NBA's King of Talking

Chapter 137 Complete the signing

That evening, Jia Fei hosted a welcome dinner for Sharapova at a luxurious restaurant in a New York hotel. Also dining with them were Art Mayork and the Kemba Walker family.

Sharapova felt the warmth and hospitality of Jia Fei's friends and their family, which made her very happy. This was the first time she had ever experienced such a family atmosphere in a foreign country.

“Maria, if Ja bullies you again, just tell me, and I’ll teach him a lesson!” Kemba Walker patted his chest and promised.

"Yes, thank you!" Sharapova nodded with a smile. Jia Fei's friends were really interesting.

After dinner, everyone went out to play again. Afterwards, Jia Fei and Sharapova returned to the hotel together.

Before returning to the hotel, Kemba Walker asked meaningfully, "Jay, you're really not coming to stay at my place?"

Jia Fei nodded and said, "Yes, I need to be your protector, so I won't bother you at your house!"

Before leaving, Kemba Walker said, "I wish you happiness!"

Sharapova said to Jia Fei, "Your friends are really interesting!"

Jia Fei shrugged and said, "A bunch of frenemy friends, just don't take their jokes seriously."

I won't describe the battle scene at the hotel here. Before going to sleep, Sharapova softly asked, "Honey, have you decided where you want to play?" She was also looking into the current free agent market, and she saw that several teams were vying for her boyfriend, Jia Fei.

Jia Fei let out a long breath and said, "That's about it!"

Instead of having four competing teams, in the end there were only two candidates: the Hawks and the Raptors.

Neither of these teams has a dominant player; both currently have young rosteres, which is an environment he prefers. He's not afraid of competition, but he fears being suppressed. In Oklahoma City, he was indeed somewhat suppressed; it's unclear whether Coach Brooks genuinely looked down on him or if he responded to management's call to lower his price. Perhaps it's a combination of both, which is standard practice for any team, and there's not much to say about it.

Between the Raptors and the Hawks, Jia Fei prefers the latter, not only because the latter's contract is larger, but also because of their roster structure. With former Hawks star Josh Smith confirmed to be leaving, the Hawks lack particularly strong players at the two and three positions, giving him a good chance to become a starter. The Raptors currently have DeRozan and Gay at the two threes, meaning he would have to compete with them for a starting position, making his chances less favorable than with the Hawks.

Not to mention Art Mayork has already been signed by the Hawks, and they've already made their stance clear.

On July 3, just as Jia Fei was about to engage in further negotiations with the Hawks, the Hawks traded their guard Lou Williams to the Pistons.

This trade may seem insignificant at first glance, but the Hawks gained almost nothing in return, receiving only a trade exception, which is quite intriguing.

Jia Fei knew Lou Williams well. In his previous life, this young guard was one of the two super sixes on the Clippers with Harrell. The pick-and-roll combination elevated Old Lee to a very high position. His strengths and weaknesses were very clear: the better his offense, the worse his defense.

The Hawks don't actually lack guards; reports indicate they'll match offers from other teams for their guard Jeff Teague. They already have Shelvin Mack at point guard, and in the recent draft, they selected Dennis Schroder and Larkin with the 17th and 18th overall picks respectively, giving them an excess of point guards. Even though Larkin was traded to the Mavericks, they're still expected to have three point guards next season, and with Lou Williams, that makes four – a bit too many.

Lou Williams has talent, but his strengths and weaknesses are too obvious, and there's not much potential left to tap into. For the Hawks, it would be better to develop their 17th pick, Dennis Schroder, who is known as the "German Rondo".

However, none of these things surprised Jia Fei the most. What surprised him the most was that Lou Williams wore the number 3 jersey for the Hawks last season!

By giving away George W. Williams at this crucial moment, coupled with their earlier signing of Art Mayok, the Hawks' true intentions are probably obvious to everyone.

Jia Fei was genuinely moved. It was astonishing that a team would go to such lengths to acquire him. These things might seem like small gestures, but they truly demonstrated how much they wanted him and how much effort they put into it.

By this time, he had almost made up his mind.

The following day, Jia Fei met with Danny Ferry, the current general manager of the Hawks, to discuss cooperation.

Danny Ferry previously played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. After announcing his retirement in 2003, he served as the general manager of the Cavaliers, a member of the Spurs' management team, and the general manager of the Atlanta Hawks.

The meeting with Danny Ferry was pleasant, and Jia Fei felt "needed," something he rarely felt in Oklahoma City. It wasn't that Pu was less capable than Ferry, but rather that the teams' situations were very different.

The Hawks have ample salary cap space, and their playoff run last season makes their rebuilding process seem very healthy. The team currently has many promising young players, and what this team needs most right now is talent. Because they made the playoffs, they didn't have the opportunity to acquire high draft picks, making it unrealistic to rely on the draft to build talent. Therefore, searching for talented players in free agency is their priority.

Jia Fei is a rough gem yet to be fully developed; his dynamic and static talents are enviable, and he plays the hottest wing position in the league right now. This quickly made the Hawks, who have been searching for talented players, their target. Acquiring him doesn't require sacrificing the team's future assets; they only need to offer him a slightly overpriced contract. Many competitors can't do that, which is their advantage.

On July 7, in Atlanta, accompanied by Maria Sharapova, Kemba Walker, Art Mayork, and his agent Jeff Schwartz, Jia Fei smiled and signed his name on the contract.

After signing his name, Hawks General Manager Danny Ferry and Jia Fei shook hands warmly: "Jia, welcome to the Hawks!"

"Thank you, I'm honored to join the Hawks!" Jia Fei said with a smile.

Following the signing, Yahoo Sports reporter Wojnarowski reported that Slam Dunk champion Jia Fei signed a four-year, fully guaranteed contract worth $33 million with the Atlanta Hawks, with the fourth year being a player option.

As soon as the news came out, public opinion was in an uproar.

Jia Fei's move to the Hawks wasn't particularly surprising; reports had previously indicated the Hawks offered him a lucrative contract, though details remained undisclosed. What was surprising was that the contract was close to ten million dollars, considering Jia Fei averaged only 8.8 points per game with the Thunder last season…