Paul is a good teammate, which proved long ago in the 2008 Olympics.

Does Kobe want to fight alongside Paul?

He was thinking in his heart, especially when Fisher was suffering from diarrhea.

He once imagined that if Fisher was replaced by Paul in the 2007-08 finals, would the Lakers beat the Celtics and win the championship of that year?

The answer should be yes.

Paul's strength and fighting spirit are not comparable to Fisher.

The Celtics surrounded Kobe in the finals, pressing Kobe's shooting percentage from 47.9% in the first three rounds of the series to 40.5%. If Paul stood up and scored, the Lakers would not lose to the Celtics 2:4 that year.

But in the current situation, is it a good choice to trade Paul at a price?

First of all, Bynum and Gasol are definitely not allowed to trade, and the Twin Towers are the strong foundation of the Lakers.

The Lakers will definitely not be willing to trade Paul's one of them.

Then the only possible deal is to trade Zhou Mubai for Paul.

I think this is the same idea when playing in New Orleans. Although they think the Lakers won’t trade with the double towers, giving them more choices, it will not seem that purposefulness will be too strong, and the transaction may be much larger.

As for why New Orleans is willing to give a big gift, Kobe also knows it well.

Paul's contract is about to expire. If New Orleans doesn't quickly change something and come back, Paul will not stay in Orleans anymore. Instead of gaining nothing, it's better to change a potential point guard.

Zhou Mubai's two outstanding performances have come into New Orleans' eyes.

Kobe was very complicated. To him, Paul was his dream partner.

But during this period of time, he felt that Zhou Mubai was a very good young man. The key is that he saw more possibilities in Zhou Mubai.

"Kobe... Kobe!" Kupchek shouted, waking Kobe up.

"Sir?" Kobe looked at Kupchek with confusion.

Kupchek smiled and said, "What do you think?"

Kobe looked at Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson's face looked very bad, and Kobe was worried.

"For me, I think Zhou Mubai and Paul are all very good partners, and I have no objection."

Kobe decided not to participate in the discussion.

Phil Jackson looked at Kobe in surprise. He remembered that after the Olympics, Kobe often talked about Paul to him, and it was obvious that he admired Paul very much.

I thought Kobe would be overjoyed when he heard that he could cooperate with Paul, but he didn't expect Kobe to choose neutrality.

Kupchek frowned: "Bryant, isn't Paul much stronger than Zhou Mubai? As long as you nod, Paul will be able to join our team next week."

Kobe smiled: "I said, I don't care. Just make a decision. If nothing happens, I will leave first. Vanessa is waiting for me to go back for dinner."

Kupchek could only nod helplessly, and watched Kobe leave. He turned to Phil Jackson and said, "Did you communicate with Kobe in advance?"

Phil Jackson sneered: "If the communication is made, he should support me, rather than choose neutrality."

Kupchek sneered: "It doesn't matter if Kobe didn't make a statement. I will continue to execute this transaction anyway."

Phil Jackson smiled mysteriously and looked at his watch, and suddenly said, "The time is almost over, it should be a call."

Kupchek wondered: "What?"

"Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding!"

The phone on the table suddenly rang.

Kupchek looked at Phil Jackson with anger on his face: "Have you gone to find the boss?"

Phil Jackson smiled slightly, raised his chin and signaled Kupchek to answer the call.

Kupchek took a deep breath, smiled on his face, and then answered the phone: "I'm Mickey Kupchek!"

Phil Jackson couldn't hear the sound on the other end of the phone, but Kupchek's face became worse and worse. After a while, he put down the phone and said unhappy to Phil Jackson: "Let's go, the boss is waiting for us at his house."

When the two arrived at Bass' house, Jenny Bass and Jim Bass were both there, and Phil Jackson and Kupchek were not careful about the siblings.

It is said that Bass Old is interested in starting to cultivate his son and daughter, and rumors have begun to be heard that Bass Old is going to promote his youngest son Jim Bass to vice president of the Lakers and Jenny Bass to vice president of business development for the Lakers.

Phil Jackson and Kupchek are both people around Old Bass, so of course they know that this rumor is true.

"Mickey, Phil, welcome to my house as a guest. Please, my father is waiting for us in the living room."

Jenny Buss smiled and hugged Phil Jackson again. She has been with Phil Jackson for more than ten years.

The four of them entered the living room together. Old Bass lit a cigar and said in a hoarse voice: "We're here, sit down, those who want to smoke cigars do it yourself."

Kuppchek and Phil Jackson smiled at each other and cut the cigars by themselves. After a while, the living room was filled with a strong cigar smell.

Old Bass said in a hoarse voice: "Phil has told me that I have learned about it, but I want to hear your opinions."

