In the summer of 2004, the "Lakers F4" was dismantled. Derek Fisher had left Los Angeles that same summer, signing a lucrative six-year, $37 million contract with the Golden State Warriors.
After posting career-best numbers with Golden State, he had moved to the Utah Jazz the previous season, starting at point guard and helping guide them to the Western Conference Finals.
However, Fisher's young daughter had recently been diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare form of cancer. To allow him to seek the best possible medical care for her, the Jazz agreed to release him from his contract.
It wasn't a standard buyout, but an extraordinary waiver: Fisher forfeited the entire remaining balance of his deal—three years and twenty-one million dollars—to become an unrestricted free agent.
His sole purpose in doing so was to join a team in a major metropolitan market equipped with top-tier medical facilities, allowing him to balance basketball with caring for his daughter.
That left him with only two realistic destinations: New York or Los Angeles.
The Knicks were deep in a rebuild and had little interest in a thirty-three-year-old veteran, leaving Los Angeles as Fisher's only real choice.
From a pure skill standpoint, Yang Shuai didn't believe Fisher was necessarily better than Steve Blake. Blake was noticeably superior on defense, not to mention he was only twenty-four.
In terms of roster fit, however, Fisher was on another level entirely.
For one, Fisher had previously served as the starting point guard during the Lakers' championship era. He would transition seamlessly back into the triangle offense. Blake, on the other hand, though he had also played for the Lakers in the original timeline, had done so after the team abandoned the triangle; whether he could adapt remained an unknown.
If they truly traded for Garnett, the Lakers' championship window wouldn't be very long. Kobe and Garnett's ages were a factor, and more importantly, if they failed to capture a title within the next three years, the experiment would likely go down as a failure. Skipping a lengthy adjustment period was therefore ideal.
Second, Fisher possessed ice-cold clutch shooting. Much like Robert Horry, he might not put up gaudy scoring numbers, but he reliably capitalized on the open looks created when defenses double-teamed Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal—or Garnett. In the playoffs, that trait was invaluable.
Third, there was team chemistry. Fisher shared a close bond with Kobe. Kobe's demanding standards often strained his relationships with teammates, but Fisher was one of the few who got along with him smoothly.
Yang Shuai reached out to Fisher, and the two sides quickly agreed in principle on a three-year, $14 million contract.
When Yang Shuai presented the agreement to Kupchak, the general manager raised no objections; if anything, he knew Fisher far better than Yang Shuai did.
He asked only one question: "Can Derek still play?"
Although veteran point guards often enjoyed a reputation for growing craftier with age, Fisher was already thirty-three, meaning he would turn thirty-six by the end of the deal.
Moreover, while Fisher had helped the Jazz reach the Western Conference Finals, his overall production last season had hardly been stellar: he had averaged just 10 points and 3.3 assists, shooting a lackluster 38.3% from the field and 30.3% from beyond the arc.
That had also been a major reason the Jazz had consented to let him walk. Relative to his salary of over six million dollars, that level of production had bordered on being an overpaid liability.
"He can," Yang Shuai replied simply and firmly.
As Fisher aged, there would certainly be those infamous moments where lightning-quick guards blew right past him, but he still possessed solid strength and seasoned defensive instincts. He was nowhere near being relentlessly targeted on defense the way James Harden would be later on.
More importantly, with Garnett anchoring the paint, the Lakers' interior defense would be an entire tier above what it would have been with Gasol, effectively masking that vulnerability.
"Get it done, then." Kupchak seemed to have little patience to spare on these "minor matters."
Evidently, negotiations for Garnett weren't going smoothly.
After two rounds of trade talks, Yang Shuai had mentally braced himself for the possibility that Garnett might not arrive. In truth, even if the Lakers failed to land Garnett, these two signings would still hold great value; they would merely need to shore up the frontcourt later to reduce Bynum's injury risks. And the good news was that in the original timeline, rumors of Garnett heading to Boston to form the Big Three—signaling the league's "season finale"—would have blanketed the news by this point. The complete absence of such reports proved the Lakers were still very much in the race.
Time flew, and late July soon arrived.
Over the past two weeks, trade rumors had swirled relentlessly, virtually all revolving around Kevin Garnett.
Whether Garnett ultimately chose Boston or Los Angeles, it would fundamentally reshape the league's balance of power.
Throughout this stretch, besides tracking the Garnett sweepstakes, Yang Shuai hadn't paused his efforts to bolster the frontcourt.
