NBA: The best team doctor in history

Chapter 204: Two guards selected in the draft! Big trade for the Trail Blazers!
"So, now our only competitor is the Knicks?"

"No, there are also the Warriors. I've analyzed this before. Crazy inventor Nelson also wants players like this."

"Yeah, even though the Warriors didn't try out Stephen Curry, they went to watch Curry's games, so there's still a risk."

"FXXK, if these are really the two teams, then our pick will be in the top six, right?"

Larry Miller found that it was becoming increasingly difficult as he continued to investigate, as only the top eight teams wanted him. In this case, they had to trade up the draft pick.

"Curry's dad has always been thinking about his big baby. What is the attitude of the New York Knicks towards Curry?"

A small shareholder attending the meeting asked a question.

Obviously he had never experienced a draft. In his opinion, if everyone was fooling him, then the trade would be in vain.

Jiang Ming thought that this guy must have read too many newspapers and was only thinking about robbing the 15th pick, buying peaches at a low position, and so on.

But the fact is that it is very likely that by the time the 15th pick is almost gone, not a single one will fall.

There's no way around it. This year is a weak year for the draft. If it were a strong year, it wouldn't be surprising for Curry to drop to 30th place.

Because it is a weak draft year, the rankings are basically fixed. For example, 90% of Evans, Jennings, Harden, DeRozan and others are reserved. There is no hope if you wait for them to fall. You can only trade up to try to snatch them up.

Therefore, McGowan also understood and directly "exaggerated":
"Very good, very good, very good! Curry is the Knicks' chosen one!"

The Knicks are in a very mess right now. They play recklessly on the court and off the court, and every player is a troublemaker.

The performance is not good, and the reputation has dropped to the bottom. No matter whether it is a big brand or a small brand, no one likes to go there.

On April 2008, 4, Donnie Walsh became the new president of basketball operations for the Knicks. The famous trader who had discovered Reggie Miller in Indiana decided to change the Knicks' current situation.

The first step was to establish a core player who had a tough character, excellent basketball skills, a good personality and no negative news. Walsh chose Curry.

Then Walsh also wanted to find someone with a good personality to neutralize the current situation of the Knicks.

Curry Jr. is cheerful, warm, generous, humble, and has no bad intentions, which meets Walsh's basic requirements for a core player.

Don’t think that NBA scouts don’t value the education of players. You should know that many black players were picked by the Cavaliers with the No. 1 pick because they were civilized and polite…

Similarly, if a player is too troublesome and starts to complain about everything before he even enters the league, teams will not choose him unless his skills are outstanding.

"And this guy discovered Reggie Miller, so he's very good at coaching this kind of shooter."

Walsh once discovered NBA historical shooter Reggie Miller from the Indiana Pacers, so he knows too well how rare it is for a shooter to have the quality of having a cold hand, missing shots repeatedly, but still daring to shoot at critical moments.

So although everyone has noticed that Curry's performance in the NCAA has also been very up and down.

But he can make a lot of three-pointers when he goes online!

And he is very brave to shoot three-pointers.

Curry's tenacity completely attracted Walsh. After this year's March Madness, Walsh immediately called Dell Sr. - "As long as your son comes, he will be the new core of the Knicks!"

This is also the reason why Dell dared to tell the media several times that he would not go anywhere else but New York.

The night before the draft!
Next to Madison Square Garden, the hotel where the presidents were staying was filled with the sound of frequent phone calls:

"Reporting to the president, the Knicks don't seem to have any intention of trading up!"

"Yes, the Knicks are very confident, they think the No. 8 pick is a sure thing!"

"The Warriors have no intention of trading up. Similarly, they feel that the No. 7 pick is a safe bet."

Larry Miller smiled:
"They all made a huge mistake before the draft. They ignored our determination to want Curry."

Although the Knicks like Curry very much, they may have made a huge mistake before the draft night, that is, they only have the No. 8 pick.

In addition to the Clippers, Thunder, Grizzlies, Timberwolves and other teams where Curry is definitely not going to the earlier picks, there is also the Golden State Warriors who hold the No. 7 pick, and the Knicks did not choose to trade up.

In other words, even if the Trail Blazers don’t grab it, the Warriors will!
In order to confirm this, the smart Larry Miller made a special call to the Warriors management to ask whether they would trade for the No. 7 pick, and even offered a very high price, but the Warriors management quickly rejected it.

Of course, neither side said who the target for the No. 7 pick was.

But Larry Miller said that judging from the speed at which they rejected the offer, the Warriors must have a rookie they like and that rookie is most likely Stephen Curry.

That's why the Knicks are naive.

