Zhiba NBA

Chapter 104 (one hundred and three) I am the boss
The league is very busy this summer, the Bobcats have just finished tossing, and the draft is about to start again.

"We don't have many chips in this draft. Except for our own two picks, we only have the No. 76 pick from the 50ers in the second round (derived from the Thomas trade)." Dawson sighed: "Because we ranked first in the regular season, our draft picks are very poor. This year's outstanding rookies are considered to be out of our reach."

"Originally we still had the Suns' first-round pick, but we didn't expect the Suns to play too badly last season, ranking second to last in the Western Conference with only 31 wins. In the end, we got the No. 7 pick, which is protected by the top ten, so we can only get the Suns' pick next season." Yuan Fei smiled wryly.

"However, this pick in the coming year has become the protection of the top 7 picks, and it is likely to be a good pick!" Dawson expressed optimism.

But Yuan Fei knew that the Suns would soar into the sky and become a strong team in the league.Their future draft picks are worth less.

(This is a case about the protection of picks in the trade: because the draft picks involved in the trade negotiations did not meet the agreement on the protection of the top ten picks, they were postponed along with the trend. The Rockets will get the Suns’ first-round pick in 05, and the degree of protection will continue to decline during the delay.)
***
On June 6th, New York's Madison Square Garden, the annual draft conference was held again.Yuan Fei and Dawson, who came to the draft scene on behalf of the Rockets, became influential figures. After all, the Houston Rockets are the biggest winners this year.

"Brother Jason, we meet again!" Mark Cuban greeted Yuan Fei with the same enthusiasm as before: "I didn't expect you to win the championship. I really envy you!"

"It was almost killed by the Pistons, it was luck, luck!" Yuan Fei said politely.

Dumas passing by burst into tears.He was shot while lying down!
"Why didn't Mr. Alexander come this time?" Cuban asked curiously again.

"About this matter hey, you will know tomorrow."

***
Soon, Yuan Fei and Dawson found their seats and sat down to discuss the draft.

"To be honest, there is not much controversy about the top two this year. Dwight Howard is the biggest favorite for the No. [-] pick. He has height, jumping, speed, flexibility, and almost all the potential that a super center should have. Emile Okafor is also very good. Unfortunately, we really don't have the resources for a high draft this year, so we can't participate in the competition." Dawson sighed.

"Yeah, if I get the Suns' pick, I plan to strengthen the flanks. Both Luol Deng and Andre Iguodala can fill the vacancy that we lost Gerrard." Yuan Fei was also a little frustrated about this.

There were no upsets in the draft: The Magic didn't hesitate to pick Dwight Howard, the beast who will lead Orlando back to glory.

The Bobcats selected Emile Okafor.Okafor is well-known in college basketball. He blocked 138 shots as a freshman, breaking the NCAA record of 111 blocked shots held by former NBA player Marshall. Okafor, who was a junior in 04, led the University of Connecticut to overcome all obstacles and finally won the championship, and also won the MOP (Most Outstanding Player Award) in the semi-finals.But he will be 9 years old in September this year. He is more than 22 years older than Howard, who was born in December 85, and his development potential is obviously not as good as the latter.

With the third overall pick, the Bulls selected Ben Gordon, an alumnus of Okafor at UConn. "Gordon is a scoring machine. His breakthrough and shooting are very threatening, and his defense and rebounding are also good. But his passing is not good, and scouts suspect that he has character flaws." Dawson introduced.

Yuanfei couldn't help sighing when he heard this. Gordon's height is only 189cm, but his wingspan is as long as 204cm. As a guard, he has a good wingspan and has defensive potential. The evaluation of him in college is also good for defense.As a result, he became a defensive colander after arriving in the NBA. On the one hand, the NBA standard is too high, and on the other hand, Gordon did not meet a good coach to teach him the correct way to play.

The Clippers chose Sean Livingston, a big point guard with a height of more than 2 meters, and a thin version of Bodi Loga.

When it was finally the Rockets' 29th pick, Yuanfei's favorites Deng and Iguodala were picked up by others early on.Only then did Yuan Fei finally make a decision:
The Rockets selected Anderson Varejao from Brazil!
(Small knowledge: Why is the Rockets the 29th pick in the first round instead of the 30th pick? In 1998, the Timberwolves and Joe Smith reached a private agreement. The Wolves signed Smith at a two-year 2 million far below the market price, and secretly promised Smith a fat contract in the future. 175 draft picks, 5 second round picks)
In fact, the player Yuanfei wants more is the small forward Trevor Ariza who will be 19 years old.But when Dameng retired and Okur failed to renew his contract, the Rockets needed to add an insider.Considering the team as a whole, Varejao is the best choice.

With the 43rd pick, the New York Knicks selected Trevor Ariza.Yuan Fei immediately went to ask the Knicks if they had any intention of trading. The Rockets were willing to exchange the remaining two draft picks, but they were rejected.This is very natural. The first few picks in the second round are good things, and the last few picks in the second round are almost useless.Because the undrafted rookies can also be recruited by any team for trial training or even signed, the remaining few people, it doesn't make much difference whether they are selected or not.

With the 50th overall pick, the Rockets selected point guard Vasilis Spanoulis from Greece.

The 59th pick, the Rockets wanted to give it away for cash, but no one wanted it. In the end, they chose Rashad White casually.

In this way, the Rockets' draft has added two overseas rookies who are nearly 2 years old and a leftover man who has no hope at all.Everything seems to be in line with the Rockets' overseas expansion and market development plan, and many media published praises for Alexander's wise management.Woking published a draft summary article, in which he pretended to praise Alexander not only for guiding the team to achieve great results in sports, but also for his contribution to the league's marketing and global promotion.

The next day, a big news broke and slapped them in the face.Leslie Alexander, the original owner of the Rockets, announced that he would sell most of the team's shares to a mysterious rich man from China.Since then, Alexander has only participated in a small amount of business affairs as a minority shareholder of the team, and the main management power of the team has been controlled by the mysterious Chinese local tycoon Wang Changming.

"Who is this Wang Changming?" American media asked this question one after another.Some tabloids have even begun to research whether the behind-the-scenes boss Wang Changming is related to the Rockets player Wang Zhizhi.

A few days later, someone finally dug up the father-son relationship between Jason Wang, the chief data analyst of the Rockets, and Wang Changming, the backstage boss.After reading this report, Mark Cuban finally realized that this data analyst is not only an employee, but also a small boss behind the scenes!

When Wojin saw this message, his face turned green.

　It's the offseason again, and it's actually more difficult for me to write about the offseason.The next chapter is about the Lakers, and then the Rockets deal!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)