Chapter 25 Jordan's Choice

After officially breaking with Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Jordan, left with only Option C, was completely stumped.

While different historical timelines would lead to different outcomes, similar to Su Feng's previous life, Jordan, wanting to continue playing, faced a problem he couldn't avoid...

That was, according to the newly released collective bargaining agreement, without re-signing with the Bulls, there weren't many teams on the market that could sign Jordan and satisfy him.

Jordan's troubles stemmed from the NBA's introduction of the max contract system during these labor negotiations.

Under the max contract system, the max salary Jordan could receive in the new season was related to the number of years he had played in the NBA and the salary cap for the upcoming season.

In other words, a salary like the $30 million he earned one year was absolutely impossible for Jordan to get in the next season.

Moreover, according to the rules, Jordan, not re-signing with his parent team, would not only fail to receive the theoretical max salary, but he would also lose his Bird rights.

This also meant that unless a team had ample salary cap space, those teams interested in Jordan couldn't even sign him.

As for taking a pay cut?

In Jordan's view, that was absolutely impossible.

Because unlike his comeback with the Wizards in the future to gain ownership of the team, Jordan now hadn't regressed to the level of "Wizards Jordan," and regardless of whether he re-signed with the Bulls or not, he was still recognized as the league's number one player.

Therefore, the league's number one player choosing to take a pay cut was something Jordan felt he wouldn't do even if he lost his mind.

So, after noticing Su Feng's joke...

You know what, Jordan actually thought the Raptors were a good place to go.

First of all, Jordan, unwilling to take a pay cut, could theoretically be signed by the Raptors.

Because...

You might not believe it.

After the lockout was lifted and the team's front office resumed work, Raptors general manager Glen Grunwald's biggest worry was:

The Raptors' pile of rookie contracts...

Didn't meet the NBA's new regulations!

According to the new regulations introduced by the NBA, you would not only be fined for exceeding the luxury tax line, but if your team's total salary didn't reach 80% of the salary cap, you would also be fined.

And it was clear that the Raptors were far from meeting that standard.

Grunwald felt like he was a tragedy.

Because other general managers were trying to save money, while he, due to excessive saving, now had to find ways to spend money.

Also, don't look at this Raptors team with a transmigrator's eyes.

Because whether it was McGrady, Carter, or Nash, they were all "weak chickens" who hadn't unlocked their talents yet.

To put it bluntly, the only trump card the Raptors had right now was Su Feng.

And that was exactly why Jordan felt the Raptors had potential.

After all, if the Raptors had no one or had everyone, Jordan, unwilling to team up but still wanting to win a championship, wouldn't consider them.

At the Chicago Heroes Conference, having sensed Su Feng's terrifying rate of improvement, Jordan wouldn't even need to hesitate if he didn't acknowledge Su Feng's strength.

In Jordan's view, while Su Feng was a thorn in his side, if he could really cooperate with Su Feng, it wouldn't be a bad choice for him, who hadn't returned his EQ and IQ to God yet and was still an "old rogue."

Because later in his career, the more Jordan understood that basketball was a game played by five people, the more he craved teammates like Su Feng and Pippen.

So, don't think Su Feng was just joking during the interview, Jordan had really seriously considered the Raptors as an option.

See, as a new team, going to the Raptors wouldn't be seen as teaming up or doing it for the money like going to the Knicks or Trail Blazers.

Instead, people would think he was simply choosing to continue for the love of basketball.

And with Su Feng, as long as he joined the Raptors, even though they wouldn't become a championship team in the short term, as long as he could use his connections to recruit two helpers, Jordan believed the Raptors had a good chance.

You have to know, feeling that he could still play, he wanted to win another championship to tell Reinsdorf:

Today you ignore me, tomorrow I'll make you unable to reach me.

Unfortunately...

After seriously considering the Raptors as a destination, Jordan ultimately gave up.

Because...

With the Raptors unable to become a championship team in the short term, Su Feng's contract expiring next season completely extinguished Jordan's desire to retire with another championship.

Under Falk's analysis, Jordan knew that the Raptors couldn't give him too long of a contract.

Because they had to reserve enough salary cap space to ensure they could re-sign Su Feng, who was only 20 years old, after the next season.

After all, no matter how great Jordan was, his age of 36...

Even if the Raptors' front office had an IQ so low it was appalling, they couldn't possibly make the decision to choose Jordan and give up on Su Feng.

Therefore, unable to win a championship in the short term, plus the Raptors' owner being a cheapskate, Jordan ultimately chose to give up the Raptors option, even though he really wanted Su Feng.

