Bishop of the Devil

The next day in the conference room of NBA headquarters.

Richard and Jordan submitted their names for the expansion draft to NBA headquarters.

There are only fourteen players on the list, less than half of whom were personally selected by Richard, and the strength of the remaining players is completely invisible.

They are basically the dregs of dregs, extremely dregs.

After Stern read the list, he immediately called Xiao Hua to notify each team where someone was selected.

After each team received the news, some were disappointed, some were thankful, and some felt it was expected.

Anyway, the expansion draft is completely over, and they can sleep peacefully.

After leaving the NBA headquarters, Richard and Jordan found a place to have a meal.

"Lee, did the other party give an answer to what I said before about trading the Clippers' second pick or the Magic's No. 1 pick?" Jordan couldn't help but ask about work that was not under his jurisdiction.

Richard shook his head. He had told Jordan about this before, and he might trade the No. 4 pick for the No. 1 pick or the No. 2 pick.

As a result, the Magic were unwilling to trade. In fact, it may be that the Buccaneers didn't have the bargaining chips they wanted.

Before the Pistons got the 29th pick in the first round from the Pistons, they only had the No. 4 pick in the first round and the No. 4 pick in the second round.

This was all the Pirates had, a real poor jingle.

Naturally, the Magic refused to agree. They also hoped to recreate O'Neal's miracle and use this No. 1 pick to select an inside player who was comparable to O'Neal.

The Magic have an inexplicable desire for inside players...

Maybe they will even start the formal reconstruction of the team with this number one pick as the core of the team as in normal history.

That is to trade away Tracy McGrady.

Richard himself doesn't have much hope for the Magic's No. 1 pick. The real hope is the Clippers, now coached by Stevens Jr.

But what makes Richard helpless is that Little Stevens said that he wanted to consider it. In fact, this was almost a tactful rejection of Little Stevens.

Historically, Dunleavy Sr. coached the Clippers and then made a deal with the Bobcats. That was because Dunleavy Sr.'s coaching style did not require too many inside players. One Brand was enough.

But little Stevens was different. He was influenced by Richard. Over the years, Richard's ideas for team building have been regarded as God's truth.

Now there is an opportunity to choose a strong inside man to match Brand, how could he miss it!

Whether it's Howard or Okafor, both of them are center players, and Brand will play the fourth position. This kind of inside combination is quite luxurious. In Stevens' view, it will definitely make the Clippers stronger. There has been considerable progress.

They may even make it to the Western Conference playoffs this year.

Richard could roughly guess what Stevens was thinking, so it was naturally impossible to force him.

The No. 4 pick is the No. 4 pick, and getting Iguodala is also a good choice.

Milicic and Mourning are supporting the inside line, so they will make do with it first, and then wait until later drafts or through trades to gradually increase the strength of the inside line.

…

"Don't think about it. Neither team is willing to exchange. It's not necessary to exchange for the No. 1 pick. After all, we are staring at Howard and Okafor now." Richard shook his head and said.

Jordan nodded. Since the teams with the top two picks are not willing to trade, there is really no need to continue thinking about it.

The two stayed in New York for two days, and on the 25th, they appeared at the draft together.

Richard and Jordan are definitely the most important figures in the entire NBA history. I am afraid that there is really no such combination in this circle.

Jordan is recognized as the number one player in league history and a god-like existence among players.

Although Richard is not as good as Jackson in terms of honors, you must know that he is so young. In the eyes of everyone, he will become a god-like figure among coaches like Jordan in the future.

The two great gods appeared together, which immediately caused a burst of cheers from the scene.

Richard and Jordan nodded and greeted each other. Now that they are the bosses, they cannot follow their own whims like before...

While everyone was chatting, Stern began to take the stage and announced that the draft had officially begun.

"I announce that the Orlando Magic has selected Dwight Howard from Southwest Atlanta Christian High School with the first overall pick."

There were no exclamations in the audience. High school student Howard is the favorite to be the No. 1 pick. Anyway, either he will win the No. 1 pick or Okafor will win the No. 1 pick.

Because Okafor has been injured before, it is quite normal that the Magic do not dare to take the risk and choose Okafor.

Richard sat in the audience, looking at Howard with a green face, and couldn't help but feel happy.

Who would have thought that this honest-looking boy would turn out to have such heavy tastes that both men and women would like.

Next came the Clippers' second pick, and not surprisingly, they chose Okafor from the University of Connecticut.

Stevens Jr. showed a satisfied smile on his face. He preferred Okafor to Howard...

Now that he got Okafor as he wished, he was relieved.

Next it was the Chicago Bulls' turn to pick the No. 3 pick. Laimbeer had already been fired and Scott Skiles took over as head coach.

Just like normal history, they chose Okafor's teammate, Ben Gordon, also from the University of Connecticut.

Although Ben Gordon has never been selected as an All-Star in his career, the Bulls' choice cannot be said to be a scam. Ben Gordon's strength is still quite good.

A very reliable three-pointer, with plenty of offensive firepower, he easily averaged 20+ points per game at his peak.

The only thing he doesn't care about is defense, which is probably the biggest reason why he has never been selected as an All-Star.

Selecting such a player with the third overall pick is actually pretty good. There are countless others who are worse than this one.

Next came the No. 4 pick of the New Pirates. Everyone in the stadium pricked up their ears, wanting to hear who Richard picked this time.

Although the results were not made public, almost everyone was sure that Richard was targeting inside players again.

Richard has always liked to use inside players to build his team. This is not a secret. Everyone on the scene is aware of this.

In this year's draft, according to various media reports and information from each team's scouts, only Howard and Okafor are considered strong inside prospects. I don't know if Richard will be next. Give everyone a surprise.

