Chapter 987 986. The Audition Is over, and Chaos Is Coming (20,000 Posts a Day, Please Subscribe and Vote)

In the draft, generally speaking, rookies are the absolute protagonists.

However, Boss Joe's selection is so different. He did not wait in the draft office, but prepared two envelopes early. One was that if Felton was selected with the No. 1 pick, he would choose Bo Gu. Special, if there is Bogut, definitely choose Bogut.

The other envelope is to select Felton. As the owner of the second pick, Boss Joe doesn't need to worry too much, he will definitely be able to select the player he likes.

So Boss Joe was watching the draft on the spot. After selecting Felton, Boss Joe went directly up to hug Felton.

The media's attention was attracted by Boss Joe, who put Felton aside and surrounded Jordan for an interview: "Michael, can you tell me the reason why you chose Raymond Felton?"

Boss Joe is quite confident in his vision: "If I had the first pick, I would also choose Raymond. Raymond is the NCAA champion. He is a winner. I am also a winner. Winners like to work with winners. , the stars from North Carolina are very good, such as Vince and I. The teams that didn’t draft Vince and me must have regretted it, right? I don’t want to be the next person to regret it, and I don’t want to miss the next NBA superstar from North Carolina. Superstar! Raymond has the same talent as Vince and I believe he can lead our team to victory!”

Originally, Boss Joe was not that confident, but with the "successful" example of Kwame Brown, Boss Joe's back was straight when he said these words, and his voice was sonorous and powerful.

Watching the confident Teacher Qiao on TV, Liu Mang did not expect that when Boss Qiao got the No. 2 pick, he would choose Felton...

Liu Mang looked at San Niu's eyes waiting for evaluation, and Liu Mang said: "Uh... Michael, this... this... this... this vision is really unique..."

"The four young men from North Carolina are also very good. They are the NCAA champions. Everyone likes Raymond. He is a star at the local university in Charlotte and can increase attendance." Little Loli, who understands the football emperor, thinks about this draft. There is quite a lot of research.

As Little Loli said, although Felton was selected with the second overall pick and the Bobcats let go of Deron and Paul, not many fans were particularly surprised by this.

After getting the No. 2 pick from the Bobcats, Charlotte and even North and South Carolina had high calls for the Bobcats to select Felton with the second overall pick. Compared to the other three of North Carolina's four picks, As a player, Felton, as a point guard, is undoubtedly the most popular star in North Carolina.

The draft is not just about talent and strength, whether the fans like it or not is also a very important factor.

Ninety-nine percent of the Bobcats' tickets are bought by locals. What the locals want to watch, Jordan must satisfy.

There doesn't seem to be much difference in talent... At this stage, Felton, who just won the NCAA championship, no one dares to say that his talent and strength are worse than Paul and Deron.

After Jordan selected Felton, except for the two point guard experts, coach Sloan and coach Byron Scott of the Hornets, the public opinion in the entire United States was that "Jordan made the right choice" and "everyone loves Raymond." …

If the first two picks are selected like this, there will be no surprises in the selection of the teams in the lottery area.

Coach Sloan thought for three minutes, and at the urging of league staff, handed over the envelope. The Jazz selected Deron Williams with the third overall pick.

The Hornets unexpectedly found a treasure! I was only expecting to win Felton or Marvin Williams, but I didn't expect Paul to stay!

After the Bobcats selected Felton, the Hornets wrote down two names, one was Deron and the other was Paul. Who was who? Deron was selected. The owner of the Hornets quickly stuffed Paul's name into an envelope and handed it over. to league staff.

With four of the most high-profile college stars taken away, the ensuing draft becomes much less attractive.

The Raptors selected Marvin Williams with the fifth pick, the Trail Blazers selected Martell Webster with the sixth pick, and the Knicks selected Channing Frye with the seventh pick. , the Warriors selected Ike Diogu with the eighth pick.

The Lakers selected another high school student with the ninth pick, St. Joseph High School's talented center Andrew Bynum. This selection surprised people and was the first upset in this draft.

People are complaining that the Lakers have a special love for high school students...

