NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 238 Art Mayork Re-signs

Kemba Walker and others also gained a lot of fans at the event.

Over the next two days, Jia Fei met with representatives from many brands for brief discussions. They also visited the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.

After visiting the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, Art Mayor and his companions were completely dumbfounded.

"Such magnificent architecture exists in China! Was it built by Mangcun?"

On the 25th, Jia Fei and his group took a plane from Beijing to Shanghai.

In Shanghai, Jia Fei met Yao Ming, who had once played for the Rockets.

This wasn't the first time Jia Fei had met Yao Ming, but when he actually stood in front of this giant and shook hands with him, he still couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, he's so damn tall!"

Is Gao Yuanyuan, who plays the "dark Yao Ming," tall? She is indeed very tall, but the real Yao Ming was even taller!

Jia Feizhen felt that Yao Ming was twice as tall as Guo Xiaoming. Basically, an ordinary person standing next to him would look like a child.

"Jia Fei, welcome to Shanghai!" Yao Ming's voice was still so familiar, deep and resonant like a subwoofer.

"This is my first time here, and I really like it!" Jia Fei said with a smile.

Kemba Walker and others also thought it was great, they didn't expect that not only the capital of China was so prosperous, but this city was also so prosperous.

Yao Ming treated Jia Fei and his group to Shanghai cuisine, took them to the Bund, and visited the Shanghai Men's Basketball Team.

On the Huangpu River, Jia Fei and his companions took a cruise ship, enjoying Longjing tea and listening to Yue Opera, which was quite a unique experience.

“Jia, China is such a culturally rich place!” Kemba Walker exclaimed. “There isn’t such a deep culture in the United States. The United States is very open, but in terms of culture, there is much more here.”

Art Mayor nodded repeatedly: "Yes, no wonder what Old Jia said made a lot of sense. It turns out that his culture is rooted in this place!"

"Your roots are here!" These words struck Jia Fei like an electric shock, making him realize where his true roots lay. In America, he was ultimately just a drifter, a wanderer; his home was in China.

Time flew by, and June 30th arrived, bringing Jia Fei's trip to China to a close...

As Jia Fei boarded the plane in Shanghai bound for New York, he looked out the window with a sense of reluctance.

Art Mayor saw his reluctance to leave and advised, "You can come back anytime you want!"

Jia Fei turned to look at Art Mayork and nodded.

I returned to New York on July 1st, the start of the annual NBA free agency market.

It's worth noting that the Hawks opted not to exercise Art Mayork's team option on June 28, making him a free agent.

Art Mayork signed a two-year, $208 million fully guaranteed contract with the Hawks last summer, with the second year being a team option.

Art Mayork performed well last season, showing energy after entering the rotation and silencing many doubters. He demonstrated through his actions that he didn't deserve the contract because of his connection with Jia Fei, and that his performance was worth every penny of his contract.

Jeff Schwartz has called Art Mayork, and the Hawks' move is not an attempt to give up on him, but rather to show him more respect and offer him a new contract.

Clearly, the Hawks' contract with Art Mayork is larger than his previous one.

Art Mayork would certainly be willing. It would be a fool not to make money when the team is offering him a raise. Why would he refuse?

Jia Fei also thought this was a good thing. Speaking of which, the team's general manager, Danny Ferry, is truly a talent; he did an excellent job of appeasing the core players. His relationship with Art Mayork is known worldwide; this was indeed a very tactful move.

But this was the last thing Danny Ferry did before his indefinite departure.

One day in June, Ferry made racist remarks about free agent Luol Deng during a meeting with the team's shareholders and management.

Such remarks are absolutely unacceptable in the NBA, and Ferry will certainly be punished by the team for this.

Jia Fei also learned of this news, and all he could say was that it was a pity. He was the one who signed Ferry, and he had absolute respect for the general manager's abilities. But unfortunately, this capable general manager had crossed a line.

Jia Fei and others stayed in New York for two days, and Art Mayork received a call from the team, asking him to go to Atlanta to complete the signing.

Jia Fei accompanied him back to Atlanta, and on the 4th, he reached a signing agreement with the team and completed the signing.

This is a three-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $12 million, with the third year being the year of the player draft.

Compared to the previous contract, this contract has seen a significant increase in both its duration and total amount.

After signing the contract, Jia Fei gave Art Mayork a big hug.

“Art, from now on no one will say that your contract was earned by so-and-so. You earned your contract all by yourself. Now that our contract terms are the same, we can decide our future together!” Jia Fei whispered in Art Mayork’s ear.

"Yeah, yeah, thank you, Ja. Without your encouragement, I thought I no longer belonged in the NBA. I'm so glad I'm still in the NBA, and I don't want to leave like this!" Art Mayork said with deep emotion.

On the same day, the Hawks also signed free agent Thabo Sefolosha.

Thabo Sefolosha is also a former Thunder player. As a defensive stalwart, he was the team's starting shooting guard during his time with the Thunder. However, due to injuries and age, and because the Thunder acquired Andre Roberson, a defensive wing player of the same type, the need for him is not as high.

The Hawks acquired Sefolosha to bolster their wing depth and improve their wing defense. Last season, their wing play was relatively thin, relying heavily on Jabeur's defense.

Jia Fei was also very happy that the Hawks were able to acquire Sefolosha. The two had a good relationship when they were with the Thunder, and Jia Fei had even learned defensive techniques from this defensive stalwart.

Although the details of the contract have not been disclosed, the Hawks did not pay a high price to acquire Sefolosha; it should be a contract slightly above the minimum salary.

The Hawks' approach to strengthening their roster is on the right track. One of their problems last season was a lack of 3-and-D players and an abundance of guards. Teague, Schroder, Shelvin Mark, and Jenkins are all point guards, but the team has very few true shooting guards.

Since the Hawks drafted a center in the recent draft, their interior depth is sufficient. This summer's focus should be on strengthening the wings, primarily adding two or three players.

The Hawks' roster improvements have been methodical, avoiding a risky gamble on future star players and instead opting for incremental upgrades and steady progress.