On June 26, 2014 local time in the United States, the 2014 NBA Draft was held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

"We've negotiated with the 76ers, and if Jokic hasn't been drafted before the 39th pick, then we'll buy the 39th pick from the 76ers." Kupchak said to Zhang Guan.

This year's 76ers have 7 draft picks, 2 first-rounders, 5 second-rounders, so many picks in hand, the 76ers can't give every rookie a contract, so it's obviously a good deal to sell some for cash. The 39th pick, which the Heat bought, originally belonged to the Cavaliers, was later traded to the 76ers. In addition, the 76ers also have second-round picks from the Nets, Grizzlies and Rockets.

The draft began, with the Cavaliers picking Andrew Wiggins with the No. 1 pick, the Bucks selecting Jabari Parker with the roster and the Philadelphia 76ers picking Joel Embiid. The top three are as expected, there is no suspense.

The fourth-place Magic chose forward Aaron Gordon, which is a bit different from the predictions, with the media predicting that Dante Essam would be the fourth choice and Aaron Gordon would be selected in the fifth.

Gordon was drafted by the Magic, and the Jazz selected Dante Essam with fifth, followed by Smart, Ryder, Stauskas, Vonleh, Payton Jr. and others. TJ Warren was the last player to be selected in the lotto.

The first 14 people are all candidates in the small green house, and at this time, there are 7 people left in the small green house that was originally full.

With the 18th pick, the Nuggets selected Gary Harris, the first player who was not in the Green Room, followed by Toronto Dreamdragon who selected Bruno Capocolo, who was again a player who was not in the Green Room.

At this point, the remaining three players in the little green room began to get nervous, and they feared that they would fall out of the first round.

"It's our turn after the Grizzlies are drafted, and Mitch McGarry is still in the little green house and hasn't been drafted yet." As Kupchak spoke, the Grizzlies chose McGarry.

McGarry, who used to be the No. 2 high school player in the country, would have been in the top 10 if it weren't for his injury, but his recovery from an old injury is unknown, so most teams are reluctant to gamble. And the Grizzlies are clearly preparing to use a 20 pick to touch a lottery ticket.

"Oops, McGarry was picked by the Grizzlies!" Kupchak frowned as he looked in the direction of the "Little Green House", where there were two men left, defender Shabazz Napier and striker Rodney Hood.

"Do you choose Capella, a Swiss, or one of the little green houses?" Kupchak hesitated. After all, there are still two players in the small green house, and if Capela is chosen now, Kupchak still feels a little unwilling.

But Zhang Guan thinks this is a good thing, he has no impression of McGarry, a player, indicating that the injury still affects the growth of McGarry, otherwise he would not be so obscure with the No. 2 ranking in the United States in high school.

I saw Zhang Guan open his mouth and say: "Let's choose Hood, he is a shooter, although he is not strong enough, and his defensive level is also average, but his three-point ability is very good." For us, if an outside player can run and shoot threes, it's fine. ”

"Being able to run and shoot three-pointers is really low." Kupchak let out a long sigh, but he also knew that Hood might be the best choice for the Lakers right now, Hood is a sophomore in college, and Napier, another player in the Little Green House, has graduated from college.

Rodney Hood was only ranked 31st in the United States in high school, which is not a high ranking, but his university is Duke University, the number one basketball school in the United States. The head coach of the Duke University basketball team is none other than the head coach of the American team, "Old K" Shashewski, and Hood has also become a member of the "Little Green House" after two years of training by Coach K.

Among the rookies, Hood has a nickname, called "Shooting Machine", which shows that he has extraordinary shooting ability, which is obviously very suitable for D'Antoni's tactical system, D'Antoni wishes everyone on the team could shoot three-pointers.

The Lakers selected Rodney Hood with the No. 21 pick, while Napier, the last member of the Little Green House, was also selected with the No. 22 pick. There was nothing surprising about the subsequent draft, the Rockets still selected Capela with the No. 25 pick, and Jokic, the biggest pearl of this draft, is still unpopular.

The second round is the time for the team to "treasure the earth", and almost every year, there will be teams that pick up leaks in the second round, such as Stephenson picked up by the Pacers in 2010, Patterson picked up by the Rockets in 2011, Draymond Green picked up by the Warriors in 2012, and so on.

Of the 30 teams, a full 11 teams do not have second-round picks, and among the other teams, the Philadelphia 76ers have five second-round picks, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Milwaukee Bucks both have three second-round picks, and the Raptors, Nuggets, Mavericks and Spurs each have two second-round picks.

