The last first-round pick of the Lakers was back in the 2009 NBA draft, and the Lakers' 65-17 record ranked second in the league in the regular season, so the Lakers finally got the No. 29 pick. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

At that time, the Lakers had just defeated the Magic in the Finals to win the championship, and they entered the Finals for two consecutive years, so in terms of lineup, the Lakers were very neat, and there was no need to make adjustments, a rookie with a 29th pick, even if he came to the Lakers, he couldn't play, so the Lakers simply traded with the Knicks, used this draft pick to select Tony Douglas, and then exchanged for a second-round pick and millions of dollars from the Knicks, In fact, it means that the Lakers helped the Knicks choose a Douglas.

Giants like the Lakers rarely develop their own rookies, and they prefer to directly recruit famous superstars, mess with high-pick rookies and then train them themselves, which is a last resort for the Lakers. Since entering the 21st century, among the first-round rookies selected by the Lakers, only Bynum has won the Lakers' second contract, such as Famar, who can stay with the Lakers for four years in the rookie period, is already rare, and the other first-round rookies have said goodbye to the Lakers in the first two years.

Since 2010, the Lakers have basically been spectators in the NBA draft for four consecutive years, because they only have second-round picks. In order to get Gasol, the Lakers sent away first-round picks in 2008 and 2010; Then, in the 2010 three-way trade between the Lakers, Rockets and Nets, the Lakers sent away the 2011 first-round pick to get veteran Joe Smith; The Lakers' 2012 first-round pick was traded from the Cavaliers for guard Sessions to replace "Old Fish" Fisher; In the year F4 was formed, the Lakers traded the 2013 and 2015 first-round picks to the Suns in order to get Nash, and in the same year they traded the 2017 first-round pick to the Magic in a deal for Howard.

Trading first-round picks for superstars belongs to exchanging the future of the team for the team's present, which seemed to be a loss at the time, and even many people felt that the Lakers made a lot of money. In Buss Jr.'s calculations, the Lakers first formed an "F4", won the championship, and then renewed Howard's contract, and then Nash and Kobe retired from the contract, and the Lakers took Howard as the core, partnered with Gasol to form twin towers, and then recruited a superstar, which still has the strength to win the championship.

As for the issue of first-round draft picks, as long as the team maintains a good record, then it will not be able to get a high-ranking pick, and the draft picks are not so valuable if they are outside the twenty.

It's just that Bass Jr. miscounted the cards, the Lakers' F4 did not win the championship, Howard went to the Rockets, Nash was injured for many years, Kobe Bryant also reached the end of his career, and then Gasol joined the Bulls, and the Lakers were completely reduced to a fish belly team, and they did not have a first-round draft pick in their hands, so they lacked the chips to trade big-name stars.

However, since the league's rules also prohibit any team from trading their first-round picks for the next two consecutive years, one of the picks is "protected", so the team sells the picks every other year.

Take the 2015 first-round pick that the Lakers traded to the Suns as an example, it was a top-five pick protection, so as long as the Lakers could draw the top five, they could keep this draft pick, and the Lakers were lucky at that time, drew the second spot, and then decisively selected D'Angelo Russell, missing out on future stars like Pol Burgess, Myles Turner and Devin Booker.

Although the Lakers kept the 2015 first-round pick, the Suns will not lose money, and this draft pick will be postponed until 2016 and then handed over to the Tai*** According to the contract at the time, in 2016 and 2017, it was the top three protection, and in 2018, it was no protection, which means that in 2016 and 2017, as long as the Lakers draw the top three picks, they can also leave the first-round picks, and if they stay in these two years, then the first-round picks of the Lakers in 2018 must be handed over to the Suns.

And in 2016, because the Lakers had a bad record and good luck, they were drawn again, so they retained the draft pick again.

But in 2017, if the Lakers want to keep the draft pick, they must continue to play badly and try to draw the top three again in order to keep the 2017 draft pick, so the Lakers traded away the team's top scorer Louis Williams to make the team worse and strive to be last in the league.

At the same time, the Lakers also owe the Magic a first-round pick in the Howard trade, so if the Lakers can't keep the 2017 pick, they need to send another 2019 first-round pick to the Magic. The reason it's 2019 and not 2018 is also because the league doesn't allow a team to go without a first-round pick for two years in a row, so avoid 2018.

……

2013 is considered a small year for the draft, and the upcoming 2014 draft is considered a big year for the draft, and the quality of the rookies is much better than last year.

Andrew Wiggins from Canada is not only the 2013 National High School Player of the Year, but also voted the American Basketball of the Year, and many experts even believe that Wiggins will become the second LeBron James.

Jabari Parker, who won the All-American High School Player of the Year award in 2012, is also the fourth person in history to win the honor without a senior in high school, after LeBron James, Greg Oden and Brandon Knight. In his freshman year, Parker was named to the NCAA All-NBA Team for a while, and he was the only freshman player selected.

