NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 349 The Exciting Free Market

After Ballmer and Michael Wenger left, Art Mayork eagerly asked Jia Fei, "Jia, the Clippers owner even came to recruit you, and the offer was really tempting. Going to the Clippers would be great! Why didn't you agree?"

Jia Fei smiled slightly, then turned to Art Mayor: "Art, why are you in such a hurry? You need to learn to stay calm and not believe everything others say. Don't just look at what people say, but look at what they do."

"Does the boss really go back on his word?" Art Mayork wondered.

“What’s impossible about that? In the capital market, whose words are always true? I won’t believe anyone’s words until I see enough facts. Before I was injured and after I was injured, the Hawks’ attitude changed significantly, don’t you think?” Jia Fei spoke as if she were describing something insignificant, but in fact, these things were all closely related to her.

Art Mayor sighed and nodded. Indeed, after Jia Fei helped the team win the championship, the team wanted to sign him for 100 years, give him a super maximum salary, and even wanted to give him extra bonuses. But a year later, the team proposed that the maximum salary should include clauses and not give the player an option. It was really disrespectful.

No wonder Jia Fei was so calm and composed; he has truly seen too much.

“But Ja, compared to other teams, I think the Clippers offered you the most tempting terms,” Art Mayork said.

Jia Fei nodded: "I didn't say they weren't attractive. I was quite moved too. Now it's just a matter of whether they can take some concrete actions."

In the final days before the free agency market opened on July 1st, Jia Fei met with the remaining recruitment teams. With that, all meetings concluded.

The more meetings Jia Fei holds, the more pressure the Hawks feel. They're regretting not offering him a 5-year minimum salary plus a player option to secure a contract extension. Now, the relationship has soured, giving other teams an opportunity to take advantage.

The Hawks sent Budenholzer and Korver, two of the team's closest associates to Jia Fei besides Art Mayork, to persuade him.

Coach Buden and Korver approached Jia Fei, but before they could even speak, Jia Fei said directly, "If you two are here to persuade me to stay, I hope you don't need to say anything. I have my own plans. If the team doesn't take any concrete action, it's impossible to persuade me to stay just by talking to me."

Seeing Jia Fei's resolute attitude, the two persuaders could only leave dejectedly.

With July 1st approaching, the highly anticipated free agency market is about to open. This year's free agency market is packed with big names, especially those who might leave, such as Jia Fei and Durant, bringing unprecedented attention to the market.

Clearly, the whereabouts of these two individuals will directly impact the alliance's structure.

After losing the Finals, the Warriors aggressively pursued Jia Fei and Durant. They were particularly relentless with the latter, sending a large lobbying team.

Although Jia Fei did not directly reject the Warriors, the Warriors knew that their chances of getting this Chinese-American talent were slim.

Currently, the frontrunners for Jia Fei's next team are the Los Angeles duo and his former team, the Hawks.

The free agent market officially opens on July 1st!

On the 1st, Yahoo Sports' renowned reporter Woj broke the news of a major trade!

The Los Angeles Clippers and the Houston Rockets have reached a trade agreement for former league-leading point guard Chris Paul!

The specific details of the trade are as follows: The Rockets sent Lou Williams, Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell, Dekker, and two first-round picks from 2018 and 2019 to acquire Chris Paul, who is 31 years old this year.

The news broke like a bombshell during the otherwise quiet offseason. Although Paul is 31 years old, only 183cm tall, and has a history of dropping to 58cm, he remains in excellent form. Last season, he played 74 games for the Clippers, averaging 32.7 minutes, 19.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 10.0 assists, earning a spot on the All-NBA Second Team and the All-Defensive First Team.

Yet, this very guard was traded away so decisively by the Clippers, and just as free agency opened. This can only mean that the Clippers had already agreed to the trade with the Rockets beforehand, and could only announce it publicly.

Upon seeing the news, Jia Fei was also shocked. He remembered that Paul had indeed been traded to the Rockets in his previous life, but that was during the 2017 offseason. In other words, his arrival had created a butterfly effect, bringing the trade forward.

Moreover, the details of the trade have changed. Jia Fei remembers that the Rockets only gave up one first-round pick at the time, and it was protected by the top three picks. But now it's two unprotected first-round picks.

Whether or not the picks are protected or not is not very meaningful. After acquiring Paul, the Rockets have Harden and Paul in the backcourt, so their record won't be so bad as to need to tank. Therefore, even a top-three or top-ten protection is unlikely to return to the Rockets. Moreover, these two first-round picks will be drafted later due to the Rockets' excellent record, so strictly speaking, their value is not that high.

The Clippers' trade is essentially "changing large sums for smaller ones," and their purpose is certainly not to save money, but rather for some other reason.

There's been a lot of talk about it, with many saying the Clippers traded Paul to rebuild, that the team can't break through its ceiling, and that with the Warriors rising, they have even less of a chance.

Some say that with Paul gone, it's only a matter of time before Griffin leaves too. If the Clippers are truly rebuilding, they won't keep the 27-year-old Griffin. Griffin has proven he can't be a top 10 or even top 5 player in the league. Over the years, besides dunks, he hasn't developed any other killer moves. And despite his seemingly resilient physique, injuries are starting to increase.

Of course, many people are speculating that the Clippers are in such a hurry to trade Paul because he has fallen out with the team. But there was no such news before!

Previous reports indicated that Paul was somewhat dissatisfied with the team's roster improvements and head coach Doc Rivers, feeling that the coach favored his son too much and relied more on motivational speeches than on tactics.

But it's not like Old Li and Young Li haven't been with the Clippers for long. They may have had some minor conflicts, but it shouldn't have escalated to the point of being traded away!

Some well-informed people speculate that the previous rumors of Ballmer personally recruiting Jia Fei might mean Jia Fei is about to join the Clippers. If so, then the Clippers' actions would make sense. Paul didn't want to stay and play second fiddle to Jia Fei, so he went to the Rockets to form a duo with Harden.

But some people questioned this, saying that if being Jia Fei's assistant is shameful, then isn't being Harden's assistant shameful? Jia Fei's historical status is much higher than Harden's; Harden was a man who stood at the top of the league the season before last!