……

The Denver Nuggets have two second-round picks, 41st and 56th. The Nuggets' scouts are very good at scouting some European players, such as Evan Fournier, who they drafted in 2012, who is French; In the 2014 draft, Nurkic, a rookie traded by the Nuggets from the Bulls, is a Bosnian and Herzegovina; Future Spanish star Hernangomez was also selected by the Nuggets.

And this year, the Nuggets' scouts have found a promising young man in Europe, and that is Serbian young athlete Nikela Jokic.

This year's Nuggets have a lottery pick, which is their focus for this year's draft, and as for Jokic, the Diggers decided to use a second-round pick on him. An overseas player who has not made a name for himself is not worth using a first-rounder, and the Nuggets do not plan to sign Jokic immediately, after all, he is only 19 years old, and it will be interesting to see how much potential he has, if Jokic really has the potential to play in the NBA, the Diggers will definitely give him a contract.

Cornelly, the general manager of the Nuggets, had a calm face, and he had been selected with the 38th pick in the second round, and Jokic was still not selected, and it seemed that no one noticed him. After all, this year is a big year for the draft, and many outstanding players in the United States have participated in the draft, which also makes the value of overseas players devalued.

"The next 39th pick is the Philadelphia 76ers, the 40th pick is the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the 41st pick is us. Scouts for the 76ers and Timberwolves, who are still more focused on players in the United States, will certainly not notice Jokic. Thinking of this, General Manager Connelly couldn't help but write Jokic's name on the note in his hand.

"There was just a deal where the Sandbreakers Lakers bought the 39th pick in the second round from the Philadelphia 76ers for cash." The narrator's voice rang out.

This news did not cause any sensation, the trade in the draft is very common, and even the top pick may be traded to another team immediately after being selected, a second-round draft pick deal is like a pebble falling into the sea, and it can't make any waves.

"Lakers, their lineup should be relatively complete, Rodney Hood, who was selected in the first round, is a supplement to the wing forward, I don't know who they fancy this time?" People couldn't help but start talking.

As a championship team, the Lakers' every move is a lot of attention, but for rookies, joining a strong team is a double-edged sword. Rookies don't have much chance of making the rotation in a strong team, but it's easy to have garbage time in a strong team's game, and in garbage time, rookies can get a chance to show themselves without having to play with the main team.

Finally, the league has announced the Lakers' selection.

"The Lakers selected Nicola Jokic from Serbia with the 39th pick!"

"What!" Connelly, the general manager of the Nuggets, was shocked, he thought that the 41st pick in his hand would definitely be able to select Jokic, but he didn't expect to be cut off by the Lakers with the 39th pick.

……

"We've signed a contract with Hood for four years at a normal price, with a starting salary of $1.4 million and a team option for the last two years." Kupchak continued; "But there was some trouble with the signing of Jokic."

"Trouble? Does he not want to come to the United States, but to stay in Europe? Zhang Guan asked.

"No, playing in the NBA is almost every basketball player's dream, Jokic is not averse to joining our team, but his agent is not satisfied with the contract we offered, they are not willing to accept the 1+1 contract, we are afraid that we will have to pay a three-year guaranteed contract to let him join." Kupchak spoke.

The first contract that a rookie selected in the first round can get is a 2+2 contract, which is guaranteed for the first two years and the team option for the second two years. As for a second-round rookie, the first contract is often a 1+1 contract, which is guaranteed in the first year and a team option in the second year.

In terms of amount, the salary of the first round of the NBA team rookie has clear regulations, which should be strictly linked to the rookie rank, the higher the rank, the higher the salary, taking the 2014 draft as an example, the first year of Wiggins' starting salary is 5.51 million US dollars, and the total salary for four years is 24.85 million; Parker's starting salary is $4.93 million, and the four-year total is $22.24 million; Tanhua Embiid's starting salary is $4.43 million, and the total for four years is $19.98 million, but this guy has been recuperating from injuries for the first two years, which is equivalent to lying down and earning more than $9 million.

Capela, who was chosen by the Rockets in 25th place, has a starting salary of $1.19 million, and a cumulative total of $6.06 million in four years, which is several times the gap compared to the champion. In the 30th pick of the first round, the starting salary is only $1.09 million, and the total amount for four years is only $5.58 million, which is about the same as the first year of the champion Wiggins.

As for second-round rookies, the league doesn't have that many restrictions on their salaries, and signing second-round rookies can be done as if they were signing free agents. But in fact, many of the rookies in the second round can't get an NBA contract, and even if they do, it's a 1+1 rookie base salary contract.

