NBA: Back to 97, to be the Jagged Bishop

Chapter 409 The Draft Begins

"So what are you going to do next? Retire?"

Kongbu chatted with Lao Deng.

"Retirement? Are you kidding me? My children are just over 20 years old. If I retire, how will they support themselves?"

"And don't you really have any sympathy? Just watch me in trouble? The position of general manager of the Nets is vacant, why not let me do it."

Thomas Sr. was not polite to Combs at all. In fact, if he talked to James Dolan in a good voice, he could negotiate at least 3 million in three years.

But Thomas Sr. felt that he had a way out. If he didn't leave his father here, he would have his own place to stay. Kongbu happened to buy the Nets, and he went directly to Kongbu's place. Who would accept your arrogance from Dolan?

Kongbu was stunned. He actually had no plan to arrange a general manager for the team. What was the use of this thing?
The daily management of the team is like a carrot and a pit. For example, in the finance department, there is a financial director, in ticket sales, there is a ticket sales manager, and in public relations, there is a public relations manager. They usually report directly to Kongbu.

As for the team's operations and management of players, there is no need for a general manager, Kongbu can handle it alone.

"The position of Nets general manager is indeed vacant, but you have to know that this is New Jersey, and I am not James Dolan, so I can't give you a high salary."

"If you are willing, I can give you a contract of 400 million US dollars per year until you are unwilling to stay with the Nets, or until I stop being the owner of the Nets."

The contract given by Kongbu is not much more than that of Dolan. Dolan's salary is 3 million for three years, while Kongbu's annual salary is 1000 million.

The annual salary of 400 million is actually higher than the salary of the general managers of more than half of the league's teams.

"Deal, I knew there was nothing wrong with this guy coming to you."

"Whoever wants to go to the Knicks can go. That is a team cursed by the devil."

Old Thomas wanted to come to Combs' Nets. On the one hand, he couldn't do it anymore in the Knicks. He was trying to help Dolan every year, but he couldn't win the championship every year, and he still got a very high salary from Dolan every year. salary.

Dolan's patience has now been exhausted, so this contract extension gave Thomas Sr. 1000 million for three years.

Now that Thomas Sr. has left the Knicks, he feels relaxed and will follow Kong Bu from now on. At least he won't have so much work pressure. He can just hang out and win the championship.

On the other hand, Lao Deng also knows that the Nets are about to move to New York. He has already settled in New York over the years, and his family has settled down in New York. He is not happy to let him go to other cities.

Working with Kongbu means you have more money, less work and are close to home. Isn't this the most perfect job?

"Okay, let's do it. You come to New Jersey tomorrow and sign the contract first. There's a lot of work that needs to be done right now. Come and help me."

Although Kongbu usually bickered with Lao Deng when they met, he still helped Lao Deng whenever he could. In a sense, Lao Deng was considered his nobleman.

And when Kongbu had a weak wing a few years ago, when he had a conflict with someone in the league, Lao Deng would definitely be the first one to jump out and help him.

Based on this alone, Kongbu couldn't leave Lao Deng alone.

The next day Lao Deng excitedly drove to New Jersey alone. After entering Kongbu's office, he smacked his lips and started complaining.

"It's really shabby. Is this the boss's office? It looks like a Syrian battlefield."

"But considering this is New Jersey, it makes sense."

Lao Deng worked for the Knicks for seven or eight years, sitting in a magnificent office every day. After seeing the shabby office of the Nets, he was very disdainful.

"No, this is not the boss's office, but the general manager's office."

"Secondly, I remember that you old guy is obviously from Chicago. Why do you imitate New Yorkers and look down on New Jersey?"

Kong Bu said angrily.

"It sounds like you think highly of New Jersey. New Jersey is so good, why do you want to move to New York City?"

Lao Deng is still the same Lao Deng, and he and Kong Bu start to fight each other when they meet.

Kongbu waved his hand and simply assigned him a task, a task of taking the blame.

"Old guy, the first task I give you now is to contact the Timberwolves and trade their star star Garnett."

Old Thomas was shocked, "Trade Garnett? Are you kidding me? You can't get Garnett back even if you pack all the Nets players away!"

"Kong, how are you going to deal?"

"In exchange for Vince Carter, you just go ahead and make an offer. For the rest of the work, you contact Garnett and he will help you complete the deal."