After all, Donnie Walsh hasn't been president for a long time, and he underestimates the general managers of the league today.

Jiang Ming could guess why they thought the Warriors would not snatch the game:
First of all, Curry never went to the Warriors for a tryout, and the Warriors never invited Curry.

Secondly, the core of the Warriors now is Monta Ellis, a point guard with very strong offensive capabilities. In the past two seasons, he has basically maintained an average of 20+5+4 per game, and he is only 24 years old.

Ellis attaches great importance to her position in the team and has told the media several times that she does not want the Warriors to choose a guard to share time with her.

The Knicks naively believed that the Warriors would not choose Curry for these two reasons.

The Knicks took it for granted that by giving the Warriors a chance, they would naturally also give the Trail Blazers a chance.

When old Nelson heard that there was a little kid named Curry in the NCAA who averaged ten three-pointers per game, his dentures fell out with joy. He went to the NCAA three times to watch Davidson College's games.

In fact, the general managers who have internal spies of the Warriors all know that the Warriors are going to observe Curry.

The reason why Larry Miller was so sure that the Warriors wanted him was because after seeing a game in which Curry was not accurate in three-point shooting but made 15 three-point shots, Nelson said to his own scout:

"Don't look at this guy. He didn't make any three-pointers, but he shot a lot!"

Lyles stood up and tried to leave, but was held down by old Nelson who watched the entire game of Curry, obviously wanting to promote him to the end.

Not to mention the Trail Blazers. I believe that many spies also know that the Trail Blazers tried out Curry individually, and they also know that Curry ranked last in the first tryout and performed very poorly.

Originally, other teams would not have been suspicious, but later in the playoffs, no matter how well the Trail Blazers kept the secret.

Some people still know that Curry and several rookies were invited to watch the game at public expense, and then he went to watch it himself.

This shows that the pioneers are still interested.

And some scouts who know more may even know that Dr. Jiang Ming takes special care of Curry.

Although it seems that Jiang Ming's treatment of DeRozan's depression is the most critical.

But Jiang Ming has personally watched Curry's games and had conversations with him.

He didn't say hello to the group of stars from the University of North Carolina at that time. Danny Green, who said hello first, was definitely not the Trail Blazers' first choice.

These are enough to prove that the Trail Blazers are in the heart reservoir.

But maybe the rumors outside are that the Trail Blazers' goal is to pick up the 15th pick, so the teams ahead of them didn't take it seriously.

But in fact, Larry Miller thought about it carefully and realized that he changed his mind because of what Jiang Ming said:
"After learning from the painful experience, point guards can no longer be without the ability to attack with the ball. This is the trend in the league. Since we can't select explosive two-way guards like Rose and Westbrook who can break through with the ball, it's okay to find someone with strong shooting ability! As long as there is an offensive threat, it's fine."

So he himself had changed his mind in the past few days, and only a few people knew about it.

Thinking of this, he called Jiang Ming and asked him to come to his room to make the final confirmation.

Because at this time, the fewer people who know about it, the better.

"Director Jiang, do we need to negotiate with the Timberwolves and Grizzlies ahead now?"

Jiang Ming shook his head:

"No, we'll negotiate after the draft starts tomorrow. I've made up my mind. We'll negotiate with the Timberwolves. They have two lottery picks, one of which doesn't need to be picked so early. And they've had a falling out with Curry, so they definitely won't pick him."

"Okay, that's right. If we negotiate with the Timberwolves tonight, they will definitely inform the Knicks. Once the Knicks know about this, they will definitely raise the price. Their bargaining chips are much better than ours."

"Yes, that's what I mean. Let's not alert the enemy now."

"Director Jiang, you are such a great vice president."

Jiang Ming spread his hands and said:
"Well, I own 20% of the shares, so I have to pay more attention."

"Haha, you're making us vomit blood."

After that, the two discussed the players that could be traded, said see you tomorrow, and went back to rest.

Tomorrow is going to be a cruel day.

If the upward trade is successful, it can only be said that the NBA is indeed a business field and it is still very cruel.

On June 2009, 6, the NBA draft officially kicked off.

The Los Angeles Clippers, who held the No. 1 pick, unsurprisingly selected the favorite: Blake Griffin

The Grizzlies with the second pick, the Thunder with the third pick, and the Kings with the fourth pick have also taken the three reserved players, Thabeet, Harden and Evans. The suspense starts from the fifth pick.

Before this, the Knicks believed that their biggest competitor was the Timberwolves, because the Timberwolves also lacked point guards, and they also had two high draft picks, the fifth and sixth.

