He gave a very official, even somewhat polite, answer, but it immediately sparked heated discussions among fans and the media.

Although he didn't give a direct answer, he didn't deny the possibility of leaving the Spurs!

But this was actually Tang Tian's true thought.

The reason he said this, instead of saying some lies to express his loyalty, was because he felt it was unnecessary.

Because the future free market itself is full of uncertainty.

If he really expressed his loyalty, but ended up leaving the Spurs, it would become fodder for some people to use against him.

So, he chose to tell the truth.

Back in San Antonio, Popovich opened a bottle of 1990 vintage red wine and pulled Tang Tian into his coaching office to chat.

"Don't take the benching thing to heart. It was a new rule the team set."

After drinking for a while, Popovich said.

"The game against the Rockets? Old Man, I forgot about that a long time ago."

When Popovich mentioned this, Tang Tian mostly guessed that he was looking for him because of the things he had said in the previous interview.

"I've coached in San Antonio for 22 years, 6 years as an assistant coach, 16 years as a head coach. This city is really great, and so is the culture here. In this commercial league, it's a rare quiet place."

Popovich's next words confirmed Tang Tian's guess.

"Yes, Old Man, I like this city, I like your coaching style, and I also like playing with Tim, Manu, and the others."

Tang Tian also told Duncan what was on his mind.

"Haha, that's good. Don't worry about the contract. I'll do my best to get it done."

Popovich smiled and raised his glass after hearing that.

What he wanted was exactly these words from Tang Tian.

Tang Tian also raised his glass, and the two drunks clinked glasses and drank it all in one gulp.

After drinking, Tang Tian returned to his apartment and lay on the bed, his mind full of thoughts.

The Spurs could offer him the biggest contract, and judging from the All-Star voting and endorsements, he didn't need a big city to increase his popularity.

So staying here would be a pretty good choice.

But he really didn't want to think about these things yet. After all, as a restricted free agent, the future wasn't entirely up to him.

The more he thought about it, the less sleepy he became, so he simply took out his phone and started planning another important matter.

This year's All-Star Game would be held on February 16th at the Toyota Center in Houston.

February 16th, in addition to being the All-Star Game day, was also Olsen's birthday.

Now that they were officially together, he couldn't pretend he didn't see it like he used to.

So he had to prepare properly.

Time entered February, and the All-Star Game was getting closer and closer.

In addition to constantly being asked by reporters whether he was willing to play for other teams, Tang Tian also received another invitation from the league for the Three-Point Contest.

But he refused.

Once you've won a championship in an individual event, that's enough.

He didn't need to rely on that kind of honor to make a living, so a few consecutive championships didn't have much appeal for him.

This year, he would basically only play in the Rookie Game and the All-Star Game itself.

While fans were looking forward to the All-Star Weekend, the management of each team began to get busy for the upcoming trade deadline.

This year's trade deadline was different from the lockout season last season. It was on February 22nd, which was the fourth day after the end of the All-Star Weekend.

So the All-Star Game was destined to be accompanied by all kinds of rumors.

Because the league was working hard to implement a new luxury tax policy, there were fewer rumors this year than in previous years.

Among them, the Magic and Lakers, the two teams involved in that four-team mega-deal in the summer, became the core of the rumors.

Because the trade value of the protected draft picks they got was constantly decreasing, the Magic began to pin their hopes on young players and were trying to "exchange cash" with other teams in various ways.

And the Lakers once had rumors that they were worried that Howard would not renew his contract next year and wanted to trade Howard.

But this rumor was quickly denied, and there were soon rumors that the Lakers had set their sights on the Suns' small forward, PJ Tucker.

In addition to the Magic and the Lakers, the Kings, Rockets, and Knicks were the three most active teams.

The Kings had completely given up on their lineup and began to sell off various young players.

The Rockets continued to make small fixes and patches in order to make the playoffs.

And the Knicks, after achieving unexpectedly good results, began to try to strengthen their team.

Basically, they were all small-scale moves.

But the day before the All-Star Game began, a piece of breaking news quickly became the focus of fans' attention.

According to Woj, the Rockets had made a trade proposal to the Spurs, offering Chandler Parsons in exchange for Tang Tian, but it was rejected by the Spurs.

As a second-year rookie, Parsons was averaging 15.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1 steal this season, with a shooting percentage of 48.6% and a three-point percentage of 38.5%.

His stats were second only to Harden on the Rockets, and not much worse than Tang Tian's, and as a second-year player, he had also shown very good potential.

In addition, he signed a four-year rookie contract with the Rockets, making his trade value very high.

Because Tang Tian would be facing a contract renewal next year, he might only have half a year left with the Spurs, but the Rockets were rejected when they offered Parsons, who had a four-year contract.

This could only mean that the Spurs valued Tang Tian very much, and were confident that they could keep Tang Tian next year.

Woj's news was very reliable, and the Rockets' move showed that they couldn't wait until next summer.

Alexander wanted to replicate Yao Ming's legendary story!

This caused a huge uproar, and also showed that in the hands of the managers of each team, Tang Tian's market value was very high.

The one who had the biggest headache during this period was Spurs general manager RC Buford.

Holt's order was very strict: no exceeding the luxury tax.

In the eyes of this owner who came from selling tractors, could Tang Tian, no matter how great and how much potential he had, be compared to Duncan?

Moreover, the team's current young players weren't just Tang Tian. Leonard and Green also had a lot of potential.

Even if you really calculated it, Tang Tian was just a top-notch 3D player who could pass the ball, and his ceiling was only a championship piece.

So on the Tang Tian matter, not exceeding the luxury tax was his bottom line.

As for the trade market, because the Spurs were defending their title, Buford couldn't move anyone on the team.

This meant that all the pressure was concentrated on next summer.

He now felt like a cat on a hot tin roof, and he might lose his position as the team's general manager.

On February 14th, with only 2 days left before the All-Star Game, Tang Tian, Leonard, and Duncan boarded a plane to Houston to participate in the 62nd NBA All-Star Game amidst the rumors.

Tang Tian was an All-Star starter, and Duncan was an All-Star reserve.

As for Leonard, he didn't participate in the All-Star Weekend last year, but he had made significant progress this year and would participate in the All-Star Rookie Game as a second-year player.