Chapter 104: Wallace's conditions

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It has been more than a month since Chris Wallace left Boston, and now he lives with his family in a small townhouse on the Mississippi River, which is a temporary residence arranged for him by the Memphis Grizzlies. Compared with the high-end residential area of ​​Collierwell, it is closer to the city center and more noisy, so it is not very popular with high-level people. The only advantage is that you can overlook the Mississippi River from the window. In the second floor room where Wallace lived, you could see the Mississippi River Bridge and Arkansas across the river.
The sunshine in Memphis in the afternoon was lazy. After leaving the cold and gloomy Boston, Wallace felt that the whole person was a little fatter, and it was filled with the atmosphere of the idleness and laziness of the south. Perhaps this is also the sports business here. Why the perennial sluggishness?
It’s just that this year the Grizzlies have made a big move different from the past. The team’s owner Michael Heisley seems to have finally realized that relying on a manager like Billy Knight to win a few top picks in the draft will not solve the problem, so At the end of the 01-02 season, he decisively fired Knight. The next candidate for the Grizzlies helm is very clear, that is Jerry West. After the Lakers completed their three consecutive championships, West decided to leave Los Angeles and return to the southern part of the United States to reclaim the deserted area of ​​Memphis. Basketball virgin land.
As West's alumni of West Virginia University, the two met at a basketball charity match at their alma mater (see Chapter 64) and had a good time. Jerry West admired Chris Wallace a lot. Shi, this makes Wallace a little flattered. Not only because of West’s identity, but also because of the Celtics' general manager for several years, Wallace has been scolded, including both his own mistakes and Rick Pitino. pot. After Angie and Leon came to power, Wallace was scolded less and less in the media. Because he has no right to decide.
After that acquaintance, West contacted Wallace many times to express his willingness to ask him to serve as his assistant. This made Wallace quite tempted. After all, although the Celtics have a glorious and long history, this is really a heavy burden for Wallace. One has no basketball roots. Outsiders who haven't played for a second on the field, it is difficult to be successful in Boston. After all, not everyone is Fox-Leon, not to mention Leon also has Auerbach's protection and support.
Before the 2001 draft, Wallace revealed his intentions to Leon in private, and unexpectedly received strong support from Leon. The two hid the secret tacitly. Throughout the 2001-2002 season, Wallace basically became the shopkeeper, most of the affairs were done by Darryl Morey, supplemented by Leon's help. He even completed the work of a season steadily. Of course it is a pity that Morey did not succeed as the general manager of the team after Wallace left the Celtics, because Danny Ainge directly revoked the position of general manager.
After the end of the season, Wallace unexpectedly resigned. In the second week after his resignation, he received a call from Grizzlies owner Heisley, inviting him to become the head of player development of the Grizzlies and serve as the team’s manager. Draft and free agent recruitment.
Today, in the third week after the finals, Jerry West will officially join the Grizzlies as the general manager of the team. Wallace is waiting at home for West’s call. In the afternoon, they will participate in the groundbreaking ceremony of the new Grizzlies FedEx Arena, and it is also the press conference for West to become the general manager of the Grizzlies.
At half past one in the afternoon. Wallace received the newsletter that West had arrived in Memphis, and Wallace immediately came out of the house. Drive to the pre-selected address of the new arena, located near Robert-r-Church Park in Memphis, only two kilometers away from Wallace’s residence, so Wallace arrived at the scene as soon as he stepped on the accelerator, and saw Jerry who had arrived. -West, the team owner Heisley, the Mayor of Memphis Helondon, Frederick Smith of FedEx, and the design and construction staff of the engineering company. They all wore yellow helmets on their heads, and they were on a desolate flat ground. Planning and talking about what the future FedEx Arena will look like when it stands here.
As the world's largest express company, FedEx, headquartered in Memphis, was before the stadium was built. The naming rights of the arena have been taken down. And this stadium named after FedEx will also be the largest public project in the history of Memphis, so of course Mayor Helondon will also attend the groundbreaking ceremony.
Wallace got out of the car. He took a helmet from the staff and walked to the side of Jerry West and Heisley. West saw Wallace step forward and shook hands with him. This is the first time the two met after Wallace decided to join the Grizzlies. They stood on the FedEx Arena site that was about to break ground, and they were about to face the Memphis Grizzlies, who are also looking forward to rebuilding.
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After three o'clock in the afternoon, after the groundbreaking ceremony, Wallace followed West and Heisley to a restaurant in the bbq center for afternoon tea. West had just arrived in Memphis by plane at noon today and directly participated in the groundbreaking ceremony. He didn't even have time to sit down and eat something to rest. Now they can sit down and talk about basketball-related matters.
