Chapter 109: Transactions Flying All Over the Sky

On the night of his victory, Zheng Yang received countless calls and text messages, all from his friends. Of course, there was only one purpose, which was to celebrate his victory.

Zheng Yang was also very excited tonight and didn't go to bed so early, so he replied to all the messages.

The next day, the Mavericks flew back to Dallas. When they got out of the airport, everyone was shocked. The entire airport was surrounded by enthusiastic fans.

They held up posters, wore Dallas jerseys and chanted “Champions Champions Champions.”

Many police officers were nearby to maintain order and avoid stampedes.

You have to know that these fans came here on their own initiative. The Mavericks didn't call them here specifically for the sake of face.

They themselves didn't expect that so many fans would come, so of course they were surprised.

Zheng Yang, who was the first to appear, held the O'Brien Trophy in his left hand and held high the FMVP trophy in his right hand, showing their beauty to everyone.

Although the distance was far and the noise was loud, the fans couldn't hear what he was saying, but from the smile on his face everyone knew how excited he was.

The Mavericks team stayed at the airport for a while, but in order not to affect the normal operation of the airport, they left by bus soon after, and the crowd began to disperse.

Anyway, there will be a championship parade later, and that will be the climax of this carnival!

After returning to Dallas, they first met the team owner Cuban. This guy hugged everyone in the team, although it can be seen from his body language that his favorite player in the team is still Dirk Nowitzki!

Although he was also very enthusiastic about Zheng Yang, for some reason, Zheng Yang felt that Nowitzki was the core of the team and he was just a thug.

Although he is important to this team, Nowitzki is the owner of this team.

Zheng Yang concealed his inner strangeness very well. Now was not the time to talk about this. They had just won the championship and it was time to have a good party.

Everyone went home to rest for a while, and then Cuban invited them to the hotel for a good meal. After the meal, they prepared to go to the nightclub to party.

Zheng Yang really wanted to go, but he was not old enough, so he had to go home.

Finley scoffed before leaving.

"Baby Zheng, go home and sleep quickly. Now is the time for you to grow. By the way, you are not allowed to drink secretly. You are so young, you can't drink, hahaha!"

The others also started laughing. Zheng Yang rolled his eyes at them and then drove back home.

In the following period, Zheng Yang was very busy. He received many interview invitations, banquets from many business and political leaders, and Adidas was also planning to design his sneakers during this period...

In short, things happened one after another, and many things were difficult to shirk, so Zheng Yang had no choice but to deal with these things first.

On June 6, Zheng Yang squeezed out some time to watch this year's draft.

In fact, this year is a weak draft year. The only player who really reached the star level is Chris Paul, who was picked fourth.

Most of the others are mediocre and eventually get lost in the crowd.

It is worth mentioning that the No. 1 pick in this year's draft is Andrew Bogut, who was selected by the Bucks.

From now on, there will be one more "dirty" player in the league!
On July 2nd, the Mavericks' championship parade officially began. Everyone had a great time that day. They accepted interviews from the media and then interacted with the fans in various ways.

After the championship parade ended, the heat of this year's finals began to slowly wane, and the league entered its long offseason.

And this is when teams are looking for trades!
Zheng Yang didn't rest for a whole day and went straight to a small stadium nearby. Melo and Wade had been waiting for him there for a long time.

The two of them started calling him two days after the finals, urging him to join their championship club.

Without Zheng Yang, the club suddenly became much less interesting.

But Zheng Yang had been busy with other things recently and had no time to come over. He finally rushed over after finishing all his things in the past two days.

It's really funny. During the playoffs some time ago, I felt like vomiting from playing basketball. Now, I haven't played basketball for more than half a month, and I feel itchy instead.

The three brothers gathered together and started a new round of training!

While these three were working hard and making continuous progress in the gym, the trading market also began to surge!
On August 8, a trade involving 3 players from five teams, including the Heat, Celtics, Hornets, Grizzlies and Jazz, took place, which became the largest trade in NBA history.

The Heat got the fat man Antoine Walker from the Celtics, and got "White Chocolate" Jason Williams and perimeter defense expert James Bochy from the Grizzlies.

At the same time, the team also signed a new five-year contract worth $100 million with O'Neal and renewed the contract with power forward Haslem.

This wave of operations not only consolidated the team's core lineup, but also strengthened it. Obviously, the Heat management was very dissatisfied with last season's elimination in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Their goal is still to win the championship!

On August 8, the SuperSonics renewed the contract with their free agent Ray Allen.

On August 8, the Mavericks renewed the contract with free agent Armstrong and abandoned Michael Finley.

There is a big story behind the Mavericks' abandonment of Michael Finley.

During the 05 offseason, the league added an amnesty clause. Originally, this clause was intended to resolve the contract of mid-range shooting king Ali Houston. But who would have thought that the Knicks would go back on their word and use it to cut off trash dog Jerome Williams.

The Mavericks, who also had an amnesty clause, eventually used it to cut Finley. Compared with other players who were also cut: Reggie Miller, who is about to retire, and Alonzo Mourning, who is half disabled, Finley is undoubtedly the biggest name in this group of players.

After this incident was reported in the newspaper, it attracted the attention and discussion of countless people. No one understood why the Mavericks, who had just won the championship, would cut off the previous team leader Michael Finley?

We just won the championship, isn’t it time to reward the heroes?

Although Finley's tactical position in the team has been declining, after all, he averaged 12 points per game last season!

In fact, there are two reasons why Cuban wanted to cut Finley: one is money and the other is time.

