Chapter 749 - 674: A Year of Rest, Time for a Title Push

Chapter 749: Chapter 674: A Year of Rest, Time for a Title Push

Normally, a championship-contending team like the Phoenix Suns, with a large market, would be very attractive to players.

But this time, Brian was met with a blunt refusal.

The madman, Spree, became a free agent this Summer when his contract expired.

The Wolves had been in contact with him and reportedly offered him a contract, but nothing came of it.

At this point, Brian also threw his hat in the ring, hoping to sign him with the mid-level exception.

In Brian’s view, the Phoenix Suns should have been a great choice.

If the 35-year-old Spree wanted to play for a few more years, choosing the Phoenix Suns—who had the best miracle-working doctor in the entire league—was absolutely the most suitable option.

Secondly, the Phoenix Suns also had the strength to contend for a championship.

Coming to the Phoenix Suns would also allow him to pursue a championship.

And the result? Spree lived up to his "madman" moniker. He directly told Brian something along the lines of, "Without ten million, how am I supposed to feed my family?" and then flatly rejected him.

Then, the media revealed that the Wolves had only offered him a 3-year, $21 million contract.

Also less than ten million a year.

So, the madman spoke up again, "If I don’t get a good contract, I’d rather stay home and sleep."

In the NBA, being a little wild is fine. A lot of players are wild.

But if you take it too far, the teams in the NBA won’t put up with you.

So, after Spree made those two statements, no other teams contacted him.

Even though at 35, he was still a starter for the Wolves last season, averaging 12.8 points per game.

Brian quickly lowered his expectations, gave up on that fantasy, and turned his attention to ordinary rotation players.

The madman might have looked down on the Phoenix Suns, but there were plenty of players who wanted to come.

He used the single mid-level exception to its fullest, splitting it three ways. First, he signed the tall Slovenian forward, Bošjan Nekba, to a 3-year, $6 million contract.

Last season he was with the Wasp. His contract expired in the Summer. He has height, a decent shot, and his range extends beyond the three-point line.

But his defense wasn’t good enough, and he wasn’t tough enough.

But he’s just a bench role player, what more can you expect?

Then, he signed the Wizards’ 2002 first-round pick, Juan Dixon.

The Phoenix Suns offered a 3-year, $7.5 million contract, $2.5 million a year.

The Wizards didn’t match the offer.

His stats with the Wizards were actually decent; he averaged 8 points per game last season.

Normally, you wouldn’t be able to get him for that price.

But he was an older rookie. He was already 24 years old at the time of the ’02 draft.

If he were an eighteen or nineteen-year-old with that kind of performance, the Wizards would have kept him long ago.

Now at 27, he was only putting up these numbers. To put it bluntly, he was just an ordinary role player in the league.

It was understandable that the Wizards didn’t match the contract.

Besides, he was a classic ’tweener’ guard who couldn’t play either position well. At 191 cm, he wasn’t tall enough to be a shooting guard, but he had no playmaking ability to be a point guard. And if you used him as a pure shooting guard, he had no ability to create his own shot off the dribble; he could only catch and shoot.

His defense was also mediocre. He couldn’t guard taller, stronger players, and he certainly couldn’t guard smaller, faster ones.

He also had a lot of turnovers.

But again, he’s just a role player. What more can you expect?

With players like this, you don’t expect them to become stars, but you also don’t have to worry about them performing too poorly. They’re middle-of-the-road, highly mobile in the league, and on a two- or three-million-dollar contract, they are very easy to trade, ready to be turned into a bargaining chip at any time.

With the remaining $500,000 of the exception, Brian still wanted to add a "water cooler administrator."

But it was hard to find someone.

So, Brian first used a veteran’s minimum contract to sign the Fast Ship’s backup point guard, Rick Brunson.

He was valued for his performance with the Fast Ship last season, where he was still able to dish out 4.1 assists per game.

He was already 33 and had bounced around the league for years. He was more than willing to come to the Phoenix Suns for another shot at a championship.

For a fringe player like him, coming to a strong team like the Phoenix Suns meant that if he managed to steal the spotlight in a key game, he might just earn himself a big contract.

But on a weak team, you don’t even get nationally televised games. Who’s going to pay attention to you?

At this point, the Phoenix Suns’ roster had reached 14 players.

There weren’t many options left to choose from.

Brian looked at some Summer League tapes and observed a few undrafted players, but in the end, he didn’t make a move.

’14 players it is, then.’

He would leave one roster spot open. In case someone got injured, or before the playoffs started, they could still add another player.

However, an injury situation was unlikely to occur.

When it came to player protection, the Phoenix Suns were unparalleled in the league.

Even if they were unlucky and someone did get hurt, they still had Chen Yu.

Thus, the Phoenix Suns’ roster for the new season was basically set.

There were quite a few changes, but the core players had mostly been retained.

That was enough.

In some media outlets’ reviews of summer trade operations, the Phoenix Suns even received an A+, stating that they had maintained their competitiveness from last season.

But the payroll of over seventy million still gave Chen Yu and Old Kolangelo a bit of a headache.

The main reason for such large contracts was the re-signing of Chandler and Brown.

But the Phoenix Suns had their Bird rights, and not re-signing them would have been a real waste.

After signing them, they could still be traded.

As for this year, they could only grit their teeth and endure it.

But since they were paying such a high price, the management had to make demands.

The mandate: win the championship!

They had a year to regroup, made major roster adjustments, and had a year to gel; it was time to make a run for the championship.

If they didn’t have this goal, paying the luxury tax would be painful for both the team and the players.

At the end of August, representatives from various CBA teams also arrived in Phoenix.

Right there in Phoenix, Chen Yu had invited 112 players.

They included not only players from the Development Alliance, but also undrafted players from this year’s draft.

The location was their very own training facility.

They had the courts, the staff, and the equipment.

And there were familiar faces.

The coaches who had come to study under Chen Yu were no strangers to them.

It wasn’t Chen Haitao’s first time in the United States. His company was in logistics, so he often traveled all over the world and had been to the United States countless times.

But this was his first time in Phoenix.

He came with Li Chunjiang.

After arriving at the training facility by bus, someone was waiting for him.

Zhang Yongjun.

"Coach Zhang, it’s been a while," Li Chunjiang greeted Zhang Yongjun cheerfully.

He was the one who had taken over Hongyuan from Zhang Yongjun.

The two had also crossed paths back in the ’80s and ’90s on the National Team.

This time, Zhang Yongjun had come to Phoenix to study as the coach of the U20 National Youth Team.

"General Manager Chen."

Zhang Yongjun embraced Li Chunjiang, then shook hands with Chen Haitao who was beside him.

The air was filled with the sounds of greetings from all around.

It was a small circle; everyone knew everyone else.

Zhang Yongjun led the two men and an assistant into the training facility.

Li Chunjiang couldn’t help but ask, "Coach Zhang, you’ve been in the United States for half a year now, right? How’s it going? Have you learned anything?"

Zhang Yongjun had a fiery personality and spoke bluntly. He scoffed with a laugh, "Of course I have! To be honest, don’t look at it as just half a year of studying. I really feel like everything I learned in the past ten-plus years was for nothing. Chunjiang, I’ll send you some materials and notes later. You should take a good look at them, they’re really helpful."

"And it just so happens I have an idea in mind. I’ll tell you all about it in a bit."

Li Chunjiang nodded. Coming to the United States this time was partly to scout players, but he also came with the intention to learn.