West is tall, with a serious, upright round face, and his head is full of white hair, but his face is still healthy and ruddy, and he looks energetic. The long-distance journey and more than an hour of public activities did not leave him a trace of fatigue. Sitting on the soft leather sofa in the coffee shop’s private room, he raised his legs and talked with Heisley and Wallace about his relationship with the Grizzlies next season. Some ideas.
For the time being, West is the most successful general manager in the entire league. He created the super internal and external combination of O'Neal and Kobe, who currently dominates the league, and helped the Lakers complete their three consecutive championships in the new century. He can be described as a basketball master. Whether it is Heisley or Wallace, sitting next to West is like a pupil in class.
"As for the head coach of the team, I have taken a fancy to Hubie Brown. I am confident to persuade him to come back to coach the Grizzlies. This is of great benefit to us in cultivating young players and shaping basketball culture. He is an outstanding and professional. The basketball coach of China, with him, our new season will have a very good foundation." West mentioned the issue of the team’s head coach. He has been retired from the basketball coaching position for more than ten years. Old handsome Hubie Brown, this one has a good resume. And an old man who has a huge reputation in the basketball circle is very beneficial to a new young team.
After hearing what West said, Heisley couldn't say anything except nodding his head. He also thought he was a basketball giant. There are so many supernatural powers, completely different from those professional managers who can only sell ideas. He will only tell you plainly, "Who will I get and who we need." As for how to do it, there is no need to worry about being a boss.
Heisley looked at Wallace sitting aside again. This guy has been in Memphis for more than a month and has been doing the preliminary work of the draft, but so far it seems that he has not brought any great player intelligence to the team. Few rookies in this session are willing to try out in Memphis. Heisley couldn't help asking: "Chris. What do you think of this year's draft? Speak up and listen and let Jerry give some advice."
Facing tough questions from the boss, Wallace licked his mouth and said, "I think we should give this year's draft pick to the Detroiters."
Hearing what Wallace said, Heisley almost wanted to take off his shoes and hit him on the head. Is this his suggestion? Faced with an angry Heisley, Wallace went on to explain:
If you don’t give this year’s draft pick to Detroit, he will be called Boston. In contrast, I think I will leave the draft for next year. The Bostonians are better."
Heisley reacted to this. The stupid deal the team made in 1997 and the trade to get Kenny Anderson in last year's draft have already surrendered both this year and last year's draft picks. The question now is whether to give this year to the Pistons, next year to Boston, or this year to Boston and next year to the Pistons.
"Then why do we give Detroit this year? The fourth pick is a good one. In fact, it can be given to the Celtics. You don't have to avoid suspicion because they are your old club!" Heisley smiled to Wallace. Said the scholar.
Wallace shook his head and did not speak. Jerry West took a sip of coffee and said: "The Celtics must want to get the 2003 draft pick, let's say Chris. What conditions do they have?"
Ginger is really old and spicy! West figured it out for a while, as an old man of the Celtics. Wallace wouldn't just cross the river and demolish the bridge, even if he did it, he wouldn't just do it at his new owner. Obviously he is fighting for favorable conditions for the Celtics, of course, in return, the Celtics will certainly provide convenience for the Grizzlies.
"First, the Celtics promised to share some scouting information with the Grizzlies, especially some second-round rookies and undrafted information; secondly, if conditions permit, the Celtics can make some loss-making transactions. , To provide the Grizzlies with the quality players they need, you know that the Celtics now have a lot of potential shares; finally, because the Celtics have changed their new boss, some business in the Northeast can provide Mr. Heisley Convenience.
Wallace at this time seems to be a Celtic lobbyist~EbookFREE.me~ But this is also reasonable. Any employee from the old company, as long as it is not a shameless person, will be willing to be there. In the new place, strive for some partnerships for the old club.
What's more, for new players in the league like the Grizzlies, it is still very important to use the network of the league's oldest team to enhance their ability to operate in the league.
"This is a good proposal!" Heisley was already moved when he heard Wallace's last one. Heisley acquired a company that was not well-managed, reorganized, reformed, and sold it at a high price. wealth. A large part of his business is the acquisition of bankrupt old industrial factories in the "rust" zone. The so-called "rust" zone is the old industrial areas in the central and northeastern regions, and of course Boston is also in this range.
West did not speak, although deep down he wanted to reject this proposal, because he knew that no matter how attractive the surface conditions are, after all, this is a condition put forward by the Celtics, and it is probably the old fox Auerbach behind it. , Who knows what medicine he sells in the gourd.
"Who is the planner of this transaction? Angie or Auerbach?" West thought for a while and asked.
Wallace hesitated and replied: "It's Fox Leon, the new head coach of the Celtics." (To be continued.)