Chapter 343: Progressive Pay.
The excitement of Byron dominating the NBA didn’t last for more than 10 minutes.
Because Kobe told him after the training that Chen Huan wasn’t willing to play basketball all the time and at most would play in the playoffs when the team qualified for it.
“What?!
Byron’s brain couldn’t process it, “Doesn’t he know how much the NBA can bring him? Fame, money, girls… with his skills, I can guarantee that he can get them all!”
“You probably don’t know but he’s a great mathematician.” Kobe said to him.
“Great mathematician? Him?” Byron gave Kobe a glance that meant “We’re all from the same breed, don’t think I’m stupid.
“Don’t look down on Chen Huan’s young age but he is usually in contact with professors from famous universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Stanford. This was something the world knew.” Kobe said, “The famous ‘Journal of American Mathematical Society’ published his papers, he is a real mathematical genius!”
Alright.
Byron was shocked.
Black bros were mostly bottom of their classes.
For a seventeen years old to be a genius mathematician, it wasn’t something he could imagine.
“But he…”
“Alright, let’s not talk about it for now.” Kobe shook his head, “We can take it slow. Let him play in the playoffs first, maybe he’ll start liking it when he starts playing? Then at that time won’t it have a higher chance of success?”
Byron heard those words like divine enlightenment.
He immediately understood what Kobe meant.
Then he nodded heavily.
Kupchak nearby also listened to them and his eyes looked at Chen Huan with desire.
“So what kind of contract are we going to give him?” Kupchak asked, “One year contract? Three year contract? Kobe, what do you think is suitable?”
Although Kupchak had been accused by people of bringing shame to the NBA general manager job, he actually had real ability.
Back then with Gasol, wasn’t it him who brought on the championship winning lineup that allowed Kobe to win two rings again and surpass the four rings from the fucking super fatty he hated?
Seeing Chen Huan’s skills, all his doubts went away.
Such a player, as long as he could show the same level in an official game, would be the top level genius.
He also saw something that Kobe and Byron didn’t.
Chen Huan was Chinese!
Just think about all the benefits and attention Big Yao brought to the Rockets back then!
This was a golden and a silver mine!
He originally wanted to give Chen Huan a short-term contract first but now he wanted to give a full year contract.
“Short-term contract wouldn’t be suitable for Chen Huan and definitely not good for playoffs.” Kobe pondered for a while before he said, “Chen Huan, what kind of contract you want?”
“It doesn’t matter as long as I can play the playoff all the way to the end.” Chen Huan said.
Play the playoff all the way to the end!?
Byron grinned.
Those were very good ambitions.
“A one year contract then. We’re about to start the pre-season anyway, after signing the papers and you will be able to represent the Lakers.” Kobe said.
“Alright!”
Byron and Kupchak both agreed.
“Do you have any requirements concerning the salary?” Kobe was a straightforward guy so he directly talked about money, “The Lakers should still have some cap space…”
“There’s still two million dollars!” Kupchak said, “If Mr. Chen Huan is willing, we can sign for 2 million, is that alright?”
After careful thoughts, Kupchak decided to not take the risk.
He would let Chen Huan play a year first, otherwise if Chen Huan didn’t work out on the court or got seriously injured, wouldn’t he be tying his own hands?
At first glance, 2 million didn’t seem much and it wasn’t guaranteed like the MLE was.
But for a player like Chen Huan who hadn’t been drafted or any other professional basketball experiences, 2 million was definitely a big sum.
Kupchak hadn’t told Chen Huan that the Lakers had to release a player if he signed.
But this wasn’t something Chen Huan needed to know and the Lakers would handle it. This was the cruelty of professional games.
“I won’t be playing many games in total.” Chen Huan shook his head as it wouldn’t be good to take too much as a temporary player, “Let’s do this, in the playoffs, if I score more than 30 points in a game, I’ll be given 100k dollars and so on. If I can’t get it, you’ll just give me a 500k contract and it’ll be enough.”
“That’s a nice idea!” Iverson just came over and said with a grin, “If you can score 30 points multiple times…you’ll also get 2 million if you do it in 20 games!”
Kupchak felt that Chen Huan was a fool.
There was 2 million for him but he didn’t want to but he wanted a performance related bonus.
So Kobe expressed his disapproval on the spot, “You’ll take too much of a loss like this and the playoffs are very hard. Let’s do this, you’ll get a one million dollars contract and get 200k for each 20 points game, 300k for each 30 points and 400k for 40 points game… Mike, do you think this type of bonus is okay?”
Kupchak thought about it.
Chen Huan would only get 1 million if he didn’t score above 20 points and it would be only 2 million if he scored 2 million 10 times.
If Chen Huan got even more under those circumstances, it also meant that the Lakers had a greater chance of winning.
The boss would be eager to fork out the money even if Chen Huan got the bonus of 400k!
He would not hesitate more luxury taxes even if he had to.
Because it meant Chen Huan could score 40 points every single game!
If someone else than Kobe could drop 40 points in the playoffs, who couldn’t the Lakers take down?
Thinking of this point, he didn’t hesitate and said, “It shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll call the boss later and I think he won’t refuse it.”
Buss Junior wasn’t a fool and wouldn’t refuse it.
In addition to their faith in Kobe, him and Byron had inspected the goods and they wouldn’t lose out on a contract like that.
Even if Chen Huan wasn’t willing to play in the regular season, as long as he showed his strength in the playoffs, it would be a great help to the Lakers.
This long period of bad performance didn’t only put a huge pressure on Byron but also on Kupchak and Buss Junior.
They must not forget that Miss Jenny Buss was also eyeing for the control of the Lakers!
