Chapter 93: Destiny’s Gears Are Turning
The world was buzzing with noise, and even Xu Ling’s public hiring of a strength coach news sank into the sea amid countless NBA trade rumors.
Kobe’s camp’s ultimatum to the Lakers undoubtedly accelerated the trade negotiations on all sides.
The Dallas Mavericks took a keen interest in this.
Mark Cuban instructed his general manager, who was also Don Nelson’s son Little Don Nelson, to study the feasibility of the trade.
The Mavericks had ample reason to pursue Kobe, as they were a team desperately trying to grasp the tail end of their peak.
Whether it was the Nelson era at the turn of the century, when they became a Western Conference powerhouse through crazy offense but couldn’t go further for various reasons, or the seemingly turbulent Avery Johnson era in recent years, dying to Dwyane Wade’s whistle power in nine segments and their own weakness in the 06 Mavericks, or being invincible in the regular season yet suffering one of the most notable black eights in playoff first round history, all pushed this team to the point where they had to proactively seek change.
Thus, the Mavericks proactively inquired with the Lakers, willing to offer almost all their tradable chips to try to acquire Kobe Bryant.
However, the Lakers’ goal was not to trade away Kobe and tank. They still hoped to remain competitive this season, so their expectations for return on Kobe were extremely high: at least one All-Star level player, one potential young star, and multiple first-round draft picks.
This asking price deterred the Mavericks. They realized that they must pull in a third party or even fourth team to participate in the trade to have any hope of meeting the Lakers’ demands.
Around the same time, the New Jersey Nets also felt that their relationship with Jason Kidd had reached its end.
There was no personal grudge between Kidd and the Nets. Quite the opposite, he had taken this perennial weak team to its franchise peak and should have ended his career as the franchise’s greatest player in New Jersey. But as time passed, when the Nets’ rebuild strategy fundamentally conflicted with Kidd’s win-now window, their once wonderful bond could only come to an end.
In fact, as early as last season, Kidd was nearly traded away. Rumors linking him to the Lakers persisted from the start of the season until the trade deadline. He was just one Lakers nod away from becoming a Lakers player and teaming up with Kobe, by including Andrew Bynum in the trade package.
But the Lakers always refused to include Bynum, so the trade fell through. Although the Nets still made the playoffs, they could only become LeBron James and the Cavaliers’ “experience baby.” And after this incident, the relationship between Kidd and the team could never go back to what it was.
This feeling was just like the final scene of the classic film series 《Cuckold》, where the director always gives the incompetent husband a shot, letting him know that the pillow person is no longer his good baby.
Once the relationship reached this point, there was no point in continuing to persist.
The Nets actively explored trade options. Originally, the Mavericks were Kidd’s hot landing spot, but now they were hooked by this season’s NBA****Kobe little princess.
After all, compared to forming the great twin giants of Nowitzki and Kobe, Kidd, who could only put up economical triple-doubles every game to pretend and secure the floor, was truly like chicken ribs.
Nets general manager Rod Thorn was bitterly searching for trade partners, but when Jerry West’s call came in, he felt like a lightbulb flashed.
Right, looking across the Western Conference, was there any team more desperate for an All-Star guard who could secure the floor than the Grizzlies?
“Jerry, you know me, we’re old friends.” Thorn laughed, “Just say it if there’s something.”
Thorn originally thought West would jump right into talking about the Kidd trade, which would be simple. The Nets didn’t expect massive returns from Kidd; as long as they got a young player worth developing + a few role players plus a few draft picks, they could part amicably.
However, West asked, “Rod, are you interested in making a big trade?”
Those fuses buried in the darkness were dug out one by one by West.
When the Mavericks stalled in the Kobe trade, West contacted Little Don Nelson.
The Lakers wanted All-Star level returns? The Grizzlies happened to have Pau Gasol tucked away.
The Lakers also wanted young potential stock? The Grizzlies had Rudy Gay, who was at odds with Xu Ling but could average 20 points per game. Don’t look at him now like a cancer; if you cultivate him well, who can guarantee he won’t fully transform like Tracy McGrady in the next few years?
So the question arose: the Grizzlies provided the main player components the Lakers wanted for the Mavericks, so how should the Mavericks return the favor?
The Grizzlies wanted an All-Star, or an aging All-Star guard, and they also wanted a prime guard-forward swingman to pair with Xu Ling.
And this was something the Mavericks couldn’t fully satisfy, so they needed to pull in the fourth party of this big trade, namely the Nets who entered last.
This was the moment West had been waiting for, and the moment the Grizzlies could not afford to miss.
They would bet all assets from the pre-Xu Ling era in this trade, thereby laying the cornerstone for Xu Ling’s era to reach the path to greatness.
If it failed, or any link went wrong, then the Kobe and Lakers story after 2004 would replay in Memphis.
Although Xu Ling’s NBA career had just begun, he had already shown West with actions that he was someone who climbed upward with all his might; if the Grizzlies blocked his path, he would jump ship.
