Bishop of the Devil

The next day Richard called Rashid again.

Unlike Lao Sa and Lao Curry, Rasheed's contract is quite troublesome...

At the moment, Richard is only looking for Rashid to have a heart-to-heart talk. It is impossible to finalize the contract through this small talk.

Under normal circumstances, Rasheed signed a six-year, $81 million contract with the Trail Blazers. Although it is not as abnormal as Garnett's contract, it is still terrifying enough.

It is naturally impossible for Richard to give Rasheed such a contract at the moment. It is not that Rasheed is not strong enough, but that after giving Rasheed such a contract, Auburn and Kobe, Richard may have no choice but to give Rasheed a contract in the end. Leave one behind.

Rasheed is of course very strong. His stable mid-range shot and strong defensive ability are the most solid weapons for the Trail Blazers on the front line.

But Rashid is highly replaceable. If nothing else, Richard will be able to select at least two players to replace Rashid in the next draft.

Al Harrington, who is 206 centimeters tall, and Rashard Lewis, who is 208 centimeters tall, are both tall, high-profile players.

Even Dirk Nowitzki...

But all three of them have a problem, that is, their defense is not good enough, especially against outside players. The worst, Rashard Lewis, may not even be able to defend the bench chair on the outside...

Therefore, it is quite necessary to renew Rashid's contract.

Rashid's three-pointer is not good enough, but he is better than all-rounders. With him here, Richard doesn't have to worry too much about the team's defensive end.

And if Rasheed is gone, no matter which of the three above comes on, Richard will definitely have a headache on the defensive end.

"Man, what do you think about the contract extension?" Richard asked with a smile.

Rashid looked troubled, "Coach, I'm worried about this now too!"

"I have heard about Jordan's retirement. Any fool knows that if he stays with the Trail Blazers, he can win the championship!"

"But I'm very excited about a contract like Kevin Garnett's..."

"I know you are unlikely to offer me a contract of Kevin's level. If you do so, it will be extremely difficult for Ben, Jermaine and Kobe to renew their contracts next year!"

Rashid was quite considerate, and he didn't hide anything from Richard, but directly expressed his thoughts straight to the point.

Richard nodded and smiled bitterly.

"Rashid, I won't lie to you. It's true that I can't give you a salary like Garnett, but I can give you an idea!"

"You can sign for one year first. I can guarantee that your contract amount this year will be quite generous!"

"Then, when this year's contract is over, we will probably win the championship. Then we can discuss the renewal of the contract, how about it?!"

Richard thought hard for a long time. This was the best plan he could come up with.

Rashid is retained on a one-year contract. With this one-year contract, because the Trail Blazers have little salary pressure this season, they can give Rashid a quite generous contract!

When this season is over, we will decide whether Rasheed will continue to stay in the Trail Blazers or go to another team to get a lucrative contract.

The plan that Richard came up with after hard work can undoubtedly be said to be a win-win solution.

After all, Rasheed is still young. He is not a veteran like Sasha or Curry. Signing a one-year maximum salary will not be detrimental to his future development, and he still has a great chance to win the championship this season. , if he gets another FMVP this year, one can imagine how popular he will be in the free market.

As for the Trail Blazers, if Rasheed only signs for one year, they will not have much pressure this season. The real pressure will be next season.

By keeping Rasheed, the team's starting strength will not decline. As for the decline in bench strength caused by the departure of Rasheed, this is not a problem. After all, Richard will recruit many new players in the next draft, which is completely fine. To make up for the loss of strength caused by Lao Sa's departure.

Looking at it this way, Rashid will only sign for one year, which is undoubtedly quite cost-effective and beneficial to both parties.

After hearing Richard's suggestion, Rashid's eyes lit up and he nodded.

He naturally wants to stay in the Trail Blazers, but he is also very clear about the situation of the Trail Blazers. Now Richard has provided him with a very generous one-year contract, giving him the opportunity to stay in the Trail Blazers and compete for the championship. This is undoubtedly his Quite satisfactory solution.

"Thanks, coach!"

Rashid said with a silly smile.

Richard nodded, looking at Rashid's appearance, he probably approved his plan.

Then the next thing will be easier to handle. Old Sa has already confirmed his departure. Old Curry and Rasheed can just go directly to negotiate with Olshey. Their work on player contract renewal is almost the same. it's over.

It is expected that Old Curry and Rashid will not change their minds. After all, they can't find a reason to change their minds.

…

After the contract renewal work is over, Richard starts to think about the draft. This is the top priority of this offseason!

The reason why Richard is confident that he can beat the entire league in the coming season is that Jordan's retirement is only a small reason. The biggest reason is that the Blazers' bench will be stronger because of this draft. An unbelievable level.

With five draft picks in hand, these five draft picks will turn the Blazers' bench into the most luxurious bench in history.

But now Richard still needs to do some work to ensure that these five picks can select the players he likes.

The lottery is now over, and the two draws taken from the king are pretty good.

The seventh pick in the first round and the seventh pick in the second round!

These two picks will undoubtedly allow Richard to obtain two very good players...

But the remaining three picks are a bit ugly, because the Trail Blazers had the best record in the league last season, so their first-round pick and second-round pick were both the last picks...

It's okay to have the last pick in the first round. Judging from this year's situation, we can still select pretty good players.

But with the last pick in the second round, it is quite difficult to select good players in this pick.

The second-round pick acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers was also very low, with the 23rd pick in the second round...

It is also difficult to select a strong newcomer with the 23rd pick in the second round.

So now Richard has to take advantage of the fact that the draft hasn't started yet, and quickly find a way to see if he can trade the draft picks in his hands upwards. He doesn't need to trade too high, just enough!

But after some contact, they didn't receive the results Richard wanted. Every team is very concerned about this year's draft picks, mainly because Jordan's big mouth said that this year is a big year for the draft, so there is no such thing as previous years. No matter how valuable a second-round pick is, it becomes extremely precious.

Richard didn't contact the 76ers and other teams with whom he had good relations. They were probably reluctant to exchange draft picks. Opening his mouth would only make things difficult for them...

…

Although there is no way to improve the ranking of his draft picks, this does not mean that Richard will sit still and wait for death. He can still make full use of the value of his draft picks.

Early the next morning, Richard called Stevens and asked him to find a list of players who signed up for the draft this year. Coupled with his own memory, Richard drew up a trial list for Stevens. Si went to contact the players on the roster for workouts.