Bishop of the Devil

After returning to Charlotte, Richard summoned the team's assistant coaches and held a coaching staff meeting.

Now Richard has basically got all the players he wants, and this lineup will not make any major changes for at least the next three or four years.

Of course, there will definitely be some tinkering with the lineup.

In terms of inside, the four of Milicic, Varejao, Gortat and Mourning are definitely enough.

If there are more, Richard will have no way to cultivate them.

On the forward and defensive lines, that is, at the small forward and shooting guard positions, Richard currently has Granger, Iguodala and Ariza on hand, which seems a bit stretched, but in fact it is enough.

Iguodala and Granger started, and Ariza served as a substitute for them. In this way, although Ariza is a substitute, he still plays a lot of playing time. Even if the two average playing time reaches 30, In five minutes, Ariza can still get 26 minutes of playing time.

This is already quite good for Ariza.

But if it's enough, it's enough. Such a forward and defensive line-up is definitely not interesting in Richard's opinion.

It definitely needs to be further strengthened.

The forward and defensive lines are very important positions on the field. Both positions are responsible for scoring. If the strength is not up to par, it will be greatly difficult for the team to win.

The previous Trail Blazers are the best example. They retained the Auburn interior combination and the bearded Davis at the first position, and ignored the forward and defensive line players, resulting in their current record being worse year by year.

This is undoubtedly a mistake made by the team's decision-makers.

In the 2006 draft, there will be quite good forward and defensive line players. One is Huang Mamba Roy and the other is Rudy Gay.

If Richard can get one of these two, they will be paired with Millsap, who is guaranteed to be selected in the last round.

The Pirates' forward and defensive lineup can basically be called perfect.

Rudy Gay is very good. Although he is not a super player, he is a proper All-Star.

As for Huang Manba Roy, if Richard could get it, he would probably be able to wake up laughing while sleeping.

How strong is Roy? No one knows because he retired before he entered his prime.

Countless fans lamented what happened to Rose in the Windy City, but in fact Rose's fate was quite lucky compared to Roy.

At least Rose can still be active in the league, but Roy can only retire sadly...

…

However, it is definitely not that easy to get one of these two people.

The Purdue University that Gay is joining now would, under normal circumstances, be the eighth pick in the first round. It is not impossible for him to be picked higher in the next 2006 draft.

As for Roy, he is actually also a player in the Big Ten Conference, the same league as Purdue University.

Even with the behemoth Purdue, Roy's light is still unstoppable. Under normal circumstances, he is the sixth overall pick to enter the league, and it is impossible to get any lower now.

If Richard wants to get these two high-ranking rookies, he must think of a way.

…

The method is devised by people. Although it is very difficult to obtain such draft rights, as long as Richard is willing to pay a bargaining chip that others cannot refuse, he will definitely be able to get it in the end.

Richard has detailed plans for the players on the inside and at the forward and back lines, and the same goes for the point guard position.

Rondo will participate in the draft next year, and the pick may not be too high. If Richard makes good use of it, he may be able to get it with the first-round pick that the Pirates have.

The only thing that gave Richard a headache was that Rondo and Paul were getting together, and he didn't know if they would fight.

You must know that under normal circumstances, the hatred between these two people can be described as deep as the sea. Every time they meet in a game, they will definitely be at each other's throats.

…

Milicic, Varejao, Mourning, Gortat, Iguodala, Granger, Ariza, Paul, Payton.

This is Richard's main rotation lineup for the coming season, with a total of nine players.

Nine-man rotation is relatively normal in the NBA.

Some head coaches like to rotate seven players, which will undoubtedly increase the risk of injuries to players.

And if there are more than nine players in the rotation, the new players will not be developed.

So in Richard's opinion, the current nine-man rotation is quite suitable.

Of course, Richard still had to complete the mandatory roster of thirteen people.

…

In the blink of an eye, time has entered July.

The door to the trading market is open, and many teams in the league have made large-scale transactions, and this certainly does not include the Buccaneers.

With the lineup that Richard has slowly accumulated, there is absolutely no need to trade.

Among the three new players who joined the team this year, Richard asked Cowens to lead the team to play in the summer league.

When the summer league ended, Richard received a call from the domestic basketball association, saying that they wanted the men's basketball team to come to the United States to train and see if Richard could help arrange it.

This request was quite polite. Considering that he was still the head coach of the Chinese men's basketball team, it seemed that it wasn't too much for the other party to ask him for help.

Anyway, the Pirates will conduct hell training this offseason. Even if the Chinese men's basketball team watches from the sidelines, the effect will definitely be much better than if they practice randomly.

Jordan will definitely not refuse this. There is no reason to refuse at all, and this matter is harmless to the Pirates.

As for Stern, he should give his approval with both hands. I am afraid that after knowing this, he will probably let the media report it well.

Dazhi has opened up the NBA market in China, and the emergence of Yao Ming has turned the Chinese market into a mouth-watering cake.

Even if other achievements are not mentioned, Stern's achievement of opening up the Chinese market is enough to secure his position as NBA president.

Thinking about the four major leagues in North America, the NBA has completely opened up the market in China. The other three major leagues must have an audience, but the number is definitely far less than that of the NBA.

The most popular NFL in North America is not very popular in China at all. The number of fans in China may not even be one-tenth of that of the NBA. The number may even be lower, 5%, or even 1%...

…

What makes Richard very regretful is that Sun Yue is not included in the list of the Chinese men's basketball team coming to the United States for training this time.

This made Richard's balls ache quite a bit. Where did this kid go? !

Many fans have overlooked one thing. In fact, Sun Yue and Yi Jianlian participated in the draft in the same year.

That is, the 2007 draft...

In this draft, the possibility of Richard winning Yi Jianlian is not very high, at least that's what Richard thinks now.

On the other hand, Richard may take advantage of Sun Yue in the second round.

The reason is that Richard feels that if Sun Yue rises, the overall strength of Chinese basketball will be improved even more.

Don't forget, Sun Yue is a defender, and Yi Jianlian is a big inside man.

Does Chinese basketball lack insiders? At least there is no shortage at all for now.

Even if Yi Jianlian rises, can he be as strong as Yao Ming and Dazhi? It's hard...

And if Sun Yue rises, the Chinese men's basketball team will add an outside defensive gate.

The benefits are self-evident.

So Richard has always wanted to meet Sun Yue and see what this kid's character is like.