The Strongest Bishop in the NBA

The 2011 draft was held on June 24 at the Prudential Center Arena in Newark, New Jersey.

As in previous years, all the management teams of the major teams attended this annual draft event.

As a representative of winning the No. 1 pick, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers has a smile on his face. In his opinion, this No. 1 pick will bring new vitality to the team, and the Cavaliers will not continue to sink into James leaving. among the influences.

But he might not have imagined that, let alone a No. 1 pick, even if they won the No. 1 pick three times in the next four years, the Cavaliers were still in the quagmire, never leaving the bottom ranks of the league, let alone returning to the playoffs.

It wasn't until James returned to Cleveland in the summer of 2014 that the team returned to the playoffs and made it all the way to the finals.

I have to say that the Cavaliers' vision is really bad. Except for the No. 1 pick in 2011, Kyrie Irving, who is also worthy of the No. 1 pick, the remaining two No. 1 picks are a bit misnamed, especially the No. 1 pick in 2013. , and even the famous parallel import champion, even surpassing Kwame Brown.

Although Wiggins, the No. 1 pick in 2014, performed quite well and averaged 20+ points per game, he was by no means a powerful role. He was not able to enter the Timberwolves team with Towns, who was also the No. 1 pick, for two consecutive years. playoffs.

In fact, the reason why the Cavaliers were able to select Irving in 2011 was because Irving's prestige before the draft was too high and suppressed all competitors. The only good seedling.

...

According to the usual practice, Stern made a stinky and long speech as always, but after the speech, the much-anticipated draft also officially began.

At the beginning, the Cavaliers selected Kyrie Irving without any suspense. Irving had a bright smile on his face. At this time, he was ambitious and wanted to make Cleveland fans completely forget the name of LeBron James.

"The Utah Jazz, with the No. 2 pick, selected forward Derek Williams from the University of Arizona."

...

"The Toronto Raptors, with the third overall pick, selected Enes Kanter from the Turkish Pro League..."

...

Watching Stern read out the options of each team one by one, the Wizards general manager Glenn Field didn't feel the slightest wave in his heart.

Right now is the biggest event in the NBA, the stage of the draft, but it doesn't matter at all to him, the general manager.

Although it was already the third year and he had gotten used to it, looking at Wang Xiao who was smiling but silent by his side, Grunfeld still felt uncomfortable for a while.

Especially in the past two years, the record of the Wizards has been rising, exaggerated year by year, and even reached the finals this year, but these honors have nothing to do with him as the general manager, and even many fans of the Wizards Both mocked that Grunfeld was not even as useful as the team mascot.

"I can't do it anymore. If you have the ability, you can choose a few players similar to Curry Harden this year."

While Grunfeld was thinking this way in his mind, the Cavaliers, who had traded the No. 4 pick from the Clippers, made another move.

"The Cavaliers' option is ... University of Texas forward Tristan Thompson."

The Cavaliers finally chose the combination of Irving and Thompson, one outside and one inside.

At this time, Wang Xiao had already submitted his decision on the side of the Wizards who held the No. 5 pick of the Timberwolves.

When Stern picked up the Wizards envelope, he couldn't help but take a second look.

Wang Xiao, this young head coach from China has already given him too many surprises, especially this year's playoffs, he actually defeated the Heat's Big Three and reached the finals. Almost all the rookies selected over the years have become popular figures, which made Stern unavoidably curious about what choice Wang Xiao will make this year.

However, when he opened the envelope and saw the name written on it, he still couldn't help being slightly taken aback.

"Wizards' pick is ... guard Klay Thompson from Washington State University!"

When Stern pronounced this name, many media who swore that the Wizards would inevitably choose a big man were dumbfounded.

defender? Wang Xiao actually chose a defender? Is he out of his mind?

The current Wizards are almost crowded in terms of guards or outside players. Point guards have Curry and Beverly, shooting guards have Harden and Green, and George and Butler can also reach the guards when needed. position up.

Under such circumstances, Wang Xiao actually chose another defender. What is he doing? Use Klay Thompson as Harden's backup? A substitute for a substitute?

Thompson also looked confused. He walked onto the stage, put on a Wizards baseball cap, and finally smiled when he shook hands with Stern.

Although he didn't understand what happened, the Wizards was his favorite team, because the Wizards' tactical style of play was very suitable for a shooter like him.

However, since he had never had any contact with the Wizards management, Thompson couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. He wouldn't really be selected by the Wizards as a substitute, right?

Surprises are surprises, the draft is still going on.

"The Sacramento Kings, with the sixth overall pick, chose ... Kawhi Leonard, a forward from San Diego State University."

When Stern pronounced the name, the Spurs' private room was already noisy.

"What? The Kings actually drafted Kawhi? Damn, these guys didn't even reveal anything before!"

"Greg! We can't hesitate anymore, if we don't make a move, we will lose our chance!"

Spurs assistant coach Budenholzer looked at Popovich anxiously, "Believe me, Kawhi is really an excellent player with the potential of a top superstar. It is definitely a good deal to replace George with him."

Popovich was silent.

George Hill is his favorite player, but he also understands that the current Spurs team continues to have new blood with potential. In this case, everything can be sacrificed...

"All right……"

Hearing Popovich's words, Budenholzer's eyes lit up immediately, and he immediately said to the assistant beside him: "Call the general manager of the Kings immediately."

However, after a few minutes, Budenholzer hung up the phone with an ugly face.

"They declined."

"Rejected? Why? George Hill's trade value should be very high. Could it be that they still want the first-round pick? That's true. It's normal for the opponent to ask for a higher price for the No. 6 pick in the first round."

Budenholzer shook his head. "No, they didn't make any request, they just replied with one sentence... We can't afford the price..."