Bishop of the Devil

Although the deal has been finalized, neither party has announced the news because the door to the trading market has not yet been opened.

It is conceivable that once this news is announced, it will definitely cause a huge sensation in the league.

A dynasty controller only got a low-ranking first-round draft pick. This was definitely an act of warmth from Richard.

…

After Rondo's matter was settled, Richard contacted Marion again to see what Marion's plans were now.

Richard can provide Marion with a contract, but the contract amount will not be very high, probably around US$30 million over five years.

Such a contract is undoubtedly too low for Marion at this moment, with an average annual salary of only six million US dollars.

However, Marion's current real value is actually not much higher. Under normal circumstances, Marion signed a five-year $39 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks this offseason, with an average annual salary of less than $8 million.

…

"This..." Marion hesitated a little after hearing the quotation provided by Richard...

He understands his situation very well. Although he is no longer at his peak, his strength is not the kind of player who is not on the stage. In most teams today, he is qualified to serve as the third or even second leader.

Thirty million US dollars in the past five years is really a bit low...

In the season that just ended, Marion won the championship with the Buccaneers, and he also has a ring in hand, so he doesn't have much desire for the championship in the future.

Seeing that Marion didn't speak, Richard roughly guessed what Marion meant.

"How about this? I'll give you three days to think about it. If you can accept it, we will renew the contract as soon as possible." Richard said with a smile.

Marion nodded and left Richard's office.

Richard knew that the matter of renewing Marion's contract was basically out of the question...

At present, countless teams in the league are rushing to grab Granger, and those teams that cannot grab Granger may set their sights on Marion, such as the Dallas Mavericks.

Marion's defense is not inferior to Granger's, and the price is much cheaper. He is the best puzzle piece for the championship lineup. There are still many teams interested in Marion.

…

Since he couldn't renew Marion's contract, Richard didn't force it.

Originally, Richard was going to let Marion serve as Durant's substitute. Now that Marion is gone, he can only start to train Batum.

It has been some time since Batum joined the Pirates. Although he has not received many opportunities to play, it does not mean that he has not grown. He trains with a group of top stars in daily team training, and the effect is still good.

The upper limit of his growth won't be too high, but the lower limit won't be too low either. At least his immediate combat ability is pretty good, probably at Granger's level after his rookie season.

This is pretty good, even in a team like the Pirates, it is more than enough to serve as a substitute.

Of course, this is also Richard's helpless move. If Marion is willing to sign a five-year, $30 million contract, Richard will definitely be more inclined to use Marion.

…

Three days later, Marion gave his answer, he was joining the Mavericks.

The reason is quite simple. The Mavericks gave an offer of US$40 million over five years...

The additional contract amount of 10 million US dollars was hard for Marion to refuse.

Richard didn't say much and blessed Marion. After all, Marion's choice in this matter cannot be said to be wrong.

There is nothing wrong with thinking about making more money.

…

Rondo left, Marion left, Richard breathed a sigh of relief, and Granger and Oden were next.

But right now, Richard has no time to think about Granger and Oden, because the draft is about to begin.

This year's draft is quite important for the Buccaneers, because Richard has a lot of draft picks.

Richard previously made a deal with Thunder owner McClendon, using the fifth pick in 2008 for this year's Thunder first-round pick...

Under normal circumstances, the Thunder's draft pick this year is the third overall pick, and they used this third pick to select James Harden.

When this deal was originally concluded, there was a condition attached, that is, the Thunder had to mess it up in order to get a higher draft pick.

McClendon must have complied. Their record this season is third from the bottom in the league, which is considered to have successfully fulfilled Richard's conditions.

In the lottery, they finished third from the bottom and got the third overall pick, which was not bad at all.

At least Richard is quite satisfied.

With this No. 3 pick, Richard will definitely use it to select Harden. Apart from Curry, Harden will have the highest future achievements among this rookie class.

Curry participated in the 2008 draft in advance, so the best player in this draft is Harden. It would be strange for Richard not to choose him.

