Chapter 358: Unpredictable

NBA is always divided into two seasons. November to June is the season of fierce battles. All teams have fought for the same goal for at least 82 games. Players shed sweat and tears on the court. It will come to an abrupt end in mid-June. Knives and guns are put in the warehouse, horses are put in Nanshan, the players who originally paid the death and the life started fishing, and the holiday vacation, the whole league entered the long grass season from the campaign season.
Then for NBA players, you can relax yourself, or find a place to cheer yourself, but for the management staff of the NBA team, the long grass season is their battle season, and what they are doing is one A war without gunpowder. The outcome of this war often has a huge impact on the trend of the entire league next season.
The first battle of this war will start on June 28. The 2007 NBA draft will be held in the old place, Madison Square Garden, New York. About two days before the start of the draft, the managers and staff of each team will Slowly gathered in New York, and began to make the final preparations for the draft two days later.
This is the defending champion Spurs manager Buford once again led the team to New York. Although they are the defending champions, although they only hold the lower draft picks in their hands, Buford always firmly believes that every one in his hands must be cherished. The draft pick, even if this is a second-round pick. He once won Manu Ginobili with the 57th pick, and now he has grown into one of the league's best shooting guards and a cold bench killer.
Buford still remembers that they could win Ginobili with the 40th pick in advance to avoid long nights and dreams. At that time, they made a small deal with the Mavericks and got the No. 40 pick from the Mavericks. But Buford still chose to take the risk, taking Kirisek with the 40th pick, and then trading him for a draft pick in 2004. Finally, 57 places to win Ginobili.
But now, Buford absolutely dare not take this risk anymore. In 2001, they were almost robbed of Tony Parker by the Boston Celtics, for which the Spurs had to pay Steve Kerr. Fortunately, they defeated the Celtics in the 2003 Finals, otherwise the Spurs' failure would really be attributed to this small robbery. From the beginning of this robbery deal, Buford felt that the guy named Fox Leon was a lingering shit-cutter.
Every year at the draft conference, starting from the training camp, he will make a series of rumors. Seven of the ten messages in the entire NBA are related to this guy's behind-the-scenes manipulation, true or false. And he often does things that hurt others and disadvantages himself, the Celtics can't make a good profit, and other teams don't think about it. Quite the style of the red head Auerbach.
Then he really led the Celtics to revive and won three consecutive championships, including the top Spurs hitting the ground in 2005. Fortunately, he chose to retire in 2006. Auerbach also died that year, and the Spurs immediately won the 2007 championship. Buford has begun to think about repairing the bridge for the Spurs to defend the road, but this guy has returned, and he has also come to the Phoenix Suns, the Spurs' archenemy in the playoffs in recent years.
Headache! In the hotel in New York, Buford felt a very headache, not only because Fox-Leon was back, but also because he had received news yesterday that the Phoenix Suns intends to pick Split with the 24th pick in the draft. Supplement the team's fifth position. For Split, Buford has long been concerned because he is Ginobili's teammate in Argentina. In fact, this batch of Argentine players Buford is quite favorite.
But Fox Leon didn't know where he got the news. He learned that the Spurs wanted Split, and then released the news that they wanted Split. Buford is so familiar with this approach. In 2001, he chose to compromise and traded with the Celtics. In the end, his compromise was worth it. In 2007, Tony Parker became the finals mvp, the first foreign mvp in NBA history.
Is that Split worth Buford? It depends on the value of Split and what the Phoenix Suns want.
Buford did not sit still. On the one hand, he was trying to establish contact with Fox-Leon and sent him a text message to find out; on the other hand, he was communicating with Split’s agent because of Split. I still have a contract now, so I can't play in the NBA if I choose. If Split is unwilling to go to the sun, then Leon has chosen Split for no avail. Buford is not in a hurry, because in his plan, Split was originally prepared for the future; in the end, Buford was designing plan b, once Split was really taken away by the sun , Then he will choose an alternative.
Buford got busy in this way, and Fox Leon never heard back. After thinking about it, Buford decided to call Leon, although he hated to call Leon because he could often call Leon on the phone. You are speechless and give you no room for maneuver. This is very weak for negotiation.
But when Buford was about to make a call, the phone rang. He received a text message from Leon and quickly opened it. "We will take Split at a higher position, but we I want Marc Gasol and Brent Barry more."
It was Fox-Leon’s text message. The content was simple and straightforward, and it seemed to treat the players as pigs in the trading market. But this is the NBA. They are heroes on the court. They are commodities in the eyes of the team manager, especially ordinary. Players.
Seeing this text message, Buford was a little relieved, sending Brent Barry is not an unacceptable bargaining chip, the veteran was originally not in the team's future plans. This year, he and the team won the championship together, which is considered to be a complete accomplishment. In this case, it doesn't matter if he is sent to the sun. If it really is like the rumors in the past few days, the Suns want Robert Holly, then it is really troublesome. It is not that the Spurs can't bear Holly, but what Holly did to the Spurs in the playoffs. God knows him. Can you go home from Phoenix?
So Buford made two more phone calls with Vitch and the boss to discuss. Since there is a precedent for sending Cole in 2001, the Spurs management three-headed monster feels indifferent to Leon's small robbery, and there is no Touches the core rotation of the team.
With an idea in his mind, Buford gave Leon a reply, and then the news fell silent. Buford has become accustomed to this, Fox-Leon and Auerbach are really in the same line in some respects, and it is always in the same line that is always mysterious.
……………………
On June 28th, the day of the draft, Madison Garden Square became lively again. Anyway, the playoffs here are basically not lively. The only way to increase exposure can be through the draft.
Of course, before the start of the draft, no one cared about the San Antonio Spurs wanting to win Split, and the Phoenix Suns wanted to cut the small news. Except for those professional managers, professional scouts, the rest of the reporters, and fans are all speculating about the ownership of this year's No. 1 pick, Greg Oden or Kevin Durant.
Most people always pay too much attention to things that do not have too much suspense, especially in big shows like NBA. The ownership of a top pick can indeed change the destiny of a team, and even the trend of a league for several years. For example, the Spurs won Tim Duncan in 1997, which completely changed the history of the Spurs team. But in fact, these things were almost fixed before they happened. Everyone was just waiting for the moment when the results were announced, applauding and cheering for the euphoria of these ten seconds, and then a blueprint for the future ten years. All you have to do is to wait quietly.
But as the manager of a team, always pay attention to those inconspicuous places~EbookFREE.me~The qualitative changes accumulated in those details are the secrets of a team's longevity.
Buford has always believed in this, so when the draft started, when David Stern announced that Greg Oden was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers and was elected to the 2007 NBA draft, Buford Applause as a symbolic position. The Spurs experienced a similar moment ten years ago, but only Buford knew what he paid for the three championships in ten years.
"Good luck to the Portland Trail Blazers, but please be a little quicker in the first choice." Buford thought in his heart that the Spurs have been drafted very late for many years, but he is very special this year. Anxious.
After that, the Seattle SuperSonics chose Kevin Durant, and the Atlanta Hawks could only regretfully take Al Horford. When they reached the tenth overall pick, Buford’s cell phone suddenly rang. It was from the News Department. Message from people.
"Just received news from the league office that the Suns and the Lakers have completed a deal with Turiaf and Gbagbos, as well as this year's draft picks."
"Damn it, what is Fox-Leon's idea!" God's Whip of Basketball