NBA: Back to 97, to be the Jagged Bishop

Chapter 146 Eight people selected for the rookie lineup
The time of the shortened season passed quickly. The game started on January 1, and by May 20, in less than four months, the Raptors finished all their regular season schedules.

In 50 games, the Raptors won 47 of them, and the three games they lost were against the Bucks, Nuggets and Bucks.

That's right, the Raptors met the Bucks twice this season, and were double-killed by the Bucks.

The Bucks trained by George Karl are a bit of a powerful nemesis. They not only double-killed the Raptors, but also fell into their hands such as the Bulls and Knicks.

In the game that lost to the Nuggets, Comb was a little bit sloppy and took Ben, Bus and Payton to rest. In the end, the Nuggets took advantage of their strong lineup to win the Raptors.

Fitch Sr. led the Nuggets this season and achieved an impressive record of 36 wins.

Although the record is far inferior to the Raptors, this record also ranks second in the West, second only to the 37-win Spurs.

In the East, the Raptors are the best and their record is unmatched. The second-ranked Bulls only have 38 wins, and the third-ranked Knicks have 36 wins.

The eight teams in the Eastern Conference to advance to the playoffs are the Raptors, Bulls, Knicks, Pacers, Pistons, Heat, Bucks and Eagles.

After the Pistons acquired Harrington this season, their combat power has improved a lot. If it weren't for the fact that there are too many strong players in the Eastern Conference, their playoff rankings will be even higher.

At the end of the season, Dumars got his wish and took the position of general manager.

As Comb promised, Harrington is currently averaging 19 points and 8 rebounds per game for the Pistons. His style of play fits perfectly with Hill's.

Comb has selected eight rookie players this year. So far, he has kept five in his hands, including Dabus, Miller, Lewis, Carter and Pierce, and sent out Harrington, Mobley and Duron Davis.

Needless to say, Harrington has become the second in command of the Pistons.

Mobley is currently averaging 18.5 points per game for the Sonics. He and Billups actually brought the Sonics into the playoffs, and their popularity in Seattle is quite high.

Dulong Davis's data is not so gorgeous. After all, the Nuggets have many strengths. There is also a martial artist in the third position, so it is impossible for Dulong to attack.

However, Duron currently averages 13 points per game. In addition, the Nuggets rank second in the West, and Duron is also quite optimistic.

Think about the three rookies that Kong Bu sent out, all of which can play this kind of performance, how can the five he keeps in his hands be worse?
The management of many teams is racking their brains, thinking about how to poach a newcomer from Kumbu, even if he can't become the core of the team, at least he can become the second leader.

The Raptors' opponent in the first round of the playoffs, the Hawks, is the most active team.

Wilkens has called Comb almost every week this season. The name is to exchange coaching experience, but in fact he is coming for the Raptors rookie.

On May 5, the Raptors played at home and faced the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs.

"The guys from the 76ers are really more cunning than the foxes. They definitely lost the last two games of the season on purpose."

The elder Wilkens was very upset. Their chances of entering the playoffs were slim.

He doesn't think this is a bad thing. Entering the playoffs with the eighth record in the Eastern Conference, the end will be quite miserable. In the first round against the Raptors, it's no wonder he didn't get beaten.

Instead of being hanged and beaten, it is better to take a vacation in advance and plan for the next season.

However, the original eighth 76ers in the Eastern Conference lost inexplicably in the last two games, allowing the ninth-ranked Eagles to ascend to the eighth position.

"Kong, Payton is so powerful. This kind of experienced player is definitely a treasure."

"It's very suitable for a team like yours with a lot of young people."

Wilkens inexplicably began to praise Payton.

Kong Bu looked at him with wary eyes. If something goes wrong, there must be a demon. This old man probably has some bad idea.

"What do you think of Steve? He's a year younger than Payton."

"How about we make a deal, use Steve to get two new guys from you, just like the deal you did with the Sonics."

Sure enough, Wilkens was really thinking about the Raptors' rookie.

Steve Smith, the outside core of the Eagles, has maintained a first-class shooting guard averaging 20 points per game all year round.

He entered the league in 91 and is indeed younger than Payton.

But despite his young age, Smith's value in Combe's mind is almost zero.

