Bishop of the Devil

Okur has been on the market for some time by the Pistons, and now the Suns are about to take the bait.

When the Suns heard that Richard had initially reached a deal with the Trail Blazers, they immediately became as anxious as an ant on a hot pot.

They are so hungry for Oku...

The current situation of the Suns is obvious. They lack inside players. Once they catch two decent inside players, their lineup will almost take off.

In the West, where there are so many strong players, it is even possible to reach the top half of the West.

At this point in time, the teams in the Western Conference are simply ridiculously strong...

Needless to say, the three superpowers, the Spurs, Lakers and Trail Blazers, have remained strong for many years. Think about the Western Conference Finals in the past five years, all of which were produced by these three teams.

In addition to these three teams, the Kings and Timberwolves have also reached their glorious period in team history. This may be the most glorious time in their team history, and their strength is naturally quite strong.

With these five teams dominating the Western Conference, it is simply too difficult for other teams to show up...

The Suns have no choice but to desperately recruit players. Otherwise, if the contracts of the team's stars expire and they don't renew, the Suns may sink forever.

Now Oku is their best choice, bar none!

Except for Richard, if other teams in the league today get players like Okur, who would be willing to take action?

This is an inside player with quite good strength and potential. He can play inside and outside, his defense is not bad, and his offense is strong. This is a high-quality inside player that you can't find even with a lantern.

Only a fool would let someone go...

And Richard is obviously not a fool. The main reason is that there are too many inside players that can be used in his team.

In the 2003 draft, Richard was able to get some good players, and there must be high-quality inside players among them. There is no point in keeping Okur. It will harm others and himself, so it is better to vigorously cultivate Boozer.

…

Now that Taiyang was in a hurry, he directly offered Richard any conditions he wanted, and they could bargain as appropriate.

Then Richard was not polite and directly asked for Joe Johnson plus the Suns' 2003 first-round pick and second-round pick.

The Suns management was dumbfounded. They didn't expect that Richard would only hire the inconspicuous Joe Johnson.

Joe's single performance in the Suns was really not that good. Although he was in a semi-starting position, he hardly had much presence on the court...

The ball is naturally in the hands of the second team, Marbury and Marion...

Even if the two of them split the ball, it would probably go to Penny, and they would rarely consider playing Joe alone.

The key is that Joe's current shooting rate in singles is quite low, with a comprehensive shooting rate of less than 40%. Even if he is a player who mainly plays on the outside, it is really unjustifiable.

So when they saw that Richard just asked for a single Joe, the Suns management was overjoyed. This was simply an act of sending warmth!

As for the offers for the first-round pick and the second-round pick, the Suns are a little confused.

Somewhat reluctant...

But think about it, they actually can't get any high-ranking draft picks. If Richard wants it, they might as well give it to him.

Anyway, if this deal is done, it seems that the Suns will not lose money no matter what.

The Suns have no intention of failing. They are aiming for the playoffs this season, so the value of the draft picks will certainly not be much higher.

They are currently ranked eighth in the Western Conference. If Okur comes, maybe the ranking can be pushed up...

In that case, Richard may only get the 20th pick in the first round in the end, which is not a particularly precious bargaining chip.

As for the second-round pick, in the eyes of the Suns, it is purely useless...

He's the bottom pick in the second round, and he still has a rough value.

…

Richard also didn't expect that the Suns would agree so straightforwardly.

Originally, his main goal was to single out Joe and add a first-round pick. The second-round pick was just used for bargaining...

Unexpectedly, Taiyang agreed to the deal without even a counter-offer, which made Richard feel a little pained.

It seems that I still underestimated the desire of these teams for high-quality insiders. If I had known this, I should have asked for another second-round pick.

I guess the Suns will definitely bite the bullet and agree.

Now that the deal between the two parties is basically finalized, Richard feels that he needs to have a good chat with Okur. No matter what, he can't just let him leave without notifying him.

Early the next morning, Okur waited at the door of Richard's office early.

"Good morning, coach." Seeing Richard coming, Okur said hello quickly.

Richard nodded, "Come in and talk."

"I'll get straight to the point. We reached a deal with the Suns two days ago."

"Maybe after the official announcement in the next two days, you will have to report to the Suns."

After hearing this, Oku had some sadness on his face.

If possible, he really wants to stay. The Pistons have a good team atmosphere and there are not so many bullshit.

