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After a series of major moves, the league gradually returned to calm, and the holidays arrived. Wang Chong also began his vacation, spending time with his wife and daughter, enjoying their trip to Los Angeles.
When it came to training, he planned to wait until a month before the new season started, because for him, the only way to improve his skills was by spending points on training modules to enhance his abilities.
While Wang Chong was having fun, the Lakers' management had a headache.
Previously, all of the Lakers' operations were carried out under Wang Chong's remote control, which had been one of the conditions for his joining the Lakers. Any player changes in the team had to be approved by him.
This kind of irrational privilege, like a bully in basketball, had never been granted to any player by the Lakers, not even the original O'Neal, and the later Kobe Bryant was not as direct. The latter at most used his potential departure as a threat to demand a coaching change.
Wang Chong's moves were essentially like taking over the general manager's power directly, which was simply unreasonable for a giant team like the Lakers.
But still, they pinched their noses and accepted it.
Who was Wang Chong, after all? The success stories of the Bulls and Cavaliers proved that Wang Chong's talent as a general manager might be no less than his ability as a player.
However, after the "Fox Whistle" move by Wang Chong, what was left for the Lakers was an extremely broken lineup.
The team had no point guard, no small forward, and no center, but the shooting guard position now had Kobe, Thompson, and Jamal. The trio of Crawfords were piled up, and it was inexplicable.
Lakers General Manager Kupchak, who had been in the role for fifteen years, was beginning to doubt Wang Chong's strange trades.
Obviously, the Lakers had acquired Russell, a point guard with great potential through the draft, and Bosh in the interior, who could not only serve as a small forward but could also play center in a small-ball lineup. This was a solid All-Star caliber frontcourt.
But Wang Chong had traded these two for... Thompson.
Thompson's performance with the Warriors was good, but his playing style mainly revolved around running without the ball and shooting spot-up threes. He was basically a better version of Hamilton with a stronger three-point shooting ability. How could he compare in value to Russell + Bosh?
After completing the deal, Kupchak analyzed that Wang Chong might want to move Klay, standing at 6'7", into the small forward position while moving Thompson to the big forward spot.
In that case, the team would still need a point guard and a center.
But Wang Chong then made additional moves to acquire Jokic and Green.
What was going on? Was he just filling up the bench?
Kupchak, thinking this way, still waited to see how Wang Chong would fill the point guard and center positions in the future.
Then, he received the news that Wang Chong was on vacation with his wife and children.
...
"What? What are the team's signings?"
Wang Chong, lying in a beach chair in the sun, heard Kupchak's voice on the other end of the phone and responded in surprise: "Has the team finished recruiting players? Basically, there's no need for more signings in the future. For the bench, you can play freely, and I already have these players for the new season."
Kupchak: "..."
At this moment, he had a strong urge to scold Wang Chong, but he held it back because he knew that if he dared to scold Wang Chong, he, as the general manager, would have to roll up his sleeves and step aside the next day.
Now the relationship between the Lakers and Wang Chong was like a dog licking a goddess. Could you dare to accept the conditions proposed by the goddess? Dare to scold the goddess? Want to lick her in the future?
But from the perspective of a professional general manager, what kind of rotten fish and shrimp was this Lakers lineup? At the very least, how would the starting lineup look for the next season?
Patiently, Kupchak asked Wang Chong, and after hearing Wang Chong's response, he couldn't help but feel a sense of blackness in front of him.
"The five starters for the new season are me, Kobe, Thompson, Green, and Jokic. What? You're wondering who will be the point guard? Kobe Bryant and I can do it, or we can let Green play. But honestly, it's really not ideal to have Jokic play point guard."
Kupchak opened his mouth to say something but didn't know where to start.
Jokic as the point guard? You're really pushing it!
But Kupchak didn't know that this chubby white guy, who wasn't particularly attractive, would go on to average 9.8 assists per game in the future and 7.3 assists per game in his playoff career, surpassing most of the point guards in the league.
Although Wang Chong said jokingly that having Jokic play point guard was a joke, it wasn't impossible.
