The Whip of the God of Basketball

Leon hung up the phone not to anger Auerbach, but because he had no time to chat with Auerbach at the Minnesota Target Center draft conference, because until now, the Celtics still have not finalized their draft strategy.

Although the news that Auerbach got is not wrong, that is, Leon has persuaded the Celtics team to choose his favorite candidate, which is naturally Michael Reed, but on the issue of how to win Reed, the scouting team But there was a disagreement.

According to Pitino's idea, since Reed's draft pick is in the second round, and so far Reid's forecast pick has not risen with the Celtics' optimism, then the No. 11 pick The Celtics took Reid directly, which is obviously not a choice to maximize their interests.

Because the Celtics did not have a second-round pick in this year's draft.

Therefore, Pitino tried to trade down from the No. 11 pick to get a lower first-round pick and a second-round pick, so that they can use a first-round pick to get the inside line they want, and then use a second-round pick Get Michael Reed.

Pitino's thinking was supported by the rest of the scouting team, except for Leon.

"There are less than two hours before the start of the draft. I think Pitino's thinking is correct. Now the Clippers have expressed their interest in trading, and their pick is right for us." Sitting on the target In the team area of ​​the center, Chris Wallace was persuading Leon.

Tonight Leon, along with Chris Wallace and director of team development Michael Carr, came to Minnesota to participate in the draft as team representatives. But until now, Wallace is still arguing with Leon about the draft order.

Logically speaking, as the general manager of the team, Wallace has the decision-making power to select players. He does not have to pay attention to the opinions of a scout. After all, scouts can only provide reference opinions and have no decision-making power.

But Leon is different.

It has been nearly a month since he joined the Celtics as a scout, and Leon has earned the respect of others with his performance.

In the rookie training camp, he combined his own data collection and video observation, and submitted his first scouting report in his scouting career, which included detailed and unique data analysis, meticulous observation of movements, and personal experiences of players. , The level of diligence in the collection can be said to have handed over a beautiful answer sheet.

This report finally moved Rick Pitino, not only because of the professional and meticulous data analysis that opened Pitino's eyes, but also because of the unique perspective of the entire scouting report that made Pitino refreshed. As a newcomer in the scouting world, Leon didn't fall into the "herd effect" at all, he didn't lose his mind by being overwhelmed by all kinds of scouting information surging around him, and he didn't make full use of his talents as Pitino expected. Memory follows suit.

On the contrary, he keeps learning and summarizing. From Vogel, he learned various methods of video analysis, from Jim O'Brien, he learned a lot of basic knowledge of basketball, and from Chris Wallace, he learned I have learned a lot about the world in the NBA circle and the rules of trading operations.

In the end, Pitino also had to accept the nail sent by Auerbach. Sometimes he thought, maybe this nail would nail him even more firmly when he was crumbling.

For a period of time after the training camp, Pitino still sent Leon and Wallace to California, Minnesota and Ohio to inspect their target players individually for the sake of insurance. Withstood careful observation and was rejected for its overall disappointing performance.

Przybilla was also ruled out because of the Rockets' robbery, and in the contact with Michael Reid in Ohio, this humble and silent young man gave the Celtics scouts a good impression. Sairid's performance was also extremely impressive, and finally the Celtics team decided to ignore the specific needs of the team and only choose the best.

Now, there are differences on how to choose Reed.

Faced with Wallace's persuasion, Leon insisted that he must win Reed in the first round instead of waiting until the second round to get Reid, even though the chips given by the Clippers were the 18th in the first round and the second round. first place.

According to the current market situation, it is more than enough to get Reed with the first pick in the second round.

"We have to take Reid in the first round, not only for his respect, but also for the development of future players. If we take him in the second round, according to the current rookie contract rules, if he performs well , then after two years he is likely to be taken away by other teams with a higher offer. Although it is a bit early to consider such a problem, it must be prevented from happening.” After repeated disputes, Leon finally threw out a Very strong argument.

Because according to the latest labor clause formulated in 1999, the second-round rookie will only be eligible for an early bird clause after being selected, that is, the home team can pay 175% of his last year's salary and the entire league after the player becomes a free agent. The higher of the two average player salaries (i.e. mid-level) and their extensions.

"Now that we have given Redd an assessment of his great potential, we have to make sure that he plays well and is coveted by other teams. If we only take him in the second round, then two years later he will become a favorite. In the case of restricted free agents, but because the salary cap cannot give him a contract beyond the MLE contract, he was signed by other teams, so what we did in the draft today and what we did before the draft What's the point of all kinds of work?"

