"If we can draft Kai Chen this year, we won't fear the Golden State Warriors at all!"
In Cleveland, USA, inside the Cavaliers' General Manager's office, James earnestly suggested to the team's General Manager, "I went to watch Kai Chen's game in March, and he is undoubtedly the best rookie this year."
"I know."
The Cavaliers' General Manager nodded helplessly. "But we only have an 8th overall pick this year, so it's very difficult for us to draft him."
"Moreover, after a series of trades this season, we no longer have the corresponding resources to acquire him through a trade."
This is the current situation of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Last offseason, Irving requested a trade, catching the Cavaliers' management off guard.
He eventually swapped teams with Isaiah Thomas and went to Boston, but the strongest 175 on the surface, who had just been selected to the All-NBA Second Team, immediately chose to undergo hip surgery upon arriving in Cleveland.
This also meant that the role of Thomas, who was supposed to take over from Irving and lead the team's offense, became vacant again.
Although the management signed two veterans, Wade and Rose, to minimum contracts, making the team's roster seem strong on paper,
the sluggish start to the regular season immediately shattered the Cavaliers' illusion.
Team center Tristan Thompson's performance declined, and Tyronn Lue could only move him to the bench, which led to the Cavaliers, with only Love remaining in the paint, quickly running into trouble on defense.
During Thomas's absence, the team could only rely on veteran Calderon to contribute at the point guard position.
Summer recruit Derrick Rose only played 16 games due to injury, while Wade never fully integrated into the team.
Tyronn Lue expected Crowder and Jeff Green to shore up the wing's defensive system, but these two clearly lacked the necessary ability.
It was precisely because of this that the Cavaliers' defensive efficiency once dropped to the bottom of the league.
With Thomas's return from injury, the team once again fell into new problems.
His hip injury had made him mediocre, averaging 14.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists, no longer capable of serving as the team's second-best player.
For the Cavaliers to win another championship, they had to make changes.
Before the trade deadline, the team's management began to make frequent moves: they first packaged Frye and Thomas to acquire Clarkson and Nance from the Los Angeles Lakers, then sent away Crowder, Rose, and Shumpert to get George Hill and Hood.
Finally, they chose to let Wade return home, in exchange for a future second-round pick.
A near-half-team roster overhaul paved James's path to the playoffs.
But...
If not for James's god-like performance, they might have been eliminated much earlier.
In other words, the current Cavaliers' overall roster is completely rigid.
They have no room for any further moves, plus they must be fully prepared to prevent James from leaving.
So even if James explicitly stated that he would stay if they acquired Kai Chen, the team's high-level management would still consider it thrice.
"We can try to trade for him using next year's draft pick."
James was still making a final effort, trying to persuade management to acquire Kai Chen.
After all, he really wanted to bring another championship trophy to his hometown team.
"LeBron, if we get Kai Chen, can we really beat the Warriors?"
The team's General Manager chose to lay his cards on the table. "We all admit you are very strong. You are a historical-level superstar, but for the past few years, we have been suppressed by the Golden State Warriors. Just like this series, our team is already down 0-2."
"Kai Chen is just a rookie; his growth needs time."
"Even if we acquire him through a trade, I still don't believe we can win another championship in the next few years."
Clearly, the team strongly believed in James's leadership ability, but they did not believe in Kai Chen.
To bet the Cavaliers' future on a rookie from China—that was absolutely impossible.
Even though Kai Chen had already proven himself in the NCAA.
James fell silent.
At the same time, he was utterly disappointed with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Meanwhile, teams holding lottery picks were already eager to make their moves.
The first to act were the Charlotte Hornets, who held the 11th pick.
Michael Jordan directly announced that the team was very optimistic about Shai from Kentucky University and Trae Young from Oklahoma University.
If either of those two fell to them, they would not hesitate to acquire them.
Of course, this was just Michael Jordan's smokescreen.
To give false information to the outside world and distract people's attention.
After learning that the Suns, who had the first overall pick, and the Kings, who had the second overall pick, were not interested in Kai Chen, Michael Jordan secretly contacted the Hawks, who had the third overall pick, wanting to make a trade involving the 3rd and 11th picks.
The God of Basketball even declared that if the Hawks chose to trade, all players from the Charlotte Hornets could be used in the deal.
But the Hawks' response was simple: they didn't care for any of the Charlotte Hornets' players at all!
After all, the Hornets were truly terrible.
They didn't even have a single player who could be used as a valuable trade asset.
The only one, Kemba Walker, couldn't even catch the eye of the Hawks' management.
Compared to Kemba Walker, they were more willing to place the team's future on Trae Young from Oklahoma University.
Also calling the Hawks' management were the Los Angeles Clippers.
After secretly scouting Kai Chen's performance, Jerry West had already decided to acquire Kai Chen.
Compared to the Charlotte Hornets, the Los Angeles Clippers' chips were of higher quality.
Jerry West proposed using the 12th pick + 13th pick and the team's star player, Blake Griffin, as the main package to exchange for this season's third overall pick.
After hearing the Los Angeles Clippers' generous offer, the Hawks' management was very tempted, but they still controlled themselves.
Their reply to the Los Angeles Clippers was: if, through a third party, they could acquire Trae Young in the draft, they would agree to the trade.
After hanging up the phone, Jerry West quickly set his sights on the Orlando Magic, who held the sixth overall pick.
As various teams were making draft moves, the 2017-18 NBA Finals came to an end.
June 8th.
Cleveland
Game 4 of the NBA Finals continued in Cleveland.
In this game, the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 108-85 on the road, completing a 4-0 sweep and winning the 2018 NBA championship.
In this game, the Cavaliers appeared to lack fighting spirit, and the game started with a large deficit. Although the team had a comeback in the second quarter, the Warriors still led the Cavaliers 61-52 at halftime.
With 4 minutes and 3 seconds remaining in the game, Lebron was substituted out, high-fiving teammates and opponents, and accepting the cheers of the fans.
Ultimately, the game ended, with the Warriors winning three championships in four years, a dynasty beginning to emerge.
Durant edged out Curry with a 7-4 vote to win the 2018 NBA Finals MVP.
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