Xiao Hua officially returned. Although the future was full of uncertainty, it was at least temporarily stabilized.
After things stabilized, the signing of teams and free agents also began one after another.
LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Kyle Lowry, and others signed one after another.
Although the league president was replaced, it seemed that nothing like what Qiao Shouxin had done back then happened. Everything was proceeding smoothly.
New York headquarters.
Xiao Hua was in communication with Joe Borgia.
Borgia was one of the vice presidents during Tatum's time, and his main job before was to be responsible for replays and referee operations.
However, his relationship with Tatum was like Tatum's relationship with Xiao Hua, always at odds.
Now that Xiao Hua had returned, the first thing he did was to promote Borgia to his chief vice president.
"Everything is going smoothly. There haven't been as many dissenting voices as expected. It seems that this year's probationary period will pass smoothly."
Borgia was promoted and became Xiao Hua's most loyal subordinate.
Xiao Hua couldn't hide the smile on his face after hearing this.
He knew very well what the owners liked, so Tatum, Tang Tian, and the others had only managed to force him down for half a season last season, which was already the limit.
Now that the situation was stable, the two were celebrating their reinstatement at headquarters.
"Are Tang Tian and the Pelicans reacting at all?"
After laughing, Xiao Hua still asked an extra question.
"No, in fact, players are just tools for playing. Even if he is the league's number one, the owners won't care. The labor side has no say; the capital side controls everything."
Borgia said with a smile.
Xiao Hua nodded after hearing this.
"Moreover, the league's number one can be completely promoted. As long as it can help LeBron win a championship in Cleveland, then isn't that number one his?"
Borgia continued.
Xiao Hua burst into laughter after hearing this.
This Borgia had many ideas, a flexible mind, and was especially liked by him.
The biggest reason for his last failure was the lack of a strategist like Borgia.
Now, after hibernating for half a year, he had returned and also summarized the previous experiences and lessons.
This time, no one, and absolutely no one, would be able to stop him again!
Just as the signings of various teams were proceeding one after another, Woj broke the news of a minor piece of news.
Walker did not reach an agreement with the Celtics immediately. The main reason was that he was concerned about the contract situation of the Celtics' team option.
The Celtics were also unwilling to budge.
Danny Ainge's mind was sharp.
No teams were offering Walker a contract at all. The Celtics were the team that could offer Walker the biggest contract on the market.
Delaying, the Celtics could afford to delay, but Walker couldn't.
So he just needed to wait patiently for Walker to compromise.
However, there were too many big-name signings on this day, and Walker's presence wasn't that strong.
Everyone also felt that Walker's signing was only a matter of time.
Moreover, compared to Walker's signing, another piece of news that broke out on this day was obviously more concerning to them.
Because of the intervention of the Cavaliers and the Bucks, the Pacers gave up the idea of sending George to the Thunder!
According to Shams's latest news, the Cavaliers, Pacers, and Bucks were likely to reach a three-way trade.
In this trade, Irving, George, and Middleton would become the core of the three-way trade!
This news was the kind that fans cared about the most!
Irving's departure from the Cavaliers was a foregone conclusion, but because he still had two years left on his contract, his trade value was higher than George's.
So the possibility of this trade succeeding was very high.
But this was a bitter pill for Thunder fans. They were waiting for the Big Three to take shape, but now they were told it was gone?
The pigeon, one of the three essential natures of mankind?
Thunder fans were constantly complaining on social media.
However, before they could finish complaining, another piece of news from Woj immediately attracted the fans' attention again.
The Pelicans added Jokic to the negotiation chips, which allowed them to quickly leave other teams behind. It was expected that they and the Mavericks would reach a deal in a very short time.
Several powerful teams in the East and West took turns taking the stage, what a lively scene!
"Should we try to prevent their trade?"
At New York headquarters, Borgia asked Xiao Hua.
Xiao Hua shook his head.
Neither the Pelicans nor the Mavericks were teams that the league managed like the Hornets back then, and his relationship with both teams was only average.
It would be quite difficult to prevent them from completing this trade.
Moreover, even if this trade was made, it would have limited improvement on the Pelicans.
Butler was still a 20 million max salary. If the Pelicans wanted to trade for him, in addition to sending out Jokic, they would also have to send out Ariza or Bogdanovic, and even a sweetener like Williams.
This was equivalent to one-third of the championship lineup's rotation leaving, which was not necessarily a good thing for the Pelicans.
Anyway, they could mess around, but in the end, it would all be in vain.
Last season, the Warriors, even without the help of the referees, had a difficult time against the Pelicans. Now, a bunch of people were exchanging small change for Butler, which was just a stopgap measure.
On the contrary, he was very happy that they had publicly said they wouldn't change the lineup before, but now they were starting to trade again. This kind of approach of messing up the formation because of his return made him feel very good.
On the third day after the end of the freeze period, the signing of free agents was basically completed.
It was also on this day that the three-way trade, which had previously attracted much discussion among fans, was finally completed.
As with the news that Shams had previously revealed, Irving, George, and Middleton became the main bodies of this three-way trade.
The Cavaliers sent out Irving, got Paul George and the Bucks' 2018 and 2020 second-round picks.
The Bucks sent out Middleton, Jabari Parker, and the 2018 and 2020 second-round picks, got Irving and the Pacers' 2018 first-round pick (lottery protected).
The Pacers sent out George and the 2018 first-round pick (lottery protected), got Middleton and Jabari Parker.
This trade met the needs of all three parties.
For the Cavaliers, Irving's departure was inevitable. This trade stopped the bleeding in time, and they only needed to sign a point guard in the free market;
For the Bucks, forming a dual-core of Irving and Antetokounmpo, they also had the strength to further strengthen themselves in the free market;
For the Pacers, they also got their biggest return. Middleton was a high-energy contract with a high-quality low salary in the league. Parker, as the second overall pick, had 20 points per game last season. He would be put on the shelves by the Bucks only because he suffered a major injury. The Pacers could take a gamble.
This three-way trade shocked the league, but the fans' reaction was okay, after all, the main framework of the trade had been exposed by Shams before.
Just as fans were still discussing the details of the trade, the news that Woj broke also detonated the fans' eyeballs again.
The Pelicans and the Mavericks reached a trade, sending out Jrue Holiday and Nikola Jokic, and trading Jimmy Butler from the Mavericks!