One Guard

Chapter 521: A three million dollar bet

Nowitzki was leisurely fishing in White Rock Lake, Yi Jianlian returned to China early to prepare for the Asian Championships, Kidd was still working hard for his coaching license, and Carlisle also spent a rare month sleeping well every night. . Yiyang, on the other hand, and Vignali fully enjoyed their time in Brazil until the end of the NBA Finals.

On June 20, 2013, the Miami Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs, who eliminated the Mavericks, 95-88 at home and won the NBA championship trophy for the second consecutive year.

LeBron James finally fulfilled Duncan's promise to himself. The future indeed belongs to him and the Miami Heat.

James won two consecutive championships. After defeating the youthful and invincible Thunder last year, this year they defeated the experienced Spurs. With two championships in three years, James is undoubtedly creating his own dynasty.

In the past three years, the only team that can stop James and the Heat from ravaging the league is the Dallas Mavericks!

Although James' dominance has made Miami fans extremely comfortable, other fans around the world are now waiting for a team to emerge, a team that can break the Heat's dominance.

Who will be the team to break James' dominance? People have different opinions. Some people think the Spurs can still compete, and some people think the Thunder can do it with a healthy lineup. But absolutely no one thinks that the Dallas Mavericks can beat the Miami Heat again.

Look at how they were beaten in the mire by the Spurs last season. To be able to win two games in the Western Conference Finals is already amazing for the Mavericks. Reach the Finals and break the Heat's dominance? Well, it’s okay to have dreams, but don’t be too unrealistic.

Now, the eyes of fans around the world are on the Heat. The Spurs, who had just been eliminated, although they lost, they also gained countless fans. The Mavericks, who have been away from the game for a month, have not appeared in people's sight for a long time.

Yiyang returned to Dallas the day after the NBA Finals. He came back not to celebrate Dirk's birthday, nor to renew his contract with Cuban in advance. Yiyang came back for only one purpose this time, to prepare for the team's draft in a week's time.

"I didn't expect you to be so interested in the draft." Carlisle was a little surprised to see Yiyang interrupting his vacation and coming back just for the NBA draft. Yiyang, this guy, used to only focus on training himself. And now, he also knows how to select teammates.

"We are very happy that you can participate in the team's summer operations. After all, only you who play on the court know which players are best for us. To be honest, we don't want to sign any more players like Mayo and Odom. players. They look good on the surface, but in fact they are incompatible with the team. We have you to give us your opinions this year.

Our reinforcement work should be going very smoothly! "Mavs general manager Nelson Jr. doesn't mind Yiyang's involvement in the team's personnel operations at all, and he is very happy about it.

"I'm not giving you any advice, I just think that guy is pretty good. Of course, the decision is still in your hands." Yiyang knows that his duty is to play well on the court, and he has no right to do other things. put one's oar in. Therefore, he did not put pressure on the team to choose Gobert, nor did he say that the team must sign a certain star. What Yiyang wants is just to let the team pay attention to someone he thinks is pretty good. As for whether to select him or not, it depends on the wishes of the team management.

"How much do you know about Gobert?" Everyone sat down and began to discuss the various goals of this draft. Although this year, the Mavericks can only get a late first-round pick at most. But with Yiyang's high attention, even if it was only at the end of the first round, Cuban. Carlisle, Nelson Jr. and others were extremely serious.

"Not much. I only know that he is full of energy and obsessed with defense. But to be honest, I have only played against him once and haven't had much contact. So, we still have to see how he performs in the trial." Yiyang spread his hands. He admitted that Gobert left a deep impression on him, but he was not sure whether that guy was suitable for the current Mavericks team.

Cuban doesn't care about this. As long as he can meet Yiyang's requirements, spend $3 million to buy a draft pick, and then use the draft pick to sign Gobert, why not? In order to make his star player happy, 3 million is not worth mentioning at all.

The Mavericks' weakness at the center position is undeniable, but Cuban's real targets this summer are two All-Star centers in Howard and Al Jefferson. Gobert? There's nothing wrong with using it as a substitute.

"Gobert will come to Dallas for a trial the day after tomorrow. In the past few days, we will also send scouts to pay close attention to Gobert's performance in trials elsewhere. Of course, if possible, we can also try the one from Greece... ..." At this point, Nelson paused, because the next name was really difficult to pronounce.

"From Greece, Yiannis Ade...To...Tokunbo" After a lot of effort, Nelson finally managed to put all 26 letters into it. Read out the name.

