When Xu Yong said this, the excitement on the faces of the bosses could not be hidden at all, Xu Yong came back, and their wallets, which were constantly deflating, could finally bulge again!

But after the excitement, the atmosphere in the office suddenly became weird, and the bosses looked at Xu Yong as if they were looking at a huge gold mine, their eyes glowing green, and they couldn't hide their greed and desire.

The biggest difference between Xu Yong and Jordan's first retirement is that he is now a free agent.

When Jordan came back, he still had a contract with the Bulls, and he had to return to the Bulls.

But Xu Yong has completed his contract with the Bulls, and Lauersdorf wanted to continue with the last year of his contract, but Xu Yong also declined.

This means that Xu Yong has no restraints now, and he can go wherever he wants.

This doesn't squeeze out the eyes of these bosses, if Xu Yong can be signed, the market value will rise to the foundation two years ago, and doubling is not a dream.

Tatum was a little sad at this time.

Because Xu Yong's return will involve two major issues, one is the question of where to go for the return that is now manifested, which is bound to be an open and secret battle;

And the other one is how Xu Yong returns.

The reason why Jordan's return to the Bulls was so smooth was because there was no concept of [salary cap] at that time.

But now, even if teams cut back on spending before the season, they can't sign a team with a maximum salary.

Because the league also has a minimum wage cap, that is, the poor line, if you don't fill it, you will have to make up for the deficiency when the time comes, which is why some teams know that it is a premium contract and have to sign it, and the premium is always better than handing over the money to the league for nothing.

Therefore, there are only two possibilities for Xu Yong to return in the middle of the season, one is that other teams operate the signing space, which is not easy, and it directly excludes many teams;

The other is that Xu Yong's salary cut is one year and his contract returns.

But the second plan will inevitably cause opposition from other bosses, because Xu Yong is joining a team that is already competitive, which is tantamount to directly undermining the principle of fair competition.

So when the meeting was over, before those bosses, Tatum dragged Xu Yong to his office for tea.

There is no need to say this kind of thing to thank Xu Yong for recommending himself as president, because the relationship between them has long been not maintained by this kind of polite words, and after making Xu Yong a cup of coffee, he sat down and talked about how Xu Yong would return.

"I'm not someone who likes to take shortcuts." Xu Yong's answer reassured Tatum.

Xu Yong is still an old-school player at heart.

When he came out of Tatum's office and walked around the corner of the passage, Xu Yong found an old acquaintance waiting for him there.

Before Ballmer bought the Mavericks, Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen was the richest owner in the league, and now, Ballmer replaces Allen.

They are both Microsoft bosses, but Ballmer is worth nearly 100 billion, the first in history, or how to say that he bought a calf just bought a big toy.

Xu Yong knew that other team owners would definitely look for him, but he didn't expect that the first one would be Ballmer, and he would occupy such a [advantageous] position.

Walking to the entrance of the passage, there were other bosses waiting, but when they saw Xu Yong coming out with Ballmer, they could only choose to change the time.

Xu Yong followed Ballmer to a nearby café and chose a private room.

"I want to work with you." Ballmer's first words after sitting down successfully attracted Xu Yong.

Because he's talking about [cooperation], not contracting.

"I have two options." Ballmer continued to pique Xu Yong's interest.

"First, you play for the Mavericks, and when you retire, you become a shareholder of the Mavericks, and of course you can be the head coach if you're interested."

Shares, when he heard the word, Xu Yong took a serious look at Ballmer and understood what he said about cooperation.

Many team owners in the NBA are not alone, after all, such a big business can't be done by one person under normal circumstances, so in a general sense, the owner of any team is talking about the majority shareholder.

Of course, it's not all, for example, Ballmer has deep pockets, and he is the only owner of the Mavericks.

But now in order to allow Xu Yongneng to join, he first made a promise.

This can also be understood as a big pie, but this big pie is visible.

Because the NBA team itself is only a small part of Ballmer's assets, he will not be reluctant to give a part to Xu Yong.

And from a business point of view, Xu Yong's joining is bound to increase the assets of the Mavericks, even if Ballmer's shareholding is reduced from 100% to 80%, the future growth of wealth will definitely be greater than the appreciation of the 20% shares.

"Second, you first become a shareholder of the Mavericks, then choose the opportunity to come back, and when you retire, you will still be a shareholder of the Mavericks."

"I'm not doubting your current form, but you haven't played for more than a year, and Michael is a lesson from the past, and the second is a more secure option." Ballmer added.

He is worthy of being the former CEO of Microsoft.

This was Xu Yong's first reaction after listening to Ballmer's two plans.

Cue Jordan also shows that Ballmer really thought through a lot of details.

It's not just what he's talking about, there's also the issue of salary space.

As mentioned earlier, no matter which team Xu Yong joins this season, that team will need to clear the salary space, and it is very difficult, and if you don't do it well, you need to dismantle the team.

After all, in the middle of the season, there are only a limited number of teams that have room to eat big contracts, and after all, they will seize the opportunity to open their mouths.

But if it's a new season, it's much easier to deal with.

