One Guard

The Grizzlies were eliminated by the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs last season. This is something that many Grizzlies fans and even the management cannot bear. The Grizzlies have Mike Conley, one of the best young guards, and Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, the most threatening inside combination in the league, but they still can't make any progress in the playoffs.

In this regard, the head coach must be back. So this summer, the first change the Grizzlies made was to fire Lionel Hollins.

Although fired the coach, the Grizzlies still hope to maintain the stability of the lineup. Tony Allen has been waiting for an offer from the Grizzlies, but the $1,800 price offered by the Grizzlies for 4 years did not make Tony Allen feel the sincerity of the Grizzlies.

Tony Allen likes the Grizzlies, he likes to play in a defensive-centric team, and he gets along well with his teammates. But with a salary of only $4.5 million a year, if the offer was not for the Grizzlies, Tony Allen and his manager might not even look at it.

Although the Grizzlies' offer is not fair, Tony Allen is also ready to dedicate his time to Memphis for the next four years. It seems that it is not unacceptable to take less money for the places you love. At this moment, Cuban came to him with a four-year, $23 million contract.

With 18 million and 23 million, children also know which one to choose. The difference is not one or two million, but a full five million dollars!

Facing the higher offer from Cuban, Tony Allen hesitated. Join a team that just eliminated yourself from the game? This is not simple. But what if all of this is for the championship, for your own vitality?

As we all know, there are countless examples of NBA players going bankrupt shortly after retiring. Although Tony Allen is not a guy who spends money like water, he also knows that he is working hard to earn a penny now, and he will be able to have more protection in the days after he retires. After all, he is not a superstar, and there is no wealth of hundreds of millions of dollars for him to splurge. US$5 million is not a small sum for Tony Allen.

Perhaps in the eyes of those superstars, 5 million does not mean anything. But in the face of the biggest contract he has ever won in his career, Tony Allen can't just say no and refuse.

On the one hand, he loves Memphis, he loves his teammates, and he loves every street in that city. On the other hand, he needs a higher salary, more honors, and needs to see the true appearance of the O'Brien Cup when he is not completely old.

After a night of tossing and turning, Tony Allen finally made a decision in his heart. Early in the morning, before the sun was fully up, Tony Allen took out his phone.

He originally wanted to call Cuban, but he hesitated for a minute, and finally dialed the Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace. It's time to make your thoughts public.

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Cuban came to the office early and looked at the list of the free agent market that was about to be memorized. When the time comes to August, there is not much gold left in the free agent market. Fortunately, the Mavericks' new season lineup is almost complete, and even if they sign again later, it is to expand the depth of the bench.

With Carlisle's participation, this year's signings went smoothly. Although the stars they signed in are not so famous, they all have the strength and are very suitable for Carlisle's system.

The dazzled Cuban closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. This offseason is even busier than at the beginning of the season. But watching the team lineup take shape day by day, the great sense of accomplishment will make Cuban full of energy.

"Boom boom boom..."

When Cuban closed his eyes and rested, someone hurriedly knocked on the door of his office.

"Please come in!" Cuban yelled, don't even think about it, it must be Carlisle!

Sure enough, Carlisle pushed open the office door and walked two steps to Cuban's desk.

"Is there any good news, Rick?" Cuban looked at Carlisle's frowning expression, feeling a little nervous. Could it be possible that the Tony Allen's story fell apart?

"Tony Allen, he decided to go with the Grizzlies..." Carlisle said here, paused deliberately.

"Hey, what a pity! There is no player comparable to him in the free agency market now!"

Seeing Cuban's frown, Carlisle smiled instead.

"Listen to me, Mark, Tony Allen, he decided to part ways with the Grizzlies!"

Cuban raised his head suddenly, staring at Carlisle with wide-eyed eyes.

"Damn it, it's not humorous at all, Rick!" The two middle-aged men suddenly frowned and laughed like crazy...

※※※

"I've never been a person who is good at words, so when the airport contacted the Grizzlies and invited me to be the ambassador of Memphis Airport, I accepted the invitation without hesitation.

Not advertising! do you understand me? It is my honor to be the icon of this city, and my large posters are hung everywhere. Tony Allen on the poster smiles and points at you, as if saying, ‘man, you have chosen an excellent airport. ’You can see Tony Allen everywhere in the airport. Passengers arrive in Memphis, get out of the plane, walk out of the passage, open the door, and then you will see a large poster of Tony Allen.

When the visiting team stepped out of the plane, they might see me eyeing them up and down. Welcome to Memphis, here is Tony Allen. As if the game has not yet started, I have played a world-class defense.

If you stay in the league long enough, you will find the difference in Memphis. In many teams, the cornerstone players will become fans' favorites, get big advertising sponsorships, and become the team's signature. But the city of Memphis is different, unlike other places. They won't let a blue-collar player like me do all the dirty work and get no good comments. Memphis has a real temperament. When they hug me, they will buy my jersey and T-shirt with my photo. I have never tired of saying this, let alone making me an ambassador for an international airport.

I will never forget, I will always be grateful to Memphis, grateful to them for letting me represent this city.

To some extent, I know there is always a difference. I am no longer a Grizzlies player. For the first time since the Celtics era, I will return to Memphis as an away player. I won't move out of that set now: it's hard to be their opponent, it's hard to walk into that stadium. Putting on the shirt of the new team, I know I may never go back to the past, but that is still not farewell.

I will return to Memphis sometime in the future, I promise. Whether it's playing for this team, or working in other parts of the city, or just being the homeless people around Memphis, eating barbecue or something. One day you will pat an old guy on the shoulder and say, ‘Yo, it’s Tony Allen’. No matter what the situation is, I will definitely return to Memphis. So like I said, this is not a farewell letter, but a thank you letter.

Fly to Dallas, see you later. ?——Tony Allen's handwriting"

Later that day, the Mavericks official and Tony Allen’s social media both officially announced that the well-respected defensive fighter in Memphis has officially transferred to the Dallas Mavericks for a four-year price of 23 million US dollars. At the same time, it was announced to the world, and the above letter of thanks from Tony Allen to all Memphis fans.

Compared to Iguodala and the Nuggets, the breakup between Tony Allen and the Grizzlies is relatively peaceful.

The Grizzlies officially tweeted to wish Tony Allen better in Dallas, and the fans also wish Tony Allen what he wanted in Dallas. No matter how bad, the door of Memphis will always be open for him.

Yiyang, who was sweating with Gobert in the training camp, received the news of Tony Allen joining for the first time. Although the Mavericks stepped on the Grizzlies' corpse to advance in the playoffs last season, Tony Allen Yiyang's defense really impressed Yiyang. He was about to pick up his mobile phone to welcome Tony Allen's arrival, but he received a text message first.

"Let's create a great era together!" A few simple words made Yiyang feel full of power. He didn't expect that Tony Allen would take the initiative to send a text message to himself first. It seems that this guy, like himself, can't wait for the next season.

Gobert, Iguodala, Tony Allen, Nick Young, Dalem Porter...Yiyang probably imagined the Mavericks' lineup for next season.

Return to the finals? No, Yiyang's goal is to regain the championship!