Chapter 273 The Lockout Is over and the New Season Begins

At 9 o'clock on January 15, 1999, both labor and management formally reached all agreements and signed a new labor agreement.

The league has officially introduced the concepts of luxury tax and soft salary cap. This is a very important item in this agreement and involves some flexible operations of the team.

To put it simply, if the team exceeds the hard salary cap, it is not allowed to sign free agents, but it can renew the contract with the team's existing players and use some special terms to strengthen the lineup.

That is, if the team's salary exceeds 55% of basketball-related income, then a $1 luxury tax will be paid to the league for every $1 exceeded.

This luxury tax will be evenly distributed to teams that have not exceeded the luxury tax after the season.

As for special terms, such as Larry Bird terms, mid-level terms, basic salary terms, etc., they are all special terms.

The new labor agreement was reached, and the league announced that the lockout was over. The new season will start on February 5th and end on May 5th, lasting three months.

There will be a total of 50 regular season games in the new season. Not only will there be no preseason games, but there will also be 32 fewer regular season games, and the regular season will be very intense.

Starting from 9 a.m. on the 15th, the trading window will be opened at the same time.

In less than ten minutes, Stern received dozens of transaction applications.

"Postman to Philadelphia?"

He couldn't help but be startled when he saw the first deal between the Jazz and the Digital Team.

If you think about it carefully, this is not bad. It increases the strength of the digital team and will add a strong team in the Eastern Conference.

"But today's young people all have their own problems."

He muttered and said to himself: "Feilong likes violence, Allen Iverson likes hip-hop, these are wrong."

At ten o'clock, the league announced that it had approved a series of transaction applications.

The first transaction shocked the league.

"It's great that The Postman has joined us and we in Philadelphia are going to compete for a championship this season."

"The answer is the combination of postmen. Why don't we call them lightning postman combinations? Or email combinations? Yes, emails, transmitted at the speed of light, I think it's great."

After the deal was announced,

Philly was buzzing, Numbers fans were buzzing, and email combos, as they were called, started to catch on in Philly.

"A new championship-level team is born!" New York Times.

"There are many powerful teams in the Eastern Conference. The Knicks and Bulls compete for the first bracket, and the Heat, Pacers, Digital Team, and Magic compete for the second bracket." New York Sports News.

The media reacted immediately, and their evaluation of the Heat reached the same level as the Heat and the Pacers.

However, this does not meet the expectations of Postman and Iverson. They hope that the team has reached the championship level.

So they immediately asked the management for reinforcement transactions, especially Postman. This season is the last year of his contract, which only costs $6 million. The Digital Team traded Coleman, and there is still a lot of salary space left. Strongly urge the management to trade another All-Star player.

At 10 o'clock, the Knicks announced that they had bought out Larry Johnson's contract.

This time the contract was bought out, the Knicks lost tens of millions of dollars, almost as much as James Dowland paid to buy the Knicks.

But in order to free up salary space and not pay too much luxury tax, we can only bite the bullet and do it.

That is, Neil Grant signed Zhao Dong with a lottery pick contract for the Knicks, otherwise James Dowland will definitely have to change to a general manager.

After solving the salary space problem, it was Zhao Dong's turn to sign. He and Wells sat in Grant's office at the headquarters.

The two have turned off their mobile phones to avoid being disturbed by other teams.

In front of Zhao Dong, there was a so-called maximum salary contract, which was the result of negotiations between Wells and the management.

6+1, the last year is a player option, the contract ended in the summer of 2005, which happened to be the end of this round of labor agreement.

The annual salary in the first year is US$20 million, with an annual increase of 10.5%, for a total amount of US$192.6 million.

This is by far the largest contract in league history.

In addition, owner James Dowland also gave Zhao Dong a contract to endorse Madison Square Garden for 7 years, with a total endorsement amount of US$82 million.

The two contracts combined are already equal to Jordan's.

Of course, Jordan only signed a 30 million contract for three years, and this time he only signed it for one year. This is Zhao Dong's age advantage, so he can sign a longer contract.

