June 29, 2004, 7 p.m. sharp. In the Madison Square Garden Stadium in New York, the crowd was surging and boiling.

"Welcome to the world basketball world, and I announce the start of the 2004 NBA Draft. The managers have one last time to make a decision, officially announce the draft results at 19:30, and ask the managers to send the draft list to the backstage," Stern, who had attended the championship ceremony, stood on the rostrum and said with a smile, wearing a well-fitting black suit and bright silver hair, looking solemn and friendly.

Originally, the draft was held on June 15, but at that time, there was the 'Sid race incident', which can be called the biggest event in American basketball in the past two decades, and the NBA, which is dominated by blacks, was almost involved.

In the Bobcats box, Michael. Jordan was in a nervous discussion with the team's uniform team, "Who is the outcome of Orlando's selection?" Are the 15 previous signings coming? What does Atlanta mean? Wiring them up for me, damn it! ”

A middle-aged white man frowned and said, "Michael, I have no intention of provoking your eyes, but have you really decided to gamble?" You know, Ben. Wallace hasn't signed us yet! We give up so many mature players, pick a bunch of rookies, and if we fail, we can't recover! ”

Jordan glanced at him and said, "Bernie, you know, losing is never my choice, since Robert wants me to build the team, then it must come according to my wishes!" I love gambling, and you know, in the casino I'm invincible, winning more and losing less! Believe me, it would have brought us great glory! ”

"Yes, you also believe my vision, these rookies are the best rookies, they may not make it to the All-Star, but they can help our team keep winning!" A rough, confident voice rang out, and the Bobcats' managers looked back to see that it was Ben who made them love and hate. Wallace.

"I hope your vision is fine!" The middle-aged white man glanced at Hua Ben and said, everyone is slandering in their hearts, why do you believe this guy? He's just a player, he's not God, he's not from the future – in fact, Huaben does come from the future.

This is the sadness of a small team, if it is the Mavericks or the Lakers, Huaben's request will be kicked to Africa as garbage, although you are the core of our team, we will also select players around you to form a team, but your opinion can only play an auxiliary role, and the team uniform team and scouting team are dominant. The Bobcats can't, they haven't even played a day yet, and in terms of fan appeal, Huaben is much better than this team, and to sign a double MVP, they have to give a lot to show their sincerity.

In other words, if the Bobcats are determined to sign Huaben, then even if they know that Huaben will be interested in a group of parallel goods, they must also choose it.

Charlotte's professional basketball atmosphere is not good (but non-professional basketball has a very good atmosphere, such as the NCAA), otherwise the Hornets would not have made it to New Orleans, and if the Bobcats want to make money, they need to have a player who can appeal to fans to buy tickets, and Huaben is the most suitable person in the market this summer.

After Jordan's arguments, Warburn reached an agreement with the Bobcats that the team could pick the rookies he needed, but he couldn't interfere with the team's decision to expand the draft (selecting players from the other 29 teams).

Waben smiled and patted the middle-aged white man, and after Jordan's introduction, he met this white man, Bernie. Bixduff, like Jordan, was a contributor to the formation of the Bobcats. And, if it weren't for Huaben's appearance, he would have been the first coach in the history of the Bobcats, and now that honor has been stripped away by Jordan, who is going to change history again, Jordan will coach the NBA.

As managers called one by one, news kept coming in, but there was little good news.

"Bernie, our plan didn't work out, and Orlandos was in six hospitals across the U.S. for Dwight. Howard had a medical check-up, and the rumors that we said he was in serious injury threat were debunked. Now it seems that they are not going to give up on Dwight."

Jordan's sword eyebrows furrowed, and he said decisively: "Ask Orlando, what kind of chips do they want to give up the top pick, we have an eye, if they fancy someone's unprotected player, we can also choose to trade him." ”

"I've been in touch and they've asked for Pattin, and they've asked us to sign Patin and send it over with a top pick, and they've got a top pick and a player we can be interested in."

