Five minutes before the clock, Stern returned to the backstage after announcing the 12th pick in the first round.

After so many years as the NBA president, Stern will inevitably develop a certain desire for control.

In order to minimize the occurrence of things out of his control, Stern, as before, chose to "peep at the screen" and opened the envelope in advance to see who the Grizzlies were looking for.

"How could it be Doon?"

It was also because of Stern's "carefulness" that Stern realized in advance that Doon's operation plan for entering the NBA had deviated from the predetermined track!

And that's exactly what Stern absolutely doesn't allow.

"Immediately inform Mitch Kupchak that he must complete the trade with Jerry West and take Doon for the Lakers!"

With Sent's order, the rest of the NBA draft office immediately got busy.

When Kupchak received the call, he was confused.

Didn't you say that you were the 18th pick in the first round to win Doon? Why did you change your hexagram temporarily?

The 18th pick in the first round is in the hands of the New Orleans Hornets, who have just moved from Charlotte to New Orleans and are also supported by Stern.

Therefore, Stern personally stepped in to facilitate the Lakers to trade draft picks upward, and the Hornets had to agree to the Lakers' request.

As for why the Lakers chose Doon, on the one hand, it was boosted by Stern, and on the other hand, the old Buss had no money in his pocket and had to use the Chinese market to maintain his Lakers dynasty.

As we all know, the basis for winning the championship is the salary space of the team.

In recent years, the Lakers have won three consecutive championships and established the Lakers dynasty again.

Behind the scenes, however, are the Buss family and other Lakers shareholders who pay a large luxury tax every year.

It is true that during the three-game winning streak, the Lakers were still profitable.

However, this year's Western Conference semifinals collapsed, and the Lakers faintly showed signs of loss - the stock price is rising, but the team's revenue is loss.

The salary cap is only 40 million, but the Lakers' salary is as high as 64 million.

In addition to player salaries and the luxury tax, there are essential team operating expenses, hotel transportation costs, and coach salaries.

In other words, the Lakers are not only making money for the players, but also for the general manager, head coach, scouts, and even the staff who clean the toilets.

However, the team owners and shareholders did not get the year-end dividends they deserved.

Considering that the contracts of the OK combination are 24.75 million and 13.5 million next season, respectively, and their contracts expire in the following year and next year, respectively.

The Lakers are under pressure to renew their two biggest stars with maximum salaries, as well as the dynastic aftermath that is bound to follow......

For this reason, the Lakers owner and management have to think in advance about how to take into account the current record and the near future.

Considering that he is old and his time is short, Buss Sr. wants to witness the moment when the Lakers surpass the Celtics before he dies! So I slapped the table and decided to rush for another year.

If they can win the championship next season, the Lakers will grasp O'Neal's peak tail and continue to chase the championship.

In order to alleviate the salary pressure on the team, the Lakers have to expect a piece of the NBA's globalization.

Like the Rockets, getting more Asian sponsors and taking advantage of the good news that Chinese players have joined the Lakers will boost the Lakers' stock price.

It just so happened that Stern, the president of the alliance, personally stepped out to take care of everything for Doon.

Old Bass had this intention, and the two naturally hit it off.

But unexpectedly, after making a perfect plan, there was an accident at the draft meeting.

"If it's Jerry, that's not a surprise at all!"

Kupchak is the personal disciple of the logo man!

When Kupchak joined the Lakers, the position held by the logo man was the general manager of the Lakers.

It was also the logo man who taught Kupchak and personally gave up the position of general manager of the Lakers, so that Kupchak is where he is today.

Kupchak knows very well how good the logo man is.

Last year, the logo man just handed him the position of general manager of the Lakers dynasty, and Kupchak thought that the Lakers could continue to win the championship smoothly.

As a result, as soon as the logo man left, the journey of the consecutive championships ended......

In order to avoid becoming a backstabber, Kupchak naturally wanted to catch up with his mentor by taking advantage of this opportunity.

Thinking of the deep master-apprentice relationship in the past, as well as "one day of purple gold, a lifelong Laker", Kupchak is very confident and completes the next transaction with the logo man.

Soon, Kupchak got through the Grizzlies draft office next door.

Hearing the familiar voice of the logo man, Kupchak immediately calmed down.

However, after a few words, Kupchak's heart hung in the air again.

"Detroit Pistons? They've traded draft picks from you? Are they trying to choose Doon? ”

Kupchak, who learned the truth, was directly numb!

