This was daylight robbery, plain and simple.
With trade assets like that, they might as well go after Yao Ming!
Not that they could pry him away either; given Leslie Alexander's penny-pinching, profit-driven nature, he would clutch that cash cow Yao Ming until the day he died.
Still, even from Yang Shuai's perspective, this seven-for-one package was, if anything, even steeper than what the Celtics were offering.
Marc Gasol was an especially puzzling inclusion. Logically speaking, if the Timberwolves were already getting Andrew Bynum, what on earth did they want Gasol for?
Even without a transmigrator's omniscience, a twenty-two-year-old rookie having a strong Summer League run was hardly remarkable enough to turn heads.
Not to mention Minnesota had frontcourt prospects of their own to groom—such as Craig Smith, drafted just last year, who had put up 21.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in this year's Summer League, far outshining Gasol on the stat sheet.
"If we pull the trigger on a deal like that, what do we have left? McHale is screwing with us on purpose!" Kupchak's fury showed no sign of waning.
Yang Shuai suspected the man had summoned him back to Los Angeles simply to have someone to vent to.
Even so, he could somewhat understand Minnesota's angle. Shipping Kevin Garnett to a Western Conference rival meant beefing up direct competition—let alone handing him to the Lakers, whose previous era of dominance had ended a mere three years ago.
Noticing Yang Shuai hadn't uttered a word, Kupchak frowned. "Speak your mind."
"As long as they didn't flat-out slam the door, there's room to negotiate," Yang Shuai replied unhurriedly.
Kupchak nearly scoffed in frustration. "Did you hear a word I just said? If we make that trade, all we'll have left is Kobe and Garnett!"
Kupchak was exaggerating slightly, but not by much. Kobe and Garnett's massive contracts would choke their salary cap to death. Aside from the few players already locked into existing deals, the Lakers would have virtually no room to reinforce the roster.
Put more bluntly, the Lakers' probable starting five for the upcoming season would look like: Jordan Farmar, Kobe Bryant, Luke Walton, Kevin Garnett, and Kwame Brown.
Basketball wasn't a one-man game, nor was it a two-man game. Winning a championship with that supporting cast was practically out of the question.
Yang Shuai nodded. The Timberwolves—or rather, their general manager, Kevin McHale—were only willing to discuss a Garnett trade with Los Angeles because they had factored this exact limitation into their calculations.
Then he posed a question. "Is our directive from upstairs that we must trade for Garnett no matter what?"
The moment the words left his mouth, the fuming Kupchak deflated like a punctured balloon and slumped deep into his chair.
What Dr. Buss demanded of him now was to acquire Garnett at any cost—that was the root of his despair.
Dr. Buss and Kobe had patched things up, but all the resulting pressure had been dumped squarely onto his shoulders!
Fans would never know what happened behind closed doors, but they would always remember who traded the farm to bring Garnett to Los Angeles.
Just as fans remembered him as the architect of the failed "Fab Four" and the man who shipped Shaquille O'Neal off to the Heat [1].
Reading Kupchak's reaction, Yang Shuai knew their hands were tied.
"I believe what matters most to a team is its core stars," Yang Shuai said. "Role players look brilliant because the core players are exceptional. Look at the Bulls during their first three-peat: outside of Jordan and Pippen, nobody was irreplaceable. Away from Chicago, they wouldn't have looked nearly as good."
"You think the scraps we have left will suddenly turn into studs just because Garnett arrives?" Kupchak sounded deeply skeptical.
"They will, but that won't be enough to win a title. Subsequent trades and roster upgrades are absolute musts—and that's where we'll be put to the test." In the end, Kobe's current path was what Yang Shuai had secretly hoped for, as it offered the greatest canvas to exploit his foreknowledge as a transmigrator.
Kupchak fell silent.
Just as Yang Shuai had guessed, calling him in was mostly about letting off steam.
Although Kupchak had no clue what Yang Shuai had done in China, Kobe's attitude had pulled a complete 180 upon his return. And it was immediately after Kobe sat down with Dr. Buss that Kupchak was handed the mandate to trade for Garnett. Yang Shuai was unquestionably behind it all.
Yet whatever the cause, now that Dr. Buss had issued the decree, Kupchak had no choice but to do everything in his power to pull it off, just like every other time—otherwise, someone else would be sitting in the general manager's chair.
"Do you have a more concrete plan?" Kupchak finally broke the silence after a long pause.
"Nothing sweeping yet, but our immediate priority is to keep Marc Gasol out of the deal. He proved during Summer League that he's a natural fit for the triangle offense, and as a mature rookie, he's ready to contribute right away." Yang Shuai even believed Gasol had an honest shot at earning the starting center role in his rookie season.
"What else?"
"We need to bring in a legitimate starting point guard." If Kobe had to run the backcourt alongside Smush Parker for another season, he would lose his mind.
Kupchak nodded, keeping his eyes fixed on Yang Shuai.
