by Fresh8 on Tue Nov 23, 2010 10:35 pm
Chapter 21
“I will need to seriously consider this offer,” Sit said to Dolan.
The Knicks owner didn’t want to push the issue; he only had one shot to get Sit into his organisation so there was no room for screwing up. Dolan finished his glass of champaign. Sit got up and grabbed a second round of oysters.
“I could get used to this though,” he commented as he sat down with his plate of food, “So you’re going to pay to get me out of my contract? I don’t think Seattle would let me go that easily.”
Dolan played with his re-filled glass, the champaign swirled dangerously around the top edge of the glass, “You have my word. I think David would be behind the cause as well. I don’t think we will have too much resistance.”
“Interesting,” Sit pondered aloud.
“As long as you can bring Reshawn Tyson here,” Dolan stated, “I don’t mind what it takes to get you into the Knicks front office.”
“I like your passion but what if I can’t bring Tyson?” Sit asked.
“We’d still be happy to have you on-board.”
A few hours later, Sit touched back down in Seattle. He would return to Stealth headquarters and continue with looking at draft prospects ahead of the NBA draft. He also convinced another team to make a deal with him. He then spoke to Coach Karl about how to help the team get to the next level. It was back to work as usual and as if the talk with Mr Dolan had never happened.
Ty was being courted by a couple of teams. Not many of them actually had the cap space to sign him. Dallas were the first ones to call. The Mavs held a genuine interest in him. It was a shame that Ty didn’t return mutual feelings.
“He will fit right in here at Dallas,” Mark Cuban was trying to convince Ty’s agent.
His agent laughed, “Come on man. He’s not going to be balling in Texas.”
“But he’s going to be the face of the franchise.”
“He’s getting that anywhere he goes.”
“We got a great team. He can win.”
“With a bunch of 40 year olds?”
Cuban tried to continue, “We got a few young guys here...”
Ty’s agent hung up on him.
Other teams called including Charlotte, Chicago, New York and Washington. All of them needed Ty to be signed and then traded to them. It was too much trouble so his agent said no straight away. He wasn’t going to make it any harder on himself. It was already difficult enough to arrange a deal with a single team. It would be too complicated to make a sign and trade happen. For Ty’s agent, that was a last resort. He couldn’t care less were Ty went as long as he got his paycheque.
“Look man,” the agent was on the phone to Michael Jordan, “I told you. My client don’t want to play for your shitty team. You treat your stars like shit.”
“Just between you and me,” Sit was in a meeting with Ty’s agent, “What do you think about Ty being in New York?”
“To be honest, I think he would be great there. Endorsements, Madison Square Garden... I’m not sure about winning,” the agent was interested in where this was going, “You got something lined up?”
“No, not really,” Sit admitted.
“Why did you ask then?” the agent felt like Sit was wasting his time.
“Something could happen,” Sit shrugged.
“There’s something that I don’t know?”
Sit changed the direction of the topic, “What about staying with the Stealth?”
“Not preferable.”
“It’s where the dollars are at.”
“You know that he doesn’t care about that.”
Sit smiled, “Well, an extra year of security and a hundred million bucks are pretty hard to argue against.”
“You’re right,” the agent conceded.
Sit bargained, “Think about how much more commission you’re going to make.”
The agent smiled, “You know me well.”
“We’re all human,” Sit had a bit of his coffee, “Anyway you can convince him?”
“He’s pretty stubborn,” the agent stated.
“Well, when the right time comes, you and he both know the offer is on the table. We’re offering him that max contract.”
Sit finished his coffee and got up to leave. A few nights later Sit would attend the NBA Draft in New York. Coby Clark was selected with the number one overall pick. The Stealth had three draft picks. The last pick of the first round was used on a power forward by the name of Jamaal Garrett. Sit liked his size and ability on the glass. The second pick of the second round also belonged to Seattle. Sit used that one on a forward Peter Carpenter who was an adept three point shooter and perimeter defender. The very last pick of the Draft came around and Sit looked at who was left.
“Oh, what the heck!” Sit said as he sent a message to the front of the room to pick Rich Tyler; a little known Aussie swingman who really wasn’t that good.
Sit felt obliged to give his countryman a chance; just like how James Dolan was ready to move heaven and earth to give him a shot.
