When the 1996 draft came to an end, NBA players were also preparing for the game.

Of course, the preparation for this is only a certain part of the team that has the pursuit of the championship.

Those teams that don't have much championship potential themselves, such as the Spurs, have already begun to enter the swing stage this year.

It may be hard to imagine a team with David Robinson on struggling, but really, yes.

David Robinson, who was born in 1965, is now 31 years old, and perhaps in the eyes of many people, Robinson is still young, in his playing years, of course, in fact, yes, during the 95-96 season.

The 30-year-old Robinson averaged 25+12.2 per game and led the team to the playoffs with a record of 59 wins and 23 losses.

The Spurs have no championship potential.

However, with the Spurs' salary level, it is not easy to bring in strong reinforcements, and the team's current group of players is seriously "aging".

In the NBA, players over the age of 30 are actually considered "older" players, and their careers are already in the twilight of their lives.

For that time, there was also an urgent need to replenish the younger generation of players.

Coincidentally, the appearance of Duncan made Popovich see a possibility. Their Spurs are already good at developing interior players, and Duncan, who is talented and showed terrifying combat ability in college, is what they crave.

After the departure of Robinson in the future, they are a new pillar of the Spurs!

Under Popovich's operation, San Antonio fans already knew about Duncan's existence, and they also knew that the team was targeting the '97 draft, targeting Duncan.

So when the NBA's 96-97 season begins, you'll be able to see a wonderful phenomenon, that is, David Robinson, who has been relatively healthy, has an inexplicable foot injury.

For the entire 96-97 season, the "wounded" admiral played only 10 games.

But the San Antonio fans were quite happy, and the worse the team lost, the happier they were, and when the Spurs won the game, these fans would cry out and call the coach "rubbish".

This year, the whole league knows that the Spurs are messing around, and their goal is to draft next year!

The Spurs' swing, although unexpected, but even more unexpected is the Timberwolves.

In this year's offseason, the Timberwolves successively sent away Ryder and other players, and at the same time got Stephen Marbury, who was selected by the Bucks with the fourth pick, and Ray Allen, who was selected by themselves, with the fifth pick.

Guards change guards, this operation is a little incomprehensible to others.

But after seeing this transaction, Wu Dao expressed understanding.

For the Timberwolves, the difference between Ray Allen and Stephen Marbury is just too obvious.

With just one set of data, everyone can understand why the Timberwolves, who have a faint focus on Garnett as the core of the team, have such a choice.

He played for four teams for 18 years since Ray Allen entered the league, and in those 18 years, Ray Allen averaged just 3.4 assists per game in his career.

Oh, by the way, Kobe Bryant, who has been regarded by outsiders as a representative of the Mamba spirit who doesn't like to pass the ball all year round, has averaged 4.7 assists per game in his 20-year career.

And what about Stephen Marbury, who was brought in by the Timberwolves?

As a guard, he averaged 19 points and 7.6 assists per game in his career.

When players enter the NBA, the style of play is already obvious, especially college players, who are considered to be instant players.

Although Marbury is only 188cm tall, which is a big step behind Ray Allen at 196cm, he can basically be said to be a small colander on the defensive end.

But his ball-handling ability and assist ability are officially valued by the Timberwolves.

As for defense? In the eyes of the Timberwolves' management and coaching staff, they have a "rising star", the best young interior Garnett in this era, who can make up for Marbury's lack to a certain extent.

In the eyes of the outside world, the Timberwolves traded away Ryddle, as well as rookie Ray Allen, and got Marbury, who is good at scoring and sharing the ball, must be in order to break into the playoffs, right?

After all, judging from the history of the Timberwolves, being able to enter the playoffs is good enough.

But in fact, the Timberwolves have no intention of playing well after the start of the new season, and they are also rotten.

The reason is also very simple, after the end of this year's draft, the ace of Oak Hill High School, through the school's publicity, revealed that he will participate in the draft next year.

This news has actually attracted the attention of some NBA teams, in the 96 National High School League, martial arts performed well, with an average of 40+ points per game, of course, it also attracted the attention of some people.

But when some teams learned that Wudao was a yellow race, and even trained in the second team in last year's ABCD training camp, they were not very interested in Wudao.

