one-handed ball

Chapter 249 Trading and Drafting
On the 22nd, the trade between the Timberwolves and the Wizards made new progress.

Although the Wizards had the lowest record in the league last year, unlike the weak Kings, the Wizards officially said that they were suffering from injuries, and the general was almost absent for a season. An Eastern powerhouse.

And sitting on Arenas, Butler and Jamison, the Wizards don't need to train young players.They are desperate to clean up the salary structure.

A few days ago, Wizards general manager Ernie Grunfield said in an interview with the media: "I am very satisfied with the players in the current Wizards lineup. We are willing to pick potential rookies in the draft. Of course, we are also willing to cooperate with other teams in the league. Sit down and negotiate, we will listen to offers from other teams while scouting rookies."

There is only one Zheng Ke in this world, and the NBA only encounters one or two fast-growing rookies like him in ten years.Generally speaking, it takes at least two years for a rookie to grow from being selected to adapting to the NBA and slowly growing into a qualified athlete. This is why the NBA Rookie Challenge is for rookies with less than two years of game experience.And not all rookies can really grow up. The draft sounds very wonderful, but it is actually a big gamble, a big gamble for the future and destiny of the big team.

In the league, there are many teams that hope to get the Wizards' No. 5 pick.In addition to the Timberwolves, there are also ten teams including the Knicks, Celtics, and Bucks, who have quoted prices to the Wizards before and after.

The Bucks are desperate to sell All-Star small forward Jefferson.Jefferson still has a two-year contract of 2920 million, and the 28-year-old is also at his peak this year. In the Bucks last season, he averaged 19.6 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. The ball shooting rate is as high as 39.7%, which is really a rare high-quality small forward.In order to deal with the tricky Zheng Ke, several powerful teams in the West began to act, including the Spurs and Lakers.

In addition to Jefferson, Artest, who became a free agent this summer, has become the object of invitation from many teams in the West, and the Lakers and Spurs are still the most active.At the same time, the Rockets officials are also trying their best to find an opportunity to renew the contract with Artest. You know, without Artest, it will be difficult for the Rockets to go far in the West.

For Artest, his first discharge is San Antonio, a small city with limited salary space.And then, he fell into entanglement. He yearned for the colorful world like Los Angeles, and he also liked the feeling of being in the Rockets, although he had a little unhappiness with Adelman at the end of the season.Last month, the Rockets entered the Western Conference Finals in a historic way. If it wasn't for Zheng Ke, maybe they would be the ones winning the cup now.

Artest needs time to consider, a battle around him is also launched among the Rockets and the Lakers.

On the 23th.

Chad Ford of ESPN confirmed that the first trade of the offseason has been done.The Milwaukee Bucks sent All-Star small forward Richard Jefferson to the San Antonio Spurs in a deal.In this trade, the Spurs sent away the three-time championship hero Bo Wenbao, as well as two soy sauce men Cotto-Thomas and center Oberto.

The Spurs' lineup has been enhanced again, and the only thing to worry about is the running-in between Jefferson and GDP.

Judging from the reactions of the various teams in the league, they didn't have any special reaction to the Spurs Bucks' lightning deal, as if they had known that such a thing would happen.

McHale is still fighting for the No. 5 pick of the Wizards, but the price of paying two championship heroes at once is too high. The Wizards are a bit like a lion.McHale is only willing to send one of McMiller and Randy Foye, but the Wizards hope to send out several junk contracts in the team through equal wages.The negotiations have reached a deadlock, but neither the Wizards nor the Timberwolves can stand the wait of time. After all, the draft will be officially held tomorrow.

When Zheng Ke and Taylor came back, they chose a direct flight to New York. After getting off the plane, it was already the night of the 24th.Accompanied by the staff arranged by Schwartz, the two checked into a hotel near Madison Square Garden, and sadly began to lose jet lag.

The next day, according to media reports, the Phoenix Suns and the Cleveland Cavaliers reached an agreement.

The Suns sent the 37-year-old Shaquille O'Neal in exchange for the Cavaliers' Ben Wallace, Sasha Pavlovich and the No. 46 pick in the second round of this year and some cash.

Although the Suns failed to enter the playoffs last season, O'Neal played 75 games last season. In an average of 30 minutes per game, he could contribute 17.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks. Rejuvenated, so for the Cavaliers, they are looking forward to the "Royal Shark" combination.And Ben Wallace's 1400 million contract with one year left is also in line with the Suns' idea of ​​clearing salary space, and the two teams hit it off.

