Dempsey nodded with a puzzled look.

Tang Tian's train of thought was a little too fast, and he couldn't react for a moment.

"Then the teams that voted in favor can probably be guessed, right?"

Tang Tian continued to ask.

Dempsey nodded.

Although it was a secret ballot, Tang Tian was asking about something that could be known from the team representatives' speeches at the meeting and private exchanges.

"I guess the Clippers, and the teams you contacted afterward, must have all voted in favor."

Tang Tian said with a smile, his expression looking quite calm.

Dempsey pondered for a while, then continued to nod.

He hadn't noticed it until Tang Tian mentioned it, but the teams he'd approached were all competitive for the playoffs, had cap space, and had good relationships with him.

Tang Tian was saying things he hadn't thought of before, but on closer inspection, that was indeed the case.

"So it's not surprising at all that they would vote in favor. It's highly likely that they had private deals with Xiao Hua, but, aren't there still 6 votes against!"

Tang Tian's next words made Dempsey suddenly realize.

The teams that voted in favor would agree to Xiao Hua's request, but those who disagreed might not, or were even very likely not to!

After all, if I don't want you to return as president, why should I do you a favor?

"Okay, I'll contact those 5 teams."

Dempsey was suddenly enlightened and couldn't wait any longer.

Tang Tian didn't stop him, but turned around and started chatting with Walker.

At this moment, no one could stop him from taking revenge on society!

Tang Tian's idea was right. Among the other five teams that didn't support Xiao Hua, some were extremely interested in Williams.

The Utah Jazz.

The Jazz's owner's attitude at the meeting was very clear. Like the Pelicans, they supported Tatum and opposed Xiao Hua.

And they were also a Western Conference team contending for the playoffs.

Although Hayward was likely to leave, they didn't plan to rebuild, but to continue to challenge for the playoffs.

This was the reason why they had previously been rumored to be involved in a sign-and-trade deal with the Pelicans, and now with the Bucks!

They wanted to maintain their roster, then strengthen it, and continue to challenge for the playoffs.

Williams was a very suitable candidate for them.

Their current guards, rookie Mitchell, newly signed Rubio, including fellow fourth-year players Hood and Dante Exum, were not the type of players with strong scoring bursts.

They needed a strong scoring point off the bench, and Williams was that person.

More importantly, after losing Hayward, their salary was far below the salary cap, and they could directly use a trade exception to absorb Williams' contract!

This was the best trading partner.

The two teams quickly reached a consensus after contacting each other.

Woj also quickly reported the content of the trade between the two sides.

The Pelicans would send out Williams in exchange for a future second-round pick from the Jazz and a trade exception worth about 7 million!

And soon, Williams passed the physical.

This result left fans dumbfounded.

It was said that the physical examination was unqualified, but it passed after changing places?

Was there something wrong with the Clippers' testing equipment? Or did Williams' injury recover within two days?

There was constant complaining on social media, but the trade was still successfully completed.

Moreover, shortly after this trade was completed, although the trade market was very narrow, the Pelicans still sent Boban to Detroit after paying enough assets.

Woj also reported the details of the trade as soon as possible.

The Pelicans sent out Boban Marjanovic, a second-round pick from the Wizards, and two future second-round picks of their own, to get Michael Benaje (non-guaranteed contract) and a trade exception worth 7 million from the Pistons.

After completing this trade, the Pelicans cut Benaje.

The Pistons, like the Jazz, also voted against it, and like the Jazz, they had cap space and wanted to compete for the playoffs.

Although Boban didn't have many opportunities with the Pelicans last season, he was still good enough to be Drummond's backup.

And the key was getting 3 second-round picks, making this trade very worthwhile for them.

The Pelicans paid a little too much, but after completing these two trades in succession, they suddenly had nearly 24 million in salary cap space!

As long as they sent out Bojan, 34 million in space would be more than enough to give Walker a maximum salary!

"Enough."

However, when Dempsey was preparing to trade Bojan, Walker came out to stop him.

"I'll sign a 1+1 contract, and I can accept a 5 million pay cut."

"I know what you want to say, Tang, aren't we going to take revenge on society? We have to keep Bojan."

With one sentence each, Walker blocked Dempsey and Tang Tian's words.

After Holiday, Jokic, Ariza, Williams, and Bojan were successively traded, there weren't many people left on the Pelicans' roster.

Besides the four of them, among the remaining players, only Bojan was an immediate contributor besides Brogdon.

Harrell still needed to continue to grow, Siakam was also a sophomore who hadn't shown anything yet, and then there was Thomas Bryant, who was still a rookie.

If Bojan left, their bench would be a big problem.

Tang Tian finally agreed.

After this, he would do everything possible to get Walker a maximum salary contract next year.

"Some people are completely untrustworthy! Angry emoji"

The next day, Celtics general manager Ainge posted such a status on Twitter.

Ainge was always known for being shrewd and calculating, and this tweet left fans puzzled.

But soon, they knew the answer.

According to Woj's report, the Pelicans and free agent Kemba Walker reached a two-year, $49.2 million contract.

According to Woj's follow-up report, this was a 1+1 contract, with the second year being a player option.

Ainge had brilliant plans, he had been waiting for Walker to compromise, but he never expected that he would get such a result.

Now Walker was gone, and Irving was gone. He had schemed and schemed, but in the end, he got nothing!

No wonder he would post such a tweet, it was obvious that he was furious.

But, after Woj revealed the follow-up trade, this was no longer the focus of the fans' attention.

The focus was that Walker was going to join the Pelicans!

"Damn it! I finally know the Pelicans' purpose in trading Holiday, Ariza, and Williams, it's to free up space to sign Walker!"

"Haha, what did I say before? I said that Walker and Butler would both go to the Pelicans, a divine prediction!"

"You're awesome, this is a huge game of chess, it started from the moment Holiday was sent to Dallas!"

"Sorry Dempsey, you deserve to be the league's best general manager, I misunderstood you!"

"fxck! Walker, Butler, Tang, Davis, tell me louder, who is the champion?!"

"Lak...Pelicans champion!"

"Who can stand this! The other teams send out a fxck.you from their hearts and say that we don't want to play anymore! ☄ฺ(◣д◢)☄ฺ"

"It's really desperate, how the hell are we supposed to play against this?! We can't beat them even if we hit our heads! My God! I don't know what to say anymore, despair!"

"Let's just tank, there's no suspense about the championship next season, whoever competes is an idiot!"

ps: Special thanks to _john_ for the ten thousand reward!!