"Manager, let's talk about this here. Xiao Kexin called me, I'll call you back when I'm free."
After telling Kupchak this, Wang Chong directly hung up the phone.
In the general manager's office, Kupchak sat for a few seconds with the phone in his hand, then slowly put it down, tilted his head, closed his eyes, and let out a long sigh of relief.
— "Next season... we might have a chance to get the first pick."
"That's not right! The team's first-round pick for next year has already been used to trade for Jokic!"
Wang Chong really knew what Kupchak wanted to say, but he didn't bother explaining. It was impossible to explain it clearly anyway.
The Lakers' lineup needed time to grow, and Kobe Bryant also needed to fully retire to the second line and come off the bench as the sixth man—of course, it would be better if he was willing to retire.
As for trading Russell and Bosh for Thompson, it was definitely worth the money. Even if Bosh didn't get injured and retire, Thompson was worth more than Bosh.
Bosh's position, whether it was Wang Chong or Jokic, could be perfectly filled.
However, a top-tier 3D player like Thompson, as well as a shooter with historic off-ball shooting skills, was rare in the league and extremely valuable.
This was also because the Warriors didn't have the Splash Brothers. Their history had been tepid, and the team didn't give Thompson much importance. Otherwise, it's hard to say whether the 2-for-1 trade would have been possible.
The development prospects and strength of the Lakers' roster were absolutely undeniable, and there was no need to worry about the adjustment.
As for ball distribution, there might be conflicts between Wang Chong, Jokic, and Green in the future, but what did it matter? It's simple: without the ball, could Jokic perform like a two or three-team All-Star just with his scoring ability?
Without control of the ball at the top of the arc, isn't Green's defense the best in the league?
Wang Chong didn't need Jokic, the three-time MVP, nor Green, who averaged 14 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists per game. As long as they could unleash their strengths, Wang Chong could lead them to the championship.
And now they were chosen for a simple reason: they were cheap.
Jokic had a rookie contract, and Green had a three-year, $18 million deal. Both were relatively inexpensive contracts, and acquiring them was quite easy.
Imagine if Wang Chong wanted to trade for Davis. What would the Lakers do?
Unless Wang Chong was used as trade bait, it was simply impossible.
At this moment, Jokic, who was already playing for the Lakers in the Summer League, didn't know that he was now the main center for the Lakers in the new season and would even become Wang Chong's most powerful right-hand man in the future.
Just like Curry, Jokic, playing next to Wang Chong, could have many personal honors, even without winning an MVP trophy, but he would have the opportunity to win a championship—a lot of championships.
Time flew by, and soon summer passed.
By the end of the holidays, the players began returning to the team at the beginning of September.
This showed Wang Chong's greatest advantage in joining the Lakers.
He no longer had to be away from his wife and children.
As I mentioned earlier, the reason Wang Chong considered joining the Lakers was simply because they were based in Los Angeles, nothing more.
After all, Kupchak still couldn't provoke Wang Chong and didn't dare make any major changes to the existing lineup. Instead, he only signed a few players to complement the existing roster and filled the team with 15 players.
It is worth mentioning that one of the point guards was signed by the Lakers for 1 year and $2 million, which wasn't very cheap. This player was Jeremy Lin.
Although Lin's career trajectory had been greatly altered due to Wang Chong, his ceiling was still there, and after his contract expired this summer, Lin's market value dropped, and he could only choose a contract slightly higher than the league minimum.
Kupchak signed Jeremy Lin for two main reasons. The first was, of course, to please Wang Chong. Jeremy Lin was the only player in the league with the same skin color as Wang Chong, and their relationship was very good. Jeremy Lin had publicly expressed admiration and respect for Wang Chong many times, so it was obviously a good idea to let them play together on the same team.
The second reason was simple: the Lakers lacked a point guard.
The Lakers had an inflated lineup at the shooting guard position, with five players in total: Kobe, Thompson, Jamal Crawford, Jordan Clarkson, and Nick Young.
