569 The Head Coach of a Garbage Team

Dai Li continued looking at the player information for the Clippers.

At the moment, the highest paid player on the Clippers team was a player named Wood. He was a point guard and was currently recovering from an injury.

Wood entered the NBA as a first-round draft pick. He started his NBA career with the Chicago Bulls and he played very well. In his rookie season, he displayed great leadership qualities. In the second year of his career, he had already made it as a substitute onto the all-star lineup. He received the NBA MVP award at the age of 22 and became the youngest MVP in NBA history. This helped him get onto the All-NBA team for a while.

With performances as amazing as that, after Wood's rookie contract ended, he received a five-year contract worth 153 million dollars, a super contract that exceeded the NBA salary cap. The NBA changed their contract signing rules because of this.

However, an injury destroyed this superstar. One injury tore his cruciate ligament and, after he recovered, the cruciate ligament of his left knee also tore. After that, it was the meniscus of his right knee that was torn. The once youngest MVP had become a man made of glass.

Wood's form was destroyed by his injuries over time. He lost speed, explosiveness, as well as his competitive strength. The skill he relied upon to survive, his amazing breakthrough, also disappeared. The original Wood could have easily broken through the defense for a layup with defenders latched onto him. The current Wood, however, could not even defend one-on-one, his opponent would easily pass him.

Without a doubt, Wood had fallen and the 153 million-dollar five-year contract he signed a while ago had become one of the most garbage contracts in the NBA.

The Chicago Bulls wanted to ditch that awful contract. After some effort, the Clippers received that rubbish contract. At the same time, they also got themselves a young player with decent potential, a first-round draft pick, another second-round draft pick, and some cash from the Chicago Bulls.

After Wood arrived at the Clippers, before the first game of the season, he injured himself training. The current Wood was still rehabilitating and, based on the information given by the Clippers, Wood's injury would only heal by the summer at the quickest. That meant that he was practically unusable for the rest of the season.

Wood's contract, if one counted the current year, still had two years left. Every year, his salary exceeded 30 million dollars. That meant that if the Clippers did not quickly get rid of Wood, they would have to wait another season before they could finally be rid of Wood's garbage contract.

Wood takes up around 30 million dollars worth of salary space in the team. That is blocking the Clippers' future signing capability. Dai Li shook his head in resignation.

Under that situation, the Clippers did not have a lot of salary space to offer a high salary to other players. That, on top of the team playing so badly, discouraged basketball stars from joining. Their prospects looked really dim indeed.

Dai Li then took a look at the results of the Chicago Bulls. The Chicago Bulls were currently placed in fifth in the Eastern Conference table. They led the eighth-placed team in the Eastern Conference by at least 10 games. Getting to the playoffs was not a problem for them. That meant that the draft picks that the Clippers received from them would be after the 20th pick. If they got a player worthy of being in the starting line-up, they should start thanking God for the fortune bestowed upon them.

The player with potential who transferred over with Wood was called Ronny. He was 2.03 meters tall forward. He was the 23rd pick in the first round of the draft back in the day, and it was the last year of his rookie contract.

Ronny was one of those well-suited three-dimensional players. When he was with the Bulls, he was an important player for the team. As the Bulls' top substitute, his average contribution per game was 12.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. His shooting success rate was 42% and his three-pointers also had a high success rate of 36%. For a player in his rookie contract, he had a lot of potential.

The Clippers also fancied Ronny's potential, which was why they were alright with taking over Wood's rubbish contract. After joining the Clippers, Ronny became the team's starting small forward. His playing time and shots increased and his average points per game increased to 18.8 points. He became a key player on the current Clippers team.

However, Ronny was not the top scorer on the Clippers. The leading scorer of the Clippers was a 32-year-old veteran player called Naismith. As a guard, Naismith contributed 22.6 points per game and 5.3 assists per game. Those stats were quite decent. However, it was not enough to help the team achieve victory.

Naismith was once the sixth best man in the NBA. He was great at individual play, but his defense was weak. More importantly, Naismith was not consistent. If he was in the mood, he could compete against the superstars of the NBA, but if his form dipped a little, he might not hit any of his shots.

"Wildcard" players like him served as additional forces to the team in terms of firepower, but they were destined to never become the core of a team.

The original center and power forward of the team were all injured. So the Clippers could only send out peripheral players and "drinking fountain" players to partner up inside. One of them was a rookie drafted in the second round and another was not a drafted player. These players did not have secure spots on the team. As the Clippers were short of players, however, they got the chance to start in games.

Dai Li then looked at the injury situation for the Clippers. His face suddenly became distorted.

15 players. Five people are currently injured, and two more are on the list of players under daily observation. Doesn't that make it so that there are only eight perfectly healthy players? Among these eight, three of them are "drinking fountain" players who never would have made the team under normal circumstances. With that many injuries, if I were to take up the job offer from the Clippers, the first thing I would do is to fire the team doctor!

Later, Dai Li started reviewing the upcoming fixture of the Clippers.

At the moment, the Clippers had played a total of 46 games, and their result was 16 wins and 30 losses. There were 36 games to go. Dai Li took out a pen and paper and started categorizing the remaining fixtures of the Clippers.