Leaving aside the fact that the Raptors have no shortage of shooting guards, Comb has not yet started to allow Carter to get a stable playing time. With the blessing of the training field, Carter has actually entered the peak period.

Compared with Smith at his peak, his combat power is not a bit stronger.

In addition, starting from next season, Smith's combat power has shrunk significantly, and it is even more unreasonable for Comb to get him in the team.

"Lenny, don't worry about our newcomer."

"We are old acquaintances. When the time is right, I will make a deal with you, and this deal will definitely make you a lot of money."

Wilkens hurriedly asked Comb what the timing was, but it was a pity that Comb kept silent.

After a while, the game on the court started.

The African mountain Mutombo is still strong. In the confrontation between the basket and Big Ben, he did not lose the wind at all, and even had some advantages.

Even though Big Ben is Kumbu's favorite player, he has to admit that in terms of pure combat power, Mutombo may be slightly stronger.

Uncle Mu is 218 cm tall, and his defensive coverage is amazing. He can defend any type of inside line.

Daben is a bit mean in this regard.

However, Uncle Mu on the field is hard to beat with two fists and four hands. What he has to face is not only Big Ben, but also the bombing from the bus and Xiao Ao.

On the perimeter, Steve Smith didn't have a good defense, but he faced a top attacker like Tracy McGrady.

Unable to guard McGrady, under McGrady's defense, the offense was blocked again.

All the inside and outside lines were suppressed, so it's no wonder the Eagles weren't beaten.

In the five-game three-win series, the Raptors averaged 17.3 points per game, swept the Eagles in three games, and got tickets to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

After being eliminated, Wilkens showed no disappointment on his face.

This was the expected situation.

With the Eagles' lineup configuration, let alone kill the Raptors to advance, even if they can win the next game in the hands of the Raptors, it is only possible if God descends in person.

Their lineup has too many flaws, and the fourth position is too weak. If there is a fourth position like Xiao Ao, the strength of their inside combination will be improved by several levels.

The third position is not good for offense and defense. If there is a third position like Mashburn or Wu Sheng, it can also greatly increase the strength of the outside line.

It's a pity that for the Eagles, this is a scene that only comes true in dreams.

In the east, the Bulls and the Bucks have played back and forth, and the Bulls temporarily lead by a big score of 2:1.

This matchup between the Knicks and the Heat was beyond the expectations of many people. Originally, the fans thought that the Heat would be able to parry at least twice, but they were swept away just like the Eagles.

In the third game, the two sides even almost had a brawl.

Aunt Johnson saw that the team was about to sweep the old enemy, the Heat, and taunted Mourning.

Mourning's violent temper was unbearable, and he rushed forward to fight the aunt.

Now the old oak Oakley is no longer in the Knicks. If there is a fight, the Heat may not suffer.

Counting old and new grudges together, Mourning is ready for a big fight, anyway, they can no longer advance.

At this moment, Da Zhi stood up and grabbed the eager Aunt and Ewing. These two old ghosts really gave Da Zhi face and immediately calmed down.

Da Zhi walked towards Mourning again, patted Mourning on the shoulder, and said a few words softly, and Mourning also calmed down.

A fight was easily settled by Da Zhi.

Experts from all walks of life exclaimed that Da Zhi has successfully ascended the throne and became the new king of New York.

It's hard to say whether he is the new king, but Dazhi is indeed the undisputed position in the Knicks at present.

The individual stats stand out, even better than Duncan's.

In addition, all the team executives regard Big Zhi as the future of the team. In order to clarify the status of Big Zhi as the leader of the team, they even killed chickens and monkeys this season. Chris Dudley, who had an argument with Big Zhi in the training game The team was suspended for ten games, and then directly transferred to the lower levels.

Note that it is decentralization, not transaction.

Dudley is not an unknown person. He is a veteran who entered the league in 87. He is a well-known blue-collar insider with an annual salary of more than 500 million in the Knicks.

But just because he exchanged a few words with Dazhi, he was immediately punished heavily by the Knicks.

Decentralization means that Dudley will not be able to return to the NBA before the end of the Knicks contract. The Knicks are desperately losing millions of dollars in order to enhance Dazhi's sense of belonging to the Knicks.

