Located in northwestern Oregon, Portland is the largest city in Oregon and the second largest city in the Pacific Northwest after Seattle, located not far south of the mouth of the Willamady River where it joins the Columbia River. Due to www.biquge.info proximity to the Pacific Ocean and Portland's tropical maritime climate, it is very suitable for growing roses, and there are many rose plantations in the city, so it is also known as the "Rose City". The Trail Blazers joined the NBA in 1970 as Portland's local professional basketball team and won the franchise's only championship in franchise history in 1976-77 under Bill Wharton. However, what they "remember" most is that they selected Sam Bowe in the 1984 draft, a center who averaged 10.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in his career, but the third pick that year was Michael Jordan.

However, their actions in the 2006 draft saved the team's reputation: they traded for the year's No. 1 pick, the Bulls' Aldridge, and the No. 6 pick, the Timberwolves' Roy. The twins quickly grew up in their second season and became the cornerstone of the Trail Blazers' team. In the 2007 draft, they drafted the talented center Oden in the NCAA, the only fly in the ointment was that Oden had not yet landed in the NBA, and he would not be able to return until the start of the 2008-09 season. Even so, the Trail Blazers have high hopes for the ageing young man, who in the NCAA Finals with just his uninjured left hand knocked out the University of Florida's interior pairing, last year's No. 3 Horford and No. 9 Noah.

And this time, they set their sights on Ye Feng. With Oden included, the Trail Blazers have rising stars at the point guard, power forward and center positions, and now they desperately need a swingman with unlimited potential to build the Portland Youth Guard. After carefully browsing the profiles of this year's hot rookies, general manager Pritchard firmly believes that Ye Feng is the one they need the most, and the team's head coach McMillan is also optimistic about this yellow-skinned Asian youth, and he has even started the super combination of YY Roy + Ye Feng + Ard + Oden, and he believes that in time these four young people can dominate the entire league.

But Pritchard was a little uneasy, after all, the Trail Blazers only had the No. 13 pick this year, and it was difficult for Ye Feng's level to fall to such a low pick. He remembered the 2006 year when the Trail Blazers traded for Roy and Ade, when the Trail Blazers had a No. 4 pick, and he used that pick to select Tyrus Thomas, and then sent him and Victor Carriapa to the Bulls in exchange for Ade. On top of that, he traded Telfair, Ratliff and a 2008 second-round pick from the Celtics for Dan Decow, Lafrentz and the No. 7 pick that year, then drafted Randy Foye, plus some cash from the Timberwolves in exchange for Roy. In fact, in the 2006 draft, the Trail Blazers were the most aggressive team to trade players, and of course their moves laid the groundwork for the team.

If you want to get Ye Feng, you must make a transaction, but this transaction is not a casual decision, only by exploring the intended candidates of the top twelve teams can you make an accurate judgment. But the first thing to do now is to see if Ye Feng is willing to join the Trailblazers, if the players themselves are unwilling, then it is futile to guard a No. 13 pick. Pritchard was silent for a while, pressed the speakerphone button on the phone on the table, and dialed a number: "Yes, it's me, you can do it right away, book me a ticket to Los Angeles at noon today, that's all." The secretary on the other end of the line hesitated, but the boss's words were orders, so Pritchard saw the ticket on the table before lunch.

Pritchard, the general manager of an NBA team, is ready to go to Los Angeles to meet a rookie who hasn't yet made it to the draft! If it is discovered by pervasive media reporters, the headline will probably be much more eye-catching than such a flat and straightforward narrative, but it is indeed a rather strange thing, and for Chinese, this is already a corporal or a three-gu Maolu. So Ye Feng was now very surprised to look at the middle-aged man in front of him who was a little thin but still handsome and chic, and Duffy next to him was directly ignored by him. Just because when he opened the door, Duffy said a word: "Ye, this is Mr. Kevin Pritchard, the general manager of the Trail Blazers, and he flew here from Portland to meet with you for a meeting." ”

