Bishop of the Devil

I have to say that Paul Allen's idea is very perfect now, at least for the Trail Blazers.

After the Trail Blazers signed Granger, they then made a trade with the Trail Blazers and exchanged O'Brien for Granger. This not only eliminates the need to worry about salary space, but also solves the problem of the lack of firepower caused by Durant leaving the team.

I have to say that this is an extremely perfect idea, provided that Richard agrees.

"Paul, I can't agree to this. You have to know that the Pirates don't completely belong to me."

"If I owned the Buccaneers outright, I could accept this deal, but now I have to think about Jordan's feelings."

Richard said with a frown.

To say that the Pirates lost money on this deal, it's not a big deal. After all, the Pirates were not planning to renew Granger's contract. Now, it's not a loss to trade Granger for O'Brien.

Although O'Neal is currently in unstable physical condition, he still has some strength. He may be slightly worse than the aging O'Neal, but he is also one of the most valuable insiders in the league. Otherwise, there would not be so many teams submitting trade offers to the Trail Blazers.

But the problem is that O'Brien's salary is very high, and the Pirates can afford a maximum-salary contract at the moment.

But the problem is that the Pirates don't need Oden. Even if Oden leaves, Richard can start to use DeAndre Jordan. Oden's current role may not be better than that of Jordan.

It would be strange if Jordan didn't have any objections to O'Hare, and he had to give O'Hare a very high salary.

Jordan can still ignore signing contracts worth 1.8 million U.S. dollars like Raheem and Barry Jr., but a contract worth 15 million U.S. dollars, no matter how big of a heart Jordan has, it will definitely be difficult to accept.

If Richard were to take control of the Pirates alone, he might agree to his father-in-law's offer without hesitation.

After all, Xiao Ao is also his proud disciple, so having Xiao Ao die under his hands can be considered a happy ending.

As for the wasted ten million US dollars, Richard didn't take it seriously.

And it can make Paul Allen happy, so why not Richard?

…

Hearing Richard's words, Paul Allen looked troubled, but he ignored the matter.

If the Pirates belonged entirely to Richard, the proposal he just made was completely feasible.

At worst, I will subsidize Richard a little when the time comes. After all, they are all members of his family, and Paul Allen won't really let Richard suffer.

But now because of Jordan's existence, things have become complicated.

"Tell me, kid, what were you thinking at the time, and how did you start a business with others? Now it's so complicated." Paul Allen said tangledly.

Richard laughed. Paul Allen had been cheated by partnering with others before, so now he is almost a lone ranger...

I also wanted to take over the Pirates alone at the time, but under the circumstances at that time, Richard basically had no chance. Not only did Richard have no chance, but Jordan also had no chance at all if he wanted to take over the Pirates alone.

If he hadn't started the Buccaneers with Jordan at that time, Richard might be the owner of the Warriors now.

"I advise you to quickly find an opportunity to go out and work alone. In fact, the Pistons were a good opportunity, but you didn't cherish it." Paul Allen sighed and said.

Richard smiled bitterly, maybe in Paul Allen's eyes, buying a team is as easy as going to the supermarket to buy a bunch of vegetables.

"Okay, Paul, let's do this."

"You continue to sell Jermaine, but if you want to replace players whose contracts expire this year, it is best to let the other party package the package and add a draft pick or something, and then I will find a way to let Granger join the Trail Blazers." Richard finally came up with came up with a compromise idea.

"Are you sure? Lee, Granger will definitely join the Trail Blazers by then? Instead of joining a team like New York?" Paul Allen asked with a frown.

Richard nodded, he still had some confidence.

"I'm not completely sure, but I'm 80% sure. Even if you don't get Granger by then, it doesn't matter. I will find a way to find a suitable replacement for you." Richard smiled. said.

There were so many top small forwards emerging in 2010 and 2011, just look for Paul Allen, so even if Granger does not join the Trail Blazers in the end, it will only delay the rise of the Trail Blazers by a year at most.

…

After getting Richard's answer, Paul Allen breathed a sigh of relief, and his 80% confidence was already high.

This new plan is pretty good. If Granger signs with the Trail Blazers by then, then this plan will be no different from the plan proposed by Paul Allen.

Anyway, the Blazers' ultimate goal is to win Granger and keep their salary space from exploding.

…

After talking about the business, it was time for the two of them to chat.

"Lee, don't you want to control a team by yourself? Let me tell you, this feels great. You can control the power of life and death by yourself, and shoot whoever is unhappy..." Paul Allen said with a smile.

Richard nodded. Who doesn't want to completely control a team, but now there are no suitable opportunities and goals.