Xu Yong can also use the time he was the boss to train to find his form, so that he would not come back in a hurry like Jordan back then and suffer failure.

In fact, if Jordan hadn't completed a three-game streak later, the half season of his comeback would have been a textbook failure.

"I respect any choice you make, the important thing is that you're back, even as an opponent, I'm very happy about it." When the two finished chatting and were about to leave, Ballmer got up and said to Xu Yong, and hugged Xu Yong with a smile.

Yes, Xu Yong is back, and the NBA story can start again.

Xu Yong stayed in New York for two days, not idle, but always had his boss looking for him, and he can be said to be busier than Hollywood's biggest stars in the past two days.

Eventually, he called Schwartz and headed back to Chicago himself.

If you continue to stay, I'm afraid you won't be able to get out of it for half a month.

After returning to Chicago, just in time for the Bulls' offseason, Xu invited Butler to the manor for a meal.

"Senior, why are you free today?" Butler was still a little surprised, Xu Yong is now an NCAA assistant coach and spends most of his time in Tempe.

"How's it going?" Xu Yong didn't answer, but asked rhetorically while eating.

"I'm confident that I'll take them to the finals this season!" Talking about the team, Butler suddenly had a light in his eyes.

Although he fell at the last moment last season, his self-confidence has been unprecedentedly improved.

Because of similar experiences, the media has been comparing him to Pippen, but the reality is that Pippen fell in the division semifinals in 1994 when he led the team, and there was also negative press about the [1.8 second incident], but he led the team to defeat the stronger Raptors.

And you have to know that the Bulls traded in the middle of the season last season, and Aldridge has been with the Bulls for less than half a season.

This season, the Bulls made targeted additions in the offseason and signed back Rose, and Butler's ambitions are not overconfident.

Looking at Butler's longing eyes in front of him, Xu Yong couldn't help but feel a ripple in his heart.

It's like a work of art being built in front of him, and if he reaches out and touches it, there is a high probability that it will shatter to the ground.

……

January 6 is destined to be an extraordinary day for basketball fans around the world.

Because on this day, two major events of seismic magnitude occurred in the Alliance.

The first thing is that Xiao Hua announced his resignation as NBA commissioner, and Tatum will take over.

This news is very exciting, because if nothing else, the introduction of spinach alone has made the league a miasma, which has already made fans extremely unhappy with him.

As for Tatum, who succeeded him, because he has always been smiling, he feels very approachable, and the fans are not resistant to him.

And the first thing Tatum did after taking office was to cancel the [vertical take-off rule] again.

The move meant the league would experience pain again, but fans' favorability toward Tatum skyrocketed, as fans enjoyed watching the games that were unsightly when they were canceled last season.

But all in all, compared to the first thing, it was the second thing that really excited the fans, because Xu Yong announced his return to the NBA on his personal social media, and his content was succinct: "It's Time. (Time's up)

Immediately after the official revelation, Xu Yong will end his short NCAA assistant coaching career and return to the NBA as a team shareholder.

And the team he joins will be the Mavericks.

In the past few days, basically except for the Thunder, the remaining 29 teams have contacted Schwartz, even if the tax is overpaid a lot, as long as Xu Yong nods, they will do their best to clear the salary space.

But after meeting Butler, Xu Yong finally chose to accept Ballmer's proposal.

If he chooses to return to the Bulls, the Bulls will inevitably need to make big changes, at least sending one of Adams or Aldridge away to have salary space, and Butler will most likely choose to leave later.

It's almost the same as having the Bulls rebuild, which is not what he wants to see.

In contrast, going to the Mavericks not only avoids this, but Ballmer's offer is also attractive.

Ballmer can be said to have made Xu Yong think about his life after retirement in advance, and this short retirement also made him realize that he could not live without basketball in his life.

So there is this kind of opportunity, and he needs to take it.

And compared to Abel Pauline, the owner of the Wizards at the time, Ballmer was obviously more trustworthy.

Of course, there is also a solution, which is to have Lawnsdorf give up his stake like Ballmer, but if that were possible, Jordan would not have had to be a small owner on a small-ball city team like the Wizards.

Major media reported the news for the first time, and social media also collapsed directly because of this news.

On the streets of Dallas, fans took to the streets to celebrate Seo's joining.

Even the NBA's valuation began to soar, and many of the NBA's peripheral industries also recovered.

And more directly, the Mavericks' home game against the Spurs on January 8 has been hyped up.

Although, Xu Yong is still only the small owner of the Mavericks, and even the fans are not sure if he will appear on the scene.

But that's Xu Yong's influence.

After retiring for more than a year, not only has his influence not diminished, but even fans are looking forward to seeing him.

A world where only former Mavericks owner Mark Fall Before Dawn Cuban was injured was reached.

So, it's time to talk about the current state of the alliance.

There are still some big changes from two seasons ago.

The biggest change is the Warriors.

Last summer, Rich Paul spoke out, suggesting that Warriors management trade Green for a blue-collar center, but Curry stood up for Green again, and in the end, it still didn't happen.

But as the Warriors entered the season, the Warriors' record gradually returned to normal and went on a record of 73 wins, and the contradictions were once again covered up.

