Bishop of the Devil

Richard met DeRozan and Danny Green the night before the draft, and today they are the only two in West Lafayette participating in the draft.

"You guys, get ready, I will win you two in the draft tomorrow." Richard said to DeRozan and DeRozan with a smile.

The two looked happy. Being able to join the Pirates was a dream start for a rookie player.

Although the data of a new player in the first one or two years after joining the Pirates will not be very good, but think about it in the five years since the Pirates were established, every player who has gone out has become a talent, 100% successful. Speed ​​has never failed, which is too tempting for newcomers.

Even if they are very confident in their own abilities, there are still many people who will disappear after entering the NBA. They do not want to follow the same path as these unlucky predecessors.

The draft started the next day, but Jordan did not come this time. Richard took Raheem and Laimbeer to the draft.

Laimbeer returned to the draft for the first time in these years, and he was very disappointed. During the days when he coached the Bulls, he actually did not bring any relatively cost-effective new players to the Bulls in the draft.

"I announce that the Memphis Grizzlies have selected Blake Griffin with the first pick of the first round!" Stern announced on the stage the ownership of the No. 1 pick Griffin.

Under normal circumstances, the Clippers would have the No. 1 pick in this draft and select Griffin. However, the Clippers' current record is difficult to achieve, so naturally they won't be able to get such a good pick as the No. 1 pick.

The Grizzlies' record this season is pretty rubbish, but their potential is actually quite good.

There are players for every position, Conley, Gay and Bynum, and now there is an additional power forward Griffin. I am afraid that the strength will be improved a lot in the future.

However, the Grizzlies will definitely still be weak next season, because Griffin was reimbursed for his rookie season and will not be able to play a single game.

…

The Kings, who held the second pick next, selected Hasheem Thabeet.

As the saying goes, the number one scholar in the rankings must be the winner.

This statement is certainly somewhat absolute, but it is still quite applicable to most drafts, especially this year's draft.

Griffin is definitely not the strongest No. 1 pick in history. There are many No. 1 picks better than him, but Thabeet is the best. He is the most popular No. 2 pick since Richard entered the league.

We can even advance the time when Richard entered the league by ten years. From 1986 to the present, Thabeet has been the second most popular player, bar none...

He was selected with the second overall pick. In addition to the principle of selecting a large number in the draft, his excellent physical fitness is also an important reason.

He is 221 centimeters tall, has a wingspan of 229 centimeters, has a jumping height of 89 centimeters, and weighs 121 kilograms. He has excellent athletic ability, much better than Yao Ming anyway.

Such a physical quality, even compared to Oden, is not much different. (Oden’s wingspan isn’t particularly impressive either.)

But outstanding physical fitness does not mean that Thabit can really perform to match his physical fitness.

His career was not particularly short-lived. He played for five years, but in these five years he wandered to four teams...

His best season, which was his rookie season, averaged 3.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, which is really unjustifiable.

The Kings have chosen Thabeet now, probably because they are covetous of his physical talent and want to take a chance. If they win, the value of a top potential center is self-evident.

"Lee, this Thabeet is a pity. Originally, I thought Griffin and Rubio would be the top two picks. Our third pick can take this Thabeet. His physical fitness is really good." Ranbir smacked his lips and said with a pity look on his face.

In this draft prediction, Griffin is undoubtedly the No. 1 pick, and for the second pick, most media predict that Rubio will be selected with the second pick.

"If we choose Thabeet, we will lose so much. Do you believe that he is worse than Kwame Brown?" Richard looked at Ranbir with a smile.

Ranbir was startled, how about Kwame Brown? Are you kidding? Is this Thabit really that watery? !

But since Richard has said so, Ranbir has to believe it even if he doesn't believe it. He will question Richard in other aspects, but only in this aspect of judging people, he will never have any doubts about Richard's opinion. Any doubt.

"I announce that the Charlotte Buccaneers selected James Harden from Arizona State University with the third overall pick in the first round." Stern glanced at Richard strangely.

He didn't expect that Richard would choose a backcourt player when he held the third overall pick...

Hasn't Richard always favored centers? Could it be that Richard's original target was Thabit? Now that he has been intercepted, he can only do the next best thing?

Stern felt a little relieved when he thought about the possibility of Richard being intercepted.

Harden in the little green room looked confused. He never expected that Richard would choose him with the third overall pick!

He is a shooting guard, why would Richard choose him? Don't they have a top attacker like Roy in their Pirates team?

Harden is a little sore. Judging from the current situation, his rookie season will definitely start on the bench. No matter how confident he is, he will not be arrogant enough to think that he can steal the starting position of scoring champion Roy.

