warrior godfather

Chapter 727 The Great Earthquake

June 6, New York, Barclays Center.

The 2017 NBA Draft will be held here, and Zhang Yu, like last year, will be there in person, accompanied by Wirtz, and Riley, as the general manager, will come every year.

The Big Three of the Warriors gathered in New York again, which is very surprising.

The Warriors only have their own No. 30 pick in the first round, the No. 60 pick in the second round and the No. 44 pick from the Heat in the second round. With such a low pick, is it worth Zhang Yu's trip in person?
However, some people believe that Zhang Yu is very optimistic about a certain low-ranking rookie, so he came to New York to host the Warriors' draft.

As soon as this kind of statement came out, it immediately attracted the attention of the general managers of other teams, and they began to repeatedly examine the rookies predicted at the end of the first round and the middle and late second rounds to see if there were any talents that they hadn't noticed.

There are too many low-ranking rookies discovered by Zhang Yu, and everyone wants to get a chance.

This kind of hard work was not in vain. There are indeed a few teams that have found talents with good potential from low-ranking rookies. They all feel that this is the purpose of Zhang Yu's coming to New York.

They were all intercepted by Zhang Yu before, and this time, they will also intervene to select the players Zhang Yu likes.

Just when all the teams thought they had time, at eleven o'clock in the morning, the draft started on time.

As expected, the 76ers selected Markelle Fultz with the No. [-] pick.

Fultz came to the stage to shake hands with Xiao Hua, full of energy, and the rookies in the audience looked at him enviously.

Fultz is extremely talented, and in the eyes of most people, he is destined to embark on a road to superstardom.

Subsequently, the Lakers selected Jayson Tatum with the second pick, which was very surprising.

Prior to this, there were a lot of scandals between the Lakers and Lonzo Ball, and Ball's father also said in interviews many times that Ball is a "lake dream" and wanted to play for the Lakers since he was a child.

It can be said that the two sides hit it off, and they were short of deciding their names in the draft, but the Lakers changed their minds before the battle, which is really surprising.

Ball and Dad were sitting in the small green room. When they saw that Fultz was elected as the No. [-] pick, their faces were quite ugly. After hearing that the Lakers chose Tatum, their faces changed drastically and were extremely gloomy.

Ball daddy calmed down after a long time, and comforted Bauer:
"It doesn't matter, you won't fall out of the top three, and it's not bad to go to the Celtics. Thomas Jr. didn't perform well in the playoffs, and you have a good chance..."

On the other side, Tatum was ecstatic when he heard that he was selected by the Lakers.

He is a diehard Kobe fan. He met Kobe when he went to the Lakers for a trial before, and Kobe was also very optimistic about him.

However, due to the many scandals between the Lakers and Ball, and Ingram in the team, Tatum also knew that his chances of being selected by the Lakers were very slim, and he did not have much hope.

But at this time, it was a turnaround. Tatum rushed to the high platform with two strides, took the Lakers hat from Xiao Hua, and grinned, in stark contrast to the gloomy Ball below the stage.

After Tatum stepped down, it was the turn of the No. [-] pick.

Xiao Hua took the envelope with the Celtic logo on it from the staff, opened it, took out the note, and his face changed slightly.

Dad Ball didn't notice the change in Xiao Hua's expression, he glanced at Tatum who had been laughing and never stopped, and snorted coldly.

Let's go for the flower, just don't need to go to the Lakers to show off, it's not bad to hug Durant's thigh...

At this time, Xiao Hua read aloud:
"With the third overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, the Celtics selected Lauri Markkanen from Finland who played for the University of Arizona!"

As soon as this remark came out, the Barclays Center was quiet for a moment, and then there were discussions in the auditorium:
"The Celtics didn't draft Ball?"

"Guys, who is this Markkanen?"

"Can the Finns also be in the top three? Are you kidding me!"

The audience was just surprised, but Ball and Daddy Ball felt incredible.

Dad never thought that Ball would fall out of the top three picks. Ball only had the No. [-] and No. [-] picks in his eyes. He felt that going to the Celtics was condescending, but in the end he didn't even make the top three!

Markkanen, who was sitting on the edge of the small green room, was full of disbelief. After hearing his name from Xiao Hua's mouth, he froze for a moment before he realized that he and the parents, agent, and The girlfriend hugged her hard and walked quickly onto the stage.

Markkanen took the Celtics hat from Silver, and Silver hugged this unexpected pick, and smiled gently:

"Come on lad, hope you have a great career!"

Markkanen bowed to take the hat, put it on his head, and took a photo with Xiao Hua, smiling brilliantly.

Afterwards, the Sun, who had picked up the great luck, decisively took down Bauer. Bauer's face was very ugly. When he took a photo with Xiao Hua on stage, he just smiled reluctantly.

The photo was immediately circulated on the Internet. It was in great contrast to Markkanen's bright smile showing all his gums, and it aroused widespread discussion.

