The NBA started with helping Iverson win the championship

Chapter 322 Friend of the Elderly Point Guard
The Lakers moved quickly. After receiving a call from Nelson Jr., they immediately made a decision to buy out Nash's contract.

Nash's contract only has one year left this year, and the contract amount is not large, only an annual salary of more than 900 million.

After the buyout, the Mavericks will give Nash an annual salary of more than 200 million, so that the Lakers only need to pay Nash 700 million.

It can not only save a lot of money, but also win a good reputation for letting Nash win the championship. Of course, the Lakers don't want to miss this deal.

Maybe the Lakers are now beginning to regret their decision to introduce Nash.

It's not that Nash is not strong, but that he and Kobe really don't get along very well. Let alone Nash in his prime, even Nash in his peak period may not be able to play anything with Kobe.

"what?"

"Nash went to the Mavericks? Good guy, Nash finally has a chance to win the championship."

"Have a chance to win the championship? Are you kidding me? Which team do you think can prevent the Mavericks from winning the championship in this league?"

"Li Xun is simply a friend of the elderly point guard. He has only been in the league for five years. How many top point guards without a championship have he led to the championship?"

"At the beginning, Iverson, then Kidd and Terry, and now Nash, are really friends of the old point guard."

"The savior of old point guards, those old point guards who don't have a championship in the future, I'm afraid they will have to go to Li Xun."

After learning that Nash joined the Mavericks, many fans were very excited.

Nash's fan base is very good, mainly because he plays very cleanly, has a gorgeous style of play, and looks gentle and refined.

Unfortunately, so far in his career, he has never won a championship.

The year with the best chance to win the championship was also ruined by the Spurs' filth.

Joining the Mavericks now, not to mention 100% winning, at least [-]% chance of winning.

The fans are of course very happy to see that Nash won a championship ring in the last year, and he still got it as a Mavericks player.

A day later, Nash came to Dallas to report with simple luggage.

Outside the Dallas Mavericks' home arena, a huge poster of Nash has also been placed, next to the posters of Li Xun and Nowitzki.

It can also be seen from this that the Mavericks still have deep feelings for Nash.

In other words, the Mavericks feel more guilt toward Nash.

Speaking of Nash leaving the Mavericks, it is really a child without a mother. It is a long story. Even the old Nelson left the Mavericks. In fact, the main reason is Nash.

Nash played his worth in the Mavericks back then. In the four seasons from 00 to 04, Nash probably averaged 15 points and 8 assists per game.

The key is that the offensive efficiency is very high. At that time, Nash was already a member of the 180 club.

In addition to high offensive efficiency, Nash's overall view is also very good. If Nowitzki was injured and unable to play in the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks' first championship in team history may come earlier.

Back then, the three Musketeers combination of Nash, Nowitzki and Finley was quite powerful under the old Nelson's training.

It's a pity that when Nash's contract in 04 ended and needed to be renewed, problems arose.

Old Nelson is going to offer Nash a 4-year contract of 4000 million yuan, which is actually not a high annual salary.

And Nash was ready to accept it for the sake of old Nelson.

After all, the Mavericks have Nash's mentor Nelson and his best friend Nowitzki.

As a result, Cuban just refused to give it, and was only willing to give a five-year 4500 million contract, and the fifth year was still a partially guaranteed contract.

That is, an average of less than 900 million a year.

Later, Nash had no choice but to accept the Suns offer of a 6-year $6500 million contract.

In this way, the Mavericks missed Nash.

Old Nelson was also completely disappointed with Cuban, and then left the Mavericks.

So sometimes it is not a good thing for the boss to meddle in the team's operations.

Now that the Mavericks have won the first championship in team history, Cuban may also feel guilty when he thinks of that past, so after Nash came, he gave him a very high treatment.

At the Mavericks' training ground, when Nash appeared, all the players stopped training.

"Steve, welcome back."

"Who would have thought that we two old fellows would have a chance to join forces."

After seeing Nash, Nowitzki felt joy from the bottom of his heart.

He didn't expect that Li Xun went to the Lakers to play an away game, and he brought him such a surprise.

"Yeah, I really didn't expect it."

"Unfortunately, Michael has already retired, otherwise we, the three musketeers, would still be able to play together."

