Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 71 The Inexplicable Draft
Although the dust has settled on the big deal, the Lakers uniform team is still busy.

Kupchak announced that the Lakers will not renew the contract with Mike James, so that only Kobe and Fisher are left in the next season's lineup.

"Jim, Mark Cuban turned down our offer to trade Mehmet Okur and Derek Fisher for Steve Nash... Is that what you call the perfect solution? Cuban thinks we are Just kidding, he said he was going to block all our contact information." Kupchak was reporting his work seriously, while Jim couldn't straighten up with laughter.

"I thought Cuban had a soft spot for all big men who can shoot three-pointers. It seems that legends can't be used as evidence. Forget it, anyway, Cuban wanted to kill me a long time ago, and this time is not bad. I I always feel that Nash was wasted in the Mavericks. If he can join, our appreciation will definitely be improved, but there will always be opportunities in the future. So how is the business going? What progress has the Kings made?" After calming down, Jim knew that the probability of Cuban's brain twitching was infinitely close to zero, but dreams are always necessary. What if they come true?

"The Kings have shown interest in Mehmet Okur, and the Kings have Hido Turkoglu, who is also from Turkey, and the Kings think that Okur will be integrated into the team. But they don't intend to add Bobby Jackson joined the deal, and the negotiation has been put on hold for a long time, and the Kings think that the value of our first-round pick is not high, so they are not interested in it." Kupchak truthfully reported that the Kings and the Lakers were rumored in the media before. In-depth negotiations on the Webber O'Neal swap is a smoke bomb released by Jim, and the Kings do not intend to dismantle their already formed tacit starting lineup.

"That's a pity, Bobby Jackson is a good bench killer, and his salary is 50 less than Derek... Then give up Bobby Jackson, we only need Gerald Wallace. The King thinks He is too rough to look down on him, but we need such a player with an annual salary of less than 100 million U.S. dollars and can be used for at least two years.” Jim made a decisive decision, and he had his own calculations. After the draft, Okur’s trade value It will decline. Now that the team has Garnett, Ben Wallace and Brad Miller inside, there will not be too many opportunities for Okur to play. The team needs to pay close attention to strengthening the loopholes of the wings and point guards .

The deal was finalized quickly, but it caused some doubts. In the second half of last season, Okur performed well as a shooting insider. Far beyond his own pick, everyone agreed that this was a good example of the second round of Taobao, but he was replaced by a rough brother who was often sent to the Development League by the king?In addition to Artest introduced by the team, as well as the original Ben Wallace and others, are the Lakers going to abandon the gorgeous tradition and play iron-blooded defense?

In response to doubts from all parties, Jim only released a video of the Magician period in the 80s. In the video, the Lakers led by Riley often took out the extremely oppressive "Zone Capture Defense" at a specific time period. The best defensive player Michael Cooper, as well as Byron Scott, James Worthy, and even veteran Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can make extremely oppressive double-team defense and fast rotation. Completed various 1-on-0, 2-on-0 performances during the attack.

As for the current head coach Phil Jackson, the defensive system he built was talked about during the Bulls period, especially during the last three consecutive periods. Jordan and Rodman were the two best defensive players, and the best defensive player. Pippen, plus Harper, who can defend the 1st to 3rd positions, Jackson successfully kneaded them into a system. The Bulls' defense is a nightmare for all teams.

The draft came as scheduled. The Houston Rockets chose center Yao Ming from China without any objection, but Yao Ming did not come to the draft. The No. [-] pick is famous all over the world.

The Bulls who got the second pick chose Duke point guard and the best college player in the United States Jay Williams, while the Golden State Warriors with the No. [-] pick chose Williams' alumnus Mike Dunleavy Jr.

And Jerry West, who likes to make things happen in the draft, did not disappoint everyone. The Grizzlies announced that they would use the No. [-] pick plus some cash to get the No. [-] pick and Desagena Diop from the Cavaliers.Then, Diop was sent to the Lakers in exchange for Etan Thomas, who also had few opportunities to play last season.

The Cavaliers used the fourth pick to select the scoring guard Dajuan Wagner, who scored 105 points in a high school game and was known as Iverson Jr.

It is said that after Wagner was selected, the Cavaliers management received a letter signed by Von Rey, reminding the Cavaliers to pay attention to Wagner's daily diet, and to have a colon examination immediately if any symptoms of diarrhea appear, so as not to be misled by quack doctors.

The Nuggets with the fifth pick selected Nikoloz Skitishvili, known as Georgia Nowitzki, and sent the injury-plagued star forward Antonio McDyess to New York for the same injury. Troubled Marcus Camby and the No. [-] pick.

The Grizzlies selected high school student Amare Stoudemire with the sixth pick.

The performance of the "High School Three Treasures" this season can be described as a disaster. They have seen nothing but potential.West put his treasure on high school students again, which has to be said to be a big gamble.

The Nuggets selected Nene Hilario with the seventh pick obtained from the trade, the Clippers selected Chris Wilcox, and the original popular rookie Drew Gooden fell to ninth and was picked up by the Suns.The Heat selected small forward Caron Butler.

On the stage, Stern read one name after another, and the management of each team in the audience is also intensively planning to strengthen the team.

The next thing to do is the San Antonio Spurs. They sent their No. 26 pick, Antonio Daniels and Charles Smith to the Portland Trail Blazers, welcomed back Steve Kerr, and got the Portland Trail Blazers at the same time. No. 20 pick.

The Spurs used this pick to select small forward Tayshaun Prince from the University of Kentucky to strengthen their wings.The Pistons, holding the 21st overall pick, chose another small forward, John Salmons, because Prince was expected to be intercepted.

The first-round draft was officially over when the Lakers selected Carlos Boozer from Duke University with the 28th overall pick.

In the second round of the draft, the Lakers used the fourth and sixth picks in the second round to select Matt Barnes from UCLA and Luis Scola from Argentina.The 58th overall pick in the second round selected short Udonis Haslem from the University of Florida.

Three insiders and one striker were selected in one breath. No one could understand what the Lakers were doing, but at least everyone began to understand why Okur was traded away.

　Wagner may be one of the players with the most cheating reasons for retiring. He suffered from a large intestinal ulcer and was not treated in time. He had diarrhea for a long time and finally retired.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)