Chapter 45 NBA Draft

  Happy National Day to everyone! In the past week, this book's performance has been steadily rising, ranking 7th in the click chart and 8th in the recommendation chart, achieving the goal of double top ten. This book was confirmed as a competitive strong push on October 7th, so we still need everyone's support this week. The target for this time is to reach the top six in both charts. Thank you all in advance! Finally, I wish everyone a happy National Day again.

  "What's with Mike, the guy from New York? He seems to be staring at you with a lot of disdain. Did you offend him?" The NBA draft scene was filled with fans, players, and team general managers all gathered together. The 1998 NBA draft had begun, and some familiar faces were chatting together, like Larry Bird, coach of the Celtics, and Timberwolves GM McHale.

  Larry Bird saw Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh mocking Michael and the Timberwolves, he wanted to intervene but was afraid of not understanding the situation, so he just watched from the side. After Donnie left, he asked what had happened.

  "Who knows? I'm also puzzled why he's like a mad dog biting people for no reason." McHale was also perplexed, he didn't recall having any beef with the New York Knicks, except during his playing days.

  What McHale didn't know was that Xiao Dao Lan wasn't dissatisfied with him, but rather with Zhuang Fei, so he inadvertently vented his frustrations on the Timberwolves and McHale.

  Lari Bird thought for a moment and smiled at Michael: "Never mind that, Kevin, who are you guys going to pick today?"

  McHale snapped back to attention, looked at Larry Bird with a wary expression and said: "Why are you asking this?" The team's draft list is absolutely the biggest secret on draft night, it's impossible for others to know first, otherwise they'll be preempted. Even if Larry Bird was his good friend, he still needed to be careful.

  "Hey, Kevin, I don't even believe it myself?" Larry Bird said with a wry smile, he really didn't mean anything else, just very curious about Zhuang Fei's choice. Then Larry Bird continued: "You know I'm a fan of Coach Z, I just want to know what instructions he gave you, besides, we're only the 25th pick, you guys are the 17th pick, I think it's impossible to get ahead even if you try." After finishing speaking, Larry Bird still glared at McHale with an unhappy expression.

  "And you? Who do you walkers want to choose?" McHale also asked a sentence.

  "We had originally decided on a high school student, but that student suddenly dropped out and joined Vicksburg University," Larry Bird said with a sorrowful expression.

  "It's Aylmer Harrington" McHale nodded, he also knew something about Harrington. "Our target today is that person." McHale pointed to the area where the players were sitting, also known as the small green house. The small green house had only thirteen people.

  "Is that him? Are you sure we can get him? I heard he's a must-sign target for the Rockets." Larry Bird took a look at the person McHale was pointing to and sucked in a breath of cold air, Rashard Lewis, a Houston native. The Rockets had made it clear before the draft that they would do whatever it takes to keep him in Houston, but with the Rockets having picks 14, 16, and 18, three first-round picks, how could the Timberwolves possibly get ahead of them?

  "You don't ask me, I don't know either. That's what Zhuang said, he said the Timberwolves would definitely be able to pick him, I don't know where his confidence came from." McHale also couldn't help but smile wryly, he suggested that the team select Bryce Drew, but before he could even explain, it was directly rejected. It made him angry and helpless at the same time, probably no general manager in the league had it as tough as him. Who let Zhuang's connections be bigger than his? He could only follow Zhuang's instructions.

  "Haha, Kevin, good luck!" Larry Bird comforted the frustrated McHale, who didn't think the Timberwolves would get Rashad Lewis either.

  ........

  ........

  "Coach, this is my first time watching the NBA draft live," said Zhuang Fei at his home in Minnesota. Stephon Green and DeAntoni were sitting next to Zhuang Fei, both of them staring at the NBA draft live broadcast.

  "Is the deal with Nash and Steve done, Mike?" Nash arrived in Minnesota today, and the trade between the Timberwolves and Suns is also officially completed, but has not been publicly announced yet. Zhu Fei is very concerned about Nash's situation.

  "Don't worry, the team has already arranged an apartment for him, there won't be any problem," said DeAntoni with a smile. Zhuang Fei was being overly concerned about Nash's defense. They had asked this kind of question many times today.

  "How is his emotional problem? Is there anything he can't open up about?"

  "It's okay, looks like you're in a good mood, shouldn't be any problem"

  "Hmm, that's good." Zhuang Fei felt slightly more at ease. His eyes refocused on the draft conference.

  "Damn, the trash school's stats padders really brought Vince down." When David Stern announced that center Michael Olowokandi was picked first overall, Stephon Marbury suddenly became furious, and even though he didn't say anything, he also felt a bit disappointed. In his opinion, Carter should have been the undisputed number one pick, but Michael Olowokandi's college stats were indeed dazzling, and he was an inside player - nowadays in the NBA, inside players dominate, and it seems like that will still be the case in future NBA drafts.

  "Traditional centers with excellent data like this are very advantageous, and Vince not getting the top pick isn't a huge upset," Zhuang Fei explained, but looking at Stephon Green's expression, he still seemed somewhat indignant.

  The Vancouver Grizzlies selected Vince Carter from North Carolina with the second overall pick, while the Denver Nuggets chose Raef LaFrentz at third. The Toronto Raptors picked Antawn Jamison fourth and the Golden State Warriors took Vonteego Cummings fifth. The Dallas Mavericks rounded out the top six by selecting Dirk Nowitzki from Germany.

  "Is this a German? The Dallas Mavericks are really scraping the bottom of the barrel now," Stephon Green said with disdain, although the NBA encourages international players to come here for development, many locals still have colored glasses towards international players.

  "Maybe this German will bring a miracle to the NBA," Zhuang Fei muttered, but Stephon Green seemed still somewhat disdainful.

  The seventh pick was used by the Kings to select Mike Bibby, the eighth pick was used by the 76ers to select Larry Hughes, the ninth pick was used by the Bucks to select Paul Pierce and the tenth pick was used by the Celtics to select Jason Williams.

  As the players of the little green house appeared one by one, Rashard Lewis's mood became more and more tense, finally it was the Rockets' turn.

  The Houston Rockets selected Michael Dickerson from the University of Arizona with the 14th pick.

  When Stern announced Michael Dickerson's name, Rashard Lewis couldn't believe his ears. Almost everyone thought the Rockets would use the 14th pick to select him, and he himself thought so too, even thinking about what to say in his speech. Now the Rockets had stood him up, and he became the only player left in the green room who hadn't been selected yet.

  "The Rockets have three first-round picks, the next one should be me, I need to calm down, calm down" Rashad Lewis quietly comforted himself.

  When David Stern announced the Rockets again, Rashard Lewis almost cried.

  Bryce Drew? They didn't even choose him as a point guard.

  Sitting on the other side, Larry Bird and Mitch Kupchak were stunned. Did the Rockets really not want Rashard Lewis? Were all the words before the draft just smoke bombs?

  McHale didn't have much time to think about it; he had to make a decision right away.

  The Minnesota Timberwolves selected Rashad Lewis from Alief Elsik High School with the 17th pick.

  When Rashad Lewis finally heard his name, he almost cried. When he went on stage to give a speech, he still couldn't hold back and burst into tears.

  "Coach, how did you know the Rockets wouldn't draft Rashard Lewis?" Stephon Green and DeAntoni curiously looked at Zhu Fei.

  Zhuang Fei just smiled and didn't answer.

  The NBA draft night is just the beginning, the real exciting draft story will be seen in the trade news a day later.