As soon as Christmas is over, 2007 will come to an end.

The SuperSonics survived the year with three straight wins.

On the first day of 2008, a year and a half after Clay Bennett formed a consortium to buy the SuperSonics, he released a positive signal for the first time that "the SuperSonics may stay in Seattle".

Bennett has announced that he will renovate the SuperSonics' existing training base and office building this summer, and that he will be deeply involved in the team's operations in the coming years.

This may seem like a common plan for the future, but it's anything but routine for Bennett.

Because preparations have been made for the relocation from the moment he acquired SuperSonics, every job he has done is a finishing touch before leaving, with the aim of alienating the team from its fans.

Now, he actually has to spend money to renovate the training base?

Also on this day, Bennett said in an internal meeting that the latest financing proposal, after evaluation, was found to have a number of shortcomings that were not suitable for submission to the municipality.

Then, Bennett also publicized the financing package in question.

I don't know if I don't see it, and I'm shocked when I see it.

The financing package calls for a $500 million stadium complex in the worst-case location.

As far as the location chosen in the scheme is concerned, it is unlikely that it will be approved by the municipality.

Everyone in the meeting agreed with Bennett about the plan, but they wondered how such an outrageous financing plan could have been developed.

If it weren't for the "wisdom" of the bosses, wouldn't they have sent this doomed plan to the city government?

But Bennett believes that it doesn't matter anymore, what matters is that they have identified the problem and now need a new financing package, which means they need more time to prepare.

Yu Fei did not relay the news that Buffett was willing to invest 20% of the construction funds in the new arena.

Because they don't even have a plan now, at least they have to wait for the new financing plan to come out before Yu Fei can reveal the news. And 20% investment is a general concept, if Bennett is crazy and wants a billion dollar arena, is Buffett going to invest $200 million? So, until Bennett comes up with a solid financing plan, Yu Fei won't say anything.

The news that Bennett had cut out the original financing plan suggests that things are changing. Because Yu Fei had already learned from Xiao Hua that the financing plan that Bennett was going to submit in the first place was terrible, and it was all scrap used to go through the process for the sake of rejection, and now, Bennett decided to make another financing plan.

This shows that Bennett has deviated from his original plan.

Yu Fei can be sure that after the end of this season, the SuperSonics will still stay in Seattle.

This was his first phase of success.

But it's not enough.

With no worries for the time being, Yu Fei decided to focus on the court.

After entering the new year, the SuperSonics and the Lakers have a difficult schedule.

In the first month of 2008, the SuperSonics will play nine playoff-caliber teams.

And half of these teams have a strong interior line.

After a sustained start to the season, the potential pitfalls of the supersonic were gradually exposed in January.

The young players, led by Durant, are too immature, and they can play good shots for a while, or bad shots for a while.

Especially Durant, when the supersonic opponents can't target Yu Fei, they will find a way to target the people around Yu Fei.

Roy quickly cracked all sorts of targets, and Durant, he quickly exposed his weakness of shattering at the touch and falling down at the first touch.

When your opponent increases the intensity against him, his touch drops quickly.

But the same problem has arisen with others, with Childis and Channing Frye both hitting low points, and Rashad Lewis often playing in the No. 5 position when Kwame Brown has foul problems, which also affects his hand.

Interior problems are continuing to radiate across the team.

This made Sam Presti seriously consider trading Rashad Lewis.

There's no denying that Lewis is well suited to flying.

It can even be said that on the offensive end, Lewis is the most suitable No. 4 position for flying in the whole league.

But the SuperSonics are not a championship-ready team, they have no foundation, no bench reserves.

The reason why they want to compete for the championship is only because of Yu Fei's joining.

The basic requirement for the first person in the league is that no matter which team he joins, he can make that team have the strength to compete for the championship.

Such is the case with hypersound.

According to Presti's original plan, the supersonic would need to spend another year or two to accumulate raw talent, but it happened too quickly.

Yu Fei set the tone as soon as he came.

Lewis also stayed.

But the problems that followed did not emerge until today.

