"The Milwaukee Bucks chose Yi Jianlian from China in the sixth pick in the first round in 2007."

Yi Jianlian, who was selected by the Bucks, seemed unhappy, and only smiled politely when he took the stage to take a photo with President Stern.

In a subsequent interview, Yi Jianlian admitted that he was "not very satisfied" with the draft results, and his agent Feigen also said that he would actively operate the transaction.

The draft continues.

The Timberwolves picked Cory Brewer in the seventh pick.

The Bobcats picked Brandon Wright in the eighth pick.

The Bulls picked Jockin Noah with the ninth pick.

...

"The 18th pick in the first round of 2007, the Golden State Warriors chose Marco Belineri from Italy."

Although I had known for a long time that the Warriors had a very slim chance of choosing him, Li Rong was still a little disappointed when the result came out.

His trial with the Warriors is pretty good, and the Warriors are in their hometown team, but unfortunately the number 3 position in the Warriors lineup is already overcrowded.

Al Harrington, Stephen Jackson, Mike Pitrus, Matt Barnes…

Old Nelson led this "gangster" team and created the first "Black Eight Miracle" since the NBA playoff reformed its seven-game 4-win system in this year's playoffs.

...

The 76ers selected Oden's teammate Dae Quinn Cook at Ohio State at the 21st pick, a three-point shooter who is considered to be extremely similar to Lee Rong's draft position.

The Charlotte Bobcats chose Jared Dudley in the 22nd pick, a No. 3 player who can swing to the power forward position. The Bobcats' new boss, Michael Jordan, seems to have a special liking for this type of player, and the current Bobcats star Gerald Wallace.

The New York Knicks hold the No. 23 draw, and they may choose Li Rong in the prediction. Their lineup last season was very strange and sent out a strange three-high lineup. The starting small forward was Jared Jeffries, who was 2.10 meters tall. They needed a real small forward candidate.

But the news that followed was a bit disappointing again. The New York Knicks chose Wilson Chandler in the 23rd pick.

The Phoenix Suns then selected Rudy Fernandez at the 24th pick and then sent his signing rights to the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Utah Jazz chose Maurice Almond at the 25th pick, an older rookie who graduated from his senior year and participated in the draft.

The Houston Rockets used the No. 26 pick to pick Aaron Brooks from the University of Oregon, and like most people's previous draft predictions, they picked a point guard.

Next is the Detroit Pistons, followed by the San Antonio Spurs with the No. 28 pick.

Only then did Li Rong really start to get nervous, his palms were covered in sweat.

Dennis, who accompanied him to the scene, tried to say two cold jokes to relieve Li Rong's psychological pressure, but found that he had not listened to a single word after he said Li Rong.

Stern slowly came out from behind the scenes again: "In the 27th pick in the first round of 2007, the Detroit Pistons chose Aaron Affraro from UCLA."

Avraro led UCLA to the final quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship this year, eventually losing to defending champions University of Florida Gators in the semi-finals.

After being selected, Avraro was obviously relieved, and he almost thought he was about to fall into the second round.

After shaking hands with Afflaro, Stern announced that the next draft team would be the Spurs, and then the big screen behind him began to count down.

At that moment, Li Rong felt that time had completely stagnated. His consciousness seemed to be unable to sense the existence of external objects, and he could only hear the heart jumping constantly in the chest cavity.

Time begins to pass by seconds, like a desert that will never end.

Finally, Stern walked back to the hosting stage, with a huge talent show wall hanging behind him. Every time a name is read, the staff will post the sign with the name on it.

Now, this talent wall is almost filled with dense names.

"The 28th pick in the first round," Stern pulled out the note from the envelope with the Spurs' choice, and looked down, "The San Antonio Spurs choose..."

At this moment, Li Rong felt that his breathing had stopped and he could not even raise the strength of prayer. He could only wait quietly for the verdict of fate.

“…Tiago Split from Brazil.”

Applause came again at the scene.

Li Rong's expression was already stiff, and his mind was blank, but he just mechanically followed the crowd and raised his hands and applauded.

...

Texas.

San Antonio Spurs Conference Room.

Popovich looked dissatisfied and kept muttering something to General Manager Buford, and occasionally made a few swear words from his mouth.

Buford smiled bitterly. The old man brought him out step by step back then and supported him as the general manager of the Spurs. He dared not disobey the legendary coach of the NBA.

After Popovich was almost scolded, Buford explained carefully: "I chose Split because he still had a three-year contract with Spain. We don't have to pay a salary if we choose him this year. Split's signing right will not occupy the team's salary space. I know that you want to choose the Chinese player, and we still have the No. 33 signing."

Popovich's expression was a little better when he heard this. As a small-scale team, the Spurs still need to be careful in terms of the team's finances even if they just won the NBA championship this year.

As the general manager of this team, Buford's principle is to spend every penny on the blade.

He did some calculations and if he signed Li Rong with the first round, according to the current labor-management agreement, he would have to issue him a four-year rookie contract.

If you use the second round of pick, you can sign a contract with a minimum salary of 2 to 3 years.

The difference between the two is second, mainly because this can save the team about one million in salary space.

After hearing Buford's explanation, Popovich finally suppressed the anger in his heart.

He thought for a moment. Among the remaining teams, Philadelphia has Iguodala, Celtics have Pierce, and Supersonics have just chosen Durant and Green. They are not short of staff in the small forward position.

The most likely person to intercept the betrayal in the middle is the Phoenix Suns with the No. 29 draw. Cole just took office and may attack Marion on the third position.

Thinking of this, Popovich quickly picked up the phone on the table and, in order to ensure that everything was foolproof, directly called the Suns' administrative office.

The phone was quickly connected, and Cole's voice sounded a little hoarse.

"Who do you choose to pick No. 29?" Popovich asked straight in.

"Not sure yet," Cole replied.

"Stop talking nonsense with me," Popovich cursed very angrily, "Your countdown is almost over. Tell me, do you want to choose Li Rong?"

"I mean that." Kerr couldn't raise any courage to resist when facing the old man. He played under Popovich when he was a player. He was half a Spurs type and knew the old man's power well.

"No! He is the one I like." Popovich said directly.
Chapter completed!