Take the 2014 draft as an example, the rookie base salary is $510,000, which can be raised to $850,000 the next year, and all second-round rookies can only accept this contract if they want to play in the NBA. And even if you accept this contract, you may not be able to have the opportunity to play, more often you can only watch the water cooler or wave a towel.

For many overseas players, they are the absolute main force of the team in their own country's league, even the level of the league's first brother, and the salary they can get is also very rich, although it is not comparable with the NBA big stars, but it is far higher than the 510,000 US dollars rookie base salary, especially in some Western European countries, the economic level and the income of residents are not much worse than those of Americans, and the salary of their stars is also two or three million euros, so they naturally can't look at the NBA's base salary.

Take Jokic as an example, although he is a newcomer, his talent is first-class in the whole of Europe, and if he stays in Europe, the salary will definitely be much higher than a $510,000 contract. What's more, staying in Europe, he is the absolute main force of the team and the focus of the team's training, and when he comes to the United States, he may not even have the opportunity to play. If you earn less and lack the opportunity to play, you may be cut by the team in the second year, and the fool will give up the original main position to play in the United States.

Therefore, many overseas players who are selected in the second round will not join the NBA team immediately, they may play in their own league for a few years, brush up a few MVPs, and then negotiate terms with the NBA team that originally selected him, and get a multi-year guaranteed contract before joining the NBA. Of course, there are people who will never enter the NBA for the rest of their lives.

Jokic also intended to do the same, historically after he was drafted by the Nuggets in 2014, he did not come to the NBA immediately, but continued to play in Europe for a year, and was not signed by the Nuggets until 2015, when the Nuggets gave him a four-year, 5.55 million contract. In contrast, many of the second-round rookies who ran in the same year as Jokic didn't even keep the $850,000 the following year.

Zhang Guan knows that Jojic is a material with a maximum salary, and giving him a long-term guaranteed contract is more profitable for the Lakers. So he asked; "What kind of contract can we offer him?"

"We have two options, either to increase the amount of the contract appropriately, but still for two years. Either the length of the contract is increased to a three-year contract, with the first two years guaranteed. Kupchak began.

"It's not enough." Zhang Guan shook his head with a smile, and continued: "It's still a 3+1 contract, it should be acceptable within 5 million in four years, the first three years are guaranteed, the fourth year is the team option, the salary distribution in the first two years is lower, and the salary distribution in the second two years is higher, so that our operation will be more flexible." ”

Kupchak nodded silently, Zhang Guan's method is indeed a great plan. A 3+1 contract, with the Lakers having the option to exercise the team option for the fourth year, or they can choose not to do so. And even if the fourth-year team option is not exercised, Jokic is still only a restricted free agent, and the Lakers still have the initiative.

Any player becomes a restricted free agent after completing his rookie contract, which gives his parent team the opportunity to match a contract offered by another team. After becoming a restricted free agent, another team can offer him an invitation contract for a minimum of 2 years, and the original team has 7 days to consider it, and if the original team wants to keep the player, they must propose the same contract to sign the player. On the other hand, if the original team does not match the contract, then the player will go to the team that issued him the contract.

Under NBA rules, a first-round rookie becomes a restricted free agent after completing a four-year contract, while a second-round rookie becomes a restricted free agent after completing a three-year contract. For example, Love and Jordan Jr. were both rookies in 2008, and Love was a first-round rookie, so he only became a restricted free agent in 2012; Jordan Jr. is a second-round rookie who will become a restricted free agent in 2011. It is precisely because of this difference in rules that Lefou's salary in 2012 was 4.61 million, which was still a rookie contract, and Jordan Jr. had already received an annual salary of 10 million in 2012.

Jokic is a second-round rookie, so his rookie contract is three years, and he will become a restricted free agent after completing his three-year contract. If the Lakers offer a 3+1 contract, they can not exercise the team option in the third year and take the initiative to turn Jokic into a restricted free agent.

Second-round rookies are all living precarious days, and maybe they will be cut by the team when they wake up, so for a second-round rookie, a three-year contract is undoubtedly a coveted pie. When overseas players join the NBA, what they want most is a stable contract, not to mention a contract with a big city team like the Lakers, so Jokic didn't have any reason to refuse, and decisively agreed to sign with the Lakers, the Serbian genius, who will join the Lakers next season.

……

The Lakers got two rookies, and at this time, a bombshell news that was about to change the situation in the league also came out, and the Heat Big Three, James, Wade and Bosh, all chose to jump out of the contract and become free agents!