NBA: The Dynasty Crasher

"If you slide over to the three, then our low-post offense is left with just Ewing. And with the way his body's holding up, he's mostly relying on jumpers. Driving inside is just gonna burn him out, and that's bad for the squad," Van Gundy told Zhao Dong.

"Ain't that his choice? If he wants to prove he can carry the Knicks' paint without me, let him," Zhao Dong shot back coldly.

Van Gundy sucked in a sharp breath.

That was bold as hell. Zhao Dong was straight-up calling Ewing out, basically forcing him to step up by switching positions.

If he really moved Zhao Dong to small forward, then unless he benched Oakley and started Larry Johnson, Ewing would have no choice but to dominate the paint. Otherwise, the interior would be wide open. But with Ewing's legs not what they used to be, could he really handle that?

And another thing—could Zhao Dong really lock down the perimeter and run the offense at the same time?

"Zhao, I gotta run this by management," Van Gundy finally said.

"Cool. I was about to hit up Grunfeld myself," Zhao Dong replied.

That set off alarms in Van Gundy's head. A confrontation? A power move?

"Zhao, maybe we let Ringo and Grunfeld handle this?" Oakley suggested.

Zhao Dong thought about it for a second and nodded.

Van Gundy and Oakley both let out a quiet sigh of relief.

As soon as they left, Van Gundy wasted no time getting to the next room to find Grunfeld, explaining the whole situation.

After listening, Grunfeld's expression turned dark as hell.

He wasn't happy about Zhao Dong trying to force the team's hand, but he was even more pissed at Houston and his agent for stirring things up.

"If this keeps up, I might have to trade him next season," he muttered.

"Trade who?" Van Gundy asked.

"Who else? Houston," Grunfeld said bluntly.

Van Gundy hesitated before bringing up something even heavier. "What about Zhao vs. Ewing…?"

Grunfeld's face tensed up.

"A battle between the old and the new?"

His head started throbbing. Damn it. Why couldn't this transition be smooth? Why did one of them have to go?

"Patrick, man… why the hell did you suddenly start jacking up shots like this? Can't you just keep your usual attempts?" he muttered in frustration.

"Maybe he saw how the team went all in to push Zhao Dong as an All-Star starter?" Van Gundy offered.

Grunfeld nodded. "A sense of crisis. I get it. But he's going about it all wrong."

Van Gundy took a deep breath before asking the biggest question. "If this really turns into a battle for the core, would the front office actually trade Zhao Dong?"

Grunfeld froze, then let out a bitter chuckle.

Just a few months ago, he and management had rejected the idea of trading Ewing for Shaq. They even fired Nelson to keep Ewing happy. And now, the very guy he personally signed to lead the next generation was clashing with their franchise icon?

"Who do I back here?" he asked himself.

Back then, it was easy. He would've picked Ewing without hesitation. He had literally chosen a 34-year-old Ewing over a 24-year-old Shaq.

But now? He wasn't so sure.

Zhao Dong was his guy. He had locked him in with a big contract and built him up as the team's next franchise player. And Zhao was delivering—playing at an All-Star level as a rookie, already matching Ewing's early-career impact.

If he turned on Zhao now, it would mean everything he'd planned was a mistake.

"Who the hell do I back?" he asked himself again.

But no matter which side he picked, this team—this squad that looked so damn strong—would eventually break apart.

"Damn it! Why can't they just co-exist?" he cursed.

His frustration with Ewing kept growing. This was on him. Zhao was already getting fewer touches than he deserved. No young star would tolerate that, especially not the guy the front office was banking on.

"Jeff, let Zhao play the three. Let's see how it goes," Grunfeld finally said.

Van Gundy frowned. "That might push things to the edge. I'm not talking about Zhao and Houston—I mean Zhao and Ewing."

Grunfeld gritted his teeth. "What choice do we have? Let it escalate. It's gonna happen eventually. We just need to get this sorted before the playoffs."

His expression darkened even more. "And Houston… he followed Ewing and took shots at Zhao. No matter what, we're handling his contract in the offseason."

---

Meanwhile, Zhao Dong finally got what he'd been waiting for—another system mission.

Lately, the system had been quiet. The last big reward came after shutting down the Bulls, and that was over a month ago.

Team Sniper Mission:

With Karl Malone out for revenge and team drama boiling over, the host must dominate his new role and prove his worth. Lead the Knicks to a win over the Utah Jazz while completing the mission objectives.

Rewards: Choose between John Stockton's playmaking talent or Karl Malone's strength.

Mission Goals:

Score 40+ points and 10+ rebounds with over 50% shooting.

Get 5 blocks.

Get 5 steals.

Dole out 4 assists.

Hit 5 threes.

Commit no more than 3 turnovers.

Win the game.

Zhao Dong reread the mission details multiple times.

This was different. In past sniper missions, the only goal was winning. Now, he had to hit multiple objectives.

What the hell does this mean?

His eyes locked onto two words: "new position."

Wait. Was the system predicting the team would actually move him to small forward?

It wasn't just a position change—it was a shift in control. He'd take over half the team's possessions and command the perimeter.

Would the coaching staff really go for this?

Would management let it happen?

More importantly—would Ewing?

If Ewing had a problem with Zhao taking his paint touches, there was a real chance this could turn into a trade situation.

Before he could overthink it, the system dropped another mission.

Hall of Fame Sniper Mission:

Dunk on Karl Malone and don't let him dunk on you.

Dunk on Karl Malone (again) and don't get dunked on.

Block Karl Malone three times without getting blocked.

Reward: Complete all objectives for a prize draw.

Then another mission followed.

Hall of Fame-Level Sniper Mission:

Force John Stockton into 5 turnovers.

Block 3 shots.

Don't get ripped by the opponent.

Reward: Complete all objectives to gain Stockton's random elite ability.

Zhao Dong stared at the missions, his competitive fire burning.

There was no room for doubt anymore. The only thing left to do was show out tomorrow night.

First, take care of the team sniper mission. Then handle the Hall of Fame challenges.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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