Although Curry made it clear that he did not want to go to the Timberwolves and did not go to Minnesota for a tryout, the Knicks were always worried that the Timberwolves would force Anthony to join them. However, the Timberwolves were also very tough and selected Ricky Rubio with the fifth pick.

And was on the phone with the Blazers just 10 minutes before they selected Rubio!!!

Because only cell phones could be used at the draft and people were not allowed to move around freely, Larry Miller called the Timberwolves president directly.

"You pick No. 5, and No. 6 is for us."

Larry Miller and the Timberwolves had a heated discussion as if they were bargaining at a vegetable market, and each discussion was confirmed with Jiang Ming.

In the end, the Timberwolves selected the No. 5 pick and both sides were in a hurry to finalize the plan.

Of course, the Timberwolves are more anxious because they actually want to select Jonny Flynn with the sixth pick.

But in fact, the predicted draft pick for point guard Johnny Flynn is around 15th, so it is very luxurious to use the 6th pick. But why didn't they contact other teams before the game? It was just to intimidate the Knicks.

I want to make Knicks owner Dolan, who is such a sucker, bleed and get something in exchange.

As a result, when the draft started, the Knicks didn't contact us, but the Trail Blazers did.

And the pioneers are sincere.

The Timberwolves are not fools. They can see at a glance that the Trail Blazers don't want DeRozan, Jennings or others, but Curry, because the content of their offer is too easy to see.

I just want Curry.

Then the Timberwolves want to trade.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend!
They also want to disgust the Knicks.

What the hell? After all, if he had chosen Johnny Flynn with the 6th pick, Curry would have most likely been chosen by the Knicks with the 8th pick, which wouldn't have disgusted the Knicks at all and would have made them too comfortable.

And now that the Trail Blazers want it, we can talk!

It's just because the Trail Blazers themselves were the 15th pick, so they had to give up the opportunity reluctantly. After all, no matter how much the Timberwolves hate the Knicks, they are still a team in the Eastern Conference, so it doesn't matter if they can't disgust them.

Curry's threat is also in the East.

Therefore, even if the No. 6 pick is rotten in their hands, it will not be easy for the Trail Blazers, a strong team in the Western Conference, to strengthen their team.

Fortunately, Larry Miller had sufficient information and persuaded the Warriors to accept it. The Warriors may take off because of this deal, as the Warriors have been the Timberwolves' direct competitor in the past few seasons.

Even if the Trail Blazers don't make any trades, they will definitely make the playoffs.

After this lobbying, the Timberwolves asked for a lower price.

Originally they wanted the 15th pick + Blake + Ibaka + the 10th season second-round pick in exchange for the 6th pick.

Jiang Ming said directly:
"No, Ibaka is the spokesperson for our Ripper Liquor. Don't steal his name from him."

It seems like a joke, but it’s because this power forward rookie definitely needs to be trained.

In the end, it became White Chocolate + Blake + No. 15 pick in exchange for No. 6 pick, and the two point guards who had mediocre performances in the past two seasons were discarded.

Bailey was on a year-to-year contract, and it was just right for the Trail Blazers to give the last year of his contract to the Timberwolves. It would be the coolest thing to let these two point guards lead the Timberwolves' two rookie point guards.

Let a championship guard like Bai Qiao train the rookies for a year and then let them go, it would be like getting two good teachers in exchange!
After all, the Timberwolves are also very clear about the reality. No matter how well they use these two picks, they can only linger in the playoffs at best, and they will never be able to compete for the championship.

The Timberwolves have two top six lottery picks, but they can't train them through pure development, so it would be better to bring them along with them for immediate combat.

The Trail Blazers need a strong shooting guard, so they don't want either point guard since they didn't play any role in the playoffs anyway.

So when league officials came to ask the Timberwolves for their choice, the two teams finally reached a deal.

David Stern was shocked when he took out the envelope:
"The Timberwolves selected Stephen Curry with the sixth pick"

what?
Both the Warriors management and the Knicks management stood up instantly.

Timberwolves?
Originally, the biggest competitors had been eliminated, and the Knicks' attitude towards Curry changed from worry at the beginning to relief now.

Who would have thought that the Timberwolves, who were the sixth pick, actually pronounced Curry's name, and the Knicks' expectant eyes suddenly turned into drool all over the floor...

Donnie Walsh is paralyzed.
When David Stern confirmed Curry's name again, Curry stood up slowly with a professional fake smile, and the entire Madison Square Garden hall was filled with boos.
Because the people watching the draft here are all Knicks fans, and they all come here for Curry.

But I didn't expect David Stern to continue:

"And, the Timberwolves traded Curry to the Trail Blazers"

Curry is here!
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(End of this chapter)