In the final battle of the CBA regular season, Guangdong Hongyuan lost to the Tianjin Pioneers who missed the playoffs by one point in overtime. The undefeated golden body in the third stage was broken. Prior to this, Guangdong Hongyuan played a wave of 12 consecutive wins, Hu Mingxuan, Xu Jie, Waters, Weems, Zhou Qi and other major players have improved, and the new foreign aid Jordan Bell has also perfectly integrated into Guangdong's tactical system. Guangdong Hongyuan, which has a profound championship heritage, is the biggest favorite to win the championship except for Liaoning, Zhejiang and Xinjiang. Du Feng also has the confidence and confidence to lead Guangdong Hongyuan to attack the 12th CBA championship trophy.
Before the end of the second phase of the game, Guangdong Hongyuan suddenly announced the termination of the contract with the team's meritorious foreign aid Marshon Brooks. After Marchand left the team, Weems regained his form, and Guangdong Hongyuan's forward shortcomings have been solved. But Weems is already a 38-year-old veteran, and it is definitely not Guangdong Hongyuan's long-term plan. And there have been recent negative remarks about Weems doping. Although it has been confirmed to be a rumor, from an age perspective, it seems that Weems will part ways with Guangdong Hongyuan next season, and the Guangdong team is likely to find a new foreign partner Waters next season. According to Cantonese media reports: Guangdong Hongyuan is likely to complete a 3-for-1 deal with the Jilin team that missed the playoffs this offseason. The specific content of this deal was sent by the Guangdong team, and the inside players Zhang Mingchi, Li Yizhen, and some cash were used as trading chips to get the foreign aid of the Jilin team, Peterson.
Petersen, who played for Nanjing Tongxi last season, switched to Jilin this season. On March 10, 2024, Beijing time, the Jilin men's basketball team lost to the Guangdong men's basketball team 113-121, but Peterson performed well, playing 42 minutes with a single foreign aid, shooting 14 of 30 (9 of 17 three-pointers) and 15 of 18 free throws, scoring a game-high 52 points, plus 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals, with a plus/minus of +9. Peterson's outstanding performance attracted the praise of the coach of the Guangdong team, Du Feng, and his outstanding performance also left a deep impression on the management of the Guangdong team. Peterson has excellent individual combat ability, and has been the team's top scorer in the CBA league in recent seasons, and has a relatively good understanding of the environment and tactical play of the domestic league. The Jilin team, which missed the playoffs, has not been in good economic conditions in recent seasons, and they have sent away meritorious coach Wang Han and ace foreign aid Jones one after another.
If they complete the deal with Guangdong, they can get a cash compensation from Guangdong Hongyuan to ease the team's financial pressure. On the other hand, the Jilin team is currently in the rebuilding stage, and young players such as Zhang Mingchi and Li Yizhen are important assets for their reconstruction. From the perspective of the lineup, the inner line of the Jilin team is aging, Li An, Cui Jinming and Zhong Cheng are older, and the inner line of the Jilin team needs some fresh blood to join to accelerate the pace of reconstruction. Li Yizhen is a potential defender cultivated by the Guangdong team, and he can be used as a substitute for Jiang Weize to increase the bench depth of the Jilin team's back line.
Zhang Mingchi and Xu Xin are both young players promoted by Zhu Fangyu, the general manager of Guangdong Hongyuan, from the Hongyuan youth team, Zhu Fangyu has high hopes for these two young players, but their growth rate has been slow since they joined the first team, and Zhou Qi's momentum next season is basically healed, which will squeeze Zhang Mingchi's playing time to a certain extent, so the Guangdong team dares to use them as trading chips in exchange for Peterson's right of first refusal to succeed Weems.