The NBA started with helping Iverson win the championship

Chapter 353 Aren't You The One Who Can Do Whatever You Want?

The Knicks fans at the scene looked at each other in blank dismay after hearing that Zhou Qi had been selected.

Because they have never heard of the name.

Regardless of the overwhelming publicity in China at the time, it was all nonsense that Zhou Qi might be selected by the lottery pick.

"I have never heard of this player at all. It seems that he should be from the Celestial Dynasty."

"That's right. It's actually not bad to choose someone from the Celestial Dynasty, as long as you can keep Li Xun."

"Our draft is over this time, and I look forward to the start of the new season. I can't wait to see the Knicks win."

"God, we only won 19 games last season, who the hell knows how we kept going."

With Zhou Qi being selected, this draft actually has nothing to do with Li Xun.

After the game ended, the old Hornacek directly led Li Xun to the super luxurious residence that the Knicks had prepared for him.

This is Li Xun's temporary foothold, because he has not started a family yet, and he has no plans to buy a house in Laomei, so when he joins any team, the team will provide him with housing.

In fact, this can be regarded as a hidden benefit.

The 500-square-meter large flat is located near Central Park in New York.

Panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows provide a panoramic view of Central Park.

The rent alone is as high as 6 US dollars a month.

Originally Zen Master wanted to bring Li Xun over to look at the house, but the job was snatched by old Hornacek.

Zen master can't help it, he can't pull his face down and join hands with old Hornacek.

Zen master's self-esteem is still very strong.

"How is it? Li? This house is absolutely comfortable to live in."

"The most prosperous area in the world, as long as you are willing to stay in Knicks, you can live here forever."

"By the way, Phil was here just now, so I can't talk about personal matters with you."

"The relationship between you and Abby is progressing very well. I think if the time is right, I can consider getting married."

Old Hornacek said with a smile.

Li Xun scratched his head, it was less than a year, it was too early to talk about marriage.

After finding an excuse to prevaricate, Li Xun has officially settled down in New York.

Not everyone can enjoy Li Xun's treatment.

For example, UAE, although he also has a maximum salary and the team has provided him with housing, there is only a [-]-square-meter apartment.

As for Sun Yue, he didn't even have a place to live, so he could only go to the place where Ah Lian lived.

After staying for one night, Li Xun received a call from Master Zen. The team owner Dolan and many management wanted to meet Li Xun today.

It is estimated that these people still feel like a dream until now, and Li Xun actually came to their Knicks.

An hour later, Li Xun's figure appeared in the Knicks' president's office.

"Lee, you are very welcome to join our Knicks."

"Don't worry, this is your home, no matter what you need, we can do it for you."

"In New York, you can do whatever you want, and I can fix anything for you."

Dolan is really not guilty at all when he said this, he really has such ability.

His identity is not just a billionaire super rich, but also controls a huge media empire.

If you control the media, you also control the direction of the wind. What is black can be said to be white, and what is white can also be said to be black.

Coupled with a strong team of lawyers, Li Xun can almost really do whatever he wants in New York.

It's a pity that Li Xun is not that kind of person, he is still quite clean.

"Thank you, Mr. Dolan, but I don't think I'm the type to do whatever I want."

Li Xun smiled gently.

Everyone was stunned, aren't you a person who can do whatever you want?

Who in the league doesn't know that Li Xun can do whatever he wants?

"Li, what are your plans for the team lineup?"

"By the way, the Mavericks have already submitted a trade application to us."

"Mr. Cuban is really interesting. He asked us to give any number of players as long as we can match the salary."

"In addition, the newcomer Jokic in the Mavericks was also given to us."

The Zen master was ready to say something serious.

Li Xun nodded, "Okay, there is nothing wrong with the deal with the Mavericks, but try to give some valuable players."

Everyone laughed bitterly, valuable players?How can the Mavericks have any valuable players now.

It can't be said that there is no, Ah Lian and Sun Yue are actually worth trading.

The No. [-] pick Booker who just got it must also have transaction value.

But these are Li Xun's direct lineup, how could they be traded.

Among the remaining Knicks lineup, the one who really has some trade value may be Xiaoluo.

"In terms of lineup, that's all we can do for the time being. There are too few draft picks this time, and there is no way to select too many newcomers to train."

