The Way of Basketball: Never Talk Shit to Him!
Chapter 447 - 209 Besides God letting me be born into this world, this is the luckiest thing for me!_3

Chapter 447: Chapter 209 Besides God letting me be born into this world, this is the luckiest thing for me!_3

Based on this year’s League salary cap, a regular maximum salary is around 11.12 million, and under the "Bird clause" the maximum is 13.90 million.

Ron Artest had been with the Pacers for more than three years and fully qualified for the "Bird clause," meaning he could sign up to 13.90 million with the Pacers. Yet, now Larry Bird was only willing to offer him around 10 million, which wasn’t even considered a regular max contract.

Compared to the small O’Neal holding a 7-year, 130 million contract and Su Wan securing a starting salary of around 16.70 million in a max contract next year, this offer seemed quite meager.

Naturally, he would not agree to such a contract. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

As the preseason approached, he approached Rick Carlisle, demanding more shooting rights.

Of course, before approaching Carlisle, he first went to Su Wan, "I can only assume that Larry’s doing this because he thinks my stats aren’t flashy enough. If I want a big contract, I must produce better numbers."

Su Wan’s response was just two words:

Support!

Now, the conflict was between Artest and the management.

If he stopped Artest, he would eventually end up in conflict with Artest himself.

Su Wan wouldn’t do something so foolish.

Moreover, he believed that as long as it was a game he wanted to win, Ron Artest would not mess around and would be as diligent on the defensive end as he was last season.

With that in mind, he saw even less need to block Artest.

Although his stats would inevitably be impacted by this next season, but...

At the age of 22, leading the team to create a "Dynasty," his historical status was already not dependent on data to prove.

As for next summer’s contract.

Let’s just say...

Even if his averages next season were only 20+5+5, it wouldn’t affect his desirability in the free agency market.

Rick Carlisle grew a bit troubled by this.

Today, the Pacers’ tactical system revolved around the two, and three-point shots were heavily relied upon.

Artest did have a three-point shot capability, but the problem was...

He was a "Spot Shooter."

Which team would specifically design tactics for a spot shooter?

Instead, 99% of spot shooters served the strategies.

Regarding other methods from Artest like his ball-handling ability, well, why wouldn’t he let Su Wan handle those tactics when the team had him?

But looking at Artest’s firm expression, Carlisle knew well that if he refused, Artest would then likely ignore his commands from one ear out the other.

At this critical juncture for the team, Carlisle was very sensitive.

He did not want to become the perpetrator of issues in Indiana’s "Dynasty" and end up being the team’s "scapegoat."

On this issue, his understanding was the same as Su Wan’s:

This was a conflict between Artest and the management; he couldn’t foolishly step forward and attract Artest’s fire.

Finally, he nodded in agreement.

He allocated some of Su Wan’s ball-handling offenses to him.

Six preseason games.

Artest started handling the ball extensively.

Due to weak opponents, his performance was exceptionally good, averaging 32 minutes and 13 seconds on the court, scoring 22.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals per game with a shooting accuracy of 48.6%.

It was almost a return to his early performance in the 04-05 season.

But Su Wan was clear:

Pretense!

The key to his offensive efficiency and performance was relying on him and small O’Neal on the court to attract the defense; when both of them were off, Artest’s individual ball-handling performance significantly declined.

This had a lot to do with his increasing weight.

Now, he was just a powerful wing defender.

The decline in explosive power and slower footsteps gave opponents too much reaction time to his Breakthrough, and with offensive moves as predictable as LeBron, it made it easy for defenders to anticipate his breaking path.

Only when he rushed could he become unstoppable.

And this was only on the preseason stage; once the regular season started and the opponents got stronger with the coaches strategizing against him, his Breakthroughs would only be further restricted.

Of course, by then, Su Wan and small O’Neal would be on the court for more time to relieve this pressure for him.

Artest was pleased with his performance in the preseason; as long as he maintained this level in the regular season, he could openly declare, asking Larry Bird to load the money on a truck and bring it to his house.

He was satisfied, and the atmosphere in the Pacers team had returned to that of last season.

On October 30, the Pacers hosted their home opening game.

The new season’s first opponent was Orlando, which the Pacers had eliminated in the first round last season.

Su Wan was startled when he saw Howard’s physique during a media appearance.

Could really muscles be built over one summer?

Honestly, Su Wan had always been puzzled by one question:

Was Howard disciplined or undisciplined?

If he was undisciplined, how could he have such strong upper body muscles?

But to say he was disciplined...

The "Young Beast" wasn’t exactly honest when he first joined the league, referring to soliciting prostitutes as "saving lost young ladies’ souls."

Now that he had been in this line for longer, he finally understood what these players always emphasizing "Big Jibba" were truly about.

Especially Howard...

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