Bishop of the Devil

The night before the draft, Richard met with Purdue University's new recruits this year.

The Morris brothers and Klay Thompson.

Purdue University has these three people participating in the draft this year...

Purdue University once had another pair of brothers, the Lopez brothers, and now they have the Morris brothers. For a while, the Morris brothers were quite eye-catching.

However, despite attracting attention, their draft picks are definitely not much higher, mainly because the previous Lopez brothers did not perform very well in the NBA.

As for Klay Thompson, he mainly plays the role of an off-ball player at Purdue University, and the draft selection will not be too high.

No team is built around a player without the ball...

An extremely well-known shooter in history, such as Miller or Ray Allen, is actually not a pure player without the ball. They have the means to attack with the ball at hand, and their level is quite good.

As for Klay Thompson, his ability with the ball is simply not enough compared to his ability without the ball.

"Coach, Coach Brownie talks about you every day, saying that you haven't returned to Purdue University for a long time." Morris conveyed his "misses" to Brownie.

"I'll wait until I have time. I have too many things to do now. I just took over the Clippers and I'm so busy that I'm dizzy."

"You three boys, after entering the league, you must work hard, but you must not embarrass Purdue University's golden name." Richard said with a smile to the three boys.

The three of them nodded at the same time. They have the status of West Lafayette players. In fact, even if the draft is not too high, it will definitely be easier to start than other players. After all, it is very likely that there is a big brother in West Lafayette on the team. Follow.

Now that they are looking forward to it, they finally have the opportunity to enter the league, and they are naturally looking forward to the future.

"Coach, don't worry, we will work hard."

"I will never embarrass you, and I will never embarrass the golden brand of West Lafayette."

"One day, you will be proud of us."

The three of them said to Richard with firm eyes.

Richard smiled and nodded. Among the three people running for election this year, the Morris brothers will not achieve very high achievements in the future. The main reason is that these two people have inherent shortcomings...

Wingspan, height and athletic ability are no advantages anyway, and these two do not have good three-point ability in the early stage, so it is difficult to become a star-level player.

But even so, there will definitely be no problem for these two to gain a foothold in the NBA.

As for Klay Thompson, Richard has placed considerable expectations on him, hoping that he can burst out unparalleled energy under his hands.

…

In the evening of the next day, Richard took Mark Jackson to the draft.

Although Richard participated in the draft last season, he was only here to help others. This time it was different. Richard came to the draft this time to select people for himself.

Everyone is curious, which players will Richard choose this time?

Although Richard currently has a lot of draft picks, including four, there are no top five picks, and the highest one is only the eighth pick.

With such a pick, I don't know if Richard can continue his miracle and select some elite rookies.

…

Stern appeared and announced the start of this year's draft.

Richard was a little puzzled. During the offseason last season, Stern said that he was about to retire. As a result, a year passed in the blink of an eye, and there was no sign of Stern retiring.

And seeing as he hosted the draft tonight, I guess he won't retire this season either...

…

"I announce that the Cleveland Cavaliers have selected Kyrie Irving from Duke University with the first pick of the first round!" Stern announced the candidates for the No. 1 pick.

The Cavaliers management sighed secretly, thinking of the deal they mentioned to Richard before.

If possible, they would rather have Griffin. After all, Griffin has already proven his ability as the No. 1 pick. As for Irving, although he seems to be the most outstanding player in this year, whether he can actually play is a genius. Know……

Even if there is a 90% certainty that it can be played, I am afraid of encountering that 10% chance.

And if you can get Griffin, you won't have this problem at all.

Just as the Cavaliers representatives sighed, Stern announced the second pick, Derrick Williams from the University of Arizona.

This is a parallel import. The Timberwolves, a miserable team, have an indissoluble bond with parallel imports anyway.

Richard also secretly mourned for the Timberwolves in his heart. This team is simply too miserable...

