impromptu short meeting.

As soon as he talked about the terms and content of the deal with the Clippers, the conference room immediately exploded.

How could anyone trade like that? There was a lot of discussion among them, believing that there must be fraud in it.

"Gordon is not having a physical problem, he had a serious knee injury in college, which is a hidden problem."

"Smart has always been deceitful and obedient, and he doesn't play cards according to the routine, so he must be cautious."

"Gordon is still young, and his injury in the regular season didn't affect his performance in the playoffs, so I don't think there's anything to worry about. Anyway, when it's time to trade, there will be a medical examination. ”

"Gordon defensively is better than Harden, and I think Gordon already has certainty, and Harden... It's hard to say. ”

One of the team's scouts mentioned the word "certainty" and spoke to Presti's heart.

Whether it's a trade or a draft, it's essentially an investment, and the most disgusting thing about investing is risk.

How to minimize risk is always something that investors should consider.

Therefore, investors will try to do things with certainty, or high certainty.

In this way, the risk can be minimized, the return may not be the highest, but the loss will not be the largest.

Gordon entered the league a year earlier than Harden, and the age difference is about the same.

The biggest difference is that Gordon played an extra year and played in the playoffs.

He's proven to be a good shooting guard.

There's a chance of being an All-Star, maybe he'll be an All-Star next season.

And Harden's first season has yet to show the certainty of an All-Star.

In that sense, Gordon is a better investment than Harden.

But Presti still can't get around one question: What is Smart's motives?

He could see the certainty in Gordon, and Smart could certainly see it too.

So why would he give up that certainty and trade Gordon for Harden?

Could it be that there is something in Harden that he didn't see and was discovered by Smart?

Presti thinks she has studied Harden thoroughly.

But Smart's ability to see people made him have to doubt it.

Curry is a good example.

It's a very confusing situation.

At this time, an executive came up with an idea.

He said: "Sam, I'm wondering, could Smart be purging players from previous management out of power struggles? You see, Jordan Jr., Carman, were all replaced. Now naturally it was Gordon's turn. And Randolph and Davis have just been traded to the Clippers, and Smart gets along well with them. The players who came to the Clippers earlier and were drafted by Olshea are definitely leaving. ”

As soon as he said this, his thoughts immediately opened.

Someone said: "That's right, Olsie has been sent to China, what kind of basketball talent is being discovered, what is there to discover?" That's how he was allocated. ”

"Not to mention Olsie, even Sterling is controlled, Smart is suspected of usurping power at the top of the Clippers, and he is said to be very close to Anschutz."

"Smart is a power player, he's very good at it, and the whole team is under his control."

After everyone talked again, Presti quieted everyone down and said, "Where did you all hear all this gossip?" ”

Someone said: "NBA-Batman has frequent updates on the Clippers' power struggle. ”

"You also watched NBA-Batman?"

"Of course, did you pay attention?"

"I'm paying attention, I'll take a look at it every day."

"I heard that old Dunleavy had double eyelids when he was young?"

"Really? I said it was a little strange to look at his eyes......"

"Alright, alright!" Presti felt that the meeting was moving in a strange direction.

Regardless of what everyone says, the final trade decision will be made by Presti himself.

His heart was actually shaken and he was determined to trade, but the last shred of reason told him that something was wrong.

He decided to talk to the team's owner, and Klay Bennett, after hearing from Presti's report, only asked one question: "Will the trade make the salary space healthier and more money-saving in the future?" ”

Presti thought for a moment and said, "Yes." ”

"Then be bold and do it."

(End of chapter)