"But it is generally enough. Anyway, the record in the new season will definitely not be bad."

"At least make it to the finals."

Li Xun said softly.

Everyone looked happy.

Look at what is domineering, this is domineering.

To put it lightly, there is no strong helper, and he directly promised to enter the finals.

How long has it been since the Knicks made it to the Finals?

Dolan can't seem to remember it. The last time he entered the finals was 20 years ago.

It has to be traced back to the Ewing era in 94, when the Knicks played the Finals against the Rockets, but the Knicks failed to win.

"Li, don't put too much pressure on yourself."

"It's enough to get to the finals."

"After all, you just came here, and our Knicks lineup is so weak. It is great enough to reach the finals."

"Take your time, don't rush."

Dolan couldn't hide a smile all over his face.

Enter the finals in the first year, select some strong newcomers in the next year's draft, or strengthen through trades, then they will win the championship directly.

Li Xun was able to win at least two championships during his three years with the Knicks.

If you are lucky, three championships are not impossible.

With Li Xun leaving the Mavericks, the current Mavericks are actually still the most favorable contenders for the championship.

However, judging from last season's record, the Mavericks' winning percentage is about [-]% without Li Xun playing.

With a winning rate of [-]%, it can no longer be said that he has a terrifying dominance.

So Dolan feels that the Knicks may not have no hope of defeating the Mavericks this year.

As for these teams in the East, Dolan certainly didn't pay attention to them.

What are you kidding, even Li Xun is here, so you still care about these Eastern teams?

Next, Zen Master and old Hornacek chatted with Li Xun about the starting lineup for the new season, and Dolan didn't leave. He was also very curious about what kind of starting lineup the new season would be for this almost completely new Knicks. line-up.

Normally, this starting lineup is actually the job of the head coach.

But Zen Master said he was the president, but he was actually the Knicks' overlord. When Fisher Fisher was coaching the Knicks, Zen Master actually had the final say on everything in the team.

Now that old Hornacek is here, that's exactly what happened.

"The starting lineup is center Jokic, power forward Yi Jianlian, shooting guard Booker, point guard Sun Yue and me as a small forward."

In fact, Li Xun has already thought about the starting lineup.

With the Knicks' current player reserve, this is actually the only viable starting lineup.

Everyone nodded, Li Xun's lineup actually announced a news, Xiao Luo is likely to be one of the bargaining chips in this transaction.

Just looking at this starting lineup, weak is certainly not weak.

In addition to Sun Yue's weakness, and Booker is a new melon egg, the other three players in the frontcourt are all very strong.

Jokic is now a second-year player. He spent a whole season with the Mavericks last season, and he has gained a lot.

There is definitely still a long way to go before his peak, but Li Xun is confident that he will play for more than half a season, and Jokic will at least have [-]% of his peak strength.

Eighty percent is enough.

The UAE has no problems on the offensive end, and the defense is not top-notch, but it is not a colander either.

The reason why Li Xun wants to play the third position is because in this position, he can more flexibly help his teammates defend.

The starting lineup looks good, but it doesn't mean that this Knicks team is really strong.

Their bench is simply too miserable to bear to look at.

It is impossible for the five players on the court to play more than 10 minutes in every game.

The longer they play, the greater the chance that the Knicks will definitely win, and if they play for a short time, the Knicks may not have a good record this year.

But if it is placed in the east, Li Xun is actually very confident of winning the first place in the east.

Because there are almost 60 wins, then it will definitely be the first in the Eastern Conference.

Under normal circumstances, the No. 57 in the Eastern Conference this year is the Big Three Cavaliers, and they only have [-] wins.

So the regular season record is sometimes not that important.

After meeting with the Knicks management here, Li Xun made an appointment with Ah Lian and Sun Yue.

"It's really like a dream, and I actually teamed up with you."

"The two of you call it teaming up, and I call it hugging thighs, but thigh hugging is also good. If I can get a few championship rings, I will take off directly."

Sun Yue and Ah Lian sighed endlessly.

In the blink of an eye, they and Li Xun have been playing in the league for seven or eight years.

In seven or eight years, Sun Yue cooperated with Li Xun for half a season, while Ah Lian never cooperated with Li Xun at all.

