The seven main players, Thorpe, is definitely not very strong due to his age, but the remaining six are all young people. With the help of the system bonus, Jiang Dongbing is confident that he will create a powerful Grizzlies in the short term.

Two days later, Stewart brought good news to Jiang Dongbing. The deal with the Raptors was finalized. The Grizzlies took out Levice, plus next year's first and second round picks, in exchange for the Raptors' Christie and Billups.

The Raptors completely felt that they had made a big profit in this deal. In recent years, the Grizzlies have always had a high pick in the first round. They don’t believe that if a new melon seed Jiang Dongbing comes, they can make the Grizzlies have any qualitative changes.

In their opinion, even if the Grizzlies' first round pick next year is only the tenth pick, then this transaction will make a profit.

Moreover, these two players are now optional in the Raptors. They were originally planning to despise Lups. As for Christie, at most, they could only start McGrady in advance.

In addition to finalizing the deal with the Raptors, Stewart also traded with the Philadelphia 76ers, taking out the Grizzlies' starting point guard Sam Mark and chief substitute small forward George Lynch, and exchanged their second-round 37 pick from the 76ers.

It sounds like the starting point guard and the chief substitute are very intimidating, but in fact these two are quite naughty, so they can only change the second round pick.

Jiang Dongbing was overjoyed. Everything was going very smoothly. Let’s look at the talent show next.

In fact, Jiang Dongbing's entry into the NBA this year is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is mainly because after the draft, he has a very long time to train players.

The draft is usually held in late June. After the draft is over, the preseason in October will start in just three months.

But this 1998 is an exception. Because the wage negotiations collapsed, the new season will only start in February of the following year, and there is more than half a year between the draft!

Although the team cannot provide training venues during the wage negotiations, Jiang Dongbing’s special training does not require a very professional training ground. Even if it is just a wild court, special training can also be carried out.

Of course, the premise is that the players have to cooperate. If the players do not want to participate in the training, then Jiang Dongbing's special training will not be able to start.

If Thorpe is not counted, the Grizzlies have six main players who can be regarded as binding objects. Jiang Dongbing doesn't believe that all the six people refuse to train, at least Jackson will never miss the training.

This suspension is the longest suspension in the NBA so far. To put it bluntly, it is caused by the greed of the boss and the players.

It’s not just the capitalist boss’ greed, but the players’ performance in this negotiation is also enough to be called greed.

In the 1997-98 season, 57% of all related NBA revenues were used to pay players' salaries, which caused more than half of the league's teams to be in losses.

Nearly 60% of the players' salary expenses are not counted as the salary expenses of the team's management and some logistics personnel. In addition, many teams rent game venues, it would be strange if they can make money.

Bosses can't always lose money and make a name for themselves, and the players don't want to reduce their income, so the conflicts between the two sides become irreconcilable.

As a result, this led to more than half a year of negotiations. If Stern hadn't finally made a harsh statement saying that the negotiations could not be reached before January 7, the season would have been cancelled, and then I don't know when this negotiation would be spent.

Jiang Dongbing naturally did not take sides in this negotiation. First of all, he was not the team boss, and secondly, he was not a player. The negotiation had nothing to do with him. The only thing he had to do now was to seize this rare time to improve the strength of the newcomers.

...

The finals started, and in the end, the Bulls led by Jordan eliminated the Jazz with a score of 4:2 for two consecutive years, winning the second three-game trophy in team history.

A week later, Jordan announced his second retirement, causing a shock in the NBA.

Of course, Jiang Dongbing had known this news, but he was still a little regretful. His failure to fight with the basketball god at his peak made his time travel dim a lot.

Jordan left, despite the tsunami-like shock, people in the NBA circle still have to eat what they should eat.

On June 26, the annual draft began and hosted in Vancouver, the home court of the Grizzlies.

The home court of Toronto in the 1995 draft was probably the NBA official felt that he had treated the Grizzlies, who are also Canadian teams, so this time he was in Vancouver.

Jiang Dongbing and Stewart went to the draft venue. After all, they were the hosts and they had to arrive a little early.

Not long after, all representatives from the other twenty-eight teams in the league came, and Stewart also took this opportunity to introduce many team executives and head coaches to Jiang Dongbing.

Chris Ford, the Bucks head coach who Jiang Dongbing had met before, also came to the scene today, but he has changed his identity now. He is now the head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers.

"Jiang, it's been a long time since I saw you. I haven't congratulated you on becoming the head coach of the Grizzlies." After seeing Jiang Dongbing, Ford greeted him enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Coach Ford." Jiang Dongbing replied with a smile.

When the two chatted, they usually asked each other about the candidates for the draft when they met, but Jiang Dongbing and Ford did not have this need.

The Clippers are the No. 1 pick, and they choose whoever they want. They are extremely willful. On the Grizzlies, they can only look at the Clippers' expressions. It is the Grizzlies' turn to choose the rest.

After a long period of greetings, Xiao Hua, the vice president of the league, came on the court and announced that the 1998 draft officially began.

Seeing Xiao Hua with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, Jiang Dongbing naturally had no favors. He had already begun to wonder if there was any way to block Xiao Hua's path to becoming the top.

After a while, Stern appeared and said a lot of clichés, which was nothing more than encouraging this year's rookie.

Jiang Dongbing had already seen the representative of the Clippers handed his list to the staff on site, and the words on it must be the top scorer they selected.

This made Jiang Dongbing curious, who would the Clippers choose? David or Jackson?

"I announce that the Los Angeles Clippers chose David Tyrone, the center player from the University of Pittsburgh with the first pick in the first round!" As Stern's voice sounded, Jiang Dongbing's doubts were also revealed.

This was not beyond Jiang Dongbing's expectations. A team like the Clippers that does not have a single star in the team will undoubtedly choose the center forward and the top pick.

If there is no strong center in this draft, or if the Clippers already have an All-Star center in the team, the Clippers may choose players from other positions.

David slowly walked onto the court, wearing the suit customized for him by Jiang Dongbing. His expression was extremely unnatural, and he didn't look like he was elected as the No. 1 pick, but more like the expression that should appear in the draft.

Jiang Dongbing sighed. David must have wanted to continue playing with him. Now he has been selected by the Clippers, and his wish has been completely shattered.

David's eyes kept searching in the audience. When he saw Jiang Dongbing sitting upright, his eyes showed a glimmer of sadness.

But at this moment, Stephen Jackson, who was in the small green room, smiled brighter than the flower, and the corners of his mouth were grinning at the back of his head.
Chapter completed!