Chapter 327: Chapter 274: Can Assemble a Sunset Red Starting Lineup

Nelson’s face was a mask of confusion.

There hadn’t been the slightest whisper about this beforehand. As the second-in-command of the medical team, he was completely in the dark.

"We sent Jason and Patrick to the Nuggets for Antonio McDyess and James Posey? This is insane! Brian actually traded Jason away."

This was basically dismantling last year’s championship-winning roster.

What kind of championship team does that?

"Huh?" As Nelson spoke, he suddenly noticed Chen Yu’s calm expression. A thought struck him, and he quickly asked, "Chen, did you know about this beforehand?"

Chen Yu nodded.

’It seems McDyess was dead set on not staying with the Nuggets.’

’And Kidd, despite his rushed shooting, was still the best point guard in the league. He was a top-tier defender who could anchor the perimeter defense all by himself—a true championship cornerstone. Chen Yu figured that when the Nuggets decided to trade McDyess, they must have received numerous offers, and the most attractive one had to be Kidd.’

And they threw in James Posey to boot.

Chen Yu knew his name but hadn’t paid much attention to his skillset. He only knew that back when the Suns had traded for McDyess, they had given the Nuggets three first-round picks and two second-round picks in one go. One of those picks, a ’99 first-rounder, was used to select James Posey.

After all that, he was essentially coming back.

"This is just..." Nelson sighed. It made sense that Chen Yu would know more, given his closer relationship with Brian and his position within the league. But this trade left the Suns’ perimeter defense completely exposed.

Hardaway’s defense could only be described as above average, but not great.

Forcing an offensive cornerstone to focus on defense would inevitably affect his offensive efficiency.

And that was where Kidd’s value lay.

Now that he was traded, the Suns’ perimeter defense was sure to become a problem.

Of course, trading Kidd for the more ferocious offensive firepower of McDyess, which would share some of O’Neal’s offensive burden and allow him to save more energy for the playoffs, wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

That’s just how teams are. You can’t expect to have top-tier stars at all five positions; you always have to make trade-offs.

"Don’t even worry about it. Since Brian decided on the trade, there’s nothing we can do," Chen Yu complained. "It’s just that this bastard signed a bunch of old veterans for me to handle. It’s going to be the death of me. Did you know he even wanted to sign Rodman? He’s completely lost his mind."

"Rodman? For real?" Nelson looked stunned.

Signing Sabonis back was one thing; the man hadn’t truly retired and was still playing ball back in Lithuania.

But Rodman had already been retired for two years.

Nelson laughed again. "But that’s also because of you. It’s only with you here that these old-timers can stay in shape. That’s why Brian dares to sign them."

Without Chen Yu, Brian wouldn’t dare sign Oakley even if he played for free.

As the two were talking, Kidd walked into the lab.

They exchanged a look and went to greet him.

The atmosphere instantly turned a bit awkward. Just as they were about to speak, Kidd held up a hand to stop them.

"It’s alright. You don’t have to worry about it. This is the NBA; getting traded is a normal part of the business." Back with the Mavericks, Old Nelson had always called him a franchise cornerstone, but then he got traded to the Suns over a woman.

"Fortunately, I don’t have any regrets," Kidd added.

All-Star, All-Defensive First Team, All-NBA First Team, Assists Leader, and now a championship to top it all off. He had basically won every honor he could. Although he couldn’t continue the journey with the Suns, it was still a pretty good outcome for now.

Look at Ewing. He was still fighting for a championship at 40. He himself was already very lucky.

"That’s good to hear." Chen Yu patted Kidd’s arm.

But even though he said that, Chen Yu still noticed the unnatural look in his eyes.

’Could he really have no regrets? Winning a championship and helping the Suns pursue a dynasty were two completely different concepts.’

Now, being traded to the Nuggets basically meant his chances of winning another championship were gone.

Kidd clearly didn’t want to talk more about the trade. He put down his bag and said, "Let’s train."

Chen Yu nodded and called Nelson over to begin.

Kidd had now moved past the initial phase of technical adjustments and entered the intensive training stage.

In this stage, he needed to get used to his adjusted shooting form and truly put the training into practice.

On the court, a Trainer stayed close to Kidd, who would take a shot after a contact drill.

The shots were mostly from mid to long range.

For low-post shots or attacks within the three-second lane, having Kidd drive directly to the rim was the better option.

What he lacked was the ability to create his own shot off the dribble when, after the ball had been passed around, it came back to him with no one else open and a defender in his face.

If there was someone to share the offensive load in the final moments, or if he could just spot up in an open position and wait for a catch-and-shoot opportunity, his shooting ability was good enough.

"His consistency is decent. It feels like this week of training has really paid off," Nelson commented, standing beside Chen Yu.

They had simulated real game conditions as much as possible, for instance, by having Kidd warm up thoroughly to mimic the state of physical fatigue during a game. Therefore, this kind of training should have some referential value.

Chen Yu nodded. ’Of course it did,’ he thought.

This past week, Chen Yu had used two training effects on Kidd: one Bronze and one Silver.

The Silver effect increased training effectiveness by 15%. It didn’t sound like much, but it could affect up to three people and was continuous, which made it very powerful.

Compared to using equipment for scientific analysis, Chen Yu felt his training effects were even more impactful.

Nelson clapped his hands, signaling for Kidd to stop and rest.

Chen Yu was about to go over and give Kidd a recovery massage.