At 12 noon on the 15th, the Knicks held a press conference at Madison Square Garden to announce the signing of Zhao Dong.

This news greatly disappointed other teams and attracted all the media to attend the press conference.

At the beginning of the press conference, Neil Grant and James Dowland announced two contracts, which immediately shocked all the media, but after the shock, they felt that this was very reasonable.

"Mr. Dowland, can the endorsement contract be approved by the league?" Thomas, the reporter with the team, was the first to get the right to ask the question.

"We have informed the league and the league has no objection." James Dowland said with a smile.

"Feilong, do you think it's reasonable to give up higher-paying professional boxing and return to the NBA for such a small amount of money?" The second questioner was a New York Times reporter. He asked a question that made the Knicks management look bad.

Zhao Dong laughed, shook his head and said with a smile: "If it's for money, I don't need to play basketball at all, let alone boxing. I have more and better ways to make a lot of money. So I returned to the NBA just because I Love the sport.”

The third questioner was a New York TV reporter. This is James Dowland's family business. The reporter asked: "Feilong, what are your goals for the new season?"

"Dynasty, and only dynasty, can be my goal this season, and it should be our team's only goal."

Zhao Dong said seriously.

Next, the Knicks expedited the transaction.

First, we completed the deal with the Warriors for John Starks and the Madman, then we completed the deal with Mosaic for Allan Houston and Kevin Willis, and finally we re-signed Larry Johnson with a minimum salary and signed Barkley as a free agent. , plus a few fringe players, the team's main lineup was successfully completed in one afternoon.

After Ringo Wells handled Zhao Dong's signing, he rushed to Chicago to help DaZhi deal with some problems.

That night, Zhao Dong called Da Zhi.

"Da Zhi, have you met Jordan?"

"I went to report to the team in the morning and met with him. He didn't say anything and didn't talk to me very much."

"If someone bullies you, please report me in my name, you know?" Zhao Dong warned.

"I know, Brother Dong." Da Zhi said quickly.

"In the NBA, you must take the initiative to communicate with the coaching staff, and don't follow the domestic practices. Don't be too humble, and you have to fight for everything yourself. For example, playing time, playing style, tactics that suit you, etc., etc. You have to talk to the coaching staff, otherwise you will be marginalized. In addition, Oakley is my brother, and you have met him. If you have anything, you can tell him." Zhao Dong warned again.

After hanging up the phone, he still felt uneasy about Da Zhi's character, so he called Oakley again.

"Charles, are you in Chicago?"

"Just arrived, haven't reported to the Bulls yet."

"There is something. My brother Wang Zhizhi is in Bull. If you have seen him, watch it for me. Don't be bullied."

"Don't worry, your brother is my brother. As long as I'm here, Jordan will give me face. Anyone who bullies my brother will be slapped with a big mouth."

"He has a very introverted personality. Please remind him if there is anything he needs to pay attention to."

"No problem, leave him to me. I'll come forward if anything happens."

"Okay, that's it."

After handing Da Zhi to Oakley, Zhao Dong was relieved.

After hanging up the phone, he made another call back home.

Hu Weidong is still in China, it's time to come back.

"Brother Hu, how are you doing lately?"

"It's okay, hehe."

"Listening to your tone, it sounds like you are having a great time. Is your girlfriend taking advantage of you?"

"The relationship is confirmed, hehe."

"That's good, do you want to come together this time? The league is about to start, has Wells informed you?"

"Notice, I have booked a flight ticket and will come tomorrow. My girlfriend will not come here for the time being. This season is short anyway. We have agreed that she will come with me next season."

"That's okay too."

After chatting for a few words, the two ended the call.

Zhao Dong hung up the phone, thought about it, and called Dayao again.

The regular season of the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship has come to an end. Duke University is very strong this season and has the ability to compete for the championship.

Dayao, Battier, Elton Brand, Boozer, Corey Maggette and several other rookies have become more mature. They have made a big name this season, and each of them has gained a lot of recognition. focus on.