"Sigh, what a pity. If the Raptors had a bit more ambition, as long as they gave me three years, I would definitely be able to win another championship."

That day, Jordan lamented silently.

...

And just as Jordan was feeling down...

On January 20th, with the finalization of the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, Stern officially announced that the 98/99 season would restart on February 5th.

At the same time, the NBA free agent market would also reopen.

On the 20th, according to the new collective bargaining agreement, the Raptors officially signed Carter.

Starting from the 98/99 season, rookie contracts would change from three years to four years.

And in the future, rookie salaries would also be determined according to the salary cap and their draft order.

From the perspective of team building, four-year rookie contracts would be more beneficial to the operation and construction of small and medium-sized teams.

But from the players' perspective, future rookies would not have as much room to maneuver as players like Su Feng with three-year contracts.

Carter, who would wear the No. 15 jersey for the Raptors in the new season, was full of expectations for this Raptors team at the signing ceremony.

Having trained hard with Su Feng throughout the summer, Carter felt that people underestimated the Raptors after hearing about Su Feng's experiences at the Chicago Heroes Conference.

However...

No matter how Carter expressed himself, in the eyes of reporters and fans, he and Su Feng were too naive.

Wake up, Vince, we were at the bottom of the league last season. Be realistic, you're just a rookie!

Sigh, it has to be said that Carter was telling the truth, but why didn't anyone want to believe it?

It's worth mentioning that on the 20th, as soon as the free agent market was unfrozen, the Raptors announced the signing of Ben Wallace.

5 years, $27.5 million. By today's salary standards, the Raptors' offer was indeed full of sincerity.

You have to know that in Su Feng's previous life, Ben wouldn't get a contract like this until three years later.

If Su Feng remembered correctly, Ben didn't enjoy max contract treatment until after his peak in his previous life.

But in this life, after finishing this contract with the Raptors, Ben, who would become a free agent in the summer of '03, would definitely be able to sign a super contract worth over a hundred million dollars.

And after signing Ben, Raptors general manager Grunwald didn't say it on the surface, but in his heart, he felt a little heartache.

After all, if you didn't look at Ben's contract with the eyes of a transmigrator, it was a big contract that only a front-line interior role player could get at this time.

However, how could Grunwald have known that Ben's contract would become a rookie contract in two seasons as the NBA's salary cap continued to expand?

On the 20th, in addition to signing Carter and Ben, Grunwald also officially signed "old rookie" Dell Curry to a 4-year, $8.8 million contract.

This contract was similar in price to the contract Curry signed with the Raptors in Su Feng's previous life, the only difference being that three years had become four.

Of course, unlike Su Feng's previous life, Curry, who had chosen to come to Toronto for his two sons' tuition, also became inflated at the signing ceremony in this life...

"We will definitely make the playoffs under Su's leadership in the new season. We have the strength."

To be fair, the media and fans felt that the Raptors were poisonous.

Because ever since Su Feng's ambitious words last year, the players on this team were becoming more and more inflated.

Wake up, Dell, you're not the Hornets' super sixth man anymore, you're just a senile veteran!

Playoffs?

Why don't you just say the championship?

Um...

Um!

Sure enough, human imagination is limited.

Because they simply don't know how crazy reality is.

...

Philadelphia, Larry Brown, who was inspecting the 76ers' luxurious roster for the new season, was dumbfounded.

Because...

Just as the new season was restarting, he received terrible news from Billy King.

Ben Wallace...

The super role player in his mind...

Actually ran off to Toronto with Su Feng. Can you believe that?

"Our offer was similar to the Raptors', but Ben ultimately chose the Raptors." After failing to re-sign Ben, Billy King said to Brown with a wry smile.

"What was his reason for choosing the Raptors over us?" Brown asked, feeling dissatisfied.

"This..."

"Don't worry, I just want to know why he would choose the Raptors." Looking at Billy King, Brown patted him on the shoulder and said.

"Alright, then I'll tell you the truth.

Ben...

He said: He likes Coach John Davis more than you." Following Brown's request, Billy King told him the truth.

Bang!

Hearing this, Brown was completely enraged.

John Davis!

It's John Davis again!

Although his expression still didn't change, beneath Brown's glasses, in those calm eyes, there was more than just滔天的 anger? (Torrents of Rage - Translator's note: Closest I could get to the implied meaning, a raging, all-consuming fury)

In Larry Brown's view, even if the 76ers didn't win the championship next season, the Raptors and Davis had to die!

