Updated: 2013-03-12

Stephen knew very clearly that the game was good and the attack was necessary, and the winning was determined by defense. This truth was unbreakable. Why the Spurs were able to win in the fourth game? The key is that their defense was better than the Supersonics' offense, and their defense was not bad.

The main weakness of the Supersonics' current main lineup is the point of point guard. The inside defense is not bad. The current players are all the types of defense that Durant's defense is not very good, but it is not too bad. The reason is that he has height and speed.

Many players will despise Durant because of his bamboo pole-like figure and rookie identity. In fact, Durant's height and wingspan advantages make many counterparts dare not shoot easily when facing him, and it is not so easy to break through him. People who think that he is not flexible have made the wrong idea.

Durant's weakness is his lack of strength and confrontation, but generally when facing this type of player, he will switch positions with Stephen to defend, so his position cannot be regarded as a loophole for the team. As for Stephen's point, it goes without saying. As an outside player, he won the best defensive player of the season, his defense, especially the individual defense ability, is completely at the top level in the league.

The only disadvantage is that Stephen has to take on the team's offensive cause, so he cannot invest too much energy in defense. Therefore, when Stephen devotes his personal energy to offense, the team lacks a good outside defensive player. Wilkins and Szebiak are both good at offense and are only good at mid- and low-level defense in the defensive league.

So in addition to a point guard who does not suffer losses with height and strength, the team also needs an outside defender. If you can have a reliable three-pointer like Bruce Bowen, James Posey, and Lagabe, or like Sean Bathir, you will have any offensive methods.

In addition to this, if the inside team cannot sign Cott Thomas back at a low salary after Cott Thomas and Robert Swift leave, the team also needs an inside player of excellent level. The defense can be a little worse, but the offense is best to be stronger.

In this way, the team's main lineup is center Cooperd, power forward Wilcox, small forward Durant, shooting guard Stephen, point guard Watson or Reedno, and then the substitute lineup includes Wilkins, powerful point guard, outside defender and inside offensive player.

The regular rotation lineup of nine people has basically met the needs. I will find a few role players at will, and a lineup with balanced offense and reasonable offense and healthy personnel salary structure will be built. The team is strengthened while maintaining competitiveness without significantly overspending.

But if you think so, you may not be able to find a player who fully meets the requirements. Just like **Vic has been looking for a replacement for Bruce Bowen for several years, but it has not been found yet. A season has passed, and Yuduri obviously does not meet his requirements.

But it is reasonable to make plans and plans well, and then trade according to this, and if you can't achieve it, you won't have any hope for this year's draft, whether it's Presti or Calesimo.

It’s not that there are no good talents in this year’s draft. Among the players who have signed up for the election, there are several rookies who are very suitable for the needs of the team. However, capable players usually have several teams who like them, and it’s not just the Supersonics.

The Spurs still cannot escape the fate of a low pick. They originally won the first round pick this year and the year after in Stephen's trade. In **Vic's prediction, the Supersonics are likely to not even make the playoffs because he knows that Bennett will not make any big investment in the team this season.

As long as a team that has not entered the playoffs, their first-round picks must be decided by drawing lots, which can get any lottery picks. Finally, it is possible to get a high pick. **Vic told the ball control department to pay close attention to those star-level college players.

However, as the season progresses, the Supersonics' record is getting better and better. **Vic is already very disappointed. The only thing that can comfort himself is that he is at least a little higher than his own players' pick. However, by the end of the season, the Supersonics became the No. 1 in the Western Conference.

The lottery behind Lotto is ranked in reverse order of the record of the teams entering the playoffs. The Supersonics have the second record in the league, and the pick they have won is the 29th pick. The Spurs have also won a 24th pick, which is their new high in recent years.

However, for the Supersonics, this is good news, because they now have a first-round pick from the Phoenix Suns. According to pre-season expectations, the Suns should have become the top three teams in the West as before, so this first-round pick is a standard chicken threat. Who knew that the Suns suddenly declined this season. If they had not stopped the decline at the last critical moment, they might even fall outside the playoffs.

However, their record is ultimately eighth in the West. According to the record ranking, it is only better than the Atlanta Hawks, which ranks eighth in the East, so they won the 16th pick, which is good news for the Supersonics.

What kind of player can be selected for the 16th pick? In this year, this year is not considered a draft year, the 16th pick is at most that you can choose a player at the general main rotation level. However, this is enough for the Supersonics team. How to choose a player who has growth potential and is suitable for the team's needs, Presti naturally has his own set of standards.

He needs to make further evaluation of the current candidates, and then determine whether the player can be selected in the sixteenth pick. If the player is urgently needed, he may have to further improve the ranking through trades. If there is no player who is concerned, he can also obtain compensation through trades instead of choosing an unwanted player to waste.

This is his job with Calesimo. Stephen has no objection to whom he chooses. He is a second round pick and has a natural hostile mentality towards high picks. He has already reported to the Chinese national team at that time and has no time to learn about these things again.

After the three of them reached a consensus on all this, Caresimo left first, and then Stephen discussed Coopard's contract extension with Presti.

Cooperd's performance in the early stage of this season is eye-catching. Compared to his time in the Clippers, he has reached a higher level both on both offensive and defensive ends, but after gaining enough playing time, he has not made the great progress many people expected.

He has not become a first-class inside player, or his defense is considered first-class, but his offense can only be considered second-class. Such performance is not enough to become the core of the team's inside line. However, in the current situation where excellent inside line is so scarce, it is still more than enough to occupy a team's main center position.

Stephen naturally would not let Coupard suffer, but he also knew that it was impossible to ask for a contract of tens of millions of yuan for Coupard. Such a low-post defense would not be met by a mere middle-class contract. So after discussions Presti and Stephen decided to give Coupard a five-year contract with a starting salary of six million dollars.

This season is the third season of Coopard's career. Lotto rookie players' contracts are standard two-plus one-plus one. The team can execute his fourth-year contract, but can also renew his contract directly now.

If the contract is renewed now, Koopard has played for one season because only the SuperSonics have played for one season and does not meet the early Larry Bird terms, and can only increase 20% of the salary this season, or use the team's middle-class terms.

But if he completes a four-year contract, he will meet the early Larry Bird terms and can sign a contract with a higher salary of one hundred and seventy-five percent of his salary in more than one season or the average league salary, so that Coupard can get a higher salary.

Stephen was discussing with Presti to decide the fate of Coupard, but suddenly the phone rang. Stephen saw that it was Mo Xueru who called him. He took it and asked. It turned out that she and Situ Yulin came to cheer for Stephen. Now he has arrived at the airport and wants Stephen to come over and pick them up.

Stephen apologized to Presty. Presty expressed his understanding, is it young? It's normal. Stephen hurriedly left and threw Coopard's contract aside.
Chapter completed!