Isn't Doon unwanted?

Didn't Stern say that Doon was shoehorned into the little green room?

How dare the Pistons bet on Doon's future with a lotto draw?

Is it because of the Chinese market?

Can you be sensible? What a speechless!

Just when Kupchak didn't know what to do, the logo man got a lot of useful information from the stunned Kupchak.

"Just think of it as a teacher, let's help you one last time!"

The logo man still chooses to help the Lakers, hoping to return to the Lakers in the future and take on important positions.

The Lakers are the only family business of the Buss family, and the old Buss's strong personality does not allow others to get involved with the Lakers.

The logo man just loves the Lakers too much, and wants to control the Lakers too much, and was finally driven away by Old Buss.

The logo man knows that only when Buss Sr. dies will he have a chance to return to the Lakers.

However, as the so-called old Buss abused him a thousand times, he treated the Lakers like his first love. Now the logo man has run away from home, but he still wants to go home anyway.

If we can witness the Lakers coming from behind and surpassing the arch-rival Celtics in the number of championships, the logo man will feel a sense of accomplishment even if he does not return to the Lakers.

So, this time I can only break my promise and get fat, sorry for the pistons.

After all, the draft pick is still in his hands! He only reached a verbal agreement with Dumas.

Because of the uncertainty of the draft, both sides of the trade picks, whether they trade draft picks up or down, can change their minds at short notice during the five-minute time for the draft roster to be formalized.

Some teams with the top draft picks rely on the rookies that are bound to win by the teams behind them, take advantage of the fire to ask for favors, and then complete their goal of trading draft picks downward.

Of course, after the draft is over, there can also be a trade of draft picks between teams. However, this is going to change the word to the rookie signing right.

This time, the Grizzlies took Doane, which was equivalent to asking the Pistons for a favor, but now they are asking the Lakers for it.

Kupchak received the reply from the logo man, and immediately thanked him, and he was grateful, and willingly made some trade promises.

The logo man has nothing to say about this, if Kupchak breaks his word and gets fat, then he can go back and make a deal with Dumas, and he won't lose left or right, it's just a little bit of a loss to his character.

As the saying goes, some people are happy and some are sad.

Unlike the relieved Kupchak.

With Stern back in office, it was announced that the Grizzlies had selected Doon with the 13th pick in the first round.

Bucks general manager Glenfield and Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor both reacted to varying degrees, expressing regret that Doane was cut off.

As for Dumas, who has the chance to win and the old god is there, he opened the champagne with the other piston staff in the office.

Milicic and Doane are two big players, and the revival of the Pistons is next season!

However, Doon had just put on his grizzly bear hat, hugged Stern, and then went to the adjacent media area to be interviewed by reporters.

The league quickly announced that the Grizzlies had just made a deal with the Lakers.

Bang –

As a famous moral model in the NBA, the bottle in Dumas's hand fell to the ground and made a mess......

"Lakers, it turned out that you cut off Dune!"

Grunfield cried for a moment, then shuddered and took out his phone and made a call to his boss.

As a result, I heard the news that the boss was angry and was ready to fire him.

"Herb, we still have a chance to get Doon, and I'll ask the Lakers to trade for Doon."

For a while, the phone in the Lakers draft office was blown up by Grunfield and Dumas.

The words were divided into two ends, and Doon, who had just finished the rookie interview, walked to the media display area on the side.

I found that there was already an official NBA staff member standing by there with a Lakers baseball cap.

Seeing this, Doon also took the initiative to take off the Grizzly baseball cap he was wearing on his head, exchanged the Lakers' baseball cap with the staff, and then put it on.

By the time the process is completely completed, I will return to the small green house to meet with my family and friends, and the draft meeting has been carried out for most of the time.

Almost half an hour later, Doon heard the Mavericks use the 28th pick in the second round to select another Chinese player, Xue Yuyang.

It's a pity that Xue Yuyang didn't arrive at the scene, otherwise with Dune's personality, he would have to go up to say hello to him.

It wasn't until the Pistons used the last pick of this draft to take Andres Greenkiss that this draft came to an end.

However, Doon's NBA career will also officially begin.

[Congratulations on being selected by an NBA team with the 13th pick in the first round of the 2003 NBA Draft!] 】

[You have achieved NBA rookie achievement by virtue of your status as a lottery pick.] When you sign a rookie contract with an NBA team, you'll get a chance to draw the 13th pick in the NBA first round. 】