Ty and his agent had been to Memphis to visit the Grizzlies. He knew it wasn’t for him. His shortlist thus came down to two more teams: Orlando and Phoenix. He visited Phoenix first. The Suns were a team in tatters with no standout talent except for Baron Davis and even he was getting on in age.
“We have great facilities here,” new Phoenix Suns GM Charles Barkley said to him, “If we have you here Rayshawn...”
“Reshawn,” Ty reminded him.
“Raaayshawn,” Barkley was struggling, “We wouldn’t be turrible. You feeling me?”
Ty looked around the practice gym and turned to Barkley, “It’s a nice place. What’s the team going to be like if I join?”
“Not turrible?” Barkley wasn’t too quick of a thinker.
“That’s nice...” Ty mumbled to himself.
He looked over at his agent who walked over, “It’s great to come and look at what you’ve got here Charles. We will keep in touch.”
Barkley wasn’t even listening as he was stuffing his face with Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Ty and his agent zipped across to Orlando. They were only there for a few hours before they would need to fly back to Seattle; there was no time for Disneyland. Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson were part of the recruiting team. Ty still remembered Howard’s hard foul on him that rendered him hurt two seasons ago on the eve of the postseason. Howard had heard nothing but bad things about Ty from Durant. However, he was nice to Ty while he was there under the orders of the Magic front office.
“No hard feelings?” Howard said to Ty.
Ty knew what he was referring to and shook his hand, “I don’t even know what you are talking about.”
Howard forced a smile, “I’d love to have you here with the Magic. We need a quality player to get us to the next level.”
Ty nodded, “Thanks.”
After a tour of the facilities and then a little mingling with his potential new teammates, Ty and agent were back to Seattle. After that flight, they zipped to Stealth headquarters for a meeting with GM Sit. On the way, Ty was briefed on his options so far.
“Barkley is a bit loopy,” the agent said.
“And overweight,” Ty pointed out.
“That too. But Phoenix can offer you the second most amount of money. They can build a team around you from scratch. They will treat you well. Orlando has the smallest offer but they have a fairly good team there. I think you are the missing piece of the puzzle.”
“Ok,” Ty was digesting all of the information, “And what about Seattle?”
“That’s easy,” his agent said, “The most money. Maybe a shot at a title.”
“Durant is a dickhead,” Ty shook his head, “I’m thinking no deal.”
His agent pat Ty on the back, “Man, just listen to what Sit has to say. Maybe it will change your mind.”
“Doubt it,” Ty replied, looking out the window and knowing deep down that he already had his mind made up.
Sit made his spiel to Ty and his agent.
“I drafted you and we’ve been through a lot together,” Sit stated, “It would be terrible if you walked away from what we have built here in Seattle. The offer is on the table Ty. You can’t argue against the money man. We’ve got a team that can contend right now. You can’t get that anywhere else.”
The agent got out of his seat and said to Sit, “Ok, that’s enough. I think Ty will need a little time to consider everything.”
Sit nodded and got up too, “Let me know as soon as you can. I know that you’ve done a lot of travelling. I just hope you think about what you have here in this city. There are a lot of people that want to see you stay here.”
Ty’s agent shook Sit’s hand. He turned and walked out the door. Ty stood up and shook Sit’s hand too. He let go of Sit’s hand and began to leave.
Sit called out to him, “We’re the best situation Ty.”
Ty kept walking.
Sit was on the phone to Andray Blatche’s agent, “Yes, we do want him to come in here and have a workout. We want to see what kind of form and shape he is in.”
He listened intently and replied, “Yes, I understand. Look, he will get a deal if you just convince him to come here.”
The call last another few seconds, “Thanks. I look forward to hearing from you. See you.”
Sit put the phone down and spun around in his chair. He reached out and grabbed the front of his desk to stop him from spinning. He then grabbed his half empty can of Coke. His other hand went straight for the remote. There was nothing good on tv. He left it on another re-run of Back to the Future. The phone rang. Sit paused the tv and answered the phone.
“Hello?”
The office was dimly lit and Sit leaned forward to switch his desk light on.
“Yep, this is him speaking.”
Sit smiled as he heard the following words, “So how about that contract?”