The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 365 - 194 "My Goal is the Dynasty"_3

Chapter 365: Chapter 194 "My Goal is the Dynasty"_3

At the very least, after he uttered those words, the Grizzlies’ players and fans all had a clear and ambitious goal.

The Grizzlies’ championship parade ended, and the 2011–2012 season was officially declared over.

But the 2012–2013 season was hot on its heels.

Here, it needs to be mentioned that although fans see most NBA trades starting from the draft, that isn’t actually the starting point for trades; in theory, they can start as soon as the previous season ends.

So while the Grizzlies’ championship parade had just ended, some very interesting news began to be reported.

The focus, naturally, was Miami.

Local Miami media Five Reasons reported an incident that occurred in the Heat Team after the end of the previous season, the 2010–2011 season.

After the team’s season-ending defeat, James went to Pat Riley’s office and demanded that the team fire Spoelstra, and he hoped Riley would come back to coach the team like he did in 2006.

Faced with James’s request, Riley flatly refused and seemed very angry.

After James left, he called his assistant and instructed him to tell everyone in the Heat that Riley would be downstairs in 15 minutes and demanded the players line up against the wall, The Big Three included.

Fifteen minutes later, Riley arrived on time, and to all the players standing with their backs to him, he said a phrase that was impressively memorable:

"You never come to my office and tell me to fire a coach, your job is to play basketball, and that’s the culture!"

This sounds like a story, but to report on last season’s events at this time is quite subtle.

Because you have to know, ever since the finals sweep, things have been very quiet on the Heat’s side.

But beneath the calm surface could be turbulent undercurrents; in fact, the quietness after being swept out is quite unusual.

This news exploded, and in some way, it was similar in nature to Gilbert revealing the inside story of trading Hansen.

Riley ultimately decided to take action against James.

This choice could be described as unexpected yet logical.

Even though James is the younger and more influential member of The Big Three, he is also the one with the highest trade value.

Or, to look at it another way, trading Wade or Bosh wouldn’t solve the Heat’s current problems.

Due to poor performance impacted by injuries, Bosh’s trade value wasn’t high, and Wade began to show signs of injury concerns; you could trade them, but it would be hard to get better players in return.

So if the Heat wanted to become stronger, the only option was to trade James.

Moreover, after two consecutive years of failure, James’ trade value had already started to waver; if they kept him and failed for another year, not only would James’s abilities be questioned, but with only one year left on his guaranteed contract, his trade value would plummet.

But at least for now, James was still the player with the highest trade value in the entire league.

So Riley’s maneuver could also be considered as selling at breakeven, cutting losses timely.

Of course, there’s also the most crucial point: the Heat’s finals performance proved that the "one big, four small" lineup could not beat the Grizzlies, and if the Grizzlies were considered the hypothetical enemy, then strengthening the interior was essential.

But once the interior was bolstered, James’s performance would inevitably be restricted.

This is the classic conundrum of being stuck at both ends; thus, trading James was akin to reshaping the Heat’s team system.

Then the interesting question arises, where would James be traded to?