In Seattle, Washington, Vice President Ballmer is playing at a golf course with several executives and friends.

"Do any of you know what contract the supersonic have for Iron Fist? I see a lot of media talking about the possibility of Iron Fist going to the Lakers and Warriors, why can't I see the news of the media discussing Iron Fist coming to the SuperSounds? He asked suddenly.

One executive immediately said, "Steve, as far as I know, SuperSonics have contacted the Pistons and handed in a quote. ”

"The result?" Ballmer asked.

The man said: "The Pistons want Gary Payton + Sean Kemp, the SuperSonics don't agree, and then there is no follow-up." ”

"What?"

Ballmer was stunned, the ball stopped playing, handed the club to the caddy, and asked the executive, "Is your news true?" ”

"You can't be wrong, I have a friend who is the vice president of operations at HyperSonic, and he told me." The executive said.

A friend of Ballmer, who is also a director of Microsoft, said at this time: "The SuperSonics were eliminated by the Suns by a score of 3-4 in the Western Conference finals this time, I think they think the lineup is good, and they don't want to make a big move, right?" ”

"Sean Kemp's dunk is so exciting, he and Gary Payton work very well together, and SuperSonics are selling very well now, which may be why they are reluctant to break up the lineup." Someone said.

"I don't think Barry Aakley wants to take the money out, Iron Fist's next contract is not small, and he can't bear it." Someone said again.

"Steve, do you want the supersonic to trade Iron Fist?" A friend asked.

Ballmer smiled: "I played with Bill last year, at the Celebrity Golf Charity Tournament in Los Angeles, and he was a very good person, winning Jordan hundreds of thousands of dollars, and donated it all.

I think the SuperSonics should trade him, because his quality can help the SuperSonics go to the next level, and I mean to reach the Finals, not just the Western Conference Finals. ”

"Steve, do you think about the ball market?" Someone said.

Ballmer nodded, he understood what the friend meant.

The SuperSonics were Seattle's first professional team, but over the years, Seattle has introduced many sports, such as MLB's professional baseball team, NFL's professional football team, NHL's professional ice hockey team, and the four major sports leagues.

In contrast, the development of these post-brought teams is better, and then there are also the NCAA football teams and baseball teams, and the ice hockey teams are also very competitive, and the development of the SuperSonics in Seattle is lagging behind.

However, in the past few years, because of the Sean Kemp, the ball market has come up, but if Kemp is traded to the Pistons, then the ball market is not easy to say, although the strength of Iron Fist is very strong, but in terms of box office appeal, the attraction of Beast Flow Kemp should be a little greater.

"I love basketball and am interested in investing in the supersonics."

After saying that, he added: "The super performance in the Finals, the super performance against Jordan in the second round, has proven that he is the kind of superstar who can play super in key moments, he is not a superstar in the regular season, and I think he will come here and definitely make the SuperSonics a real championship-caliber team." As for the ball market, I think as long as there is a record, there will be a ball market.

And I think Tekken's style of play is also very good, very ornamental, he is in Seattle, the ball market is definitely not bad, this season the Pistons attendance is good. ”

Everyone was stunned, why did Ballmer suddenly want to buy hypersound, was it influenced by Paul Allen?

But it's not surprising that Ballmer has always loved basketball, and for him, buying a professional team from the big four sports leagues is not a big deal.

In fact, the reason why Ballmer wants to buy supersonic is actually just an idea, he is in charge of Microsoft's sales business, and recently he is thinking about the development of the Chinese market, which is a super large market, he needs a suitable spokesperson, and Zhou Quan is undoubtedly the most suitable.

It would be best if the SuperSonics could trade Zhou Quan, but now the SuperSonics are unwilling to trade, so he will consider buying the team and bringing Zhou to Seattle himself.

Of course, no matter where Zhou Quan plays, Microsoft can ask him to be a spokesperson, but coming to the supersonic is the best result, and he actually has the idea of investing in a professional team to have fun, and watching his team play when he has nothing to do is also a good leisure experience.

At this time, a meeting on Zhou Quan was also being held at the supersonic headquarters.

A group of management, centered around owner Barry Ackley, doesn't want to trade, but there is a part of management that wants to trade the week.

General manager Bob Whithitt, who single-handedly drafted Sean Camp and Gary Payton, has built the current supersonic lineup, and has a bright future ahead of this year's Western Conference finals, and he is confident that this lineup will have a chance to challenge for a championship.

However, he also wanted to get Iron Fist, believing that Iron Fist would make this team stronger, so he previously handed over an offer to the Pistons.

But owner Barry Ackley has expressed his displeasure with him, arguing that he should not be involved in trading Iron Fist.

He understood the boss's thoughts, the contract that Iron Fist wanted was too big, and the boss was unwilling to come up with so much money, after all, it was a 100 million yuan contract.

