The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 296 - 167: Like Zhan but not Zhan

Chapter 296: Chapter 167: Like Zhan but not Zhan

On this NBA trade deadline day, powerhouses from The West eagerly made their moves.

Leading the charge were the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers.

They had traded the team veteran, Luke Walton, along with a second-round draft pick, to get old hand Ronny Turiaf from the Nuggets.

More accurately, it should be considered a four-team trade, as it was part of a three-way deal involving the Wizards, Nuggets, and Clippers.

The cornerstone of that deal was "Cake Warrior" Nene, "Olazhuki" JaVale McGee, and "Single King" Nick Young, with Turiaf’s role merely to balance the contracts; he essentially had no trade value.

In essence, the deal was just swapping bad contracts, but since Walton’s contract had an extra year, the Lakers had to throw in a draft pick.

Still, the move was quite commendable, trading the bench-ridden Walton for a defensive big man could be considered an A-grade move.

Next up was Hansen’s team from the Holy City.

The San Antonio Spurs sent Jefferson to the Warriors in exchange for "Martial Saint" Stephen Jackson.

It appeared they traded starting small forwards, but the real intention was to make room for Leonard.

Leonard had fallen out of the lottery draft partly because his dynamic talent was average and, importantly, because he had not demonstrated shooting ability before the draft.

But now, he had developed it, and his three-point shooting percentage of 37.6% for the season was not excellent but definitely sufficient.

The reason they didn’t just relegate Jefferson to the bench was that he had taken a pay cut to come to the Spurs, and the team had promised him a starting spot.

Jackson, a former Spur and a member of the 2003 championship team, was much easier to manage.

Following them, the Grizzlies made their move.

They traded center Joel Przybilla, who they had just acquired in the summer, along with a 2013 first-round draft pick, to bring over 6-foot-10 forward-center Marreese Speights from the 76ers.

This was an added precaution in the uncertain case of Randolph’s return.

In the first game following the trade deadline, the Grizzlies hosted the Nuggets on their home court.

The Grizzlies ultimately defeated their opponents with a score of 98 to 89.

Speights was placed in the starting lineup for his debut game following the trade.

In his first showing, he played 24 minutes, scored 8 points and grabbed 9 rebounds on 4 of 8 shooting, as well as snatching 3 offensive boards, a quite impressive performance.

In the post-game press conference, Hansen praised the team’s new acquisition.

"This was only his first game with us, but he showed great basketball IQ and professionalism, and he was a big help to us."

Hansen wasn’t exaggerating; his impression of Speights was primarily from his time with the Warriors when Speights was a key rotation player for the 2015 championship Warriors.

Speaking of which, there’s a funny story: Speights left the Warriors when his contract ended, yet at the start of the new season it seemed he was still on the team—until a closer look revealed it was David West.

Not only did the two look similar, their playing style was alike too, both good at pick-and-roll and mid-range shooting, so much so that one could easily confuse one with the other.

In subsequent games against the Pistons and Raptors, Speights continued his excellent performance, helping the team to secure a three-game winning streak.

This also made the fans look forward to Randolph’s return even more, especially since Speights was essentially a budget version of Randolph.

Speights had a steady mid-range game, but that was just one of many weapons in Randolph’s arsenal.

Randolph’s injury was a blow to the Grizzlies, but it was a blessing in disguise as it allowed Hansen to grow into the role of the ball handler.

Speights’ successful partnership with Hansen on the court suggested that the combination of Randolph’s return and Hansen’s assistance was highly anticipated.

However, the Grizzlies were not in a rush for Randolph to return at this point.

Having Randolph train and return to his best condition was far more beneficial than rushing him back to find his game through matches.

But just then, a discordant voice arose within the Grizzlies.

During a public training session, Faried openly expressed his dissatisfaction to the reporters: "I should be playing a more important role on the team; I should be a starter."

After that day’s training ended, Joerger approached Hansen to discuss Faried’s issue.

"I’ve talked to him before making any adjustments. Starting Marreese (Speights) benefits our offensive spacing more, and I won’t cut his playtime." Joerger wasn’t Hollins, nor was he Brown; he had communicated.

Joerger’s reason for approaching Hansen was clear: he wanted Hansen to try and smooth things out.

Since Randolph’s absence, Hansen, through his performance, had established considerable authority within the team: he was now the most influential person there.

Plus, Joerger had already had Battier attempt to communicate with Faried, but to no avail.

Indeed, Faried had some of the troublemaker characteristics that Hansen had initially sensed.

"I’ll give it a try," Hansen agreed.

Faried was an important rotation piece in their frontcourt, and his passionate play made him a player who could become an X-factor on certain nights.

His performance against the Heat also showed he had the physicality and boldness to be a thorn in the side for James when James staggered his play with backups.

Furthermore, due to a similar locker relocation experience, Hansen felt a natural affinity with Faried’s situation.

In a way, what was happening now was similar to his experience with the Cavaliers.

Faried had fought his way into the starting lineup, only to be replaced without doing anything wrong.