Chapter 946 Draft, Fourth Pick

On June 28, in New York, the 2007 draft began.

As a favorite, A Lian was invited to sit in the small green room, with his father and manager Gao Yuanyuan sitting next to him.

To his left were Oden, Durant and their families, and to his right were Mike Conley and Joakim Noah.

The so-called small green room has a few extra tables in front, separated from other seats by fences to show the difference, and the draft players sitting inside are accompanied by their family members or agents.

There are some procedures before the draft, such as interviews.

Oden, who was almost booked to be the No. 1 pick just now, has already accepted an interview with ESPN. Who's turn will be next? All the rookies sitting in the little green room hope it will be them, because this represents the recognition of the media.

But what is surprising is that the ESPN reporter chose Allen.

"Why is Yi the second one?"

Next to him, Durant's eyes widened.

"Me?" Allen was surprised.

He has changed a lot in the past three years, whether it is his skills or athletic qualities, which are all based on Li Ba's vision for him, but what has changed even more is his personality, which is more proactive, outgoing, confident and aggressive.

But no matter how confident he was, he never thought he would be interviewed for the second time.

But soon, he understood that ESPN must want to get some information about the Hammer from him.

Sure enough, the reporter's first question revealed his intention.

"Yi, have you met with the Hammers in the past few days?" ESPN asked expectantly.

After retiring from Liba, he stayed in Napaco and blocked all news. The outside world still doesn't know where he is, including ESPN, so now all the media want to know his whereabouts, whether he is in the United States or has returned. Arrived in China.

Alian was already prepared in his mind and said with a smile: "We talked on the phone."

The reporter was a little disappointed and asked: "Will he come today?"

"No, he never attends the draft." Allen laughed.

The reporter asked several more questions, but Alien's answers were accurate and did not reveal Li Ba's whereabouts. In the end, the reporter had no choice but to give up.

"What are your expectations for your draft position?" the reporter finally asked.

"Look forward to being selected among the top six, that's what Brother Hammer told me." Allen said with confidence.

"What if not?" the reporter asked again.

"It's okay to line up in the back, as long as you don't fall out of the lottery area." A Lian said with a smile.

The reporter's face twitched. Why did he feel that this was the tone of a hammer? If you fall out of the lottery, you would say that it would be fine as long as you don't fall out of the first round, right?

Half an hour later, the draft begins.

The Spurs, the owner of the No. 1 pick, acted quickly, and general manager Buford immediately handed over the envelope.

Stern walked up to the stage with the envelope, opened it, took a look at it, and read without any surprise on his face:

"The Antonio Spurs drafted Greg Oden."

"yeah!"

Oden stood up excitedly, hugged his family and agent, took the Spurs hat and walked onto the stage.

Durant felt a little regretful. Who doesn't want to be the No. 1 pick? He looked at Oden on the stage and thought to himself: "Shet, the title of No. 1 pick must make this guy very happy, right?"

Next came the Trail Blazers, who handed over the envelope and Stern took it on stage again.

The higher the draft position, the higher the starting point, the higher the contract, the higher the attention of the team, and the playing time and team position are guaranteed.

All the lottery picks in the Little Green Room stared at the envelope in Stern's hand, hoping that their name would be theirs.

Durant licked his lips, his palms were sweaty and his heart was beating fast.

Allen was talking quietly to Gao Yuanyuan. He had never thought about the top three picks.

"The Portland Trail Blazers selected Al Horford." Stern's voice sounded.

Some media were surprised that the Trail Blazers chose Al Horford.

But what the Blazers consider is that although there are several good insiders in the team, such as Randolph, the real center is not very good, and Randolph is not fast enough, so they need to be paired with an inside man with good speed.

In the playoffs, the Lakers' strong lineup was swept by the Suns. Which team now dares to build such a cumbersome inside combination? At least one inside player with good speed is needed, and Horford is such a center.

Seeing Al Horford stand up, Durant was a little disappointed.

Next, it was the Sonics' turn.

"...Kevin Durant." Stern's voice sounded again.

"Finally it's my turn!"

Durant stood up in high spirits, and his third pick was not bad.

The top three picks were selected, and the lottery players who dreamed of the top three picks were disappointed. They began to look forward to the fourth pick.

"The Atlanta Hawks selected...Yi Jianlian." Stern announced the fourth pick.

Allen's eyes widened, fourth?

Gao Yuanyuan smiled widely, and was even happier than Allen. He finally had an NBA player in his hand, and he was the fourth pick in the first round, much higher than that guy Tu Bao.

After Allen went up, she quickly left the small green layer and went to the back.

Marc Gasol is also here today, sitting in the back with his brother Gasol.

He arrived today, and he rushed over immediately after learning that the Suns wanted to select him in the first round.

"Gao, it's easy to go to the Eagles. The team's boss, Joe Johnson, is the brother of the Hammers." Pau Gasol laughed.

Gao Yuanyuan smiled and nodded: "Yi and Johnson know each other."

The two brothers nodded, and Brother Gasol said: "Gao, are you familiar with Cole, the new general manager of the Suns?"

Gao Yuanyuan said: "Mr. Savor introduced me the day before yesterday, and we chatted for a while, so we can be considered acquainted. Mark's matter was finalized that time.

Now that the Hammers have retired, Mr. Colangelo has also left, and Payton has retired. Steve Kerr is a newbie with no management experience. Now the team is in a bit of chaos, and I am a little worried about the rust... When the Hammers come back , there will be problems with the team lineup. "

Next, the draft continued.

Twenty minutes later, Allen ended the interview and came over with his father, and they all sat together.

In the end, Marc Gasol was selected by the Suns with the 28th overall pick in the first round.

The draft is over, the free market has officially opened, and league teams have begun to enter the trade reinforcement stage.

This year's free market, not to mention small roles, the top ten free agents are Chauncey Billups, Vince Carter, Rashard Lewis, Gerald Wallace, Maurice Williams, Grant ·Hill, Darko Milicic, Anderson Varejao, Andis Noccioni, Chris Webber.

Sarver and Cole rushed back to Phoenix the next day to discuss a deal.

"Robert, the Hammer is gone. The center can't rely on the rookie Marc Gasol, let alone what if he can't come? We need a more powerful center." Cole said.

"Who do you want to trade?" Sarver asked.

"O'Neal." Cole said seriously.