Just wait, this time, even if they were leading by 20 points and the Raptors surrendered, he, Brown, would never substitute any of his starters!

Unless Davis was nailed to the pillar of shame, he, Larry Brown, would rather die!

And not long after Billy King told Brown this terrible news, the 76ers' other decision-maker, Pat Croce, stared out the office window at the clear Philadelphia sky, lost in thought...

Maybe, Billy King and Brown were right.

But in Pat Croce's view, they had overlooked the human touch.

Just like Ben's decision to choose the Raptors this time, in Croce's heart, he always felt that the NBA world shouldn't only be about contracts, statistics, and money.

...

Toronto, according to the schedule, the Raptors would hold a media and fan meet-and-greet on January 25th.

In these days, besides the old Curry and Ben Wallace who had already decided to join, Grunwald had been hitting walls everywhere...

Having received Davis's list of potential acquisitions half a year ago, Grunwald felt that he had no face to see Davis anymore.

Because in Grunwald's view, the requests Davis had made weren't even requests at all.

They were either free agents or undrafted players, but what had he accomplished?

Originally, Su Feng's list for Grunwald included a famous undrafted player from the '98 draft, Brad Miller...

Unfortunately, even though Grunwald had previously established a good relationship with Miller, because he represented the United States in the '98 World Championships, Miller, who had gained attention, no longer considered the Toronto Raptors after receiving a contract from the Hornets on the 20th.

As the saying goes, everyone has their own ambitions. The reason why Ben Wallace was willing to come to Toronto with Su Feng was because of the back-scrubbing friendship they had formed in their early years.

And the reason why old Curry was willing to come to Toronto a year early was because of the snack-sharing relationship between Su Feng and the two little Currys.

To put it bluntly, setting aside connections and various factors, if the Raptors had any sort of reputation, Stern wouldn't be worried that Su Feng's personal reputation would be dragged down by the team's performance.

So, others playing "brotherhood basketball" was considered teaming up, but where was Su Feng teaming up?

Believe it or not.

Stern now wished that Su Feng would quickly use his connections to find one or two stars to team up with.

Otherwise, with the Raptors being such a terrible team, how could Stern promote Su Feng?

However, not managing to secure Miller wasn't enough for Grunwald to feel that he had no face to show his face.

Um... Grunwald felt that the reason he had no face to show was that he couldn't even secure Rafer Alston this time.

The trajectory of history had shifted once again, because the Bucks' backcourt was weak, the Bucks offered Alston a minimum-salary contract a year early.

Helpless...

Alston didn't want to be exiled to the frontier, and he didn't want to play in the NBA in Canada, so he rejected the Raptors.

Grunwald, who had thought that his repeated failures in acquisitions would upset Davis, had been overthinking it from the start.

Because in reality...

The Raptors didn't really lack Miller and Alston.

The reason why Su Feng had included these two in the acquisition list was simply because they were very cost-effective at this time.

But in reality, with the Raptors' current group of Iron Men, and with Ben Wallace bulking up to play center in the new season, Su Feng felt that the Raptors' biggest needs were a power forward and a backup enforcer.

As for Miller and Alston not choosing the Raptors, Su Feng felt that it was reasonable.

Because the world doesn't revolve around the Raptors and Su Feng, and not everyone has the perspective of a time-traveler.

...

On the 21st and 22nd, while practicing with the team, Su Feng also paid attention to Grunwald's acquisition work for a power forward and a backup enforcer.

Now, controlling Grunwald through Davis...

Su Feng was becoming increasingly adept at it.

However, even worse than Su Feng had expected, because all teams had to finalize their rosters within two weeks, many teams were simply raising prices indiscriminately in order to snatch players when offering contracts.

This made the Raptors, who were already at a disadvantage, even more disadvantaged in terms of acquisitions.

The Raptors had plenty of salary cap space, but that didn't mean they had to be suckers.

Grunwald, who was good at being frugal, wasn't stupid. He knew that the team had to re-sign Su Feng, Nash, and others next season, so even if there was enough space, he didn't dare to offer players random deals.

And just as Grunwald's acquisition work was at a standstill...

On the 23rd, in his sleep, Su Feng dreamed the same dream he had had before once again.

Speaking of which, in that dream, he had dreamed that he was fighting alongside Jordan.

And Jordan had said to him:

"Now, it's your era, Su."

However, because he couldn't see Jordan's jersey clearly at the time, Su Feng had always thought that even if the dream came true, it would be referring to the All-Star Game.