Nash recalled the good old days and sighed.

The Michael he is talking about is of course not Jordan, but the poor version of Jordan Michael Finley.

Finley was the boss of the Mavericks at the time, and because he entered the league earlier than the two of them, he was considered the big brother of the two of them.

There are very few team bosses like Finley who selflessly help two foreign players.

If Finley is selfish and only thinks about his own data, it is hard to say whether Nowitzki and Nash can grow to where they are today.

Undoubtedly, Finley is not a big figure in the history of the league. The most impressive statistics in his career are two All-Star substitutes, and he won a championship with the Spurs in 07.

But in the eyes of Nowitzki and Nash, two superstars, Finley is a big brother worthy of respect.

"Michael has already won a championship, and I have a championship too."

"It's up to you next, Steve."

"My luck has been good. God sent Li Xun to Dallas. We now have the strongest lineup in the league."

Nowitzki said confidently.

Nash looked at Li Xun with a gentle smile, and he was also very grateful to Li Xun.

He is very clear that his current combat power is almost zero.

On the one hand, he is old, and on the other hand, he is injured, so he may not be able to play a game.

In this case, it is really meaningless to trade yourself over, and it will not improve the Mavericks' overall strength in the slightest.

But Li Xun did it anyway.

"Thank you, Lee."

"Being able to join forces with Dirk again before retiring can be regarded as fulfilling my dream."

"You are the best player in the league, of course, and will definitely be the best player in the history of the league. I am honored to be your teammate."

Faced with Nash's high evaluation, Li Xun felt a little embarrassed.

The arrival of Nash really did not improve the Mavericks' book strength.

But this does not mean that Nash is really useless, at least in terms of shooting training, he can play a considerable role.

Especially the Mavericks now have a lot of young people in the team, and there are players like Antetokounmpo who really need to practice shooting.

Kidd can train Antetokounmpo's pass control and train him how to use his physical advantage to fight big and small, but when it comes to shooting training, Kidd himself hasn't figured it out yet.

Looking at it this way, Brother Antetokounmpo is almost a diamond start, the absolute son of destiny.

Just entering the league, you can get two super point guards in the top five levels in NBA history. If you can't rise, it is really unreasonable.

After the Christmas War, the Mavericks started a wave of four consecutive home games.

This time there are two powerful teams, the Spurs and the Warriors.

The Spurs didn't make Li Xunji very concerned, because Li Xun felt that this Spurs could never be his opponent.

What really needs to be worried about is actually the Warriors.

On December 12, the Mavericks played against the Spurs at home.

DeRozan's performance in this game cannot be said to be imperfect, with 17 of 11 in the game.

Such a hit rate is already quite impressive.

It's a pity that he scored 17 of 11 and only scored 24 points in the end.

Because all of the 11 shots hit were two-pointers, most of which were mid-range shots, and there were also 3 of 2 free throws.

The shooting rate is quite powerful, but the offensive efficiency can't be said to be very high. 17 shots in exchange for 24 points can only be regarded as mediocre.

Li Xun is also helpless. He mentioned it to DeRozan once before, asking him to practice more three-pointers.

But DeRozan may have adapted to the current comfort zone. The Spurs didn't force him to shoot more three-pointers, so he simply stopped shooting.

This is undoubtedly a very bad situation, and it will definitely have a negative impact on DeRozan's career.

But it should be reminded that Li Xun has already mentioned it, DeRozan didn't take it to heart, and Li Xun couldn't help it.

This matter can only be realized by DeRozan himself.

In order to make DeRozan wake up, Li Xun also set an example tonight.

The audience took 18 shots, which was about the same as DeRozan's, but Li Xun's score was much higher than DeRozan's.

18 shots, including 9 three-pointers, four of which were hit.

The other 9 shots were all hitting the basket, scoring six of them, and also got 7 free throws, 7 free throws and 6 of them.

In this way, Li Xun scored 18 points with a 10-of-30 shooting rate.

In terms of shooting percentage, Li Xun is actually not as good as DeRozan's 17-for-11, but because of his different style of play, his scoring is a level higher than DeRozan's.

Not to mention the analysts in the NBA, they are not vegetarians with such a high salary.

