Leon felt his chest squeeze, and he felt a strong urge to lift the telephone in front of him and call Pitino, who was far away in Boston, to ask him why he had made such a choice.

However, he restrained himself, and for nearly a month he had been working hard, collecting data, and writing scouting reports to prove that his choice was not wrong.

Now, Stern's name isn't Michael Reed, and Leon is sure there must be more to come, his previous efforts won't be in vain overnight, and Pitino and the scouting team won't erase his achievements so easily.

Chris Wallace quickly returned to his seat, and he looked at Leon, who was silent, as if waiting for him to ask why.

But Leon didn't ask why, he turned to look at Wallace and said, "We must have a backhand, right?" ”

Wallace nodded at the corner of his mouth, during the time he knew Leon, what he admired most about Leon was not his observation or calculation ability, but his psychological quality.

Wallace himself was neither a player nor a coach, and he was a fan general manager, so he hadn't experienced the big scenes on the basketball court, he didn't have a big heart, and he felt like he was going to be out of breath just after Pitino called him to tell him -- just like he did when he picked up Paul Pierce with the 10th pick in 1998.

But that time it was because of excitement, but this time it was so nervous that he didn't even have time to open his mouth to tell Leon Pitino what decision he had made.

"There will be a deal soon." Wallace whispered as he sat down next to Leon as he took a breath to calm down as the Dallas Mavericks would be the 12th pick.

Leon stared at the draft table tightly, he glanced down the table and saw Michael Reid and his mom sitting on the far left of the sixth row, obviously he had a terrible expression, and the contact with the Celtics has been very smooth, and in the absence of any other team looking at him, only the Celtics favor him.

The scout for the Celtics, in particular, made a very good impression on Reid, who was also convinced that the Celtics would draft him in the first round.

However, before the draft, Reed heard rumors that the Celtics might trade the No. 11 pick down for a lower first-round pick and a second-round pick, and then use the second-round pick to get Reed.

Even so, Reed didn't care very much, his mind was already on the Celtics, but the Celtics didn't trade down in the draft, and they didn't take Reed in the 11th place, which made him fall into despair.

Leon clenched his fists, his brain racing, collecting all the information related to Etan Thomas in his mind - at this time, Etan Thomas was wearing a Celtic green hat, chatting with the host in the interview area of **, and he looked equally dazed.

"Etan Thomas, a big forward from Syracuse, is a strong and tough forward...... No, that's not what I'm going to care about right now, Etan Thomas, Thomas...... That's right, the Mavericks want him, it's the Mavericks, and their big-mouthed owner once said they want this player, the Dallas Mavericks! ”

Leon was thinking that Stern had once again stepped up to the stage, announcing the team's selection for the twelfth time: "With the twelfth pick in the first round, the Dallas Mavericks chose ...... Michael Reid from Ohio University! ”

Leon almost jumped up from his chair, yes, he was right, Pitino had robbed Itan Thomas in advance, just to make a deal with the Mavericks!

Leon has gone through the details of all drafts and the trade process in the past two decades, and has long learned that it is not a complete secret which team to pick which player in the NBA, and many teams have already decided who they want before the draft, and teams will communicate with each other to avoid robbery.

This is also why the Lakers were able to trade Kobe Bryant from the Hornets to the thirteenth pick in 1996, not because other teams didn't want to take him, but because Lakers general manager David West had already let go of Kobe Bryant, and Kobe Bryant also made it clear that he would only play for the Lakers. Coupled with West's deep connections in the alliance, naturally no one grabbed him.

Some teams are not so lucky, in the 1998 draft, everyone knew that the fifth-pick Golden State Warriors wanted Antoine Jamison, and the fourth-place Toronto Raptors wanted Vince Carter, but the Raptors took Jamison in the fourth, forcing the Warriors to choose Carter in the fifth, and then traded with the Raptors to get Jamison and give away a sum of cash.

Leon's mind flashed through the trades, and his mood was a little brighter, but he didn't quite understand what Pitino was doing because the Mavericks didn't seem to have the players the Celtics wanted, and if the early loot was just for a sum of cash, it didn't seem to fit Pitino's style.

But Leon knew that Pitino must have some purpose, and it was probably a personal purpose, because judging from Wallace's performance, he didn't even discuss the deal with the team's general manager, which is very abnormal, and in any case, as the team's No. 2 man and important partner, Wallace has a reason to know about such a move in advance, rather than receiving a phone call to react.

Moreover, it is very risky to do this, in case the calf is heartbroken, simply don't Thomas, then the efforts of the Celtics and Leon in the past month will be in vain.

Sure enough, in the selection of the next pick, which is also the twelfth pick, the Dallas Mavericks picked Michael Reed that the Celtics wanted.

When Reed walked up to the stage and put on the blue hat of the Dallas Mavericks, his smile was quite reluctant, and he had not very good-looking teeth and a bitter gourd face, and his face was even more unsightly, and Michael Reed at this time was probably the only person in the world who was sad because he couldn't wear a green hat.

Seeing Reed's twisted face, Leon's heart was also uncomfortable, but he had calmed down, since the Mavericks also took Reed, it means that they are indeed willing to trade with the Celtics, because Reed is not in the draft list that the Mavericks expected.

Leon didn't have the heart to look at it anymore, he stared at the phone in front of him, knowing that if the draft was completed, the phone would be notified.

As the minutes ticked by, both Wallace and Leon felt that it was quite difficult, and now things were out of their control. Leon kept observing the ** commentary table down from the seat, and he knew that if the Celtics and Mavericks had a trade, the host there would get the information and broadcast it as soon as possible, and Leon could hear what they were saying with his ears.

Finally, in the second round of the election show, the phone in front of Wallace finally rang.

Wallace grabbed the phone at lightning speed, still didn't speak, just said "um" twice, Leon stared at Wallace's face, and could see the expression on his face change, from relief to frowning, not knowing what news he had gotten.

After hanging up the phone, Wallace turned to Leon and said, "One good news and one not-so-good news, the good news is that the Mavericks have agreed to a trade with us, Michael Reed in exchange for Etan Thomas; The not-so-good news is...... It's an addition to the trade, and we're sending guard Adrian Griffin in exchange for a Dallas Mavericks power forward...... Dennis Rodman. ”

"Dennis Rodman? But he's not on the Mavericks' list anymore......" The moment Leon heard the name, all doubts cleared through his mind. He's got such a quick head that he already knows most of the players in the league, including, of course, the big-name flower bug, Dennis Rodman.

"I'm sorry Chris, I'm going to make a call."