"I have a plan for this, but not right now. I'm waiting for an opportunity." Richard wasn't going to hide it from Paul Allen.

"Huh? Li, which team is it? What's the opportunity?" Paul Allen asked with great interest.

Richard is his family, and he must also want Richard to have a better development.

Although Richard is doing very well now, in Paul Allen's view, if you work with others in a business partnership, there will always be a falling out one day, so it is better to go solo as soon as possible.

This old man is afraid of pitfalls. Once bitten by a snake, he will be afraid of pit ropes for ten years...

"Los Angeles Clippers!" Richard said slowly.

If he hadn't been facing Paul Allen today, Richard would definitely not have said this.

This can be regarded as a little secret of Richard.

Paul Allen looked stunned, Los Angeles Clippers? He never expected that Richard would tell the story about the Los Angeles Clippers...

In his opinion, Richard might choose a team from a small market and then develop slowly.

But he never expected that Richard would set his sights on the big cake of Los Angeles.

Just look at how big the Los Angeles market is. Just look at the Lakers. Even if they have the worst record in the league, their profitability is still among the top two in the league. Not to mention that the Lakers are strong right now, and the money they make is really eye-catching. .

As for the Los Angeles Clippers, as a team from the same city as the Lakers, in terms of foundation and popularity, they are definitely far behind the Lakers, so their market value is not particularly high.

But even if the market value is not as high as the Lakers, the Clippers' market value is still at the level of 4 to 5 billion.

If it comes to 400-500 million, Paul Allen knows that Richard can also come up with it, but the key to the problem now is that the Clippers owner has no intention of selling the team. Someone previously offered 500 million US dollars to buy the Clippers, but Sterling There are no birds.

Sterling has ambitions and wants to run the Clippers into a wealthy club like the Lakers and occupy the treasure land of Los Angeles. As long as the team does not sell, he will have a chance sooner or later.

So let alone 500 million U.S. dollars, someone later offered 700 million U.S. dollars, and Sterling didn't even let go.

Unless the price tag is raised to more than 1 billion US dollars, Sterling may be able to consider it.

Paul Allen knew these situations well, and he frowned and looked at Richard.

"Lee, the Clippers are not that easy to get, unless you are willing to take advantage of them, such as offering more than one billion US dollars. This may be able to impress the old guy Sterling."

"Is there any opportunity that would make that old guy Sterling think of selling the Clippers?" Paul Allen couldn't help but ask, thinking of the opportunity Richard just mentioned.

Richard nodded, "Yes, there is indeed an opportunity, but we still have to wait for a long time."

"I am patient and wait slowly. Sooner or later the Clippers will be mine."

Paul Allen nodded and did not ask what the opportunity Richard was talking about was.

There is no need to ask too clearly about some things. It is enough for Paul Allen to know that Richard is confident.

He is also happy for Richard. If they can really win the Los Angeles Clippers, with the vast market and Richard's excellent team building ability, maybe the Clippers will become a top powerhouse like the Lakers in a few decades.

He believed that Richard must have such ability.

…

Richard was actually not prepared to tell Paul Allen about this opportunity.

The so-called opportunity is undoubtedly the exposure of Sterling's racially motivated remarks, which led to the league forcing Sterling to sell the team.

In fact, Sterling was also tricked. His daily conversations with his girlfriend were recorded, in which he made remarks about discriminating against black people. After the recording came out, Sterling was directly harmed.

Silver was in charge at the time, and he made a promise to force Sterling to sell the team as soon as possible.

The players union is not stopping either. It is said that if Sterling does not sell the team, the players will go on strike collectively in the playoffs.

You must know that the NBA is also called the Negro League, and the black community is the mainstream in it. How could they endure Sterling's words?

The players were going on strike, and the bosses of each team were naturally not happy either. They teamed up with Xiao Hua to kick Sterling out of the league.

…

Now think about it, Sterling was deceived by women. How could he have thought that his daily chat with his girlfriend would be exposed.

Speaking of which, when it comes to discrimination against black people, there are at least two or three white people out of ten, but this is still at the minimum.

But if someone else says something similar, it will definitely not have the same impact as Sterling.

…

Richard is now waiting for such an opportunity. After more than ten years of observation, everything that should happen in normal history will definitely happen, so Sterling will definitely be forced to sell the team by then.

It's just that this happened in 2014, and there is still a long time before now. Richard can only wait patiently.

Richard could still afford to wait for a few years.

But maybe you don’t have to wait too long, maybe Sterling’s matter will be revealed in advance.

As soon as this happens, Richard will immediately join the fight for the Los Angeles Clippers. No matter how many competitors there are, Richard will definitely spare no effort to win the Clippers.