"Let him die." Jordan interrupted the man and scolded, "Does this idiot think I have shit in my head? Not a single quality point guard this year, Padding he doesn't want to think! ”

"Bernie, Michael, we got in touch, Atlanta vs. Josh. Smith is interested, in fact, they just like this kind of indiscriminate guy, I really don't understand why they have enough players in such positions to make up the starting lineup, why should they choose! ”

"Is there anything up front that would like to trade draft picks?" Jordan asked.

"The Bostonians have three first-round picks, and they're willing to give up 24 first-round picks in exchange for our first-round pick next year, but 24."

Bernie sneered, "Let him dream and tell them that we're willing to give up next year's first-round pick, but he's going to have to give us both 24 and 25 picks." Go, talk to them, and if the Bostonians weren't stupid, they'll say yes. ”

Now Huaben and Jordan's agreement is private, and the outside world only knows that the Bobcats and Huaben have been contacted, but no one thinks that Huaben, who has a heart higher than the sky, will go to the bad team of the Bobcats, so for next season's draft picks, the league generally believes that there must be a place for the Bobcats in the top three.

"Having talked about it, Bostonians are asking not to be protected." An assistant manager of the uniform team put down the phone and said that unprotected means that the Bobcats will have to give away whatever the first round of the lottery is next season, and protected means that if the Bobcats get the champion, the top or the flower, the other teams can't take it and have to stay.

Jordan clapped: "Yes." ”

"Tony. Aaron and Kevin. Martin. "Hua Ben stuffed the two new signings.

Tony. Standing at 6-foot-4, Allen is a bit like a weakened offensive version of Wade, who is strong and fast, loves to attack the basket, and is ferocious and persistent defensively. He can play and defend 1, 2, and 3 positions on the court, and quickly developed into the best backcourt single defender among the 04 rookies after entering the league. His attack is as concise as the tiger's predation, no more fancy ball control, the pursuit of attacking the collision of the basket's body, and Hua Ben knows that this kid will develop outside projection in the future, and has strong combat effectiveness at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, becoming the vanguard of the rise of the Grizzlies in the future.

But Jordan didn't like him very much, because Tony. Allen grew up in Chicago, Jordan has deep connections in Chicago, and after his investigation, it is found that Allen is surrounded by fox friends and dogs, and many of them are in prison, and when he is in college, no school is even willing to give him a scholarship. Eventually, Oklahoma offered him a scholarship, and Allen rewarded him by spending four years at Oklahoma and becoming the best player in the Big 12 before leading the team to the "Final Four."

Kevin. Martin is half of Jordan's alumnus, both from Rollena University, but the Flyers are North Carolina and Martin is Sika, and it is this that affected Martin's draft pick, this kid is the first player in Sika history to be drafted by the NBA, so he is affected. However, Wamoto knew that this clear-eyed guy was an excellent cold-blooded killer, and his playing style was simple and effective, and he was simply an outside version of Tim. Duncan. He's not going to hit 50+ or dunk in a game again, but when you look back at the end of the season, you'll see that this kid is averaging 20+ per game! Silent, silent!

Compared to Martin's thin size, he is physically good enough and has excellent running and jumping ability, with a 42-inch run-up jump and the pace of most defenders in the league. The two points of thin body and light weight make him weak in confrontation, and his technical movements are easy to deform and even make mistakes in strong confrontation situations. The ball control ability is above the league level, and it can also replace the point guard in the face of 2-2-1 full-court pressing.

However, Martin's passing ability is average, and his strong shooting ability is excellent, even Jordan has to admit that this guy's ability to use cover for jump shots, cuts, and empty layups after cutting into place is terrifying, which is rare in the current league. Aaron counts one, but how much is he worth? Junzi Lei got a contract of 20 million!

Selecting Martin, Huaben values his off-ball offensive ability, Iguodala and he both have the ball in hand to attack, put a cold-blooded killer like Martin on the outside, when he attracts the bag, it will definitely surprise the league!

This is the NBA draft, and before the moment the mystery is revealed, all the uniform teams in the league are busy, negotiating and trading to find the person they need most.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and Stern stepped up to the podium and smiled as he began the NBA's most exciting moment: the future stars selected by each team were about to land on the court.

