All-round Athlete

Chapter 939 Draft

On June 26, 2014, local time in the United States, the 2014 NBA Draft was held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

"We have already negotiated with the 76ers. If Jokic has not been selected before the 39th pick, then we will buy the 39th pick from the 76ers." Kupchak told Zhang Guan explain.

This year's 76ers have 7 picks, 2 first rounds and 5 second rounds. With so many picks in hand, it is impossible for the 76ers to give every rookie a contract, so it is obviously a good deal to sell some for cash of. The 39th pick bought by the Heat originally belonged to the Cavaliers, but was later traded to the 76ers. In addition, the 76ers also hold the second-round picks of the Nets, Grizzlies and Rockets.

The draft began. The Cavaliers selected Andrew Wiggins with the No. 1 pick, the Bucks selected Jabari Parker with the No. 2 pick, and the Philadelphia 76ers selected Joel Embiid with the No. 3 pick. The top three are as expected, there is no suspense.

The fourth Magic chose forward Aaron Gordon, which is somewhat different from the prediction. In the media's prediction, Dante Essam will be the fourth candidate, and Aaron Gordon will be the fifth. Selected.

Gordon was selected by the Magic, and the Jazz chose Dante Essam fifth, followed by Smart, Ryder, Stauskas, Feng Lai, Payton Jr. and others. TJ Warren was the last lottery pick.

The first 14 people were all candidates in the small green room. At this time, there were still 7 people left in the small green room that was originally full.

With the 18th pick, the Nuggets chose Gary Harris, the first player not in the green house, and then the Toronto Magnum chose Bruno Capocolo, another player not in the green house players.

At this time, the remaining three players in the small green room began to get nervous. They were worried that they would fall out of the first round.

"It's our turn after the Grizzlies are drafted. Mitch McGarry is still in the green room and hasn't been drafted yet." While Kupchak was speaking, the Grizzlies chose McGarry.

McGarry used to be the No. 2 high school student in the United States anyway. If it weren't for injuries, he would definitely be able to enter the top ten, but his recovery from old injuries is unknown, so most teams are unwilling to take a gamble. And the Grizzlies are obviously going to use a 20th pick to touch a lottery ticket.

"Oops, McGarry was picked by the Grizzlies!" Kupchak frowned, and he looked in the direction of the "Little Green Room". At this time, there were only two people left, the guard Shabazz Napier and the striker Rodney Hood.

"Should I choose the Swiss Capella, or choose one of the small green houses?" Kupchak hesitated. After all, there are still two players in the small green room. If Capela is chosen now, Kupchak still feels a little unwilling.

But Zhang Guan thinks this is a good thing. He has no impression of the player McGarry, which means that the injury still affects the growth of McGarry. Otherwise, he would not be so unknown when he ranked second in the United States in high school.

I saw Zhang Guan said: "Let's choose Hood. He is a shooter. Although he is not strong enough and his defensive level is average, his three-point ability is very good. For us, outside players can run and shoot three-pointers. OK."

"Being able to run and shoot three-pointers is really low." Kupchak sighed, but he also knew that Hood might be the best choice for the Lakers now. Hood is a sophomore in college, and Jr. Another player in the Green Room, Napier, has graduated from college. Compared with the two, Hood has better potential. If the position is not very demanding, Hood should be preferred.

Rodney Hood was only ranked 31st in the United States in high school. This ranking is not high, but his university is Duke University, the number one basketball school in the United States. The head coach of the Duke University basketball team is the head coach of the US team "Old K" Krzyzewski, and Hood has also become a member of the "Little Green Room" after two years of coaching by the old K coach.

Among the rookies, Hood has a nickname called "shooting machine", which shows that he has extraordinary shooting ability, which is obviously very suitable for D'Antoni's tactical system. D'Antoni hopes that everyone on the team will shoot three-pointers ball.

The Lakers selected Rodney Hood with the 21st overall pick, and Napier, the last member of the Green Room, was also selected with the 22nd overall pick. There was nothing surprising about the subsequent drafts. The Rockets still chose Capela with the 25th pick, and Jokic, the biggest legacy of this draft, is still uninterested.

The second round is the time for the team to "Taobao". Almost every year, there will be teams that miss out in the second round, such as Stephenson picked up by the Pacers in 2010, and "Gao Fu Shuai" picked up by the Rockets in 2011. "Patterson, the Warriors picked up Draymond Green in 2012 and so on.

Among the 30 teams, 11 teams have no second-round picks. Among other teams, the Philadelphia 76ers have 5 second-round picks, and the Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks have 3 second-round picks. Draft picks, the Raptors, Nuggets, Mavericks and Spurs each have two second-round picks, so in the second round of the draft, there are many players who can only be spectators.

