Chapter 1 The Inexplicable Trade

Throughout the long river of NBA history, as the season progresses, most trades are foreshadowed by news.

However, as history has repeatedly shown, some trades defy all logic until they actually happen.

Because reality can sometimes be more absurd than a Stephen Chow movie.

Chris Cohan had been in charge of the Warriors for 13 years since buying the team in 1995.

Compared to Su Feng's memories, Cohan's tenure had been marked by a recent high point, thanks to the fire sale of the Raptors, which allowed the Warriors to acquire a charismatic star point guard (Steve Nash).

But this period of success didn't bring Cohan joy...

Instead, as he invested more and more into the Warriors, the critical year of 2008 left him feeling overwhelmed.

Because...

The subprime mortgage crisis struck!

Starting in 2006, the Cohan family's cable television business began to shrink significantly.

And with the arrival of 2008, the massive debt burden of Sonic Communications, also controlled by Cohan, became a sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

Therefore, when Shawn Marion's agent approached the Warriors last summer, hoping to discuss a contract extension...

Although Marion had made undeniable contributions to the Warriors' rise...

In Cohan's eyes...

This guy was clearly a rebellious subject who couldn't wait for him to die!

Huh?

You say Marion's demands weren't excessive, and that a few million dollars was just a drop in the bucket for Cohan, who was worth hundreds of millions?

Wake up!

In Su Feng's original timeline, Cohan could have easily accepted Marion's extension.

But in this era where the super luxury tax was introduced early...

In an era where Cohan would have to pay even more luxury tax to the league if he extended Marion's contract...

Plus the subprime mortgage crisis...

Where was Cohan supposed to find the extra money to support his hobby, basketball?

In the NBA, not everyone has the same vision as Jerry Buss, turning their team into the family's primary business.

And not every city in America is Los Angeles or New York.

In Su Feng's previous life, many casual fans attributed the Warriors' success to their location in a major city with a large market and fan base after their rise.

But Su Feng believed that these people weren't just casual fans, they were completely ignorant of American geography!

Fun fact:

For a long time, Oakland was a less attractive destination in the NBA than even Cleveland.

Because paradise was on the other side of the bridge.

And Oakland?

Just a GTA-esque city with a consistently high crime rate, where you might have to return home in your underwear after going out to buy a pack of cigarettes.

In Su Feng's original timeline, the reason the Warriors grew so large under Joe Lacob and his business partners was because Lacob made a decision that violated tradition: he decided to move the team to the Bay Area.

However, even with Nash's arrival, which had caused a premature eruption of the golden wave at Oracle Arena, Cohan couldn't abandon his family's business and devote himself entirely to building the Warriors like Jerry Buss had with the Lakers.

On the one hand, this was due to the fact that not all rich people are equally rich, and on the other hand, it was due to the fact that the NBA isn't as profitable as people think.

In fact, even during the golden era under David Stern, more than half of the league's teams were losing money.

Therefore, to avoid betraying his ancestors, Cohan decided in January 2008 that he could only betray the "peasants" who were constantly clamoring for the team to strengthen its roster.

...

Throughout January, the Warriors' management, at Cohan's direction, was tasked with finding a new home for Marion. Besides promising Don Nelson that they would never trade Marion this season, they also repeatedly hinted to Marion's agent:

Shawn, if your stats were just a little better...

Then we could offer you...

Marion: ヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ!

But in reality, the Warriors' management had already set their sights on teams that still had cap space to take on Marion's contract.

And to ensure that the Warriors' salary cap would be below the luxury tax threshold next season, Cohan's instructions were clear:

As long as someone is willing to take on Marion...

It doesn't matter if we can't get anything valuable in return for the Warriors' future.

Because at this point, Cohan had already started thinking about selling the team to pay off his debts.

It was just that...

At this critical juncture, Cohan couldn't find a buyer in the short term.

Cohan knew that even though he was already heavily in debt, to ensure that the Warriors could be sold for a good price in the future, they had to keep Nash, whose contract was expiring this summer.

In contrast, if Marion exercised his player option this summer and refused to leave the Warriors...

How much would it cost him to keep Marion? It would be an astronomical sum!

Soon, after some research, the Warriors finally found a team that could take on Marion's contract.

The Chicago Bulls.

However, the Bulls were focused on tanking, so a player as strong as Marion...

What if he accidentally made the Bulls' record too good, causing them to miss out on their desired "new Jordan" in the draft? Wouldn't that be ruining the team's prospects?

While the 2008 draft class wasn't as highly touted as the 2007 class...

Several players in the 2008 draft class were still well-known.

So, without hesitation, the Bulls rejected the Warriors' trade proposal.

Meanwhile, Kupchak, having learned through his network that the Warriors were planning to trade Marion, officially launched his "robbery plan" that winter.

Many years later, when NBA general managers re-examined Kupchak's trade, they were deeply impressed by his wisdom.

Because this "robbery plan" not only followed all of the NBA's rules and regulations, but in a sense, it was also a model for NBA trades.

...

As everyone knows, after acquiring Su Feng in a sign-and-trade in the summer of 2007, Su Feng and Kobe's combined salaries reached a staggering $44 million.

So, to rob the Warriors, Kupchak knew he had to gather the chips on the table first.

However, with the Lakers' salary cap already locked, even if he pulled money out of his crotch, Kupchak theoretically couldn't come up with the money needed to trade for Marion.

But since this was a model for NBA trades, Kupchak would naturally show you with his next move...

What it means to do deals that others can't.

What it means to dare to think of deals that others wouldn't.

According to NBA rules, when a player is out for the season due to injury, the team can apply to the league for an injury exception equal to about half of that player's salary, which can be used to sign a player until the end of the season or trade for an expiring contract of equal value.

