NBA: Warrior godfather.

Guys there is already content on patreon, if anyone wants to become a chunin or jonnin.

patreon.com/Chuga320 (More 50 chapters)

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Larry Riley suddenly remembered something and said:

"Boss, as per your instructions, I signed Wesley Matthews, Reggie Williams, and Anthony Tolliver. Wesley Matthews only agreed to a two-year minimum salary contract, while the other two are on three-year minimum salary deals."

"Good, keep up the good work." Liam Gonzalez nodded approvingly and hung up the phone.

Larry Riley stared at his phone, then looked out the window at the sunset and glanced at his watch, thinking deeply about life.

Well, it's 5 o'clock in the afternoon. So what did the boss mean when he told me to "keep up the good work"?

…

The next day, news spread that the Warriors had put Monta Ellis on the trading block and were open to offers from all around the league.

This offseason, the free agency market was fairly quiet. The most notable move had been a four-team trade involving the Mavericks, Raptors, Grizzlies, and Magic. Apart from that, only Artest had joined the defending champions.

As a young, high-scoring player with great potential, Monta Ellis was exactly the type of player most teams needed.

Once he was on the trade market, he immediately became one of the most sought-after targets. Larry Riley's phone was flooded with calls from general managers across the league.

Soon, word spread that the Warriors were focused on acquiring draft picks. Teams unwilling or unable to part with draft picks backed off, while the remaining teams eager for a second scoring option or stronger offensive firepower prepared to make offers involving draft picks(1).

In the Cavaliers' conference room, General Manager Danny Ferry was watching game footage of Monta Ellis on his computer. He turned to head coach Mike Brown and asked:

"Mike, are you sure he can help us? We already have Mo Williams, and LeBron needs the ball in his hands."

Sitting beside Danny Ferry, Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown gave a wry smile:

"Danny, to be honest, this was LeBron's idea..."

Danny Ferry's expression instantly turned serious.

"LeBron is interested in Monta Ellis?"

"Yes, he thinks Ellis has a better scoring ability than Mo. LeBron said he can take on the playmaking duties himself and doesn't need Mo to handle the offense. He wants a scorer, not someone who'll split the responsibilities."

Danny Ferry's face changed. He had been the one to push for trading for Mo Williams, who had averaged 17.8 points per game last season. He hadn't expected that James was unsatisfied.

"Danny, LeBron needs to have the ball in his hands. Although Monta Ellis also needs the ball, he's a shooting guard and effective off the ball. If you shift Mo to a sixth-man role, our offense becomes more sustainable, and LeBron can maximize his impact with the ball," said Mike Brown.

Brown knew that as long as LeBron was happy, his position as head coach was as solid as a mountain.

Dennis nodded solemnly:

"I understand; I'll take care of it. If the Warriors want draft rights, we'll give them draft rights."

It was well-known that in Cleveland, you could change the coach, the general manager, but as long as James didn't want to leave, he was the Cavaliers' 'King.'(2)

James was Cleveland's chosen son and the city's biggest asset.

Over the last fifty years, Cleveland's industry had declined rapidly, and the city was shrouded in a gloomy, depressed atmosphere, with rising unemployment and crime rates.

At the same time, this city hadn't won any of the four major American sports league championships, becoming known as the "cursed city" of American sports. When Cleveland was mentioned, people only laughed, joked, and mocked.

That changed in 2003, when LeBron James arrived.

This talented Akron native was famous across the U.S. while still in high school, with everyone convinced he would be the next superstar and a successor to Michael Jordan.

James entered the draft after high school and was selected by the Cavaliers with the first pick.

Cavaliers fans were ecstatic, believing their city's championship drought would finally end.

The young "King" delivered, leading the team to the playoffs in his third year and all the way to the Finals in his fourth.

Though the Cavaliers were swept 0-4 by the Spurs, as Duncan had said, the future belonged to James. No one doubted it—whether they liked him or hated him.

Two years later, as James' skills continued to grow and he won his first MVP trophy, the Cavaliers still hadn't returned to the Finals.

James had given his all to the Cavaliers, but no stars wanted to join this struggling team, even with James' golden reputation.

Every year, the Cavaliers made a big push in free agency, only to settle for overpaying second-tier players. It always came down to James to carry the team.

He could dominate in the regular season, but in the playoffs, he felt the full weight of isolation.

When the third-leading scorer in a playoff team is Delonte West with 13.8 points per game, it's hard to see that team advancing.

In last season's playoffs, James averaged a staggering 35.3 points, 7.3 assists, and 9.1 rebounds per game while also giving his best defensively. He was unstoppable on both ends of the court.

But his teammate, Mo Williams, scored 16.3 points per game on just 40.8% shooting, leaving it hard to say if he was helping or making things easier for the opponents.

Thus, the Cavaliers were eliminated by the Magic 2-4 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Even though James improved his offense to an average of 38.5 points, 8 assists, and 8.3 rebounds on 48.7% shooting, it wasn't enough.

Mike Brown didn't need to tell him—Danny Ferry already knew James wasn't satisfied with the front office.

Year after year, they competed for a championship, only to come up empty. Nobody knew how much patience James had left. He had only one year left on his contract.

Last year, Danny Ferry had worked hard to bring in veteran Ben Wallace, paying him more than James. Wallace contributed 2.9 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.

This year, Danny Ferry made another move, trading Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovic, and a 2010 second-round pick to the Suns for 37-year-old Shaquille O'Neal.

While Cavaliers fans were disappointed, many columnists were thrilled, finding plenty of material to criticize Danny Ferry year after year. The consistency saved them time and pleased their readers.

End of this chapter

Note

(1) No players are being asked for as after all the mc is a time traveler and should take full advantage of future Drafts.

(2)If anyone wonders why Cleveland, we all know the history and we all know how much Lebron was in need of a second sword, which could be seen with the arrival of Irving making it to four Finals winning one....

Note: Hi if you really like NBA novels, you can support me either in this pg with stones, reviews etc, or in patreon since the niche of sports and specially NBA is very small is Webnovel since people prefer to read Naruto, Pokemon, comics etc.