NBA: LeBron James wants to team up with me

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As the draft progressed, John Paxson's expression became increasingly complicated. Seeing that there was not much time left, he could only sigh, pick up the phone, and dial a number.

"I agree with your request. As agreed, help us select Stephen and then proceed with the transaction."

There was a burst of light laughter from the other end of the phone. "A pleasure to work with him."

In the stands, David Stern had already begun announcing the Timberwolves' selection with the fifth overall pick. They had originally selected the talented Spanish player Ricky Rubio, nicknamed the Golden Boy.

There were successful cases of Gasol and Gasol in the league. The Timberwolves were very optimistic about Rubio's development prospects, but unfortunately, Rubio's level was really good, but it was just the level of an ordinary starting player. His career averages were only 11 points and 8 assists per game, far less compared to Curry, DeRozan, and others behind him. Even Brandon Jennings' performance in the league was more outstanding than his.

The next pick, the sixth pick in the first round, was made by the Boston Celtics.

Originally, the Celtics' 2009 first-round pick was supposed to be sent to the Timberwolves as part of the trade for Garnett in 2007. However, because the Bulls intercepted Garnett, the deal fell through, including the Timberwolves' 2009 first-round pick. The first-round pick that was supposed to be sent to the Celtics in 2006 did not happen, giving the Timberwolves the opportunity to draft Rubio.

Stern took the Celtics' envelope, opened it, and glanced inside. He was slightly surprised but still smiled as he said,

"With the sixth pick in the first round, the Boston Celtics select Stephen Curry!"

When Curry heard the news, sitting in the small green room, he was completely stunned.

Why would the Celtics pick him?

Before the draft began, his agent had told him that the Golden State Warriors were the most likely team to select him.

As a rookie who had performed well in the NCAA tournament, Curry had been labeled as a "defensive black hole," "poor shot selection," and "low confrontation ability" after participating in the workout, and was considered unlikely to adapt to the intense competition of the NBA. However, due to his various standout performances in the NCAA, the attention was not low.

Curry's draft selection prediction given by ESPN was also between 11 and 20, barely within the lottery range.

But he never expected the Celtics, who had never shown any special interest in Curry, to actually take action and use the precious sixth pick to select him.

Did the Celtics lack a point guard? Obviously not.

Last season, although the most dazzling star on the Green Army was Durant, who averaged 25 points per game and even overshadowed the team leader Pierce, the team's main point guard, Rajon Rondo, also performed well during the regular season, averaging 11.9 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists per game. He had become a very good point guard. Moreover, Rondo was not old and still had room for growth. Naturally, they didn't need a second point guard.

Surprised, Curry unconsciously went up on stage to shake Stern's hand and take a photo. Only after leaving the stands did he learn of a shocking piece of news.

As soon as he went up on stage, the Celtics had already traded him away at lightning speed.

The Chicago Bulls sent Paul Millsap, James Jones, and a first-round pick next year in exchange for Curry, who had just been selected by the Celtics, forward Brian Scalabrine, and a second-round pick in 2009.

Once the deal was announced, it immediately caused a huge uproar in the league.

Millsap did not have a prominent role with the Bulls, and Curry was not a superstar rookie worth mentioning, but when this matter concerned the Bulls, who had won back-to-back championships, the situation was completely different.

What surprised people was not that the Bulls got Curry, but that the Bulls paid such a high price to acquire Curry.

Millsap + James Jones plus a first-round pick trade, was Curry worth it?

Although the Celtics also produced Brian Scalabrine, this guy was just an addition to the transaction and not worth mentioning. He was a player who sat on the bench during the Celtics' season and averaged 3.5 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

As for the other bargaining chip, the Green Army's second-round pick... Does anyone really consider a second-round pick, or the relatively low second-round pick in the draft, as a valuable bargaining chip? No way?

Millsap was traded as part of a sign-and-trade deal. The Bulls re-signed Millsap to a four-year, $42 million contract, with an average annual salary of $10.5 million.

