Bishop of the Devil

After being rejected by the Pelicans, Richard contacted Western Conference teams such as the Grizzlies and Nuggets, but he frowned.

None of these teams actually bargained with Richard, as if they had a tacit understanding, and told Richard rather tactfully that they did not need an insider in their team...

In this case, if Richard wants to trade with a Western Conference team, he may have to go to Golden Dragon or Paul Allen.

However, Richard doesn't want these two teams to come to get Monroe. Monroe's future ceiling is not high. Although the two teams will not lose money in the transaction, they will definitely not make money.

What Richard didn't expect was that the Philadelphia 76ers took the initiative to contact Richard at this time, wanting to conduct a trade with Richard regarding Monroe.

It's just that the 76ers are not trading their first-round pick, but are preparing to trade Nikola Vucevic, the 16th pick in the first round of 2011, plus a second-round pick with the 14th pick. Monroe……

From the perspective of future generations, if Richard agrees to this transaction, it will definitely not be a loss in the end.

Vucevic's rookie season was quite embarrassing. He was basically abandoned by the Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 5.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game...

Under normal circumstances, the 76ers took out Vucevic, who had just finished his rookie season, to make a four-way deal with the Magic and other three teams.

Vucevic joined the Magic, while Howard, the original core of the Magic team, joined the Lakers.

This deal can be regarded as a turning point in Howard's career. Before that, he was one of the few super centers in the league. After joining the Lakers, and later joining the Rockets, and later in the Wandering League, Howard's status in the league The decline has been quite dramatic.

Contrary to Howard, Vucevic in this deal actually played directly in the Magic and became the head of the Magic a few years later.

Now that the Lakers are playing in the playoffs, they don't have time to think about trading Howard, so at least the four-way deal has not been started yet. After the 76ers heard that Richard had plans to sell Monroe, they immediately contacted Richard. Virtue.

Monroe's potential looks pretty good, at least much better than Vucevic's...

Logically speaking, there is no reason to refuse this deal. Vucevic was the future boss of the Magic and could lead the team into the playoffs. Although he was tortured by Leonard's teammate Ibaka in the playoffs, It's miserable, but the value is definitely much higher than Monroe.

What's more, they also brought along a second-round pick...

But Richard thought about it in the end and still didn't agree to the 76ers' trade plan. He still wanted the draft picks more.

Vucevic is good, but Richard always feels that this player is not interesting. He can indeed be regarded as a good star, but he is not a winner. Once he is targeted by opponents in some important games, he will immediately wither.

In other words, in Richard's view, Vucevic is not a player who is good at fighting tough battles...

In these 12 drafts, there are a few players that Richard likes, who are good at fighting tough battles. In Richard's opinion, they are more useful than Vucevic.

Therefore, Richard is more inclined to trade Monroe for draft picks, rather than trading for Vucevic who can only hit the wind.

…

"Frank, I'm actually more inclined to want the draft pick."

"Vucevic is actually pretty good. I'll tell you the truth. His value is actually greater than Monroe. You can use it for yourself and give him more opportunities to perform. I believe his performance will surprise you." ." Richard said to 76ers current head coach Lawrence Frank.

Lawrence Frank previously coached the Nets. As a result, the Nets were cheated in various ways in the deal with Greencap, which led to the current situation. Frank left the Nets in anger and came to Philadelphia to coach.

Frank is definitely Richard's direct coach. Richard naturally wanted to make his life easier, so he revealed Vucevic's situation to him and asked him to give Vucevic some patience.

Frank was startled. He had just taken over the 76ers, and he really didn't care much about Vucevic, an inside player who seemed a bit weak...

But now that Richard says this player has potential, it's natural that Frank can't ignore him.

"Okay, Li, I'll give this kid more playing time."

"If you hadn't said this kid was good, to be honest, even if we didn't sell him to the Clippers this time, we would have looked for other deals to sell him..." Frank said with a smile.

"You will definitely lose money if I sell him. He will be a 20+10 inside player with three-point ability. You should know what this means."

Upon hearing this, Frank's eyes almost popped out, 20+10? And it’s also a three-point ability? God, this is a big baby...

…

After rejecting the 76ers' trade application, Richard contacted several teams with poorer records in the Eastern Conference. The result was quite painful for Richard, as no one was willing to sell draft picks to him.

This makes Richard feel a little uncomfortable...

He traveled back in time in 1994 and entered the league in the middle of 1996. It is already the middle of 2012. In the past 16 years, Richard has never encountered such a difficult situation in his transactions.

Richard analyzed the current situation and found that there may be two reasons.

The first reason may be that Monroe is not attractive enough, and the second reason may be that teams are afraid of Richard's rise...

If Richard still wants to trade Monroe for draft picks, he may have to lower his expectations and make some loss-making deals.

In the face of absolute interests, there must still be people who can't bear to trade with Richard.

The Western Conference Finals were about to begin, and during the fierce battle between the Spurs and Lakers, Richard made a direct announcement.

The Clippers want to take Monroe and their own 16th pick in the second round in exchange for a pick at the bottom of the first round and a pick at the top of the second round. Any team will do it!

