I’m Really Playing Basketball

On June 22, 2004, the league's 11th expansion draft was underway.

At this time, basketball god Michael Jordan, who is the Bobcats' minority owner and president of operations, is selecting players for his hometown team, the Charlotte Bobcats, from the remaining 29 teams in the league.

As the league's eleventh expansion team, the Bobcats' expansion treatment this year is very good. Not to mention the regular expansion draft, this year's Bobcats also have first-round and second-round picks designated by David Stern and the league. One for each number four.

I have to say that Jordan still has face.

In history, Jordan became the Bobcats' minority owner in 2006 and acquired the Bobcats in 2010.

And now, because of his unique vision, Jordan selected Chen Xiao when the whole world looked down on him. Therefore, Jordan's ability in NBA management and drafting is now widely recognized.

Therefore, when the Bobcats were first formed, the team's first black owner in the NBA humbly asked Jordan for his opinion. At the same time, he immediately invited Jordan to join the team's management and become a minority shareholder.

Now, at the scene of the Bobcats' draft expansion, Jordan is selecting people with high spirits.

The general managers of all teams in the NBA are paying attention to this matter.

To be fair, eight protected lists are definitely enough for most NBA teams.

But with two teams, it's definitely not enough.

One is the Kings, who are the strongest team in the NBA.

The other one is the Cavaliers. No kidding, everyone wants the ten young players of the Cavaliers.

Youth storm!

The NBA's Cavaliers are just like the Premier League's Leeds United. Who wouldn't keep an eye on this player supermarket?

So at this time, many people are waiting to see how the Cavaliers will be plundered by the Bobcats and boss Joe.

"The Kings' Gerald Wallace has been drafted by the Bobcats!"

"Now the Bobcats have selected 11 players, and there are still three players who have not been selected. Now, they should choose the Cavaliers!"

And at the scene of the expansion draft, Boss Joe was indeed looking at the Cavaliers' roster.

Especially looking at the name at the top of the Cavaliers' list, Chen——Xiao!

Looking at this name, Boss Qiao is so greedy.

Let's put it this way, he now wants to send all the players he selected to the Cavaliers in exchange for Chen Xiao, and then give away five years of draft picks.

It's a pity that Boss Qiao knows that it is impossible for the Cavaliers to trade with him.

Looking all the way down from Chen Xiao.

Chen Xiao, James, Chandler, Crawford, Darius Miles, Korver, Barnes, Mo Williams, Diop, Dior...

The ten players in front really have potential and character, and all of them are young talents.

Especially those eight players who are protected in the top eight.

Even the two unprotected players at the back, Mo Williams and Diop, are young people who can earn money if they are selected, and are at least worth a lottery ticket.

The eight protection list this time is not much for the Cavaliers. After the discussion of the last four people, Diop and Xiao Mo were put out of the protection list.

The choice this time was very confusing.

To be honest, for Chen Xiao, he really didn't want to lose any of them.

Not to mention the first eight players, Diop has a miraculous effect on O'Neal, and he is the only player in the Cavaliers who can beat O'Neal.

O'Neal's trade is indeed being rumored now. It is still hard to say which team O'Neal will get.

But as the Cavaliers who want to win the championship, they must be prepared to deal with O'Neal.

The imaginary opponent for the Cavaliers to win the championship will always be O'Neal.

Therefore, if possible, even if Diop is only useful when playing O'Neal, the Cavaliers want to keep him.

And Xiao Mo, let alone Chen Xiao's number two fanboy in the team, who dares to fight hard and is crazy for Chen Xiao, who wants to lose such a kid?

However, this is an alliance rule and only eight can be protected, so two must be released.

Everyone was Chen Xiao’s pet peeve, and in the end Chen Xiao and James abstained.

This protection list was ultimately made by Paxson and Carlisle.

This can be considered a relatively good decision. If Chen Xiao and James are not complete, they may be emotional and not so rational.