But he also knows very well that going to the Suns will be good for him. At least after he goes, he will be able to get the starting job directly.

"Coach, thank you, thank you for selecting me in the draft and then giving me a chance to perform in the team!"

"Thank you for your continued care."

Okur stood and bowed deeply to Richard.

He is indeed grateful to Richard. He was only a second-round pick at the beginning. If he had been selected by another team, he would probably have been guarding the water cooler for the entire rookie season...

But in Richard's hands, he got the chance to start without Yao Ming and Clark.

From Oku's point of view, Richard really took good care of him.

Richard straightened Okur up, waved his hand and said with a wry smile: "Young man, don't be so polite."

"Looking forward to the day when you can become an All-Star."

Okur nodded, "I will, coach!"

…

Early the next morning, the NBA officially announced that the Detroit Pistons and Phoenix Suns had reached a deal.

The Pistons sent away their second-year rookie big man Memet Okur in exchange for the Suns' second-year rookie swingman Joe Johnson and their 2003 first-round and second-round picks.

This deal is not shocking. In the eyes of almost everyone, Okur is really worth the price.

Even in the eyes of many teams, the Suns may have made money...

It is true that Joe's current performance in singles is not good enough, he is quite inconspicuous, and not many people have noticed his potential.

McGrady, the league's top swingman who was not reused in the early stages of his career, although he was not reused in the early stages of his career, his performance per unit time is quite good, at least a bit better than Joe Johnson. .

That is to say, Richard has taken a liking to Joe Johnson. Otherwise, not many teams would take him seriously.

Now that Richard has taken a liking to this boy, it means that this boy may have some potential that can be developed.

…

This deal didn't generate much buzz, but an ESPN report put Yao Ming directly in the headlines.

This report evaluated Yao Ming as the strongest No. 1 pick in the past ten years, and even gave Yao Ming the nickname No. 1 No. 1 pick.

The reason why it is said to be in the past ten years is because O'Neal, the No. 1 pick in 1992...

In other words, in this reporter's opinion, Yao Ming is the strongest No. 1 pick since O'Neal, even surpassing Duncan and Iverson.

The top picks after 1993 include King Webber, Big Dog, Joe Smith, Iverson, Duncan, Olowokandi, Brand, Kenyon Martin, Kwame Brown, and then Yao Ming in 2002.

It can be seen that the number one pick is really not a boast. Although there are parallel imports, there are many quite worthy figures emerging among them.

Under normal circumstances, in fact, even if Yao Ming has such hot statistics and masters the sky hook, it is impossible for him to overpower Duncan and be named the strongest No. 1 pick...

The main reason is that Duncan won the championship in the second season of his career and also won the FMVP.

This heavy honor alone is far beyond what Yao Ming can match.

But because of Richard, Duncan lost this dazzling honor, so if ESPN comments like this, it can't find any big fault. After all, Yao Ming's rookie statistics are much better than Duncan.

Even because the Pistons have a very good record this year, Yao Ming is likely to win the honor of regular season MVP.

The data is up to par, the team's record is up to par, and the chances of winning the MVP are definitely not small.

…

As for the nickname of No. 1 pick's nemesis, it is precisely because Yao Ming has beaten two No. 1 picks in a row in the previous two games.

Olowokandi and Kenyon Martin.

In the game against the Clippers, if the Clippers hadn't surrendered, Yao Ming would have even scored a terrifying 60+20. Even though he only played three quarters, Yao Ming still had top-notch statistics of 45+15.

As for Olowokandi, who directly faced off against Yao Ming, he only played about 20 minutes in that game and scored 7 points and 6 rebounds. He was turned into a scumbag by Yao Ming...

In the next game against the Nets, although Yao Ming did not face off against Kenyon Martin directly, Martin only scored 11 points and 7 rebounds in this game, and was completely blown away by Yao Ming again.

He defeated two No. 1 picks in a row. What if he wasn’t the No. 1 pick’s nemesis?

In the next crucial game, the Pistons will continue to play at home against the Bucks, and they also have a top pick in their team.

However, in this game with the Bucks, it may be difficult for Yao Ming to explode because this game has already been "booked" by Clark.

Clark hated the Bucks quite a bit, and every time he thought about the days when the Bucks were abandoned, he felt itchy with hatred.

He still feels that if the Bucks hadn't cut him off and he would have joined the Trail Blazers, how would he have been neglected for so many years.