On June 27, before heading to South Korea for their second Olympic qualifying match, the two brothers watched the 2008 draft in front of the TV at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York. This year's draft will be broadcast live to 203 countries and regions around the world through ESPN TV in the United States, and the Clippers will also select their favorite rookies in the conference.

The Clippers didn't have a single first-round pick this year, having traded to the Kings and Pistons last season with trades for Billups and Artest, but they have three second-round picks, which seems like a bit more.

Artest still rotted in the end, and the old Dunleavy wanted to sign first and then trade, but Sterling didn't care about it, anyway, the player salary in exchange was still so much. And Artest did not want to be controlled by the Clippers, and the Beast announced that he would jump out of the contract after the Finals and become a free agent to test the summer free market.

After the Finals, many players on the Clippers have expired their contracts, except for Artest, who has jumped out of the contract. Knight, Paul. Davis and Francisco. Garcia's contract has also expired, and at present, Dunleavy Sr. does not plan to renew his contract with the first two players, Garcia's contract is a team option, and the contract is currently in the negotiation stage, and the player himself prefers to stay with the Clippers, but Dunleavy Sr. will not give him too much salary, if other teams compete, more than three + million Clippers will definitely not match.

James. Posey's contract is also a two-year contract, with a player option for the second year. Percy has not been satisfied with his annual salary of 4 million a year, and he wants to get a long-term full middle class. At the moment, many teams are interested in the veteran with two championship rings in hand. If the Clippers don't use the full mid-range extension. It is believed that it is difficult to leave Posey, who already does not have much desire for honor.

The elder Dunleavy has now confirmed that he is not with Blevin. Knight and Paul. Davis's contract extension, along with Livingston, who was injured for two years, and Artest, who jumped out of contract, left the Clippers' roster vacant after the Finals.

PG: Billups

SG: Aaron. Afflaro, Catino. Mobley

SF: James. Posey, Francisco. Garcia

PF: Ji Guoyi, Amir. Johnson, Tim. Thomas

C: Ji Guoqiu

This summer, the Clippers have signed new players at almost every position, so three second-round picks come in handy, and the stingy Sterling certainly likes cheap second-round rookies, and if they continue to shit their luck, pick one or two like the twins. Sterling was going to laugh.

Dunleavy Sr. first used his second-round pick to select a backup center to replace Paul. Vacancies after Davis' departure. Eventually, the elder Dunleavy was in Asik and DeAndrew. Jordan and the two hesitated for a long time, and finally chose DeAndrew, who was in better physical condition. Jordan.

Jordan was originally very favored by the outside world, this 19-year-old black player with a height of 211cm and a weight of 250 pounds, with a body no less than that of his twin brothers, was originally considered a member of the lottery area, but in the NCAA knockout stage, Jordan Jr. had rough skills. The defects of poor basic skills were exposed, and the draft market fell all the way. In the end, it fell all the way to the second round before being selected by Dunleavy Sr.

The old Dunleavy doesn't care too much, Jordan Jr. is a defensive substitute in his eyes, and next season he will play a game for seven or eight minutes at most, and his skills will be rough if he is rough, anyway, there are twins, and he doesn't need to be a good interior substitute.

Then, with the 10th pick in the second round, the Clippers selected a 22-year-old white point guard from Slovenia. Dragic.

Golan. Dragic is an aggressive pick-and-roll point guard with excellent shooting and finishing ability, and has played several seasons in Europe in the professional league, with a wealth of experience in the national team and professional league.

In 2004, Dragic led Slovenia to the European Under-20 Men's Basketball Championship. At the 2007 European Championships, Dragic was defeated by Tony Dragic in a match against France. Parker broke the bridge of his nose but continued the game with an injury, eventually helping the team eliminate France 88-74.

The elder Dunleavy chose Dragic because of his immediate combat power and planned to use him to replace Blavin. Knight.

Dragic's task next season is to be a good substitute for Billups, Mr. Key is now old, and the playing time in a game will be charged under 33 minutes, Dragic's playing time can be imagined, and it will not be too little. If his potential is sufficient, and he develops well in a few years, it may not be impossible to replace Billups.

