The Whip of the God of Basketball

In the 2007 draft, 99% of the media's attention was focused on Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, especially Greg Oden, who had already gained momentum before the draft. The LeBron James of 2003 is considered to be a combination of Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, another behemoth that can dominate the NBA interior in the next ten years.

Fox-Leon sat in the Suns' draft room, quietly watching this reality show, watching Greg Oden put on the red and black hat of the Portland Trail Blazers, smiling like a 40-year-old kid . Of course he doesn't believe that Greg Oden is a combination of Russell and Chamberlain. Among other things, the physical fitness of these two people is unprecedented, and Oden seems to be far behind. However, Leon admitted that Oden is worthy of being the No. 1 pick, but he is not optimistic about Oden because of his intuition.

In addition to Oden and Durant, another player that has attracted attention is of course Yi Jianlian from China. He was picked by the Bucks with the sixth overall pick, but he didn't look very happy. En's smile was a little forced as he shook hands.

Of course, Leon, who knows everything about the draft, knows that the Bucks don't actually want to select Yi Jianlian, and Yi Jianlian doesn't want to go to Milwaukee. The Bucks did not expect that their pick would fall to the embarrassing position of sixth. Last year they already won Andrew Bogut. This year they want a guard like Conley or a power forward like Al Horford. As a result, they couldn't get the sixth overall pick, so they could only choose Yi Jianlian, who was pretty good. With Yao Ming's successful experience, Yi Jianlian's expectations in the draft were much higher.

But a cold northern city like Milwaukee is obviously not a good place to display its business value. Yi Jianlian may not think so, but his agent must think so. So this is a choice that you don't want and I don't want to. Such a draft is doomed from the beginning and is likely to fail.

However, Leon quickly stopped thinking about these messy issues. The further the draft went on, the more nervous he became. The media's feast had passed, and the stage for the head coach and general manager had just been set.

Leon sat there, holding the phone in his hand and looking at it. He was not looking at the time, but waiting for a call from the Phoenix Suns general manager's office. Now Steve Kerr must still be communicating everywhere, talking a lot about the deal he designed. One good thing about Cole is that he has a wide network of contacts. In this case, he can often complete some "emotional considerations" transactions. What's more, the transaction requirements made by Leon this time, on the surface, the Suns are losing blood!

When the draft reached the 10th pick, and the Atlanta Hawks took Assi Law at the 10th pick, Leon's cell phone finally rang, and it was a call from Cole. Leon immediately answered the call and asked, "How is it?"

Cole's voice came from the other end of the phone: "The task of sending money was successfully completed."

"This is not a money-giving task, it is for the purpose of strengthening the team." When Cole said it was done, Leon relaxed and his tone became more relaxed.

"Yes, make reinforcements, and then give away last season's best sixth man! If you can't do anything good in the draft, I will be scolded to death by the Phoenix media." Cole Said reluctantly. As the Suns' new general manager, he feels that his greatest achievement is recruiting Fox Leone, and his biggest failure is that now he has become Leone's little brother. Leon must share the credit for the transaction, and he must bear all the blame if something goes wrong.

Leon smiled and said: "Don't worry, it will be our turn to perform soon. If the media interviews you then, I will give you all the credit."

……………………

After hearing about the deal between the Suns and the Lakers, Buford immediately called his boss Holt and coach Popovich and communicated. The final response was: Stay the same and adapt to changes, and see what the Lakers will do. What kind of moves were there, and how was the deal completed? -

The Lakers hold the 18th overall pick in this draft, which is higher than the draft picks of the Suns and Spurs. If the Lakers want Splitter at this pick, the Spurs have no choice. Yes, the pick is too high, no matter how you operate, you can't grab it. Before, Buford was thinking that the Suns' pick was only two positions higher than the Spurs', and they might be able to get it if they traded. But now it's better. They traded with the Lakers, and winning Split will really make it happen. No choice.

Unexpectedly, with the 18th pick, the Lakers did not take Split, but selected Jared Dudley from Boston College. Buford immediately took out his cell phone and dialed Fox Leon's Number.

"Are you thinking of a three-way transaction? Or do you have other plans?" Buford said.

"If you could guess what I was thinking, you wouldn't be in this situation now. You will know later, our deal with the Lakers has been completed, and the signing rights for Split are already in our hands. "We only have one request, to get Marc Gasol at No. 28!" Leon said to Buford in a quick tone.

Marc Gasol? Buford had some impressions of him, a fat man from Spain, the younger brother of Pau Gasol. The Spurs had scouted this player and believed that compared to his brother, Mark was lagging behind in all aspects and was not a good draft choice. But since Leon said so, Buford agreed.

Soon, the NBA official media broke the news that the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns completed a draft rights transaction. The Lakers selected Jared Dudley, the team's Ronny Turiaf and the 18th overall pick. A trade exception was sent to the Phoenix Suns to obtain last season's best sixth man Barbosa and the 29th overall pick from the Suns.

"The 29th pick?" Buford seemed to understand something when he saw the draft pick sent by the Suns. The Suns clearly had the 24th pick, but they chose to trade the pick one pick lower than the Spurs. There must be some ulterior motive for giving it to the Lakers.

But now Buford didn't want to think too much about it. Soon the draft reached the 24th pick. As expected, the Suns won Thiago Splitter at this position. Then Buford called Popovich and Holt, told them of the Sun's request. So with the 28th pick, the San Antonio Spurs selected Spanish center Marc Gasol.

There was a small commotion at the scene. Obviously, everyone was a little confused about the Spurs picking such a player with this pick. Although Marc Gasol is the younger brother of Pau Gasol, he is in the United States. Not well known. His performance in the European arena is also not comparable to that of his brother. However, there was a small commotion at the scene, and in the Lakers draft conference room, there was absolutely a lot of curses!

The little card that Kubrick handed to Stern had already been written. They were going to take Marc Gasol with the 29th pick in advance to avoid long nights, but they didn't know that he was intercepted by the Spurs! According to their news, the player the Spurs want is Split! As for Marc Gasol, Kubrick originally planned to use a second-round pick to acquire him. However, in the past week, there have been suddenly more scout evaluation reports on Marc Gasol, and the market has been bullish. He has already reached the very top of the second round. s position.

At this time, Steve Kerr called and wanted to use Barboza plus a first-round pick in exchange for the Lakers' Turiaf and a No. 18 pick, and let them get Dudley at this position. Of course, Kubrick didn't want to miss this opportunity to give a big gift. A super sixth man like Barbosa was exactly what the Lakers needed, and exchanging him for Turiaf would be a waste. Then, wouldn't it be nice to get the Suns' late first-round pick and get Marc Gasol in advance?

As a result, Marc Gasol was taken away by the Spurs. Why would the Spurs take them away? Kubrick thought about Thiago Split, whom the Suns picked with the 24th overall pick. In fact, when the Suns just picked Split, Kubrick already had a very, very bad experience. premonition.

"Damn it, Fox-Leon!" Kubrick could think of it with his toes. Besides Fox-Leon, who else likes to do this kind of thing like cutting off the talent in the draft?