Start coaching the Thunder, starting with Westbrook

Chapter 10 Draft KD
On June 2013, 6, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the new NBA Draft is underway.

At this time, Coach Brooks didn't know that someone had successfully stolen his home and mixed into the Thunder's team participating in the draft.

If it is said that Li Sheng's "Longzhong Match" in the Bennett family only made Presti think that choosing him as a coach is not bad, then Li Sheng gave him a new understanding on the issue of rookies.

Li Sheng suggested that he first choose the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo with the No. 12 pick, and then the other two picks, one of which has reached an agreement.

The Thunder, the Suns and the Warriors agreed to swap draft picks. The Thunder will get the No. 26 pick that the Warriors got from the Timberwolves, the Suns will get the No. 29 pick from the Thunder, and the Warriors will get the rights to sign 30 first-round picks.

Presti intends to use this pick to select Robertson, and Li Sheng has no objection.

But for another pick, he hopes that Presti can seek an upward trade from the Clippers or the Nuggets. If he can succeed, he will choose the Frenchman Rudy Gobert.

If the deal can't be made, it shouldn't be a big problem to choose Gobert with the 26th pick and Robertson with the second round pick, provided that Robertson was not selected before.

Presti's vision is actually not bad. Adams and Robertson are not bad in this rookie class, but there are better choices now.

Of course, Presti has no opinion on Gobert and Robertson, but regarding the choice of Adams, Presti actually argued with Li Sheng for a long time.

Adams performed very well in the physical test. He is undoubtedly a lottery pick. He has played in the Big East for a year and was selected for the rookie team. He can adapt to the basketball of the United States.

On the contrary, the current Antetokounmpo, who is thin and thin, has only played in European leagues before. Although he has great potential, it is hard to say whether he can realize it.

Anyway, apart from the Bucks and Li Sheng, it is estimated that no other NBA team will be optimistic about him.

The key lies in the fact that Presti wants to find a main center in the future. After all, Perkins is very old and will almost retire after the end of the remaining two years of his contract. As the general manager of the team, he naturally has to think about the future of the team.

Currently, in addition to Perkins, the Thunder also have Thabeet and Orton as substitutes at the center positions. However, both of them have only one-year contracts. Judging by their performance, the Thunder will not stay. Naturally, they must grab a rookie center and train them well.

The Thunder's shooting guard and center are actually weak positions. The Swiss Army Knife at shooting guard is weak in defense and strong in offense, and the 2K god Lamb is strong in offense and weak in defense. However, Dewey and Dewey are on the outside. In fact, a reliable 3D player is enough, so Sefolosha can secure the starting position.

In the future, Robertson will replace Sefolosha, and the defense will have its own strengths, but the offense will be weakened even more.

Presti chose Robertson and Adams in order to make up for the weaknesses of these two positions in the future. After all, with Dewey occupying a big contract and Ibaka, it is too difficult to sign from the free market. It is better to cultivate rookies.

Anyway, with a full lineup, the probability of a rookie playing is still very high.

However, Li Sheng still convinced him, because in fact, the Thunder has always been short of a substitute for Durant, and if Antetokounmpo grows up smoothly, he can swing between the third and fourth positions.

At the beginning, Patricia once said that the future of basketball will be a sport of five tall men with a height of two meters.

Presti also heard Li Sheng mention the possible development direction of the league in the future. This is a combination of the past. Because of the success of James and the growth of Leonard of the Spurs, more and more people are aware of the impact of the striker position on the game.

Coupled with the fact that the core of the Thunder itself is a small forward, Presti certainly hopes that this will be the trend in the future.

Gambling with a lottery pick is a bit crazy, but even choosing Adams may not be able to guarantee the success rate, let alone Gobert's backup, it seems that it is not a loss.

Originally, this year was already a small year, and everyone didn't have too much hope for these rookies. If you lose a bet and win a small loss, it's a bloody profit.