Kongbu now has too much work in his hands, so he simply leaves the tasks that can easily offend people to Lao Deng. Anyway, he doesn't care if he offends people. There are very few people in the league who have not been offended by him.

It's not nonsense to say that trading Garnett is offending. The Timberwolves definitely don't want to sell Garnett. This is their foundation.

If the Nets want to get Garnett, they can only work with Garnett to force the Timberwolves management. It is a bit inappropriate for Kongbu to come forward, and it is just right for Lao Deng to be the bad guy.

In addition to the work of trading Garnett, Kongbu's current more important task is to trade at least two 20th picks in the first round to select Rondo and the young guns Lowry.

Fortunately, the Nets still have some foundation. Currently, their starting twin towers inside are Jason Collins and Serbian Kostic.

Collins has no gross value, and his rookie contract has expired, and no other team has provided him with an offer. If the Nets don't sign him, he may be unemployed and has almost no trading value.

Comb's only memory of Collins is that when this guy got older, he went to participate in some mixed-sex league, that is, a league with both male and female players.

But Krstic is different. This is his second year, and he has already averaged around 14 points and 6.5 rebounds per game at the first-line fourth position. He is known as a young leader in technical insiders.

The last person with such a name was Dazhi.

In Kombu's impression, the third-year Krstic was already averaging about 17 points per game.

Logically speaking, if he continues to grow, he will definitely become an All-Star. Unfortunately, he has suffered injuries one after another since his fourth season and has gradually disappeared from everyone's mind.

If it were not too brittle, he would probably suffer from extremely serious injuries, and Kongbu might not sell it and keep it for his own use.

This kind of technical insider is not that easy to find. If he comes on the bench at the right time, he can cause huge trouble for the opponent.

There are many teams in the league who want Krstic, and Kombu has no worries about selling him.In the end, Combe chose the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks went through huge personnel changes last season. Nelson Sr. left the Mavericks and his son Nelson Jr. took over as general manager.

The position of head coach is taken by young general Avery Johnson.

In Kongbu's view, the Mavericks' request for Krstic doesn't seem to be of much use. Krstic cannot give Nowitzki much help in the paint.

However, the Mavericks wanted it sincerely, and the price they offered was not low, and they were even willing to help broker a three-party deal, so there was no reason not to trade for Kongbu.

In the end, Combo sent out four players, Kostic, Jeff McGinnis, Mark Jackson, and Mickey Moore, and received the No. 20 pick from the Mavericks and the No. 23 pick from the Warriors.

Kongbu feels that these two first-round picks are almost the same. Rondo and the little steel cannon can be obtained, and the Nets themselves also have a second-round pick No. [-]. This pick can turn the second-round picks into Millsap elected.

As for undrafted Jose Barea, if Combo had extra draft picks, he could have selected him in advance to avoid his embarrassing defeat.

It's a pity that he really didn't have any draft picks, not even the bottom of the second round. Kongbu decided to wait until the end of the draft and let Lao Deng contact Barea and sign directly without going through the draft.

In most previous years, the draft was held at Madison Square Garden in New York. This year, Stern moved it to New Jersey, which gave New Jersey fans a little surprise.

A week before the draft, the Timberwolves finally couldn't bear the pressure.

Garnett's desire for a championship has reached an obsessive level. He took the initiative to talk to the team owner and made his promise that after he won the championship under Combs, he would take the initiative to return to Minnesota and continue to play for the Timberwolves. .

It is equivalent to saying that the Timberwolves lent Garnett to Kongbu, and then obtained the right to use Carter from Kongbu. Seeing this, the Timberwolves boss felt much better.

However, he still wanted to maximize his profits and asked Kongbu to serve as a draft consultant for the No. 6 pick in their hands.

Old Thomas informed Kongbu of the Timberwolves' conditions, and Kongbu agreed without saying a word.

The top stars among the top ten picks include Ade, Roy and Rudy Gay. Gay is almost less interesting than Ade and Roy. He can just be given to the Timberwolves, which can also make up for the loss of the Timberwolves.

In fact, it means that Kombu does not have the right draft picks, otherwise he would also want Rudy Gay.

……

In late June, the draft officially began. Combs and Thomas Sr. served as hosts, greeting representatives of each team at the draft site.