In this era of traditional centers, the second-year Yao has won the recognition of the North American media with his height, increasingly advanced skills, and top-notch shooting touch, and they rate him no less favorably than Brand.

You must know that after Brandt announced his participation in the 1999 NBA draft, a large number of media were optimistic that he would become the No. 1 pick in this year's draft.

Many media predict that if Yao participates in this year's draft, his pick will not be lower than the top five, or even the top three.

"Brother Dong."

"Dayao, have you slept?"

"No, Brother Dong, I'm talking to you."

"Haha...Okay, no more joking..."

After chatting with Dayao about the current situation, he asked Dayao to play at Duke for another year and finish the 1999/00 season before participating in the 2000 draft.

By next season, Dayao's body will reach the maturity of an adult, he will complete the first stage of strength training, and his skills will also begin to mature.

By then, I believe the media's evaluation of him will not be among the top five or three, but at the No. 1 pick level.

In Los Angeles, Lakers general manager Jerry West completed a deal and sold Fan to the Nuggets in exchange for only two fringe players.

And these two marginal people were later dealt with by him, so in fact, Crazy Fan gave them away for nothing and did not get anything in exchange. The advantage of Quanyi is that he freed up some salary space.

He originally wanted to change to a good power forward, but he couldn't do it. He wanted the Nuggets' pick, but the Nuggets didn't agree, so he had to sell it at a low price.

Of course, he also wanted to sell to other weak teams and come back with a lottery pick, but he failed to do so.

The Hornets were originally willing to trade two first-round picks for Eddie Jones, and later used these two picks to trade Coleman. That was because the Hornets wanted to make the playoffs.

The reason why he gave Crazy Fan to the Nuggets is because the Nuggets will not become a rival to the Lakers and cannot threaten the Lakers with Crazy Fan.

On the morning of the 16th, Zhao Dong and Lindsay arrived at the Storm Fund headquarters, and then led a large number of people to the Nike headquarters.

Today is Nike's shareholder meeting, and it is also Philip Knight's last chance to struggle. If he can gather more than 40% of the shares, he can temporarily prevent Storm Fund from taking over Nike.

"42%, that's enough."

At the same time, Philip Knight, who had been working hard day and night, cheered up and started preparing for the shareholders' meeting.

He promised a lot of conditions, and before the shareholders' meeting began, he finally won over some small shareholders who were not on his side. This way he could prevent Storm Fund from becoming the new chairman of Nike and successfully save his Nike from being embezzled by Storm.

He only had this chance, and he knew very well how the big guys on Wall Street played. They would never run a physical business. If Storm took over Nike, they would immediately dismantle it and sell it for money.

When the storm dismantles Nike, there is only one most likely buyer, Feilong Sports.

An hour later, voting began.

A total of 83% of equity holders participated in the shareholders' meeting, and the rest were small retail investors and did not participate in this meeting.

When the voting results came out, Storm Fund received 45% support and successfully entered the board of directors.

"Why?"

“Didn’t you know the storm would tear down Nike?”

“Without Nike, what do you get?”

Philip Knight went crazy questioning several small shareholders.

These people obviously promised to support him, but now they have invested in Storm Fund. He really wants to kill these guys with one shot.

"Philip, don't blame us, Storm Fund promised to accept our funds, and we will become Storm Fund investors."

A small shareholder said excitedly.

"Hoo ho..."

Philip Knight was so angry that he wanted to vomit blood. Just a chance to invest in the Storm Fund defeated him?

At this time, a director stood up, looked at Lindsay respectfully, and made a proposal: "Everyone, I propose that President Philip Knight resigns from the position of president, and Miss Lindsay takes over as the president of Nike."

"agree."

Supporters of the Storm Fund raised their hands.

"Miss Lindsay, Feilong, this is not over yet." Philip Knight left the table angrily.

"It's not over."

Lindsay stared coldly at Philip Knight who left. The first thing she did after taking over as president was to thoroughly review everything Philip Knight had done at Nike, especially the period before and after the supermarket shooting.