When he was in Milwaukee, George Karl could let single-functional interior players like Leitner and Horry play the starter without any psychological burden, just to cooperate with Yu Fei on the offensive end. Because they still have ruthless people like Haslem, Pachuria, and Mutombo on the bench.

But the SuperSonics don't have such a good interior reserve, so the pressure on Kwame Brown is much greater than before, and once he is blown up, or has a foul problem, the interior becomes a hole.

That's why SuperSonics barely had a 50% win rate in January.

They won and lost one game steadily, because the inside line was too weak, and the outside line was unstable except for Yu Fei and Roy.

Yu Fei also out of the need to hone his low-post skills, greatly increased the low-post offense, and the low-post play more, the outside shooting feel will decrease, most of the month, Yu Fei's outside shooting rate is only 34%.

"It's worth it! As long as Frye has enough experience, he'll become a dominant low-post attacker. "We're still in the top four in the West, and it's not a problem with results, it's a problem with the inside, and we really need to strengthen the inside." ”

Presti offered to trade Rashad Lewis.

Moreover, he has good reason.

"Rashad stayed only because Frye came. He never wanted to stay in Seattle. As soon as our prospects are no longer clear, he will choose to leave. "Channing Frye can do most of Rassad's work, and if we can trade Rashad for a tougher insider, the lack of inside will be alleviated." ”

"It's not that it can't be considered, but the question is, who are we targeting?" ”

"The Pacers have always wanted to trade Jermaine O'Neal." Presti asked, "I heard that Jermaine and Frye are good friends?" ”

Karl nodded: "That's right, they have a good relationship." ”

"What do you think of this goal?"

"I don't think so."

Presti thought Karl would support the deal.

But Karl had a better reason: "Jermaine has had an injury record every year for the past few years, especially in the past two seasons, and his injury problems are very serious, and we need a guy who can stand under the basket, not a long-term hospital resident. On top of that, Jermaine is no longer Jermaine. ”

Presti also realized that she was in a hurry to go to the doctor.

Because his owner, Clay Bennett, has been concerned about the team more than ever before, and he wants to know why the team's interior line is so bad, and why they haven't made any moves since the interior line is so bad.

Since it was not appropriate to trade Xiao O, Presti had a bolder idea in her mind.

"George, what do you think of the other O'Neal?" Presti said, "Miami is peddling him. ”

A mysterious smile appeared on Carl's face.

"Is there something wrong?" Presti felt like she was just proposing a potential trade target.

Carl asked, "Do you miss San Antonio, Sam?" ”

"Occasionally."

"If you get that guy to Seattle, you'll be ready to go back." Karl said, "Frye will see you off personally." ”

This problem was partially solved by Yu Fei a few days later.

After internal discussions, the SuperSonics' coaching staff and management decided not to make any trades because there was no suitable candidate, and they preferred to wait until the trade deadline to see what was going on in the free market.

Then, Yu Fei remembered P.J. Brown, who was unemployed at home.

At the end of last season, Brown Sr. did not renew his contract with any team, and although he can still play, he doesn't really want to play anymore. Unless any team is willing to weave a credible title prospect for him.

At his peak, PJ Brown was a three-time All-Defensive Team and the NBA's iconic blue-collar center at the turn of the 21st century.

At the same time that the SuperSonics extended an invitation to Brown, the Spurs, who are No. 1 in the West, and the Celtics, who are No. 1 in the league, also extended invitations to him.

In terms of championship chances, Brown Sr. will of course choose the Celtics, which is also his first choice, but he did not completely reject Yu Fei.

"Da Fei, if you can beat Boston on the night of January 24th, I'll join your team."

That's what PJ Brown said to Fly.

In normal times, Yu Fei really doesn't care which team this old immortal goes to play to, but now it's different from the past, in order to reduce the pressure on his good brother (Kwamei), he really needs this old immortal to come to Seattle to play as a substitute.

So, he said directly to Brown Sr., "You can book a ticket to Boston on the 24th right now." ”

"You throw in the towel?"

"Nope." Yu Fei said, "I mean you can see with your own eyes how I defeated Boston. ”

Thanks for the tip

(End of chapter)