Media Day

With Sun Yue officially signed, the Lakers' fifteen-man roster was set, and there were unlikely to be any major moves before the season tipped off. Of course, Yang Shuai's work didn't end there; his focus simply shifted to scouting future draft prospects. Once the draft concluded, the scouting department wrapped up their duties for the prior year. But unlike the players, they didn't get an offseason—they had to dive straight into work for the upcoming season without missing a beat. Yang Shuai's role was to receive, organize, and analyze the reports flowing in from the scouts, distilling the key takeaways for Kupchak. In essence, he served as the bridge between Kupchak and the scouting department. Yet it was precisely this function that allowed his special insight to be magnified to its fullest extent. The Lakers had already traded away their 2008 first-round pick, and their 2009 first-rounder was almost certain to fall near the end of the round. Without swinging another deal for a first-rounder, finding diamonds in the rough late in the draft was the essential strategy for the next two years. Take, for instance, a certain young guard who had earned a Slovenian League All-Star selection in just his second year: Goran Dragic. Or "Lord Uncle" DeAndre Jordan, who had originally been projected as a lottery talent, only to sit stranded in the green room all night before sliding into the second round. Or the UNC guard who had faced Wake Forest University in the A League but hadn't declared for this year's draft: "Imperial Father" Danny Green. If they could bring every one of them into the fold over the next two years, the Lakers wouldn't have to worry about their roster for at least five seasons. Naturally, Yang Shuai couldn't just pluck their names from scouting reports; he had to arrange in-depth evaluations well ahead of time so they would land firmly on the Lakers' draft board next year. Beyond that, with ample downtime on his hands, Yang Shuai also began studying salary cap management. Ever since joining the Lakers, he had operated primarily as an advisor—the standard role of an assistant. But if he hoped to become a general manager one day, he needed to master managing the cap. It seemed simple enough on the surface, but in practice, it was tremendously complex. Take the Lakers: after their flurry of offseason moves, their total payroll had surged to eighty million dollars. That blew past the salary cap and soared well above the new season's luxury tax line of 67.865 million dollars. Under the collective bargaining agreement's luxury tax rules—a dollar-for-dollar penalty on every dollar over the threshold—the Lakers' total payroll expenditures for the coming season would reach a historic franchise-record ninety-two million dollars. Although the Lakers were one of the league's two most valuable franchises, the Buss family's personal wealth ranked near the very bottom among NBA owners. Jerry Buss was willing to pay the luxury tax to chase titles, but he would never spend with the reckless abandon of Mark Cuban. Back during the Lakers' three-peat era, their payroll had hovered around fifty million dollars for the first two championship seasons. By comparison, rivals like the Trail Blazers had routinely maintained payrolls north of eighty million back then, even surpassing one hundred million in the 2002–03 season. Moreover, the contracts of both Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant featured annual raises, meaning the Lakers' expenses would climb even higher next year. For the front office, finding ways to trim the luxury tax bill without compromising the team's championship contention was an urgent priority they needed to address down the line—or perhaps as early as mid-season. In truth, just figuring out which clauses in existing contracts could create cap flexibility, which incentive bonuses counted against the cap, and which trade kickers might tie their hands gave Yang Shuai plenty to work through. Fortunately, having worked in data analytics in his past life, grasping the mechanics wasn't particularly difficult. Time flew, and before long, it was late September. After enduring the long offseason lull, media coverage of the NBA finally began picking up steam once more. Leading the charge was coverage of each franchise's Media Day. The first official milestone of the new NBA season was training camp, and Media Day was the press conference held for all accredited reporters on the eve of camp opening. As every team's first collective public appearance ahead of the season, it drew massive attention. Since training camps opened on varying dates, Media Day schedules differed slightly from team to team, but most fell between late September and early October. Among them, the two undisputed headliners of the offseason—the Lakers and the Celtics—were naturally the center of the basketball world. The Celtics opened training camp a day earlier than the Lakers, which meant their Media Day also took place a day ahead of Los Angeles. That day, TD Banknorth Garden was arguably busier than it had been in over a decade, packed with enough reporters to fill the building. Paul Pierce was the first Celtic to face the microphones. As the face of the franchise, he was naturally the main attraction. "With Gasol and Odom joining the roster, everyone on the outside is calling you the runaway title favorites," a reporter asked, dropping the hammer right away. "Do you believe you guys can get it done?" Faced with the question, Pierce looked visibly moved. "I've been with this team for almost ten years. I made the Eastern Conference Finals with Antoine Walker, and I lived through back-to-back first-round exits against Indiana. But most of the time, I gave everything I had and still couldn't even drag this team into the playoffs." He compressed all the bitterness and heartache of those years into a single breath. Then, a grin spread across his face, impossible to hold back. "But now, I've got Ray Allen, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Rajon Rondo, and Kendrick Perkins beside me. I honestly can't even imagine a scenario where we lose." He locked eyes with the reporter, radiating a sense of exhilaration he had never shown before, and delivered an emphatic answer: "So yes, I believe we can get it done!" Pierce's remarks instantly dominated the sports headlines. Just as the reporter had noted, the idle offseason media had churned out countless power rankings, and the Celtics sat atop nearly every single one. Pierce's declaration served as the boldest possible validation of those expectations. When the Lakers' Media Day got underway, reporters wasted no time repeating those exact words to Kobe Bryant. "He really said that?" Kobe asked, confirming with the reporter. Seeing the reporter nod, Kobe remarked flatly, "Then let him keep imagining." Laughter rippled through the press room. Kobe had dismissed Pierce's claim without a second thought. Kobe had already shifted his gaze toward the next reporter. "We all know the Lakers assembled an even more star-studded lineup back in 2003, only for it to end in disappointment," another reporter chimed in. "Do you think this team can win it all this time?" One undeniable reason the media hadn't ranked the Lakers at number one was their past history. Strictly in terms of peak dominance, Kevin Garnett wasn't quite what Shaquille O'Neal had been, Marcus Camby was no Karl Malone, and the rest of the roster spoke for itself. "What else would we do?" Kobe's expression hardened. "Did we come here to lose?" The temperature in the room plummeted in an instant. Only then did the reporters realize that from the moment Media Day began, Kobe hadn't smiled a single time. To spark interest in a flagging market, David Stern had scheduled Celtics versus Lakers as the opening-night showdown. The renewal of the historic rivalry, combined with the war of words between the two franchise superstars, pushed anticipation for the upcoming season to a fever pitch. *** Inside Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena, the turnout of reporters for the Cavaliers' Media Day was noticeably sparser than the previous year. As the reigning Eastern Conference champions and Finals runner-up, they should have commanded far more attention. That was especially true after an entire summer filled with reports spotlighting LeBron James' relentless workouts as he prepared for a vengeful comeback. Yet now, the Cavaliers looked as though they had fallen out of favor. Evidently, that shift had everything to do with the blockbuster moves made by the Lakers and the Celtics. "LeBron, both the Lakers and the Celtics built superteams this offseason. What do you think the Cavaliers need to do to take them down and win a championship?" Even on their own home floor, a reporter posed the question directly to James. James looked at the reporter, his face impassive, though he remained silent for two full seconds before answering. "Building a superteam isn't the only way to win a title. I'll beat them to prove it!" James projected all the commanding authority expected of the "Chosen One," prompting looks of respect and awe from the media gallery. The moment the interview concluded, James turned and strode briskly into the players' tunnel. Once he rounded the corner out of sight, he drove his fist violently into the tunnel wall. Yang! Shuai! He had already found out who was pulling the strings behind that four-team blockbuster—it was that very same bastard who had labeled him a "second option"!