Kupchek looked at Phil Jackson, who was half-closed and said, "Boss, my opinion is a deal. Zhou Mubai has good potential, but what we need is immediate combat power. Our team has been at its peak in recent years. With Paul's joining, it is not difficult for us to create another dynasty!"

Jim Bass' eyes lit up, and Old Bass's eyes also showed a sense of interest.

Old Bass was silent for a moment and asked, "Phil, where is your opinion?"

Phil Jackson gently put the cigar off and smiled, "After Zhou Mubai, it is not difficult to do this, and it is not necessary to trade Chris Paul."

Kupchek interjected: "But you have to admit that Paul is not stronger than Zhou Mubai, and has stronger players. This reason is enough."

Phil Jackson smiled and said, "Are you sure Paul is better than Zhou Mubai?"

Kupchek smiled disdainfully: "Isn't this acknowledged thing?"

Phil Jackson picked up the cigar and took a sip, slowly said: "Can Paul suppress Kidd? Can he get 11 assists in 15 minutes against Kidd and suppress Kidd?"

Kupchek laughed: "You forgot, on January 15, 2009, the Hornets met the Dallas Mavericks. Chris Paul faced the "triple-double king" Kidd, and suppressed Kidd with a quasi-four double performance of 33 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. Kidd only got a pitiful 7 points, 7 assists, 7 rebounds!"

Phil Jackson's face twitched for a moment, and he thought to himself that it was not good, why did he forget this matter!

It was that game that announced the arrival of a new era of point guards.

Phil Jackson secretly scolded himself, why are he so careless? Just as he didn't know how to fight back, Jenny Buss smiled and said, "Chris Paul's annual salary this year is $13.52 million!"

Phil Jackson looked up at Jenny Buss with surprise in his eyes.

Yes, Zhou Mubai is a rookie contract, while Paul’s is a maximum salary contract!

The Lakers' salary this season has reached $91.38 million, while the salary cap for the 2009-10 season is $57.7 million. The luxury tax trigger line is 69.92 million;

Any team with a total salary exceeding this number will have to pay a luxury tax of $1 for every extra $1 spent.

If Paul's $13.52 million is added, the Lakers' luxury tax expenditure this year will be as high as 34.89 million US dollars, and Paul's $13.52 million US dollars, the Lakers will spend an additional $27.04 million!

Old Bass frowned. This is still the expense this year. Paul's salary will rise next year. He will have to sign a new contract the year after that. The increase will be even more terrible.

In other words, by introducing Paul, the cost of the Lakers may increase by 100 million US dollars in three years!

If Phil Jackson said that Zhou Mubai is enough to build another dynasty, it would be true that the Lakers will build another dynasty, then it is necessary to think about whether this $100 million expenditure is worth it.

But Old Bass also felt that Paul's strength was definitely stronger than Zhou Mubai. Although I don't know how much stronger it was, in his opinion, with Paul here, the establishment of the dynasty would definitely be more stable.

So how to choose?

Old Bass also hesitated.

"You guys sit down first, I'll go out and have a walk."

Old Bass stood up hard, Jim Bass wanted to go over and help him, but Old Bass refused.

The few people who stayed in the living room looked at each other in a glance.

Old Bass arrived in the yard, sat on the recliner, remembering his past.

In 1979, he spent $67.5 million to buy the Lakers with his partners. In the past decade, the gorgeous and unrestrained "showtime" and the "Purple Gold Dynasty" that dominated the league were presented one by one.

Old Bass smiled and laughed at himself: "It turns out that he is old, and he has to think about it repeatedly even if he makes a decision."

He took out his cell phone, squinted his eyes to find the contact information. He first found the number marked Elvin and wanted to click on it, but hesitated for a while and then found a contact information named Jerry, and then called out.

"Hey, Jerry!"

"Hey, Jerry!"

It seems to be repeating because the name of the person on the one end of the phone and the other end of the phone is Jerry, the difference is that Jerry's surname is West on the other end.

The logo man, Jerry West, is known as NBA's keen eyes, a management wizard, and a man of the current generation.

"Is there something wrong?" Jerry West asked.

"I have something to do, I want to ask you, do you know Zhou Mubai?" Jerry Bass asked.

"Ha, I know, you may not know. I've seen him. My son wanted to dig him to the Lakers at that time, but he was still hesitating. He asked me to go for an inspection. He was a good guy, right?"

Old Bass smiled and nodded: "It's very good, but Jerry, New Orleans wants to trade Zhou Mubai with Chris Paul, and Mickey and Phil have different opinions, so I'm hesitating, I want to ask your opinion."

The other side of the phone was silent for a long time. When Old Bass thought there was no signal, a voice came from the other end of the phone: "I don't know what to say. If you look at the future, it is a good choice to keep him. If you are close to you, maybe Paul is a good choice."

Old Bass smiled bitterly after hanging up the phone. It was indeed a difficult problem to choose.
Chapter completed!