Cameroonian athlete Joel Embiid, although he only started professional basketball training at the age of 17, but his physical fitness is very perverted, as a big man with a soft touch and good agility, he was once considered a popular candidate for the top pick, and some experts even believe that Embiid's potential is more than that of "thick eyebrows" Anthony Davis.

These three players would have been the top picks in other years, but now they are in the same year, so for the team that draws the top three picks, no matter which one of them is chosen, it will not lose money.

In addition, there are Dante Essam, Aaron Gordon, Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Noah Vonleh, Doug McDermott, Payton Jr. and other outstanding players, who also participated in this year's draft.

Of course, these players are basically out of the Lakers, who are all lottery favorites, and the Lakers got the 21st pick this season.

Although the Lakers are eighth in the West, they have a record of 48 wins and 33 losses, which is the third place in the East behind the Pacers and Heat. In comparison, teams such as the Eastern Raptors and Bulls also entered the playoffs, and they ranked high in the East, and the draft picks were all ahead of the Lakers.

However, at the level of rookies in the draft, the 21st pick still has a good chance of finding a competent starter, and even rookies before the 40th pick can stay in the NBA.

"My dear GM, what advice do you have for our first-round pick this year?" Bass asked.

"I have two options. The league just announced the invitation list for the draft, there are a total of 21 players, they all have the potential to enter the lotto area, I looked at the list of players, they are all newcomers with good writing, we happen to be the 21st pick in the draft, so my first plan is to choose a player in the small green room. Kupchak began.

The Green Room is the equivalent of a "VIP room" during the draft, and every year before the start of the draft, some rookie players are invited to enter the Green House. The invited talents will sit in a green room during the draft, waiting for the president to call out their names. Being on this list means that many teams are favored and have a great chance of becoming a high-pick rookie player.

There are also many cases where you enter the small green room but are not selected for a long time, which is more embarrassing, such as Jordan Jr., who was originally optimistic about entering the lottery area, but was not selected by the Clippers until the 35th pick in the second round. This incident made little Jordan unhappy for several years.

"Choosing from a small green house is indeed the safest plan." Little Bass nodded, and then asked, "What about the second option?" ”

"The second option is to choose an interior player, a power forward or a center, which will help us renew Jordan Hill. And if Jordan Hill's contract doesn't work, we have a backup plan. Kupchak began.

Kupchak used the old trick of the NBA, by selecting a rookie player in the same position to lower the price of a player who was about to renew his contract. There are also times when teams sign free agents in the same position to undercut the price of players who are about to renew their contracts. And some more conservative players will choose to renew their contracts at a reduced price.

For example, Jordan Hill wants a big contract, and at this time the Lakers choose an interior player, which is to tell Jordan Hill that the Lakers have found someone who can replace you, and if you are interested, don't put forward a high number.

Everyone in the room nodded their heads, and from the perspective of the team management, everyone agreed with Kupchak's approach. Little Bas even asked, "Do you have any suitable candidates?" ”

Adrian Payne and Nurkic are excellent interior players of the 21 players who have entered the Little Green House, and Mitch McGarry of the University of Michigan, who was ranked second in the 2012 class of high schools in the United States, is very good at grabbing rebounds and blocks, and the only concern is that he underwent back surgery last year. Louisiana State University's O'Bryant, who can play power forward and small forward, made the NCAA Southeast Conference first team for the second year in a row. ”

In addition, Swiss player Clint Capela is also a good candidate, he played in the French LNB league last season, averaging 9.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.8 blocks in 21.4 minutes per game, and was the best young player in the LNB league and the winner of the Most Improved Award. These are our back-ups. Kupchak went over and over as the others in the room flipped through the papers in their hands to see the players' profiles.

Among the players mentioned by Kupchak, Zhang Guan is most familiar with Capela, after Howard left the Rockets, he replaced Howard as the starting center of the Rockets, and achieved very good statistics, although Capela has no offensive means, and the free throws are not accurate, but as a blue-collar worker, he is still qualified, at least he can adapt to the Rockets' offensive system.

With the Lakers' 21st pick, if you choose Capela, you will not lose money, and Capela can be regarded as a manufacturable material. But the Lakers already have what Whiteside, Capela can't do, what Whiteside can do, what Capela can do, Whiteside can do better, instead of cultivating Capela, it's better to train Whiteside.

At this time, Zhang Guan suddenly remembered a name, and he asked: "I know that there is a Serbian interior player named Nikola Jokic, who also announced his candidacy this year, right?" ”

"You're talking about the Serbian hopeful, our scouts also followed this player in the first half of the season, and there was even an assessment that he would be in the lottery." Kupchak paused and continued: "But he hasn't played in the United States, he's been living in Europe, and for this kind of overseas player, we're going to be more cautious about our selection before they play and generally don't give them a high pick. ”

Kupchak was tactful, but Zhang Guan understood that Kupchak didn't think Jojic was worth a first-round pick.