Therefore, after the NBA officially approved Kobe's injury exception, Kupchak knew it was time to show off his skills.

On January 4th, feeling sorry for his little brother, the Grizzlies, and their financial woes, Kupchak suggested to his good friend, the Grizzlies, that they could use this injury exception to trade for Kwame Brown, whom they had acquired from the Bulls last season for the sake of rebuilding.

Upon hearing this, the Grizzlies, who had long resented Brown for eating too much and not doing enough work, immediately felt the Lakers' big brother's profound love for him!

If NBA teams and their relationships were written as romance novels...

To the Grizzlies in this year's winter...

She would be the little grey mushroom girl in the Lakers' big brother's arms.

No beating around the bush.

No haggling.

Almost without thinking, the Grizzlies reached a deal with the Lakers.

At this point, people generally felt that the Lakers had been robbed.

However...

Given the Lakers' weak interior defense in the 2007-08 season...

Experts believed that using the injury exception to acquire Kwame Brown was a helpless move by the Lakers.

However, while fans and experts felt sorry and sad for the Lakers...

Little did they know that Kupchak had already gathered all the chips he needed to negotiate with the Warriors.

NBA trading rules are very complex and cumbersome.

So even the most seasoned NBA fan couldn't guess what Kupchak was going to do next.

But if you're a veteran 2K Dynasty Mode player...

Then you should know that Brown had become Kupchak's trump card for robbing the Warriors. (Note 1)

As Jerry West's chief disciple...

No one in this league understands better than Kupchak that to facilitate a trade, you must first understand the other party's needs.

The Warriors' current goal is to free up cap space next season.

They want to avoid being unable to keep their star player, Steve Nash, this summer if Marion chooses to exercise his player option, due to the super luxury tax.

Therefore, Brown, Radmanovic, and Vujacic, whose contracts were expiring this summer, were exactly the chips the Warriors wanted most.

As for the Warriors' performance this season?

Wake up...

Chris Cohan is barely surviving, are you still talking about performance?

You're trying to kill him!

And could the Warriors create another "Miracle of Bern" this season, sandwiched between the Trail Blazers and the Celtics, two powerhouses?

Don't be ridiculous.

In the NBA, a business league, just as some people can give everything for their dreams, others can abandon everything for their interests.

So, on January 31st...

When Su Feng, who had just finished learning English with Britney, learned from a phone call that Kupchak had magically conjured up a Marion for him from Golden State...

For the first time since entering the league, Su Feng felt what it was like for...

To have a pie fall from the sky.

"Holy crap! How could a human possibly pull this off?"

Originally, when Kupchak traded for Brown at the beginning of the year, Su Feng had thought that Kupchak was嫌 (xián, disliking) him, the father, not working hard enough.

But now...

I have to say...

There's still a huge difference between a professional general manager and his amateur self.

Of course, Jerry Buss's and Chris Cohan's completely different pursuits were the main reason why the Lakers and Warriors were able to reach a deal.

Under the influence of the subprime mortgage crisis, all NBA teams were affected.

But for Jerry Buss, the Lakers, with their vast Chinese market, could only turn the tide and prosper in this crisis by keeping Su Feng happy.

Therefore, how could Jerry Buss not feel sorry for Feng gege (older brother Feng) when Su Feng performed miracles on the court time and time again?

Luxury tax?

Super luxury tax?

As long as Su Feng could lead the Lakers to restore their former glory, how could the Lakers not make money at that time?

Therefore, with the team owners having completely different visions, Kupchak had the opportunity to make this move.

Perhaps, in this year's winter, the Lakers, after trading for Marion, could only reduce Su Feng's pressure on the court.

But next year, when Kobe returns...

Kupchak believed that the Lakers would launch the strongest challenge for the championship!

As for Marion, who had been deceived by the Warriors for almost half a season...

He had originally wanted to write a long article denouncing the Warriors...

Now he didn't know whether to thank the Warriors or thank the Warriors...

Because as one of the "Maple Emperor Kryptonite" who had faced Su Feng on the court countless times...

Who in this league understood better than Marion how strong Su Feng really was?

But you might not believe it.

While Kupchak's model trade shocked all NBA professionals...

Almost no Lakers fans or Maple haters were optimistic about the trade.

Because no matter how Kupchak had achieved this trade through the reasonable NBA trading rules...

After including Marion's salary, because the Lakers would basically not be able to make any big moves in the next few years...

Therefore...

No one really thought that Marion, whose performance had already started to decline significantly this season, and Kobe, whose condition after recovering from injury was unknown, could become the Maple Emperor's future assistants, right?

And considering the age of these three players next season...

Fans had even given this Lakers team a nickname in advance:

"Los Angeles Nursing Home."

"Nursing home? What's wrong with a nursing home? Old soldiers never die, they just fade away!"

And that day, at the ceremony to welcome Marion, Su Feng also said disdainfully to the media's point that if the Lakers couldn't win a championship in the short term, then they wouldn't be able to embrace the future.

In Su Feng's original timeline, Marion's offensive level did decline sharply after he turned 30.

But you have to admit that as a defensive ace, his defensive level, even before retiring, was better than most young players in this league.

And for the Lakers with Su Feng and Kobe...

Please tell me...

Do they need other players to think about offense?

Therefore...

Kupchak!

yyds (yong yuan de shen, forever god)!

...

ps: Qiao consulted a lot of information before writing this chapter. Although I had consulted it when writing the detailed outline before, I still checked it again when writing to avoid errors. So I hope everyone will trust Qiao's professionalism when pointing out problems! Update delivered, muah!

Fa Biao De Wo Niu