Chapter 113 Draft

"Ladies and gentlemen, good evening, welcome to fans from all over the United States, as well as American fans watching on TNTv and Canadian fans watching on CBCv. Welcome to the 2017 NBA draft held at the Barclays Center in New York. Thank you for joining us, and to those fans who are still on their way here, thank you for your attendance."

Tatum's opening remarks were particularly familiar.

In the half-year that Tatum had been in charge of the league, the biggest change was the return to the basketball of the early century.

Many things were even the same as during Stern's era.

As a result, many fans called him "Stern's shadow."

Just like his opening remarks for the draft just now, that sense of familiarity was precisely because of this.

In fact, purely in terms of personal ability, he was not as good as Xiao Hua or Stern, but a steady and stable president.

After the opening remarks, the draft officially began.

The 76ers had the first overall pick and five minutes to consider.

Historically, the first overall pick this year belonged to the Celtics, and their pick was obtained through a previous trade with the Nets.

The Celtics' original target was Tatum. After trading with the 76ers, they got the second overall pick, which also led to the most well-known free trade in the NBA.

But after the butterfly effect, the Nets selected Russell in 2015, and he performed well. In the end, the Celtics only got an eighth overall pick.

Tatum and the like were completely impossible for them.

Tang Tian was far away on the Caribbean island of Barbados, but because the draft was in the evening, after a day of fun, he watched the live broadcast with Olsen.

Although he couldn't be there in person, when Demps and the others made their choices, they would definitely contact him.

Moreover, his two sons really liked basketball. They were usually noisy during the day, but at this moment, watching the draft broadcast, they were rarely quiet.

The five minutes passed quickly, and the 76ers quickly made their choice.

Markelle Fultz.

Tang Tian knew about Fultz, a top pick ruined by injuries.

If he didn't have the foresight, he would have been fully deserving of the top pick.

In his freshman season, he played for the University of Washington in the NCAA, averaging 23.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game.

He was also named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-America Third Team, Associated Press All-America Third Team, Sporting News All-America Third Team, and Pac-12 All-First Team.

He had collected a full set of data and honors, and as a 1.93-meter point guard, his physical talent was also quite outstanding.

The 76ers' choice was basically without fault.

"A trade has occurred."

When Tatum came out for the second time, he did not announce the pick first, but directly announced a trade.

The Lakers traded this year's fourth overall pick plus a protected first-round pick (top ten protected) to the Kings for their second overall pick.

This trade came somewhat suddenly and filled fans with anticipation. The value of the second overall pick was much higher than the fourth overall pick.

Tang Tian wasn't too surprised. The Lakers were quite optimistic about Ball. There were rumors before that the Suns also wanted to pick Ball, so it wasn't surprising that they would try to intercept him.

Sure enough, when Tatum came out again, he announced that they had selected Ball with the second overall pick.

Simmons was at a disadvantage playing on the outside due to a lack of shooting. It seemed that he would switch to playing forward in the new season, and his potential twin stars pairing with Ball was something to look forward to.

The Lakers' operation was still acceptable.

The Suns, with the third pick, originally had similar thoughts. Porzingis had already proven himself in Phoenix, and he needed a good point guard to assist him.

Now that they had lost Ball, it remained to be seen who they would choose.

Tatum was obviously the better choice, but the point guard Daron Fox was also quite capable.

Tang Tian was also quite curious about this.

"With the third overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, the Phoenix Suns select... Jayson Tatum, a 2.03-meter small forward from Duke University."

The moment he heard the Suns' choice, Tang Tian couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

The Suns were doing great. They had previously selected Porzingis, and now they selected Tatum, plus the existing Jaylen Brown.

Their wing talent was explosive. It seemed that like the Mavericks before, after a wave of drafts, their rise was just around the corner.

After the Suns, other teams also made their choices one after another.

The Kings, with the fourth pick, selected Daron Fox.

The Magic, with the fifth pick, selected Jonathan Isaac.

The Timberwolves, with the sixth pick, selected Josh Jackson.

The Celtics, with the seventh pick, selected Dennis Smith.

When it came to the eighth pick, Tatum came out and didn't rush to announce the pick, but instead broke another trade.

This year's draft was really full of trades.

And this trade that broke out made Tang Tian a little dumbfounded for a moment.

The Celtics traded Dennis Smith, whom they had just selected, and a protected first-round pick next year (top ten protected) to the Suns for Jayson Tatum.

The Suns ultimately still wanted a point guard!

After all, they already had Jaylen Brown on the team and didn't need Tatum that much.

Moreover, judging from the trade, it seemed that the Kings didn't want to trade with them, so they could only settle for second best.

Tang Tian was really dumbfounded when he saw this.

The Suns were still the Suns, their operations were always so... indescribable.

But coincidentally, the top few rookies went to their respective teams as Tang Tian knew.

There weren't too many surprises in the subsequent first-round selections.

Tang Tian only paid attention to a few of the more critical choices.

The Pacers selected Jarrett Allen with the 18th pick.

The Raptors selected OG Anunoby with the 23rd pick.

The Rockets selected Kyle Kuzma with the 27th pick.

The Lakers used the 30th pick from the Pelicans to select Josh Hart.

These were all players who Tang Tian remembered would play well in the future.

After the Lakers finished their selection, the first round of the draft came to an end.

Because they didn't have a first-round pick, the Pelicans' participation in this year's draft was a bit low.

But this was a case of gains and losses. Without Williams, the Pelicans' title defense wouldn't have been so smooth.

The first round of the draft ended.

Just as Tang Tian was waiting for the second round to begin, Demps called him.

There was a new trade on the table. Originally, they planned to buy a pick around 45 with cash, but now the Jazz at 40 were interested in Bryn Forbes.

The 60th pick plus Forbes could be exchanged for their 40th pick.

Demps was calling to ask for Tang Tian's advice.

Tang Tian quickly gave him his advice: trade.

Originally, their target around 45 was Dillon Brooks, a pretty promising small forward.

But if they could trade for someone around the 40th pick, then they would have new targets.