Edison left Nash's home, but was in no hurry to return to Orlando.
As mentioned before, although the Magic have begun to rebuild, everything is actually at a standstill before the draft pick is determined, so Edison plans to stay in New York for a few more days to relax.
Time flies, the time flies quickly, and the time hand is quickly set to May 26. The NBA playoffs are still in full swing. The Pistons and Pacers in the East, and the Lakers and Timberwolves in the West are competing for the division championship and the finals.
tickets. But these are not what Edison cares about. What Edison cares about is tonight's NBA draft lottery.
The Magic were the team with the worst record in the league last season and had a 25% probability of getting the No. 1 pick, but this does not mean that the Magic can get the No. 1 pick. In fact, the NBA has adopted lottery draws since 1985.
Since the method was used to determine the No. 1 pick, until 2012, the team with the worst record and the highest probability of winning the No. 1 pick had only achieved its wish four times. Miracles of small wins and big wins have become a common phenomenon in NBA lottery draws.
It can be said that the only people who can decide the No. 1 pick are God and Stern.
It is easy to understand that it is God’s decision. It depends on character and luck! For example, the Magic went 41-41 that year and became the team with the best record among the teams participating in the lottery. This means that the probability of winning the No. 1 pick is only 1.52.
%, but the Magic really won the lottery. In 2008, the Bulls, who had the ninth-worst record in the league, created the second greatest miracle in the history of the lottery. They had a 1.7% chance of winning the No. 1 pick. Everyone is more familiar with the 2002
In 2006, Francis represented the Rockets, which had the fifth-worst record, and won the first prize against Yao Ming, but their winning rate of 8.9% could only rank seventh in the history of the lottery miracle.
But is it true that every draft lottery is purely based on luck? Not necessarily. To ordinary people, luck is just a random finger from God, but in the NBA, Stern is God, and he rarely makes a random finger.
For example, in the 2012 draft lottery, the Hornets won the No. 1 pick as expected. The Hornets were previously hosted by the league for US$300 million. After losing Chris Paul, they were acquired by New Orleans owner Benson for US$338 million.
Nearly 40 million U.S. dollars. Then, the Hornets won the No. 1 pick with a 13.7% probability, ranking fourth among the teams in the lottery. The whole process was closely linked, and it was jokingly called "buy the team and get the No. 1 pick."
The New Orleans native won the No. 1 pick. Although there were endless doubts, Stern, the league president, sat firmly on the Diaoyutai and even felt confident. Because he skillfully combined the rules and his personal wishes perfectly. Stern has always liked to win.
The draft is a fuss, because it can strategically control the league. The first thing he lit after taking office as NBA commissioner in 1984 was to reform the draft from a conference call to a live broadcast. In the second year, he even sacrificed
The concept of lottery picks came out. As soon as the lottery method appeared, it was actually full of "conspiracy theories." In 1985, the lottery lottery was used for the first time. The Knicks got Patrick Ewing as predicted by the media. At that time, they touched the envelope.
, it turned out that there was a dog-eared corner on Knicks’ envelope, and there was speculation that the envelope had been put in the refrigerator beforehand.
And if you analyze it carefully, the drafts in the past two years are even more confusing, leaving countless room for imagination.
In the 2010 lottery, the widow of current Wizards owner Pauline drew the lottery on behalf of the Wizards. The Nets, which had the best chance of winning the No. 1 pick, knew they had no chance. Pauline had been Stern's strongest supporter. After his death, Bolin
The Lin family sold the team, but the debt left by Paulin had to be repaid by the league; in the 2011 lottery, Cavaliers owner Gilbert showed up with his son who was seriously ill, and other teams knew that the top pick was Cleveland.
, one management staff even suggested that Gilbert was putting on a show and playing the tragedy card, but the Cavaliers lost LeBron James and the league wanted to appease him.
According to the original historical process, the Magic should have won the No. 1 pick, but Edison knew that the historical process had changed. The most obvious one was the team's several consecutive disasters, which definitely did not exist in the original world. If Wang Ziqiang existed
This kind of basketball reporter will definitely have relevant reports...
Before the lottery was drawn, Old Pat had already chosen 250 number combinations as the team's representative. I don't know what his luck will be this time.
The lottery started. Edison sat in front of the TV and stared at the screen. As the machine ran, the ping-pong balls rolled up and down inside. Edison's heart was lifted to his throat. As a result, four ping-pong balls were shaken out one after another.
Then the staff immediately started doing statistics.
