I Know Everything - Chapter 613
Chapter 613: Ten Years Six Hundreds Millions USD!
“Still no news?” Paul Allen sat on the sunny beach as he asked his General Manager.
Orsi was the general manager of the Trail Blazers.
Since he had been poached away from the Clippers four years ago and had made commendable decisions in drafting.
He was in a very frustrating situation.
He had a bitter smile as he was being questioned by his boss, “No. I sent him a message as soon as the game ended yesterday and also called him this morning but he still didn’t make a decision.”
Paul Allen frowned, “Is it because of the money?”
“It shouldn’t be…” Orsi said hesitantly, “The five year 250 million dollars contract is already the highest in history and no one can match it! Only us value him that much even if he’s a 17 years old NBA champion!”
Before the Western Conference Finals, many smart GMS already offered Chen Huan huge offers.
Everyone knew at the time that the Lakers invested a lot of money and offered Chen Huan 200 million dollars for five years.
So the offers weren’t any worse than that.
Now, Chen Huan reached the finals and won it by being a major contributor so every team wanted him.
Especially the Trail Blazers who played against him.
The core of the Blazers’ team were very young with the two pillars Damian Lillard at 25 years old and CJ McCollum at 24 years old.
Both of them were conquered by Chen Huan.
It wasn’t a problem even if he broke Plumlee’s ribs and choked Davis.
Only skills were eternal in the NBA.
It wouldn’t be a problem even if they had to cut those two players in order to get Chen Huan.
If they got Chen Huan with Lillard and McCollum willing to assist him, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that no team would be able to compete against them for the championship for the next 10 years.
That was why Paul Allen was willing to sign Chen Huan for a high price.
Seeing Orsi’s expression, Paul Allen thought for a while before he said, “Since he didn’t respond to our offers, it means our offer doesn’t interest him and your guess is wrong.”
“So just raise the offer again, I’m willing to pay the luxury tax for him. Ask him if he wants to sign a ten year 600 million dollars contract.”
Orsi, “…”
“Boss, this quote is going to scare people!” Orsi had a bitter smile, “What about the rest of our players if you give him such a high salary? This will affect the balance!”
“I don’t care how much I have to pay as long as we get someone at Chen Huan’s level.” Paul Allen said, “How can they ask for the same treatment as Chen Huan when they aren’t as good as Chen Huan? Go give the offer to Chen Huan, I want him to play in Portland!”
“Alright.”
Orsi chose to submit against one of the ten richest men in the world.
Paul Allen shook his head as he looked at his back.
If Chen Huan signed the contract, it would create more hype than when Yao was there so the Chinese Market alone would make them a lot of money and not make a loss!
…
In Los Angeles, someone who had a deep connection to Paul Allen was also negotiating with Chen Huan.
He was Steve Ballmer, the owner of the Clippers and former Microsoft CEO.
Ballmer’s wealth was calculated to be 30 billion USD and while it wasn’t as much as Paul Allen who had an estimated wealth of 40 billion USD, he was still in the top 15 richest people in the US.
He spent 2 billion to buy the Clippers two years ago and had been watching every Clippers game since then. He was a basketball fan through and through.
He was determined to win over Chen Huan.
The GM of the Clippers, Dave Wall, offered 370 million dollars for seven years and Chen Huan could decide on how to rebuild the team and choose the players he wanted to play with as well as who to trade away.
This included their current top guy, Chris Paul, Chen Huan could move him away if he disliked him.
This was the greatest authority given, more than the head coach Rivers and the GM Wall.
However, Dave Wall stuck to his phone the whole day but didn’t receive a call from Chen Huan.
He felt uneasy so reported to his boss.
Ballmer was shocked, “Is the offer not good enough? This is 50 million per year!”
“I don’t know but the Lakers had never been afraid of others in terms of offers.” Dave Wall said, “If everyone offered the same thing and that Kobe and Iverson are on the team, we won’t be able to compete against the Lakers!”
“Got it.” Ballmer turned solemn and said, “Give him another offer, ten years 600 million dollars and maintain the other promises too.”
“What?!”
Dave Wall thought he heard it wrong.
It wasn’t only until he saw Ballmer nod in confirmation that he said, “Boss, you’ll pay a lot of luxury tax!”
The NBA broadcast rights had skyrocketed starting from next year so the salary caps of the team had risen a lot, allowing each team to sign two superstar contracts with 35 million dollars and as long as they were willing to pay 35 million luxury tax, they would be able to form the Big Three from the Heat!
But even with the salary cap rising, they wouldn’t just pay 60 million per year for Chen Huan!
Add in Chris Paul and another superstar that may come, the overall salary may reach 150 million!
How much luxury tax was he going to pay in that case??!
But Ballmer laughed, “It doesn’t matter how much we need to pay to get him when a superstar who can change the landscape of the NBA by himself appears! We will only be able to sigh in regret if we miss out and watch him bring an opposite team trophies! Can we afford to miss it?”
Dave Wall could only obey his boss after his insistence.
His boss was very rich anyway and 60 million USD was nothing to him.
As his boss said, the Clippers would definitely stand at the top of the NBA for the next ten years if they got Chen Huan!
It would be possible for them to win five or six championships!
In that case, it would be a huge benefit for the team itself!