Chapter 7: Draft Night
"Danny, old friend, old classmate, you must help me this time! Trade us with your No. 5 pick, and I'll be responsible for finding you another All-Star caliber player! ”
"Why do you want my signature? What exactly did you get the message? Why are so many people looking for me to sign a deal recently? ”
"This, I said that you must trade it to me?"
"I, where can I promise you!"
"If you don't say yes, I won't say, Jason Williams, how about a first-round pick in your hand?"
"......Who the hell are you?"
***
"I'll put my words right here, except for Iguodala, you can pick whatever you want in the 76ers, as long as you agree to give me the No. 7 pick in your hand!"
"You, OMG, God, you, don't talk about trading chips, won't you tell me such news?"
***
"What to do? General Manager Hammond, they've been a bit of a big deal lately! Will the sixth pick in our hands not be enough to win easy? ”
"Don't worry! I've solved this problem, you just wait to see Yi put on our Bucks team hat and shake hands with President David! ”
***
Three days before the draft, the trade market was weird, and many team general managers with first-round low-pick picks were unanimously trading upwards and giving very low pay, but the strange thing is that when it came to the names of the newcomers they wanted to choose, these guys kept their mouths shut, no matter how they asked, they didn't say a word.
Naturally, many media outlets have noticed this strange phenomenon, and ESPN, TNT, and some well-known sports stations in the United States have sent their own backbones to try to dig out the truth as soon as possible.
But what I didn't expect was that no matter how well this group of reporters had connections, the replies they got this time were all non-commentable.
The general managers of these teams have given death orders, and whoever dares to leak the secret of choosing Yi Jianlian must be strictly investigated to the end and will not be spared.
In this eerie atmosphere, the last three days finally passed.
The suspense is unresolved, and the 07 draft conference has added a little more to watch because of this incident.
Everyone is curious, who is it that makes these team general managers who are not very high in terms of signing so crazy to trade high picks?
***
The 07 draft was held in the theater of Madison Square Gardens in New York, and Yi Jianlian was invited to enter the small green house as the favorite of this draft.
The Little Green House represents an honor in the American Sports Draft, and in the NBA Draft, being a member of the Little Green House at least means being favored by many general managers!
After all, whether a newcomer can enter the Little Green Room is voted on by all NBA general managers, and the league then sends out invitations to the newcomers who are the big picks in the lottery area through these votes.
Yi Jianlian inadvertently made history, and this is the first Chinese in NBA history to appear on the scene of the draft.
His step can be regarded as a big step for Chinese basketball in the NBA.
Although in the next n years, there was no second one. But it's all drawn, and it's a matter of time before a horizontal line is added below.
***
Yi Jianlian and Dan Fagan walked to the table with their names on it and sat down, and looked around, Kevin Durant, Oden, and Jeff Green, all of them were familiar faces that they had seen on TV in their previous lives. They sat nervously in the audience, waiting for Stern to announce their fate.
It was also at this moment that Yi Jianlian really felt the heritage of the NBA, and any player on the scene now has the ability to become the main force in the CBA, but in the NBA, it is not even Mao, even if all of this batch are not successful, it doesn't matter, because at the same time next year, there will be another group of the same young talents sitting here waiting for their own destiny.
That's the power of the highest level of basketball league, and it can bring countless basketball talents here one after another to be tested.
***
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2007 NBA Draft, where new champions will be born tonight, and 60 new players will enter the NBA tonight to continue their basketball dreams!"
"Let's wait and see the results!"
As the most well-known sports platform in the United States, ESPN also conducted a live broadcast of this party, as the host's voice fell, the lights of the entire theater instantly dimmed, in the dark, a few beams of chasing light hit the stage, from the steps next to the stage to the stage A gray-haired, gold-rimmed old man with glasses, looks like a teacher, but everyone knows that at this time, the only person who can stand in the center of the stage is that person - NBA league president, David Stern.
His appearance was like an automatic silencer, and before he could make a move, the audience was silent, and everyone looked at him, at the list in his hand.
Participating in the draft, his agent, and those relatives and friends, all eyes were on him. Tonight will decide what kind of reward these people will get for their nearly two months of hard work ahead!
***
"In 2007, the first pick in the first round, the Portland Trail Blazers selected Greg Oden from Ohio State University!"
"In 2007, the Seattle SuperSonics selected Kevin Durant from the University of Texas!"
First of all, the first and second picks were announced, and there was no surprise at all, the two names that came out of Stern's mouth were the two names that everyone had been talking about before the draft.
Oden and Durant became the champions and leaders of '07!
"In 2007, the Atlanta Hawks picked the ...... with the third pick in the first round."
"Hey, hey, it's the third pick, damn it, Danny, you quickly agreed, I can give you enough chips!" In this live broadcast party, it was not only the fans who were in front of the TV, but also the general managers of some teams, but compared to those fans who were simply curious about who these newcomers were, this group of old guys had more emotions on their faces, eager, and even impatient.
"Al Horford from the University of Florida!"
On the TV screen, a tall, honest-looking man stood up from the audience, and he walked onto the stage and shook hands excitedly with David Stern.
"You agreed, didn't you? Damn, you finally agreed, or I'd be going to break up with you! Listen, Danny, notify me right away, help me get ......"
"In 2007, the fourth pick in the first round, the Memphis Grizzlies chose Yi from China! Build! Join! ”
"Oh~shit, it's too late! Danny, my target was chosen, damn it! Stern's name made the general manager look annoyed, "Damn, damn, damn!" ”
"What you want to choose, is Yi Jianlian?!" This guy kept complaining and being annoyed, but Anji's head crashed directly, he never thought that what his old friend was so eager to get was Yi Jianlian, whom he couldn't look down on!
WTF, what the hell is going on!