People are speculating why the Celtics chose Markkanen and why the Lakers suddenly changed their goals.

No one pays attention to Fox, who was selected by the Kings with the fifth overall pick. He is just a guard with only speed, and he will definitely not become a big player in the future.

Since then, the first round of the draft has been roughly the same as people's predictions, and there have been no upsets.

The Warriors, who have been stared at all the time, didn't do anything, they just selected Josh Hart with the 30th pick.

Subsequently, this round of the draft went on without any surprises. The Warriors selected guard Monte Morris with the 44th pick and center Chris Boucher with the 60th pick.

This made the general managers of other teams a little confused. These three players didn't look like geniuses at all, they were good role players at most. Zhang Yu actually made a trip for them?
The general managers who had been scared out of PTSD by Zhang Yu thought about it for a long time, but couldn't figure out why, so they could only forget about it.

Fans don't pay attention to the Warriors, their attention is all on the high-ranking rookies, and they are having heated discussions around Tatum, Markanen, and Ball.

Commentators also expressed their opinions one after another, and their opinions were surprisingly consistent, that is, they were not optimistic about the choices made by the Lakers and Celtics, but optimistic about the Suns who missed out.

The Lakers already have Ingram, and they still have to choose Tatum. The two positions overlap, and neither of them will develop well.

In the past two seasons, Russell's performance in the Lakers was not good. The Lakers missed the opportunity to strengthen the point guard in vain, and they will definitely regret it in the future.

The magician who dominated the Lakers draft has been widely questioned, and many Lakers fans are also very dissatisfied with his choice.

The magician explained on Twitter:

"After careful consideration, the management believes that Jayson Tatum is a player that cannot be missed. The playoffs of the past few seasons have proved the importance of the striker. The success of the Warriors is due to hoarding a lot of strikers. They are The most successful team in the league, we hope to learn from the experience of the Warriors...Of course, Kobe's advice is also very important."

But the Lakers fans don't buy it, they are still optimistic about the more talented Ball.

Moreover, the Warriors selected two more guards this time. In addition to last year's draft, it has been a long time since they have selected a serious striker. Why doesn't the Magic learn from the Warriors' experience in selecting guards?

They have labeled the magician "Jordan No. [-]"-playing as well as Jordan, and his vision is as bad as Jordan.

In addition, Celtics fans are just confused about Danny Ainge's choice.

The team already has Horford, why choose Markkanen?
It will take a long time to cultivate a space-type fourth position that can't defend well. The Celtics already have Jaylen Brown, who needs a lot of time to grow up. With another Markkanen, how can they compete for the championship?

Among them, Durant fans were particularly angry. Durant left the Thunder just for the championship. The lineup in the first season was not good, and it was normal not to win the championship.

But this also raised the threshold of the fans a lot. The goal of next season is only the championship. As a result, Danny Ainge chose a white insider, which is a waste of Durant's peak period.

"Adu is here to compete for the championship, not to be a babysitter for rookies!"

"I'm really convinced. If you don't strengthen the backcourt, come in with another striker. Isn't it good to pick Fultz with the No. [-] pick? What's the use of Thomas Jr.?"

Durant's outstanding performance this season gave them enough confidence to bombard Danny Angie, and some commentators also expressed doubts about Danny Angie's choice.

But just when Celtics fans were criticizing Danny Ainge, Shams broke the news and shut everyone up:

"The Celtics traded with the Warriors, with Jaylen Brown, Markkanen, and draft picks as the main body, in exchange for Leonard."

As soon as this news came out, the league was shocked.

Soon, Wojnarowski also broke the same news, and other reporters followed up, and the details of the deal were also revealed.

凯尔特人杰伦-布朗、约纳斯-杰雷布科、马尔卡宁、2019年和2021年首轮签、2020年和2022年的首轮互换权、以及来自76人的两个选秀权，一个300万美元的交易特例，从勇士那里换来了伦纳德。

Among them, Jerebuko is an addition, but Jaylen Brown, Markkanen and those first-round picks are very valuable, which is equivalent to an 8-for-1 deal made by the Celtics!
The other side of the transaction is the Warriors who have just won three consecutive championships, just like the Warriors in full swing. The object of the transaction is the second hero of the Warriors Dynasty, the new top striker superstar Leonard in the league.

Such a big deal that could change the alliance structure immediately detonated public opinion.

Celtics fans are ecstatic:

"Fuck, Leonard is here! Adu + Leonard, invincible!"

"The old thief Angie is still smart, so he was waiting here. I thought he had a brain twitch and chose Markanen. I kowtow and apologize!"

"The Big Three are here! Thomas Jr. and Horford together count as a giant. Let me see how the Cavaliers can win!"

However, Leonard's deal was just the beginning, and Wojnarowski immediately tweeted:

"The Warriors are seeking to trade Draymond Green, and multiple teams have expressed interest in Green."

Only then did people realize that a major earthquake was coming.

(End of this chapter)