basketball task

Chapter 234 Draft and Reinforcement

On June 2008, 6, the annual NBA Draft was held in the theater at Madison Square Garden in New York, and was also broadcast live to the world through ESPN TV.

This year's rookies are star-studded. Derrick Rose has booked the No. [-] pick of the Chicago Bulls. The Miami Heat are willing to use the second pick to select Michael Beasley. The third pick of the Timberwolves has locked OJ Mayo. , is the Mayo who now knows his way back and joined Liaoning.

In addition to these three, there are many more famous players, such as Russell Westbrook, the Oklahoma City Thunder has great interest in him and wants to select him to pass the ball for Durant; Gasol joined After the Lakers, the Grizzlies also used the No. 5 pick to choose Kevin Love, who is also a white inside player with good skills. players.

Philadelphia's first-round pick is No. 16. Out of respect for the team boss, Ed Snyder, the owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, handed over the selection rights to Channing.

Coach Cheeks dialed Channing's phone at the draft site and named several candidates for Channing to choose from.

Speights, Roy Hibbert, McGee, JJ Hickerson, Pekovic, Jr. Jordan are all good insiders, very suitable to fill the vacancy inside the Philadelphia team. Coach Cheeks spends on scouts The money was not in vain, these are rookies with great development potential.

In addition to the inside line, Coach Cheeks also provided a list of players in other positions, including Batum, George Hill, and Courtney Lee, who are also good functional players.

Over the phone, Cheeks roughly told Channing about the height, wingspan, bounce and other data of these players. The strange thing is that Channing on the other end of the phone seemed a little unfocused, as if he had no interest in these players.

"I know Hibbert, he's just a stupid big guy, nicknamed Gao Yuanyuan, slow-moving, buttery hands, jumping not as high as a matchbox, Paz."

"McGee is top-notch from the neck down, but it's a pity he has a head, Pass."

"Little Jordan is simply McGee's younger brother, as is Paz."

After passing many players in a row, Channing said the candidate in his mind:
"Look if there is a power forward named Serge Ibaka, who is originally from the Congo. He has played in the Spanish league in recent years. We want him."

Cheeks quickly flipped through the thick scouting report and found Ibaka's information. He is 2 meters tall and weighs 08 kilograms. He has good wingspan and various physical statistics, and his average per game in the Spanish league is also very good Brilliant, it can be seen that he is a player with strong mobility and great potential in interior defense.

"Strange, why didn't I find out."

Cheeks felt more and more that Qian Ning was in awe. He was far away in China, but he knew so much about the rookie players he had never met before, so he had to be convinced.

"In the 2008 NBA Draft, with the 16th pick in the first round, the Philadelphia 76ers selected Serge Ibaka from Congo."

Hearing David Stern's voice, Channing was relieved.

At the draft site, the general manager of the Thunder, Presti, looked at Cheeks in surprise. The Ibaka he was looking at was just an unknown player in the Spanish league. For myself, at least Westbrook got it.

Ibaka himself was stupefied after being choked off. Before that, the Thunder kept in close contact with him and promised to use the first round pick to draft him. Ibaka is ready to wear the Thunder jersey. Unexpectedly, the Philadelphia 76ers, who had never had contact before, stepped in.

"Tell Ibaka to report to the team as soon as possible, and he will be one of our starting members next season."

Originally, according to the arrangement of Thunder general manager Presti, Ibaka would stay in Spain to play in the league for one year, and then decide whether to recall him to the NBA after seeing his performance. Hurry up to recruit troops and buy horses to supplement the inside line, how can you still choose to drag on without signing?
Ibaka was very happy when he heard the general manager and head coach Cheeks' request to return to the team and the starting guarantee given by Philadelphia boss Channing.

Soon, all the first-round picks were released and entered the second-round draft stage. Cheeks made a small deal with the Spurs before, exchanging Novak for the Spurs' 45th overall pick in the second round.

According to Channing's choice, Cheeks used this second-round pick to select Goran Dragic, a white guard from Slovenia.

In fact, according to Channing's idea, there are also many good players buried in this round of the show, such as Mario Chalmers, who will play next to the Heat's Big Three in the future, etc., but they have been snatched away in advance. Dragic was chosen.

Dragic's current combat power is not enough, and his body is too thin, but like Lowry, Dragic is also a mid-to-late stage hero. He is a pawn played in advance in Channing's long-term plan. Practice with the team first.

The draft got Ibaka and Dragic, and the Philadelphia team used a very general draft pick to get a good supplement of combat power. Soon into July, the free market and trading market officially opened.

"Boss, good news, really good news."

Early in the morning, the transoceanic phone call woke Channing up from his sleep. He squinted and saw that the caller was not Coach Cheeks, but President Shane Battier.

Channing smiled slightly, and had already guessed what the good news Battier said was.

Not long after Battier joined Philadelphia in the middle of last season, he recommended to Channing an inside player with strong mobility and passion for playing. Unfortunately, after the player ended his suspension for taking prohibited drugs and returned In the NBA, the Hornets signed him with a short contract with the right to sign first. Now that the season is over, his contract has already expired.

Battier's call at this moment must be related to this player.

"You still remember him, Boss, he stayed away from the field during the suspension for several years, and lacked systematic training to maintain his technical level, so he was in poor condition after his return. He basically didn't have much playing time with the Hornets last season. Therefore, The Hornets didn't re-sign him, and there wasn't much interest in him from other teams."

"That's another team manager's ignorance. This just gave us an opportunity. Battier, you did a great job, keep in touch with him, and I will tell Cheeks to prepare a contract."

After hanging up Battier's call, Channing contacted Cheeks non-stop and communicated the above situation.

Cheeks was so efficient that a few days later, Channing received a text from Cheeks:
"Birdman Anderson, signed!"

(End of this chapter)