The Celtics, who didn't have Garnett or Ray Allen, had a lot of salary cap space and no pressure to acquire this multimillion-dollar contract through a direct trade.

The current lineup of the Celtics was still very interesting to Millsap. After all, Durant played mainly at the small forward position, and the Celtics only had one inside center, Al Jefferson.

Although Millsap was a bit shorter on the inside, he had solid skills and great strength. He performed well both offensively and defensively. More importantly, he was very young, just like Durant, Rondo, and Jefferson.

Celtics general manager Danny Ainge obviously wanted these four young players to grow together and build a championship-level team in two or three years.

Of course, the most important thing was that the Celtics really didn't have good candidates for their first-round pick.

If there were still interior players like Griffin or Thabeet available at this pick, he would never have traded with the Bulls.

But the problem was that the players behind were basically all external players. With Durant, Pierce, and Rondo, the Celtics were the ones who needed external players the most.

And the value of a simple sixth pick in the trade market was not that outstanding. It was really good to have a good interior player like Millsap, plus the three-point shooter James Jones and a first-round pick.

Celtics fans laughed, but Bulls fans couldn't help but groan in their hearts that they were exhausted.

At that moment, they didn't know that Wang Chong had come up with this idea, but that didn't prevent his understanding of the rational analysis of the Emperor of Basketball.

It's a very simple truth, but any normal person should be able to imagine it. Why did the Bulls pick Curry?

Curry serves as a point guard and is better at shooting threes.

So the question is, what's the best offensive method of Billups, the Bulls' current starting point guard?

Coincidentally, it was also a three-pointer.

Billups' three-point shooting percentage had stayed above 40% for several seasons in his career, and three-pointers accounted for almost 50% of his total shots, including this season that just ended. Billups also had a 41% three-point shooting percentage, the player with the best three-point shooting ability among point guards in the league.

While Billups possessed excellent three-point shooting, he also had rich playing experience, a broad vision, and passing skills. Although he couldn't compare with the best point guards like Nash, Kidd, and Paul, he was still at the level of a first-tier point guard. He could definitely support the organization and work of a team.

Additionally, Billups' defensive performance was also quite good. He had been selected to the all-defensive team for two consecutive years. He was physically strong and not afraid of confrontation, among other strengths.

Why would the Bulls, who had such a perfect point guard, pay such a high price to acquire a rookie point guard who was good for nothing except shooting threes?

Millsap was the Bulls' best sixth man. Bulls fans had always thought the team would choose to renew Millsap's contract. Even if they spent tens of millions in annual salary to retain him, they would definitely not lose money. The Bulls made this decisive decision to get rid of him, what? Can't we make it to next season? Does it matter if we can win three consecutive championships?

In the Bulls' box, general manager John Paxson had a gloomy expression on his face, showing no joy at successfully completing the deal. He could already imagine how various media and local Chicago fans would criticize the trade after the draft.

Wang Chong was already smiling.

To be honest, he was really worried about the surprises. After all, today's draft was completely different from what he knew. Maybe a team with a high pick would suddenly take an interest in Curry.

Wang Chong knew very well that there were only two opportunities to get Curry. One was during the draft, and the other was when Curry suffered injuries in the 11-12 season.

During these two periods, it was obvious that the price to pay during the draft was much lower than in the 11-12 season.

After all, when Curry first entered the league, he could consistently contribute 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists, shooting 46% from the field and 43% from the three-point range. His confrontation ability was a bit worse, but it was far from what scouts had said. Unable to adapt to the high-intensity NBA games, his efficiency even surpassed that of most shooting guards in the league.

Therefore, even though two years later, Curry's condition worsened due to an ankle injury and he decided to undergo surgery, resulting in a season refund, the Warriors still offered him a four-year, $44 million contract.

In the future, when Curry performed at MVP level and led the team to win consecutive championships, his four-year, $44 million contract became known as the most profitable "child labor" contract. It was the main reason why the Warriors were able to continue bringing in powerful players and maintain championship intensity.

