In the blink of an eye, the annual draft conference came as scheduled.

As the last NBA draft in the 20th century, the official venue of the draft was Washington, the political center of the United States.

Jiang Dongbing and Stewart arrived in Washington a day early to prepare for the draft.

This is not the first draft that Jiang Dongbing has participated in. He participated in the draft last season, but at that time, Jiang Dongbing had little presence in the draft because of his junior qualifications.

But this season is completely different. Jiang Dongbing took advantage of the momentum he just led his team to win the championship, and made a huge name in the league, directly becoming the most watched point in the entire draft.

They pay attention to Jiang Dongbing mainly because they want to see which players he will choose in this draft.

There is no doubt that the players selected by Jiang Dongbing will most likely become the mainstay of the league in the future and are worthy of the expectations of all parties.

…

As soon as he entered the venue, Jiang Dongbing caused a stir in the scene. Many coaches or executives from other teams had already stood up and greeted Jiang Dongbing.

For coaches like Jiang Dongbing, even if there are no opportunities for cooperation now, there is no guarantee that Jiang Dongbing will be useful in the future, so it is necessary to build a good relationship now.

Even for a wealthy team like the Knicks, owner James Dolan came to welcome Jiang Dongbing when he saw him coming.

"Jiang, you're finally here." Dolan's face was filled with anticipation.

Jiang Dongbing sighed and whispered, "Mr. Dolan, maybe I won't be able to help you this time."

The main reason is that the draft picks the Knicks have are too low and they don't even have a lottery pick. Even if Jiang Dongbing wants to help the Knicks, it's hard for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.

These words made Dolan's expression tighten, "Jiang, why do you say that?"

"Your ranking is really too low. There are indeed some fish that slipped through the net this year, but not many. Think about my identity." Jiang Dongbing said with a bitter smile.

Dolan's face was even more ugly. He understood what Jiang Dongbing meant by "fish that slipped through the net." There were few fish that slipped through the net this year, and Jiang Dongbing is the head coach of the Grizzlies. He couldn't send all the fish that slipped through the net to New York.

Wouldn't that mean eating everything inside and out?

"Jiang, what if we can trade for a lottery pick right away? Can you ensure that we pick a strong player? At least he must be at the All-Star level." Dolan asked again.

He didn't want to waste this once-a-year opportunity. If he really missed it, it would be hard to say whether the Knicks could continue to reach the Finals next year.

Jiang Dongbing did not immediately give Dolan any guarantee, but asked in a low voice: "What position do you want players for?"

"As far as possible, it's an inside job. You know what's going on with our Ewing. We must find a young inside man to prevent Ewing from getting injured again." Dolan gave the answer after thinking for a moment.

Jiang Dongbing nodded, "Okay, when you get the lottery pick later, tell me your order and I will give you your names."

For a team as wealthy as the Knicks, Jiang Dongbing has no doubt that they can obtain a lottery pick in this short period of time.

This kind of thing is not difficult for the Knicks. Even if it is really difficult, they ask Stern to help, and it is expected that it will have some effect.

At first glance, it seems that the Knicks can be regarded as the opponent of the Grizzlies. Jiang Dongbing has improved the strength of the opponent and is suspected of staking the enemy.

But in Jiang Dongbing's view, the Knicks, let alone one All-Star in this year's draft, even if they select two, they are not qualified to be their opponent. This team is not a serious team.

…

In addition to James Dolan, many executives greeted Jiang Dongbing warmly, and almost all the focus and eyes of the entire venue were focused on Jiang Dongbing.

After sitting down, with fifteen minutes left before the official start of the draft, Dolan sent someone to tell Jiang Dongbing that they had obtained the fifth pick from the Toronto Raptors.

The Knicks and Raptors can often reach deals. For example, Marcus Camby was sold to the Knicks by the Raptors. Jiang Dongbing doesn’t know what the deep relationship is between the two teams.

All I know is that the Knicks and Raptors have an unusual relationship.

But even if the relationship is unusual, the Knicks will have to pay a high price to get the Raptors' fifth pick.

Jiang Dongbing knocked on the table and began to think seriously, who should he choose for the Knicks?

In this draft, there are actually many decent inside players, such as Brand, Odom, Marion and Kirilenko. Even Dazhi is extremely strong under the special training of Jiang Dongbing.

But Brand and Odom will definitely not be able to pick Kirilenko with the Knicks' fifth pick. Jiang Dongbing wants to take Kirilenko. In other words, if the Knicks want to get an inside man with the fifth pick,

There are only two choices: Marion and Dazhi.

Marion is actually not an inside player to be precise. Although he is usually stationed at the fourth position, his style of play is more towards the small forward.

This is somewhat similar to the Suns star Barkley. Marion also possesses extremely strong rebounding ability despite his short height. The most important thing is his three-point shooting and defensive ability, which are also extremely outstanding.

If Marion hadn't been picked too high, Jiang Dongbing would have spared no effort to select such a player.

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Dongbing wrote the names of Marion and Dazhi on the note and handed it to the staff to pass it to James Dolan.

The names of these two people were given to Dolan, and they could choose whoever they wanted.

After Dolan got the name, both Dolan and Van Gundy were confused. Wang Zhizhi and the others knew about it. After all, this was a player that had been reported by many media recently. It was said that Jiang Dongbing was very optimistic about the center prospect, so Jiang Dongbing recommended that they choose Wang Zhizhi.

Not surprising either.

And what the hell is this Marion? It’s not like Marion of the Knicks doesn’t know, but this player is really an inside man? He’s only 201 centimeters tall, how can he be a good inside man?

"Let's choose Wang Zhizhi. Although Jiang Dongbing asked us to choose Marion, he must have his reasons."

"But I think it is safer to choose Wang Zhizhi. After all, with his height of 216 centimeters and wingspan of 224 centimeters, he is more likely to become an All-Star center." Van Gundy suggested from the side.

He is also an old-school coach, and he certainly does not think that Marion, who is only 201 centimeters tall, will be a reliable inside man, so he hopes that Dolan can choose Da Zhi, who looks more reliable with his height and wingspan.

Dolan nodded, "Okay, then choose Wang Zhizhi. I hope this young Chinese center can bring us some good luck."
Chapter completed!