Champion Creed-Chapter 512 - 188: I really want to delve into basketball issues (asking for monthly votes!)_3

"You’d better not ask too much about what’s going on in the locker room, even if one day you see titanium alloy implanted in Scottie Pippen’s eyes." Roger shifted his gaze from their chest.

"Hahaha, you’re easier to get along with than I thought. It’s my first time hosting a sports show. If I don’t understand something about the NBA, can I call you? Like that rule about salary matching in trades. The rule I found says that when two teams trade players, one side’s player wages must not exceed 125% + $100,000 of the other side’s player wages. But your and Tracy’s salaries obviously don’t meet this condition. So how was the trade accomplished?"

Roger handed Sofia a business card: "I enjoy discussing basketball issues. As for the trade involving me and Tracy, we have to thank the rise in the league’s salary cap and Scott’s low-cost contract. The rules on salaries are very complicated, if we have time, we can discuss it in detail."

Roger wasn’t lying; he really wanted to dive deep into basketball issues.

Although the banquet was very grand, Roger just wanted to end it quickly, get through the day, and then discuss basketball matters with the team.

Regardless, the team needed to construct an outstanding lineup, with at least seven or eight people capable of rotating.

Roger didn’t guarantee an immediate championship win next season, but he did need to get the team used to winning, to be competitive.

At the moment, the only real contributors on the court for the Hawks were him, Scottie Pippen, Stevie Smith, and Alan Henderson.

Roger didn’t know the other players, but he guessed they were unlikely to perform well in the high-stakes playoff games.

Because Roger didn’t even recognize those names.

As a former die-hard fan and now a professional, if Roger hadn’t heard of a player, it was safe to assume they were just fringe players.

Their impact on the game was minimal.

So, the next morning, Roger couldn’t wait to meet with Ted Turner and Pete Babcock.

In the conference room, the team’s head coach, the only one who had been voted among the top 50 stars and top 10 coaches, Lenny Wilkens, was also present.

"Roger, which positions do you think we need to fill?" Ted Turner asked Roger for his opinion first, then motioned to someone on the side, "Go get Roger a cup of coffee."

"We need guards, forwards, and a center."

"That’s great," Pete Babcock said, shrugging with a smile.

Lenny Wilkens breathed a sigh of relief, glad he hadn’t said "We also need a coach."

As the head coach, Wilkens expressed his opinion: "We need some players who can pass the ball; next season, we have to focus more on offense." freёwebnoѵel.com

"I think we need some versatile forwards that can play multiple positions. Whether they can pass doesn’t matter, but they have to be able to defend. We don’t have the conditions to play top-level position offense, so we need to figure out ways to get more fast breaks. To get those opportunities, we must have the capability to force errors defensively," Roger immediately countered Wilkens.

Ted Turner looked from Roger to the venerable Wilkens and waved his hand: "Pete, find us those versatile forwards."

Lenny Wilkens, who had been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in ’89, joined the Dream Team coaching staff in ’92, and led the Dream Team as head coach at the Olympics in ’96, was surprised because of his storied history, he had always had a significant say in the Hawks.

But now he had to accept the fact — Roger’s influence was unshakable.

Lenny Wilkens could accept this; he knew what a star player could bring to a team.

But Wilkens had a concern: "You say we need to play defense, but we don’t even have a tall center, and good tall centers are hard to find on the market. We don’t have many assets left; all we have are players with low trade value. Our salary space is locked up; all we can do is sign some veterans to minimum contracts, and there are no centers we need in there."

"Lenny," Roger sipped his steaming coffee, "who said you need a tall center to have a good defense? I’ll be honest, I f*cking hate tall centers, especially the tall and fat ones."

Lenny Wilkens was stunned.

He didn’t know if Roger was Atlanta’s god.

He only knew that coaching Roger would be the biggest challenge of his career.