Jiang Dongbing didn't care about the little abacus that Popovich played. He cared about Elliott because the Spurs really didn't have a better candidate, and Jiang Dongbing could find any better candidate than Elliott, so he naturally didn't care much about Elliott.

In addition, if you buy out Elliott, you can indeed save a lot of money for the Trail Blazers. First, you can save five million US dollars in salary space, and second, when you buy out, you don’t need to pay Elliott’s salary in full. If you don’t play a game, you will be almost 1.5 million at most.

After finalizing the transaction intention with Popovich, the two of them will sign the contract only after waiting for the draft to end.

...

It's not a few days before the draft begins. Jiang Dongbing is preparing to put the transaction first and talk about it after the draft. After all, the offseason is long, so you should leave some work for yourself.

"Jiang, we have very poor draft picks now. Should we trade with other teams to get some draft picks with higher picks?" Whitset found Jiang Dongbing and asked.

Whitsett, the general manager, may be influenced by Paul Allen. Once the team has difficulties, the first thing he thinks about is spending money to trade.

Jiang Dongbing shook his head, "There is no need. The quality of this year's rookies is not high, so we can't make any mistakes. What is the pick we have in our hands now?"

"One first round 25 pick, and another second round 39 pick..." Whitset said embarrassedly.

These two picks are indeed quite shabby. Jiang Dongbing said just now that the quality of this draft is not high, I am afraid that it will be difficult for these two draft picks to choose any decent players.

Jiang Dongbing smacked his lips. These two draft picks are really a headache. It is good to use the 39th pick to sign Reed, the Deer King, because Reed's pick is normally 43rd pick.

And there is really no one to sign for the first round of picks with the 25th pick.

Even in the New Year of the Draft, some players must have a high cost performance, but the 25th pick is still too low and they can't sign it.

"Bob, can you trade these twenty-five picks up? Don't be too high, just between fifteen and twenty picks."

"Or you buy some draft picks between the fifteenth and twentyth picks, provided that the price is not so expensive, and try to keep the price within 2 million US dollars." Jiang Dongbing thought for a while and said to Whitset.

Whitset's mouth twitched? He just told himself that he didn't need too many draft picks? As a result, he was asked to buy the draft pick now. He really didn't understand what Jiang Dongbing was thinking.

But this task that Jiang Dongbing "arranged"? In Whitset's view, it's simply a piece of cake.

The 15th pick to the 20th pick, which is the ranking after the lottery show? The value is actually not very high. Some teams really don’t have any candidates they like? Will they directly sell the draft pick? And the draft pick can be sold directly.

In fact, there is no saying that the NBA team is short of players. In fact, there are not enough players. They can find a lot of players in the subordinate league or free market.

"Okay? Then I'll do it now." Whitset put his posture very low? Even if he was nominally Jiang Dongbing's immediate boss.

...

I have to say that Whitset's trading ability is truly amazing. In just two days, he brought good news to Jiang Dongbing.

"Jiang, the draft pick has succeeded." Whitset said happily. I thought that after Jiang Dongbing came, he would turn into a vase decoration. I didn't expect that I would still have a place to use it.

"Our 25th pick adds $1.5 million to the Milwaukee Bucks? Get their 15th pick."

"Then they spent three million dollars each to exchange their 16th and 18th picks from the Kings and the Clippers." Whitset said proudly.

"Hmm? Three million US dollars? Why is it so expensive?" Jiang Dongbing remembered that he told Whitset before? Try to ensure that it is controlled at 2 million US dollars.

"There is really nothing to do? At first we agreed with the Clippers. Their 18th pick is indeed 2 million US dollars. Later, they talked with the king, but they didn't let go. After the boss found out, he ordered me to agree."

"As a result, the Clippers didn't know how they got the news, so they quit and insisted on three million. The boss nodded and agreed, so it became like this now." Whitset said helplessly.

