On June 28, the day before the draft began, Richard met Durant and the company commander in the hotel who will participate in the draft tomorrow.

Although Company Commander Brewer is not as dazzling as Durant, his draft pick is definitely not much lower, and he will definitely be selected in the top 10.

Brewer also knows that it is basically impossible for him to join the Pirates, after all, Richard only has a top-10 pick, and it is unlikely that anyone will use this precious draft pick to select Brewer.

Durant is very excited, and he is now extremely hopeful that the Trail Blazers can pick Oden with the first pick, so that he can join the Pirates.

Richard followed the process and awarded the two West Lafayette gold medals.

In the evening of the next day, Richard showed up with Miles at the draft venue.

Teams are gearing up to pick strong newcomers for their teams.

Especially a few fish belly teams with high draft picks, their eyes are shining at the moment, and they can't stop aiming towards the little green house.

"Bob, is there any progress on the Heat's peddle O'Neal?" Richard asked Bob Myers, who was beside him.

Miles shook his head, "BOSS, how can it be so easy, Pat Riley may not have woken up from his dream now, and thought that Shaq was the omnipotent interior overlord at his peak." ”

"The Suns are negotiating with the Heat, but I found out that the Suns are ready to give away two future draft picks, plus a rookie on the team, and some contracts that are about to expire."

Richard nodded, Miles's ability to find out the news is still quite strong, and if there is any wind and grass in the alliance, Miles can get the news as soon as possible.

The Suns gave two first-round picks plus a rookie, and the Heat certainly couldn't have agreed.

The main thing is that the Suns have these two first-round picks, the pick is definitely very low, and the value is not very large, so it's no wonder that Pat Riley can agree.

"Continue to inquire about the news, and by the way, let out some rumors, just say that Shaq is not in good health now, how to say it, you should be clear." Richard said to Miles.

Miles nodded and agreed, O'Neal is not in good health, this is not nonsense, O'Neal only played half a season's schedule last season, and if he releases some rumors, the teams will definitely believe it.

……

Stern had already started to play, and after a moment of nagging, he announced the official start of the draft.

After a while, Stern began to read out the candidates for the first prize.

"I am announcing that the Portland Trail Blazers selected Kevin Durant from Purdue University with the first pick in the first round."

The representatives of the teams in the audience were dumbfounded, the Trail Blazers didn't choose Oden, but Durant of Purdue University?!

Are they crazy, Auden has such a strong talent, they didn't choose, they chose a skinny hemp pole?!

The offensive firepower that Durant showed at Purdue University is indeed quite strong.

But there aren't too many NCAA players with strong offensive ability, not to mention that Adam Morrison, who was drafted last season, has quite strong offensive firepower, but now? Not even a starter......

However, after a moment of surprise, the teams with the highest picks in the back suddenly cheered, especially the Atlanta Hawks, who are now forcing themselves to look calmer.

If the Pirates don't pick Oden, then what else do they want from the Hawks.

Horford is good, but nowhere near as good as Oden, which is something that even a fool can see.

The representative of the Hawks team now only hopes that Richard will have his brain in water, give up Oden, and choose another newcomer.

……

Durant in the little green house was completely dumbfounded, and he became the champion? Said that Oden is the champion?

What the hell are the pioneers doing, are they full of food, why do they choose themselves with the champion lottery!

He originally planned to join the Pirate team, first follow this championship team for a year or two, start to sit in the starting position, and then with his own strength, he may become the boss of the Pirates team.

The boss of a dynasty team, it's fun to think about.

But now it's over, he was selected by the Trailblazers and can't join the pirates.

For a while, Durant's face turned red and he was annoyed, he may be the most unwilling champion in the entire NBA history......

Durant, who was in an extremely unhappy mood, did not show a smile even when he went on stage to shake hands with Stern.

……

Soon, it was the turn of the Pirates to sign the list.

Naturally, Richard did not hesitate to write Greg Auden's name on the note.

Oden was in the small green room, like Durant, he was also confused, in his opinion, this champion was completely in his pocket, but now the champion was snatched away by Durant.

As a result, the two most dazzling rookies in this year's rookie all appeared on stage with sad faces......

Stern was speechless, as if he had been kidnapped.

Seeing that Richard selected Oden with the top spot, the next few teams sighed, Richard didn't seem to have a brain in the water, and he was still quite sane.

……

Next, the Hawks selected Horford with the third pick in the first round according to their original plan.

Yi Jianlian was lucky this time and was selected by Lu Kai in the fifth pick......

Company Commander Brewer was selected by the Timberwolves with the seventh pick.

The Philadelphia 76ers had the luck of picking Thaddeus Young, the best player in the first round.