The Clippers' last second-round pick, the elder Dunleavy is ready to choose a swingman as a backup, and after Artest leaves, Posey is likely to seek a big contract, and then they will be short of personnel at the second and third positions, and now they must plan for a rainy day.

The elder Dunleavy used the No. 20 pick in the final second round to select 1.98 meters tall, 225 pounds, and swingman from Kansas State University. Walker. If there are no injuries, maybe the 20-year-old Beal. Walker would have been a top-10 rookie pick in 2008, but three knee surgeries in five years cost him that opportunity.

Bill. Walker played alongside O.J. Mayo in high school, and besieged the city with Beasley in college, possessing excellent physical qualities, known as "Carter's second", but injuries caused him to fall from the lottery to the end of the second round, and if the old Dunleavy did not really have no one to choose, I believe he would not choose this glass man who could be scrapped at any time.

These three players are what the Clippers gained in the draft, what Beasley, OJ Mayo, it has nothing to do with them, if these three players have a good summer league schedule, they will be part of the championship team in the new season.

That's the way NBA teams come in, they come in and out, new players come in every year, and people leave every year.

On June 29, the New Orleans Hornets announced that they would be a two-time champion. James. Posey offered a four-year, full-length middle-class contract. Another member of the Clippers' championship team left voluntarily.

James. Posey's agent had long spoken to Dunleavy Sr. about this. The 31-year-old Posey wants to get a full middle class for more than 4 years, but the Clippers don't want to give a 31-year-old veteran such a contract, and players of this age are most likely to get a pension contract and start messing around, not to mention that Posey already has two rings on his body, so it is easier to lose his fighting spirit.

One more person left, and the Clippers' lineup became:

PG: Billups, Golan. Dragic

SG: Mobley, Aron. Afflaro, Catino. Mobley

SF: Francisco. Garcia, Bill. Walker

PF: Ji Guoyi, Amir. Johnson, Tim. Thomas

C: Ji Guoqiu, DeAndrew. Jordan.

With Posey gone, it's clear that the Clippers are now more in need of players at the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. Especially in the No. 3 position, now only Garcia, whose contract has not yet been negotiated, is left, and if Garcia leaves in the end, then there will be no one in their No. 3 position at all.

However, at the moment, the Clippers' salary is so low that all NBA teams are jealous, counting the three rookies with a total of only $35.4 million, and the salary cap for the 2008-2009 season is $59.68 million, which is more than $4 million more than last season. The luxury tax trigger for the new season is $72.15 million, and the amount for the middle class clause is $5.885 million.

It's a very good arithmetic problem, and the Clippers now have 25 million to recruit. This is unbelievable in the eyes of the major media, a team that has just won the championship. In the new season, when the main framework is well preserved, there is still 25 million space to bring in reinforcements, which is enough to sign a superstar, and how can the Lakers next door live?

The elder Dunleavy has 25 million in his hands, but he doesn't plan to sign the superstar of the playing year, which will clash with their current Big Three, just like Artest. What they need now is a good defensive swingman like Posey, not too athletic, but also three-point shooting ability, and preferably no more than 5 million in salary. The last one, of course, was imposed by Raheem Sterling, which eliminated the good strikers at once.

The Clippers have a couple of targets right now, such as their neighbor's recently expired young power forward, 22-year-old Trevor. Ariza, although young, is amazingly athletic, has an excellent height and is willing to defend. The disadvantage is that he basically has no three-point shooting ability, has not fully developed his potential, and urgently needs to improve his offensive and defensive skills.

There's also Matt, a free agent. Barnes, a defensive swingman, athletic, physically strong and highly motivated on the court. The disadvantage is also that the three-point ability is average, these defensive guards swing people, there are really not many who can shoot three-pointers, so Posey's offer is really not much, if it weren't for the fact that the contract period required by him is too long, the old Dunleavy actually very much wants to keep Posey.