Generally speaking, when a team wants to make a trade, most of them do it secretly. They will never announce the trade in a big way like Richard, and also make the bargaining chip he wants public.

Because the team must be thinking about maximizing profits in the transaction, directly disclosing the bargaining chips they want is equivalent to revealing their bottom line. If such an unwise move is done, it is estimated that the team executives will be punished the next day. Gotta fire the boss.

Richard obviously did something shocking again this time.

But even so, Richard still felt that he had done the right thing.

First of all, I really don’t have many chips. I am completely losing money and making money. I only need the bottom of the first round and a second-round pick to get Monroe and a pick in the middle of the second round. This deal is actually Still quite tempting.

Because of the bottom pick in the first round, it is undoubtedly a fantasy to get a rookie of Monroe's level!

Rather than risking your luck, it would be better to trade this draft pick for Monroe. At least you can be sure to get a starting-level insider.

Even if he doesn't start, having Monroe come on the bench can greatly improve the team's interior depth.

Secondly, Richard made it public just to stimulate the enthusiasm of each team to trade. First come, first served. Richard's bargaining chip is not a big deal. If you put it together a little, you can definitely get it together. of……

No one would want to succumb to this kind of business that is sure to make a profit without losing any money.

…

Sure enough, Richard had just announced the news at the press conference in the morning, and several teams immediately contacted the Clippers in the afternoon, wanting to make a deal.

What left Richard speechless was that the Spurs were among them...

Not to mention, the Spurs really have the chips on hand to satisfy Richard. They have the bottom pick in the first round themselves.

As for the second-round pick, they got a second-round pick through a trade. How can this be considered difficult...

Richard is also very clear about Popovich's intention, to use a relatively cheap bargaining chip to find a substitute for the aging Duncan. Wouldn't it be flattering for a player of Monroe's strength to play as a substitute?

Even though the Spurs are playing in the Western Conference Finals, they are still paying attention to the trends in the free market and looking for some cost-effective transaction possibilities.

The Spurs have no need or the leverage to make a big deal, but they are still quite interested in such a small deal.

Richard naturally rejected the Spurs without saying a word. Popovich cut him off in the last draft. This time Monroe must not be given to the Spurs.

Richard has always regarded the Spurs as his biggest rival in the Western Conference in the next few years. How could he sell Monroe to the Spurs? Isn't that asking for trouble?

Who knows if Monroe will undergo some wonderful changes under Popovich's training, such as directly transforming into a player of Aldridge's level...

Not to mention, because Monroe is currently practicing three-pointers, and he already has some mid-range shooting skills, if he is given to the Spurs, he may really be able to rise.

Even if the possibility of rising is only 10%, Richard cannot tolerate such a thing happening...

After the Spurs, the Lakers also submitted a trade application, and they were also able to find enough chips that Richard wanted.

Big Ben has already confirmed that he will leave the team after the end of this season, so they naturally need to make supplements at the center position.

Monroe is undoubtedly a very good choice, mainly because he is cheap and can be used for two years at the price of a rookie contract...

As for two years later, Kobe will be 36 years old, and the Lakers will probably start rebuilding.

However, Richard also rejected the Lakers' trade application. There was no other reason than that he didn't want to sell to the Lakers.

…

Several powerful teams in the Eastern Conference have also submitted trade applications, all willing to trade Monroe with their bottom pick in the first round.

The Pirates haven't gotten any decent players in the draft since Richard left. With Jordan's vision, it's impossible to get any reliable players...

Every time Jordan was selected, he was absolutely sure, but every time it made him sad.

If this continues, the Pirates will probably start to sink and it will be difficult to maintain such dominance.

So they can only trade the draft picks...

Not only the Buccaneers, but the Heat also came to get involved. They now have the Big Three together.

Because the Big Three occupy a large amount of salary space, players in other positions cannot be of star level. Now if they get Monroe, they can greatly enhance the strength of the fifth position, which is quite tempting for them.

In addition, the Pistons are also interested in Monroe.

They actually had the idea of ​​contacting Richard before, but they were too shy to ask, mainly because they didn't think they could impress Richard with the chips they had.

But now that Richard's price is so low, as long as they are not stupid, they will definitely not miss this opportunity.

In the past two years, Yao Ming has suffered from some injuries from time to time. Although they are all harmless injuries and can come back after two or three weeks of rest, this also sends a signal that Yao Ming's body is declining.

The only thing the Pistons can do now is to reduce Yao Ming's playing time as much as possible in the regular season. For this reason, they need to find a reliable substitute for Yao Ming, and Monroe is undoubtedly a very good candidate.

Yao Ming is only two years younger than Kobe, and is now 32 years old. No one can say how long he can maintain his current competitive state.

There may be a significant decline next year, or it may persist for another three years...

But no matter what, when Yao Ming reaches the age of thirty-five, he will definitely start to decline. This is beyond doubt.

So the Pistons couldn't sit still now and got involved.

Now it's up to Richard to decide. No one knows which team Richard will ultimately choose as the target of this transaction.