Chapter 69 Presti's First Day in Office

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the five-team trade with Yes as the core, the 2006 NBA Draft came to an end.

A conference that was originally a small draft year, because of the existence of Yes, has become one of the most watched draft conferences in NBA history.

Five teams started a deal around a rookie. The players involved have a MVP in his prime and two All-Stars in his prime. This is the first time in history.

After the transaction was completed, more and more inside information about the transaction was disclosed.

The cause of the trade was not NBA MVP Kevin Garnett and the Timberwolves.

The reason for the transaction was that the Seattle SuperSonics took the initiative to find the Toronto Raptors, seeking to trade the No. 1 pick in the hands of the Raptors in order to select Yes.

The Raptors and Lions opened their mouths wide and needed the No. 4 pick in the hands of the SuperSonics, along with Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis.

Was flatly rejected by the Sonic.

In order to get Yes, the Sonics can pay any price, but they can't send Ray Allen to the Raptors.

Ray Allen's past contributions to the Sonics and his poor performance for the Sonics last season, it is difficult for Rick Sander to be so heartless.

And the Sonics can't just get Yes, it would be very ugly.

The Sonics need a future first-round pick with little value from the Raptors.

The two sides reached a stalemate.

The Sonics must get Yes, and the whole world knows the Sonics' cards.

The Raptors must maximize their own interests. If they don't rob now, they have to wait later?

After nearly half a month of wrangling between the Sonics and the Raptors, the Raptors and the Sonics finally took a step back.

In order to facilitate the transaction, the Raptors brought in the Celtics and Bucks.

The Celtics sent four first-round picks in the next seven years to the Raptors to redeem Ray Allen.

In order to get the Raptors' potential power forward Villanova, the Bucks replaced the Raptors with the 2007 first-round pick to the Sonics.

The Timberwolves, who had already completed a separate deal with the Celtics, after learning of the existence of the deal, saw that the Sonics were so easy to kill, and wanted to come and kill the Celtics, threatening the Celtics to join the deal.

Rick Sander defended the bottom line for the face of the Supersonics, and the Supersonics were not completely stripped by the Timberwolves.

In order to complete the deal faster, the Raptors and Celtics lobbied the Supersonics and the Bucks, allowing the Supersonics to send veteran striker Reggie Evans to the Bucks, and the Bucks will develop the league player Ilyasova Send it to the Timberwolves.

At this point, the long-awaited deal is considered to be an agreement.

After reaching an agreement, the Toronto Raptors selected Yes with the No. 1 pick according to the requirements of the Supersonics, and the Supersonics selected Bargnani with their No. 4 pick according to the requirements of the Raptors.

In this trade, Sonics general manager Rick Sander's foolishness in showing his cards too early made him the laughing stock of the nation.

The Raptors general manager Brian Colangelo, the former general manager of the Suns, said in an interview after getting Bargnani: "Our goal from beginning to end is Bargnani, Yes is very good, But Bargnani will shock the world!"

Colangelo's words are another few feet on the stupid Rick Sander.

In this deal, Colangelo once again became a respected wise man.

His greed and ferocity shocked everyone.

"When this deal is done, Brian Colangelo has already won the best general manager for next season, and Rick Sander resigned in shame and anger."

"This is the end of this deal. Brian Colangelo's perfect operation will become the pinnacle textbook in the history of NBA draft robbery, and Rick Sander will be nailed to the pillar of shame forever!"

Now being ridiculed by the whole of the United States, Rick Sander is very sad.

Also very ashamed.

In 1979, at the age of 28, he was hired by the Dallas Mavericks as the general manager. He was the youngest general manager in NBA history.

Thirty years have passed, from the beginning of Dallas to the current Seattle SuperSonics, he, the youngest NBA general manager in history, has achieved nothing and achieved nothing.

"Sam, threw you a mess"

"No, Rick did a great job"

Looking at the devastated Sonics, Sam Presti, who was handing over Rick Sander, didn't feel that his predecessor should be laughed at.

He didn't come to the Sonics as the general manager to be invited suddenly. He was invited a month ago.

In other words, when Rick Sander contacted the Raptors to trade Yes, he was ready to be madly robbed by the Raptors and finally resigned in charge.

Presti is a cool guy, and he's seen what the Sonics have done to get Yes over the past year.

Except for prematurely revealing his unavoidable intention to Yes, Rick Sander did not have any problems with other operations.

In this deal, he can still stick to Ray Allen's request and cut off the Timberwolves' salty pig hands, which is very courageous.

When the situation was extremely unfavorable to him, he did not blindly give in.

In the end, I got Yes, and I also repaid Ray Allen's kindness, and also got a little bit of future for the team.

"Sam, as you requested, we took PJ Tucker from the University of Texas with the 34th pick, and we took Paul Mill from Louisiana Tech with the 44th pick from the Orlando Magic. Sapp"

"Paul Millsap?"

"Paul Millsap was recommended to me by Yes before going to New York"

So it seems that Yes also believes that Rick Sander will pay all the price to keep him in Seattle.

The unparalleled trust between Seattle and Yes is moving.

"In order not to disrupt our draft plan and hope to meet Yes' requirements, I bought a second round from the Magic on my own initiative"

Presti's silence caused Rick Sander to explain quickly.

According to the prior agreement, he had to notify Presti in advance of any team operations except for the Yes trade from a month ago.

But the fact that Yes recommended Paul Millsap was just this morning, and he temporarily bought the Magic's second-round pick just now, and it was too late to report.

"Has Rick scouted Paul Millsap?"

Hearing Princeton ask this, Rick Sander was a little embarrassed, he had never heard of this person at all.

Seeing Rick Sander's expression, Presti understood it, and didn't delve into it further.