Magic expiration of Michael. Petrus is also good, athletic, physically strong, and has a three-point range, but lacks enough active attacking ability, but it doesn't matter, just three points.

Dunleavy Sr. is currently in contract talks with these three players, and as long as one can be negotiated, they will no longer be available in the No. 3 position.

On June 29, 2008, when the Los Angeles media speculated that the Clippers would use the 25 million that made the major giants jealous, Dunleavy Sr. made a quick move, first using a three-year $9 million contract to complete a contract extension with Garcia, and the third year was a team option; Then the Clippers brought back Aaron, who had been delegated to the Development League. Afflaro, filling the depth of the squad in the second spot.

However, after renewing Garcia's contract and recalling Afralo, the players in the second and third positions of the Clippers are still not as strong as last season, Garcia is not as good as Artest and Posey on both offensive and defensive ends, and although Alfraro is excellent in the development league, it is difficult to replace these two players.

Therefore, the media believes that the old Dunleavy should still shoot at the second and third positions in the near future, otherwise the Clippers will lose their ability to compete, they don't know that Afralo will become a quasi-All-Star player, and even the old Dunleavy himself has not thought about it, thinking that this is a bench player.

For a while, what Sean. Marion, Lore. Deng, Andre. Iguodala, Monta. Ellis is involved with the Clippers, and it is rumored that he has a nose and an eye.

The elder Dunleavy really wanted to sign these players, but Sterling, the bastard, insisted on leaving room for the twin brothers to renew, and he still didn't want to pay the luxury tax, even if the Clippers are now worth several times, the old immortal is still so picky.

On June 30, the two brothers learned that the Clippers and Knicks had made a big deal at the airport on their way to Busan. The Clippers sent Catino in this deal. Mobley and Tim. Thomas, from the Knicks in exchange for Jamal. Crawford and Jared. Jeffries, it's a deal with exactly equal salaries, and one that everyone didn't expect.

After carefully analyzing this completely unprepared deal, Clippers fans felt that the Knicks' top management must be idiots, and the Clippers traded 33-year-old Mobley for 28-year-old Crawford; With Tim, who can't defend but only attack. Thomas traded for Jeffries, who could only defend and not attack, and it seemed that they earned it.

But the Knicks' manager and boss are fools, why would they suffer such a loss?

Countless people were puzzled, thinking that Dolan and the smiling assassin were brain-dead again, until September, when the Knicks announced that the old cat Mobley was found to have heart problems and retired directly, everyone suddenly realized that the feelings of the Knicks were to empty the salary and wait for the big fish in 2010! And trade Crawford and Randolph and others, and you can still choose the champion, killing multiple birds with one stone, there are many outstanding rookies next year, and Dolan, an idiot, is really far-sighted.

At the end of June, after the Clippers were traded, the roster roster:

PG: Billups, Golan. Dragic

SG: Jamal. Crawford, Aaron. Afflaro

SF: Francisco. Garcia, Bill. Walker

PF: Ji Guoyi, Amir. Johnson, Jared. Jeffries.

C: Ji Guoqiu, DeAndrew. Jordan.

Many Clippers fans have said that the roster looks much better now, and the salary is only $32.1 million, which is still pitiful, and the elder Dunleavy can continue to look for suitable players in the free market in the future, but they are not in a hurry now.

But the two players who were traded didn't see it that way, and the old cat Mobley kept complaining about the deal, saying: "I was angry and surprised, I mean, I like this team, I didn't give up on our team, I don't know what the owner thinks, I don't know what the others think, but we were given up. ”

Another player who was traded by the Clippers, Tim. Thomas felt the same way, saying: "Last season was the happiest of my career, I got the ring on my hand and I think we're going to keep going, so it's really hard and I love my team-mates here a lot, it's so bad. Thomas, who played in New York for the 2003-04 and 04-05 seasons, was silent for a moment and whispered: "I'm shocked to have the opportunity to play in New York again, but after last season I already had a premonition that something was going to happen, maybe that's the nature of business." (To be continued......) R1292