There is nothing wrong with selecting the weakest player in the top five picks as soon as the move is made, or even the weakest player in the top fifteen picks...

I have to say that this is also a kind of talent. As soon as you take a shot, you go directly to the worst. Not all teams can do it.

Next, the Utah Jazz selected Kanter, a freedom fighter from Turkey, with the third pick.

Sir was quite pitiful. Even Richard, who had had an earth-shattering conflict with Sir, sympathized with Sir.

In the 2009-10 season, the Jazz were still able to maintain fifth place in the Western Conference. However, in the season that just ended, that is, the 10-11 season, they failed to even make the playoffs and ranked fifth from the bottom in the Western Conference.

The reason why this situation occurred was because a conflict broke out between De Xiaopang and Sloan.

And this conflict was not a private conflict, but a fierce conflict that broke out on the sidelines during the game against the Bulls halfway through the season.

Thinking about Sloan's status, although he is not as good as Richard, he is still the leading bishop in this league, and in the Jazz, he is a godfather-level figure.

Now his players are contradicting him and arguing with him in front of tens of thousands of people. How can Sloan bear it?

As a result, Sloan resigned directly the day after the conflict broke out. Anyway, he got all the honors he deserved.

In 2009, he was elected to the Hall of Fame.

And De Xiaopang did not get a happy ending. Sloan's reputation was unparalleled in Salt Lake City. The boss was so angry that he sold De Xiaopang to the Nets two weeks later...

This made the Jazz, the original Western Conference powerhouse, directly become a weakling, not even making it to the playoffs.

However, their picks in this year's draft are still good, with a third overall pick and a 12th overall pick.

…

Next, Baxian Wang and Wa Shen were selected with the fourth and fifth picks respectively.

Among them, the Eight Wise Kings with the fourth pick were still selected by the Cavaliers, and two of the top five picks in the first round were from the Cavaliers...

The Cavaliers had such a good draft pick that Richard drooled over it.

Not just this year, the Cavaliers have received three No. 1 picks in the past four years. This has never happened in the entire history of the NBA, and anyone would drool with envy.

Of course, the Cavaliers, the three No. 1 picks, did not play their full role. Except for Irving, the other two No. 1 picks were a bit of a trap.

One is Bennett. Needless to say, he saved Kwame Brown and took away his title as the most popular No. 1 pick in history.

The other is Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in health. Based on his condition, Richard estimates that he can play until the league collapses...

…

Next, Vesely and Biyombo were selected with the sixth and seventh picks.

Next is the No. 8 pick in Richard's hands. In the entire draft venue, everyone is looking at the Clippers. Obviously everyone is curious about who Richard will choose.

The selection of the first seven picks did not exceed the expectations of fans and experts. They were basically expected.

As for Richard's No. 8 pick, experts must have predicted that he would choose either Brandon Knight, the point guard from the University of Kentucky, or Kemba Walker, the point guard from the University of Connecticut...

Because Richard sold the Clippers' point guard Blake in the previous transaction, their current number one player is completely insufficient. Richard will definitely give priority to a point guard in this draft. players.

Whether it is Knight or Walker, in the opinion of experts, they are both very suitable No. 1 players for the Clippers.

Now they are waiting for Stern to come out and announce the results...

"I announce that the Los Angeles Clippers selected Klay Thompson from Purdue University with the eighth pick in the first round!"

"Wow..." There was a commotion at the scene. No one expected that Richard would choose a forward and defensive line player, and he was also a forward and defensive line player without the ability to hold the ball.

If Klay Thompson has the ability to hold the ball, then some people at the scene may think that Richard will find another way to train Thompson in the direction of point guard.

But now that Thompson has no ability to hold the ball, it is impossible to play the No. 1 position...

What the hell is Richard doing? Could it be that he has developed a tactical system that eliminates the need for a point guard at all? !

Richard also noticed the shock of everyone at the scene and could roughly guess what they were shocked about...