But no matter what, Chen Xiao felt that if anyone dared to take Xiao Mo and Diop away from his hands, he would be in a hurry!

Don’t say that this is the rule of the alliance!

I, Chen Xiao, the boss of the Cavaliers, am such a petty person!

Of course, Jordan, who was in the expansion draft at this time, naturally didn't know Chen Xiao's thoughts.

"Michael, I didn't expect that the Cavaliers would release Mo Williams and Diop. Based on our evaluation, we always thought that the players released by the Cavaliers might be Diaw and Barnes."

"Although Diaw and Barnes are good, they are both role players. As for Mo Williams, Diop has the potential to become a star player!"

"Obviously, the Cavaliers released Mo Williams and Diop with better potential for the needs of their own team."

"Michael, we made a lot of money!"

Faced with the excited expressions of his assistants about to feast, Boss Qiao just smiled.

shallow!

At this time, in Cleveland, Chen Xiao and James were anxiously waiting for the final result.

Soon, when the results of the Bobcats' expansion draft came out, Chen Xiao, James, Carlisle and other Cavaliers players and coaches were dumbfounded.

Even Carlisle felt that he had made a mistake.

“The Bobcats drafted Eddie Robinson, Kevin Ollie and Ira Neubel?!”

Forget about Kevin Ollie and Ira Nubel. Although these two are useless to the Cavaliers, they still have strength. Although they have no potential, in terms of strength, they may not be worse than the current Xiao Mo.

Therefore, Carlisle could barely convince himself to choose these two people, but in the end, the Bobcats chose Eddie Robinson. What does this mean?

Saved the Cavaliers 5.5 million in salary space for nothing?

Isn't this assisting the Cavaliers?

Not to mention Carlisle, when the Bobcats completed the expansion draft, the entire league was excited.

To be honest, Jordan's reputation is very high now, especially because he fell in love with Chen Xiao at first glance. Jordan now has the nickname "God Eye".

He is one of the most promising potential GMs in the NBA.

His selection will indeed attract a lot of attention.

But the result of this selection...

They don't know whether most of the people Jordan selected are good or bad. This will take the test of time.

But those three on the Cavaliers...

This does not require the test of time.

Although they don't know who the eight people the Cavaliers are protecting are.

but……

Let's put it this way, as for the three players Jordan selected from the Cavaliers, the three of them combined can't compare to the top ten young people of the Cavaliers!

No joke.

You can make this decision now.

What fans like them can see, Jordan can't see?

Is it true that you can't tell, or are you pretending that you can't tell?

Are you really blind, or are you pretending to be blind?

For a moment, the entire alliance was confused.

Not to mention the entire league, even the Bobcats' management itself is in a state of confusion.

Is the team’s small owner and president of operations really a genius?

A one-in-a-million genius?

This kind of selection of people that I can do well, he actually chose like this.

However, facing the confused looks of his assistants, Jordan still had a charming smile on his face.

Let's put it this way, although Master Qiao is now fat, his smile is still very charming.

Faced with the doubts of the assistants, Jordan did not explain anything, because his purpose, explained now, was also just ridiculed.

There's no way Boy Wonder is coming to his Bobcat now.

However, it doesn't matter whether you come or not, you can always make friends.

So, under the eyes of his assistants, Qiao Dan picked up his mobile phone and called Chen Xiao.

"Chen, it's nothing else, let's make friends first."

After installing the 13, Boss Qiao hung up the phone, leaving Chen Xiao in Cleveland in a mess.

"%...%?"

Chen Xiao is really confused by Boss Qiao now.

By the way, Boss Qiao, haven’t we become friends long ago?

So, what do you mean by this?

Is this tempting me?

Thinking of this, Chen Xiao smiled, saying nothing.

Because of Boss Joe's help, the Cavaliers' biggest problem has now been solved.

An 11 million rubbish contract!

In this way, he was picked up by the bobcat.

