The rest is just noise

While Kobe was being interviewed by Sager, a staff member ran over to inform him of the trade.

Kobe didn't seem surprised at all, and took the initiative to change the hat with the Pistons label on his head into a Lakers one.

The same thing happened to Marcus Camby.

Sure enough, the Rockets sent Camby to Toronto in exchange for Marbury's signing rights and the 1999 first-round pick.

Later, the Eagles selected Lorenzen White with the eighth overall pick.

Because Kobe Bryant was intercepted by the Lakers, the deal between the Spurs and the Hawks was not completed.

The Chicago Bulls selected Eric Dampier with the ninth overall pick in the first round and then sent him to New York in exchange for Doug Christie.

This transaction surprised Louis a little.

Looking back, it makes sense.

Ewing is 33 years old and has reached a time when he needs to be taken good care of. Since Yu Tiancan was traded, he has not had a good substitute in the past few years. Dampier came just to help him for a few minutes.

With the tenth pick after that, Monroe didn't know who to pick.

Louis spoke to Peja.

Then he chose.

Because the two sides had a history of successful cooperation, Monroe chose Peja almost without hesitation.

The Philadelphia 76ers selected a center named Todd Fuller C with the 11th pick.

With this name, I feel like Philadelphia is going to be the No. 1 pick next year.

Then it was the Lakers' turn to make a choice again.

"Call that kid in Canada," Louis said.

Buss Jr. laughed and said, "This is a treatment that even Kobe doesn't get."

"Who makes Kobe a resale commodity?"

So, the forum office called the draft site.

The man who was attracted by Louis, the ordinary-looking Steve Nash, received a call.

"Steve, this is the Lakers' draft war room. Are you ready to become a member of the Lakers?" Buss asked straight to the point.

On the other end of the phone, Nash was in a very excited mood, which meant he entered the lottery.

"It's my pleasure, sir!"

"I hope to see you in Los Angeles soon and send my regards to your family."

After that, Bass hung up the phone.

"In the 1996 NBA draft, the Los Angeles Lakers selected Steve Nash with the twelfth overall pick in the first round..."

At this point in this draft, Louis feels it’s time to pop the champagne.

Two of the current three MVP-level players were selected, and they are the two with the longest shelf life. This is the talent Louis needs.

Coupled with Wilson and Garnett already on the Lakers team, as well as the Grizzlies draft pick that may draft Duncan next year, they have a chance to form an MVP starter.

This is also the original intention of Louis' design of "Beautiful Basketball".

He wants to form the NBA version of the "Miracle Generation", and then let this five-man group of amazing talents play an unprecedented and mythical offense to reach the top of basketball.

Such a team cannot last long, especially now that the league is determined to limit super teams. Even without external interference, these five once-in-a-decade geniuses cannot be willing to be buried in each other's wings. There will definitely be someone who wants to prove it.

Leave on your own.

This is not something Louis needs to worry about.

His contract with the Lakers expired in 2000, and he only needed to ensure that the mythical offense in his mind appeared before the contract expired. That was enough.

The struggle for power among stars and the destined internal strife and division of super teams have nothing to do with him.

His pursuit is no longer the perfect team like the Knicks dynasty, because that is unrepeatable.

The draft continues.

Microwave shooting guard Tony Delk went to Washington.

Then the most important thing is that another high school player in this draft, Jermaine O'Neal, who is younger than Kobe, was almost recommended by Louis to go to the Vancouver Grizzlies.

When things came to a head, Anji hesitated.

He's not sure whether it's worthwhile to select O'Neal with the 18th overall pick in the first round.

Even though this was Louis' recommendation, the opponent's status as a high school student discouraged die-hards like Angie who couldn't accept players skipping college.

He did not accept Louis' suggestion and selected the scoring small forward John Wallace (John ce SF) with the 18th pick.

Then, the Detroit Pistons did the opposite.

In fact, Ainge's giving up made Louis regret giving the No. 19 pick to the Pistons.

Although the Lakers reserve the fourth position and do not need O'Neal Jr., who would refuse if they could select a Yao Shuan-level insider in the middle or late first round?

Louis secretly decided that if Monroe was not interested in high school students, he would take back the No. 19 pick and choose O'Neal himself.

As a result, Monroe only hesitated for a few seconds before choosing to believe Louis.

Because Louis has proven his draft vision. Moreover, even if Louis dared to bet on Kobe with the seventh pick, it would be nothing if they bet on a high school insider with the 19th pick.

That's how O'Neal went to Detroit.

Just like in his previous life, Big Z (Zajunas Yelgauskas) went to Cleveland with the 20th pick in the first round.

Afterwards, Derek Fisher was drafted by Portland.

"Garbage dog" Jerome Williams was drafted by the Knicks.

After that, it's mainly the Lakers' choice.

The first round pick the Lakers used from the Trail Blazers in the early years was the 28th pick. It is very difficult to use this pick to select good players.

Otherwise, everything depends on luck.

Louie is a man who is secretive. He gave up the right to pick this lottery pick to West, giving the Lakers loyalist a sense of participation.

West originally wanted to use this pick to select Fisher, but the Trail Blazers took the lead through a trade, so they had no choice but to take a step back and select backup Malik Rose PF.

This is an unexpected choice.

Rose's market is in the early to middle of the second round. It's a bit wasteful to select him at the end of the first round, but it doesn't matter. The draft at this position is relatively casual, and you only select the person you want.

Louis still has certain memories of Ross.

In his previous life, Rose made his debut with the Spurs and was a typical second-round player. He had no talent and relied on hard work and fighting spirit. However, the highlight of his career was not winning the championship with the Spurs, but being spotted by Yinsaiah Thomas when he was over 30.

Go ahead and insist on trading Nazr Mohammed with the Spurs.

When the deal was completed, Barkley exclaimed: "Yin Seiya has created a championship team."

Yes, the Spurs won the championship that year.

Then, let's fast forward all the way to the Lakers' last selection this year - the 28th overall pick in the second round of 1996.

Louis pretended to ask West and others to recommend a candidate, but he knew exactly who he wanted to choose.

After West and others casually mentioned a name, Louis selected the unknown Ben Wallace with the 28th pick in the second round.

"Who is this?" Kurt Rambis was stunned.

Louis said calmly: "Don't look at him like this, I think he will be our most cost-effective choice in this draft."

If you can draft the best defensive player of the 2000s at the end of the second round, what's the point?

Although Louis no longer plays defense, the animated version of the Age of Miracles has an outrageous existence like the Sixth Man of Fantasy. Isn’t it reasonable for the NBA version of the Age of Miracles to have a Sixth Man of Steel?

At this point, the 1996 draft is over.

The Lakers selected Kobe, Nash... and Ben in this draft. No matter how you look at it, they are the biggest winners.