And as long as the Pistons are Gary Payton and Sean Kemp, the purpose is clear, and the core of the interior and outside plus Joe Dumas and Rodman, the Pistons will still be a championship-level team next season, and even more invincible.

At the same time, Sean Kemp can also help the Pistons stabilize and grow the ball market, and the Pistons can use this trade to resurrect and complete the rebuild.

In addition, Gary Payton and Sean Kemp are both on rookie contracts, which helps the Pistons control costs.

Payton only has an annual salary of 2.38 million next season, with a total of three years left on his contract, while Kemp also has two years of contract, 750,000 and 1 million respectively, which is frighteningly cheap and very cost-effective.

He couldn't have had the Pistons complete such a super rebuild, and with the pressure from the owner, the deal was aborted after the Pistons refused.

As the owner of the team, Barry Ackley has thought very clearly and is very sensible, the current squad has reached the Western Finals, why take the risk of trading Iron Fist and tearing up this team?

And the team is very popular with fans, Sean Kemp brings a lot of ball market to the SuperSonics, and he doesn't want to trade the Rain Man.

More importantly, the contract that Iron Fist wants is too big, he doesn't want to come up with so much money at all, a contract of 100 million yuan, you must know that when he bought the team, it was only more than 10 million US dollars.

At this time, his assistant came in and whispered: "Boss, Mr. Chels, the personal assistant of Microsoft President Ballmer, contacted me just now......"

"What's the matter?" Stunned, Akeley immediately asked.

"He said Mr. Ballmer was interested in buying the team, $80 million."

Ackley was stunned, it was too sudden, what did Ballmer do when he bought his team? At the price of 80 million, he was really a little impressed.

In the past two years, the supersonic ball market has grown, coupled with a good record, and has reached the playoffs for three consecutive years, and this year it has reached the Western Conference Finals, last year the team only reached the second round and did not make any money, but this year with the income of the Western Finals, it earned nearly two million US dollars.

However, two million compared to eighty million, the gap is a bit big, he spent $16 million to buy the team in 83, ten years later, only this year has made some money, fortunately, the value of the league has increased, and the team is also appreciating, if you make a move at this time, it is good to make money, not to mention that the price must be negotiable, Ballmer is not short of money.

Thinking of this, his heart really moved.

"Boss, what should I do?" That's when someone asked.

"That's the end of the meeting."

Barry Ackley dropped a word and left with his assistant.

The management level looked at each other, and then they also dispersed.

……

At six o'clock in the afternoon, Zhou Quan returned to the hotel from the golf course, and was about to take a shower and go to dinner with Christina Yeri when Philip suddenly called.

"Zhou, Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen is here, coming from Portland by private jet, and he's about to arrive at the hotel."

Zhou Quan, who was soaking in the bathtub, said with some surprise: "The pioneer has never contacted us, what's the matter?" ”

Philip shrugged his shoulders and said, "Who knows, but Paul Allen came to see you, and he must have wanted to trade you, that's for sure." ”

In just half an hour, Philip flew to the hotel, and more than twenty minutes later, Paul Allen appeared at the hotel where Zhou Quan was staying.

There was a media reporter outside the hotel, it was Yu Ji, who saw Paul Allen appear, immediately put away his camera and followed the elevator.

Paul Allen is a playboy who often dates models and female celebrities, and he thinks he has some luck today and should be able to shoot something good.

Paul Allen and Hans Wilde stopped on the 32nd floor, stepped out of the elevator, and saw Zhou Quan and Philip.

"Hello, Mr. Allen." Philip walked up enthusiastically.

"Hello ......"

Paul Allen walked up and held out his hand with a smile on his face.

"Click, click, click......"

When the reporter who came out saw Zhou Quan, he knew that he was wrong, so he immediately turned on the camera and took pictures.

Zhou Quan and Philip were stunned, why did Paul Allen still bring a reporter?

Paul Allen was also stunned, but he didn't expect the man who came up with him to be a reporter.

"Mr. Allen, Mr. Wilt, let's go in and talk." Philip hurriedly said.

"Okay." The two smiled and nodded.

"Mr. Allen, are you looking to trade Iron Fist this time?" The reporter asked, seizing the last opportunity.

But no one answered his question, but he wasn't disappointed, and immediately took out his phone and began contacting a news producer on Los Angeles TV to get the news out for sale.

"Iron Fist, I want you to come to Portland, I want the Trail Blazers to have a leader who can decide future championships, I want to have a superstar who can beat the Bulls and Michael Jordan, you don't have to worry about the contract at all, that's not a problem, it's not a problem to invest in the team."

"Iron Fist, you've been the absolute leader since you came to the Trailblazers......

Paul Allen, a business tycoon who loves sports, sat down and immediately got straight to the point, saying that Wilt, the general manager, might have promised a lot of conditions.

