The No.1 Anti-Fans in Basketball-Chapter 194 - 126: The 2011 NBA Trade Deadline_2

Swift’s concert campaign was quite successful before, but Hansen was worried for Swift, as her songs were mostly love songs. Singing love songs at the NBA All-Star game, now that seemed out of place.

Yet, Swift’s final choice of song was breathtaking; she chose a song that Hansen had heard but didn’t remember well: "Change."

The theme of this song, just like its title, was about "overcoming challenges," and it had even been used in the United States Olympic promotional materials, making it highly relevant; the performance was ultimately quite successful.

After the All-Star game, like other players, Hansen enjoyed a rare few days off.

These days were also the most active in the NBA trade market, as the trade deadline was just a few days away.

This year, Hansen was noticeably more attentive to the trade market compared to last year, because the classic Cleveland trade involving Jamison was certainly memorable.

But if you asked about any Grizzlies trades this year, Hansen would just shut his eyes, knowing nothing.

In his previous life, Hansen’s interest in the Grizzlies wasn’t much higher than that of the current fans.

However, now that Guy was out for the season, it was critical whom the Grizzlies could acquire in the trade market.

Unfortunately, the Grizzlies didn’t have many valuable assets, putting a real test on Wallace’s abilities.

Looking back at the trade market this year, it was definitely up there among the most notable in the past decade.

Caught in the rumors were several basketball stars, Anthony, Deron Williams, Gerald Wallace, all of them marquee all-stars.

Besides those, Jeff Green, Baron Davis, Mo Williams, these names were also quite notable.

While training, Hansen was also browsing the news and gradually saw massive trades being finalized.

Anthony was the first to blow up in the news, as a top five star of the league, his movements, after falling out completely with the Nuggets, were highly monitored.

There were even rumors that the Heat were considering swapping Bosh for Anthony.

But ultimately, Anthony was traded to New York to team up with Stademeyer.

Following closely was Deron Williams, who was sent to the Brooklyn Nets.

Previously, Jazz released major news, their legendary coach Jerry Sloan resigned due to disagreements with Deron, setting the stage for Deron’s departure.

These two major trades were good news for the Grizzlies because losing their core players caused the Nuggets and Jazz to plummet competitively in the West.

However, the trades involving the Thunders and the Celtics weren’t good news for the Grizzlies.

They had traded Jeff Green for Celtics’ former starting center Perkins.

Hansen was very aware of Perkins’ defensive prowess in the low post, which would be a much bigger boost for the Thunders than it appeared.

Then, Hansen saw the trading news of the Grizzlies.

The Grizzlies sent Delonte West, Demarre Carroll, and a future first-round pick to the Rockets in exchange for Shaun Battier.

At the same time, the Grizzlies were also involved in trades between the Wizards and the Hawks, where they sent Dandoniel Altun and received Jordan Crawford, originally supposed to go to the Wizards, from the Hawks.

Subsequent reporting revealed that one key reason the Grizzlies could acquire Battier was his personal desire.

Battier, the 6th draft pick of the Grizzlies in 2001 who had left to chase a championship with the Rockets, remained on excellent terms with the management teams of both the Rockets and Grizzlies.

The subsequent trades were a chain reaction.

Because Battier’s contract exceeded seven million US dollars, the Grizzlies had to send West to balance the contracts.

And having sent away West, they had to look for his substitute in the trade market.

Since their assets were limited, they ultimately opted for Crawford, not known for his defense.

Crawford was the 27th new pick by the Hawks this year, scarcely having had the chance to play, only appearing in 16 games this season with a meager 10 minutes per game, contributing an average of 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds.

However, as rookies are watched for three years, the Hawks’ decision to trade him was also related to LeBron James.

Hansen’s bold move led Nike to strong PR efforts, but it ironically made Crawford, the man who once dunked on James, vilified by the public.

Some LeBron fans even claimed he provided the video tape to TMZ because it would bring him attention and thus more playtime with the Hawks.

In reality, Crawford hadn’t done anything, but the Hawks felt he wasn’t worth developing, so they opted for less hassle.

Seeing the news for the first time, Hansen immediately left the training gym and drove to West’s home.

When Hansen arrived, West was walking his dog in the yard, appearing to be in good spirits.

"Han, what brings you here?" West asked with a smile, not yet aware of his trade news.

"It’s quite normal," NBA players see news of their trade on television all the time, especially the role players.

"It’s nothing, I just wanted to play 2K and suddenly couldn’t find anyone, so I thought you’d be at home." Hansen explained with a smile.

Delonte West looked at Hansen skeptically, you play 2K in your training gear and are all sweaty?

But he didn’t think too much of it and invited Hansen in after putting the dog in a cage.

The two quickly picked up their game of 2K.

"Why are you playing so badly today?" After a while, West became even more puzzled because he noticed Hansen was completely distracted.

Just as Hansen was about to explain, West’s phone rang. He was going to dismiss the call, but paused when he saw it was from his agent and signaled to Hansen to pause for a while before he went out to take the call.

Receiving a call from an agent on the trade deadline, he almost guessed what had happened without even picking up.

After a long wait, when West didn’t come back into the room, Hansen stepped out, only to find West crouched at the door, head buried between his legs.

As Hansen approached, he realized West was sobbing.

This result was really cruel for West.

He had changed his jersey number this season, hoping for a fresh start, and he had been performing well with the Grizzlies, but he was let go before the season had even finished.

Hansen patted him on the shoulder.

Describing players as commodities is very realistic; last season he played in the playoffs yet the Cavaliers had no issues trading him away.

The only difference being that he held that agreement, giving him the power to choose where to go.

Hansen didn’t say much, knowing that any comforting words were meaningless at that moment. He just sat quietly next to West, accompanying him.

After a long time, West’s mood had eased.

"I have a suggestion." Hansen’s previous distraction was actually him thinking of a way to help West.

West looked at him questioningly.

"You could seek a buyout and join a team that can make the playoffs."

After the NBA trade deadline, there’s still a buyout deadline.

If it weren’t for last year’s shenanigans by the Cavaliers that led to the "Big Z Rule," he would have suggested that West return to Memphis after a month.

But now he could only suggest this.

This involved issues with West’s contract; this year was his contract year, which is why the Rockets, already having Lowry and Brooks, would still take his contract.

Because an expiring contract would free up salary cap space in the summer.

But joining the Rockets not only might not give him any opportunities but also, because of Yao Ming’s injury, the Rockets were unlikely to make the playoffs, which would deprive West of an important stage to showcase himself, adversely affecting his pursuit of a new contract in the summer.

Compared to that, joining a playoff team was the best option.

And he already had one suggestion, the Celtics.

Even though they had unpleasant times while he was with the Cavaliers and the Celtics, West started his career with the Celtics.

Moreover, to balance the contracts, the Celtics had sent Nate Robinson to the Thunders, and they happened to have a spot open.

West also pondered, and after a while, he nodded and said,

"Okay, I’ll go to Dallas."

Huh?

Hansen was stunned, why the Mavericks?

"Because of Shaq?" This was the first thing that came to his mind.

"No." West shook his head. Although they both got along well with Hansen, he didn’t have much interaction with O’Neal,

"Caron Butler is out for the season, and I will have a chance there."

The reason West gave left Hansen unable to argue.

He had completely forgotten about Butler being out for the season.

It wasn’t only the Grizzlies affected by major injuries this season.