The first category was the top two teams of both the Eastern and Western Conference. These were teams that would go into the playoffs without any problem. They won most of their games and would certainly maintain their home game advantage in the playoffs. Teams that were able to stay in the top two of the Eastern or Western Conference were teams that were likely to be crowned champions. These teams were immensely strong. There was no way the Clippers could beat them.

The second category included teams ranked in third to sixth in both conferences. These teams were likely to make it to the playoffs, but it wasn't guaranteed they'd obtain the home team advantage. So, in the remaining 36 games, they would definitely fight to win the right to have the home advantage in the playoffs. They would not give up easily. If the Clippers were to face them, it would certainly be a tough battle.

The third category was the teams ranked from the seventh to the 12th in both conferences. They were the peripheral teams for the playoffs. They would make it to the playoffs if they won a few more games, and not make it to the playoff if they lost a little bit more. For these teams, the closer it was to the playoffs, the harder they would fight. The Clippers were regarded as a weak team that these teams would definitely have to beat, so the Clippers would definitely have a tough time.

The fourth category included teams that were tanking. When the NBA season reached this stage, a lot of teams would begin tanking so that they would get a better pick in the draft. These teams did not even want to win, so when the Clippers faced them, they could get the victory.

To mid-to-low level teams, the latter stage of the NBA season was a lot tougher than the earlier stage. For one, after half a season of games, all the teams were completely synthesized, some of the capable teams started to show their strength. Secondly, to make the playoff, or to obtain a home advantage in the playoff, teams treat games more seriously. They will not lose to weaker teams as easily. So I must accept that the 30 games remaining will be very tough. This is a nightmare!

Dai Li massaged his temple and looked very distressed.

...

Journalists soon found out that the Clippers had a new owner and it didn't take long for it to make headlines.

Following this, the NBA also officially announced that the Dingtian Sports Group acquired the L.A. Clippers.

For the entire NBA, it was like a stabilization injection. The previous negative effect of racism was quickly turned around.

The NBA had been enticed by the Chinese market for a long time. With Dingtian Sports acquiring the Clippers, the development of the Chinese market could go more smoothly.

The owners of the other 29 teams looked favorably upon the acquisition made by the Dingtian Sports Group. They were all beneficiaries of the expansion of the NBA.

The NBA players were the same. Some NBA players had already received brands sponsorships from Chinese sports brand and felt the pleasantries beforehand. The other players naturally hoped to receive some of the benefits of the Chinese market.

The happiest of them all was, without a doubt, the players on the Clippers. They were not superstars, so they would never have the chance to receive lucrative advertising endorsement deals normally. The few "drinking fountain" players on the Clippers even started planning. If they failed to find a team in the NBA next season, they could join the CBA to make a living.

...

The assistant coach of the Clippers, Cassel, parked his car in the underground carpark. He then walked to the elevator with his chest puffed up and head held high.

Due to the resignation of the previous coach, Cassel was the interim head coach of the team. With the acquisition from the Dingtian Group complete, Cassel felt as if his opportunity had come.

"Hold on!" Before the elevator door closed, a person rushed inside. Cassel pressed on the open button of the elevator to open the elevator door. The person who rushed in was the team doctor.

The team doctor entered the elevator and showed the smile of a sweet talker. He then said, "Coach Cassel, congratulations."

"Congratulations? Why?" Cassel asked. His tone indicated that he already knew the answer to the question.

"The team just welcomed our new owner. I'm guessing Coach Cassel will be promoted and become the new official head coach of the team." The team doctor paused and continued, "Half the season is already over and the result of the team is far than satisfying. There are at least 30 games left. In my opinion, at least for the remainder of this season, it is impossible for our new owner to hire a new head coach. Naturally, you will be promoted. So I must congratulate you!"

"I hope you're right!" Cassel stated. However, his tone of voice implied a sense of confidence.

In Cassel's opinion, the analysis of the team doctor was spot on. The Clippers were terrible and the situation of the season was already set in stone. The new owner would not have to spend an extra sum to hire a new coach.

If he were to become the head coach of the Clippers, even if it were only the second half of the season, Cassel's resume would be considerably more impressive. He might even be able to solidify the position of head coach.

The elevator stopped. Cassel and the team doctor got out of the elevator. However, the people around him shot him a different kind of glance.

The glance made Cassel feel uneasy. He had a feeling that something was going to happen.

When Cassel entered the coach's locker room, three trainers were whispering in low voices. When they saw Cassel, their faces suddenly changed colors. A person even hid something behind him.

"What are you looking at?" Cassel asked.

"Nothing…" The person who answered smiled awkwardly before saying, "Mr. Cassel, the weather sure is nice today!"

Cassel knew that this guy was intentionally trying to change the subject. He sensitively noticed that the thing that they were discussing, the thing that was hidden behind them, was related to him.

Cassel suddenly felt angry, he was going to become the head coach of the team. He was the most powerful person on the team, so how could he tolerate such behavior?

Cassel grunted coldly at them and walked towards them with a straight face. He pushed the guy who hid something to the side.

On the bench behind the person was a newspaper.

"It's just a newspaper, what's there to hide!" Cassel picked up the newspaper, a little confused. He then saw the headline.

"New Owner of Clippers: We're going to hire the Laureus World's Coach of the Year, Dai Li, to be the head coach of the Clippers."

"Laureus World's Coach of the Year? That Chinese man named Li? Isn't he a track and field coach? Does he even know basketball?" Cassel couldn't help but start yelling.