"I announce that the Charlotte Pirates selected Andre Iguodala from the University of Arizona with the fourth pick in the first round!" After Stern announced the news, he was stunned.

Richard didn't choose the inside line? Did he take the wrong medicine?

Are you really planning to use Milicic and Lao Moming as the team's starting insiders?

Thinking of this, Stern couldn't help but feel happy, Richard was about to feel cold...

Maybe in the next draft, I will announce here that the Pirates will use the No. 1 pick to select a rookie.

Everyone at the scene was stunned for a moment, Richard actually chose a small forward...

From this point of view, it is estimated that Howard and Okafor are the only two reliable insiders in this draft.

If there were other powerful insiders, Richard would not be able to choose him!

For a time, some teams that were preparing to pick up the inside line couldn't help but feel a little disappointed...

…

In fact, in Richard's view, Al Jefferson is actually a pretty good insider. After all, he has 20+10 at his peak, and his style is somewhat similar to Zach Randolph.

They are also similar in length, both black and thick.

The draft picks are also similar, both in the middle of the first round.

Being able to select such a player in the middle of the first round is actually quite cost-effective.

But compared to Iguodala, it is definitely almost meaningless.

…

Soon, the first round of the draft was coming to an end, and in the blink of an eye, the 29th pick of the first round was reached.

"I announce that the Charlotte Pirates have selected Anderson Varejao from Santa Teresa, Brazil, with the twenty-ninth pick of the first round."

I finally chose an insider. This is right. This is Richard's style.

The draft pick sent by the Pistons selected Brazilian movie star Varejao, and Richard was quite satisfied.

Varejao was selected to the All-Defensive Second Team. Needless to say on the defensive end, Varejao is extremely good at drawing offensive fouls from his opponents.

Although his offensive ability is a bit lacking and he has no low-post ability at all, he has a good attitude and is willing to hone his mid-range skills.

Of course, what Richard values ​​​​is definitely not Varejao's offensive ability, but his defensive and rebounding abilities.

…

"I announce that the Charlotte Buccaneers have selected Trevor Ariza from UCLA with the fourth overall pick in the second round."

Richard used the fourth pick in the second round to select Ariza, who was produced by UCLA.

Since then, the work of the new Buccaneers in this draft is completely over.

Richard got three of his favorite players and got a good harvest.

At the end of the draft, Jordan looked excited.

The new Pirates are truly starting to take off. In the next few years, can he and Richard build the Pirates into a dynasty team as they planned? !

"Lee, our time has come!" Jordan said with excitement, clenching his fists.

Richard burst out laughing. He didn't expect Jordan to say such disgusting words.

…

After the two returned to Charlotte, they immediately got to work.

Richard first sorted out the team's roster.

Excluding the cannon fodder players Jordan selected, there are currently less than ten players available to the Pirates.

Inside position, Milicic, Mourning and Varejao.

Among them, Bobby Simmons can play as a power forward, but since he is less than two meters tall, playing power forward will definitely be a disadvantage.

Forward and back position, Iguodala, Ariza, Kapono, Alvin Williams, James Jones and Pippen.

Other than that, nothing more...

Richard sighed. The team seemed to have no capable point guard, which was quite uncomfortable.

The solution is not impossible. Jones and Alvin can both serve as point guards, but don't expect any good results.

"Hey, we can only take our time. The new army is so poor that they don't want bicycles." Richard said with a wry smile.

…

With such a lineup, it is really difficult to come up with a starting lineup that satisfies Richard.

But there was no way, Richard still had to bite the bullet and make the starting lineup.

The starting center will definitely be Milicic. This is Richard's plan that has already been decided.

The power forward position is Mourning, but this is also a scoring situation.

Richard has the coaching skill "Group Healing" on hand. Before the start of the season, he can use it to see if it can be effective on Mourning.

If it can be effective, then Mourning will be the starting power forward...

And if it fails to produce results, Richard is not willing to waste too many props on Mourning. It is very likely that Varejao will be the starting center, Milicic will be the starting power forward, and Mourning will be the substitute. .

The starting player at the small forward position is Iguodala.

It is said to be a small forward, but now the small forward position is actually quite blurred with the shooting guard. Anyway, Iguodala and Ariza will occupy these two starting positions.

The starting point guard is definitely Richard's biggest headache. At the moment, Alvin or Jones can only make do with it and see if they can look for trade opportunities after the start of the new season and trade from other teams. Get a reliable point guard.

…

"This lineup is really shabby. Although the starting lineup looks okay, the substitute lineup is absolutely unsatisfactory." Richard sighed and said.

Even if the starting lineup is just okay, Richard doesn't expect this lineup to achieve any good results...

…

Just a few days after the draft, the entire NBA was in chaos, with all kinds of breaking news.

Some reporters have already broken the news that O'Neal and the Lakers have broken up, and the Heat are discussing a plan to trade O'Neal with the Lakers.

The current situation of the Lakers is definitely worsening. Malone has retired, Payton is preparing to leave, and O'Neal is about to be traded.

The luxurious F4 lineup is gone like a passing cloud.

Upon hearing the news, Richard immediately became energetic.

Payton is leaving, which makes Richard grin from ear to ear. The Buccaneers are currently short of point guards. If they can get Payton, it will be a good thing.

But Richard is also thinking, Payton must be thinking of one last chance to win the championship. Will he agree to come to the Buccaneers who have no hope of winning the championship?

It doesn’t seem very likely…

Even so, Richard did not give up the idea and called Payton directly.

When he was with the Pistons, Richard recruited Payton, so he naturally had Payton's phone number.

To Richard's delight, Payton did not reject him directly, but gave an answer that would take him a few days to consider.

It's fine if you don't refuse directly, that means there's still room for success.