The official end of the 2011-12 season has been a relief for everyone in the league, and this shortened season has been really difficult, with a dense schedule that is a test of physical fitness, and many players have suffered injuries as a result.

But after getting through it, everything will be back on track.

On June 29, the 2012 draft was held as scheduled, and all the young players who participated in the 12-year draft, as well as the management of each team, and media reporters gathered at the Madison Square Garden Arena in New York.

The Rockets naturally have someone coming, although their 12-year first-round pick was traded to the Magic, but they still have a second-round pick, and even if they don't even have a draft pick, they can use the trade to get a draft pick to strengthen the team.

Wang Chao, Da Yao, head coach McHale, and a group of management personnel sat together, looking at Charlotte Bobcats who held the top pick. Davis.

Once again, history has changed.

In the original history, although the Charlotte Bobcats were so bent on putting on a bad show that they didn't even want to lose their face, and they frantically played a 7-59 record in the regular season, successfully finishing at the bottom of the league, but the No. 1 pick was still siphoned out by the 21-45 New Orleans Hornets and selected Anthony. Davis.

But this time, Joe's gang was lucky enough to finally get a No. 1 pick, and even better was that Jordan didn't follow through on his usual vision and successfully selected Davis, the strongest player among the rookies in 2012.

It's actually basically an open-book exam, Anthony. Davis was the top pick before the draft, and the draft template was Kevin. Garnett, a typical offensive and defensive team building core, in the entire 12 rookies, no player can compete with him for the top position, if Jordan can choose the wrong one in this case, it is really powerless to complain.

Wang Chao is also very greedy for Brother Thick Eyebrows, although in the future after the Lakers' Brother Thick Eyebrows won the championship, he has been affected by injuries, and the attributes of the glass man are exposed, but the strength is undoubted, as one of the best interior players in the small ball era, Brother Thick Eyebrows, who has good offense and defense, is definitely one of the best puzzles for the championship team.

Just the champion lottery is daunting enough, and the Rockets want to get this champion lottery through trading, and there is only one way, and that is to use Wang Chao as a bargaining chip to trade, and there are no other suitable chips.

Even if Da Yao is put on the shelf, I'm afraid people won't be moved, after all, Da Yao is now 32 years old, and there are hidden dangers of injury, and he still has a contract with a maximum salary of more than 20 million, how can he compare to Anthony. Davis.

The same applies to Damian, who was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers with the fifth pick. Lillard.

What the Rockets lack most right now is a proper point guard.

Both Isaiah. Thomas or Aaron. Brooks, as the starting point guard, has its own flaws and flaws.

Lillard's projection ability is among the top among point guards, and he may be second only to Curry in the next decade, but the lottery pick is out of reach for the Rockets, and he is one spot ahead of history.

And apart from Davis and Lillard, the 12-year first-round rookie has nothing particularly noteworthy. Bill and Harrison. Barnes's level is not bad, but that's all, and it is significantly inferior to Leonard and Butler, who the Rockets are currently mainly developing.

And in the second round, there is also Drummond. Green and Chris. Middleton two players.

It's just that Wang Chao is not very satisfied with these two players.

Green is a good player and one of the best players of the small-ball era, but that was when the Splash Brothers were around.

The offensive end needs to control the ball in order to play its ability, and often stands alone in the top arc position to hold the ball and direct the traffic, if it weren't for Curry and Thompson who could play without the ball, Ya would be an undercover agent on the offensive end at all.

Green's defensive ability is quite good, and he was once the top level in the league in the future, but Wang Chao really doesn't like this, the most important thing is that as a ball-holding core, it is impossible for Wang Chao to hand over the ball to others, at least even if it is temporarily handed over to others, it must be given to Leonard, Butler, a player who has independent offensive ability after holding the ball, rather than Green who can't do anything by himself holding the ball and standing at the top of the arc, and pretending to direct traffic to look like he has more NB.

But I have to say that Green is indeed an indispensable role in the peak of the Warriors, in a sense, Wang Chao still hopes that Green can continue to join the Warriors, and now Wang Chao is not the same as when he first came to the league, compared to winning more honors, he wants to play against some top opponents and then beat each other to gain a sense of achievement, if you can play with the Warriors who won 73 in the 15-16 season, it is also a good experience.

As for Middleton, it's not particularly suitable.

Chris. Middleton is also a player who can contribute 20+ points per game steadily in the future, and his scoring ability is very stable.

But the 2.01m Middleton is also an outside player, and his attacking methods are mainly mid-range.

This actually has a slight conflict with Leonard and Butler.

As rookies selected in the second round, although Thani Leonard and Butler joined the league a year later, the rookie contracts of all three expired in the 15-16 season, and how to renew the contracts of all three at the same time is also a problem.

However, although it is a little inappropriate, Wang Chao still decided to take Middleton, after all, even if the style is not suitable, as a second-round pick, the annual salary in the next three years is only two million, and proper cheap labor, if it can grow up in advance with the blessing of Wang Chao's sparring potion, it will still become an important force on the Rockets' bench, and maybe when the contract year comes, it can be traded out as a bargaining chip in exchange for some draft picks or players or something.

Soon, the draft went to the second round, and the Warriors chose Drummond as they did in history. Green, the small-ball lineup is completely complete.

Looking at the current Warriors team with the eyes of the future, it is already a little scary to be reasonable.

The Splash Brothers, Curry and Thompson, are there, and Harrison. Barnes and Drummond. Green was also selected in this draft, and what is worse is that the Warriors also have a center DeMarcus who was selected by the Warriors in 2010 because of the butterfly effect. Cousins!

This lineup has fully grown, but it is no worse than when Durant first joined the Warriors in the future!

