Chapter 410: The Tower
“Are you out of your mind?!”
Bernie Lee burst into the room with a newspaper in his hand.
“Did you sneak drinks behind my back at last night’s celebration and start talking nonsense? Is this something you can joke about?”
“Lower your voice. This is a hospital. Stop yelling.”
Butler lay on the hospital bed, holding a fruit cup and eating leisurely. Seeing his agent in this state, he frowned in displeasure.
“The news outside is about to explode, and you’re still in the mood to eat fruit?”
Bernie rushed to the bedside. “Did you accept an interview with local Sacramento media last night?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“And you told that unlucky reporter you’re open to re-signing with Sacramento?”
“Yeah!”
“Put the fruit down!”
Bernie watched Butler pop a grape into his mouth. “Your brain is about the size of that grape. Do you realize what you just said? Everything we prepared for before has basically gone to waste.”
“Is it really that serious?”
Butler asked, confused.
“How could it not be!”
Bernie took a deep breath and began explaining.
“The whole reason we’ve kept such a low profile this season was to make a clean break with the Kings and set you up for a big contract, wasn’t it? And now you’ve just handed all the negotiating leverage straight to Chen Yilun!”
“Oh, that’s what you were worried about.”
Butler waved his hand dismissively. “I was in a good mood yesterday and couldn’t help saying a bit more.”
As he spoke, he repeated the thoughts he’d had after winning the championship.
“Foolish. Absolutely foolish!”
Bernie shook his head as he listened.
“Do you know you’re picking a fight with your future retirement money? The market’s good right now, money’s easy to make. If you don’t seize the chance to cash in, are you planning to wait until you’re in your thirties and can barely play anymore before chasing a big deal?”
“Sacramento can’t give you what you want in the first place. Why are you still clinging to them?”
“We still haven’t gotten any clear word from Chen Yilun. If he decides to use this to choke us and force the price down, we’ll be completely passive!”
“It won’t go that far, will it?”
Butler said, clearly unconvinced. “Yilun wouldn’t do something like that.”
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...
“Is he out of his mind?!”
While Butler and Bernie were talking, Chen Yilun was just as baffled.
He hadn’t even sobered up from last night’s drinks when Prince shook him awake early in the morning and told him to read the news.
“Didn’t we already agree things clearly with Butler’s side? Both sides would stay silent until the end of the season. After that, if they went to other teams, I’d even help them get a good price.”
“So what is he trying to do now?”
Chen Yilun stared at the newspaper, utterly confused.
“I don’t get it either. I have no idea what Jimmy is trying to pull,” Prince said, handing him a cup of coffee.
“Could he be hinting at something?”
“Very possible.”
Chen Yilun took the coffee and drank a sip.
“Do you think Jimmy’s saying this to force us into signing a poison contract?”
Prince’s concern wasn’t unfounded.
If Butler wanted to maximize his earnings, the Kings—who held his Bird rights—were indeed the best option.
If Chen Yilun agreed to re-sign him, Butler could sign a five-year super contract starting at 35% of the salary cap, with an 8% annual raise.
“Is Jimmy really hinting at us?”
Hearing this, Chen Yilun ran a hand through his still-messy hair in disbelief.
“Everything was going fine before. I was already prepared to part on good terms. Now he suddenly does this, and I wasn’t ready for it at all.”
“We’ve been friends for so many years. This move is really not decent.”
Just as Chen Yilun was scrambling, in an office far away on the South Coast—
“Is he insane?!”
Pat Riley couldn’t help but curse out loud.
“We talked everything through nicely, and then he suddenly says he’s willing to stay in Sacramento. Is he playing us for fools?”
Before the season ended, Butler hadn’t publicly stated his stance, but his team had been actively looking for a new destination. Among them, the Miami Heat were a key target.
At the same time, with Dwyane Wade aging and Chris Bosh forced to retire due to injury, the Heat were desperate to find a successor.
In Riley’s eyes, with his military-style team philosophy, the tough, hard-nosed Butler—built like an ironman—was the perfect choice to become the Heat’s future leader.
That was why, heading into this offseason, Riley had already been sharpening his knives, treating Butler as a sure thing.
Who would have thought that after just one night, Butler would say he wanted to re-sign with Sacramento?
Wasn’t this blatantly treating him like an idiot?
“Investigate. Dig into it for me!”
Riley said through clenched teeth.
“I don’t care what Butler and Chen Yilun are doing, but I will not be part of their game!”
Butler probably never imagined that a single offhand comment made in excitement would stir up so many different parties. It even nearly capsized the already fragile friendship between Chen Yilun and Riley.
“Case closed. He really is out of his mind.”
After finally understanding the whole situation, Chen Yilun couldn’t help but curse in his office.
“But boss, do we really not want to use this opportunity to make a move?”
Seeing Chen Yilun’s expression, Prince hesitated, then spoke anyway.
“With Jimmy’s personality, if you sat down and talked to him properly, he might really be willing to take a pay cut and stay.”
In Prince’s view, Chen Yilun and Butler were both being stubborn to the extreme.
On one side, as long as Butler spoke up, even if a 35% starting salary was unrealistic, Chen Yilun could still grit his teeth and offer a standard max contract.
On the other side, if Chen Yilun softened his tone and said a few nice words, Butler wasn’t the kind of person obsessed with money. He’d probably be willing to take less and stay.
So Prince couldn’t understand why, when they clearly could keep working together, the two of them were pretending not to understand each other.
“Don’t let him stay.”
After a brief hesitation, Chen Yilun spoke.
“This isn’t his final destination. Sacramento doesn’t have that kind of scale.”
What Butler needed most right now was exposure and status within a team. If he stayed, he’d have to bear the pressure of the post-dynasty era, while also squeezing the growth space of the young players.
So whether from the player’s perspective or the team’s, Butler staying wouldn’t be a good choice.
“Stop thinking about all that.”
Chen Yilun adjusted his hair in front of a mirror.
“Since we’re already up, let’s get ready for a new day of work.”
“What?!”
Prince felt like the sky was collapsing. “Boss, we just won the championship yesterday and established a dynasty! And now we’re back to work?”
“What else would we do?”
Chen Yilun had already finished tidying up and turned around.
“The players’ games are over, but the game for us in management has just begun.”
“The old dynasty’s tower has reached the end of its life. A new struggle has begun.”
“I’m going to lay the strongest possible foundation for the new tower of the future.”
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