Of course, Robertson also has to choose as much as possible. First, he will be a substitute for half a season, and then decide whether to pull him into the starting lineup depending on the growth rate.

If Robertson plays shooting guard in the starting position, it is to strengthen the defense, especially against the opponent's outside arrows. It is not a big problem to teach him by Sefolosha.

And Antetokounmpo takes a long time to train, so it's good to play a dozen more substitutes, especially with a substitute lineup to practice organization.

As for Gobert, in fact, he is the same as Adams, relying on his height and physique, he can now have a certain level of combat power, especially in the European League.

Westbrook's organization can't be said to be very good, but it still has a good way of cooperating with the inside.

And these three rookies in different positions, if they can seamlessly cut in, although their immediate combat power is not that strong, they all have to start from the bench, but it can not only strengthen their rotation lineup, but also enrich their tactical layout.

"So this draft is very important. We need to select rookies with real potential. In the regular season, training in games can help them grow up quickly, and they may be able to play a role in the playoffs."

To say that rookies can't count on the first two years means that they can only play in the rotation, and the pressure on rookies in the playoffs is too great to perform.

But if you can play for a few minutes, it is no problem to share some pressure on the main force.

In the previous life, the Thunder made it to the Western Conference Finals in the next season. If the three rookies are trained well, they will definitely be able to effectively enhance their strength.

Presti approved of his idea, because Li Sheng obviously had a whole set of ideas, at least until he hit a wall in reality, it was really hard for him as a layman to refute.

At this moment, a tall and thin man suddenly walked by, Li Sheng looked up and was stunned.

And Presti immediately introduced to Li Yong when he saw it: "I guess I don't need to introduce, you should know who he is."

This is simply a joke, you know it all too well!
This is the first time Li Sheng met Durant, and his first impression was that this guy is so tall.

Even if he was pulled over by Presti and sat down next to him, he still looked very "huge".

Moreover, this guy has long hands and long legs. To a certain extent, he really looks like a big brother with "hands above his knees".

Of course, the most eye-catching thing is his unique temperament. Li Sheng suddenly felt that he was going through a construction site to ask for salary.

When Presti was about to introduce Li Sheng to Durant, Durant suddenly waved his hand and said, "No need to introduce, I know him."

Li Sheng laughed and said, "Nice to meet you, KD?"

"Me too, buddy..." Durant said he wanted to make some black gestures with him, and then suddenly realized that Li Sheng probably wouldn't.

Unexpectedly, Li Sheng came over and gestured with him a few times. Although it was wrong, Durant couldn't help laughing.

Presti, who was next to him, was relieved to see this scene, at least the result of their first meeting was not bad.

Of course Durant is also very curious about Li Sheng, because he has been to the finals once, so every season that fails to win the championship is a failure for him.

Fortunately, James failed to defend his title this year, otherwise the media would probably hype the fact that James overwhelmed him again.

Therefore, Durant is of course very concerned about the Spurs' championship, and it is inevitable that he noticed the breaking news of Li Sheng.

But he never thought that the Spurs' assistant coach would appear next to the team manager Presti at this time.

Of course he didn't know that standing in front of him was his future head coach. He thought he was here to negotiate a deal with Presti on behalf of the Spurs, so after saying hello, he sat down and asked Presti what choice he had.

As the core of the team, no one would refuse him to participate in the Rookie Conference, and even Presti needed to ask him what he thought.

When Westbrook was not injured, Durant would rather go home and practice slowly, occasionally surf the Internet, use the trumpet to see who is praising him, give a compliment if he says something good, and say something bad about him.

But now Westbrook's news is still undecided, and he has no idea in his heart, so he wants to see how the team's rookies are doing, and also try the feeling of the big brother.

After all, that's how he came here back then, and now that he's in his early years, he can pretend to be a big boss instead, although his temperament doesn't look like it.

Of course, Presti picked out the discussion between himself and Li Sheng and told Durant first. Unexpectedly, after listening to Durant, he asked, "Are there any good options for PG?"

(End of this chapter)