"Still no news?" Paul Allen asked the general manager in front of him while sitting on the sunny beach.
Orsi is now the Trail Blazers' general manager.
Since being poached from the Los Angeles Clippers 4 years ago, the selection of young players in the past few years has been very commendable.
Now he is very frustrated.
Facing the boss's inquiry, he smiled bitterly: "No, I sent him a message as soon as the game ended last night, and called him again this morning, but he still hasn't made a decision."
Paul Allen frowned and asked, "Is it because of money?"
"Probably not..." Orsi was a little unsure, but also relatively confident, "The five-year contract of US$250 million is already the first in history. No one can match it! Use this price to recruit someone For a 17-year-old young man, even if he is a championship winner, we definitely think highly of him."
Before the Western Conference Finals in May, many smart NBA general managers had already made offers to Shen Huan in advance.
Everyone knew at the time that the Lakers spent a huge amount of money and offered Shen Huan a five-year, $200 million contract.
So the prices they offer are all close to this price.
Now that Shen Huan has made it all the way to the finals, and then won the championship, he has made great contributions. Of course, every team wants Shen Huan.
Especially the Trail Blazers who played against Shen Huan.
The average age of the main players of this team is not even 25 years old. The two main pillars are 25-year-old Damian Lillard and 24-year-old CJ McCrum.
Both of them were convinced by Shen Huan.
Even if Shen Huan broke Plumley's ribs, even if Shen Huan almost strangled Davis to death, it was not a problem.
In the NBA, only strength is eternal.
As long as they can get Shen Huan, there is no problem for the Trail Blazers to directly waive these two players.
With both Lillard and McCrum willing to assist Shen Huan, if Shen Huan is snatched away, it is no exaggeration that the Trail Blazers will not lack competition for the Finals championship in the next 10 years. force.
This is why Paul Allen was willing to sign Shen Huan at a high price.
Seeing Orsi's expression, Paul Allen pondered for a moment and said, "Since he didn't respond, it proves that he is not interested in our conditions. It also proves that your guess is wrong.
So just raise the offer again, I'm willing to pay the luxury tax for him. Ask him if he is willing to sign a 10-year, $600 million contract! "
Orsi: “…”
"Boss, if you reveal your price, you will scare many people to death!" Orsi said with a wry smile. "If you give him such a high salary, what will happen to the rest of our players? This will affect the balance!"
"As long as you have Shen Huan's ability, it doesn't matter how much I give you." Paul Allen smiled, "If you don't have Shen Huan's ability, how can you dare to ask for the same treatment as Shen Huan?... Go ahead and raise the offer! I I want Shen Huan! I want him to come and play in Portland!"
"All right!"
Faced with the top ten richest men in the world, Orsi chose to surrender.
Looking at his back, Paul Allen shook his head.
Orsi still has the ability, but the pattern is not big. There is no way to escape from the NBA or the United States.
If Shen Huan is signed, it will be even more sensational than when Yao was here. The Chinese market alone is enough for us to make a lot of money, and we will not lose money at all!
…
At this time, in distant Los Angeles, an old friend who had a deep connection with Paul Allen was also discussing Shen Huan.
He is Ballmer, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and the former CEO of Microsoft.
Ballmer, with a fortune of more than 30 billion U.S. dollars, is not as rich as Paul Allen's more than 40 billion U.S. dollars, but he is still among the top 15 super-rich people in the United States.
Two years ago, he spent 2 billion to buy the Los Angeles Clippers. Since then, he has gone to watch every game to cheer for the team. He is an out-and-out super fan.
Now he is also determined to win Shen Huan.
The team's general manager Dave Wall quoted their price: 370 million US dollars over seven years. The team's reconstruction will be decided by Shen Huanlai. Which player he likes, the Clippers will buy. Which player he doesn't like, the Clippers will buy it. The team will sell which player.
Including Chris Paul, the current team's top player, as long as Shen Huan doesn't like it, he can leave.
This is the greatest power, already overtaking the team's head coach Rivers, and even more awesome than Dave Wall.
But unfortunately, Dave Wall, who had been in front of his cell phone, did not receive a call from Shen Huan until noon.
Feeling a little uneasy, he reported the situation to his boss Ballmer.
Ballmer was also a little surprised by this: "Did we ask for a low price? This is a super-large contract of more than 50 million US dollars per year!"
"I don't know, but the Lakers have never been afraid of others in terms of price." Dave Wall said, "If everyone's prices are similar, and if Kobe and Iverson are there, we will definitely not be able to compete with the Lakers. Team."
"I understand." Ballmer nodded and said solemnly: "I will quote another price, 600 million US dollars in 10 years, and the rest of the conditions will remain the same."
"What!?"
Dave Wall thought he heard wrong.
It wasn't until Ballmer nodded again that he smiled bitterly and said, "Boss, you will pay a lot of luxury tax this way!"
Starting from the next season, the price of NBA broadcast contracts has skyrocketed, so the salary caps of each team have also increased a lot, allowing each team to sign two superstars worth more than 35 million, as long as you are willing to pay the luxury tax of 35 million. , you can definitely achieve the great achievements of the previous Heat's Big Three.
But even with such a high salary cap, it can't stop the 60 million one-year contract given to Shen Huan!
Coupled with Chris Paul and the possibility of one or two All-Star players, the overall salary cap will be at least US$150 million.
How much luxury tax will you have to pay
But Ballmer laughed, "When a superstar appears who can change the entire NBA landscape on his own, no matter how high the price is, we can only sigh sadly because we missed him. In a year, I can only watch him lead other teams to kill everyone! Can we not do a deal that will be lost if we miss it?"
Seeing the boss's affirmation, Dave Wall could only choose to obey.
Anyway, the boss is so rich, with a mere US$60 million a year, it is just a piece of cake to him.
Just like what the boss said, if they can really sign Shen Huan, the Los Angeles Clippers will definitely be the dominant team in the NBA in the next 10 years.
It's no big deal to win five or six championships in one go.
In that case, it would be a huge benefit to the team itself!
…
There will be another chapter later