Nike has officially changed hands, and founder Philip Knight has been expelled, symbolizing that the sporting goods market will usher in a major reshuffle.

On this day, Feilong Sports announced the official release of the Silver Devils II.

The second generation of Silver Magic has some improvements in performance, some changes in style, and some Chinese elements added, but they are not too obvious.

The launch of the second-generation Silver Magic was immediately recognized by fans thanks to the excellent performance of the first-generation Silver Magic.

At the same time, after more than a year of technology research and development, Feilong Sports announced its entry into the field of football shoes and other sports shoes.

On the 17th, the Knicks team gathered and began preparations for the new season.

At 9 o'clock in the morning that day, Zhao Dong arrived at the training base.

Coming out of the parking lot, he met Zhang Lili and his photography team (two people).

This season, Lao Zhang has now become a team reporter for CCTV stationed in the Knicks. There are no restrictions on his access. He can enter the training hall for interviews and film internal training with permission.

"Zhao Dong, over there, what kind of performance do you think he will have this year?" Zhang Lili asked.

Zhao Dong pondered for a while and then said: "Dazhi's offense is nothing to say. Let me put his offensive ability into statistics. If he passes with 60 points, he is now at 70 points."

"Is it the NBA level?" Zhang Lili asked quickly.

"certainly."

Zhao Dong nodded and said: "If you pass the level, you can play as a substitute. With a score of 70, even in a strong team like ours, you are qualified to play a rotation."

"marvelous!"

Zhang Lili did not expect that Zhao Dong had such a high opinion of Da Zhi and was very excited.

Zhao Dong shook his head and said: "Coach Zhang, don't be too happy too early. You should know Da Zhi's weaknesses. He has also played in the CBA for three years."

Zhang Lili was stunned and blurted out: "Defense?"

Zhao Dong nodded and said with some pity: "He doesn't like defense very much, especially against physical confrontation. In the past two years, I have been asking the trainer to teach him defense and let him increase his physical confrontation ability on the defensive end, but he has been I avoid this kind of training, but my offensive confrontation practice is pretty good."

Zhang Lili hurriedly asked: "What do you mean?"

Zhao Dongdao: "The imbalance between offense and defense will definitely affect his development here. In this era, it is difficult to survive without defense."

"That's it!"

Zhang Lili knew the NBA too well and was very disappointed.

Zhao Dong added: "But fortunately, his offensive talent is good. He has made great progress in the past two years. He has reached the 70-point level. After one or two seasons of training in the league, he has improved to the 80-point level, or even further. There’s a good chance.”

"What level can you achieve with a score of 80?" Zhang Lili asked quickly.

"All-star level."

Zhao Dongdao: "But don't be happy. If you only attack but don't defend, you will lose more points than you gain. There is no future if you pay attention. My assumption is that if he is unwilling to defend, then he will be in the NBA and use the competitive environment here. Push him and let him know that if you don't defend, you may not even have a chance to play."

Zhang Lili nodded thoughtfully.

"Hello everyone!"

As soon as he entered the training hall, Zhao Dong greeted him loudly.

"Hello, boss."

Seeing Zhao Dong come in, everyone said.

"Zhao Dong."

Hu Weidong greeted with a smile.

"Flying dragon."

Buckley greeted with a smile.

"Flying dragon."

Old Nelson and several other coaches also came over.

Zhao Dong took a look and saw that everyone was here.

Ben Wallace, Danny Fortson, Barkley, Kevin Willis, Larry Johnson, Billups, Latrell Sprewell, Hu Weidong, Mobley, Charlie Ward, plus Rick Bronson and a few other fringe people, including himself, there are exactly fifteen people.

Among these people, only Larry Johnson and Charlie Ward are old teammates. They were there when he came the year before last. The others just came in last year or this year.

He took a special look at the madman. I heard that this guy was not easy to control.

The unruly madman was glanced at by Zhao Dong. The sharp and intensely aggressive gaze made his eyes shrink, and he couldn't help but lower his head, avoiding Zhao Dong's gaze.

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