For those overseas players who did not grow up in the United States, if they do not play decent results, even if they participate in the NBA draft, they will not be able to get a high pick. For example, Ginobili was selected with the 57th pick in the second round in 1999, and only landed in the NBA after being elected MVP of the European Basketball League; Another example is Scola who was selected with the 56th pick in the second round in 2002 and won two Spanish League regular season MVPs before joining the Rockets. There is also Gasol Jr., who was selected with the 48th pick in the second round in 2007 and only received a contract from the Grizzlies after winning the Spanish regular season MVP.

So young overseas players, if they haven't played in the United States and haven't played in other professional leagues, that is, they are worth a mid-second round or late draft pick, and the NBA team selects them in the same way as buying a lottery ticket.

And if you have already played before entering the draft, it is different. In 2001, Pau Gasol was already the star of the Barcelona team; Da Yao in 2002 had already ruled the CBA; In 2006, Bagnani was already the first player in the Italian league, so they could all get a high pick or even the top pick.

Jokic is only 19 years old this year, and has yet to make a name for himself in Europe's professional leagues, and although he is considered a star of hope in Serbia, there are too many talented young people in the United States, and in the eyes of the general manager of an NBA team, Jokic is just a "lottery ticket", worth a second-round pick at most. What's more, even very good European players will not adapt to the soil when they come to the NBA.

Zhang Guan knows that Jokic should be regarded as the biggest "leak" in this draft, Jokic can get 10 points and 7 rebounds in his rookie season, and the data in the second year has improved to a quasi-double-double of 16 points and 9 rebounds, and he also has 4.6 assists, which he averaged 27 minutes per game.

Jokic averaged 26.4 efficiency in his second year, which was on par with Lefou's peak season. Compared with the players in the same position, Anthony Davis's sophomore efficiency value is 26.5, and Anthony Downs's sophomore efficiency value is 25, but Bushy Eyebrows and Towns are both champions, and they are both better among the champions, while Jokic is only a second-round rookie.

I only heard Kupček ask: "Are you very optimistic about this Serb?" ”

"Yes." Zhang Guan nodded, and continued; "I think he's the most underrated one of the drafts. Zhang Guan is a young man with well-rounded skills but flexibility, he can play high offensive and low post offense, has excellent passing ability, and most importantly, he has good three-point shooting ability, this is a big man who can shoot three-point shots. ”

Zhang Guan said, deliberately glancing at D'Antoni, and D'Antoni really showed an interested look.

The big man who can pass the ball and shoot three-pointers is obviously the person D'Antoni needs the most, so D'Antoni coughed dryly and said, "If possible, can you get a detailed scouting report?" ”

"Yes." Kupchak nodded, he could see that D'Antoni was quite tempted, so Kupchak reminded: "An overseas player really doesn't deserve to use a first-round pick. But we could try to trade a second-round pick from another team, which would cost some cash. ”

Kupchak said, looking at Bass Jr., apparently asking for his opinion.

Spending money on second-round picks is a loss-making thing. 2014 is another big year for the draft, and the price of draft picks will definitely be relatively high, with a pick of about 40 in the second round, which is worth about $2.5 million, which is quite the value of the base salary of two veterans. So unless there is really a player who likes it, the team will not spend this unjust money to "buy a lottery ticket".

Little Bas thought for a few seconds, and finally put on a posture that you were happy and nodded in agreement. A giant like the Lakers always spends one or two hundred million dollars a year, and it is not a loss to spend two or three million to buy a lottery ticket, and by the way, to make Zhang Guan happy. Anyway, as long as Zhang Guan is willing to continue to stay with the Lakers, the Lakers will be able to earn back these millions in minutes.

When it comes to spending money, Bass Jr. is still quite generous.

"In that case, I'll reach out to teams interested in second-round picks and hear their offers." Kupchak spoke.

"Mainly contact the Philadelphia 76ers, they have a tanhua this year, and they have a tenth pick, and they also have five second-round picks, which means they have seven picks this year, so many picks, they can't use them themselves, and they are definitely willing to sell." Zhang Guan paused, and then reminded: "We only need the 39th pick in their hands." ”

Kupchak silently tapped a few strokes on his notebook, he originally wanted to mention a rookie named Jordan Clarkson, but since the Lakers are ready to select Jokic in the second round, there is no need for Kupchak to mention Clarkson. The guard, who originally played with the Lakers, also passed by the Lakers.

Said the passer

Thanks to the rubber band and Zhao Laoqi for the 10,000-point award!