With a sense of belonging, you can stay in the Knicks forever.

As long as the Knicks have a big Zhi, they will always be a powerful team with a chance to compete for the championship.

So regardless of whether you are a veteran or not, let alone Dudley, even if it is Aunt or Ewing, the Knicks management must be fine.

The key Knicks fans will not have any objections, even a fool knows the meaning of keeping Da Zhi to the Knicks.

……

The Pacers and the Pistons also played back and forth, and Combe was waiting for this group to win or lose.

The winner will be their Raptors opponent in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Harrington played perfectly in this round of the series, because the Pacers' rebounding level is a bit bad, resulting in Harrington's not so strong rebounding ability as a God of War.

In three games, he averaged 23 points and 13 rebounds per game, helping the Pistons lead with a 2:1 lead.

Larry Bird became more and more angry because Harrington was the first player he was optimistic about.

Before the draft, he tried out Harrington three times and gave Harrington a guarantee of a first-round pick.

This first-round pick guarantee means that Harrington will not go to other teams for trial training.

As a result, Harrington cut off Combe's beard.

If it's just that Combe cut the beard, Larry Bird is not so angry. Anyway, the Raptors are already so strong, and one more Harrington and one less Harrington will not have much impact.

He was angry that Harrington was sold to the Pistons, which became the biggest obstacle for their Pacers to advance.

Three days later, the Pistons made another victory at home, eliminated the Pacers with a big score of 3:1, and successfully advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Combe made a special call to Dumars to congratulate him.

Last season, the Pistons were just a weak team. After Dumars took over, he immediately reached the Eastern Conference semifinals. This is a shining achievement.

"Kong, I should actually congratulate you."

Dumas congratulated Kongbu on the contrary, but congratulated him instead.

"Didn't you find out? Of the four teams that advanced to the East this year, three of them have a great relationship with you."

"Needless to say for our Pistons, without Harrington, it is almost impossible to beat the Pacers."

"Not to mention the Knicks. If they don't have a big name, it's hard to say whether they can make the playoffs this year."

Dumas sighed.

It only took a little over a year for the unknown soldier Kumbu to become an important figure.

His random deal or decision has been able to affect the pattern of the East.

In fact, not only the east, but the west is also deeply influenced by Kumbu.

The Spurs ranked first in the Western Conference this season, and Bowen made a lot of contributions, and Bowen was given to the Spurs by Comb.

Needless to say, the second-ranked Nuggets, three of the starting five are Kumbu players.

If Dumas hadn't said anything, Combe really wouldn't have realized it, and before he knew it, his influence would have been so terrifying.

In the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Pistons, there was no pressure on the Raptors.

The two forwards of the Pistons are indeed good, but their shortcomings in other positions are too obvious.

In addition, the reason why the Pistons can beat the Pacers is largely because they have an advantage in rebounding. Unfortunately, facing the Raptors' powerful inside, the Pistons have no rebounding advantage.

Every rebound is exploded, which naturally means losing the possibility of winning.

The old saying goes that the rebounder wins the world, the more this saying goes to the playoffs, the more it will be fulfilled.

After the Raptors beat the Pistons in two games in a row, the annual regular season awards began.

Even if this year is a shortened season, the regular season honor awards are particularly interesting. At least Combe led a group of Raptors players to stand in front of the TV, waiting for Stern to announce the honor winner.

"I declare that the 1998-1999 season general manager of the year winner is Denver Nuggets Mike D'Antoni!"

Stern first announced the candidates for general manager of the year.

Sha Lun was very upset. This year the Raptors had a terrifying record of 47 wins. If they stayed in the normal season, they could even break the Bulls' record of 72 wins!
Why is the general manager of the year not himself?But the Nuggets with only 36 wins?

Maybe except for Sha Lun, people all over the world don't think there is any problem with D'Antoni winning this award.

The last season of the Nuggets League last season, this season directly rushed to the second place in the Western Conference, D'Antoni contributed a lot.

As for the record of the Raptors, in the eyes of the outside world, there is almost no difference between having a Shalun and not having a Shalun, and he has already won it once last season.

The best coach of the year after the general manager of the year, Combe is naturally the undisputed candidate.