Only choose the expensive one, not the right one. The Clippers are indeed extremely short of point guards at the moment, but obviously Thompson's value is higher than Knight or Walker.

Moreover, Walker already has an owner. The Warriors with the ninth pick are very interested in Walker. I asked Richard before if he could choose him, and Richard gave an affirmative answer.

Although Walker is a bit wasted, his strength is actually quite good. In the East, where the competition for the No. 1 position is not so fierce, Walker can become a top three point guard in the East in the future.

…

Popovich also came in person this time. After hearing that the Clippers selected Klay Thompson, he breathed a sigh of relief!

It would be nice if he didn't choose Leonard. He was really afraid that Richard would choose Leonard if he came up...

…

Next, the Warriors selected Kemba Walker with the ninth overall pick. Under normal circumstances, this pick belongs to the Buccaneers, but with the current record, the Buccaneers will definitely not be able to get such a high pick.

…

After a brief commotion, the subsequent draft went on normally.

"I announce that the Utah Jazz selected Alec Burks from the University of Colorado with the 12th overall pick in the first round."

The Jazz's two first-round picks were both quite decent, and the players were all good, but they weren't outstanding enough.

…

Next, everyone turned their attention to the Clippers, because next came the Clippers' draft picks.

It’s time for Richard to choose a point guard this time, right?

"I announce that the Los Angeles Clippers have selected Kawhi Leonard from San Diego State University with the 13th overall pick in the first round."

…

"Hold the grass?! What the hell is this choice?" The audience at the scene was immediately confused, while the domestic fans were immediately fried.

"Who is this guy? Why did ESPN report that this person's name was not among the players that the Clippers might choose."

"I really want to have some impression of this newcomer, but this guy is a blue-collar outsider. In terms of ball-handling ability, he is no better than Klay Thompson. His offensive skills are quite rough."

"What are Richard thinking? Do you really not want a point guard? Selecting Klay Thompson with the eighth pick is acceptable. After all, he is a product of Purdue University, but what the hell is this 13th pick? , even if you choose one of the Morris brothers!"

Many fans in the country were watching the live broadcast of the draft. When they saw Richard picking two forwards and defenders one after another, they couldn't help but start complaining.

In their opinion, these two choices are not wise...

Even a fan who is new to basketball can see the current character of the Clippers. They are so short of point guards!

Under this situation, Richard actually selected two players who could not play point guard at all. No one knew what he was doing.

The audience blinked, this time Richard gave them another big surprise.

They did not select a point guard, nor did they select a big player that Richard always prefers. Instead, they selected two forwards and defenders...

Popovich took a long breath of relief and suddenly held it back.

No matter what he was afraid of, Richard really chose Leonard, his favorite.

"Fortunately, I made preparations beforehand!"

"Now that Leonard has been obtained by Richard, trying to snatch it back from Richard is probably a fantasy." Popovich sighed and thought.

However, an old man like him, who has been struggling in the league for so many years, immediately cheered up after a brief period of disappointment.

Leonard is indeed good, but he may not be better than his second plan.

…

Seeing that Klay Thompson and Leonard were officially acquired, Richard breathed a sigh of relief. This draft has been two-thirds of the way through. Next, as long as he selects Butler and Thomas, he will be successful. Leave New York and start rebuilding the Clippers.

Richard watched the draft continue with great satisfaction. The only thing he had to do next was to wait.

Waiting to select Jimmy Butler with the 30th pick.

"I announce that the San Antonio Spurs have selected Jimmy Butler from Marquette University with the 29th pick of the first round." Stern read out the 29th pick.

Karma? ! Richard was dumbfounded...

Jiba had his beard cut off? ! Did Popovich cut off his beard? !

How can this be……

Richard never expected that Butler was about to get it, but was intercepted by Popovich.

PS: It’s free for a limited time. Chapters are two in one. You can order them all if you can save points. The number of words is the same as before. I’m not lazy...