"We also need wing depth—ideally a 3-and-D player. If that's unavailable, prioritize a defensive stopper." Without a third primary ball-handler, Kobe would have to pour even more energy into scoring, making a perimeter lockdown defender essential to absorb the toughest defensive assignments.
Hearing the breakdown, Kupchak let out a dry smirk. "Sounds like you've had this mapped out for a while."
Yang Shuai was momentarily caught off guard. Kupchak might be mediocre at team-building, but he had quite a knack for office politics.
Collecting himself, he responded without flattery or defiance, "I've been thinking about this ever since my interview."
Kupchak didn't press further, turning instead to delegating upcoming tasks.
Yang Shuai wasn't needed for the Garnett negotiations; the final terms would ultimately be hammered out by Dr. Buss.
That meant Yang Shuai could focus entirely on the supplemental moves he had proposed: unearthing a competent starting point guard and securing a wing defender.
With his objectives clear, Yang Shuai wasted no time springing into action. His first target was Trevor Ariza.
To Yang Shuai, this was a no-brainer. In the original timeline, Ariza had served as the Lakers' starting small forward during a championship run.
Yet after a few conversations with the Orlando Magic, Yang Shuai decided to table the idea for the moment.
Orlando's asking price was simply too steep: Maurice Evans plus a first-round pick.
With the Garnett blockbuster looming, no first-round pick could be committed elsewhere.
Besides, the asking price wasn't entirely unreasonable. Ariza had appeared in 57 games for the Magic last season, averaging 8.9 points and 4.4 rebounds while shooting 53.9 percent from the floor—career-best numbers. On top of that, his contract was a bargain, paying him just 3.1 million dollars a year over the next two seasons.
Naturally, tabling the trade didn't mean walking away; it meant biding his time.
The Magic had just signed Rashard Lewis to a nine-figure deal, and with Hedo Turkoglu already on the roster, Ariza's minutes were bound to dry up in the coming season. Furthermore, new head coach Stan Van Gundy ran a system that demanded consistent perimeter shooting from role players—a skill current-day Ariza simply didn't possess.
Yang Shuai didn't sit idly by, either. He promptly reached out to Cole, and before Summer League officially concluded, they signed Jamario Moon to a two-year deal slightly above the league minimum, featuring a team option for the second year.
Just like that, the Lakers secured a dependable defensive asset at small forward.
As for any positional overlap if they eventually acquired Ariza, Yang Shuai wasn't concerned in the least. First, Moon's contract was minuscule; second, healthy competition pushed players to perform; and third, if Moon played well, he would turn into a valuable trade chip for future upgrades. Either way, the signing carried zero downside.
Beyond Moon, Yang Shuai also locked down Von Wafer on a minimum contract following his standout Summer League campaign.
With the wings reinforced, Yang Shuai turned his attention straight to the point guard spot.
The Lakers' starter for the past two seasons—the infamous Smush Parker, dubbed "The Grim Reaper"—had seen his contract expire, leaving Jordan Farmar as the presumptive starter.
Regarding the position, particularly after observing Summer League up close, Yang Shuai held a crystal-clear understanding of what the triangle offense required from a point guard: knock down three-pointers, manage the ball safely, and ideally hold his own on defense.
Once on the varsity squad, Kobe would dominate offensive possessions, rendering a traditional pure point guard a poor fit.
Farmar checked the first two boxes, but his defense was atrocious: weak physical resistance on the ball and sluggish help instincts. Opponents routinely picked on him even in Summer League. His ceiling was strictly that of a sixth man.
Starting Farmar was out of the question; it would only compound the defensive burden on Kobe and Garnett.
Taking all those traits into account, the ideal candidate was already front and center in Yang Shuai's mind: Delonte West.
West was even a combo guard capable of moonlighting as Kobe's backup when necessary.
Unfortunately, because the timeline had already shifted, West remained on the Celtics' roster, and Yang Shuai was flatly rebuffed when he called Danny Ainge.
Ainge not only demanded the Lakers' first-round pick, but also insisted on Marc Gasol. The man truly lived up to his "Old Fox" moniker.
Come to think of it, the first-round pick Boston had used to draft Rajon Rondo was one the Lakers had sent over in the 2004 Gary Payton trade—one of only three trades between the two storied franchises in NBA history.
Two consecutive trade rejections drove home just how brutal NBA negotiations were in reality; it was a far cry from clicking buttons in NBA 2K.
Shut out on West, Yang Shuai shifted his sights to the free-agent market. His original target was Steve Blake: a six-foot-three floor general with steady three-point shooting and polished playmaking. While his defense was weaker than West's, he had played for the Lakers in the original timeline.
The Lakers held a five-million-dollar trade exception this season, and Blake's current market value hovered around four million per year.
Yet just as Yang Shuai was preparing to reach out and open talks with Blake, the sudden appearance of another free agent abruptly settled the suspense surrounding the Lakers' starting point guard.
***
[1] Kupchak became the Lakers' assistant general manager in 1986 and took on general manager responsibilities, but lacked full executive authority until Jerry West resigned in 2000, when he officially took charge.
Chapter 47