However, in the 11-12 season, in the face of a player with potential injury risks and low confrontation ability, the Warriors were willing to offer him a multimillion-dollar four-year contract, which showed that it was also very important for Curry's future development.

Therefore, compared to trying to attract or trade for Curry through a major contract in the 11-12 season, it would obviously be easier to make a move during the draft.

Although the Bulls-Celtics trade caused a huge uproar, it did not hinder the progress of the draft.

As time went by, players were selected one by one. After all 30 players in the first round were selected, the second round of the draft began.

Compared to the highly anticipated first round, the attention to the second round of the draft was obviously lower. After all, compared to the star-filled first round, there were very few players who could stand out in the second round.

In recent years, Wang Chong had relied on the advantage of time travel foresight to select several outstanding players in the second round, including the team's current main center, Gasol, and Mir, who had just been traded as an important bargaining chip, Sapp. They are second-round standout players.

And this year, he still planned to do the same.

There were many good players among the second-round players in 2009. Wang Chong's favorite was Danny Green, the best 3D player. This was a player he had to win. When Billups grows up, Curry officially takes the position, Danny Green could. Be responsible for defending the opponent's external offensive leaders at the shooting guard position, sharing Curry's pressure.

Besides Green, other players like Beverley did not interest Wang Chong as much. Although Beverley's future defense was talked about, that would be years after he was selected in the first round. He went to play overseas for two years, and after his strength improved to a certain extent, he returned to the NBA and demonstrated his extraordinary defensive ability.

On the other hand, another point guard, Marcus Thornton, was more interesting to Wang Chong. After successfully acquiring Danny Green, if the Bulls still had chips to acquire Thornton, Wang Chong would not hesitate.

Marcus Thornton, who is 1.93 meters tall and plays as a shooting guard, is an excellent immediate player with outstanding offensive ability.

Thornton, who was selected in the second round in 2009, averaged 14.5 points per game in his first season with New Orleans, and his shooting percentage remained stable at 45%.

In the second season, due to tactical positioning, Thornton's stats fell. However, after being traded to the Kings mid-season, he immediately showed a strong offensive firepower. He played 27 games for the Kings in the second half of the 10-11 season, averaging 21.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game and naturally became the Kings' top scorer in the 11-12 season. His playing time increased to 34.9 minutes, and he scored 18.7 points.

However, like other players who start off strong and decline, Marcus Thornton posted very good data in the first three seasons of his career and received great praise. However, when his rookie contract ended, Thornton signed a four-year, $32 million contract with the Kings. After receiving the big contract, Thornton quickly began to underperform, and his performance worsened year after year.

What interested Wang Chong was Soton's immediate combat ability in the first three years.

Of course, he knew that Thornton's stats had a lot of water. After all, during the two years he served as the main force of the Kings, the Kings were just a weak team at the bottom of the Western Conference, and it was relatively easy to gather stats.

But Wang Chong had no intention of letting Thornton be the Bulls' primary scorer. When he came to the Bulls, he would definitely sit on the bench and become the team's bench gangster.

After Millsap left the team, the Bulls' bench firepower dropped drastically. Curry would definitely be a starter when he joined the team. Danny Green, as a 3D player, did not have the ability to attack independently, so Wang Chong also hoped that Marcus Thornton could. Be acquired to improve the bench's scoring ability.

Marcus Thornton's original draft selection was the 13th pick in the second round, and Danny Green was the 16th pick in the second round. Second-round picks in these positions no longer held much value, and only the Bulls easily got two players by giving some leftover materials.

As a result, the Bulls received Curry, Danny Green, and Marcus Thornton in the 2009 draft, which was an excellent harvest.

But while Wang Chong was very happy and satisfied, the outside world did not believe so.

The inexplicable trade by the Bulls in the draft completely confused many people and even made them think that the strength of the Bulls had decreased after the draft.

End of this chapter

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