Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 1022 - 588 How to Start the Midsummer_3
Chapter 1022: Chapter 588: How to Start the Midsummer_3 Chapter 1022: Chapter 588: How to Start the Midsummer_3 Then, the Miami Heat considered for a moment and decided to keep their original offer unchanged.
Thus, Yao’s Team and the Miami Heat’s negotiations broke down.
Yao Ming sent a farewell message to each of his teammates from the Miami Heat, then announced that he would listen to offers from the free market.
Perhaps only SuperSonics fans could understand this feeling.
In 2012, the SuperSonics were in the same situation as the Miami Heat.
They had completed a four-peat, and then the team let go of Chris Bosh and DeAndre Jordan, traded Durant, and the towering empire was cut in half.
From this perspective, the NBA’s anti-monopoly efforts were successful.
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No team could hold onto the championship for a long time anymore because victories would raise the players’ aspirations, wanting more salary and a bigger role in tactics.
Even if they could overcome the negotiations on the basketball side, they couldn’t break through the gravity of reality.
Yao Ming entering the free market essentially announced the end of the Miami Heat’s era of dominance; they had advanced to the finals three years in a row, achieving two championships and one runner-up, briefly taking over the power vacuum in the league like the Houston Rockets in the 90s.
But from now on, things would go back to square one.
Three teams were hotly pursuing Yao Ming.
One was the Golden State Warriors, who were willing to deal Joe Johnson’s contract if Yao Ming agreed to join.
One was the Cavaliers, Kevin Garnett had already announced that he would be leaving the Cavaliers.
Garnett was old, and the Cavaliers seemed to have no hopes of competing for the championship; it was a friendly split.
Meanwhile, Garnett’s departure created cap space for the Cavaliers, allowing them to chase top players on the market.
In terms of style, Yao Ming was exactly the kind of player that strong teams needed.
James dreamed of seeing Yao Ming join the Cavaliers.
However, their competitor was the Clippers.
In the era of player empowerment, the role of management in recruiting stars had significantly diminished compared to that of in-house superstars.
A well-connected star player could easily assemble a team of stars.
Looking at the league today, not many stars had good relationships with Yu Fei, but Yao Ming was one of them.
Most Chinese fans would place Yu Fei and Yao Ming in the same team in the 2K game.
It was a dream.
Now, that dream had a chance of becoming a reality.
Yu Fei did not try to sway Yao Ming with personal relationships; instead, he formally called up Trem and met with Yao in Miami.
Then, the two camps started talking non-stop about the possibilities of joining, the various issues after joining, and the benefits of Los Angeles’s education system compared to Miami.
The negotiations had been proceeding on official terms for 20 minutes when Yao Ming said something.
“If you want me to go to the Clippers, just say the word.” Yao Ming told Yu Fei, “Do you have the space?”
Yu Fei said, “Is 17 million enough?”
Yao Ming revealed his iconic emoji grin: “That’s fucking enough!”
The negotiation hence had a result.
Yu Fei and Yao Ming knew each other too well; both sides had enough mutual trust, and what remained was a matter of the signing process.
If the Clippers were to sign Yao Ming outright, they could only offer him a 15 million annual salary, but through a sign-and-trade, they could inherit the Miami Heat’s Bird rights and the “Yu Fei Clause.”
Out of absolute deference to Yao Ming and his sentiments toward Miami, he wanted to transfer through a sign-and-trade, at least leaving something for the Miami Heat.
The Clippers promptly reached out to the Miami Heat.
The Clippers had the conditions to sign Yao Ming outright; opting for a sign-and-trade was purely in consideration of Yao Ming’s feelings, which the Miami Heat was well aware of, and they had no objections.
Yao Ming was going to leave anyway, and his consideration for the team before his departure showed that there was real affection between them; unfortunately, circumstances necessitated their parting.
The two parties quickly agreed on the sign-and-trade.
On July 5, the day before the free agency market opened, ESPN NBA expert Marc Stein broke the news: “The Miami Heat signed Yao Ming to a four-year, 80 million US Dollar contract, and traded him to the Clippers in exchange for a 2016 first-round draft pick and a 2018 first-round draft pick swap right (from the Warriors)!”
Subsequently, both teams officially confirmed the authenticity of the news.
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