Since then, Kumbu is also a top coach with two COYs and a championship trophy. If he can win the championship again this year, Konbu is directly eligible to be among the top ten coaches in NBA history.

The honor of COY has been awarded since 1963, and today, Kongbu is the first coach of Lianzhuang.

In addition to the three times of the old Nelson, there are currently only four coaches who have won two COYs, namely Combe, Sr. Fitch, Pat Riley and Hubie Brown.

In other words, at least in this regard, Kumbu is already one of the top five coaches in history.

The key point is that he is still so young, if he wins it again in the future, he will be tied for the first place with Old Nelson, and if he wins it twice, he will become the number one in history.

Obviously becoming the first in history is only a matter of time for Combe.

Next comes the player awards, which is the highlight of what Combe really cares about.

First out is the rookie lineup.

Rookie team: Miller, Bus, Harrington, Mobley, Carter, Bibby

Rookie second team: Duron Davis, Lewis, Pierce, Larry Hughes plus Baiqiao Williams
Among them, the first round of rookies is not the usual five players, but this time six players were selected.

It is not uncommon for six players to be selected for the rookie lineup. It happens every two or three years, and there were even cases where six players were selected for the first and second teams at the same time.

This year's second team is rather strange, and it has become the world of players of the Si generation.

When Stern read out the roster, the executives of all the teams in the league all took a breath of air.

so horrible!

There are six people in the first team, five of whom are disciples of Kongbu, and five people in the second team, three of whom are disciples of Kongbu.

It is equivalent to saying that the eight players selected by Kumbu in the draft before were all selected to the rookie team.

Some teams are remorseful. They knew that they would have to sign Konbu even if they were selling their iron.

Those are eight rookie players in the first year of the draft, and their value is unimaginable.

Even if you don't want anything, just sell cash, it will far exceed Kumbu's salary.

In a single transaction, there is an upper limit to the cash compensation that can be given. This upper limit is linked to the salary cap and is 5% of the salary cap. According to this year's salary cap, the upper limit is about 150 million US dollars.

The eight rising stars can earn $1200 million even if it's just the cash compensation of the transaction.

Of course, it is impossible for these rising stars to get their hands on just 150 million US dollars, at least they have to add some draft picks.

Draft picks can also be sold, and the next round is cheap right now, even if it is the first pick in the second round, it can be bought for only 80 million US dollars.

The value of the first-round pick is high, but the first-round pick cannot be traded in cash alone, and some other chips must be used. Even so, it is no problem to sell a lottery pick for 150 million US dollars plus other chips.

Based on a new star selling one first round, one second round plus $150 million, at least $350 million can be harvested.

Eight is 2800 million!
Kongbu's salary was only 200 million, which means that if they signed Kongbu at that time, they didn't have to do anything, and they could earn at least 600 million US dollars in blood.

Among them, the value of players like Daba is immeasurable. Although there is an upper limit for cash compensation, people always come up with solutions, and loopholes can always be found. It is not a problem at all to sell a Daba for two or 3000 million.

The Raptors cheered after reading the rookie lineup list.

Kumbu's vision has been verified once again, and the players selected by Kumbu will also be valued by all teams in the league, and they will have a bright future waiting for them in the future.

Tyronn Lu looked embarrassed. Although he was not drafted by Kumbu, he was also acquired by Kumbu through a trade.

I am also a rookie, but I didn't make it to the rookie list.

This makes it appear that your dish is very special.

After the rookie lineup was released, the honor of the best rookie of the year was taken down by the bus.

Originally the winner of this honor was Carter, who averaged 18 points per game in his rookie season, but now Carter can only play as a substitute for the Raptors, averaging only 10 points per game.

The displayed strength is indeed strong, but the data is not good, so naturally he cannot get the best rookie.

Although Daba played as a substitute for more than half of this season, he played 30 minutes and averaged 18 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. It was expected that he won the best rookie.

Not only the best rookie, the bus also successfully won the honor of the best sixth man.

The most improved player of the year was taken down by Mashburn. He was a substitute last season. After starting this season, his statistics skyrocketed.

This year's Raptors are even stronger than last season, and they have almost all the honors in their pockets.

(End of this chapter)