...

The two second-round picks in the hands of the Denver Nuggets are the 41st and 56th picks. The scouts of the Nuggets are very good at digging out some European players. For example, Evan Fournier they selected in 2012 is a Frenchman; in the 2014 draft, the Nuggets traded rookie Nurkic from the Bulls , is a Bosnian; the future Spanish star Hernangomez was also selected by the Nuggets.

And this year, the Nuggets scouts discovered a young man with great potential in Europe, that is the young Serbian athlete Nikola Jokic.

This year's Nuggets have a lottery pick, which is also the focus of their work in this year's draft. As for Jokic, the Nuggets decided to use a second-round pick on him. An overseas player who is not well-known is not worth using a first-rounder. The Nuggets do not plan to sign Jokic immediately. After all, he is only 19 years old, and his potential needs to be observed again. If Jokic really has With the potential to play in the NBA, the Nuggets will definitely give him a contract.

The general manager of the Nuggets, Connelly, had a calm face. He had already been selected with the 38th pick in the second round. Jokic was still not selected, and it seemed that no one noticed him. After all, this year is the year of the draft, and many outstanding players from the United States have participated in the draft, which also makes the value of overseas players be underestimated.

"The next 39th pick is the Philadelphia 76ers, the 40th pick is the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the 41st pick is us. The scouts of the 76ers and the Timberwolves still pay more attention to the players in the United States. They will definitely not pay attention. To Jokic." General Manager Connelly thought of this, and couldn't help but write Jokic's name on the note in his hand.

"A deal just happened. The Lakers used cash to buy the No. 39 pick in the second round from the Philadelphia 76ers." The commentator's voice sounded.

This news did not cause any sensation. Trades in the draft are very common. Even the No. 1 pick may be traded to other teams immediately after being selected. A pebble falls into the sea and makes no waves.

"The Lakers, their lineup should be quite complete. Rodney Hood, who was selected in the first round, can be regarded as a supplement to the wing striker. I wonder who they are looking at this time?" People couldn't help but Start talking.

As a championship team, every move of the Lakers has attracted much attention. However, for rookies, joining a strong team is a double-edged sword. In a strong team, rookies have little chance of entering the rotation, but garbage time is also prone to occur in strong teams. During garbage time, rookies can get a chance to show themselves without having to cooperate with the main players. play ball.

Finally, the league announced the Lakers' selection.

"The Lakers selected Nikola Jokic from Serbia with the 39th overall pick!"

"What!" Nuggets general manager Connelly was shocked. He thought that the 41st pick in his hand would be able to select Jokic, but he didn't expect to be cut off by the Lakers at the 39th pick. .

...

"We have signed a peace contract with Hood. According to the normal price, there are four years in total, the starting salary is 1.4 million US dollars, and the next two years are team options." Kupchak continued; "But about Jokic's signing , but there is some trouble."

"Trouble? He doesn't want to come to the United States, but wants to stay in Europe?" Zhang Guan asked.

"No, playing in the NBA is almost every basketball player's dream. Jokic is not against joining our team, but his agent is not satisfied with the contract we offered, and they are unwilling to accept 1+1 contract, we may have to pay a three-year guarantee contract before it is possible for him to join." Kupchak said.

The rookies selected in the first round can get a 2+2 contract for the first time. The first two years are guaranteed, and the next two years are team options. And for a second-round rookie, the first contract is often a 1+1 contract, which means that the first year is guaranteed, and the second year is a team option.

As for the amount, the salary of the first-round rookies of the NBA team has clear regulations, and it must be strictly linked to the rookie's pick. The higher the pick, the higher the salary. Take the 2014 draft as an example. The starting salary of No. 1 pick Wiggins is 5.51 million U.S. dollars in the first year, and the total salary in four years is 24.85 million; 4.43 million U.S. dollars, the total of four years is 19.98 million U.S. dollars, but this guy has been recovering from his injuries for the past two years, which is equivalent to earning more than 9 million U.S. dollars lying down.

The Rockets chose Capela at No. 25, with a starting salary of $1.19 million and a cumulative salary of $6.06 million in four years, which is several times the gap compared to the No. 1 pick. As for the 30th pick in the first round, the starting salary is only 1.09 million U.S. dollars, and the total four-year salary is only 5.58 million U.S. dollars, which is about the same as that of No. 1 pick Wiggins in the first year.