This news is like pie in the sky. Let's put it this way, if Jordan doesn't take action, the general manager of the Cavaliers is really prepared to let the Bulls brothers take over for him.

Anyway, the bull will probably have to show up now. Instead of doing this, it is better to let the bull continue to show up, become a blood transfusion knight and a tiger-killing brother.

Well now, before the brothers took action, Jordan helped the Cavaliers solve the biggest problem of the "poor" team. Paxson doesn't know whether to thank Jordan or call Jordan stupid.

In fact, at this time, apart from Chen Xiao's gratitude, Jordan received nothing else.

There were doubts from assistants, confusion from other league managers, and ridicule from all the fans.

Originally, before this expansion draft, Boss Qiao was a legend in the NBA, someone who could see Chen Xiao's potential at a glance.

But after this expansion draft, Boss Qiao fell from the clouds and simply died in the face of light.

Boss Qiao really doesn't care at all about such controversies around the world.

He is Jordan. Even if he plays around in the Bobcats, no one would dare to control him.

Therefore, after Boss Joe completed the expansion draft for the Bobcats, he entered the 2004 NBA draft.

Two days after the expansion draft ended, on June 24, 2004, on the morning of the draft, Boss Joe was still discussing with his assistants who to pick.

The No. 1 pick in this year's NBA draft is the Spurs, the No. 2 pick is the SuperSonics, the No. 3 pick is the Chicago Bulls, and the Bobcats are No. 4.

As for the Cavaliers, this year's draft picks are the 18th pick in the first round and the 48th pick in the second round.

The Bobcats' draft picks this year are actually very good, and the 2004 NBA Draft can be considered a moderate draft year.

There are many young players in this year's draft who are considered to be very high-quality by the American media.

For example, Okafor and Howard are competing for the top pick this year.

At present, the United States is more optimistic about Okafor.

I heard that the Spurs and Popovich already have the answer, but from the analysis of the American media, it seems that this year's NCAA champion University of Connecticut center Okafor is more likely to become the third No. 1 pick in the history of the Spurs.

The reason why Okafor is more supported in the competition with Howard is that Okafor has a strong strength at the basket, and his rebounding and blocking are very good.

In addition, Okafor's mid-range shooting is also good.

The only thing that worries the Spurs is that Okafor suffers from a back injury, which may become an "uneasy" factor.

And what advantages does Howard have over Okafor?

Well, maybe the only advantage is that Dwight Howard is a younger player, and I believe he will be the future hope of the NBA center position.

The American media predicted that Dwight Howard might become second to his idol Garnett, well, that's what he said himself.

Although this high school player's game experience is not very rich, he is indeed very capable.

Howard and Okafor are the two best rookies this year. It is basically impossible for these two rookies to fall out of the top two, because neither the Spurs nor the Sonics lack a potential center.

Therefore, Jordan did not pay more attention to these two people, but looked to the American media to predict the lottery rookie.

The third most favored by the American media is Andre Iguodala, 6 feet 7 inches, 217 pounds, a shooting guard/small forward from the University of Arizona in Oregon, the upper limit of the template is Chen Xiao, and the lower limit is Richard Jay Ferson is a versatile player who can play multiple positions. He has strong athletic ability and rough shooting.

Ranked fourth is Devin Harris, that's right, the one who abused Chen Xiao on behalf of the University of Wisconsin in college. Since Chen Xiao's rise in the NBA, Devin Harris has been preparing for the NCAA. As far as attention is concerned, despite his mediocre performance in leading the team, he is definitely one of the most watched players in the NCAA. The more popular Chen Xiao is in the NBA, the more attention he gets.

It was precisely because of the special bond between Devin Harris and Chen Xiao that Jordan also paid a certain amount of attention to him.

The fifth most promising player in this year's draft is Livingston, and the template is the magician. Everyone is familiar with this, and he has been a well-known talent in the United States for a long time.

