Bishop of the Devil

It's not that Richard thinks Milicic doesn't deserve the second pick.

In fact, Richard feels that if he chooses Milicic with the second pick, he will definitely not lose money.

The reason is that insider players are currently worth a lot of money.

Richard is quite aware of Milicic's strength. If it weren't for Larry Brown, this all-around guy would definitely be able to make a name for himself in the NBA.

This guy is so versatile. He has flexible footwork, can go inside and outside, can pass, dribble, and shoot at fixed points. He can play from the 3rd to the 5th position.

In the 2003 draft, countless teams coveted him...

Jazz scouts have said that if they have the No. 1 pick, they will undoubtedly give priority to Milicic.

Nelson, who is almost the greatest coach in the entire NBA history, said of Milicic, "His body, size, strength, speed and dexterity are all amazing. If you are looking for a center or power forward, then he is it." The perfect choice."

Old Nelson's vision and foresight are among the best in the league. I am afraid that only a time traveler like Richard can suppress Old Nelson.

Even Nelson praised Milicic so much, which is enough to see how extraordinary this European player is.

…

Richard, like most fans, feels that Milicic is a malleable talent.

But after all, I still have some drumming in my heart. What if I don't let Milicic beat it out?

In that case, his reputation will be completely ruined...

This is a second-round pick, not a second-round pick. If Richard gets a bad pick in the second-round pick, no one will make a fuss about it.

But if the second pick is successful, Richard will probably be hacked...

This is what worries Richard.

Choosing Milicic is still risky for Richard.

But if Milicic really succeeds, then Richard will earn the second pick...

Clark only signed a three-year contract with the Pistons. By the end of next season, Clark will undoubtedly receive a super maximum salary.

The Pistons are unlikely to give him this super maximum salary.

It's not that Richard doesn't like Clark, he also likes Clark, but for the overall interests of the team, letting Clark go is a more appropriate choice.

Richard may even have to sell Clark next season...

Of course, this is not necessarily the case, it still depends on the situation next season.

At this time, Richard would either start to reuse Boozer, or he would have to find another way to get a super power forward from another team.

But Boozer is a time bomb, and Richard, the rebellious guy, can't be trusted to reuse him.

It is too difficult to recruit a super power forward from another team...

The poor Richard doesn't like him, but he's too nice and won't let him go.

So overall, Richard may really have to choose a high-quality inside player in next year's draft.

…

It's still too early to say this now. Richard thought for a moment and then cut off his thoughts. Now he is still preparing for the playoffs with all his strength and strives to achieve dazzling results this year.

…

By the end of January, Richard encountered something that made him feel a little bit pained.

David Lee of the Purdue University Boilermakers decided to participate in the draft early and made a special trip to see Richard to hear his opinion.

David Lee is now the lone West Lafayette player at Purdue University...

David Lee is the only West Lafayette player left in the entire Purdue lineup.

Richard was also quite helpless. Under normal circumstances, David Lee participated in the draft in 2005, so he had previously suggested that David Lee follow the normal track and participate in the draft in 2005.

But now it seems that David Lee has made up his mind and is determined to participate in the draft in 2003.

"David, have you really thought about it?"

"You have to know that if you really run for the draft this year, it is very likely that your draft pick will be very bad, and you may even lose the draft!"

Richard said to David Lee with a solemn expression.

This is really not Richard trying to scare David Lee. The shine of the Purdue Boilermakers has faded now.

In this year's Big Ten Conference playoffs, their record was not outstanding, and they did not even win the first place in the division.

In addition, David Lee's statistics are not outstanding. In this case, if he participates in the draft, his pick will definitely not be much higher, and he may even lose the draft.

…

"I've thought about it, coach."

"I can't stay in the Boilermakers anymore, it feels too shameful..."

David Lee said to Richard quite helplessly.

Richard sighed, he could understand David Lee's thoughts.

The previous Purdue University, led by West Lafayette players, reached the quarterfinals of the national championship at its worst.

But this year is quite miserable. Although they are qualified to enter the national championship, their record is hard to say...

I guess it's quite possible to be killed in the first round.

Then one can imagine the pressure placed on David Lee, a West Lafayette player...

He participated in the draft early and was evading responsibility.

"Okay, David, let's see what happens then. If possible, I will snatch you off."

Richard sighed and said.

It's really hard for David Lee. He is the only one to lead Purdue University. If he gets out of the first round of the national championship this year, he will probably be sprayed to death by the fanatical fans.

It's better to run for office in advance now to avoid so much trouble.

…

Richard sighed. Now it seems that this year's draft will not work unless we get more draft picks.

For now, it's better to quickly fatten up some players and then sell them for draft picks.

Okur has been sold, and Richard still has three goals.

One is Nocioni, the other is Crawford, and the last one is Arenas.

Boozer is not in a hurry right now, at least he has to wait until the draft is over to see what happens.

…

On February 1st, the roster for the All-Star Game was released.

