The Rest, Only Noise

When it comes to opinions, everyone has opinions, but many people's opinions cannot be passed.

Jerry West's opinion, for example, is hilarious.

He wants to revive the NBA's regional drafts.

"Enough, Jerry, you know it's impossible."

Louis also smiled.

It's a rule that's only good for one team at a certain time, and it's bad for all teams most of the time.

The Philadelphia Warriors used this rule to draft Chamberlain.

If the regional draft persists, who's going to change? First, Gary Payton will be taken by Washington, Mutombo and Mourning will be taken by the bullet, O'Neal will be taken by the Spurs, Grant Hill will be taken by the bullet, Garnett will be taken by the Bulls , Iverson will be taken by the Bullets, Durant will be taken by the renamed Bullets/Wizards, Curry will be taken by the Charlotte Bobcats.

As for the Lakers who came up with this rule, if the regional draft does resume, who will they be able to use the regional draft for decades to come?

Uh... Paul Pierce and DeMar DeRozan.

It feels like... it's better not to draft this region, huh?

All that said, if Louie was the top Bullets team, he would have voted yes, even if he couldn't change the fact that regional drafts are a thing of the past.

West knew that his proposal would not pass, so after speaking, he simply sat down without saying much.

Louis looked at him with a smile.

"What's so funny?" West asked.

"I was thinking, didn't you know what to say, so you just mentioned one?"

"you guessed right."

Various proposals emerged.

Most of them were rejected, and those that were passed had this feature.

That is good for all teams.

In the past few years, there were proposals every year, and several proposals were passed, and today is very calm.

At the end of the annual meeting, Stern also asked Louis: "Lu, do you have anything to say?"

Louis smiled embarrassedly: "Actually, I really have two suggestions here."

Everyone's eyes lit up, and they looked at Louis as if they were prey.

It's not that they overreacted, but that Louie's proposals in recent years have had a much higher chance of getting passed than others.

Because of Louie, the roster of players for each team was increased from 12 to 13 (and later proposed by others to increase to 15).

Because of Louie, guys who don't understand the salary cap will no longer be unable to sign a rookie because there is no room in the salary cap.

He changed the league on and off the court.

"Come and listen, Lu."

"I hope that the league can introduce standard rookie contracts to curb those rookies who are ready to open their mouths." Louie's words caused a commotion on the scene, "I know that the labor agreement is deadlocked and the union is tough, but they Calling the draft system abolished is laughable. They know, and we know, it can't happen, and the draft is the foundation of the league's long-term survival."

Jane Walker was intrigued.

"Lu, what is a standard rookie contract?"

"I'm always annoyed by guys who open their mouths and ask for a max salary before they've even played a professional game," Louie said. , they may not be as good as they think they are, but the current rules make us have to give out oversized contracts to sign them."

"Yes, like Joe Klein!"

"Can't forget Dennis Hopson!"

"Damn it, and Chuck Posen!"

"I hate William Bedford!"

The NBA's annual meeting has almost turned into a parallel fight.

Stern had to calm the group down.

"Lu, what do you think a standard rookie contract should look like?"

"The term should not be too long or too short. There should be a distinction between first-round picks and second-round picks." Louie only needs to copy the rookie contract system that the NBA will issue in the future. "The lottery pick should not be paid more than 10 percent of the salary cap, but not less than 8 percent of the salary cap."

Jerry Krause laughed: "I think it's a good policy, but it's unbelievable that this policy is being proposed by the representatives of New York."

"I admit that we did not think well about this aspect of the contract in previous years."

The aftermath of the infamous 10-year $30 million the Knicks gave Ewing to Ewing is still affecting the operation of the team to this day.

"Lu, you should know that it was you who started the history of rookies asking for sky-high prices." Klaus had a confusing idea.

"Yes, I agree with Jerry."

The representative of the Golden State Warriors, Don Nelson, a friend of Louis's circle, actually openly backstabbed.

Louis looked at him unexpectedly.

"The history of giving rookies sky-high contracts does start in New York," Nelson laughed. "But I don't think Lu should be responsible for it."

"Don't forget, when Ewing was given that contract, he was already the general manager of the Knicks!" Krause said on the line.

