Dempsey brought Tang Tian in for the discussion with Stevens.

Tang Tian was the team's core player, and with his suggestions proving effective, his voice in management was getting louder and louder.

Tang Tian was a coach in his past life, so he was well-acquainted with these coaches.

Hollins was the first one he ruled out.

Hollins was a star player in his playing days, quite arrogant at heart, and with a strong desire to control the team, but poor interpersonal skills.

In other words, he was a better fit as a head coach than an assistant coach. If he came, he might argue with Stevens every day.

Then came Brown and Bickerstaff.

Tang Tian preferred Bickerstaff.

Bickerstaff was completely inadequate as a head coach, but he was excellent as a defensive assistant coach, and young with potential, he would get along well with Stevens.

Brown was somewhere between Hollins and Bickerstaff. Having come from the Spurs system, his ability was unquestionable.

But after all, he had spent most of his career as a head coach, and James's head coach at that. It was hard to say whether he would submit to Stevens, this young coach.

Dempsey listened to Tang Tian's opinion and then asked Stevens, and Stevens had no objections.

The next day, he flew to Boston, preparing for a more in-depth negotiation with Bickerstaff.

But unexpectedly, this trip was in vain.

After hearing that the Pelicans were coming to poach again, Ainge had a long conversation with Bickerstaff overnight, and finally successfully persuaded the latter to stay.

Just like D'Antoni back then, the Pelicans' first assistant coach flew away.

But at least he had experience in this area before, so Dempsey didn't waste time and flew directly to Cleveland to discuss the contract with Brown.

Brown was unemployed at home, and the negotiation went smoothly.

Soon the two sides reached a two-year, $2 million joining contract.

Brown's situation was special. He returned to the Cavaliers as head coach in 2015, but the five-year, $20 million contract was terminated before it was completed.

The result was that he was still receiving a salary of $5 million a year from the Cavaliers this year.

So he didn't pursue money so much now. On the contrary, he now urgently needed to go to a place with exposure and where he could prove himself.

Because only in that way could he find a head coaching job in the league again.

The Pelicans were the kind of place he wanted to go now.

After signing the contract, Brown went to New Orleans with Dempsey.

After arriving in New Orleans, Dempsey arranged for Stevens and Brown to meet, and brought Tang Tian along as well.

After the three met, they mainly talked about the team's defensive system.

Brown's understanding was very close to Stevens's, and he also had some personal insights.

He hoped to add more frontcourt pressing in the defense, which could reduce the opponent's time to launch positional attacks, which would be effective against teams like the Spurs and Clippers who are good at positional play.

He also felt that the Rockets' current defensive system could be used as a reference, allowing Jokic to shrink as much as possible under the basket on the defensive end to protect him, and also to maximize Davis's defensive speed and coverage area.

These two insights caused Tang Tian and Stevens to nod their heads one after another.

As far as defense is concerned, Brown really had a set of skills, and it seemed that he hadn't been idle these past few years of unemployment.

But all of this was within Tang Tian's expectations. What really surprised him was Brown's communication skills.

This guy, nicknamed "Bread," looked simple and honest, but he knew the art of speaking very well. In just half an hour, he praised Stevens and Tang Tian no less than four or five times.

This kind of personality can only be known after getting along, and now it can be regarded as a pleasant surprise.

With Brown's personality, he can quickly integrate into the Pelicans and also play a part of Williams's previous role.

But thinking about it, this is also a reasonable thing. Brown was criticized by fans when he was in Cleveland, but his relationship with James was very close.

This also indirectly shows his interpersonal skills.

The next day, the Pelicans officially announced Brown's joining the coaching staff, but did not disclose the specific details of the contract.

This news also caused heated discussions among fans.

"Brown is really getting worse and worse. He won the best coach after only two years of being the head coach in Cleveland. After that, he was continuously fired as head coach, and now he can only be an assistant coach..."

"Wasn't that best coach given by James? Manual smirk."

"Brown's ability as a head coach is indeed a bit lacking, but I believe he can still do well as an assistant coach. His defensive skills are still very good."

"None of these are important. Didn't you find that there may be an exciting scene this year? The Pelicans have a chance to reach the Finals this year!"

"Brown, as James's mentor, is going to face James in the Finals?"

"Not only that, but he's still getting paid by the Cavaliers~"

"Tsk! I suddenly look forward to the Pelicans getting past the Warriors this year and playing the Cavaliers in the Finals. That would be very interesting!"

……

Fans were talking about it on social media, but the reality was more interesting than their discussions.

Because Brown's first game after joining the Cavaliers was the Pelicans playing the Cavaliers at home.

What fans expected to happen in the Finals will be staged in New Orleans the next day.

The Pelicans and Warriors are leading the way in the West, but the Cavaliers are in a class of their own in the East this year.

With more and more complete integration and an unprecedentedly strong lineup, their current record of 34 wins and 8 losses is also very impressive.

And they won the Warriors in the Christmas game before. If they can win the Pelicans again, then their confidence in winning the championship this season will become unprecedentedly strong.

Not to mention Brown's point.

However, after a piece of news broke out by Woj, none of these became so important.

According to Woj, when the Heat selected in 2011, Pat Riley once asked James about whether to choose Tang Tian. James's opinion at the time was that the team already had Miller and Battier, and did not need Tang Tian.

This news came out and immediately detonated the media and social media.

Woj is the most reliable reporter for NBA news, and the news he broke is basically the truth.

Moreover, his relationship with James's team is average. Choosing to break this news before the two teams played against each other was obviously to make trouble.

But it doesn't matter whether it's making trouble or not, because this news at least illustrates two things.

James was interfering with the management when he was in the Heat, and James's opinion led to the Heat missing out on Tang Tian!

Considering the various grievances between Tang Tian and James afterwards, this is definitely the most explosive news this year!