What amazes NBA fans all over the world is that the Eastern Pistons are really developed this time. They actually have five players selected to the All-Star lineup!

What's even more amazing is that they actually have two players in the starting lineup!

One is Yao Ming, the vote king this year...

And this vote king is quite extraordinary. The total number of votes is as high as 2.56 million, which is directly one million votes more than the second-placed Kobe!

This is completely a shameful level...

He won the votes in his rookie season, and he still had such a huge advantage over the second place, which caused a sensation in the entire basketball circle.

It’s not unusual to win the vote-leading title in your rookie season…

At least a few years ago, Grant Hill defeated O'Neal in his rookie season and won the honor of the All-Star vote leader.

However, his vote count is not that big compared to O'Neill's, with only a difference of more than 20,000 votes.

As for this year's All-Star, Yao Ming received over one million more votes than the second-placed Kobe, which shocked the entire basketball circle.

They finally understand why Stern attaches so much importance to the Chinese market. It’s amazing that the fan base in China is so huge!

You don't need to think about it to know that these more than one million extra votes were undoubtedly cast by Chinese fans.

Yao Ming's performance in his rookie season was quite impressive, but it is completely impossible to say that his popularity surpasses Kobe's in the United States.

The only explanation is the votes of Chinese fans.

…

As for the Pistons' other Eastern Conference All-Star starter, Geon Clark.

His number of votes was second only to Vince Carter in the Eastern Conference frontcourt, ranking second in the voting, and he directly qualified for the Eastern Conference frontcourt All-Star starter.

You don't need to think about it to know that Clark has really prospered this time and has reached the pinnacle of his life.

With this All-Star starting experience and his strong strength, he will definitely be able to flourish in the future.

There were a total of five starters, but two were taken by the Pistons...

Although the five starters are not necessarily the five strongest players in the Eastern Conference, being able to get two starting positions is enough to show the strength of the Pistons.

The remaining three starters are Carter of the Raptors, Jordan of the Wizards and Tracy McGrady of the Magic.

…

In addition to Yao Ke and Yao Ke entering the starting lineup, the Pistons also have three players who have the opportunity to be selected as All-Stars.

They are Gerald Wallace, Laga Bell and Nash in the Pistons' starting lineup.

…

It is actually quite unexpected that Laga Bell can be selected as an All-Star.

However, from the perspective of the top management of each team, this matter is not surprising, because Richard has called many teams and asked them to help vote for Laga Bell...

It's not a secret, almost every team knows about it.

Some teams are naturally quite dissatisfied. In their opinion, the stars in their team are more qualified to enter the All-Star than Laga Bell!

But there was no way, this was Richard's opening, and even if they had any dissatisfaction, they didn't dare to interfere...

They knew very well that if they dared to interfere, the impatient Richard would fight with them with bayonets.

…

After Lagabel saw the All-Star roster, he jumped three feet high with excitement.

Did he actually make it to the All-Star lineup? This is something he never dreamed of in the past two years!

At this moment, he wished he could catch Richard and kiss him hard...

After Joe Johnson saw Laga Bell entering the All-Stars, he was also very excited.

In his opinion, as long as he is given time, he should be able to produce data as good as Laga Bell in the short term. Maybe he will get the opportunity to enter the All-Stars like Laga Bell next year.

…

The entire Pistons team was filled with joy, but before they could finish their joy, they found themselves on the injured list.

Richard is ready to start raising people...

In the next game, Richard directly changed to his trading target regardless of winning or losing.

Nocioni, Crawford and Arenas are all Richard's trading targets. After this season, if these three are fattened up, they will definitely be able to get good bargaining chips for themselves.

The only regret is that there are no inside players among the three, so I’m afraid they won’t be able to sell for Okur’s price...

Inside players are really valuable. At least in this era, the value of an inside player is much higher than that of an outside player when the data is almost the same.

The main reason is not that the role of inside players on the court is higher than that of outside players. The main reason is that things are rare and valuable. There are too few high-quality inside players in this league...

At the shooting guard position, there are now four major shooting guards.

In addition to these four shooting guards, there are countless high-quality outside players.

The number of high-quality insiders is too few, and the key is that most of them are concentrated in those teams.

The best insiders in the league are divided among the Pistons, Trail Blazers, Lakers, Spurs and Timberwolves.

In this case, it is no wonder that the price of insiders is not expensive.

That is to say, Birdman Anderson is useful to Richard at the moment. Otherwise, Richard would like to fatten Anderson up and sell the inside players quickly while their value is high.

…

By mid-February, before the All-Star Game started, although the Pistons had lost some games during Richard's recruitment period, their record still ranked first in the Eastern Conference record list.

Richard finally looked forward to the opportunity to lead the All-Star team again, and finally had the opportunity to harvest a batch of props.

I spent a lot of props on Yao Ming, and I just took advantage of this All-Star Game to gain a lot and replenish my inventory.