Paul Millsap should be Yes nepotism, right?

The strength of the NCAA rebounding champion he has some impressions is not important, the important thing is that he is a Yes person.

PJ Tucker is a university in Texas, Texas is the base camp of the Spurs, and he is the head of the Spurs scouting. He has been investigating PJ Tucker for a long time.

A month ago, he recommended pj Tucker to Spurs general manager Buford. The Spurs also lack small forwards, but Buford was embarrassed to get his recommendation.

In order to get Muhammad last year, the Spurs sent this year's first-round pick to the New York Knicks.

Since the Spurs can't be selected, pj Tucker fell to the second round again, so it can't be cheaper for others.

As long as Rick Sander drafts pj tucker as he asked, nothing else matters.

To get Yes, the Sonics are now in a complete rebuild.

The thickness of the Supersonic lineup is actually good, and it has always been a playoff team in the West in the past.

But after last season's crazy performance, and now the two leaders of the team have been sent away, this team has completely lost its heart.

Danny Foster, a one-year contract of 6.6 million, a pocket insider of 2.01 meters, can jump and grab rebounds, and has a positive style of play. He is very popular in Seattle. He can contribute 16 points and 16 rebounds per game at his peak. However, after a stress fracture, he was useless. He only played 23 games for the Sonics last season. Don't expect him to perform well next season.

Damien Wilkins, signed a 5-year 14.5 million contract with the team last year, and now he still has 4 years of contract. He is a swingman with a height of 1.98 meters. He can do everything, but he is not proficient in everything. The forward and guard swingman Zeng Jin played 15 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals in the Western Conference semifinals against the Spurs. This game is also the reason why he can get such a big contract as an undrafted pick.

Nick Collison, who still has a two-year rookie contract, is a 2.08-meter white blue-collar insider with comprehensive skills.

Robert Swift, a 2.13-meter white center with a two-year rookie contract, was called the last hope of a white center in the NCAA. He is currently suffering from a torn cruciate ligament and will miss all games next season. I'm afraid it will be difficult to stand on the court, so I can ignore it.

Luke Ridnour still has a one-year rookie contract. He is a 1.88 meter white point guard with comprehensive skills. Last season, he averaged 11.5 points and 7 assists per game in the third grade. He will be the biggest helper of Yes next season. important asset.

Johan Petro, still has a three-year rookie contract, a 2.13-meter black French center, enough role players.

Earl Watson, a backup point guard with a three-year 18 million contract, averaged 11+5 per game in 24 minutes as a substitute for the Supersonics last season.

Chris Wilcox, the contract expires, a 2.08m power forward, averaged 14+8 per game last season, has reached a 3-year 19.5 million contract with the team, and is one of the team's important reconstruction assets .

Riff LaFrentz, a 30-year-old white center with a height of 2.11 meters, is one of the two garbage contracts accepted in order to facilitate the Yes transaction. There is still a 3-year 36 million contract left, the team's biggest negative equity.

Jalen Rose, a 33-year-old swingman with Kobe's 81 points, received one of the two garbage contracts in order to facilitate the Yes deal, and there is still a one-year 15 million contract left.

Yes, Yesi, the 19-year-old guard, the hope of the Seattle Supersonics, is expected to give the No. 1 pick a 4-year 21 million contract, the most important core asset of the Supersonics.

PJ-Tucker, a 21-year-old rookie small forward, is expected to give a contract of 2 million for 3 years.

Paul Millsap, a 21-year-old power forward, is expected to give a contract of 2 million for 3 years.

After handing over with Rick Sander and reading the information of the current players on the team, Presti kept frowning.

The team now has insufficient space to operate.

After giving contracts to Wilcox and Yes, among others, the total salary of 13 players is close to 65 million US dollars.

The league's salary cap for next season is 53 million US dollars, the luxury tax trigger line is 61 million US dollars, and the luxury tax exceeds 4 million US dollars.

The contracts of Jaylen Rose and LaFrentz are the main reason why the luxury tax is over the limit.

The good news is that Jaylen Rose's 15 million contract expires next season, and Danny Foster's 6.6 million junk contract expires next season, which will free up 22 million space for the team.

But that's until next season, and this season he doesn't have to think about playing big fish in the free market.

In fact, there are no big fish in the NBA this year. Jason Terry should stay with the Mavericks. Ben Wallace, since he broke with the Pistons, his only goal is a big contract.

The Supersonics definitely can't afford Ben Wallace a big contract, and they won't.

Now the team's room for maneuver is limited, and when he is not sure who the team will sell to, his first consideration as the general manager is to save money for the team.

Let's see if we can lower the luxury tax through transactions and get some high-quality assets by the way

Last year, the Sonics did not have a super luxury tax, and they lost 12 million in finances. This year's salary expenditure will be 20 million more than last year, and the loss will be even greater.

The morning after the draft is the last time for the board of directors to vote on whether to sell the team to the Goose City consortium.

According to his understanding, in the end, the voting was terminated because Bill Gates, who had no interest in the Supersonics before, intervened.

That's to be expected, and that's why the Sonics must get Yes.

As an NBA general manager, Presti certainly hopes that his boss is Bill Gates.

Unfortunately, not yet, the Sonics trade negotiations are still going on.

So for now he has to save money for his current cash-strapped boss.

Next season will be the time for the Sonics and Yes to show their strengths!

This season, no matter how strong Yes is, with such a supersonic speed, he will not be able to enter the playoffs.

"Sam, the Orlando Magic requested Milicic for Earl Watson and Johan Petro!"

Milicic traded for Earl Watson and Johan Petro?

Presti froze for a moment.

Even Magic treats them as idiots?