"Trouble."
In the conference room, Malone frowned as he glanced at the report on the table, clearly dissatisfied.
The overall picture was already clear.
In the West, the Kings and the Warriors were meeting once again in the Western Conference Finals, while in the East, the Celtics had easily swept past Milwaukee, becoming the first to advance to the Eastern Finals.
On the other side, however, the Cavaliers had unexpectedly fallen into a tough battle.
Perhaps last year's Finals had drained every bit of their energy and spirit, because when they faced the ambitious Wizards in the second round, the Cavaliers' Big Three struggled hard.
Whether it was DeMarcus Cousins dominating the paint or the smooth chemistry between Wall and Beal on the perimeter, Cleveland found themselves stretched thin.
It wasn't until Game 6 that they finally managed to clinch the series, 4–2.
Although they advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, fans couldn't help but question whether the Cavaliers still had what it took to compete.
The final matchups were set:
Western Conference Finals — Sacramento Kings vs. Golden State Warriors.
Eastern Conference Finals — Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Boston Celtics.
It could be said that the two real threats to the Kings — the Cavaliers and the Warriors — were both still standing.
"I thought at least one of Washington or San Antonio would make it further. Didn't expect them both to fold so fast."
Malone grumbled, grabbing his water glass and gulping down a large mouthful.
"Relying on others is the mindset of the weak," Chen Yilun said calmly from across the table.
"So what if both of them are still around? If others can't beat them, then we just have to."
"Easy for you to say."
Malone snorted in disbelief.
"I just wanted to make things a little easier for our young guys."
"Speaking of which…"
Sensing the conversation had stalled, Chen Yilun quickly switched topics.
"What are our chances against the Warriors this year?"
"Hmm…"
Malone thought for a moment before replying seriously, "It'd be arrogant to say 100%, but I'd say at least 80%."
"So confident?"
Chen Yilun raised an eyebrow, looking amused.
"Naturally."
Malone smiled faintly, the picture of calm confidence.
"With a roster this deep, if I'm not confident, I might as well step down as coach."
But beneath the relaxed facade, Malone wasn't as sure as he looked.
He was under immense pressure — from media attention, from fans' expectations, from the weight of his own position.
All of it had forced the coach, only three years into his tenure, to sharpen himself constantly.
After two years of growth alongside the team, Malone had gone from a rookie coach to someone capable of holding his own against the league's veterans.
"This year, my plan is…"
Malone trailed off, then suddenly reached across Chen Yilun's desk — ignoring the sharp glare he got in return — and grabbed a cigar, lighting it up without hesitation.
"…to let Durant go all out. Just target their Barnes."
Since the Warriors had failed to land Durant last year, their starting forward was still Barnes.
Meanwhile, their former Finals MVP Andre Iguodala, now slowed by age, could only contribute off the bench.
"Perfect!"
Chen Yilun nodded repeatedly, clearly approving.
Exactly — that's how it should be.
Why bother playing tactical chess when you can bulldoze through? If I'm already flying dragons in your face, what's the point of strategy?
"There's something else," Malone said, interrupting Chen Yilun's victorious daydream about crushing the Western Finals.
"This postseason's gone long, and the draft lottery's coming up soon. Personally, I suggest we don't draft too many players this year."
Malone's tone carried genuine exasperation.
There were simply too many players.
During the regular season, so many new faces had come and gone that just remembering all their names had taken Malone nearly half a month.
And this year, Chen Yilun still had a stack of draft picks in hand.
Because of the CJ trade two years ago, the Kings' first-round pick now belonged to the Trail Blazers.
Their own second-round pick had gone to the Bulls in the Butler deal.
All that remained was a Suns second-round pick from the Mozgov trade.
There was also the Heat's 2017 first-round pick — originally lottery-protected when acquired back in 2015 — which became valid after Miami made the playoffs as the eighth seed.
That pick now officially belonged to the Kings.
And finally, there was another second-round pick from the 76ers via the TJ McConnell trade.
In short, Chen Yilun held one first-round and two second-round picks this year.
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
Just talking about it gave Chen Yilun a headache.
He'd gone overboard collecting "bargain" picks, and now the roster space was completely blown out.
Any other GM would've been holding a clearance sale by now.
But Chen Yilun knew how much potential those developing young players had — and he couldn't bring himself to trade them away.
"Two at most, okay?" he said tentatively.
"You still want two?!"
Malone choked on his cigar smoke, coughing violently.
"Do you even know what's going on with our roster?"
He stood up, counting on his fingers as he spoke.
"CJ's leaving this offseason. Even if we don't re-sign Ben, our depth's already stretched thin!"
"LeVert, Murray, Siakam, VanVleet, Caruso, Finney-Smith — these guys spent an entire year grinding in the G-League. You're not giving them a chance next season?"
"If you bring in two more rookies, how are we supposed to develop anyone? The G-League's already packed!"
Among those players, LeVert, Murray, and Siakam were all first-round picks — locked in on four-year contracts, so no worries there.
But VanVleet, Caruso, and Finney-Smith were on non-guaranteed or two-way deals, waiting eagerly for their call-up.
If they didn't get a chance this year, they might just walk and sign minimum contracts elsewhere — at least then they'd get some garbage-time minutes.
"I know it's a tough call."
Chen Yilun gestured for Malone to calm down.
"But there are players I really like this year. If we don't take them, I swear we'll regret it."