Sports Medicine Master System

Chapter 597: Chapter 524: He’s Never Satisfied

The meeting ended without any resolution.

Brian grabbed Chen Yu, who was about to leave, insisting on going to his office to see the newly finished Championship Rings.

In his office, Chen Yu saw the Championship Ring.

"Is this... solid gold?"

The moment he held it, Chen Yu felt its heavy weight and asked in surprise.

Championship Rings were usually made primarily of 14K white gold. There seemed to be no precedent for a ring made entirely of 24K solid gold.

Not to mention it was encrusted with crushed diamonds and sapphires around the face of the ring.

The materials used far surpassed those of the rings from the previous two championships; the cost must have been astronomical.

Brian nodded smugly and asked if it was beautiful.

’Of course it is,’ Chen Yu thought. ’It must have cost a fortune.’

"It’s definitely beautiful, but why were you so extravagant this time? Are you trying to go broke?" The league only reimbursed the cost for 15 Championship Rings, and each had a production cost cap. The team had to pay for the rest out of pocket.

Making dozens of them at once was no small expense.

’The key is, I have shares in the team. Your spending is basically my spending.’

’Is it really necessary to spend so much on something symbolic?’

Brian smiled. "It’s a rare occasion. A three-peat is so commemorative, it deserves a proper celebration, don’t you think?"

He then lowered his voice and said, "Don’t worry, I only had about twenty of these made. Just for our key people. The rest are still made of K-gold."

Chen Yu nodded. That sounded more reasonable.

Placing the ring back in its gift box, Chen Yu thought for a moment and said, "From the way you’re talking, it sounds like you don’t think we can win another championship."

If you max out the production quality for the three-peat rings, what are you going to do for a four-peat?

Brian shot back, "What, you think we can defend our title again?"

Chen Yu pursed his lips and didn’t answer.

"Forget it." Brian waved his hand dismissively. "I’d love to go for a four-peat too, but I know how hard it really is."

The team’s massive salary expenditure was an issue. Even if the shareholders didn’t complain, Old Kolangelo would.

The team had its own problems; signs of complacency had already appeared last season.

Furthermore, the unsustainability of the veteran-focused team-building strategy had caused the Phoenix Suns’ roster depth to decline severely.

Other teams in the league were growing stronger quickly. More importantly, the Suns’ three-peat had drawn immense animosity.

This year, especially, that animosity had reached its peak. No one was even willing to trade a late first-round pick with the Suns.

The only reason teams like the Magic and the Bulls were willing to trade with the Suns was because the Suns were proactively offering up core players, essentially dismantling their own team and weakening their strength.

Even now, after Sabonis and others had retired, the Suns’ payroll was still far above the luxury tax line.

They were reluctant to part with their current assets, but without letting them go, there was no room to strengthen the roster. Looking at the entire free agent market, there weren’t many veterans worth signing either.

Then there was the league’s attitude.

The "West is strong, East is weak" dynamic had reached its apex. If the Suns were to defend their title again, it would only hurt the league more.

Otherwise, why would the league go out of its way to hand the Magic the number one pick?

And then there were the rule changes. The trend was clearly galloping ahead toward weakening inside players, which was an indirect way of weakening O’Neal’s dominance.

Under all these circumstances, the Suns’ path to defending their title again would be nowhere near as easy as in previous years.

Perhaps they would only succeed if they could reignite the do-or-die spirit they had during their first championship run.

But after a three-peat, with a general sense of complacency, it was unrealistic to expect the players to fight that hard.

Chen Yu sighed and didn’t respond.

After a long pause, Chen Yu remembered something and asked, "By the way, does the Magic have a plan for the trade?"

On the Suns’ end, they had decided to give McDyess a five-year, $54 million contract with a starting salary of $9.8 million.

He was already 30, after all. A starting salary over ten million wasn’t realistic. By the time the five-year contract was up, he’d be 35. Too high a starting salary would just turn into a contract burden later on, lowering his trade value.

And lowering the starting salary below ten million made it easier to match salaries in a trade.

McDyess’s side had no objections to this contract.

He knew in his heart that this was what he was worth.

This meant the Magic would have to include at least one player making over three million to match the salaries.

Brian shook his head. "We haven’t discussed the specifics, but that shouldn’t be a problem. But since you’re asking, does this mean you’ve agreed to the trade with the Magic?"

Chen Yu quickly said, "Whoa, I never said that."

This matter still required careful consideration.

While the trade negotiations dragged on, the Suns didn’t stop their plans to strengthen the team.

First, Brian contacted someone.

Kendall Gill.

A 36-year-old veteran, born in ’68.

Last season with the Bulls, he still managed to average 9.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.2 steals coming off the bench.

His stats looked decent, but that was only because the Bulls had no one else to play, so he was forced into a larger role.

As soon as the season ended and Jay Williams and the others returned, the Bulls immediately announced they would not be re-signing him.

He was a former league steals leader and still held the NBA record for 11 steals in a single game.