Jiang Dongbing was speechless. Paul Allen was really stupid and had a lot of money. He gave as much as he wanted. He didn't bargain at all. Fortunately, the official stipulated that the upper limit of cash transactions was 3 million US dollars. If the upper limit was higher, Paul Allen would probably take it out without blinking.

"Hey, our boss is really willing to spend money." Jiang Dongbing sighed and said.

Whitset chuckled from the side, saying that it was 70 to 80 million last season, and he still cared about these millions? And even fools knew that Jiang Dongbing wanted a draft pick, he would definitely have a newcomer candidate. Once he could choose, even if he couldn't sell it, he would definitely make a fortune.

"But that's not bad. In this way, we have four draft picks in our hands and we should be able to choose many good players." Jiang Dongbing said with a smile.

In a local rich team like the Trail Blazers, it is indeed a pleasant thing. If it were the Grizzlies, the boss would not be willing to spend so much money no matter what...

On June 29, Jiang Dongbing and Whitset appeared at Madison Garden Stadium. Tonight is the start time of the 2000 draft.

"Bob, congratulations, you have invited Jiang Dongbing, the Trail Blazers have a promising future!"

"Yes, you Trail Blazers are really making a fortune this time. Can you tell me what magic you used to let Jiang Dongbing join your team?"

"Jiang, long time no see. You have bought so many draft picks this time. Are you planning to do a big fight at this draft?"

"I think the quality is definitely good in the first draft in the 21st century, and maybe a few cross-age characters will emerge."

As soon as they entered the venue, Jiang Dongbing and Whitset were surrounded by executives from other teams, chattering and shouting.

Because the Trail Blazers did not announce the details of Jiang Dongbing's contract, the outside world does not know how much salary the Trail Blazers paid to Jiang Dongbing, but only knows that it is bound to be missing. Otherwise, Jiang Dongbing would have no reason to join the Trail Blazers.

The best place for coaches like Jiang Dongbing to prove their abilities again is undoubtedly those weak teams. The Trail Blazers are obviously not among the weak ones.

There are also senior team leaders who have seen the Trail Blazers receive so many draft picks, and they are confident that this draft will definitely be a big year. They are looking forward to whether the players they choose will become those superstars that cross the era.

The reason why the big New Year is called the big New Year is because the quality and quantity of stars are produced. Even if many teams do not have such good talent selection vision, if they encounter the big New Year, they can choose a decent player.

Whitset greeted many executives sleekly. He has unique talent in building alliances, so it is no wonder that he can do everything in trading.

Jiang Dongbing found the Pioneer's seat, sat down quietly, and waited for the start of the draft.

Now I have three first-round picks between the fifteenth and twentyth picks in my hand, and one second-round pick to choose Reed.

The two best players of this year are undoubtedly Reed. Now that Reed is almost certainly obtained by himself, Jiang Dongbing has to start thinking about how to choose the remaining three first-round picks.

The first round pick from the Bucks with the fifteenth pick. After pondering for a while, Jiang Dongbing decided to use it to choose Xidu Tekoglu, who was selected by the sixteenth pick under normal circumstances.

Tekoglu, known as the Turkish Magician or the Turkish LeBron, is actually quite cost-effective. He is a small forward with a height of 208 cm and has excellent three-point ability and organizational ability. He is the absolute core player of the Magic team that entered the finals in later generations. Even in terms of tactical status, Howard, Warcraft, is not as good as Tekoglu.

But Tkoglu's flaw is also very obvious, that is, the defense is not very good. Because of the slow speed, it is difficult for him to limit the defensive restrictions on small forwards with strong athletic capabilities. If he plays power forward, his thin body will definitely be crushed into meat pie when facing players like Duncan or Malone.

If it were in the previous few years of drafts, even if Tkoglu had a very attractive feature, Jiang Dongbing would definitely not be interested in him because of his poor defensive ability.

But now there is really no good choice. Jiang Dongbing can only choose the big one from the short one and choose this Tkoglu.

The main reason is that Jiang Dongbing is preparing to train the rookies selected in this class first. Except for Reed, everyone else will probably sell them.