After Harden was selected by Richard, many Pirates fans immediately began to study Harden as a newcomer.

Harden's draft predictions are good, but he has not been among the top three picks in previous predictions.

"This Harden is actually quite strong. At least among the American players in this class, except for Griffin, Harden should be the strongest one. Richard's choice is definitely not wrong."

"Everyone knows that Richard can do nothing wrong, aren't you talking nonsense? What we are discussing now is why Richard chose Harden, and what is it about Harden that attracts Richard."

"I am a fan of Arizona State University and have been paying attention to Harden's performance. His offensive ability is quite strong. In this NCAA season that just ended, he averaged 20+5+4 per game and his shooting percentage was still at 50%. Above, since 1995, only Wade and Roy have been able to do this in the NCAA. The most important thing is that his ability to draw fouls is quite strong, averaging 7.6 free throws per game, ranking first in the NCAA. Super Alliance!"

There are NCAA fans who know Harden well and have accurately stated Harden's performance in his NCAA career.

Harden is nicknamed the Son of Jingdezhen. Many fans think that his ability to draw fouls was developed after entering the NBA. In fact, this is not the case. This guy has an unparalleled ability to draw fouls in college.

The NCAA league averages 7.6 free throws per game, which is already extremely amazing...

Now that Richard has acquired Harden, needless to say, he will definitely not waste Harden's talent in this area.

…

"I originally thought that Richard would choose the golden boy Rubio or Evans, but unexpectedly, he actually chose Harden. Is Harden very strong?" The fans had doubts in their hearts.

Next, with the fourth pick, the New York Knicks selected Tyreke Evans...

Evans is definitely a typical example of driving high and going low. He was able to produce 20+5+5 data in his rookie season. There are really not many people in the entire NBA history who can produce similar data in their rookie season, but he gradually disappeared from everyone. , although he can still survive in the NBA, it is difficult to become a starter, and he appears as a substitute in most games.

In the 18-19 season, Evans entered the playoffs for the second time in his career. His three-point shooting rate of up to 60% contributed to the Pacers' sufficient outside firepower. However, the gap between the lineups of the two sides was too large, and the Pacers were in charge. Star Oladipo was injured and missed the game. In the end, the Pacers were swept out by the Green Kai.

…

The first four picks are out, and then it’s time to select the Buccaneers.

Richard wrote DeRozan's name on the note without hesitation and handed it to the staff on site.

After Stern saw the Pirates' choice, he was stunned again. Did Richard get another defender? !

Hasn't this kid always had a special preference for centers? Could it be said that this boy has moved on and is in love with someone else? Stern was confused.

Richard did not fall in love with another person. What he loved most in his heart was the center player...

It's just that centers are withering right now, and there are fewer and fewer reliable centers. At least in this draft, there is no one that Richard can take notice of.

Not to mention a center that can play for a team, there is not even a quasi-All-Star center, Richard will definitely not be interested.

Although Oden is about to leave the team, Kwame Brown is also leaving the team, and now the Pirates only have DeAndre Jordan left at the center position, but Richard would rather have less than waste.

At worst, putting Gasol back at the center position and letting him rotate at the fourth or fifth position on the bench would be no problem at all.

Gasol is much easier to use than Bogut or Zaza. The main reason is that he has good three-point firepower. If he pulls out the high pick-and-roll, he is quite threatening. The opponent's center must follow suit, otherwise If so, Gasol's three-pointers can definitely teach him how to behave.

Under normal circumstances, Gasol, who had just entered the league, actually did not have three-point firepower, or to be precise, he had three-point ability, but the Grizzlies' tactical system at that time did not require him to shoot three-pointers.

Later, as Black Bear Randolph gradually aged and entered the bench, the Grizzlies abandoned the original two-tower tactics of the Black and White Bears, and Gasol had no choice but to start shooting three-pointers.

Unexpectedly, the effect of this shot was quite good, at least the hit rate was higher than that of Cousins ​​​​or Thick Eyebrow and others.

Now that Gasol is playing for Richard, he was naturally asked by Richard to improve his three-point firepower from the beginning. In the season that just ended, he averaged 37% of his three-point shooting rate per game, and he was placed in the inside group. , is already a very top existence.

With such a three-point shooting rate, once pulled out for a high pick-and-roll, if the opponent's center does not come out to help defend, the opponent's end will definitely be quite miserable.

If you come out to help defend, there will be no one in the penalty area. Facing the Pirates star's breakthrough or air cut, it is also a big problem that is difficult to solve.