So he had some perimeter defense ability.

The only reason Brian was targeting him was because he was cheap, and Brian was fantasizing that he could still have a few more highlight moments from his past.

Signing a veteran like him to a minimum contract would do very little to actually improve the team’s strength.

And this attempt at reinforcement wasn’t over.

Brian targeted another player: the former "Euro Magician" and a key member of the Bulls’ second three-peat, Tony Kukoc.

His final year of a nine-million-dollar contract with the Bucks had expired. At his current age, he could be signed for five million over two years, at most.

Of course, with three Championship Rings already, he wouldn’t come to the Suns just to chase another title.

But at his age and riddled with injuries, coming to the Suns to play comfortably in his twilight years was a pretty good option.

It didn’t end there. Brian also had his eyes on Divac.

His large contract had also expired, and from the rumors, it seemed he didn’t want to waste his life away with the Kings any longer.

Coming to the Suns for one last shot at a championship was a good choice, too.

Besides, he was also riddled with injuries, especially his back. He had wanted to find Chen Yu for a discectomy for a while but never got the chance. Coming to the Suns was obviously a great option for that.

The Suns could split this year’s mid-level exception. If both players took a slight pay cut, they should be able to sign them all.

On the 12th, there was a development in the trade with the Magic.

The Magic finally proposed a trade: they would send Howard and veteran Bo Outlaw to the Suns in exchange for McDyess and the Suns’ 2007 first-round pick.

"What’s this about a first-round pick?" Chen Yu, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, asked immediately.

The Magic’s trade proposal was terrible.

Outlaw was already 33 years old this year. He had one year left on his $6.5 million contract, and having long been relegated to the fringes of the rotation for the past two seasons, he only averaged 2.4 points last season.

It was an expiring contract, sure, but when you added Howard’s four-million-plus rookie contract for the number one pick, the Suns wouldn’t be trading down to cut salary; they would be trading up.

Every extra dollar would incur an equal amount in luxury tax. The cost would be huge.

That was one thing, but the real issue was the first-round pick.

The Magic had never mentioned a first-round pick before.

And they were asking for the ’07 pick.

Because of the show he was producing, Chen Yu had a strong premonition that the ’06 and ’07 drafts might be loaded with talent.

There was no way he could trade away this year’s first-round pick.

Besides, the Suns’ goal was to cut salary and build for the future by hoarding first-round picks. How could they send one away?

Looking back, he felt it was a bit of a loss to have sent out the ’04 and ’06 first-round picks to get David West.

This was also why Chen Yu was reluctant to keep West on the bench; after all, they had paid a steep price to get him.

Brian’s expression was grim. He hadn’t expected Weisbrod to suddenly jack up the price.

"I think it most likely has to do with Howard’s performance in the Summer League," Brian said in a low voice.

Just yesterday, the Pepsi Summer League in Orlando had concluded. In 5 games, Howard had averaged 12.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, and, most importantly, a terrifying 3.4 blocks per game.

His astonishing athletic talent and outstanding defensive ability were on full display.

Chen Yu frowned.

If Howard played that well, it was no surprise that Weisbrod was jacking up the price.

"Brian, let it go," Chen Yu said with a sigh after a moment of thought.

"The moment he jacked up the price, he already felt like he was losing on this deal. Once that mindset is there, even if the Suns grit their teeth and agree, Weisbrod will just think, ’You agreed so quickly, that must mean I asked for too little,’ and then he’ll demand an even higher price."

Chen Yu had dealt with Weisbrod before. He really wasn’t the type of person who knew when to be content.

Seeing Brian remain silent, Chen Yu added, "I’ll say it again: we have Shaq. That’s enough."

They needed to find a replacement for O’Neal, but there was no rush to do it in the next year or two.

’If you’re really that capable, go get Oden in ’06. Now that would be impressive.’

"I know," Brian repeated, then said through clenched teeth, "But I still want him. I watched his Summer League tapes. His defense is really outstanding. His skills aren’t polished yet, but if he’s developed properly, once he learns a post-up game and a jump shot, he can absolutely become one of the most dominant big men in the league."

Chen Yu stared at him for five seconds, then nodded. "How about this? Let’s make a bet. You agree to the Magic’s trade proposal. If they accept, we’ll complete the deal. If they refuse and ask for a higher price, we’ll abandon this trade and complete the one with the Bulls."

Brian was taken aback for a second, then nodded.

With the discussion settled, Chen Yu didn’t say any more about it.

’If the trade happens, it happens.’

’It would be a shame to lose David West, but it can’t be helped.’

The next day, Brian replied to Weisbrod, agreeing to the trade proposal.

And then... nothing.

Brian waited in a daze for three straight days before the Magic finally responded.

They had revised the trade proposal. They now wanted the Suns to include Kendrick Perkins in the trade package.

Of course, they still wanted the ’07 first-round pick.

Apparently, after hanging up, Brian smashed his phone to pieces again.

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