The sixth favorite is Pavel Bodkozzini, 7 feet 5 inches, 300 pounds, Russia, center, Pavel Bodkozzini has a strong body, and is tall and strong.

Let's just put it this way, as long as O'Neal can still play and be dominant, there is no shortage of market for players like him. The lower limit of the draft template is Bago, and the upper limit is Sabonis.

Good guy, Bago has become a template in the NBA.

The seventh most promising player in this year's draft, Ben Gordon, 6 feet 2 inches, 192 pounds, University of Connecticut, guard, this is also Chen Xiao's old friend.

The eighth most promising rookie, Luke Jackson, 6 feet 7 inches, 212 pounds, University of Oregon, shooting guard, tall shooting guard, the template is also Chen Xiao.

Because of Chen Xiao's rise, this kind of tall shooting guard is now very popular among NBA general managers.

The ninth most promising player is Andris Biedrins, 7 feet, 240 pounds, Latvia, power forward, this is a young potential power forward.

Josh Childress, the tenth most favored rookie by the American media, is a small forward from Stanford University.

Eleventh favorite, Al Jefferson, 6-foot-10, 263 pounds, Mississippi High School, power forward.

The twelfth most promising player, Kirk Schneider, 6 feet 7 inches, 228 pounds, University of Nevada, shooting guard, model Chen Xiao.

The thirteenth most promising player, Chris Paul, 1.83 meters, Wake Forest University, point guard, model Isiah Thomas, best friend, Chen Xiao.

Looking at the 13th pick on the list compiled by this year's Bobcat management meeting, Boss Qiao stopped again.

There was no way not to stop, because this 1.83 meter 'wonderful man' carried two names that he cared about very much.

The first one is the assassin, Isiah Thomas, and the second one is Chen Xiao.

"Chen Xiao's best friend..."

Especially the second one, this made Jordan very excited.

Although his ultimate goal when he came to Bobcats as president of operations was to bring Chen Xiao over, there was definitely no way he could say this.

If he tells such a thing, even if he is Jordan, others will think he is crazy.

However, he is a stubborn person. Since he has set his goal on Chen Xiao, this goal will not change.

He needs to collect all the elements in the Bobcats that can allow Chen Xiao to join.

Obviously, Chen Xiao's close friend is one of the factors.

So when they saw Jordan staring desperately at Chris Paul, the other management of the Bobcats were really frightened.

This great guy isn't going to use the team's No. 4 pick to select Chris Paul, right?

Never!

Who should I choose with the fourth pick? A small point guard who is 1.83 meters tall?

As long as they are 1.83 meters tall, their height is definitely not 1.83 meters tall. Those guards who are less than 1.8 meters tall like to make their height the same as Iverson.

"Michael, Chris Paul has great athleticism and great skills. He is a very good young point guard. However, he is not the best choice for the Bobcats with the No. 4 pick. In this year's NCAA tournament , He was abused by the backcourt composed of Delonte West and Jameer Nelson, which puts a huge question mark on whether his ability and potential can gain a foothold in the NBA."

"Yeah, Michael, we have the No. 4 pick, not the No. 14 pick."

"Even I think that even if we have the No. 14 pick, we should choose Josh Smith, JR Smith and Jameer Nelson, and even Delonty West."

Good guy, Boss Joe just showed a very interested look at Chris Paul, and was persuaded by the assistants next to him.

Obviously, other managements of the Bobcats have doubts about Boss Joe's vision.

On the other side, in Boston, not far from New York, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge laughed at Jordan's overreach for a while, and was also looking at the draft report prepared for him by Celtics assistants.

And he and Jordan are staring at almost the same person now.

The Celtics have the tenth overall pick this year, and it is very safe to select Chris Paul with this pick.

Chris Paul is a player he has been eyeing for a long, long time.

As a player who has played as a guard in his career, as a player who likes traditional guards very much, let's just say that, in his eyes, Chris Paul is simply the most fragrant and fragrant guard.