These analysts can really analyze what kind of offensive methods are more efficient in adapting to the times, and what kind of offensive methods are outdated.

Li Xun scored 18 points in 30 shots. Such an offensive efficiency is doomed for the Spurs to have a hard time with the Mavericks.

When Duncan faced Gobert tonight, he didn't take advantage of it too much.

This old monster will not be able to blow up young people every night, and there are times when he is unable to do what he wants.

But in terms of crushing, the Mavericks are not actually crushing tonight. In the end, they won by six points, which can only be regarded as a shallow victory.

The main reason is that Ginobili played very well tonight, and Clay was a little at a loss with his European step.

After winning the Spurs, the Mavericks will continue to sit at home against the Warriors.

The Mavericks lost this game, which made Li Xun feel a little bit stuck.

In the first quarter, when Durant showed his power, Li Xun went to put out the fire, and just extinguished Durant's hot feeling with his forefoot.

On the back foot, Curry began to explode again.

There is no way, Li Xun can only be a firefighter, and then go to mark Curry.

After Li Xun restricted Curry, Durant and Barnes broke out one after another.

But tonight the Mavericks don't feel good, and the shooting percentage is not high.

Green played 20 minutes tonight, and his shooting percentage was horrible. He made 5 of 0 shots and 2 of 1 free throws. In the end, he only scored 1 point.

And this bad feeling seems to be contagious.

Clay also felt extremely cold tonight, scoring only 14 points in 11 shots.

Jiba didn't have the demeanor of Mr. Fifty Points a few days ago, but he only got five points tonight.

If it weren't for Li Xun to bite the bullet and use his violent physical fitness to keep holding the ball and rushing into the penalty area, the Mavericks would lose this game ugly.

Now Li Xun can understand James and understand why he was hammered into that ghost by the Warriors with Durant.

Li Xun is at least one grade better than James, and this Warriors team is not as strong as the Warriors under normal circumstances. Even so, Li Xun failed to win tonight.

Li Xun scored 47 points and made 14 of 12 free throws. That's it, he still failed to lead the team to win.

With the end of this game, the entire league also re-examined the strength of this Warriors.

In the past, many experts or fans knew that the Warriors were strong, but they didn't think they could be so strong that even the team led by Li Xun could be overthrown.

In the previous NBA team power rankings, the Mavericks are of course the undisputed number one, and the Raptors, Bulls and Spurs are ranked second, third and fourth.

The Warriors only rank fifth on this list.

It is foreseeable that in the new power ranking list, the ranking of the Warriors will definitely have to jump up.

Losing is of course heart-wrenching, but it's not to the point where it can dampen the Mavericks' confidence in winning the championship.

After all, the players in this game are really tough.

It is precisely because of the poor shooting percentage that even their defensive performance has fluctuated.

This is completely an abnormal performance, and it is definitely not the real level of the Mavericks.

The two-and-a-half-month schedule is over, and the season is roughly halfway through.

The Mavericks' current record is 34 wins and 4 losses. If there is no accident, it is not difficult for them to win 70+ games this season.

"what?"

"Is this kind of thing going to be discussed so soon?"

Li Xun sat in the general manager's office, and Nelson Jr. and Cuban sat across from him.

The two of them met with Li Xun today, mainly to discuss how the team should trade in the offseason after "winning the championship".

Li Xun was speechless, these two people were a bit big-hearted.

The schedule was not even half over, and the two of them actually began to think about trading after winning the championship.

However, for this year's Mavericks, the championship is almost in the bag, and the only variable is the Warriors.

This Warriors team may lose to any team in the league, but it may also win any team in the league.

"Lee, Clay and Jimmy are all contract years next season."

"We have to prepare in advance, and I want to know who do you think is more suitable to stay?"

Little Nelson didn't say too much, because he knew very well that Li Xun knew that there would only be one of the two of them left.

Nowitzki definitely has no plans to retire in recent years. As long as he is with the Mavericks for one day, his salary cannot be low.

Even if it is not the maximum salary, it is not far from the maximum salary.

Li Xun is currently on the top salary.

The Mavericks can at most afford a maximum salary.

Li Xun has actually thought about this issue before, and it must be more cost-effective to trade Jiba.

(End of this chapter)