It didn’t require using up a recovery effect, only the technique bonus. Why wouldn’t he do it?

Besides, it was beneficial for his training.

When the body is fatigued, training effectiveness is actually diminished. Maintaining a high level of physical fitness is what makes training twice as effective with half the effort.

Just then, Chen Yu suddenly received a system notification.

He glanced at it. His Sports Training experience was full, and he had obtained a Silver Level training effect.

’A thought struck Chen Yu. He had actually noticed it over the past few days: after using motion capture and various scientific devices to assist in training, not only did his training experience increase faster, but the probability and quality of the training effects he drew also increased significantly.’

Just like how Chen Yu had found a way to "farm" recovery experience from paralyzed patients, this current training method also seemed to yield high-quality training experience.

’That must be it.’

Chen Yu calculated silently. ’In the past, during the season, I would supervise team practices, sometimes even leading players through something like the Five Animals Qigong. It’s not that there were no training effects, but it was all just ordinary, routine training.’

That kind of training, to put it bluntly, was just about maintaining physical condition.

But this was different. This was targeted training aimed at improving skills.

And what was the ultimate goal of training? Of course, it was to improve athletic performance and technical ability.

From that perspective, the training experience he was gaining now should be the highest quality experience.

It was just a guess, but Chen Yu felt he wasn’t wrong. The results would speak for themselves.

Many more players would be arriving soon. At that time, he would gain a massive amount of training experience, and the training effects he obtained could be used to their full potential—unlike now, where using them on just one person, Kidd, was a bit of a waste.

Once he used a large number of training effects to genuinely help athletes improve their level and see real benefits, the reputation of his sports lab would be firmly established.

Just like a clinic—whether it’s good or not all comes down to the results.

After completing the trade with the Nuggets, Brian didn’t stop strengthening the roster.

When it came to trades, acting early had its advantages.

In any case, the Suns’ basic framework was already in place. These were just minor reinforcements, nothing to get too hung up about. If worst came to worst, they could always make more adjustments before the trade deadline.

So, the day after completing the trade, the Suns made another one.

With the Nuggets again.

Brian signed former Nuggets player Woshan Leonard.

Height 193cm, a shooting guard.

He was a second-round pick in ’94 with a low draft position. His life story was quite inspirational. After being selected by the Bucks, they ultimately didn’t sign him. He returned to college to finish his degree, and by working hard in the minor leagues, he was eventually brought into the NBA by the Heat.

In his second year in the league, he was averaging 12.3 points per game and had, for a time, secured a starting position with the Heat.

But he was a player with very distinct characteristics. He could shoot threes—or rather, besides shooting threes, he was useless. His athleticism was mediocre, his stamina was a concern, and his defense was terrible.

This was also why the Nuggets didn’t want him after his contract expired this year.

His type of player was awkward. He had scoring ability, but as a starter, his scoring wasn’t consistent. When he got hot, he could casually drop a few buckets and scoring 30 points was no problem, but he was a defensive liability on the court and didn’t contribute much to winning.

But as a backup, he himself wasn’t content.

Last year his contract was for 4 million. If he re-signed, wouldn’t he be asking for five or six million?

That kind of money really wasn’t worth it for a player who could only shoot.

So, ever since the market opened, he hadn’t managed to re-sign with the Nuggets. In the end, the Nuggets made their stance clear: they didn’t want him.

At that moment, Brian appeared.

The Suns didn’t offer a huge contract.

1.5 million, and for only one year.

But for Woshan Leonard, it was still an attractive offer. Since no other teams wanted him, why not come to the Suns, win a championship to burnish his reputation, and then pursue a big contract later?

And from Brian’s perspective, although Woshan Leonard had a ton of problems, he fit the Suns’ team-building philosophy. They just needed a backup shooter on the perimeter.

Last season, they had signed a trio of veterans, including Dan Majerle. Aside from being cheap, they were needed for their shooting ability.

Especially this season with O’Neal, when he was dominant and unstoppable in the paint, the perimeter players were guaranteed to get plenty of open looks.

Based on this team-building philosophy, and also to save money, Brian scouted for another shooter after signing Woshan Leonard.

The 38-year-old, currently without a team and on the verge of retirement, former all-time leading scorer for the Hornets and Divine Archer, Dale Curry.

When Chen Yu saw this news in the morning, his whole body trembled. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

A 38-year-old Sabonis and Dale Curry, a 39-year-old Oakley, plus a 40-year-old Kevin Willis.

And Mookie Blaylock, who was already out of the league at 35. These five men could form a whole starting lineup for the "Sunset Red" team.

Their average age was exactly 38.

Compared to last season, the sick and injured were gone, but the old and weak were here to stay.

ESPN even commented sharply that for a Suns team with this roster to win the championship, let alone defend their title, would be a huge mockery of the rest of the league.

But after calming down and thinking about it, Chen Yu realized this was a choice Brian had to make.

He couldn’t just sign a bunch of young, reckless hotheads, could he?

The Suns were aiming to defend their title; where would they find the time and energy to develop young players?

’Since I’m here, it’s better to use these veterans. They might just come in handy at some point. It doesn’t have to be much; one last flash of brilliance in a critical moment would make it all worth it.’

Besides, the players were already signed. What could Chen Yu say?

Meanwhile, a familiar patient came to the clinic, someone who had been there before.

Duncan!

For the sake of his knees, Popovich had brought him to Phoenix personally.