The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball
Chapter 369 - 196 "Who did you say LeBron replaced?

Chapter 369: Chapter 196 "Who did you say LeBron replaced?

News about where James was headed still hadn’t surfaced, when suddenly the Rockets made a moderately significant announcement.

They lured Lin Shuhao from the New York Knicks with a three-year $25 million contract.

The contract seemed modest, but it prevented the New York Knicks from matching because of the "Arenas Clause."

Arenas was a second-round pick by the Warriors and had performed splendidly before the Wizards exploited a loophole, offering a contract the Warriors couldn’t match, thus securing Arenas through a "steal."

Thus, the League introduced a new clause afterward, setting limits on the offers for second-round picks, where the first-year salary of the contract couldn’t exceed mid-level.

However, this restriction only applied to two-year contracts, as even first-round picks’ contracts were only up to four years, so the third year of the offer contracts could see a significant increase.

For teams without much salary cap space, matching such an offer would force them to bear the risk of paying a massive luxury tax for the player in the third year.

Therefore, such contracts were also known as "poison pill contracts."

In fact, this situation had already occurred last season with Little Jordan from the Clippers, and savvy teams generally avoided signing rookies to one or two-year short deals anymore.

For instance, this year, the Warriors signed Green to a three-year deal.

But Lin Shuhao’s rise was an unexpected circumstance, and the New York Knicks could only painfully let him go.

Just after Lin Shuhao was taken by the Rockets, the New York Knicks announced they had reached a deal with the Suns.

After sending four second-round picks and some cash, they traded from The Suns for Nash.

This was a "sign-and-trade" contract, where Nash first secured a three-year, $27 million contract with The Suns.

Previously, Nash had already declared his intention to leave The Suns, with Raptors and New York Knicks being potential destinations.

Lin Shuhao’s departure triggered the domino effect that eventually led Nash to choose joining the New York Knicks, giving it one last shot for the championship at the end of his career.

The free market was chaotic, and Hansen met Jamison at a fishing spot by the Mississippi River.

With a cast still on his leg, he could only sit to greet Jamison.

Jamison bent down to give Hansen a big hug, looking very excited.

Scoring in Cleveland was fun, but after a while, it made him numb, and now he was thrilled to have a shot at the championship with Hansen.

"You’re lucky, this was originally meant for LeBron," Hansen said, pointing at the fishing gear beside him.

"Speaking of LeBron, I heard before coming that his team is really keen on going to New York," Jamison said with a smile as he sat.

Now, rumors about where James was heading were everywhere; being in The East, Jamison had more reliable information.

"That’s not surprising, but he can’t go."

In Hansen’s memory, James had mentioned wanting to play with Nash, and now that Nash was with the New York Knicks, his preferred team, James would naturally want to go even more.

But with Nash at the New York Knicks and the Knicks having draft picks in hand, they could even potentially create a super team with Nash, Anthony, James, and Howard.

Under such circumstances, Riley was absolutely not going to let James go.

Ultimately, on the matter of where James was headed, Riley’s will was decisive.

Stern used to have a say in Paul’s matters because, at the time, the Hornets were under League management.

Neither the League nor Nike could dictate the League’s normal transactions.

Over the next few days, Jamison kept Hansen company while fishing.

However, unlike in Cleveland, Jamison was consistently unsuccessful in catching anything.

"It must be the fishing rod’s fault," Hansen provided the most reasonable explanation.

Finally, on the fourth day, just as Hansen was about to change the fishing rod for Jamison, he finally caught a fish.

Not one pound, or two or three pounds, but an eight-pound Asian carp.

Jamison held the carp while Hansen took photos for memories.

Just after snapping the photos, Thomas called him.

"What did you say?"

"Which KD?"

After hanging up, Hansen was still astounded.

"What’s up?" Jamison asked curiously as he placed the carp into the fish keeper.

"LeBron’s trade is settled."

Jamison skeptically took out his phone and couldn’t find any news on it.

Of course, there wasn’t any news yet, as Thomas had gotten the information early through his strong network of connections.

"Where was he traded to?"

"The Thunders."

"The Thunders? Would LeBron even want to go there?" Jamison expressed surprise.

You could say the Knicks, Clippers, Spurs, even the Rockets, but the Thunders were genuinely a small market, and their owner wasn’t rich.

However, the Thunders did indeed have bargaining chips—Harden, Ibaka, Westbrook, Perkins—they could most likely satisfy the Heat.

And even if the Heat weren’t satisfied, these chips were enough to involve a third party.

"So who did they trade for LeBron?" Jamison’s curiosity peaked.

"KD."

"Which KD?"

Now, Hansen and Jamison just looked at each other, as they had asked the same question.

Could there be a second KD at the Thunders?

Obviously not.

The Thunders had traded Durant for James!

"Holy fuck!" Jamison cursed as soon as he realized.

Just then, Jamison’s phone also popped up with a message.