It's just that with the stoppage of the West, the contradiction completely broke out, and James knew that it was impossible for Green to leave with Curry, so he chose to leave.

But to leave is to leave, the Bird clause still wants.

The Warriors can only cooperate with James at this time, because if they don't cooperate, they will not only lose James in the end, but also have no reinforcement.

The end result was that James began his fourth and perhaps final leg of his basketball journey on a four-year contract by signing and trading: school district basketball.

The Warriors got Reggie Jackson in return from the Lakers, as well as a $12 million trade exception.

In addition to that, the Warriors also signed Cousins, who missed the signing market due to a serious injury.

Therefore, although the Warriors are not the [five-star warriors] that Xu Yong knows, their strength is still strong.

And then there's the Raptors.

The rise of Antetokounmpo has made DeRozan's situation with the Raptors start to become a little awkward.

Especially when he didn't perform well in the playoffs last season, Antetokounmpo openly questioned the former team boss on the sidelines.

This led Raptors management to eventually choose to trade DeRozan away.

And in the end, DeRozan's next home, yes, is the Mavericks.

The first time Ballmer took over the Mavericks, he fully demonstrated what it means to be inhuman.

He directly gave Jokic a five-year, 148 million maximum salary early contract extension.

But when it comes to dealing with Leonard, he doesn't have the patience that Cuban has.

Or you can also interpret Cuban's willingness to sell the team, and Leonard's lack of playing in two seasons is a big reason.

Your core can't play all the time, which is a bit unbearable.

So after communication, Ballmer finally chose to trade Leonard.

Leonard and DeRozan swapped owners, which is similar to what Xu Yong remembers.

After the trade, the Mavericks had a core roster of DeRozan and Jokic, and even because Jokic's big contract was not going on until next season, they added enough reinforcements to their role players.

But perhaps knowing in advance that Xu Yong would come back, he was not in a hurry to introduce the third core, but only built a lineup around the dual core.

So the general situation of the league this season, on the Western side, the Thunder is the strongest as the defending champion, and then the Warriors and Mavericks are close behind.

In the East, the Raptors have performed strongly after Leonard's return this season and firmly occupy the first place.

But the Cavaliers and Bulls are also chasing after them, and counting the rising digital people and the still competitive Celtics, the situation in the east is much more complicated than in the west.

On the day of the announcement of his return, Xu Yong had actually arrived in Dallas.

Ballmer personally picked him up at the airport.

He was joined by general manager Nelson Jr. and the season's new head coach, Mike Malone.

After Cuban sold the team, Rick Carlisle, the original decorated head coach, was out of contract and chose to leave the Mavericks to coach Indiana, where his dream began.

And Malone, as the first assistant coach of the Bulls, was also poached by Ballmer with a high salary because of Jokic's relationship.

When they met, Malone seemed very excited and gave him a big bear hug when he came up.

Xu Yong also had an indescribable feeling.

Bulls, Mavericks, Jokic, Malone, although he went from east to west, the surroundings are still so familiar.

Because there were other things to do after that, when Xu Yong left the airport, Ballmer left first, and Nelson Jr. went to his temporary residence with Malone and Xu Yong, which was only a kilometer away from the American Airlines Center, the home of the Mavericks.

This was specially arranged by Ballmer before, and even Nelson Jr. took out a general card for the stadium that Ballmer requested, and Xu Yong could go to the stadium at any time.

Xu Yong's only feeling now is silky, the kind of silkiness that everything that might cause trouble has been taken care of.

The reason why a big guy can become a big guy is reflected in many details.

It was also at this moment that he confirmed that he had made the right choice, because this kind of cooperative relationship was significantly more comfortable than fighting with Raunsdorf.

When everything was settled, as soon as Nelson Jr. and Malone were sent off on the front foot, Jokic was standing at the door with a new tea set on the back foot, and next to him stood DeRozan, who was smiling as if he was the happiest person in the world at this moment.

"Boss."

When I saw Xu Yong for the first moment, the familiar title blurted out.

Xu Yong was stunned for a moment, then smiled, and stretched out his hand to signal them to enter the house with him.

……

Attached: Statements on social media after the crash recovery (partial, click on the comment area for more).

"Why did Xu go to Dallas? Isn't he supposed to go back to Chicago? Xu: I'm sorry for the Chicago fans who used to support him! ”

"In eight years, he brought 5 championships to Chicago, and raised the Bulls to the same level as the Celtics and Lakers, I just want to ask, who is he sorry for?" From the review of "KBforever".

"Heh, I want to see if Xu can succeed after eating so many benefits in the east!"

"I think it's good, the last one who really ate the benefits of the East has gone to Los Angeles to retire, and now it's time for the West fans to feel what the current basketball god is."

"I really like Xu's choice too much, it's time to confront these strong teams in the west, that is, when will Xu play on the court!"

"Brothers, I'm back! I can finally watch the NBA again! ”

"Although it is a bit regrettable that Xu was not able to live in one city by himself, if he can prove himself in two places, I think it will be a different legend."

"Yes, I also think this is the right time, so what can Xu play? Ask online, urgent! ”

(End of chapter)