Although the preseason stats aren't included in player statistics, Tang Tian's double-double wasn't a career milestone.

But this game had completely made the Spurs' coaching staff aware of Tang Tian's passing ability.

"This guy must have used some kind of black technology, otherwise I really can't imagine how his passing could improve so much in one offseason."

Budenholzer said in summary after watching the game.

Popovich nodded.

But this wasn't a Hollywood movie, where would black technology come from!

It could only be said that their coaching staff's scouting and development last season weren't thorough enough.

The biggest difference between the NBA and ordinary professional arenas is that the margin for error is very low here.

So most players are very cautious when it comes to showing their skills.

There are many examples of this, such as Perkins and McGee, who are criticized by countless fans for not being able to dribble, but they can still show off their crossover dribbles on the blacktop.

But in the NBA, they can't try those things, because the coaching staff needs the part they're best at, not everything.

So Tang Tian's passing improvement looks amazing, but for Popovich and the others, it's within the scope of understanding and acceptance.

The starters on both sides basically only played for less than three quarters, and in the end, the Spurs' bench played more consistently, winning the game 103-96.

Preseason wins and losses don't matter, and the team's starters don't play much time.

But after this game, fans on Twitter were discussing it a lot, and the main reason was naturally Tang Tian.

"10 assists? Oh my god, am I seeing things?"

"I didn't watch this game because the live broadcast signal was really bad, but 10 assists? The Godfather averaged less than 2 assists per game last season!"

"You guys definitely didn't watch the Olympics. The Godfather averaged almost 8 assists in 6 games for the Chinese team. You wouldn't say that if you watched it."

"Dude, the broadcast signal over in the UK is really bad. I only watched the final of the national team games. You expect us to watch the Chinese team's games?"

"Okay, but anyway, Tang's passing this season will greatly increase the Spurs' strength!"

"I really want to see the Spurs' games back in the States now!"

"Me too! As a season ticket holder, I'm indescribably happy right now!"

...

After two days of rest, the second game of the China tour was played at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai.

Both sides had starters resting in this game. The Spurs' GDP were all resting, and Nowitzki on the Mavericks side was also sitting on the sidelines in a suit.

But this didn't affect the enthusiasm of the fans watching the game, because Tang Tian and Yi Jianlian would both play.

And Yi Jianlian directly became the Mavericks' starting power forward!

It could be seen that Yi Jianlian's rotation order in the Mavericks was very high.

Yi Jianlian started strong, scoring 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 blocks, and made 3 three-pointers.

With his help, the Mavericks finally won back a game at their home court with a score of 96-90.

After the game, coach Carlisle praised Yi Jianlian's performance and jokingly said that the team would have to spend a lot of money next season to keep him.

Although the Spurs lost, it was more because the GDP didn't play.

More important than winning or losing was that Tang Tian showed his passing talent again.

Although Carlisle had targeted his defense, he still put up 16 points, 6 assists, and 2 steals in three quarters.

This performance also made Popovich start to joke after the game.

"The whole world knows that the Heat have become stronger, the Thunder have become stronger, the Clippers have become stronger, the Nuggets have become stronger, everyone has reinforcements in the summer, and so do we. Look at Tang, we've brought in a versatile swingman."

These words amused the reporters.

But everyone could understand Popovich's mood now.

The changes that a 3&D player and a 3&D player who can pass the ball can bring to the team are obviously different.

After the end of the China tour, the Spurs returned to San Antonio to continue their preseason journey.

Last year, because it was a shortened season, there were only 2 preseason games in total.

But this year, as the season returned to normal, the Spurs had a total of 7 preseason games.

In the next month, they played against the Nuggets, Rockets, Magic, Wizards, and Hawks.

Last season's experience made Popovich pay more attention to the team's physical fitness. The GDP, and even Diaw, didn't play much time in the subsequent preseason games.

He gave more playing time to Tang Tian, Leonard, and Green.

In the words of the old man himself: young people have a lot of energy and nowhere to release it, so they need to play more games to release it.

Parker, Ginobili, Diaw, and Duncan didn't play much, and the team's organizational responsibilities, in addition to falling on Mills and Joseph, also fell on Tang Tian.

Popovich really used him as a versatile swingman.

Tang Tian didn't let Popovich down either.

In 7 games, he averaged 15.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks, with a 49% shooting percentage and a 50% three-point shooting percentage.

He not only retained his three-point shooting percentage and defense from last season, but also did a great job in organizing the team's offense, which made Popovich very satisfied.

Although the overall data wasn't very eye-catching due to the limited playing time, and didn't attract the attention of other teams.

But the Spurs' coaching staff had a direct step up in their evaluation and understanding of Tang Tian's performance.

They began to think that Tang Tian had the potential to become Ginobili's successor.

The preseason games of each team were gradually coming to an end, and the new season was also coming soon.

But the Thunder had become the focus of attention for major reporters at this time.

Not long after the free market opened, they finalized Ibaka's early contract extension, but they hadn't reached a consensus with James Harden on the amount of the contract extension.

And as time went by, this wasn't just about whether they could extend the contract early.

On October 30th, before the end of the preseason, the Thunder's management gave Harden and his team an ultimatum.

If Harden couldn't renew his contract with the team's final offer of a 4-year, 56 million contract (this amount was the highest amount the Thunder could offer without paying luxury tax next season), they would consider trading Harden directly.

This news, which was revealed by local Oklahoma City reporter Keller, instantly exploded the league.

However, before everyone could recover, just 1 hour later, well-known league reporter Woj broke the news that the Thunder and Rockets had reached a trade.

The Thunder sent out James Harden, Cole Aldrich, Lazar Hayward, and Daequan Cook, and traded Kevin Martin, this year's 12th pick Jeremy Lamb, and future draft picks from the Rockets.

The Thunder's Fab Four dynasty ended before it even began.