At this time, it was only two o'clock in the afternoon, and it was obviously not so appropriate to talk at Ye Feng's house, so the café became a good choice. The three of them sat down around a small table, Duffy consciously sat down against Ye Feng, and Pritchard didn't say anything after seeing it, just showed a faint smile. After ordering coffee, the chat quickly got to the point. Pritchard said straight to the point: "Mr. Ye, I have studied your profile and the physical data that flowed from the Timberwolves, and I have also watched a lot of videos of your NCAA games, I think you are the player our team needs, I wonder if you would like to come to our beautiful Portland and play side by side with other talented young people?" ”

Ye Feng smiled slightly and said: "Thank you very much for your favor Mr. Pritchard, the Trail Blazers are a team with a bright future, but with all due respect, my opinion doesn't seem to be very important, right?" In the draft, the team is the one who has the initiative, and rookies like us have almost no right to choose, and whoever picks me, I will play for, and there doesn't seem to be a question of whether I want to or not. Duffy sat on the side and didn't speak, in fact, this is the way he taught Ye Feng to deal with it, to retreat into advance, to see what cards the other party can play, so that he can fight for more benefits for himself.

Pritchard was only promoted to the Trail Blazers general manager last year, but that doesn't mean he's a rookie. He retired from professional basketball in 1998 and a year later became the general manager of the Kansas Cavaliers in the ABA league, which won the ABA championship in 2001; Spurs general manager Buford then hired him as a scout, and two years later he was hired by the Trail Blazers as head of player personnel. He was the team's deputy general manager when he acquired Roy and Ade in a trade in 2006, and it was because of his support that the Trail Blazers were able to bag the pair of promising twin stars. How could such a person not see Ye Feng's motives?

But Pritchard doesn't mind, it's a natural thing for players to fight for their own interests, not to mention that this has already involved the direction of his career, he knows that he can't convince the young man in front of him if he doesn't shake some dry goods, and Duffy is still listening, he doesn't dare to underestimate this seemingly harmless guy. He thanked the waiter who came over with coffee, took a sip of the cappuccino he ordered, and said seriously: "If you are willing to join the Trail Blazers, we will use various methods to find out the intentions of the top 12 picks and the bottom line of the trade, and strive to be foolproof in the draft." You've probably heard of what we did in the 2006 draft, and we're experienced in that. ”

Ye Feng and Duffy glanced at each other, and Duffy spoke: "I don't know what pick you think my client will be selected?" If you don't have a rough idea of what to do, I think this conversation will end soon. Pritchard pondered for a moment and then said carefully, "First of all, I must be sorry to say that I don't think Mr. Ye will be selected in the top three. As he spoke, he made an apologetic gesture to Ye Feng, and then said: "The Bulls and the Heat don't need such a swingman who occupies the ball, and the Timberwolves, I think they may prefer to choose Loew, after all, McHale is a historic power forward, and choosing an interior is much less risky than choosing an Asian swingman." Further back, the supersonic are not possible, they already have Durant, and the Clippers are the same with Magetti, the Grizzlies and Guy. But I'm not sure for the time being whether the Knicks will cut the beard, the safest is naturally their No. 6 pick, if there is no way to get it, the Bucks' No. 8 pick can also be used, but the risk will be greater. ”

Duffy laughed, Pritchard's analysis coincided with him, but he continued to ask, "So what chips are you willing to pay to get Ye?" You must know that in this draft year, the average chip can be traded for less than the No. 6 pick. Pritchard didn't hesitate, the answer to this question had already been thought of before he boarded the plane, and he said calmly: "Except for Roy, Aldridge and Oden, we can pay any price, as long as we can get Ye." Daffy was surprised this time, he didn't expect the Trail Blazers to be so determined, and would rather give up important rotation players than bring Ye Feng to Portland.

He struggled to calm his fluctuating mental activity and asked astringently, "Is that including your starting point guard Blake, starting small forward Webster and sixth man Outlaw?" Pritchard's tone did not change, and he replied, "Yes, I said, everything but the three young men are fine, but I will not let the other lion open his mouth, are you right?" ”

Ye Feng interjected: "Although I am surprised and happy, can I ask why?" Pritchard looked at him deeply and whispered, "Not only me, but also head coach McMillan and owner Paul Allen, we agree that you are the most suitable one, with you, plus Roy and a few others, we believe that you can create an era!" ”