The pre-draft trade between the Rockets and Lakers was a tear.

Back then, the Lakers tried their best to get Howard, wanting to regain the glory of the Purple and Gold Dynasty and start the next era of center.

Who knew that the championship was earned, but the credit was not given to Howard, but in a second-round show.

By the time the second-round pick left, Howard and Kobe's partners had more and more contradictions, incompatible personalities, mismatched playing styles, and damn injuries.

In the summer of 2013, Howard became a free agent, and the Rockets courted Howard.

As another team with a glorious center tradition, the Rockets' historical thickness in the center position is basically surpassed by the Lakers.

And the general manager of the Rockets, Darryl Mogou... Morey, his idea of building a team is to replace the whole team with zero, and to be a superstar, which can not only improve the record, but also raise the market value of the team, and sell more tickets.

Although Howard has been proven to be no longer as brave as he used to be, after all, the signboard of Warcraft is still there, and he is just 30 years old, and there is still room for rescue, so in the face of the Lakers' trade temptation, he made a decisive move and brought Howard over.

In doing so, the Lakers got rid of a big contract that they didn't think they needed anymore, and the Rockets got the coveted interior superstar (albeit at a discount).

This deal has led to a lot of noise among teams in the West, because once the Lakers team makes a move, it will definitely be a big move, and there must be a back-up move, maybe it will be related to Bruce Lee.

Recently, rumors have circulated that Li Liang will return to Los Angeles in major media outlets, and the first news came from the Los Angeles Times, supposedly from "a very close person to Bruce Lee."

This information scared the Western Conference teams, and the Warriors were the first to bear the brunt.

The Warriors experienced a successful regular season, but they were defeated in the finals and were defeated by Li Liang alone.

If Li Liang returns to the west, then the life of a warrior will not be able to live.

And the Warriors' lineup still has room for improvement, especially David Lee's 6-year 80 million contract, David Lee barely got any playing time in the finals, and the high-intensity confrontation on the court is not something he can afford at all.

Therefore, the Warriors are very keen to trade David Lee for a good No. 3 player to further resist the threat of Li Liang.

In addition to the Warriors, the Thunder, who failed to make the playoffs last season due to Durant's injury, tried their luck in the offseason and wanted to fight for another year.

And the way the Thunder team improves is simple - they want to take Li Liang into their pockets.

After the Finals, the Thunder management called Zhu Shu and Bird as soon as possible, saying that the Thunder can give out any chips other than Durant, and if they can, it is not impossible to send Durant to the Pacers.

The deal is certainly very tempting, but Bird said that it is up to him where Li Liang goes.

"If he is willing to go back to China, I can also buy him out and send him to the CBA." Bird replied.

And where Li Liang is going, no one can decide, and Li Liang also refuses to participate in any recruitment activities.

Another team in turmoil is the San Antonio Spurs, who had plenty of room to operate this summer and lay a good foundation for the next five years, but Leonard's commitment not to renew his contract led to the Spurs' plans being completely disrupted.

The Spurs had to start accepting offers from other teams, and the best of all the offers was the Los Angeles Lakers.

Popovich also consulted with Bird and asked if he could trade Leonard for Li Liang.

Bird thought to himself, TM's Durant can't be replaced, you exchange Leonard, I want to, but Li Liang is not happy.

After all, Li Liang is the champion of the Pacers, and after winning the championship, he discussed with Bird that where Li Liang is going, Bird will change him. Li Liang will try his best to ensure that he brings high-quality chips to the Pacers, and Bird also hopes that the team Li Liang goes to still has the strength to compete for the championship.

This kind of father-son filial piety is really rare in the NBA.

The scene of where is Dad going, with the arrival of the draft conference, reached the first climax.

……

On June 26, the 2015 draft was held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Newcomers should have a new atmosphere, Xiao Hua's first season in charge of the NBA, the All-Star Game was moved to the Barclays Center except for the main game, and this year's draft was also moved to the updated Barclays, which is currently the latest and most luxurious arena in the league.

30 teams will be here again to select fresh blood for the league and start another cycle.

Of course, the overall quality of players in this year's draft is acceptable, and there are no earth-shattering super newcomers, but there are still a lot of materials that can be made.

This year's No. 1 title has been pre-booked by Carl Anthony Towns, needless to say, the lad is ready to go to the icy Minnesota to get frozen, and I hope you can be like the senior Kevin Garnett...... Take a big contract.

There is no suspense about the champion show, and the attention of various media is mainly focused on the transactions of each team.

There are certainly a lot of trades around draft picks this year, especially for Western Conference teams.

The Eastern Cavaliers can be regarded as a standout, and once Li Liang leaves the East, James will be invincible again.

And this year, the Cavaliers are also recruiting troops to enhance their bench strength to fight against Li Liang.

When it was time for the draft to start, a bald head suddenly appeared on the stage - it was Adam Silva.

After a burst of opening remarks, he gave the Timberwolves time to make their choice.

There wasn't much suspense in the draft, and a few minutes later he returned to the stage and read out the Timberwolves' choice: they took Towns with the first pick.

The tall young center from Dominica, who represents the direction of the new era of interior development, was a talented man who was unfortunately drafted by the Timberwolves......

The team with the second pick was the Philadelphia 76ers, who got Embiid last year, but the result was reimbursed and then smashed.

This year, they picked D'Angelo Russell from Ohio State University.

The 76ers already have Embiid and Noll on the inside, so they picked a guard this year to balance the team's roster configuration.

The New York Knicks, who were the third pick, drafted interior Porzingis from Latvia — a choice that led to another round of boos from the New York fans.

To be honest, over the years, the New York team has really been bad a lot, and occasionally a little bit of improvement has basically missed the championship.

But the fans in New York are really the ones who can beep the most with their mouths, and at the same time they don't understand the ball the most, anyway, they have a poisonous tongue, they love to scold, they love to join in the fun, as for the scolding is right, whatever, let's talk about the scolding.

Foreign players like Porzingis, who are white, are certainly not liked by New York fans, they like black and rough, what Jerome James, Curry Jr., Big Q, signed a bunch of contracts back then, and the results were all garbage contracts.

New Yorkers are more inclined to choose Jahill Okafor from Duke University, the championship center is clearly more in line with New Yorkers' appetites, but Phil Jackson still won Porzingis, and tomorrow the New York media's sports column will give Jackson another critique fight.

The draft went ahead and so far there hasn't been any big trade news.

Until the 12th pick, the signing of the Los Angeles Lakers, Xiao Hua took the stage and read out the Lakers' selection: The Los Angeles Lakers selected Devin Booker from the University of Kentucky with the 12th pick!

The Lakers chose Booker! Another kid from Kentucky, still a shooting guard.

Is this to find a successor for Kobe?

Obviously not, just when Booker came to the stage, put on the Lakers hat, and shook hands with Xiao Hua, the news of the transaction had already come from the background.

The Lakers, with Wiggins and Booker as the main body, plus other balance contracts and some cash, sent to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Cowyn Leonard.

Bryant's new Pippen is here again.