Now that the three of them are gathered together, it really makes people feel a little dreamlike.

I am afraid that the domestic fans are the happiest now.

"By the way, Brother Li, will Zhou Qi's kid start the new season?"

"It would be spectacular if it was the starting lineup. An NBA team has four starting players from China."

Sun Yue asked curiously.

Li Xun shook his head, "Why does he start now?"

"Do you think it's a good thing to see who gets blown up by someone when you're on the starting lineup?"

"Maybe if you hit it, you don't have confidence."

Yi Jianlian nodded in agreement, he has too much right to speak in this regard.

If it weren't for Jokic, Li Xun didn't care who played the starting center.

Even he didn't think there was a need for a center forward on the court.

But now after all, with Jokic, it is impossible to really let Jokic play Zhou Qi as a substitute.

That's outrageous too.

Half a month later, Zhou Qi came to the Knicks to report.

Li Xun didn't go to pick him up either, which was Li Xun's small punishment for Zhou Qi's self-assessment for participating in the draft.

Reporting now is undoubtedly for the summer league.

The Knicks' rookies Booker and Zhou Qi both went to the summer league, which disappointed the Knicks fans.

Zhou Qi didn't play very well, even against those summer league centers, he couldn't get any advantage.

Played six games and was blown up five times.

However, Zhou Qi has a low draft after all. Among the summer league centers, there are some high-ranking rookies, and there are also some veterans who can't play in the NBA.

Don't underestimate these old idiots, they often deal with new melons very ruthlessly.

And Booker's performance is actually the main reason for the Knicks' disappointment.

His performance in the summer league is difficult to describe. He couldn't shoot, couldn't defend, and was simply useless.

Li Xun didn't expect Booker's performance to be so unbearable.

But it's not a big problem, because Booker is not a player who is good at defense. As for not making shots, this kind of thing depends on luck.

Or it could just be bad luck during summer league.

Time flies by and it is already October.

At the end of August, Li Xun even took some time to play in the Asian Cup.

Said to be the Asian Cup game, it feels more like the New York Knicks playing the Asian Cup.

Because the four core players of the Tianchao men's basketball team are all playing for the New York Knicks.

Needless to say, the result was that the Celestial Dynasty team won the gold medal with an absolute advantage.

The average point difference advantage even came to 37 points.

This is already a competition at the level of dish abuse.

The better the current international competition is played, the more uncomfortable Li Xun feels.

When Ah Lian retires, when he is too old to play, what will happen to the Tianchao men's basketball team?
Even people like Zhou Qi will be the absolute pillars of the Chinese men's basketball team in 2022.

Although it has not fallen to the level of the national football team, the men's basketball team is really almost on the verge of becoming a second-rate team in Asia.

Those who hear it are sad and those who hear it cry. You must know that the men's basketball team has always been the absolute overlord in Asia.

Even the Australian team, which always plays Asian games, is just a younger brother in front of the former men's basketball team.

But then the situation was completely different. The men's basketball team lost to Australia within 20 points, and that was acceptable.

As the old saying goes, those who are close to Zhu are red and those who are close to ink are black. Now Li Xun is thinking about getting Zhou Qi to his side.

Let him experience the playing style of those top players, and then let the team find some top trainers for him, not to mention making him a top center, at least he must play at the level of Sun Yue, so that he can gain a firm foothold in the NBA .

On October 10, the first preseason game of the New York Knicks started.

Now the Knicks lineup has been completely determined.

Center position: Jokic and Zhou Qi.

Xiao Luo has been sold to the Mavericks in the previous transaction.

It's not that the Mavericks want Xiao Luo, but that if the Knicks don't come up with Xiao Luo, it will be difficult to match Li Xun's contract.

After the Mavericks got Xiao Luo, they also sold it directly and exchanged for a draft pick.

Power forward position: Yi Jianlian, Kyle O'Quinn

This O'Quinn is actually just a make-up. His physical fitness is very good. He is 208 cm tall, but has a 226 cm wingspan. He has sufficient tonnage and strength.

But the technique is very rough, and he can't control his hands, so he is easy to foul.

Such a player can still hold a 4-year 1800 million contract in the Knicks.

I have to say that the Knicks' money is really easy to make.

(End of this chapter)