Therefore, Tkoglu's shortcomings in poor defense can be ignored. Isn't it normal for rookie players to have poor defense? Other teams will definitely drool when they see Tkoglu's outstanding three-pointers and organizational skills. Who cares about his poor defensive strength?

In the next sixteenth pick, Jiang Dongbing decided to choose the big q Quentin Richardson.

This player is not very famous in China, and I am afraid that only very senior fans will understand him.

Looking at Richardson's career, it is worth talking about that he has won the All-Star three-point competition championship, and he was traded four times a month, setting a NBA transaction record.

At his peak, he averaged 17 points, 6.4 rebounds and 2 assists per game, of which 2.2 of these 6.4 rebounds were frontcourt rebounds, and his performance was still outstanding.

With a height of only 198 cm, Richardson can indeed play as a defender, small forward and even power forward. His rebounding level is quite top-notch. In addition, his other three-pointers are also good. After all, they all won the three-point competition championship.

The most regrettable thing is that the defense is not good and there is no organizational ability. However, if you can be selected by Jiang Dongbing with the 16th pick, it will definitely have a high cost performance.

Under normal circumstances, he was selected by the Clippers with the 18th pick, but now the Clippers are obviously not very interested in him because of their two forward players, Ricky Davis and Uncle Bao San.

In the end, Jiang Dongbing's eighteen picks made him more confused, and he didn't know whether to choose Desmond Mason or Morris Peterson.

Both players are small forwards, but their styles are very different. Mason has a strong physical fitness and has won the Dunk Contest. He is a well-known dunk player. Peterson is better at shooting and has three-pointers above first-hand level.

Logically speaking, Mason, who has a strong physical fitness, has better defense, but in fact, Peterson's defense is significantly better than Mason, so Jiang Dongbing thought about it and decided to choose Peterson. Tkoglu and Richardson's defense was poor enough, and Reed was not much stronger. If he chose Mason, who was defensively rubbish, how could he play in this game?

Of course, in addition to defensive considerations, Jiang Dongbing dislikes Mason.

Mason once hugged Yao Ming in the game, which is also the most unbearable conflict that Yao Ming has encountered throughout his career. As a Chinese fan, Jiang Dongbing naturally cannot have any good feelings for Mason.

"Jiang, Stern has already come on stage. Have you confirmed our draft candidate?" Whitsett sat next to Jiang Dongbing after greeting other executives.

"Well, I've probably thought about it, I hope there will be no accidents." Jiang Dongbing nodded and said.

It is common for accidents to occur in the draft. The players you are optimistic about may be favored by other teams, and then because your draft pick is not as high as others, they will be intercepted by others.

However, because Jiang Dongbing knew the normal draft picks of these players, the chance of being intercepted was not very high.

Soon Stern came on the court and directly read out the No. 1 pick for the New Jersey Nets.

Without any surprises, Kenyon Martin was successfully elected as the No. 1 pick and became the first No. 1 pick in the 21st century. Jiang Dongbing couldn't help feeling sorry for the New Jersey Nets executives. He finally got the No. 1 pick, but ended up in the Little New Year!

However, New Jersey is pretty good. At least he chose the second best player in this little year. If he chose Swift, the situation would be even worse.

Next, the Bulls chose Swift with the second pick, while the Clippers chose Dalius Myers with the third pick.

The Clippers are very lucky this year, and their regular season record is actually quite good, but during the lottery conference, they directly drew the Tanhua lottery and made a successful counterattack. Unfortunately, this Tanhua lottery cannot enhance their Clippers' combat power.

Dalius Myers is actually a talent. After joining the Trail Blazers in the future, he directly called his head coach Chicks a nigger, and then made a fuss about saying that he didn't care about the team losing the next twenty games. The key is that he is a black man himself...

The Orlando Magic chose Mike Miller with the fifth pick. This is a space-type fourth-place player with good strength. He has a good three-pointer ability. In fact, he is a player that Jiang Dongbing prefers. Unfortunately, the pick is too high, so Jiang Dongbing can only watch.
Chapter completed!