NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 243 Preparing for the New Season

It was almost the end of August when they returned to the United States. Jia Fei and his team needed to start preparing for the new season.

"Jia, are you really not going to buy a villa to live in?" Kemba Walker asked before parting ways.

"Hmm? Why do you say that?" Jia Fei asked, somewhat curious.

“You’re so rich, shouldn’t you be thinking about living in a big house?” Kemba Walker laughed.

"Uh..." Jia Fei finally understood what Kemba Walker meant. Many Black basketball players in the US are like this: once they have money, they buy houses, cars, go to bars, and chase girls, without understanding financial management. Many players even live worse lives than ordinary people after retirement. His idol, Allen Iverson, is a living example...

“I live alone now, so I don’t need a big villa. I’m fine with renting a place for now. I’ll buy one when I need it!” Jia Fei said with a smile.

"Let me know when you're ready to buy, and I have a complete guide to buying villas!" Kemba Walker said smugly.

"Okay!" Jia Fei readily agreed. He would definitely buy a large villa in the future, but not now. Right now, he didn't have a great need for it; living alone, a small apartment and a large villa were about the same. Buying a house would become a concrete plan once he had a wife and children.

Back in Atlanta, Jia Fei drove his Highlander and went to the supermarket with Art Mayok to buy some groceries. After being away for so long, the few remaining items in the refrigerator were either expired or spoiled.

The next day, Jia Fei and Art Mayork began preparing for the new season at the Hawks' training facility.

Jia Fei focused Art Mayork's offseason training on open spot-up three-pointers, pick-and-roll finishing, and defense. He didn't have his friend practice other star skills like ball-handling, post-up moves, and pull-up jumpers. Don't try to do too much at once; not everyone is a genius like Hakeem Olajuwon who can master everything after starting basketball so late. For most players, finding their niche and developing their strengths is enough to survive in this league. For a role player, having one specialty is better than being a jack-of-all-trades; while it makes them more vulnerable to being targeted, it increases their chances of getting into the rotation and securing a contract.

Art Mayok doesn't possess exceptional offensive talent, but he has excellent physical attributes. He can play center, and his size advantage at power forward, combined with his speed, makes him a formidable player. Last season, it was already clear he could shoot threes; now he needs to improve his accuracy and increase his volume to avoid being left wide open by opponents. As for finishing at the rim, he did well in this area last season, but he needs to continue improving, reducing unnecessary butterfingers, and striving to become the Hawks' "rim-runner." Defense is crucial for both starters and rotation players. For a center, poor defense renders even the best offense useless, making it difficult to get on the court in crucial moments.

Jia Fei has also been training relentlessly. During this offseason, he focused on post-up techniques and improving his passing to break double teams. He has also never stopped practicing three-pointers, both on and off the ball, practicing extensively. He knows that only when you are effective with and without the ball can you become truly difficult to defend.

Why is Curry, often referred to as "Little Curry," so difficult to defend? Because as a star player, he possesses historically great off-ball movement, and sometimes off-ball movement is even harder to defend than on-ball movement.

September has arrived... With the new season drawing ever closer, Jia Fei's blood seems to be pumping faster! He longs for the new season to begin. Last season was a success for him, but it also had many regrets. This season, he will be even stronger, and he and his team will continue their pursuit of the championship!

This summer's free agent market is extremely lively, with many big names. The Heat's Big Three all opted out of their contracts, and Carmelo Anthony, Dirk Nowitzki, Chris Bosh, Kyle Lowry, Lance Stephenson, and others will also become free agents.

The Hawks don't have enough salary cap space to acquire big-name free agents. If they want to get stars, the only thing they can do is make trades, not sign them outright.

The Hawks' roster improvements are almost complete. The core of their roster for next season remains unchanged compared to last season. The team has addressed the weakness on the wings last season by making additions. The current roster is as follows.

Frontcourt: Horford, Middleton, Art Mayok, Antić, Brand, Adrian Payne (rookie)

Flankers: Jaffee, Korver, Carroll, Sefolosha, Scott, Cupcat

Defenders: Teague, Schroder, Shelvin Mark

The Hawks' 15-man roster is already full. If they want to strengthen their roster, they can only do so by trading or cutting players from the roster.

Last season, the Hawks had too many point guards and too few wing players, which led to injuries to Jia Fei and Korver mid-season. The team had no one available at that position, and the team often had two point guards in their lineup.

The Hawks' point guards, especially Teague and Schroder, are all more penetrating players with weak jump shots and limited off-ball threat. So when they play with two point guards, one has the ball and the other has limited off-ball threat, which also makes the size of the players on the court smaller, resulting in worse defense and rebounding than before.

One day in September, Jia Fei and Art Mayor were getting physical therapy after training.

After they finished, the two drove away to a small bar to relax.

The two of them often came to this small bar near Jia Fei's house. Some amateur singers often performed here. The bar focused on relaxation, somewhat like a quiet bar, which was in stark contrast to the noisy atmosphere of other bars.

"Jay, do you think I can make the rotation next season?" Art Mayork asked. He wasn't sure either. Although the Hawks had renegotiated his contract, it wasn't a huge one. Even if the team didn't put him in the rotation, it wouldn't be a waste, and the competition for positions in the paint was actually quite fierce. Horford would be returning next season and would definitely be a starter, which would mean Antic would return to the bench and directly compete with him. Besides Antic, the veteran captain was also a direct competitor.

Neither Antich nor the old captain, Art Mayork had any confidence that he could compete with them.

Jia Fei remained calm and did not answer directly: "Art, what are your thoughts on this summer's training?"

Art Mayork didn't hesitate: "I don't think I trained any less than anyone else. I trained very hard, and I can be proud of myself!"

"That's good then. You've been training so hard. Just train the way I told you: master spot-up shooting, make good plays, don't hog the ball, and just go for it when you're on the court. If you're playing power forward, be good at switching and helping on defense; if you're playing center, try your best to protect the rim and rebounds. I think you can compete with them!" Jia Fei said.