The All-Star Game finally came to an end amid real, hard-fought basketball in the final possessions. The showdown between LeBron–Curry and the Thunder trio drew massive attention. In the end, it was LeBron and Curry who had the last laugh, winning 148–143, with LeBron James once again taking home the All-Star Game MVP.
The moment the All-Star Game ended, Chen Yilun hurried back to Sacramento without a second's delay. The trade deadline was fast approaching, but as the saying goes, you can't stop the winds of change.
While Chen Yilun was busy preparing the two trades in his hands, people kept coming one after another to interfere with his plans.
"Yilun, I'm begging you here. Do me a favor."
On the other end of the phone, David Griffin spoke in an almost pleading tone.
"The Jazz are refusing to budge on my price. The only way this works is if you come in as a third party."
Hearing Griffin's words, Chen Yilun let out a cold laugh.
In the original timeline, the Cavaliers had indeed completed a three-team trade involving the Jazz and the Kings.
The Cavaliers sent out Derrick Rose, Jae Crowder, Iman Shumpert, and a 2020 second-round pick in exchange for Rodney Hood and George Hill.
The Kings sent George Hill away, receiving Iman Shumpert, Joe Johnson, and a 2020 second-round pick.
The Jazz sent Hood and Joe Johnson, getting back Rose and Crowder.
Originally, this trade suited all three teams.
The Cavaliers gave up their early-season guard rotation in return for Hood and Hill.
Veteran fans might remember these two. Hood entered the league in 2014 and, at his peak with the Jazz, averaged around 16 points per game. His biggest misfortune was that every time he hit a contract year, he suffered a major injury. After spending his entire career in the league, he never landed a true big contract.
As for George Hill, his most glorious résumé came during his Spurs days, when he was once dubbed "Little Parker," before eventually being traded for rookie Kawhi Leonard.
Hill also has a classic moment forever etched in NBA history—Game 1 of the 2018 Finals between the Cavaliers and the Warriors.
Before JR Smith's iconic "dribbling out the clock" moment in the final two seconds, it was George Hill missing two free throws that set the stage for that infamous scene.
You could say that game drew so much fire toward JR Smith that Hill escaped most of the blame—but in reality, the two of them could easily be listed as joint top-tier culprits.
However, Chen Yilun's emergence had completely altered the league's roster landscape. Because of that, the Cavaliers' trade chips simply failed to move the Jazz.
If the Jazz had even the slightest interest, Coach Quin Snyder would have contacted him long ago. How could it possibly come down to Griffin calling him instead?
"David, it's not that I don't want to help you."
Chen Yilun leaned back with both feet propped on his desk, speaking lazily.
"My roster is already in great shape right now. I'm really not looking to make any moves."
What a joke. Whether your Cavaliers can make it out of the East has nothing to do with me over in the West. Besides, with the scraps on your roster, there's honestly nothing I want.
After brushing off the Cavaliers, Chen Yilun thought for a moment and then placed a call to Danny Ainge.
"What's up, Yilun?"
Ainge's warm, friendly tone came through the phone.
"Danny, Cleveland might be about to make a big move. Griffin's already reached out to me."
"Hahaha!"
Hearing that, Ainge burst out laughing.
"Just a dying lion's final struggle."
This year, Danny Ainge could be said to be brimming with ambition.
In the original timeline, the Irving–Hayward pairing had failed spectacularly, but thanks to Chen Yilun's butterfly effect, both players were still healthy. Combined with the rapidly rising twin stars, the Celtics were at the height of their strength.
Because of that, Ainge had no interest whatsoever in the Cavaliers' maneuvering.
"If they want to move, let them move. Do they really think they can beat us?"
"Don't get too confident."
After some thought, Chen Yilun still spoke up. "Push that lion too far, and he's not the type to just sit there waiting to die."
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
Ainge said cheerfully. "But competitive sports are about hard power. With Cleveland's roster, they think they can really challenge us?"
Listening to Ainge's confident words, Chen Yilun smiled faintly.
"As long as you know what you're doing. I'll head out then—I've still got a ton of things to handle."
After exchanging updates, the two hung up. But while Chen Yilun and Danny Ainge were chatting casually, things were far from easy in Cleveland.
"Good grief… this is killing my career."
David Green sat in his office, rubbing his forehead as he muttered to himself.
Although the trade with the Lakers was nearly finalized, simply adding Clarkson and Nance Jr. did very little to meaningfully improve the roster.
If the Cavaliers wanted to strengthen further, the only options left were Love or Young.
Even though Love's form had declined, he was still a former All-Star–level player, and the size of his contract alone nearly eliminated any chance of trading him.
As for Young, Griffin had gone to great lengths to acquire him. Given Young's on-court value and contract, even if James grabbed Griffin by the collar and demanded reinforcements, Griffin still wouldn't trade Young.
After all, no one knows when James might leave. Once he's gone, Young and Love become the Cavaliers' long-term assets. There was no way Griffin would trade them all away just for James.
James' habit of signing 1+1 contracts comes with both pros and cons.
The advantage is that James can clearly track changes in the league's salary cap, and throughout his career, he's rarely lost out financially on contracts.
The downside is that one-year deals make teams feel extremely insecure, preventing them from ever truly treating him as one of their own.
In the past, public opinion could at least rein in this beast. But now there was a championship, and Irving was gone.
The Cavaliers had essentially lost their final bargaining chip to keep James.
So this year, Griffin was dancing in shackles—trying to appease James while also figuring out how to preserve part of the team's future assets.
As a result, the conflict between James and the Cavaliers' front office had reached its peak.
At this moment, James sat alone in his Cleveland home, motionless like a statue.
"Is this really the end?"
After a long while, he finally lifted his head, murmuring to himself with a bitter smile.
"Is it time to leave again?"
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
p@treon com / GhostParser