Why the New York Knicks? After a brief moment of joy, Roy immediately thought about it.

At this point, he sat back on the sidelines and waited for the president of the New York Knicks to come and meet, but the legendary Phil Jackson did not show up for a long time.

This made Roy wonder, could it be that the Knicks were still planning to trade themselves?

Roy's doubts were justified. If the Kings and Hornets have made it clear that they will choose themselves in the first round, and teams like the 76ers, Lakers, Suns, Timberwolves and others have at least shown favor to themselves, what about the Knicks?

In addition to inviting himself to participate in a solo trial, their president Phil Jackson didn't even give half a word of promise, so he chose himself like this, is it too hasty?

Could it be that he is really ready to use himself as a bargaining chip?

Phil Jackson wants to trade Roy as a bargaining chip? This is also the unanimous speculation of Divac, Chiurek, and even other team general managers who are interested in Roy.

Unlike those teams that have been involved in scandals with Roy, the Knicks have never been explicitly linked to Roy before the draft. The Knicks' invitation to Roy for a tryout is just a necessary respect for Roy from Phil Jackson, who holds the pick.

The closest rumors to the Knicks are actually Chris Dern and Wade Baldwin, everyone knows that the Knicks need a reliable point guard, the aging Calderon can no longer bring the team's rhythm, and his backup Langston Galloway is even worse, whether he can stay on the team is questionable.

However, Phil Jackson went off the beaten path and opted for scorer Roy, is this ready to distract Anthony from possession? Obviously impossible, Carmelo Anthony's position on the Knicks is untouchable, and if you want him to have the ball, it is simply killing him.

The conclusion is that the "Zen Master" wants to use Roy as a bargaining chip in exchange for the player he needs.

After Phil Jackson took Roy, his phone rang immediately, and the operator kept reporting to him that there was a team requesting a call.

Among them, the general managers of the Phoenix Suns and the Minnesota Timberwolves are undoubtedly the most anxious, especially the general manager of the Suns, Ryan McDonald, who has only five minutes to go, and he must immediately communicate with the "Zen Master" to determine his next strategy.

His first chip was two draft picks (No. 4 and No. 13), which he decisively refused; The second time, McDonald opted to trade the No. 4 pick plus Devin Booker for Roy, which was also rejected; The third time, McDonald, who was determined to give it a go, simply opened the No. 4 draft pick and Eric Bledsoe's heavy chips, he originally thought that he would win, but who expected the "Zen Master" to give a negative answer for the third time.

In short, no matter how MacDonald put it together, the answer of the "Zen master" is "no".

"This greedy old fellow!" McDonald is crazy, "Bloodcloth" Bledsoe is his final limit, if the quasi-All-Star point guard who averages 20 points per game can't satisfy the appetite of the "Zen Master", then the Suns really don't have the bargaining chips to get their hands on.

McDonald, who failed in negotiations, had no choice but to start Plan B and chose Dragan Bender, a big forward from Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The excited Bender may not have known when he put on the Suns cap, and he almost didn't know which team he was going to, and McDonald could only accept the European guy with a smile.

At the same time as the Suns draft, the Timberwolves also made a move, and they offered more favorable conditions, except for Karl Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, the two absolute cores that cannot be moved, everyone else can be put in the trade, and you can choose, including dunk king Zach LaVine, European golden boy Rubio, etc., these are not counted, and the No. 5 pick in the hands of the Timberwolves is also included.

S.W. Layden, the new Timberwolves general manager, thought that this plan would be fine, and he was already impatiently looking forward to the next season's three potential rookies, and he even laughed at the Suns for not being able to handle Phil Jackson because they were too stingy.

However, how did Scott Lydon know that MacDonald dared to put "blood cloth" on the table as a bargaining chip, and the real problem was with the "Zen master".

Scott Lydon immediately tasted the trickiness of the "Zen Master", because no matter how tempting the chips he offered, he couldn't impress the "Zen Master", could it be that the "Zen Master" really wanted to use Roy? No way, isn't he making Anthony unhappy?

At the last minute, a frustrated Scott Leyden made a last-ditch effort, and he even relieved Andrew Wiggins as a trade to consider, but "Zen Master" remained unmoved.

The angry Scott Lydon was out of line, with a hint of disappointment, with a hint of annoyance, he picked the original target of the Knicks, Chris Dunn, since you cut off my prey, then I will also pick your fruit, I Scott Layden doesn't believe that you Phil Jackson will not come to me for someone.

"Zen Master" is certainly not stupid, he also knows the strength of Bledsoe and Wiggins, but he has his own ideas, and then he successively rejected the olive branch extended by the New Orleans Pelicans and the Denver Nuggets, and the two teams that aspire to revive have no choice but to choose Buddy Hield and Jamal Murray as spare tires.

It's about to be the turn of the Kings, Divac has communicated with the "Zen Master" for several rounds before, but the Kings can come up with too few chips, what "cancer" Rajan Rondo, "senior star" Rudy Guy and others naturally can't enter the eyes of the "Zen Master".

The Kings' biggest and final chip is undoubtedly DeMarcus Cousins, but he is the team's "not for sale", and Divac does not have the authority to make a decision to trade Cousins.

He could only turn to his boss for help.

After an emergency call with Cheng Yuyang, Cheng Yuyang's answer surprised him, "If Jackson wants Cousins, then give it to him!" ”

What the? Even Cousins can be put on the table to discuss, is the boss crazy?

But time waited for no one, and Divac, who had no way out, had to dial the phone in the private room of the "Zen Master" again.

"Hey, Phil, I think we can talk about DeMarcus (Cousins)?"

"Hmm." Phil Jackson's answer was very cold, he was like Jiang Taigong sitting firmly on the Diaoyu Tai, waiting for one big fish after another to be delivered to the door.

"Cousins plus the No. 8 pick in exchange for Roy and Porzingis."

"No, Vlad, I don't think this deal makes any sense, and besides, the team's salary can't be matched by such a trade." Phil Jackson didn't know if he was joking or serious, and he was still asking for a price, which made Divac feel like he was going crazy.

As the minutes ticked by, there was no room for consideration, "Cousins added the No. 8 pick in exchange for Roy and Robin Lopez, this is the final offer." ”

On the other end of the phone, the "Zen Master" was silent, and the general manager of any other team would not hesitate to nod and agree in the face of such a tempting offer, but the "Zen Master" did not, and he could still maintain his sanity at the moment.

He was thinking that if Cousins was a once-in-a-20 year talent, then Roy might be the next super-scoring guard in the league after Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

In fact, Phil Jackson had no intention of trading Roy from the start, and according to him, he was very bullish on Roy. That's why he decided to take the lead at the last minute and take the place of the team's general manager, Steve Mills, in this draft.

If Mills was here today, Bledsoe would have been a member of the Knicks, or maybe he wouldn't have picked Roy at all.

It was the "Zen Master" who changed everything.

His final answer was rather dry: "Vlad, thank you for your kindness, but I don't want to miss out on the successors of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant." ”