Chapter 343: Progressive Pay.
The excitement of Byron dominating the NBA didn’t last for more than 10 minutes.
Because Kobe told him after the training that Chen Huan wasn’t willing to play basketball all the time and at most would play in the playoffs when the team qualified for it.
“What?!
Byron’s brain couldn’t process it, “Doesn’t he know how much the NBA can bring him? Fame, money, girls… with his skills, I can guarantee that he can get them all!”
“You probably don’t know but he’s a great mathematician.” Kobe said to him.
“Great mathematician? Him?” Byron gave Kobe a glance that meant “We’re all from the same breed, don’t think I’m stupid.
“Don’t look down on Chen Huan’s young age but he is usually in contact with professors from famous universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard and Stanford. This was something the world knew.” Kobe said, “The famous ‘Journal of American Mathematical Society’ published his papers, he is a real mathematical genius!”
Alright.
Byron was shocked.
Black bros were mostly bottom of their classes.
For a seventeen years old to be a genius mathematician, it wasn’t something he could imagine.
“But he…”
“Alright, let’s not talk about it for now.” Kobe shook his head, “We can take it slow. Let him play in the playoffs first, maybe he’ll start liking it when he starts playing? Then at that time won’t it have a higher chance of success?”
Byron heard those words like divine enlightenment.
He immediately understood what Kobe meant.
Then he nodded heavily.
Kupchak nearby also listened to them and his eyes looked at Chen Huan with desire.
“So what kind of contract are we going to give him?” Kupchak asked, “One year contract? Three year contract? Kobe, what do you think is suitable?”
Although Kupchak had been accused by people of bringing shame to the NBA general manager job, he actually had real ability.
Back then with Gasol, wasn’t it him who brought on the championship winning lineup that allowed Kobe to win two rings again and surpass the four rings from the fucking super fatty he hated?
Seeing Chen Huan’s skills, all his doubts went away.
Such a player, as long as he could show the same level in an official game, would be the top level genius.
He also saw something that Kobe and Byron didn’t.
Chen Huan was Chinese!
Just think about all the benefits and attention Big Yao brought to the Rockets back then!
This was a golden and a silver mine!
He originally wanted to give Chen Huan a short-term contract first but now he wanted to give a full year contract.
“Short-term contract wouldn’t be suitable for Chen Huan and definitely not good for playoffs.” Kobe pondered for a while before he said, “Chen Huan, what kind of contract you want?”
“It doesn’t matter as long as I can play the playoff all the way to the end.” Chen Huan said.
Play the playoff all the way to the end!?
Byron grinned.
Those were very good ambitions.
“A one year contract then. We’re about to start the pre-season anyway, after signing the papers and you will be able to represent the Lakers.” Kobe said.
“Alright!”
Byron and Kupchak both agreed.
“Do you have any requirements concerning the salary?” Kobe was a straightforward guy so he directly talked about money, “The Lakers should still have some cap space…”
“There’s still two million dollars!” Kupchak said, “If Mr. Chen Huan is willing, we can sign for 2 million, is that alright?”
After careful thoughts, Kupchak decided to not take the risk.
He would let Chen Huan play a year first, otherwise if Chen Huan didn’t work out on the court or got seriously injured, wouldn’t he be tying his own hands?
At first glance, 2 million didn’t seem much and it wasn’t guaranteed like the MLE was.
But for a player like Chen Huan who hadn’t been drafted or any other professional basketball experiences, 2 million was definitely a big sum.
Kupchak hadn’t told Chen Huan that the Lakers had to release a player if he signed.
But this wasn’t something Chen Huan needed to know and the Lakers would handle it. This was the cruelty of professional games.
“I won’t be playing many games in total.” Chen Huan shook his head as it wouldn’t be good to take too much as a temporary player, “Let’s do this, in the playoffs, if I score more than 30 points in a game, I’ll be given 100k dollars and so on. If I can’t get it, you’ll just give me a 500k contract and it’ll be enough.”
“That’s a nice idea!” Iverson just came over and said with a grin, “If you can score 30 points multiple times…you’ll also get 2 million if you do it in 20 games!”
Kupchak felt that Chen Huan was a fool.
There was 2 million for him but he didn’t want to but he wanted a performance related bonus.
So Kobe expressed his disapproval on the spot, “You’ll take too much of a loss like this and the playoffs are very hard. Let’s do this, you’ll get a one million dollars contract and get 200k for each 20 points game, 300k for each 30 points and 400k for 40 points game… Mike, do you think this type of bonus is okay?”
Kupchak thought about it.
Chen Huan would only get 1 million if he didn’t score above 20 points and it would be only 2 million if he scored 2 million 10 times.
If Chen Huan got even more under those circumstances, it also meant that the Lakers had a greater chance of winning.
The boss would be eager to fork out the money even if Chen Huan got the bonus of 400k!
He would not hesitate more luxury taxes even if he had to.
Because it meant Chen Huan could score 40 points every single game!
If someone else than Kobe could drop 40 points in the playoffs, who couldn’t the Lakers take down?
Thinking of this point, he didn’t hesitate and said, “It shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll call the boss later and I think he won’t refuse it.”
Buss Junior wasn’t a fool and wouldn’t refuse it.
In addition to their faith in Kobe, him and Byron had inspected the goods and they wouldn’t lose out on a contract like that.
Even if Chen Huan wasn’t willing to play in the regular season, as long as he showed his strength in the playoffs, it would be a great help to the Lakers.
This long period of bad performance didn’t only put a huge pressure on Byron but also on Kupchak and Buss Junior.
They must not forget that Miss Jenny Buss was also eyeing for the control of the Lakers!