A perfect point guard in his eyes.

For such a point guard, his draft prospects have not improved due to poor performance in the NCAA.

All I can say is, thank him for his height, thank Jameer Neers and Delonte West.

The Celtics were given a point guard who could solve the Celtics' problems.

Based on the predictions of Chris Paul by major media across the United States, the No. 10 pick is very stable.

Now, he is waiting for tonight's draft, Chris Paul will be selected to the Boston Celtics.

On the evening of June 24, 2004, Chen Xiao, James, and Anthony accompanied Chris Paul to the draft at Madison Square Garden.

Chris Paul is one of the Green Room players invited by the NBA.

Paul's draft pick this year has been tepid, hovering around 14th, just enough to get on the edge of the little green room.

However, compared with Chen Xiao, James and Anthony who could sit in the middle back then, Chris Paul's small round table was a bit off.

But, the location doesn't matter.

As long as Chen Xiao, James and Anthony are there to help, let's put it that way.

Even if Chen Xiao and the others are sitting in the darkest corner, they are still the most handsome guys.

After Chen Xiao, James, and Anthony sat down at the remote small round table with Chris Paul, Chris Paul clearly felt that the focus of the audience was on Chen Xiao and James.

Among the eyes of everyone in the audience, there was a very special look.

Well, it's actually next to it.

And the owner of this gaze was already standing next to Chen Xiao.

"Brother Chen, hello."

Although he shouted "Little Chenzi" and "Baby Xiao" to Chen Xiao countless times in front of the TV, when the real person Chen Xiao appeared in front of him, the boy still didn't dare.

"Hello, Ah Lian, right? I heard Fagan mentioned you."

The person standing in front of Chen Xiao is the 19-year-old power forward Yi Jianlian, who was born on October 27, 1984 and was predicted by the American media to be the 14th overall pick this year. The model is Chen Xiao.

Well, this Chinese boy has the same agent as Chen Xiao, the very good hypeman Fei Gen.

Under Fagan's hype, Yi Jianlian was already second to Chen Xiao.

He can shoot three-pointers, run and jump, isn't he second to Chen Xiao?

Chen Xiao still took good care of this young player who had the same agent and nationality as him and asked him to come and sit next to him.

At this time, David Stern was already reading the rookie's name.

"In the 2004 NBA Draft, the San Antonio Spurs selected Dwight Howard, a big man from Southwest Atlanta Christian School, with the first overall pick!"

The Spurs' selection drew the first gasp of the draft, an unexpected choice.

"With the second overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, the Seattle SuperSonics selected center Emeka Okafor from the University of Connecticut!"

"With the third overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft, the Chicago Bulls selected guard Ben Gordon from the University of Connecticut!"

Another exclamation, another unexpected choice.

"There are a lot of surprises in this year's draft, Chris, there may be surprises!"

James finished speaking in a low voice, and Paul became even more nervous.

"The fourth overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft, the Charlotte Bobcats selected, from..."

David Stern was stunned for a moment when he saw the name on the envelope in his hand, but in the end he read it out in the fullest voice.

"In the 2004 NBA draft, the Charlotte Bobcats selected the point guard from Wake Forest University, Chris Paul, with the fourth overall pick!"

When David Stern called out this name, he was still talking to Paul with his head lowered, which really stimulated Xiao Zhan's mentality and was dumbfounded.

And Xiao Pao, who was stimulated by Xiao Zhan, was so scared that he was about to suffocate at this time.

Me, Chris Paul, fourth overall? !

And the entire draft conference scene, after a burst of suffocation, came one after another exclamation.

The same is true for the audience in front of the TV.

At the same time, Danny Angie was just as dumbfounded as ordinary audiences.

At this moment, amidst the shock of the whole world and the confusion of his assistants, Boss Qiao snorted.

Huh, do you think I'm optimistic about this little guy?

A bunch of mortals!

Boss Qiao is completely crazy!

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