Regardless of whether Cousins' style of play fits the Warriors' small-ball tactics or not, the quality of the players is real.

"Maybe before I know it, the butterfly effect has helped me cultivate a terrifying opponent......"

Wang Chao thought silently in his heart.

With the 39th pick in the second round, the Detroit Pistons selected Chris. Middleton.

Then, minutes after the draft was reached, the Rockets reached an agreement with the Pistons, and the Rockets sent this year's second-round pick No. 58, a 2013 second-round pick, plus forward Patrick. Patterson, got Middleton, who was just drafted by the Pistons.

The deal didn't attract any attention.

Middleton was only a second-round pick, and the Pistons, including the Pistons who drafted him, didn't think there was anything special about this player, just picking and choosing a slightly better one from a pile of leftovers.

The Rockets were willing to send two second-round picks in exchange, and the Pistons agreed to the deal without even thinking about it. As a 2.06-meter-tall forward, Patterson has little chance to perform with the Rockets this season, but after all, he is the 14th pick in the first round in 10 years, and the player who was selected in the lottery area is still worth looking forward to.

This deal is still very attractive for the Pistons, after all, without Wang Chao's intervention, Middleton can only play 17 games with the Pistons in the next season, and then be used as an addition to the trade chips, in the form of a three-for-one from the Bucks in exchange for the Pistons' favorite point guard Brandon. Jennings.

After trading to Middleton, the Rockets didn't make any moves in the draft.

They already have too many potential rookies to develop, and it's more important to sign some experienced veterans when the free market opens up than to select more rookies to develop.

Although the current salary space of the Rockets is almost occupied by Wang Chao and Da Yao's two 20 million+ salaries, as the 11-12 season passes and the contracts of many players expire, the Rockets still free up a lot of salary space.

Considering that the Rockets can still reach the Finals without Da Yao and fight the Heat for 6 games, they are still very attractive to veterans, and many veterans who want to hit the championship at the end of their careers will be tempted.

Wang Chao understood this truth, so after the draft meeting, he let the Rockets management start to make a move.

However, although there are certain psychological expectations, Wang Chao still did not expect that the Rockets would be so popular.

As soon as the free market opened, several veterans' agents took the initiative to find management to ask, hoping to join the Rockets next season to attack the championship.

Among them is Jason. Kidd, Antoine. Jamison, Jason. John Terry, a former Rockets player whose contract with the Magic has just expired, is Rasade. Lewis, Brandon recovering from injury. Roy and many others.

These players are all All-Stars, and they were once even the top stars in the league, although they are old, most of these players still have some combat effectiveness, considering that many of them can be signed with low salaries, the cost performance is still very high.

At the end of the season, the Rockets also have multiple contracts expiring, including Courtney. Lee, Thabit, Jordan. Hill, Rice. With players such as Badinger, the team's contract renewal and reinforcement work is imminent.

And just when the Rockets management was communicating with a number of veterans, a player's agent took the initiative to visit, causing a sensation in the entire Rockets management.

"He actually wants to join the Rockets?"

When Wang Chao received the phone call, he was also stunned, but it was normal to think about it carefully after calming down.

With his coffee position, he has not been able to win the championship so far, I am afraid that he is already impatient, and his peak is about to pass, if he can't win the championship in the future, when the peak period is completely over, even if he holds the thigh of a team, it is meaningless to win the championship.

After thinking about it, Wang Chao said to the management of the Rockets: "If he is willing to take a salary cut to join, sign it, he can indeed provide us with a lot of help in the new season." ”

A few days later, the Rockets' first signing deal caused a violent earthquake in the league.

On July 5, the Houston Rockets held a three-year, $24 million contract with Boston Celtics player Kevin Brown. Garnett reached a contract agreement to play for the Rockets for the next three seasons.

Garnett, who was 36 years old in 2012, is still the league's top interior player, averaging 15.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3 assists per game in the Celtics this season, and 19.2 points and 10.3 points per game in the playoffs.

Despite his age, Garnett is still a sweetheart, and it has been revealed by the media that the Celtics have prepared a contract of more than 30 million for 3 years, which is definitely a conscientious contract for a veteran who is about to turn 37.

But it is clear that four seasons in the Green Army with nothing have made Garnett unhappy, and he even did not hesitate to lower his price for the championship, joining the Rockets for three years and $24 million.

Garnett's joining has allowed the Rockets to form a combination of Da Yao + Garnett inside, and at the same time, Wang Chao can also be liberated from the big forward position and serve as a small forward, the Rockets are obviously stronger, as long as the main players are injured in the playoffs like this season, they are the biggest favorites to win the championship!

Seeing that the Rockets made a big move as soon as they came up, the Heat, which had just won the championship, was not to be outdone and immediately fought back.

On July 7, one of the Celtics' Big Three, Ray Murray. Allen announced that he has signed a three-year, $9.53 million contract with the Miami Heat.

On July 11, Sharad. Lewis joined the Heat with a two-year veteran base salary, and two of the three former SuperSonics musketeers reunited with the Heat.

The two signings have rekindled the mood that people have just recovered from the shock of the Rockets signing Garnett.

The Heat already have the most luxurious Big Three in the league, and now they have Ray. Allen and Lewis defected, although both of them are already old, and the competitive level is not as strong as the peak time, but considering the average annual salary of the two of them combined is less than 5 million, it is simply a combat power picked up for nothing.

And Thunder. Allen and Lewis are both shooters, and their three-point range can help the Heat, who mainly use James and Wade to break through with the ball.

After a few signings, the Celtics were the biggest losers, and the Big Three fell apart in the blink of an eye, leaving only the Green Army's own star Pierce alone, and even though Rondo has gradually grown into a top point guard, they have clearly stepped back from the championship ranks completely.

(End of chapter)