The weather in Minnesota, USA

In the early morning of June 27th, Beijing time, Fran Blainbury, a columnist of Basketball World, a famous American professional media who worked as a reporter for many years in Houston Chronicle, published an article commenting on the performance of the Rockets in the 26th NBA draft:

The Rockets didn't have a draft pick in this year's NBA draft, but they finally bought three rookie signing rights in cash, namely Jermaine Taylor, the shooting guard from the Wizards in the 32nd pick, and Sergio Luer, the Spanish point guard from the Nuggets in the 34th pick. Just when people thought that the rocket wouldn't do anything again, the rocket actually opened the wallet again and bought Badinger from the Pistons in the 44th overall position.

During most of the draft night, the Rockets spent most of their time in contact with other teams, trying to buy a first-round draft pick and even willing to pay an important part of their rotation in exchange for the rookie in the lottery area. According to a source, the Rockets had considered Lu Biao at that time, and Lu Biao was always the goal that the Rockets wanted to win by trading the No.2 signing. On the night of the draft, the Rockets contacted the Grizzlies to discuss the introduction of Lu Biao, then called the Thunder and finally called the Timberwolves, but in the end they didn't make a deal. Obviously, the trading chips provided by the rocket did not meet each other's needs.

"I don't want to talk about which teams we were talking about trading draft picks." Rockets general manager Morey said after the draft, "It's hard to know how close we are to the transaction, because the initiative of the transaction is in the hands of other teams. If we are the one who actively seeks the transaction, then we will lose some chips in the negotiation. I think the trading chips we put forward are very heavy chips because we have decided to fight for the players we want. "

In an interview with ESPN, Timberwolves general manager Kahn expressed his intention to leave the team with two top-ranked rookies. "We didn't choose Lu Biao to trade him," Kahn said. "We didn't intend to choose Johnny. Johnny is a shooting guard in a greater sense, while Lu Biao is more of a point guard. "

However, the general manager of the Rockets, Morey, believes that although the draft is over, there are still trading opportunities. "In recent years, there have been many transactions from the first pick to the fifteenth pick." Morey said, "At that time, the transactions were basically settled one or two days before the draft day. This year's situation is different, but I still think there may be some deals about these rookies in the future. Look at the rookie selected by some teams. They have selected multiple players in the same position, so it will naturally make people think that they will seek a deal next. "

Morey didn't really make a big move on draft night, so we can naturally infer that Morey will continue to seek a deal. Two years ago, no one would have thought that Morey could persuade the Spurs to trade Scola to the Rockets. Last summer, he unexpectedly got Artest from the Kings.

Kahn, general manager of Timberwolves, said he was happy to have enough point guards, and Morey, general manager of Rockets, said he was satisfied with the rookie he got in the ranking match. On the other hand, Lu Biao told others on the night of the draft that he didn't like cold weather (Minnesota is very cold) and Houston is a warm place. It's still summer, so the rockets still have enough time to continue warming up. (Kong Ying)