"Two, I feel the sincerity from the pioneers......"

Zhou Quan coped with a smile on his face, but he didn't plan to promise anything, the pioneer gave him the impression that it was a rotten pit.

This season, a group of Trail Blazers players had sex with a couple of underage girls at a party while playing on the road, but they were leveled by the team and didn't cause a big incident.

This incident made him have an opinion about the Trail Blazers, not only the players are bad, but the management's management of the players is also bad, too indulgent players, and the media has repeatedly poked out the unique problem of the Trail Blazers' locker room, and the management level is too poor.

The Bad Boys, despite their notoriety, didn't do anything like that, and in his opinion, the Pistons management was much stricter than the Trail Blazers' management, so he didn't really want to work with such management.

Paul Allen is indeed a man who loves basketball very much, and his investment does not return at all, but that is not a reason for him to go to the Trail Blazers.

However, he didn't like it or not, and his heart didn't show it, and it was not easy to refuse a big business boss like someone like him to come to Los Angeles to see him in person, but his attitude was the same as that of the Lakers, not rejecting the Trail Blazers, and the team would go to make a deal with the Pistons by itself.

Paul Allen is not disappointed, and the purpose of his trip is to get a chance to compete fairly with the Lakers.

He left after spending half an hour in Zhou Quan's room, and by the time he left, the news of his meeting with Zhou Quan at the hotel had spread throughout the United States through Los Angeles television.

"Paul Allen?"

Lakers owner Buss Sr. got the news from his staff, and his brows suddenly furrowed.

……

Houston, the glider Drexler who returned to his hometown is fishing with his good friend Big Dream Olajuwon, the agent called, and when he heard the news of Paul Allen's secret meeting with Iron Fist, he couldn't believe it, the management hesitated, and the boss personally traded Iron Fist?

His relationship with Tekken is okay, and Jordan on the All-Star team will not participate in the fight against Tekken in order to woo Big Dream and Barkley, if he can join forces with Tekken...... The thought of this made him go crazy with excitement.

"No, I'm not going to trade chips, am I?" But when he thought about it, he really couldn't laugh.

"Clyde, you're going to have a lot of luck." Da Meng looked envious, jealous and unwilling.

"Who told you to get together with Jordan against Iron Fist?" The glider laughed.

Da Meng snorted coldly and said: "Anyway, our boss is so stingy that he won't give Iron Fist a big contract, we can't get him in the first place." ”

The glider smiled, now he only hopes that the team's trade chip is Trickert, not him, otherwise he will go to the Pistons' rotten hole that no longer wants to compete for championships, and this life will be over, and there will never be a chance to win Michael Jordan.

Soon after, Pistons general manager Troy Weaver received a call from Roger Phillip.

"Iron Fist wants the Trail Blazers to join the deal?"

Troy Weaver hadn't gotten off work yet, he was almost dizzy, and when he received this call, he hurriedly asked his assistant to find information about the Trail Blazers and began to study the trade with the Trail Blazers.

He is already negotiating a trade with the Lakers and the Warriors, both teams are very arrogant, directly let him pick, and the whole team is on the shelf, but he is not too satisfied.

The Lakers' players are not attractive to him, because the Lakers have no one who can be the core of the Pistons' future rebuild, and the Lakers' future draft picks are not very attractive, because once the Lakers get the Iron Fist, the future draft picks will not be worth much, and most likely they are not even lottery picks, so he doesn't want to trade with the Lakers.

The Warriors are better, with three outside lines all doing well, worm Tim Hardaway, Chris Mullin, rookie Swilleiwell, and the 91-year-old star show, forward Billy Owens, who opened his mouth to exchange one for three, but the Warriors only agreed to one for two at most.

But between the Warriors and the Lakers, he still leans towards the Warriors, Iron Fist for Bugs, point guard for point guard, plus Billy Owens, but now that there is one more Trail Blazer, he can only reconsider the trade.

"Sir, here's a quote from the Trailblazers."

"Bring it."

Soon, his assistant came in again.

Take a look at it, the main chip is Tripbert, the main point guard of the Trail Blazers, and the All-Star backup guard of the year, but it is okay.

In addition to Tripbert, there are two decent role players, and the rest are the Trail Blazers' first-round picks protected by the top five in '94 and '95.

With plenty of chips, Trickert in his playing years, and two future draft picks, the Trail Blazers weren't stingy and he started thinking about a deal.

The Trailblazer's glider was still in its prime, but Joe Dumas was a year younger than the glider, and he was still in his prime, with overlapping positions, and he didn't need it.

At present, in addition to the transaction of Zhou Quan, he also has an important job, how to renew the contract with Rodman in advance, Rodman only has one year left on his contract, and he cannot renew the contract in advance, and the best option is to trade Rodman out.

(End of chapter)