Even if Marc Gasol remained with the team, a rookie Gasol would offer limited help once the postseason arrived—not to mention the Lakers looked increasingly likely to lose him in any deal.
Kwame Brown was certainly out of the question. His butterfingers would spell disaster in the playoffs, making him strictly a last resort if all other avenues collapsed.
Chastened by their earlier setbacks in trade talks, Yang Shuai carefully vetted his targets this time and drew up multiple contingency plans.
One day, Yang Shuai arrived at the office to organize his dossiers as usual. As an assistant, any proposal he made had to convince Kupchak first, and smooth talk alone wouldn't cut it.
Just then, Kupchak called him into his office.
The moment Yang Shuai walked in, Kupchak handed him a document without a word.
When Yang Shuai picked it up and read through it, his eyes went wide.
It was an initial draft proposal for the Kevin Garnett trade—and it astonishingly involved four teams, including the Celtics!
Memphis Grizzlies: Send out Pau Gasol; receive Marc Gasol's draft rights, Delonte West, Javaris Crittenton, Chris Mihm, Gabe Pruitt, the Lakers' 2008 first-round pick, and an $8 million trade exception.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Send out Kevin Garnett; receive Andrew Bynum, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, Brian Scalabrine, and Minnesota's own 2009 first-round pick.
Boston Celtics: Send out Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Delonte West, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, Brian Scalabrine, Gabe Pruitt, and the Timberwolves' 2009 first-round pick; receive Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.
Los Angeles Lakers: Send out Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, Chris Mihm, Javaris Crittenton, Marc Gasol's draft rights, and their 2008 first-round draft pick; receive Kevin Garnett.
(Note: Chris Mihm was included via a sign-and-trade, re-signing with the Lakers on a three-year, $9 million contract.)
After digesting the terms, Yang Shuai had to admit the trade was nothing short of a masterpiece. It satisfied the appetites of all four franchises—a genuine four-way win.
The Grizzlies shipped out Gasol to obtain young prospects and draft capital, kicking off a full-scale rebuild.
The Timberwolves landed not only Al Jefferson—whom Kevin McHale viewed as a cornerstone for rebuilding—but also Andrew Bynum, while successfully reclaiming their own 2009 first-round pick, allowing them to rebuild with peace of mind.
For the Celtics, acquiring Garnett would have naturally been the ideal scenario, but that had clearly proven unattainable; getting Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom was the only near equivalent. Not only did they assemble a "Big Three," but they also secured a premier sixth man—a group some fans might even call a "Big Four."
The Lakers paid a steep price, but they ultimately got Garnett as desired, and compared to Minnesota's initial demands, they had managed to hold onto Sun Yue and a second first-round pick.
The only pity was that they couldn't keep Marc Gasol.
And yet...
"We can ask for more," Yang Shuai offered after finishing the proposal.
"Are you serious?" Kupchak's eyes widened in disbelief. He had moved heaven and earth just to whittle down the assets they were giving up.
"I didn't expect Memphis to get involved, but they're walking away with far too much," Yang Shuai said. He knew that in the original timeline, Memphis had accepted much less.
"Are you sure that won't make them walk?" From Kupchak's perspective, Memphis was practically being fleeced; soft as Gasol might be, he was still an All-Star, whereas none of the pieces the Grizzlies were getting looked like a true franchise cornerstone.
"If losing one minor player were enough to scare them off, they wouldn't have joined the trade in the first place." Yang Shuai knew that as long as Marc Gasol stayed in the package, everything else was negotiable.
Kupchak stroked his chin, pondering for a moment before nodding. "Who do you want?"
"Delonte West." A sly grin crept across Yang Shuai's face. That old fox Danny Ainge had tried to squeeze the Lakers before, but now that West had landed in Memphis's hands, Ainge no longer had any say in the matter.
"That would give us three point guards." Kupchak had assumed Yang Shuai would target Gomes, who carried greater value than West.
"Farmar and Fisher have overlapping skill sets, and West is a combo guard." Yang Shuai stopped just short of suggesting they flip Farmar; Farmar would indeed make a compelling trade chip.
Kupchak didn't object. After all, if they could snag West into the deal, they came out ahead regardless.
Two days after their conversation, the calendar turned to August.
Under league rules, drafted rookies faced a thirty-day restriction before they could be traded, a window that had now elapsed.
And with that, the blockbuster four-team trade bound to send shockwaves throughout the league was officially announced.
Compared to the initial proposal Yang Shuai had reviewed, there was only one difference: the Lakers surrendered an additional second-round pick, and in return, they came away with Delonte West.
Chapter 48