With the opening of the free market, rumors of trades between teams are flying all over the sky. There is no shortage of news about the Magic team that lost in the finals. Several players, it is said, they have a strong interest in the Canadian trapeze Carter.

And the Suns, which just lost O'Neal, are launching a fierce pursuit of Channing Frye, a backup center for the last season's championship. They hope that Channing Frye, who has excellent mobility and accurate shooting, can become the team's starting center in the future. Timberwolves can not provide, it is reported that Channing - Frye agent is actively persuading Channing - Frye to Phoenix.

Zheng Kehao Taylor woke up at noon the next day and took a leisurely stroll in the center of New York City in the afternoon. When a general manager like McHale was so busy, a superstar like Zheng Ke seemed very comfortable.He met many "acquaintances" on the road. Anthony, Kobe, James and others were all present. Although their team didn't have any good draft picks, they all wanted to be a witness to such a grand event that attracted worldwide attention. people.

On the 25th, the NBA Draft 2009 was officially held at Madison Square Garden in New York.

This can also be regarded as one of the things that will determine the fate of many rookies who sign up for the draft this year. High-ranked rookies hope to be selected by the right team; low-ranked rookies hope to be selected in the lottery; they are not famous Players who want to be recognized by others.

And until now, there is still no progress in the deal with the Wizards. The Wizards' thinking has changed. They don't sell the precious fifth pick now. They would rather stay and pick rookies, maybe they can get outstanding players?

The Clippers undoubtedly chose Blake Griffin, a beast power forward from the University of Oklahoma. Maybe they thought of Kaman as a backup, or Camby as a backup?

Then the Grizzlies still chose Thabeet, a giant from Tanzania. He was regarded as a combination of Yao Ming and Uncle Mu. The Wizards with the No. [-] pick, after careful consideration, chose Jordan Hill, a power forward with outstanding running and jumping from the University of Tanzania!

The Wizards, who are not short of guards, took away the rare inside players in this class, which made McHale's teeth itch. He felt that he was completely played by the Wizards. You know, he himself is also very optimistic about the prospects of Jordan Hill. .

The Bobcats team with the sixth overall pick was selected by Joe Gang. He watched the player trial training and studied for a long time before choosing the star point guard of the NCAA, Jonny Flynn from Syracuse University. The draft template is Chris Paul, and his competitiveness and big heart are appreciated by Joe's gang leader.

"Yes, he will become a star player." Gang Leader Qiao said in an interview with the media.

After that, Rubio dropped to the eighth pick and was selected by the Knicks.The development template is that Zheng Ke's talented swingman DeRozan was picked by the Raptors, and the Hornets with the [-]th pick chose Gerald Henderson.

Immediately it was the No.18 pick of the Timberwolves, and there were a bunch of guards left. It didn't matter whether Max Haier picked or not. Among Len Collison, Ty Lawson, who helped North Carolina win the championship, was finally selected.

Ty Lawson was very excited to be selected by the championship team, "The Timberwolves are a top team, Chauncey is my predecessor, I am happy to play him as a substitute, and I am willing to learn from him."

The Timberwolves then selected Omi Casspi with the 20th overall pick, Taj Gibson with the 25th overall pick and Marcus Thornton with the 28th overall pick.

This is really a crazy draft. Timberwolves did not choose to trade, but hoarded a group of young players in the team. Nicky will be able to launch an impact on the championship again.

So far, the Timberwolves have a slightly larger lineup.

Point Guard: Billups, Lowry, Ty Lawson
Points: Afflalo, Randy Foye, Marcus Thornton
Small Forwards: Ke Zheng, Mike Miller, Omi Casspi

Power forwards: Kevin Love, Taj Gibson

Center: Nikola Pekovic
Free agents: Channing Frye, Chris Anderson, Cardinal, Greg Smith, Jason Collins, Mark Madsen.

Generally speaking, the rookies selected in the first round will get a contract. In this way, among these people who become free agents in the summer, there must be some that the Timberwolves will not keep.Others are worried that no one on the team can play, but the Timberwolves have too many players and don't know how to strengthen and trade.

Before the draft was over, some people laughed at the wonderful lineup of the Timberwolves. In addition to Pekovic who did not play last season, the Timberwolves have rookies in five positions. Are they the defending champions or rebuilding the team?

(End of this chapter)