"Antetokounmpo is indeed a guy with great potential. He may not necessarily become a superstar in the future, but he can definitely become a very good championship piece. Because he can do almost anything on the court. Of course, It is not impossible for him to grow into a superstar. After all, the kid only came into contact with basketball in 2008. To have such achievements in such a short period of time is enough to illustrate his talent. However, it is difficult for Antetokounmpo to fall to the end of the first round. , I guess, the Bucks may take him in the middle of the first round." It can be seen that Carlisle has been paying attention to the guy named Antetokounmpo for more than a day or two. Otherwise, he would not understand others so thoroughly.

"Everything is unpredictable. If Antetokounmpo falls to the end of the first round, then we will take Antetokounmpo. If Antetokounmpo is taken midway, we will take Rudy Gobert. . I will contact the teams that own the draft picks to see who is willing to accept our cash transaction." After finishing speaking, Nelson stood up and went to work on the draft picks.

Seeing everyone's enthusiasm this summer, Cuban feels that the Mavericks' revival seems to be close at hand. O'Brien Cup, we won't keep you waiting too long...

※※※

The day after the four-man meeting, the Mavericks reached a verbal agreement with Denver. Cuban used a $3 million cash subsidy exception to purchase the 27th overall pick in this year's first round directly from the Denver Nuggets.

League regulations allow teams to directly purchase draft picks using a cash subsidy price capped at $3 million. If you have the skills, you can even get the No. 1 pick for $3 million. Of course, there is no general manager in this world that is so stupid that he would sell his high draft pick for $3 million. Generally speaking, the high price of US$3 million can only buy a second-round pick at most in a draft year. This year is a weak year for the draft, and the Mavericks were "lucky" to get a late first-round pick. However, the value of the first-round pick with the 27th overall pick may not be much higher than that of the second-round pick.

Since the trade market is not open yet, the trade will be completed on draft day, if the Nuggets do not regret it.

After the news broke, it did not cause any turmoil in the outside world. The Mavericks do need a first-round pick, and the Nuggets are very busy with Iguodala's contract extension. A 27th overall pick? Who cares? What the Nuggets are facing now is whether they can keep their star player. Many NBA teams have negative profits for the whole year, and the profits of better teams may only be tens of millions of dollars a year. The $3 million subsidy exception is much more valuable to the Denver Nuggets than the 27th overall pick.

Although there are many successful examples of low-pick Taobao players in NBA history, in fact, the probability of low-pick players becoming successful is very low. Not to mention low picks, even players in the lottery, there are only a handful of players who can actually perform well in the end. Michael Beasley was originally called the number one high school student in the United States, and J. Mayo was even called the next Kobe, but his performance was obvious to all.

The draft, no matter how high or low you are, is always a gamble. And this 3 million US dollars is a big gamble by Cuban. He may use 3 million US dollars to hit a golden egg, but he is more likely to choose a rotten egg.

Effortlessly, the Mavericks had their own first-round pick. The 27th pick seems useless, but Yiyang and Carlisle attach great importance to it.

If they are really lucky to draft Antetokounmpo, then the $3 million will be worth it. As for whether Rudy Gobert is worth the 3 million, it depends on his performance during the trial...

On June 23, the Dallas Mavericks welcomed their first batch of rookies for trial training. Antetokounmpo is not among them, because Antetokounmpo's managers believe there is no way his client will fall to the late first round. Therefore, in the eyes of Carlisle and Yiyang, all the other people who come to the trial have only one role, and that is to serve as Gobert's sparring partner.

When Cuban saw Gobert for the first time, he was shocked by the guy's extremely slender limbs! This guy's physical condition is something that others can't get no matter how hard they work. Although Gobert looks too thin as a center. But weight and strength can be trained, but height and wingspan cannot be trained.

"Welcome to Dallas, kid. I hope you can perform well in the next training." Cuban and Gobert shook hands. Gobert didn't have any unnecessary expressions. After shaking hands, he walked directly to The court went to warm up.

"That kid is really similar to you." Seeing Gobert's behavior, Cuban remembered the scene when he and Dirk first met Yiyang here three years ago.

Three years have passed, and the person who is now selecting rookies with him has turned into the same rookie he was back then.

"His focus on basketball is something that many people don't have, but... let's take a look at his performance." Although Yiyang has a good impression of Gobert, his knowledge of Gobert only comes from That exhibition game. Now, put him among a bunch of American talents, how will he perform?

The finals have just ended, but Yiyang and Cuban are already preparing for their championship dream next season. The 27th pick, exchanged for $3 million, hopefully allows Cuban to break a golden egg.

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