New York, July 1, 1999!

On this day, New York once again became the center of attention of basketball fans around the world, as the NBA1999 draft was held in the summer.

At Madison Square Garden, fans began to enter the stadium, and many fans preferred to watch the draft at home compared to the playoffs.

Of course, this also has to do with the fact that the Knicks only have 15 first-round picks, and if they have a high pick, New York fans will also actively participate.

This year's NBA draft still attracts the attention of many people, because in the eyes of professionals, this year's players are relatively good and have good prospects.

Since the 96 golden generation, it can be said that the quality of NBA rookies has been excellent in recent years, and the talent has shown a blowout trend.

In addition to the 96 golden generation, the 97th class has produced players such as Duncan and Maddie, not to mention the 98th class, there are players with superstar potential such as Chi Liang, Carter, and Pierce, which are on a par with the 96th class.

As for Nowitzki, he will have to win the trust of the management and seek more appearances.

For basketball professionals, they have enough reason to believe that the rookies of the class of '99 are still excellent, especially Elton Brand, who has high hopes for them.

In this draft, there are still 14 people sitting in the small green room, the most famous are Brand, Francis, Byron Davis, Ramar Odom and others, all of whom are also qualified to compete for the top spot.

Every year's draft is also the beginning of the first round of trades for each team, especially when it comes to draft picks.

As the players sat down, David Stern started playing.

As always, after a few routine remarks, I got straight to the point: "I'm announcing that the 1999 NBA Draft is officially open, and the first pick is the Chicago Bulls, and they will have five minutes to make a selection!"

As soon as Stern finished speaking, the cameraman began to focus his camera on a few of the top picks.

Like the previous year, this year's champion is still full of suspense, but the evaluation is high and low, and the highest voices are Brand and Francis.

Of course, several others also have the possibility of becoming champions.

Five minutes later, Stern returned to the stands, holding an envelope with the Bulls' selection.

"In 1999, the first pick in the first round, the Chicago Bulls chose ......"

As he read this, Stern paused for a moment and then continued, "Elton Brand! ”

Amid the sparse applause, Brand hurriedly stood up, with a smile on his face, put on the Red Bull cap handed by the staff, and went on stage to hug and take a photo with Stern.

At 206 cm and 215 kg, Brand is a solid interior player. In college league that season, Brand averaged 17.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, was named the Associated Press NCAA Player of the Year, was named to the All-America First Team, and won the John Wooden Award and the Naismith Award.

Now that the Bulls have embarked on a difficult rebuilding path, Brand has naturally become their hope for rebuilding, and their choice is not much of a surprise.

After the Bulls made their choice, the Vancouver Grizzlies, who got the pick, like the last session, got the pick again.

"In 1999, with the second pick in the first round, the Vancouver Grizzlies selected Steve Francis of the University of Maryland!"

After hearing his name, Francis didn't look good, and he was reluctant to play for the Grizzlies.

Despite this, Francis hugged his loved ones and then donned the Grizzlies cap.

The Grizzlies selected Mike Bibby last time, and this time they chose Francis, with the potential and strength of the two, they can form a backcourt double-gun. If Raheem is added, there is every hope of becoming a strong team.

Unfortunately, Francis doesn't like the Grizzlies and could most likely be traded by the Grizzlies.

It didn't take long for the Charlotte Hornets, who got the scout sign, to choose Byron Davis.

Before the draft, Davis turned down a tryout with the New Orleans Hornets because he didn't want to play in the East, but it backfired, and the Hornets had to pick him in third place.

For the Hornets, Davis could have gotten a higher pick, and the Hornets felt they had picked up a treasure.

And the Los Angeles Clippers selected Ramar Odom for the No. 4 pick.

This time, the Clippers were also on a risky move, and Elgin Baylor drafted him with the fourth pick.

However, this product does deserve this signing, the only drawback is that it likes to be distracted in the game.

The Toronto Raptors, who came in fifth, selected Jonathan Bender, who is only 18 years old this year, an extremely talented high school rookie and the MVP of the 1999 McDonald's High School All-Star.

Unfortunately, Bender didn't play in the end, and it was naturally dwarfed by the first four signings.

In the later draft, the sixth-place Timberwolves selected Szczebiak, the seventh-place Wizards chose Richard Hamilton, the eighth-place Cavaliers chose Andre Miller, the ninth-place Suns chose Sean Marion, and the tenth-place Hawks chose Jason Terry.

As the rookies in the lottery were removed one by one, the teams at the bottom of the queue couldn't help but get nervous, for fear that their favorite players would be intercepted by other teams.

Quality players such as Corey Margeti, Artest, James Posey, Kirilenko and Ginobili.

It can be said that this year's players are quite high-quality, especially the second leader has produced a lot, and later generations will be known as the role player draft.

"The Toronto Raptors selected Corey Margetty for the No. 12 pick in the first round!"

"The Chicago Red Bulls selected Ron Artest from St. John's University for the No. 15 pick in the first round!"

"The Los Angeles Lakers chose Devin George for the No. 23 pick in the first round!"

In the selection, Jerry West finally chose Devin George, and as for Wang Zhizhi, he is ready to pick it with the No. 1 pick in the second round.

Devin George, 203 cm, is a swingman at the front, his three-point shot is accurate, his body is strong, his secondary offensive awareness is strong, and he often plays aerial dunks, and he can be regarded as an all-round talent.

However, Jerry West's choice still disgusted Jackson. But I could only suppress my anger and continue to wait.

In another place, the old Nelson is also anxiously waiting, in order to get Wang Zhizhi, he has been seeking a deal recently, and there is a result.

Soon, Jazz coach Sloan finally picked out his favorite Russian Andrei Kirilenko with the No. 24 pick.

"The Utah Jazz chose Wang Zhizhi from China for the 28th place in the first round!"

It didn't take long for the Jazz team to take turn again, and this time Wang Zhizhi was chosen.

As soon as Stern's words fell, Jackson, who came to the scene, turned pale, and the Spurs' Popovich was even more angry, because the Spurs originally wanted to use the No. 29 pick in the first round to select Wang Zhizhi.

Originally, Popovich was in a good mood, because this year the team won the championship for the first time, and he himself became a famous coach with it.

It's just that Popovich's good mood is gone, but he feels extremely angry, last time he was also one sign away from getting Chi Liang, this time it's like this, it's still one sign short.

For their part, the Mavericks' old Nelson smiled, because it was the Jazz who traded draft picks with the Mavericks.

However, although Popovich was angry, the Spurs still used the No. 28 pick in the second round to win the biggest pearl of this draft - Manu Ginobili!

After the draft, all the team management was busy again, because the next step was to sign free agents and questions about the possibility of a trade.

Among them, Chi Liang was inevitably caught in the turmoil.