目前芬利的合同是01年与小牛队签下的7年1.023亿，而现在，这份合同还剩下3年5067万。

By choosing the amnesty clause, although Cuban still needs to pay the 5067 million, he can save million in luxury tax.

In today's era, this amount of money is not small.

But this reason is not the point. The point is another point. Michael Finley is already 31 years old, averaging only 12 points per game, but with a contract of more than million, what role should he play in the team next?

How much playing time should he be allowed per game?
Michael Finley spent 9 years with the Mavericks, 3 of which he led the league in playing time. His average playing time per game over the 9 years was 37.8 minutes, making him one of the league's top hard workers.

But now the team is full of talents, whether it is Nowitzki, Zheng, Jason Terry, or Big Ugly, they are all more suitable to start than Finley.

No team can afford to have a player making $1700 million a year sitting on the bench, not even the Mavericks.

But now they can't sell it. No team is willing to take over Michael Finley's contract. After careful consideration, Cuban can only choose to cut Michael Finley.

Cutting a player who averages 12 points per game will hurt the team, but not too much.

But the point is that Michael Finley is the veteran of the team and Nowitzki's elder brother. Cuban's move is somewhat inhumane.

Finley was also shocked when he heard the news. He knew that the league had introduced a new amnesty clause, but he never thought that this clause would be used on him.

He doesn't understand why!
After Michael Finley was cut, many teams extended olive branches to him.

During this period, not every team has a need for cut players, but Michael Finley appears to be quite competitive among this group of players.

After all, although he cannot become the core of the team, he is still a very good piece of the championship puzzle.

After the Suns, Pistons, Heat, and Timberwolves all offered contracts, the Spurs also offered a three-year, $3 million contract. In pursuit of the championship and to slap his old club in the face, Michael Finley put on the Spurs jersey.

At this point, the Mavericks' big brother left the team where he had been for 9 years.

On August 8, the Suns traded free agent Joe Johnson to the Hawks in a sign-and-trade for Boris Diaw and two future first-round draft picks.

On August 8, an even more important piece of news came: Nelson Sr. resigned...

He resigned as head coach of the Mavericks due to a shoulder injury, and was replaced by assistant coach Avery Johnson.

This was also news that shocked the entire league, especially the fans in Dallas. They did not expect that the white-haired old man who was always swearing would leave the team.

They are unwilling to accept this fact.

As for Zheng Yang, in fact, he already knew the news before the Mavericks officially announced it.

Old Nelson called him late one night, and his first words were: "Zheng, I'm leaving!"

He didn't give too many reasons, but Zheng Yang has been with the Mavericks for two years, so how could he not know the reasons?

There are two reasons why Nelson left the team. One is as he said, he has a shoulder injury and is old. He finally achieved the goal of winning the championship and is indeed a little tired now.

I want to take a break!

The second reason is because of Cuban. Starting from the first two seasons, Cuban began to slowly regain control of the team's top management.

He does love basketball, but he will only allow the team to be in his hands. This is his primary goal, and everything else comes second.

What's more, the team won the championship this year, so the most important thing for him now is to take control of the entire team.

As for old Nelson, he already had a high prestige in the team, and now that he led the team to win the championship, his prestige has reached a new level.

This is obviously not good news for Cuban.

So after making some small moves, old Nelson also understood what he meant. He never wanted to compete with Cuban for power. Now that the championship has been won, it is time to retire.

So he submitted his resignation request to Cuban, citing shoulder injury as the reason. Cuban did not try to persuade him to stay and quickly approved his application.

The news was then communicated to the outside world.

Is Zheng Yang willing to let old Nelson leave?
Of course he was reluctant to leave, as his mentor was about to leave the team. From now on, he would no longer appear on the bench in the stadium, but only in the audience seats.

But he respects the other party's choice!

"No matter what, you will always be my coach!"

“Haha, now I’m just your fan. I’ve wanted to sit in the audience and quietly appreciate your performance on the court for a long time.

Now I can finally realize this wish!
Come on, Zheng, I look forward to your second and third championships. You will be on par with Michael Jordan. I have no doubt about this."

That night, the two chatted for a long time!

On September 9, the Heat, who have been active this offseason, announced the signing of Gloveman Gary Payton.

At this time, Payton was already old and no longer had the strength to serve as a starting player for a championship team.

But for the championship, Payton is willing to become an important bench player for the team. He is 37 years old this year. He feels the sense of urgency that Malone had during the Lakers F4 period two years ago.

If he doesn't win the championship, he will really have no chance. It doesn't matter even if he plays as a substitute, as long as he can win the championship.

At this point, some major transactions in the league have basically been completed before the start of the new season.

The Mavericks, who successfully won the championship this year, did not make many moves during this offseason. They lost head coach Nelson and important rotation player Michael Finley.

But they only signed free agents Doug Christie and DeSagana Diop, as well as a few other inconsequential water cooler attendants.

If we ignore the players' progress during the offseason and look purely at the strength on paper, the Mavericks in the new season are not as good as they were last season.

Of course, their core lineup has not changed, their starting five are still there, and they are still the strongest contender for the championship in the new season.

When all Western Conference teams think about competing for the championship, they must consider what they should do if they meet the Mavericks in the playoffs.

They must take this as an assumption and make some reinforcements in related areas to avoid losing to the Mavericks in the new season.

And for the Mavericks, is their goal for the new season to defend their title?
For some people: Yes!

But for some, maybe not!
In their hearts, some things take priority over defending the title!
(End of this chapter)