They headed up to the second floor and stopped before a room, where Dell Curry knocked on the door.
A moment later, the door swung open. A glamorous woman walked out with a smile, dabbing the corner of her mouth. She cast a glance in their direction before taking her leave.
Stepping inside, they were greeted by a smiling seven-footer with dark brown eyes and distinct Irish features.
Anyone could tell at a glance that he was a retired basketball player. This was Cleveland Cavaliers legend and current general manager Danny Ferry.
Ferry wrapped Dell Curry in a warm bear hug, making it obvious the two enjoyed a great personal relationship.
After exchanging pleasantries, Dell Curry stood to leave. Before heading out, he patted Yang Shuai on the shoulder and whispered, "Don't be nervous. Just speak your mind." Then he pulled the door shut behind him.
A lingering scent of hormones still hung in the air. Yang Shuai cleared his throat, pondering how to break the ice, but Ferry had already poured him a glass of red wine. "Dell's told me plenty about you. I'm very intrigued."
"Thank you, Mr. Ferry. I'm glad to have this opportunity." Yang Shuai rose to accept the glass. He knew this wasn't like the casual banter with Jerry West earlier—this was a genuine interview.
"What are your thoughts on this year's draft prospects?" Ferry sat back down, swirled the wine in his glass, and asked a question remarkably similar to West's.
"Although the season isn't over yet, top prospects like Greg Oden, Kevin Durant, Al Horford, and Joakim Noah are almost certainly declaring for the draft. This is going to be one of the rare loaded draft classes in recent years." Knowing full well this was an interview, Yang Shuai answered in a much more formal tone than before.
Ferry nodded with satisfaction.
At this time, the concept of the 'one-and-done' hadn't officially taken hold, yet the trend of NAA players eager to leave campus early and earn their paychecks in the NBA was already undeniable.
Furthermore, during this era, the key to distinguishing a deep draft class from a shallow one was whether it featured elite frontcourt talent.
Yang Shuai's answer seemed routine on the surface, but it had already touched on all those points, showing clearly that he had studied the draft.
"Which prospect do you think could help the Cavaliers?" Ferry took a sip from his glass and followed up.
"Jared Dudley, Wilson Chandler, and Danny Green—assuming Green declares this year," Yang Shuai offered several options, highlighting their common denominator. "They can all hit three-pointers, and they can all defend."
What the Cavaliers needed was what LeBron needed. Raw upside was secondary because young players wouldn't get the on-ball touches to develop anyway, but a team could never go wrong stocking up on 3-and-D players.
Ferry looked at Yang Shuai with even greater approval.
Over the past few years, the Cavaliers had repeatedly tried to trade for premier 3-and-D players without success. Their current roster members Aleksandar Pavlović and Daniel Gibson were both this archetype.
"What do you think of the Cavaliers' prospects this season?" Ferry raised his glass, gesturing for Yang Shuai to drink along.
Yang Shuai raised his glass to toast Ferry from across the room, took a measured sip, set it down slowly, and then offered his answer: "The Cavaliers will reach the Finals, but winning the championship will be very difficult."
As a transmigrator, he was intimately familiar with the Cavaliers' trajectory this season.
LeBron would lead his team to the Finals for the first time this year. Because he would advance by defeating the Detroit Pistons—just like Jordan had done—the media couldn't wait to draw comparisons between him and Michael Jordan. And since LeBron accomplished it in just his fourth year in the league, some outlets even predicted he would eventually surpass Jordan.
Yet once they actually reached the Finals, LeBron and his Cavaliers would suffer a brutal sweep at the hands of the Spurs, handing Tim Duncan yet another clean-sweep milestone in his storied career.
During the Finals, LeBron averaged 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1 steal, and 5.8 turnovers, shooting 35.6 percent from the field and 20 percent from beyond the arc. That kind of stat line wasn't just poor compared to Jordan; even stacked against most Finals primary options, it was downright ugly.
"And your reasoning?" Ferry pressed.
"A weak East, a strong West," Yang Shuai said, leaning forward.
This season, the Celtics' Big Three had yet to form, and Dwight Howard and the Magic had not yet matured. The Eastern Conference's fundamental landscape was a three-way battle among the Cavaliers, Heat, and Pistons. Trailing behind them were distinctly second-tier teams, such as Chris Bosh's Raptors and the pre-Derrick Rose Bulls.
"Between injuries and age, the Heat have effectively fallen out of title contention. The Cavaliers' only real rival is the Pistons."
Yang Shuai's analysis combined the clairvoyance of a transmigrator with the statistics etched into his memory from his past life. By the end of this season, the Pistons and Cavaliers would be the only two teams in the East to win fifty or more games.