When the 12th pick came, Boss Joe was also obsessed with North Carolina, his alma mater, and used the first-round pick No. 12 obtained from the Timberwolves to select Sean May, a short power forward from the University of North Carolina.

After selecting each of the top twelve picks, the little Loli could analyze it. Liu Mang asked curiously: "Dina, what do you want to do when you grow up?"

"Dina wants to be a reporter! When Dinah grows up, will uncle still play basketball? Then Dinah will write all the good news about uncle!" said the little Loli clenching her fists.

This ambition... is so ambitious... When Liu Mang saw that Levia didn't care how the little Loli decided her future, he just let her go.

When the 13th pick was reached, when the Cavaliers were supposed to select someone, the first trade of this draft was made!

It was originally the time for the Cavaliers to select someone, but after Sean May's interview, the screen cut to Vice President Stu Jackson next to him. Stu Jackson announced that the Hawks used the 2006 Spurs' first-round pick, Andy Dere Varejao reached a deal with the Cavaliers and received the Cavaliers' 13th overall pick in the first round.

David Stern came out with an envelope for the 13th time: "Ladies and gentlemen, the Atlanta Hawks selected Danny Granger from the University of New Mexico with the 13th pick!"

Liu Mang didn't expect that he would really be selected!

The Cavaliers actually agreed to this deal for a second-round center and a Spurs draft pick!

Among the draft references Liu Mang provided to the team at that time, the outside line wanted to choose someone who could play from two to four, of course, it would be a rotation lineup, and the starters would definitely be the same few. There are two types of inside line options, one is a low-post single-player player, the team lacks inside singles, and the other inside line is a big center who bears the pressure of Kwame Brown.

Liu Mang gave three outside line candidates, one is Francisco Garcia, Gerald Green, and the least likely one is Danny Granger. Unexpectedly, Granger was actually obtained, and the chips paid were almost robbed.

However, Liu Mang looked at the remaining draft list and it seemed that all the players that the Cavaliers might have taken a fancy to were selected. The last one, Sean May, was selected, and the Cavaliers had no suitable ones to select. If they had to select the latter, the Cavaliers probably felt sorry for the 13th pick.

Moreover, in the more than 50 games that Varejao played in the regular season, Varejao averaged 11 minutes per game and scored 3 points and 4 rebounds. His talent was there, but the Hawks just couldn't use it. After Sean May was selected by the Hornets at the 12th pick, the Cavaliers agreed to the Hawks' trade request.

Selecting Danny Granger was indeed a pleasant surprise. It had a good continuity for Liu Mang's long-term plan of repeatedly trading to get draft picks and continuously enjoying rookie bonuses, which was much better than selecting Garcia and Gerald Green.

…

The Hawks' trade broke the iceberg, and some teams that were waiting and watching also started trading.

Some teams were jealous of the Hawks winning the championship with the draft, especially the Trail Blazers who had Rasheed Wallace snatched away. Although they were the ones who let Rasheed Wallace go, they were jealous.

After the Hawks completed the deal, the Trail Blazers and Celtics completed the deal, using the 2006 first-round pick and this year's second-round pick to get the 14th pick in the first round from the Celtics, and selected Jarrett Jack, who the media revealed the Hawks were going to select at the 30th pick...

The Celtics have accumulated so many draft picks over the years...

They also have a draft pick at the 16th pick, and selected another forward and guard Gerald Green that Liu Mang liked.

At the 30th pick in the first round, the Hawks selected David Lee, a short white power forward from the University of Florida.

Brandon Bass, Andre Blatche, and David Lee are the three power forwards Liu Mang gave them, all of whom have obvious shortcomings but also obvious advantages.

At the third pick in the second round, the Hawks used the second-round pick they got from the Jazz to select the Polish center Marcin Gortat.

After selecting a short center, the Hawks management and coaching staff discussed with Liu Mang about selecting a tall center. The key is that Gortat does not need to enter the NBA immediately. He still has a two-year contract with the German team Cologne Rhein. He can practice in Europe. It is very good for white centers to practice in Europe.

The Hawks have one rookie in the inside and outside, and one second-round pick in Europe. The draft is complete.

When it comes to David Lee, the little girl can say something, but when it comes to Gortat... the little girl said she really doesn't know this person!