This was the sorrow of a small market.
They had to exhaust resources to please the stars.
And this was exactly why, when West made the decision back then, the question of “worthy or not” flashed in his mind. What truly terrified him was, if Memphis and the Grizzlies squeezed out all their potential yet still couldn’t reach the bright shore, what then?
Maybe the protagonist would leave, maybe the Grizzlies would become a true basketball hell, maybe Michael Heisley finally couldn’t take it and moved the team from Memphis, maybe nothing would happen, maybe disaster would come the next second, but when opportunity arises, you can’t hesitate.
The devil in West’s heart couldn’t shake his decision; in such moments, he always decided based on intuition. The hesitant, overthinking West would temporarily die, just like in 1996 when he gutted the Lakers to poach Shaquille O’Neal from Orlando—that was the peak of his management career and the happiest moment of his life, but that pleasure only lasted briefly. He knew new troubles would come soon because damn God wouldn’t allow him to enjoy a happy life.
Yes, the bad outcome came; OK’s ending was right there, but would the Lakers regret it?
Look at those three total championships.
West spent hours in his office finalizing all the personnel details of this four-team trade. There would still be more discussion on draft pick ownership, but the entire trade framework was complete.
Just like a movie that had downloaded 99%.
Just missing that final “ding.”
Now was timeout negotiation time; each team needed to call the protagonists entering the trade, especially star players like Kobe and Kidd—their willingness also mattered to the trade’s success.
West didn’t need to call Gasol and Gay.
They all knew they would be traded sooner or later.
But West still needed to make a call; the cause of this trade was Xu Ling, the reason he made this trade was Xu Ling, and now with the trade nearly complete, Xu Ling needed to know what changes were coming to his team.
The call connected shortly after dialing.
“Eli, it’s Jerry.” West said, “I think I need to inform you that the Pau and Rudy trade is about to go through.”
There was silence for several seconds on the other end.
“Who did we get?”
“This is a complex trade involving multiple teams,” West carefully chose his words, “Us, the Mavericks, the Nets, and the Los Angeles Lakers.”
“Lakers?” There was no emotion in Xu Ling’s voice, “What did they put up?”
West briefly explained: “We’re mainly swapping players with the Mavericks and Nets, but we’ll also get some future assets from the Lakers. Now, I need to know your thoughts on a few key players.”
This was the key.
If Xu Ling was dissatisfied with the trade targets, the deal still wouldn’t happen.
“Do you have any issue with Jason Kidd?” West’s heart began to hang.
“No.”
“Do you have any issue with Josh Howard?”
There was silence on the other end.
West’s heart tightened again; he really didn’t know how many tests his heart could take.
What did that mean? Did they have a conflict? Eli didn’t like Josh? How was that possible? They’d only played a few games together?
But West had always heard that Xu Ling had poor popularity in the league, and the most important aspect was that the media was very unfriendly to him. Those harmful promotions and hype defined his public image, so many players had bad impressions of him, but it couldn’t be such a coincidence, right?
“I’m impressed by his big mouth and buck teeth.”
Xu Ling’s sudden remark made West’s blood pressure spike.
“Do you think now is a good time to joke?!”
West asked, suppressing his anger.
“I have no issue with him.”
Xu Ling’s words finally eased West’s mind a bit.
“Anyone else?”
But Xu Ling asked again.
West said, “No, at least not for us.”
“I have a small suggestion.” Xu Ling continued, “Pau is a good guy; I really like playing with him.”
West’s heart sank; this damn Chinese guy wasn’t going to say something like “we don’t trade Gasol, I want to play brotherhood basketball with him, just let Gay go” at this moment, was he?
“But I know we should trade him, so I won’t let my personal feelings affect the trade, but we should push for more returns.”
“Like?”
“I heard Pau’s brother Marc participated in the draft last year?”
“Seems like it.”
“He was selected by the Lakers but hasn’t entered the NBA yet.”
“What are you getting at?”
“After I entered the league, Pau helped me a lot, and I’m very grateful to him, but I don’t know how to repay him. You know, Jerry, Chinese people emphasize repaying a drop of water with a spring; I think the best way to return the favor is to help his brother the way he helped me.” No one knew how hard this Xu-surnamed traverser was trying to nudge the timeline back on track a bit. “Let’s get Marc’s contract rights from the Lakers.”
West hung up the phone in confusion, his thoughts disrupted by Xu Ling’s garbled words.
Finally, he cleared the fog in his mind.
“Total bullshit!”
West cursed inwardly.
He didn’t disbelieve the relationship between Xu Ling and Gasol; he just didn’t believe anyone would go through such a big circle to repay a colleague who was about to leave.
It made no sense.
But in a big trade deciding four teams’ fates, asking for the contract rights of a second-round pick who might not enter the NBA for who knows when was hardly a big deal worth fussing over.
West would meet Xu Ling’s request, so now he still had to make another call to the Lakers.
Compared to the other troubles, this was negligible.