From a certain perspective, Gasol is actually more suitable than Jordan to be the Buccaneers' starting center this season.

…

DeRozan was overjoyed in the little green room. The coach didn't lie to him. He really chose him, the fifth pick in the first round. This was already a pick that DeRozan was quite satisfied with.

But the only thing that bothered him a little was that Harden was also selected by Richard, which was very uncomfortable.

The Buccaneers already have a shooting guard in Roy, and he is one of the top shooting guards in the league.

In today's league, the four major shooting guards have aged. Although Kobe is still in great shape, who knows how many years he can maintain this state?

Anyway, McGrady, Iverson and Carter are no longer considered the top shooting guards in the league.

After excluding Kobe, there are only two people in this league who can qualify as top shooting guards.

Wade counts as one, and the remaining one is Roy.

The bottom line is also the third shooting guard in the league. It can be said that Roy's position in the Pirates is absolutely unshakable.

If there is only one Roy, then he can accept DeRozan being Roy's chief substitute. The key is that now that there is another Harden, the competition is too fierce.

DeRozan is definitely no stranger to Harden. Although they have never played against each other in the NCAA, they must have heard of each other's name. Such a strong competitor makes DeRozan feel a little unsure.

…

Next it was the Buccaneers' turn to pick Danny Green with the 30th pick in the first round, and Richard took Matthews with the 30th pick in the second round.

The whole audience was in an uproar. Who would have expected that this year Richard would take all four shots from forwards and defenders.

If Richard had told others before the draft that he would take four forwards and defenders, no one would believe it and think that Richard was deceiving them again...

"Hey, judging from the situation, there may not be any decent center players this year. Otherwise, how could Richard not take a chance on a center player."

"It seems that what those experts said about centers withering away is absolutely correct."

Many fans and experts sighed after seeing Richard select four forwards and defenders in a row.

If Richard had few draft picks, they might not have this idea.

But now Richard has four draft picks, covering the three grades of high school and low, and he still didn't choose a center. What does this mean?

It can only mean that in this draft, except for Thabeet, there are no decent centers at all...

As for whether Thabeet will be able to play in the future, no one knows. If he is not selected by the Kings with the second overall pick, and Richard does not select him with the third overall pick, then it is estimated that Thabeet will be able to play. Not coming out.

But now Thabeet was selected before Richard made a move, so nothing can be seen for the time being.

After the draft, Richard asked Raheem to arrange the offseason schedule for the four players, report to the team in mid-July and sign rookie contracts.

Although Jordan did not come to the scene, he watched the live broadcast of the draft. After watching it, he was completely confused. Even though he was Richard's partner, he also did not expect that Richard would choose four forwards and guards. line player.

And there was another thing that he didn't expect. After Richard came back from New York, the first thing he told him was about the Oden deal!

"What? God, Lee, are you sure you want to trade Oden?" Jordan's eyes almost popped out.

We didn't get any insiders in this draft, and now we have to send out the team's certified center. It's no wonder that Jordan had such a big reaction.

"That's right, Michael, you should know about the 2007 draft. The Trail Blazers originally wanted to select Oden, but I made it happen. Now it's time to return Oden to them." Richard said with a wry smile.

"I know about this, can we cheat? Just forget about it. I don't think Paul Allen will do anything to you, right?" Jordan said tangledly.

He really doesn't want to send Oden away. It's not just him. I'm afraid the owner of any team in the league would not be willing to send Oden away, even Richard.

"Tricking Paul Allen? Man, do you believe that he will be able to take his family and settle down in my company tomorrow..." Richard rolled his eyes and said.

Jordan smiled bitterly and asked tangledly: "Without Oden, can we still defend the title this season?"

This is what Jordan is most concerned about. Without Oden, will the team be able to win the championship this season?

Now that the Pirates have won three consecutive championships, according to common sense, other teams should have nothing to ask for...

But Jordan is no ordinary boss after all. He has built two three-peat dynasties during his playing career.

He is now thinking about creating a four-champion dynasty, which sounds much better than three consecutive championships.

In the entire history of the NBA, apart from Green Kai's eight consecutive championships, other dynasties have only had three consecutive championships.

Including the dynasty established by Richard in the top Blazers, they also only won three consecutive championships...

Now Jordan wants to build a four-champion dynasty, which will become the longest consecutive championship record after Green Kai's eight consecutive championships.

…

Facing Jordan's question, Richard thought for a moment and solemnly gave his answer.

"I can't say 100% sure, let's say 70% sure. I am 70% sure we will win the championship this coming season."

Jordan nodded, so he could accept it. The 70% certainty was already quite large.