"Orlando Magic pick in the first pick-" Stern slumped his eyes around the little green room, and the rookies who hooked up were racing wildly, and everyone was waiting for their names to be said.

Stern dragged on for a full five seconds, and when the rookies gritted their teeth and rushed to the podium to hit people, he shouted as if someone had been pinched: "Choose the 6-foot-11" center of Christ College in Atlanta, Southwest Georgia, Dwight. Howard! Let's congratulate them! ”

Later, the monster who will be famous for his bounce and elbow grinned, he hugged the newcomer next to him and kissed him twice, and without waiting for the other party to react, he shook his ass and walked onto the rostrum, took the Magic team's baseball cap from Stern's hand, and began to make a champion speech.

"I already had a hunch that I was going to be the top pick, but when it all happened, I realized how simple it was that I imagined, it was amazing, and I finally achieved my dream of getting into the NBA. Thank you to the manager and coach in Orlando for putting their trust in me, I will prove with my performance how right they are to choose, and I am going to tell the other teams that there is another big guy coming to the NBA, I wonder if you are ready? Howard was a little agitated in his excitement, and began to chatter, and, having made the old mistakes of genius, began to look at everything.

Stern noticed that it was not good, and reached out to return the microphone, but Howard was too tall for him to reach, and he only touched Howard's elbow when he stretched out his arm.

There is always a lot of big news in the draft every day, so reporters are expecting to gather in front of the podium, and Howard did not disappoint them: "A lot of people say this is an era when the center is dead, but I don't think so, Shaq. O'Neill, Ben. Just because Wallace can't do it doesn't mean I can't, I can't wait to put on a good show on the field and teach everyone who looks down on the center a lesson."

As soon as the reporters heard this, they screamed, Jordan and the others laughed, he elbowed Hua Ben once, and laughed: "Look, this rookie has issued a war letter to you." ”

Hua Ben smiled and said, "This matter will be talked about when it comes to the arena, we have time to fight, and the important thing now is that you promised my Dwight. Howard is gone. ”

Upon hearing this, Jordan and Bernie's faces changed, and they shouted together, "What's the solution?!" We can't get the winner's ticket. ”

Finally waiting for Howard to finish speaking, Stern quickly grabbed the microphone and smiled: "The second pick is--oh, we got new news, the Charlotte Bobcats made a deal with the Toronto Raptors, and sent the No. 1 pick from the Los Angeles Clippers to get the Raptors' eighth draft pick and a protected first-round pick next season." Let's take a look at Toronto's selection, where they selected University of Connecticut, 6-foot-10" center Emeka A. Okafor! Let's congratulate them! ”

Warm applause rang out, in the coveted eyes of Jordan and Bernie, Okafor smiled and strode onto the rostrum, the Raptors uniform group applauded one by one, the team's boss Carter and the second Bosh clapped their hands especially hard, they didn't expect to be able to choose such a good seedling, "Charlotte people are really bad brains!" ”

Okafor, who led UConn to his second NCAA championship in the school's history, is considered the most effective player of the year, and his template is to attack a weakened Garnett or Mourning. The reason why the Magic team gave up Okafor is because Howard is younger, and they bet that Howard's potential has not yet been tapped, and they bet that once the potential is tapped, Howard can die to become another O'Neal-level interior line, as for Okafor, although he is very powerful, it is useless for the Magic team that is in a state of rebuilding.

It has to be said that the Magic won the bet in the end, and although Howard was not as good as O'Neal, he was one of the best players in '04. Of course, it can also be considered that the Magic lost the bet, because although Howard brought them the box office and the Eastern Conference championship, he eventually went away to the Lakers, allowing the Magic to train him for nothing, repeating the mistakes of the Sharks.

The Raptors are happy, because they have Carter Carter on the outside, Bosh on the inside, and they already have strong combat effectiveness, they originally wanted to choose an inside line to form a twin tower with Bosh to help Carter, of course, they never dreamed that they could choose Okafor, who knows, everything has come true today.

(To be continued)