As for the other Yang Shaoxia, Nick Yang was selected by the Wizards.

The 23rd pick of the New York Knicks chose Wilson Chandler, a player who has been trained in the culture of Chinese business clubs.

After the next few picks passed, it was time for the Pirates to choose.

"I announce that the Charlotte Buccaneers have selected Sun Yue from Hebei, China, with the 29th pick in the first round."

Richard's choice did not make any waves at the venue, after all, it was only a second-round bottom pick, and the value was no different from the second-round pick, even if it was wasted.

However, in China, Stern's announcement made domestic fans completely boil.

Although they know very well that Sun Yue is not Yao Ming, and it is unlikely that he will grow into a star of Yao Ming's status, but now that Richard has selected Sun Yue, at least Sun Yue has the opportunity to stay in the NBA and develop.

To Richard's surprise, the SuperSonics played two good hands in a row, and after they selected Landry with the first pick in the second round, they chose the big baby Glenn Davis with the fifth pick in the second round.

Richard blinked, the supersonic speed is simply amazing, and the cost performance of these two choices is simply too high, almost half of the reliable players in the second round have been selected.

But after you get your hands on it, whether you will use it is another matter.

Why are many second-round players late bloomers, it's not that they only burst out at that age, some players are actually good in their own right, but the team doesn't value it and doesn't get any playing time, so they naturally start to look mediocre.

Richard is very clear about the supersonic selection vision, good to the point of outrageous, but the ability to cultivate newcomers is not very good, otherwise, they would not have won a championship in ancient times.

……

Next up for the Philadelphia 76ers' second-round 15th pick, Richard chose Marc Gasol.

There's not much to say about this option, and any person who travels through the country, as long as he has the opportunity to participate in the draft as a substitute for the team, will definitely take Gasol Jr., who is very cost-effective.

Next, Richard has a second-round pick of 29 left, and this draft pick is basically useless with Ramon Sessions being selected with the 26th pick in the second round.

Still, Richard drafted a player, an undrafted player who would normally have little presence.

Andre Ingram.

To be precise, Ingram didn't have much of a presence in the first decade of his career, playing in the Development League for a full decade.

The salary of the Development League is simply pitiful, and it is not easy for Ingram to last in the Development League for ten years.

Later, the Lakers gave Ingram a chance to a ten-day short contract, so that this gray-haired veteran who never gave up on basketball came into the field of vision of fans, plus the performance on the court was really good, and the media reported wildly.

At the moment, Richard really has no one to choose, and when he was looking at the draft roster before, he accidentally noticed this name and simply chose it.

This kind of dream chaser, at least Richard is quite respected, and in the case of his own ability without losing the interests of the team, Richard is happy to give this kind of player a chance.

……

At the end of the draft, Richard selected four players in this draft, namely Oden, Xiaojia, Sun Yue and Ingram.

It happens to be two inside lines and two outside lines, but the strength of these two outside lines is really too big and indescribably big compared to the two inside lines.

However, Richard has enough outside players on hand, even if the outside strength of these two newcomers is almost good, it has no impact on the overall strength of the Pirates team.

……

On the night of the draft, Richard received another call from Pat Riley.

This time, Pat Riley made a fairly honest offer, and they were willing to trade O'Neal for Oden and let Richard sign Mourning to a one-year, $15 million contract to match the salary.

Riley really didn't expect that the Trail Blazers didn't choose Oden......

Now that Auden was in Richard's hands, Riley immediately wrapped up like a shark that smelled blood.

"Riley, Oden is not for sale, no matter what team gets him, it is impossible to trade him for Shaq."

"You can continue to peddle Shaq on the trading market, but I have a feeling that Shaq may not be able to give you the chips you want."

Richard said calmly.

Riley sighed in his heart, the most annoying thing for him now must be O'Neal, and he can't wait to sell O'Neill overnight to avoid long nights.

But this kind of big contract player with hundreds of millions of dollars, coupled with his old age, how can it be so easy to sell.

Richard, for his part, has always maintained a non-detachable attitude towards the Heat and expressed interest in O'Neal, but as soon as the offer was mentioned, Richard sneered directly.

"Lee, let's go straight to the point, what kind of chips are you willing to pay to trade Shaq?" Riley asked in a deep voice.

"No hurry, Riley, I'll be taking my family to the East Coast for a vacation in the near future, shall we meet and talk then?" Richard said unhurriedly.

He is indeed unhurried and interested in O'Neal, which does not mean that Richard has to take O'Neal......

If Riley had been lucky enough to sell O'Neill for a big price, Richard would have been a big deal.