As for the second-round rookies, the league does not have so many restrictions on their salaries. Signing a second-round rookie can be done as a free agent. But in fact, many of the second-round rookies can't get an NBA contract. Even if they get it, it is a 1+1 rookie basic salary contract.

Take the 2014 draft as an example. The basic salary for a rookie is 510,000 US dollars, which can be increased to 850,000 US dollars in the second year. All second-round rookies can only accept this contract if they want to play in the NBA. And even if you accept this contract, you may not have the opportunity to play, and more often you can only watch the water dispenser or wave a towel.

For many overseas players, they are the absolute main force of the team in their own country's league, even at the level of the league's top brother. The salary they can get is also very rich, although it is incomparable with the big-name NBA stars. But it is far higher than the rookie basic salary of 510,000 US dollars. Especially in some Western European countries, the economic level and income of residents are not much worse than that of Americans. Their star salaries are also two to three million euros. This is the basic salary of the NBA.

Take Jokic as an example. Although he is a rookie, his talent is top-notch in Europe. If he stays in Europe to play, his salary will definitely be much higher than a contract of 510,000 US dollars. What's more, staying in Europe, he is the absolute main force of the team and the focus of the team's training, but when he comes to the United States, he may not even have the chance to play. Earning less money and lacking opportunities to play, and possibly being waived by the team in the second year, a fool will give up his original main position and come to the United States to play.

Therefore, many overseas players selected in the second round will not immediately join the NBA team. They may play in their own league for a few years, earn a few MVPs, and then negotiate terms with the NBA team that originally selected him. Only after getting a multi-year guaranteed contract will he join the NBA. Of course, some people will never enter the NBA in their entire lives.

Jokic also planned this way. Historically, after being selected by the Nuggets in 2014, he did not come to the NBA immediately. Instead, he continued to play in Europe for a year and was not signed by the Nuggets until 2015. At that time, the Nuggets gave him a four-year contract of 5.55 million. In contrast, many of the second-round rookies who participated in the same year as Jokic did not even keep their $850,000 in the second year.

Zhang Guan knows that Jokic is a material for a maximum salary. Giving him a long-term guarantee contract is more profitable for the Lakers. So he asked, "What kind of contract can we offer him?"

"We have two options, either appropriately increase the amount of the contract, but still a two-year contract. Or increase the length of the contract and turn it into a three-year contract, with guarantees for the first two years." Kupchak said.

"That's not enough." Zhang Guan shook his head with a smile, and continued: "It's still a 3+1 contract. It should be acceptable within four years of 5 million. The first three years are guaranteed, and the fourth year is a team option. The salary distribution for the two years is lower, and the salary distribution for the next two years is higher, so that our operation will be more flexible."

Kupchak nodded silently, Zhang Guan's approach is indeed a great solution. For a 3+1 contract, the Lakers can choose to implement the team option for the fourth year, or they can choose not to implement it. And even if the team option for the fourth year is not implemented, Jokic is still only a restricted free agent, and the Lakers still have the initiative.

Any player who executes his rookie contract becomes a restricted free agent, which gives his home team the opportunity to match contracts offered by other teams. After becoming a restricted free agent, other teams can offer him an invitation contract of at least 2 years. The original team has 7 days to consider it. If the original team wants to keep this player, it must propose the same contract. to sign the player. On the contrary, if the original team does not match the contract, the player will go to the team that offered him the contract.

In NBA rules, a first-round rookie will become a restricted free agent after executing a four-year contract, while a second-round rookie will become a restricted free agent after executing a three-year contract. For example, Love and Jordan were both rookies in 2008. Love was a first-round pick, so he became a restricted free agent in 2012; Become a restricted free agent. It is precisely because of this difference in rules that Love's salary in 2012 was 4.61 million, which is still a rookie contract, while Jordan has already received an annual salary of tens of millions in 2012.

Jokic is a rookie in the second round, so his rookie contract period is three years. After he executes the three-year contract, he will become a restricted free agent. If the Lakers offer a 3+1 contract, they can not implement the team option in the third year and take the initiative to turn Jokic into a restricted free agent status. active position.

Second-round rookies live precarious lives, and they may be cut by the team when they wake up, so for a second-round rookie, a three-year guaranteed contract is undoubtedly a big dream. cake. When overseas players join the NBA, what they hope most is a stable contract, not to mention the contract of a big city team like the Lakers, so Jokic has no reason to refuse, and decisively agrees to sign with the Lakers. The Serbian Genius, will join the Lakers next season.

...

The Lakers got two rookies, and at this time, a big news that is about to change the situation of the league also came out. The Big Three of the Heat, James, Wade and Bosh, all chose to jump out of their contracts and become free agents!