League Vice President Silva stepped onto the podium and prepared to announce the results: "I will announce the results of this lottery. The first pick is the Orlando Magic."
After hearing this, Old Pat walked up to the front desk, being a gentleman as always, and then took a group photo.
After Edison heard the result, a stone fell to his heart, and he collapsed on the ground. The draw for the No. 2 overall pick continued on the TV, but Edison couldn't watch it at all.
After waiting for about ten minutes, Edison stood up again, picked up the phone and called Dev Tovacek and Otis Smith, "Tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the Amway Center conference room, it's time for us to have a big fight."
At this time, the TV screen showed a reporter interviewing Pat Lao: "From our standpoint, after such a bad and unfortunate season, we deserve such a high draft pick. I think what we are thinking now
It's just one thing: Which little guy has the best chance of becoming a superstar? That's what we have to think about now, and a lot of years, it's an easy choice, like the LeBron James years, but more years,
This is a very difficult choice. I think the most important thing is not to draft because we need it, but to pick talented players. Now, the standard for our draft is the player's potential to become a superstar. In my opinion, the team
The trouble they have now is that they are drafting people because of need. In other words, if you give up a talented player because a certain position on the team is already occupied, it is not worth the gain. I hope that on draft day, the player we pick will be the best choice.
Yes: The best kid who has the most potential to become a superstar - this is our standard. And in fact, we already have a candidate. I believe our next season will be very different. At least I will not come to this lottery.
Participated.”
The next day, Edison, Pat Sr., Dev Tovacek and Otis Smith gathered again in the conference room of the Amway Center.
"Now that the results of the draft lottery have come out, we are the No. 1 pick, so I plan to start trading McGrady." Edison explained while handing out information to three people.
"Tell me your specific plans and how you plan to trade." Old Pat looked at Edison and asked.
"For the Phoenix Suns, I plan to trade McGrady + Ganis + Mario Carson for the Suns' Marion + the Suns' second-round pick this year and the first-round picks in 2005 and 2006." Edison said while explaining, "Because the next one
McGrady's contract this season is only over 14 million, and Marion's is over 13 million. In order to balance the salary, it is difficult for us to get other good players. In order not to suffer a loss, we can only make a fuss about the draft picks.
This year, the Suns received the No. 9 pick in the first round and the No. 2 pick in the second round. I think these two picks are good. As for the two future first-round picks, I think they are not without success."
"But Edison, to be honest, I think we suffered a lot from your trading plan. I don't quite understand why you chose to trade with the sun?" After hearing Edison's plan, Otis immediately questioned it. At the same time, the old man
Pat and Dev also looked at Edison with puzzled faces.
"Because of Nash," Edison explained with a sigh, "As you know, I had a meeting with Nash before, but the result was not ideal. Nash now attaches great importance to the team's performance, and he is eager to prove himself, so between us and the Suns
In the meantime, he is inclined to join the Suns. So I plan to cut down the salary and take some losses to send McGrady to the Suns, but ask them not to sign with Nash. In this way, we will have no competitors and we can successfully win Nash.
"….
"Is Nash worth it?" Otis asked again.
"Of course it's worth it. If there is no Nash, my team building plan will be completely disrupted. If the Magic wants to reach the playoffs again, it will have to wait at least two or three seasons. If there is Nash, I guarantee that we can reach the playoffs next season."
Top 4 in the Eastern Conference. And I have other plans."
But Dev and Otis were not so easily persuaded, so the three of them argued. In the end, old Pat made the decision to do as Edison said and trade with the Sun.
"In addition, I hope to find a good coach for Howard, and I plan to build my own coaching staff."
Famous coaches have their own dedicated teams, so this is not a big problem. But finding a good coach for Howard confused everyone present. Edison's meaning was obvious that this person would not be from his own coaching staff.
This means that this person's salary will be very high.
"Who are you going to find, and what is your target?" Ordis was still curious.
"Ewing, I will go to Houston to convince him."
As one of the greatest centers in the past 10 years, Ewing came to guide Howard, and everyone here had no objections. Moreover, Ewing and the Magic had a "marriage". In the 2001-02 season, the Magic signed a contract with Ewing.
A two-year, $47.25 million contract, but the 2001-02 season was not over yet. A serious knee injury caused Ewing to terminate his contract with the Magic early.
At this time, the team reconstruction meeting has basically come to an end. In the eyes of Pat, Dev and Otis, the core issue of the Tracy McGrady trade has been resolved, and the other issues are minor and harmless. But they
None of them realized that Edison was far crazier than they thought.