And for some reason, martial arts don't have more honors, what is the Naigao Invitational Tournament, what is Mr. Basketball in the United States, these things have nothing to do with martial arts.

In addition to proving his ability in the high school arena, his body can be said to be dim.

Compared to him, those college players, like Duncan, who caused the San Antonio fans to go crazy, are true stars of tomorrow.

The Timberwolves also predicted the draft market of martial arts through some channels, and the results were very gratifying, I am afraid that apart from them, not many people will be interested in martial arts, a high school student!

The Timberwolves are thought to be targeting Keith Van Horn, who entered the draft in '97, the "Bird No. 2" of the University of Utah.

In the eyes of the outside world, the Timberwolves have Tom Gugliotta, Garnett and a rookie Steven Marbury for a few years, and if you add the "Bird No. 2", the strength of the Timberwolves suddenly becomes a little impressive.

Although there is no potential to win the championship, the playoffs are simply something that can be captured.

Tom Gogliotta, a veteran of his playing years, led a group of young players, and the Timberwolves immediately became a team with potential.

But the outside world probably didn't expect that the goal of the Timberwolves was never "Bird second".

Laughed, does that "hemp stick" also deserve to be compared with the "high-level killer" they fancie?

Keith Van Horne is 208cm tall at university, but he weighs only 96kg.

In terms of figure, it does look a little thin.

The Timberwolves' rotten position is not incomprehensible to outsiders.

But there is one person who has no way to accept it.

He didn't actually have any temper when he was traded to the Timberwolves, and he didn't have a temper when he changed to Ray Allen, who was one rank lower than him, and it wouldn't be good to say that he wouldn't be insulted.

And he knows that the Timberwolves have a Garnett, a great interior player who has played quite well in '95 and has begun to show potential.

He believes that with a good run-in and a good play, their Timberwolves will definitely be able to become stronger.

But to Marbury's surprise, he wanted to help the team hit the playoffs, play his own performance on the court, and show his value, but the team actually messed up!

In the preseason of '96, he and Garnett's playing time was severely compressed, and in four quarters, they were often only able to play two quarters, and the team had an advantage, but they would be substituted.

When the team is more behind, they will get more opportunities to play and sharpen.

Seeing one victory after another slip through his fingertips, Marbury's hatred!

And what makes Marbury grit his teeth even more is that he feels that he values the team's owner Glenn Taylor, although he almost plays every game, but whenever he loses, this owner looks happy.

For a whole season, the Timberwolves played a "terrifying" 19-win and 63-loss horror record.

This is even worse than the San Antonio Spurs, who also played 20 wins and 62 losses!

And the Minnesota fans, who were originally expecting the Timberwolves, directly drowned the guy in the coach's seat who didn't understand the ball with saliva.

The team was in shambles, and Marbury was very resentful, sometimes expressing his displeasure in post-game interviews.

Although the team is in a mess, he still averaged 15 points and 8.5 assists per game in his rookie season, and is a very high-profile rookie.

And Garnett, a sophomore, also averaged 17 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game.

Although the team's record is very poor, those who watch the game know that the Timberwolves play smoothly on the overall offense when Garnett and Marbury and others are on the court, and no matter what kind of opponent they face, they can play more or less effectively.

The players are good enough, the tactical system is a mess, and Coach Beal is sprayed, and that's rightfully so.

Marbury was angry, but Garnett, who was younger than him, was much more indifferent, always playing well on the court, and smiling in the post-game interview, without taking the victory or defeat in mind at all.

His state is completely different from the state of being very victorious in training.

Marbury was a little confused about this fine boy.

After an intra-squad practice, Garnett was approached.

"Hey, Kevin, why aren't you worried about the team's record like this?"

"If you stay in a team like this, you don't have a future at all."

"You and I are both talented and capable, so you are willing to rot in such a team?"

Although Marbury is a rookie, he has a good temper and does not hide his dissatisfaction with the practices of the team's management in private.

Hearing this, Garnett just waved his hand and said casually:

"Just train aggressively and play well on ourselves."

"You'll find out soon."

In the locker room of the arena, Garnett opened his closet, took out a towel, and wiped his sweaty body.

"What?" Garnett's answer made Marbury feel as if there was something hidden.