The New Orleans Hornets held the No. [-] pick. They used the No. [-] pick in their hands to directly select Italian center Andrea Bargnani.

Since then, the NBA has also given birth to its first European champion.

Of course, Bargnani is not the top draft pick. He averaged 21 points per game in his peak period. As a power forward, he also has good three-point ability, but his rebounding ability is really rubbish and he is not good on the defensive end. .

It's not a parallel import, but if Kong Bu was asked to choose with the No. [-] pick, he would definitely not choose it.

If Combu really had to choose between Bargnani and Bogut, Combu would even choose Bogut over Bargnani.

The main reason is that there are too many fourth positions like Bargnani who can only shoot. Since Nowitzki became famous, teams in the league have become more tolerant of the fourth position. In the past, a A power forward who doesn't know how to defend or rebound still wants to be the No. [-] pick in the NBA?Just dream.

And Bogut is much rarer. A rebounding and defensive center like him, before the small ball era officially came, his value was much higher than Bargnani.

Next came the Charlotte Bobcats' second pick, and Jordan actually took Iguodala to trade the second pick with the Bulls.

"I announce that the Charlotte Bobcats have selected Adam Morrison from Gonzaga University with the second overall pick in the first round!"

Jordan sat confidently in his seat, his face full of longing for the future.

After selecting Adam Morrison, he must train him well. When Hill's contract expires next year, he will only be able to play in the mid-level at his age. By then, Hill will be substituted and Morrison will be in the starting lineup. .

Jordan didn't know why he had absolute confidence in Morrison, thinking that Morrison would definitely be able to get ahead.

Seeing that the Bobcats selected Morrison again, Kongbu didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

The Bobcats dynasty that he built with his own hands had just left the front foot when Jordan replaced Morrison with Iguodala.

What should be laughed at is that Jordan chose Morrison, so he can choose Ade next.

"I announce that the New Jersey Nets have selected LaMarcus Aldridge from the University of Texas with the third overall pick in the first round!"

It was not surprising to hear that Kongbu selected Ade. In the pre-draft predictions, Ade was originally the top three picks, and now he is selected by Kongbu with the third overall pick. It is not a surprise.

After the Hawks selected Tyrus Thomas with the fourth pick, Combs breathed a sigh of relief. His favorite Roy was still there. What he feared most was that the Hawks would draft Roy away.

Now it seems that the Hawks are still too rigid and too superstitious about the principle of selecting the best player. They did not choose the small Roy and chose the big combo forward Thomas.

Next, Kongbu took action again and got the Yellow Mamba Brandon Roy.

"I announce that the New Jersey Nets have selected Brandon Roy from the University of Washington with the fifth overall pick in the first round."

Since then, Kongbu has acquired Ade and Roy one after another, and his core lineup of the Nets has almost gradually taken shape. As long as Rondo is selected next, even if no one else can be selected, the Nets will still be a team. Powerful team.

Speaking of which, the Trail Blazers' draft is indeed something, because under normal circumstances, both Ade and Roy were taken away by the Trail Blazers in this draft. Ade was the one the Trail Blazers brought to the Bulls with Tyrus Thomas. In exchange, Roy was acquired by the Trail Blazers in a trade with the Timberwolves.

It's a pity that it's useless to have a discerning eye. This pair of internal and external twin stars, which should be extremely dazzling, did not produce anything decent in the end.

When the 14th pick came, it was the Bobcats' pick again, and this time Jordan selected Marcus Williams.

This choice scared Kongbu into a cold sweat, because Marcus Williams is a point guard, and his normal pick is the 22nd pick, just behind Rondo.

It seems that Jordan wants to choose a point guard to serve as a substitute for Chris Paul. After all, the little potatoes have been sold to him.

Then he may have tried out many point guards, and finally selected a 191 cm tall point guard among these people.

At least in this era, a point guard with a height of 191 centimeters is considered a big man. In five years, this height will be regarded as a standard height. Most point guards are 191 centimeters tall.

Combs glanced at Jordan sympathetically. He could have selected Rondo or Lowry with the No. 14 pick, but he picked the trashiest Marcus Williams.

Jordan's vision is so outrageous, he can always find the worst person in the crowd.

(End of this chapter)