"Jerry, you misunderstood me. I mean, the era of rookies asking for sky-high contracts has already begun, and Ewing's contract is just a tipping point. But the starting point is indeed New York." Opening your mouth is history. "You should know what's going on, Jerry?"

He was asking about another Jerry.

Nelson seems to be attacking Louis with Klaus, but in fact, he subtly solves the latter's embarrassment.

West was willing to cooperate: "In 1966, the Knicks stunned us all by signing a $300,000 rookie contract for that year's No. 1 overall pick, Cazzie Russell SF/SG. Since then , the situation becomes uncontrollable. I have to say that New York is the root of all evil in this phenomenon, but there is no reason to take anger on Louie for this. Even if the contract they gave Ewing was unreasonable, don't forget , he just became general manager at the time and didn't know that much about a lot of things. That's why I believe that he came up with this proposal because he really wanted to solve the problem that we all have to face."

Klaus snorted and said no more.

"This is indeed a topic that needs to be seriously discussed." For some reason, Knicks legend Earl Monroe, who was tied to the thief ship by Los Angeles Clippers owner Sterling, spoke on behalf of the Clippers. In the end, we are like meat on the case being slaughtered by greedy brokers. This situation should be brought under control.”

"How to control it? I don't think the union will accept this proposal," said 76ers general manager John Nash. "A rookie could have opened his mouth to us for a seven-figure salary, if this proposal passed, even if It is the first pick and can get up to 700,000 annual salary."

"Isn't that much?" Louie asked back. "They have to prove their worth before they can earn big contracts."

"That's right..."

"But how can you get them to agree?"

Louie looked at Stern and said slyly like a fox: "As far as I know, the negotiating dilemma between the union and the league is whether the cable broadcast contract is shared?"

"Yeah," Stern sneered. "They've been fighting this for a whole year."

"What about the alliance's decision?"

"It's the owners' decision," Stern said. "They agreed to share the revenue from the cable contracts with the players."

"Presumably Mr. President has put a lot of effort into this, right?"

"Get down to business, Louis."

Louie asked bluntly: "If the owners agree to share the revenue from the cable contracts with the players, what do they get for it?"

"Honestly, nothing has been gained. This is to reach an agreement with the union. As they grow, we can't afford the loss of the shutdown." Stern smiled bitterly.

"Since we made a move and got nothing, why not use the standard rookie contract system as a bargaining chip."

"But we've already voted..."

Stern paused, scolding himself for being stupid, so what if he passed the vote? At that time, insist on launching a rookie contract.

No matter how high-sounding the unionists are, the circumstances of their struggles are different now than they were in the past.

In the past, the union was indeed fighting for the survival of the players.

Now, decent players are all millionaires, and survival is not a problem for a long time, and they want to get more knife fun.

"I get what you meant now."

Stern looked at everyone: "Vote."

Except for two abstentions, the representatives of the other teams ~www.readwn.com~ all voted in favor.

Louie sat there silently, as if he didn't know that with his words just now, he would change the game mode in the offseason.

Once the standard rookie contract system is passed, many in this room will not have to fight with various agents in the offseason.

Because there is a standard contract, there is no need to negotiate. The player and the agent will sign and take pictures together. There is no need to quarrel for several months without results, not even participating in training camp, and signing the contract until the start of the new season.

"Louis, don't you have two opinions, what about the other?"

"Well, it's a little hard to tell."

Louie's second opinion is to add a clause that allows teams to renew their contracts regardless of the salary cap when their rookie contracts expire.

This is similar to what he suggested at the beginning, when the team's salary cap is inflated and it is impossible to sign rookies, a certain clause can be activated to sign over the cap, and the extra money will be doubled to pay the fine and distribute it to the league teams.

But this time, all the teams in the audience voted against it.

Because of this proposal, no matter how you look at it, only the Knicks take advantage.

In the league, only the Knicks and the Celtics have completely relied on their own draft players to successfully win the championship.

The Celtics' peak has passed, and the Knicks' troubles are about to begin. If they agree to Louis's proposal, they are asking for trouble and giving the Knicks a chance to use their money.

Louie didn't plan to pass it once. Not this time. Next time, the salary cap will reach $7.24 million next season. They still have to play.