Chapter 1265 Duncan Returns to the Spurs

On the evening of the 26th, in New York, Nike headquarters, Lakers' Kupchak and Heat's Pat Riley were all focused here.

Pat Riley has been transferred to the president and general manager of the Heat, and is currently fully responsible for trading affairs.

The two general managers came to Nike just to trade Howard.

Nike measures who is stronger between the Lakers and the Heat, and who has the chance to beat the Suns, of course, this refers to after getting Howard.

Facing the inquiry of Nike President Philip Knight, Pat Riley and Kupchak argued with reason and put out their own chips at the same time.

But in the end, Nike could not decide which team Howard would go to, because it would require another trade with the Spurs, depending on what chips the Spurs needed.

On the 27th, the Magic and the Spurs reached a deal, and the Warcraft traveled west and landed in the Spurs.

The Spurs paid six trading picks, which was the future that the Spurs had saved for several seasons, and they all went for a peak Warcraft.

The Magic rebuilt, using a magic beast that could not bring a championship to get six futures, plus Nike's efforts in it, agreed to the deal.

After the deal happened, the Lakers and the Heat immediately submitted an offer to the Spurs.

The Lakers' chips were Duncan + Bynum + Artest + Odom, and the Heat's chips were Bosh + Gasol.

After receiving these two offer sheets, Buford worriedly found Popovich and asked him about his final thoughts.

"Reject, we want Howard." Popovich said with a cold face.

Buford knew that his troubles were coming. He would be blacklisted by the Lakers and the Heat, and would also offend Nike.

Popovich said: "We now have Howard at center, and we have selected Kawhi Leonard who is very similar to the Hammer, so we have hope for reconstruction..."

Buford had no choice but to reject the deal between the Lakers and the Heat.

After being rejected, the Heat and the Lakers thought that the Spurs agreed to each other, so they were very frustrated.

At the same time, Howard also learned about the rejection of the Lakers and the Heat.

The reason why he was willing to go to the Spurs was because Nike, the Lakers and the Heat had promised him that there would be a follow-up deal. Now that the deal was rejected, he was very annoyed and immediately asked Nike, the Lakers and the Heat through his agent what went wrong.

After Nike and the other three parties knew that the Spurs had rejected the deal with both teams at the same time, they were immediately confused and felt that they were fooled by the Spurs. The three parties plus Howard immediately began to put pressure on the Spurs at the same time.

When Popovich was considering the lineup for next season in his office, someone suddenly broke in with a bang. When he was about to get angry, he found that it was the boss Holt.

Holt had an ugly look on his face. After rushing in, he immediately asked: "Greg, what the hell are you doing? Why did you agree to Nike and then reject the deal?"

"Because Howard is better, he is the cornerstone of our future team building. As long as we keep him, we can complete the reconstruction immediately."

Popovich said with suppressed anger.

"But do you know what you are doing? You have ruined our credit. They will not let us go. What do you want me to do?"

Holt roared.

"I can't control this." Popovich said firmly.

"Now Howard also doesn't agree to stay in the Spurs. This trade with the Spurs was originally just a transitional team. What's the point of forcing him to stay?"

Holt said angrily.

"I will do my job, and he will stay." Popovich said coldly.

"No, I don't agree, you will completely ruin the Spurs." Holt said angrily.

"You?"

Popovich was furious. He didn't expect Holt to not support him. He has worked here for so many years, and this is something he has never thought about.

But he actually only considered the problem from his own perspective, not from Holt's perspective.

Now Nike has put a lot of pressure on Holt and his partners. He and his partners are just businessmen with small assets, and they can't stand the pressure of a big company like Nike.

And this matter itself is the Spurs' mistake. After it is spread, it will definitely cause great damage to his business credit.

"What if I insist on keeping Howard?" Popovich asked with a cold face.

Holt gritted his teeth and said, "Greg, we have worked together for so many years, and I let you decide everything. Don't force me. I have no other choice. Do you want to see me go bankrupt?"

Popovich stared at Holt for a full minute before sitting down sadly.

He knew that his plan had failed. When he agreed to trade Howard with six picks with the Magic, he had the intention of breaking the contract, but the facts told him that this was a world of capital and he could not decide everything.

"You can decide whether to trade with the Heat or the Lakers." Holt breathed a sigh of relief and said before leaving.

Popovich sat alone for a long time, took out his mobile phone and called Duncan.

After leaving the Senbei Castle, Duncan went to Los Angeles and prepared to sue with Garnett. When he received the call, he was a little surprised because Popovich had never contacted him since leaving the Spurs.

He slid the screen and answered the call.

"Hey, Greg."

"Tim, do you want to come back?" Popovich's low and somewhat cold voice sounded from the other side.

"Return to Spurs?"

Duncan was shocked. He remembered what Li Ba said a few days ago. Has he really become a bargaining chip?

The two did not speak, and the call continued.

The reason why Popovich wanted to trade with the Lakers was not because he wanted Duncan to come back as the core. Even two seasons before Duncan left the Spurs, he was no longer the offensive core of the Spurs. At that time, the offensive core of the Spurs was Parker and Ginobili.

His idea was to let Duncan continue to be the spiritual leader of the Lakers and become the nutrient base for the Spurs' reconstruction.

He was optimistic about the No. 15 rookie selected this time. Kawhi Leonard has a pair of big hands like that hammer. He is also weak in offense and strong in defense. The only difference is the position. He now has an idea to turn this rookie into a "hammer" on the front line to complete the reconstruction.

Of course, this is just an idea. Although he is optimistic about the potential of this rookie, it will take time to prove whether the potential can be realized.

At the beginning, he picked Ginobili from the end of the second round and Parker from the end of the first round. These two guys played out and became All-Star level stars. He believed in his vision very much.

But at the same time, he also misjudged two people, that is, Oden and Beasley, which made the Spurs' reconstruction fail.

But he believed that failure would not happen to the Spurs again and again, and he would find gold or even diamonds among the rookies.

When he thought of diamonds, he thought of the Suns picking up Li Ba, and he couldn't help but feel extremely envious.