But there was no true point guard to be found.
Therefore, Kupchak signed three point guards, but due to salary cap restrictions, he could only sign players with standard minimum contracts, and Jeremy Lin was the most famous and expensive among them.
After Jeremy Lin signed with the Lakers, he was very excited to call Wang Chong and inform him.
Although Wang Chong was a bit surprised, it wasn't a huge shock.
The Lakers' interest in Jeremy Lin was not new; in the original, undisturbed timeline, the Lakers acquired Jeremy Lin through a trade, in the 2014-15 season.
Unfortunately, Jeremy Lin's experience with the Lakers wasn't particularly good, especially with Kobe, who appeared to smile at Jeremy Lin but despised him deeply, even pointing directly at Lin's nose after he got up and scolding, "Trash, get out!"
But now, the time period was different, and the situation was very different. Jeremy Lin shouldn't be scolded by Kobe this time.
Just as the Lakers' management had made major concessions for Wang Chong's arrival, losing the right to speak, Kobe Bryant had also made major concessions for Wang Chong's integration into the team.
This was best demonstrated at the Lakers' press conference, a few days after the team had completed assembling.
On the Lakers' media day, the full roster would be revealed, and photos for the new season would be taken along with media interviews.
And reporters were surprised when they saw the Lakers players.
What they saw was Wang Chong wearing the purple and gold jersey No. 24.
Wang Chong was actually wearing No. 24!
Although Wang Chong had always worn number 24 in the past, the problem was that Kobe Bryant's number 24 had been retired shortly after Wang Chong left the team.
In the following years, the two No. 24 players faced off in the Finals many times, with Wang Chong winning most of the matchups, but Kobe Bryant also won once when Garnett and Curry were injured.
Everyone had speculated before, how would Wang Chong choose his number when he returned to the Lakers this time?
Well, don't guess now; he's going back to No. 24.
The fact that Wang Chong wore number 24 meant...
Indeed, Kobe Bryant, who appeared next, wore his signature number 8 jersey.
Kobe gave up his number 24 jersey to meet Wang Chong, and the significance of this act was clear.
Kobe Bryant wanted to relinquish power to Wang Chong.
This wasn't particularly surprising.
After Kobe Bryant experienced a major Achilles tendon injury, his competitive level had dramatically decreased. Not to mention, he was now 37 years old—how could he compete with Wang Chong, who was in his prime, for the team leader role?
But knowing is one thing. Actually admitting it was another.
After hastily taking the team photos, a group of reporters rushed to the press conference venue, eagerly waiting for the players to enter and begin asking questions.
Once Lakers General Manager, Head Coach, Wang Chong, and Kobe Bryant entered, the interview began, and one reporter couldn't wait to ask the question about the number.
Bryant's answer thrilled the reporters.
"I took the initiative to give the number 24 back to Wang Chong. This number originally belonged to Wang Chong, and it was also extremely important to me. Wearing No. 24 was my peak period, when I won the scoring title, the MVP, and my first FMVP and the championship trophy that truly belonged to me."
"Giving up No. 24 for Wang Chong also means letting go of a glorious past. Everyone gets older, Jordan did, and I am no exception. Wang Chong will wear No. 24 in the new season, and he will become the absolute core of the Lakers and the leader. I will fully support him and help him win the championship."
As soon as Kobe Bryant said this, it was officially acknowledged that he had ceded power to Wang Chong, who was now the head of the Lakers.
This move was similar to when O'Neal publicly admitted he was here to help Wade win the championship, and later when James released the army for Wade in the future, admitting publicly that he handed over the Heat's leadership to James for the greater good.
The era of Kobe Bryant with the Lakers had ended, but a potentially more glorious era had begun.
Wang Chong, now at his peak, had joined the Lakers. No matter what the current Lakers lineup looked like, they were undoubtedly one of the favorites to win the championship in the new season! They were formidable opponents no one dared underestimate!
And Wang Chong, who naturally sat in the Lakers' leadership position, was rarely discreet when interviewed by the media.
End of this chapter
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