543 A bad person

On the open-air balcony, a gentle breeze blew, the view was vast, and so was the easing of his mind.

Smith did not avoid the issue, thus admitting candidly, "Yes, I know I'm a troublemaker."

Li Wei couldn't help but laugh, "If all trouble had such self-awareness, it would be much easier to solve."

Smith lightly shook his head, "Not necessarily."

"If I refuse to compromise, I become a problem for the team and the players."

"As it stands, my salary is already squeezing the salary cap, but my goal is to keep increasing my annual pay," he continued. "The team is definitely going to face a dilemma with the cap, and they might not be able to fix gaps in free agency—God, our secondary defense really needs some support."

"My salary might even take up so much space that the team would have to cut staff, losing other key roles from our current lineup."

At this point, the consequences of Veach's choice to pick two first-round rookies last year became apparent.