Jim Bass Ambition

Chapter 67 Advances of Credit

The Eastern and Western finals are a feast for the strong, while the lottery draw is a carnival for the weak.

After a perfect college season, Duke duo Jay Williams and Mike Dunleavy Jr. are the favorites for the No. [-] pick.But whether he can be elected as the champion depends on many reasons.

The Houston Rockets beat the Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors in the lottery to get the coveted No. [-] pick.The Rockets, who have a traditional center, urgently need a big man to fill the team's interior after losing Olajuwon.

According to "New Jersey Chronicle" reporter Adrian Wojnarowski's report, the Houston Rockets are very interested in center Yao Ming from China, and will have a great possibility to select him with the No. [-] pick.The Bulls will sign Jay Williams, the best college student in the United States, with the second pick, and the Warriors with the No. [-] pick will choose Mike Dunleavy Jr.

As a popular candidate for the Associated Press columnist of the year in 02, Wojnarowski is already well-known in NBA circles. His series of in-depth critical follow-up reports on the New York Knicks won him many awards. Sports Reporting Awards.

But another big piece of cake, Los Angeles, is the existence that Wojnarowski has never been able to get his hands on.

He thought he was still awake when he got a call from Lakers vice president Jim Buss.Jim Buss vouched for his reputation, and at the same time baited some first-hand news materials about the Los Angeles Lakers, just to get himself to publish such an article?
If the post is wrong, that means the prediction is inaccurate, but if the post is correct, I will have a big bargaining chip in the election for the best writer of the year.

After weighing the pros and cons, Wojnarowski made a decisive decision.

In the next few days, several major events occurred in the alliance one after another.

Lakers star Jerry West announced his resignation from all positions in the Lakers to join the Memphis Grizzlies as the general manager of the Grizzlies.

Celtics star Larry Bird announced that he would return to his hometown team, the Pacers, as the general manager of the Pacers. The first thing he did after taking office was to fire Isaiah Thomas, who had a poor record, and sign the Rick Carlisle, who left the Pistons, is the new head coach.

And these things, without exception, were disclosed by Wojnarowski in the New Jersey Chronicle in advance.For a while, his name became popular.And his articles are iron-clad arguments when fans use them as mouthpieces, which shows how credible they are.

The Lakers beat the Kings again at home. Adelman's targeted defense against Zen Master seemed to be limited. Divac was never good at personal offense and lost his offensive system.

Webber and Bibby are still two relatively stable points for the Kings, while Stojakovic's continued downturn has become the last straw that crushes the Kings.

The team is going to Sacramento for an away game.And Jim came to Jerry West's home to see off West, who was about to leave Memphis.

It was still the dinner combination of pasta and red wine, West and Jim sat opposite each other.

"Jimmy, your generosity this time reminds me of Jerry. Your family is all gamblers."

West knew Jim's whole plan and made some suggestions in it.

Although he has the prophetic advantage, Jim has to admire West's long-term vision and understanding of the ball. His initial plan has been processed by West to become more aggressive.

"By the way, this year the Lakers have three second rounds and one end of the first round. Have you decided on a candidate? Or are you planning to package and trade the picks? In the low drafts of the past two years, the rookies you selected are all eye-catching. ’” West asked.He was very interested in Jim's suddenly enlightened draft vision. Jim is good at betting on horses, but he has always been inaccurate in judging people. However, in the past two years, there has been a reverse trend.Now, for the sake of his fame, Jim no longer bets on horses, leaving only the legend of the horse king in Los Angeles.

"I already have four candidates, but I don't plan to tell you now, lest you cut off your beard in the draft." Jim laughed.

West laughed.

"So, who do you think I'll take with the No. [-] pick?"

"The Grizzlies have Pau Gasol, Sean Battier and Jason Williams. These three positions are relatively stable, so it must be mainly to strengthen weaknesses. , the team should not choose a power forward with a style similar to his, so Chris Wilcox is excluded, and this year's high school rookies generally perform poorly, so Amare Stoudemire is excluded ...Then there is only Drew Gooden." Jim fooled seriously, trying to find an excuse for the Grizzlies to choose Drew Gooden.

West applauded. Drew Gooden is indeed the No.1 pick in the eyes of the Grizzlies team. Before West took office, the Grizzlies also negotiated with West. There are not many players in the team, and they are genuine youngsters, and West did not pour cold water on the Grizzlies.

"But I think there are two better candidates." Jim said surprisingly.

West hid the smile on his face and listened carefully to Jim's analysis.After that, he fell into thinking.

Jim sat quietly, waiting for West's response.

After a long time, West said: "It is indeed feasible to do this, but aren't you afraid of creating another strong enemy in the West?"

"Judging from the reputation of the Grizzlies and the ball market of Memphis, it is unlikely that the Grizzlies will become a strong enemy in the next 20 years, but it is enough to be a spoiler. And I can count what I want, after all In the event that Shaq leaves the team, I have to prepare all kinds of weapons to deal with potential opponents." Jim said truthfully.

West couldn't help but be filled with emotion. The new army and the small ball market doomed the Grizzlies to only play the role of a black shop. They haven't touched the door of the playoffs in the past few years, let alone become a strong enemy of the Lakers. .

In the following time, the two tacitly did not continue to talk about basketball, and the era of the Lakers godfather will officially come to an end tonight.

"Be careful when dealing with those green guys." West urged when sending Jim out of the house.

The Celtics are now aggressive. The twin stars Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker led the team to the best record in recent years. They met the Nets led by Jason Kidd in the Eastern Conference Finals.

It was also a big turnaround. Kidd not only proved that he can not only hit the iron, but also kicked Marbury's team leadership ability into the stinky ditch to a certain extent. The Nets doubled the number of wins compared to last year. Stabilize the top spot in the Eastern Conference.In the playoffs, they defeated the veteran Pacers and Hornets consecutively, advancing all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

However, under the background of the West being strong and the East being weak, everyone agreed that neither the Celtics nor the Nets were able to form a strong challenge to the Western Conference champions. finals.

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　　Brother Long in Kunshan has been on fire for the past two days... It's too unsafe outside, so let's code at home after get off work...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)