Leon asked other people. In the past few days, he repeatedly read the CBA clause that was just issued in 1999. Because this clause has only been published for one year, there must be many loopholes. Angcai insisted that Pitino take Reed in the first round.

Leon's thoughts were undoubtedly prescient, and his words seemed particularly calm in the noisy atmosphere of Target Center.

His idea finally moved Wallace. As the Celtics' draft representative tonight, he will tell Stern the team's draft results in more than an hour.

So Wallace picked up the phone in front of him and dialed the Celtics headquarters.

……………………

At 7 o'clock in the evening, the 2000 draft conference officially started. **TV broadcasted the whole process of the draft conference. They have two live broadcast stations in the target center venue, one is directly in front of the draft platform, and the other is on the left side of the draft platform. The side is the comment area and the player interview area.

Between the commentary area and the draft platform, there are seating areas for rookie families, friends, agents, and NBA staff. Now these young people are with their family and friends, waiting for the NBA team to throw olive branches to them.

For many players, this will be a fate-changing moment. Once they enter the league, money and reputation will come with high draft picks.

Especially for those black players who were abandoned by their fathers and brought up by single mothers, entering the NBA not only means the continuation of their basketball dreams, but also means a clean break with the poor and struggling life in the past.

Leon sat in the stands of the team area, looked at those young people with nervous faces, and thought of watching the draft videos of the past few years, those players who were selected even had tears in their eyes. How great is the change that sports bring to people's destiny.

"Didn't my destiny be changed because of this?" Leon thought of himself, and thought of the hard work of making a comeback for more than a month - a 120,000-word scouting report, 135 hours of video clips , read 600,000 words of professional books, traveled 10,000 miles, and memorized a CBA labor agreement.

He has evolved from a talented scout relying solely on calculation ability, intuition and memory to one with both intuition and professional knowledge, but lacks enough

Experienced and capable scouts, the speed is staggering.

Now, the results of his one-month work are about to appear here.

At this time, NBA President David Stern slowly walked to the microphone in the center of the draft platform. Amidst the cheers of the fans, he gave the opening speech with a smile.

"Good evening, and welcome to the 2000 NBA Draft. Thank you to the fans in Minnesota, to the viewers who tuned in on American TV and YTV in Canada. Thank you for joining us and thank you for your support. 2000 The No. 1 pick in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft belongs to the New Jersey Nets, and they will have five minutes to make their selection."

After Stern's powerful opening briefing, he walked off the draft table, giving time to the New Jersey Nets, who would have five minutes to make a selection and inform Stern, who would then En will announce their picks on the draft board.

Five minutes is both short and long, and for those anxiously awaiting the results of the draft, it's tempting for Stern to come on stage and tell them who the Nets picked.

Finally, Stern stood on the stage and announced in his steady and gentle tone: "In the first round of the draft, the New Jersey Nets selected Kenyon Martin from the University of Cincinnati!"

The Nets chose Kenyon Martin, a result without much suspense. Leon sat in the stands and watched Martin and his family embrace and celebrate, but he became a little anxious because he didn't know what Wallace just said. Whether the call worked, whether Pitino would listen to him, or something else.

…………………

The draft continued, the Grizzlies selected Systrom Swift at No. 2, a very athletic forward, and the Clippers made a similar selection with Darius Meyer. s.

Such a choice is enough to prove that it is not unreasonable for some teams to always get high draft picks. After all, they seem to have nothing but luck.

The Celtics' pick is getting closer and closer. It seems that the Boston headquarters has no intention of trading draft picks. Wallace and Leon have been guarding the phone until the tenth Orlando Magic finishes the selection. Finally it rang.

Wallace answered the phone, he didn't have any chance to speak, he just hung up the phone after a few "hmm", and then he said to Leon: "The situation has changed." He left his seat because he was going down to inform Stern Celtic's choice.

Even Leon, who had excellent psychological qualities, suddenly became nervous. He could feel his heartbeat speed up by 33%, which was very rare.

"Damn, what's going on." Leon couldn't help muttering in his heart.

Finally, Stern stepped onto the draft platform and announced loudly to the audience: "With the eleventh overall pick in the first round, the Boston Celtics selected... from Syracuse University, Ethan Thomas !"