After the Hawks finished selecting the players, Liu Mang received a call from Stockton. Stockton explained the reason for selecting two white centers. Liu Mang didn't think much of it. These were the options he provided, but the three were not the first choice, but they were all role players that Liu Mang thought were very high-quality.

Stockton's reason was that David Lee was a star in the South Coast and was also very popular in Georgia, which is adjacent to Florida. The team had this consideration. Gortat was chosen because the team had enough centers. Rasheed Wallace, Kwame Brown, Muhammad and Alonzo Mourning, who might stay on the team, could play center. If they wanted to sign a new center, they would mainly use veterans, and young players would not be used for the time being.

The management was worried that Liu Mang would think that Coach Kruger, Price and most of the assistant coaches were white, so they chose white people, but Liu Mang really didn't think that much.

Chinese people don't have racial discrimination, only regional discrimination, for example... except for Chinese people, they are all foreigners... for example... Luoyang flowers can't bloom, dang dang dang dang...

...

The previous transactions were mostly small fights, draft picks and the like were exchanged, and there were players who joined, but they were all role players.

Finally, before the 13th pick in the second round, the big deal happened!

The Cavaliers traded the 13th pick in the second round to the Wizards, signing and then trading for Larry Hughes, who reached a 5-year, $70 million contract extension with the Cavaliers.

This trade was really exciting. The super defensive gate of the first team of the league's best defensive lineup last season was traded away by the Cavaliers for a second-round pick!

Liu Mang felt that the Cavaliers wanted to make James return to the small forward position completely, and at the same time find a forward-guard swingman who can defend to teach James how to defend.

However, although this deal is shocking, it is expected. The Wizards were forced to trade. After Larry Hughes was swept in the first round of the playoffs, he was ready to leave the team. The trade is the best choice. The Wizards can get a little bit of return. Larry Hughes can keep the bird rights and renew his contract. After playing for the Wizards for three years, Larry Hughes just has the bird rights and can renew his contract beyond the salary cap.

Although the Cavaliers are not strong, the boss is really willing to spend money, but the money is often not spent in place. It is a typical example of spending money indiscriminately.

James, Drew Gooden, DeSagana Diop and other main players are all rookie contracts, and Eric Snow is a middle-class. The Cavaliers' total salary last season was as high as 49 million. After the end of this season, Big Z signed a new contract of 40 million for 5 years, and his salary was reduced by more than 6 million, but it was not enough to sign Larry Hughes directly, so he used the second-round pick to reach a deal with the Wizards and paid a little more to sign Larry Hughes.

This trade caused the league to change the sign-and-trade rule afterwards. Previously, the team that signed first and then traded only needed to have a salary space of 150% of the salary before signing and trading the player, which was basically equivalent to buying bird rights. This was the rule when bird rights came out a long time ago.

After this trade, the Wizards sued the Cavaliers to the league, saying that they suffered a loss, forcing the league to change the sign-and-trade rule to the team that got the player first and then traded to have a salary space of the salary after the player signed and then traded, increasing the home team's chance of keeping the star.

The trade between the Wizards and the Cavaliers is a special case, mainly because of the sign-and-trade thing. It is rare to say that there is a salary increase before and after signing so much. After all, the last time NBA salaries skyrocketed was ten years ago, and there was no such special case. This new rule was later called the Larry Hughes clause.

…

After the draft, the Hawks' goal for one stage has been achieved.

The Hawks sent away Varejao, a center who needs time to train. The main reason is that they can't wait. They can't wait for Varejao to grow up, and they need combat power immediately.

David Lee's performance as a senior is stronger than Varejao's one-year NBA career. They are not the same type of players.

Next, the Hawks will focus on renewing the contracts of Kwame Brown, Calderon and Korver.

With Varejao leaving the team and Persson and McCarty retiring, the Hawks have to renew the contracts of these three young players who have been trained for two years.

Liu Mang still has to be busy before returning to China. After all, two of these three brothers are players from his company. He has to help persuade them to sign.

After the draft, other teams in the league also started their own busyness.

In Houston, the undercurrent has been surging for a long time, and it's time to show your cards!