"As for the Pistons, they've been formidable ever since assembling their 'Going Five,' but last summer they couldn't afford to keep Ben Wallace. Their interior strength suffered a steep decline. Against Cleveland, they won't be able to contain LeBron's slashing. What was once a stylistic advantage over the Cavaliers has flipped into a matchup disadvantage. That makes the Cavaliers the most likely team to break out of the East."
Having broken down the weak East, Yang Shuai moved immediately to the strong West. "The Mavericks and Suns are both on track to break their franchise records for regular-season wins, while the Spurs and Rockets aren't just powerhouse teams—their playstyles are terrible matchups for the Cavaliers."
This year, the Western Conference saw the Mavericks win 67 games, the Suns 61, the Spurs 58, the Rockets 52, and the Jazz 51. The top five teams in the West all had better records than Cleveland—and that was without factoring in the overall disparity between conferences, where playing in the East made piling up wins far easier.
Ferry was spellbound, his wine glass frozen mid-air as if he had been turned to stone.
Only after a moment did he set down his glass. "So you believe adding 3-and-D players is the Cavaliers' only chance at winning a title?"
Yang Shuai shook his head. "3-and-D players raise the Cavaliers' ceiling, but if you want to win a championship, the Cavaliers also need to trade for an All-Star shooting guard."
"Such as?"
"Ray Allen of the SuperSonics, or Michael Redd of the Bucks. Acquiring them won't be easy, but their teams are struggling and likely looking to rebuild through trades. The Cavaliers aren't without a chance." If it were possible, Kobe Bryant or Gilbert Arenas would be even better choices, but the Cavaliers had virtually no path to acquiring either right now.
"You're suggesting the Cavaliers should overhaul the roster?" Ferry frowned, fully aware of what kind of assets it would cost to land either of those two.
Yang Shuai nodded without the slightest hesitation. History had proven time and again that for LeBron's teams to win a championship, elite 3-and-D wings and a premier second scoring option were both absolute necessities.
Of course, that history had yet to unfold, so Yang Shuai offered a reason Ferry could actually digest right now: "The playoffs are all about targeted game plans. If opponents double-team LeBron, wear him down, and force the ball out of his hands, can Larry Hughes step up and take over the game?"
Ferry fell silent. The answer to that question was self-evident.
In the season before coming to Cleveland, Hughes had enjoyed the finest campaign of his career with the Washington Wizards, putting up 22 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 2.9 steals per game.
Yet his flaws were exposed the moment he joined the Cavaliers. His defense was certainly stellar, but his offensive game was undeniably mediocre. While he managed around 15 points per game as the team's top perimeter scoring option, he had shot just 40 percent from the field for two straight seasons.
And those were merely his regular-season numbers; in last year's playoffs, Hughes had averaged 11 points while shooting an abysmal 31.9 percent.
"The Cavaliers rose on the back of defense, but among the Western contenders likely to make the Finals, aside from the Mavericks, none of them play worse defense than Cleveland. If the Cavaliers want to beat them, they have to improve their offense—whether by acquiring 3-and-D pieces or trading for an All-Star scorer." Yang Shuai concluded his breakdown.
Listening to Yang Shuai's analysis, Ferry sank deep into thought before suddenly chuckling, as if an epiphany had just struck him.
It wasn't because he agreed with everything Yang Shuai had said, but because he had already gotten the answer he came here for.
His presence here wasn't merely due to Dell Curry's invitation. After all, if the goal had simply been evaluating a prospective scout, he could have sent his director of scouting rather than traveling thousands of miles in person.
In reality, ever since Charles Barkley's segment on *NBA Insider*, the name Yang Shuai had firmly landed on NBA front-office radars with considerable buzz.
This brought to light an inherent limitation in professional sports: its insular insider culture.
Those working in sports management and related roles were mostly retired players from within the circle, primarily because the industry ran on vital connections and relationships.
Yet it was precisely this insider culture that severely lowered the standard of front-office management, particularly in a predominantly Black league like the NBA.
Many of these players had grown up in street culture and hadn't finished college; how much administrative acumen could one realistically expect from them?
This was why fans often witnessed NBA front offices pull off bewildering, unprofessional moves that defied comprehension and led people to sigh that reality didn't care about logic.
So when a college student could uncover overlooked talent, successfully recruit them to a team, and even direct them from the sideline to win games, his résumé was stacked with every desirable buff imaginable.
The only question was whether someone like this had merely stumbled into dumb luck or possessed genuine ability.
Looking at it now, the answer was clearly the latter.
Chapter 32