But on this day...

In a daze, Su Feng felt that he could see Jordan's team uniform clearly.

Then, Su Feng woke up with a start!

Good heavens!

To be honest, in Su Feng's view, why had he been so insistent on leveling up before competing for the championship?

From the perspective of team structure, this Raptors team was very young, and it was unrealistic to win the championship next season.

But what if the joke he had made before and this dream both became reality?

Having noticed Jordan's weight at the Chicago Heroes Conference, Su Feng knew that if the 109 kg Jordan continued to play shooting guard, it might not be as appealing to the current Raptors.

But in his career, having guarded Barkley many times, the naturally strong Jordan...

What if he roamed the frontcourt with him in the new season?

Completely blurring the positions, using an ultimate swing lineup to make the other team cry.

Ben Wallace, Jordan, himself, Carter, Nash, McGrady...

Forming a dream lineup that was unprecedented and unmatched!

As long as Jordan was willing to accept appropriate changes, Su Feng felt that this Raptors team would completely declare the end of the NBA season next season.

Although considering the Raptors' salary structure and Jordan's personality, Su Feng knew that the Raptors could only maintain such a lineup for a year at most.

But...

One year would be more than enough!

Leveling up while competing for the championship, and causing a sensation throughout the league during this lockout season...

Let these NBA supermen feel what it's like to have a talent that is unparalleled in ancient and modern times, transcendent and sanctified!

Space Fortress, God of Basketball, Phenomenal Truth Emperor Watermelon (Translator's note: Rough translation of 现象级真理帝皇瓜), Half-Man, Half-Amazing, Sun King, Demigod Cousins, God-Slaying Father...

To be honest, it's just that the peak periods of these people don't coincide.

If they could really form such a lineup and all of them were at their peak, then even if you pulled out the Dream Team, Su Feng wouldn't be afraid.

"Hiss————!"

On this day, after waking up, Su Feng felt that this matter might actually be possible after thinking about it for a while.

Because although this lineup also had its problems, as long as they were problems that could be solved, they weren't problems in Su Feng's eyes.

In Su Feng's view, the key to forming this lineup was how he would convince Jordan and the details such as the boss status and jersey number...

And to solve these problems, Su Feng knew that he had to hope that Jordan could form a tacit understanding with him before returning his EQ and IQ to God.

In short...

You thought this was turning enemies into friends?

No...

Jordan, who was "kicked out of his home" by the Bulls with a championship ring, and Su Feng, who was exiled to the frontier by the 76ers, how could there be turning enemies into friends?

This is called sharing a common hatred!

Then is it teaming up?

Heh...

With the current Raptors, where is there any teaming up?

This is called working together to support the construction of new NBA teams, promoting the overall Canadian basketball market, and opening up new territory for the league.

Okay, then it can't be mutual achievement, deepening each other's bonds, right?

Hey, you got it right.

As long as it was done well, if Jordan was willing to come to the Raptors for a year, Su Feng could guarantee that Jordan in this life would only be more legendary than in his previous life.

As for Su Feng's future?

Wake up, the more legendary Jordan is now, the more legendary Su Feng will be when he surpasses him in the future.

Only a legend can surpass a legend.

And with the experience of having defeated Jordan before, plus the experience of fighting alongside Jordan, even if Su Feng really surpassed Jordan in the future, even if Jordan returned his EQ and IQ to God, Jordan wouldn't say much about himself.

Because at that time, belittling Su Feng would be the same as belittling himself.

And this is what is called mutual achievement.

See, reality is not a novel.

Because would a novel dare to write such a routine?

Reality is even more fantastical than a novel.

Morning of the 23rd.

After taking out the "Jordan Strategy Guide" recorded in his notebook, Su Feng specially found Davis, deciding to tell Davis this bold idea.

After communicating with Su Feng, Davis swallowed and said, "Are you serious, Su?"

Su Feng nodded, "Coach, let's go to Chicago. Although I only have a 10% chance of convincing Michael, if Michael is willing to join us..."

Hearing this, Davis hurriedly interrupted Su Feng.

Because like Su Feng, Davis, who had great expectations for this Raptors team, felt that if he continued to think about it, he could only think of the word "championship"...

...

ps: Thank you 霸我天仙飞 for becoming the Silver Alliance Master of this book! Thank you 霸盟 for rewarding the Silver League!

ps2: Second update, bringing 5900 words. Remember to read what the author said in the author's notes about the dungeon progress.