Of course, Griffin is certainly good, but this guy is recognized as the number one pick, and Richard can't get it even if he wants to.

Moreover, Griffin is a bit of a glass person. The scary thing is that his glass person attribute can only pick and choose when. He is fine in the regular season, but gets injured immediately in the playoffs...

So choosing Harden with the No. 3 pick is already a sure thing.

In addition to the No. 3 pick, Richard actually has a fairly high draft pick on hand.

That's the Timberwolves' No. 5 pick!

This pick was obtained when Richard made a deal with the Timberwolves a few years ago.

There is no doubt about selecting Harden with the third pick, but Richard is confused about who to select with the fifth pick.

If Curry participates in the draft this year, Richard will definitely choose Curry, but now Curry has already acquired it.

Richard took a look at this year's draft prediction list and finally decided to choose DeRozan.

DeRozan is a West Lafayette player, and secondly, there is really no player who can do it better than DeRozan.

There are actually many reliable players, such as Jrue Holiday, Ty Lawson, Jeff Teague, and Darren Collison, all of whom are All-Stars or quasi-All-Stars.

Next up are Jennings, Casspi, Gibson and Carroll.

This is the more outstanding player in the first round. Richard thinks it is better to choose DeRozan.

Not to mention anything else, just because Popovich is willing to coach DeRozan, choosing DeRozan will definitely not be wrong.

…

As one of the garbage brothers, Richard feels that DeRozan is not as bad as the fans say. At least in the first year of joining the Spurs, he can help Popovich kill the Nuggets, who are second in the Western Conference, as the seventh in the Western Conference. , which is already quite an achievement.

Black Eight is a miracle, even if Black Seven is slightly interesting, it’s not much different...

(I hope I’m not a venomous person. If I don’t have Black Seven, Spurs fans don’t hit me.)

…

On the contrary, there is actually nothing wrong with the nickname "Garbage Brother". Then the problem arises. DeRozan is not garbage, the real garbage is...

…

In addition to these two high-ranking draft picks, Richard also has two team-owned draft picks on hand, a first-round pick of 30 and a second-round pick of 30!

With the 30th pick in the first round, Richard plans to use it to select Royal Armada Danny Green.

Of course, it is not impossible to choose Beverley. After all, this guy can "match up" with Durant in the playoffs, although the method is a bit ugly.

…

As for the 30th pick in the second round, the value of this pick is almost negligible, that is, it is used to select some relatively well-known undrafted players.

Coincidentally, there was a pretty good undrafted player this year that impressed Richard.

Wesley Matthews is also a player who can score 16+ points in his peak season. He has good three-point ability. It is perfect to select him with the 30th pick in the second round.

The day before heading to New York for the draft, Richard smoothly handled Kwame Brown's contract issue.

Naturally, he did not choose to renew the contract. Although Jordan was a little reluctant to give up, he could only hold it in his heart.

Because a team has offered Kwame Brown a two-year, $10 million contract. If Jordan wants to keep Kwame Brown, he must offer a similar contract...

This is obviously impossible. You must know that for a player like Marion, Richard only gave an offer of 6 million US dollars. How could Kwame Brown get 5 million US dollars from the Buccaneers?

Of course, Jordan also knew very well that if he persisted, Richard would definitely sign Kwame Brown, but if he did so, Jordan was afraid that there would be some bad consequences.

For example, Richard felt that he was not respected, and then chose to sell his equity in the Pirates and leave the Pirates.

This may be what Jordan is most afraid of right now...

So Jordan simply pretended not to know, and had no intention of intervening in Kwame Brown's contract.

Another player is gone...

Counting Granger and Oden who are destined to leave, the Pirates already have five players leaving the team this season.

In this draft, Richard could only get four newcomers to supplement the lineup.

Maybe next season, it will become difficult for the Pirates to defend their title. Anyway, it will definitely not be as easy as in the past few seasons.