Chapter 1194 Draft

Tang Tian went on stage and shook hands with Tatum, hugging Barkley and Smith.

Three consecutive MVPs, for a player, is already the greatest honor.

Throughout NBA history, only Chamberlain, Bird, and Jordan have achieved this.

Tang Tian has now become the fourth.

Although the previous speeches had left him speechless, he still said a lot when it came to the most important MVP.

Interestingly, with a new league president, the first thing he did was thank the league.

Very true.

From the league to the fans, he thanked everyone, and in the end, just like after winning the championship, he focused on thanking Walker and Butler.

"This is not just my honor, but also Kemba's and Jimmy's, and all the players and fans of the Pelicans, Pelicans champions."

Tang Tian's last words drew a lot of whistles from the crowd.

After the MVP was awarded, the final All-Defensive Teams and All-NBA Teams were announced.

From the All-Defensive Second Team to the First Team, each group of five came on stage to pose for photos.

This was also the final feel-good segment of the awards ceremony.

All-Defensive Second Team: Dejounte Murray, Conley, Antetokounmpo, Green, Embiid

All-Defensive First Team: Jrue Holiday, Tang Tian, Butler, Davis, Gobert

All-NBA Third Team: Curry, Walker, George, Aldridge, Horford

All-NBA Second Team: Westbrook, Harden, Butler, Davis, Embiid

All-NBA First Team: Lillard, Tang Tian, Durant, James, Antetokounmpo

When the All-NBA Teams were announced, the first NBA awards show came to an end.

The Pelicans were undoubtedly the biggest winners of the night.

Tang Tian alone won MVP, Best Teammate, Dunk of the Year, Assist of the Year, Clutch Shot of the Year, and two All-NBA First Team selections.

Butler also had Defensive Player of the Year, Hustle Award, All-NBA Second Team, and All-Defensive First Team.

Davis had All-NBA Second Team and All-Defensive First Team.

Walker had All-NBA Third Team.

Siakam won Most Improved Player.

Stevens won Coach of the Year.

Dempsey won General Manager of the Year.

Out of a total of 20 awards, excluding the All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams, the Pelicans won 10.

Half the pie.

With an 80-win season, the Pelicans were showered with honors.

With the end of the awards show, the 2017-2018 season officially came to a close, but the door to the 2018-2019 season had already opened.

The first thing on the agenda was the draft.

Dempsey came to Tang Tian as he had in previous years.

Tang Tian gave his advice as before.

After Dempsey left, he began to think about a problem.

The time he had transmigrated to in his past life was the end of 2019.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it was almost that time again.

In other words, in terms of the draft alone, the most advice he could give Dempsey would be until next year.

And because rookies need time to develop, the low-draft picks he gave might not necessarily be as successful as before.

So maybe after next season, he would have to consider some other things.

Two days later, on June 22nd, US time, the 2018 NBA Draft kicked off at Madison Square Garden.

The league's draft location in the Xiao Hua era had moved from Manhattan to Brooklyn.

Perhaps to erase Xiao Hua's traces, or perhaps just out of personal preference, Tatum brought the draft back to the Mecca of Basketball.

This retro style was very characteristic of Tatum and won fans' praise on social media.

People are always nostalgic.

Before this year's Finals, the draft picks had already been determined by lottery.

The Suns were favored by the goddess of luck and successfully drew the first overall pick.

Their current lineup is full of talent: Daniel Smith, Little Payton, Jalen Brown, Porzingis.

This year's top draft prospect is Deandre Ayton.

Getting Ayton would really complete them.

But in hindsight, if they had kept Tatum, making the playoffs next season would have been a certainty.

The Hornets got the second pick.

The Clippers won the third pick, with only a 7.8% chance of drawing it, comparable to the Cavaliers drawing the first pick in 2011.

Adding in the 11th pick they had previously traded for, the Clippers were really poised to make a big splash in this year's draft.

The 4th to 8th picks belonged to the Kings, 76ers, Grizzlies, Hawks, and Bulls, respectively.

The Pelicans only had a 30th overall pick in the first round and a 60th overall pick in the second round this year.

Dempsey had just won his second Executive of the Year award.

But this offseason was actually a big challenge for him.

With the Tang Tian rule announced and Walker and Butler's contracts expiring, the question was what to do.

Moreover, they weren't the only two with expiring contracts; Rose, Lamb, Diop, and West were also expiring.

This meant half of the players' contracts were expiring.

And he had to consider Brogdon and Siakam, who only had two years left on their rookie contracts.

Although these were all matters for the free agent market, they would affect how to select players in the draft.

Tang Tian's list was just a reference; he needed to weigh the pros and cons himself.

However, proximity to greatness rubs off; having been around Tang Tian for so long, he was now capable of handling these matters.

In other words, he had graduated.

Madison Square Garden was packed, with fans wearing jerseys of all colors gathered together, a spectacle only seen at the draft.

And because of the draft order rules, there were more fans of the weaker teams in attendance.

After being abused by their team for a season, the draft was their land of rebirth!

Tang Tian didn't go to the draft site, he didn't even watch the draft live; instead, he took Olsen to the Caribbean for another vacation.

They hadn't been successful with conceiving before because of the games and preparations, so they had to seize the time this time.

After everything was ready, Tatum walked from behind the scenes to the stage.

He was greeted with cheers.

This broke the tradition of booing the commissioner!

But it also showed the fans' expectations for Tatum; they were really fed up with the previous Xiao Hua!

After a familiar opening speech, Tatum officially announced the start of the draft.

The first pick belonged to the Suns.

As everyone expected, they selected Deandre Ayton from the University of Arizona.

Ayton is 2.16 meters tall and averaged 20.1 points, 11.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.9 blocks per game in the NCAA, quite dominant.

This choice wasn't too surprising.

The Hornets, with the second pick, selected Mohamed Bamba.

This choice was suffocating.

Bamba's highest ranking in previous draft predictions was only sixth.

But Jordan once again showed his vision, not choosing Bagley, who had been a popular choice for second overall, but choosing him.

Whether it was a surprise or a scare, only Hornets fans would be able to tell when the season started.

"The third pick belongs to the Los Angeles Clippers, they have 5 minutes to consider."

But with this, the choice for the third pick became unpredictable.

With the Hornets not picking Bagley, the Clippers would theoretically definitely take him.

But Jerry West is now in charge of the Clippers, and what choice he would make was something the fans were very curious about.