He has also heard a little bit of rumors from the outside world, and the Timberwolves' draft goal for next year is "Bird No. 2". To be honest, Marbury had also seen that Bird Second, and it was very powerful, but in his opinion, it probably didn't help them as much as he imagined.

"You mean that Bird the second?"

"I don't think so!"

What to say about Keith Van Horne's style of play, it's really similar to Larry Bird, playing quite sassy, and both are white.

Marbury recognizes Keith Van Horn's qualities, but he doesn't feel the player is a good fit for the team.

"Keith Van Horne, you say?"

"Hahaha, I don't think so."

Hearing Marbury's words, Garnett also thought of the speculation of the outside world, and said with a smile. Looking at Marbury's puzzled look, Garnett didn't sell it, took out a newspaper from the closet, and threw it to Marbury.

"What is this?"

Marbury took the newspaper and found that it was a sports newspaper, and the large page was Duncan's draft analysis, and there were some predictions, praises and the like.

"Duncan?"

"The management's target is him?"

Marbury gave Garnett a strange look, like a fool.

Well, if the target is Duncan, he Marbury will never have an opinion, that is, how did you Garnett sit down when he knew the news?

He's the star power forward of the university!

If Duncan comes to the Timberwolves, what will happen to you Garnett?

"How is that possible?"

"When the team has me, how can I add a power forward?"

"You flip to the end and look at the bottom right corner."

"Well, this."

Garnett said as he helped Marbury flip through the newspaper in his hand, and in the small corner of the last page, there was a message.

"Oak Hill Academy ace, yellow small forward hits the NBA!"

A small heading, a small page, and the content is just a few sentences, talking about some high school grades about martial arts.

Consecutive championships, with an average of 40+ per game, seems to be quite powerful.

But high school students, yellow people.

This item is a minus point.

The predicted order for martial arts is the 18th pick in the second round

"This" Marbury held the newspaper, a little stunned, the target was this man? It's better than Duncan's! Bird 2nd is also very good!

"He's tried out for us Timberwolves in '95."

"I stayed for about half a month."

"He participates in every practice match for our team."

"Tom, what's the average number of points per game?"

Garnett seemed to be reminiscing about the past, and when he said this, he turned his head to Tom Gugliotta, who was changing clothes on the other side.

"I don't know."

"It's more than thirty points."

Tom Gugliotta replied casually.

Hearing the conversation between these two people, Marbury was immediately stunned, 95 years?

Last year? Also 30+, per game?

Marbury, who learned the news, suddenly understood, and he suddenly understood why the team was rotten.

In 1997, the alliance was in turmoil.

This year, the Bulls, led by God, had a 69-10 record in the regular season and entered the playoffs with the best record in the league.

In the finals, he defeated the Utah Jazz led by Malone and won the championship.

This is God's fifth crown.

In the regular season, he averaged 29.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.

In the playoffs, Jordan averaged 31.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game.

The gods descend to earth and can do anything.

These two words are still the adjectives of the 33-year-old Jordan.

At the end of May, the draft was drawn.

The Spurs, who had been ruined for a season, either got their wish or operated internally, anyway, as Popovich expected, they San Antonio Spurs got the top pick.

And the Timberwolves, who were also bad, only got the fourth pick.

In front of him, the second pick was the Philadelphia 76ers, and the third pick was the Boston Celtics.

It's a lot of signing, but Glenn Taylor was happy when he knew he was signing, and then he became worried and started to let people probe other people's mouths.

The Spurs, no need to ask, they must have chosen Duncan, and when the draw was held, there were San Antonio fans holding Duncan's name tag at the door

The 76ers and the Celtics, these two teams, not necessarily.

The 76ers are a little less likely, and their team's small forward Jerry Stackhouse has only averaged 20+ per game this year.

And Iverson is the undisputed ball-handling core of the 76ers, they shouldn't choose high school students, and they haven't heard that the 76ers have had any contact with martial arts.

On the contrary, it was the second Bird, and they had contact.

As for the Celts

It's also unlikely, as Antoine Walker, who they selected in '96, played well in his rookie season, averaging 17.5 points plus 9 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

Most likely, I won't want it.

But if you are not afraid of 10,000, you are afraid of what if

To be on the safe side, Glenn Taylor decided to take a closer look!

(End of chapter)