The Whip of the God of Basketball

Turn the time back to three hours before the start of the draft. The entire NBA league is busy with matters related to the draft. Most of the things on hand in the league office have been put aside. Only a few things are still in progress. One of them It is the content approval and verification of the Timberwolves transaction.

Because rumors about Joe Smith's yin and yang contract were exposed before the transaction, the deal was delayed and stranded. Now the Timberwolves are constantly urging the league to complete the investigation and make conclusions so that the Timberwolves can complete the transaction as soon as possible and make reinforcements. , to retain Kevin Garnett.

While the investigation was proceeding leisurely, the league office received an email at around 5 p.m. There were two things in the email, one was a newspaper and the other was a statement.

This newspaper is the town newspaper of a small town near New York. It has a monthly circulation of more than 20,000 copies. It is a little-known tabloid with basically no influence. But when the staff of the league office handed him to Adam Silva, Silva understood the weight of this newspaper. The headline of the newspaper on June 24, two days ago, read, "The private agreement in the Timberwolves trade reappears, and this time the protagonist is still Joe Smith."

This is a morning newspaper, which will be delivered to the doorstep of every house in the town by the postman at around six o'clock every morning, and its content has often been edited and printed the night before.

The matter of the Timberwolves' private trade agreement began to fully ferment on the 24th, and appeared in the evening editions of major newspapers in New York that day. However, this tabloid actually published this news on the 23rd. There can only be two ways Possibility: First, on the 23rd, a reporter from this tabloid discovered this shocking scandal, and then gave up the opportunity to become famous and published the news in his own tabloid, so that the money would not flow to outsiders. Second, on the 23rd, a bold reporter from this tabloid fabricated the scandal and published it in his own tabloid in order to increase circulation.

Anyone with some brains can guess which one may be closer to reality.

Adam Silva is such a smart man. He understood a lot immediately after seeing this newspaper. Then he opened the statement and browsed it briefly. Sure enough, it was a statement sent by a tabloid reporter. , saying that the Timberwolves trading scandal was fabricated by him. He did not expect it to cause such a big disturbance. He was willing to admit the falsehood of the news, apologize to the Timberwolves, and take all responsibility for it.

Adam Silva considered the statement carefully. There was a signature and phone number on it. It did not seem to be forged, and it was impossible for anyone to forge it. The Alliance has been investigating the source of the news for the past two days, and found that all the major media in New York seemed to be reprinting it, but no newspaper claimed to be original. After reposting it, it was impossible to find where it was first published.

Unexpectedly, it turned out to be such an unknown tabloid, but why would the fake news from such a tabloid be reprinted in this way and have a negative impact? Silva knew that there must be hidden secrets, but now he had no time to speculate on these secrets. After checking the information and discussing with other members of the league office, they decided to withdraw the investigation into the Timberwolves and Bucks trade, as long as both parties Agree, the transaction will be completed if the transaction is approved.

But for the Timberwolves, this time is a little late, because their strategy has undergone irreversible changes in these just two days, and the situation is also developing in another direction.

After being deprived of draft picks for five years, this year's Timberwolves draft picks finally got a return. They own the 26th pick in this draft, so McHale appeared in the Madison Square Garden candidate area, 26th, against already For the Timberwolves, who haven't had a taste of newcomers in two years, they are already a little baby.

However, McHale's mind was not entirely on the draft. In fact, their preparations for this draft were not sufficient. McHale devoted most of his energy to trading reinforcements and appeasing Garnett.

When the Timberwolves were framed by the scandal two days ago, McHale felt that something was wrong. On the one hand, the terrible punishment in 2001 still left McHale with lingering fear and heartache. On the other hand, McHale knew that he would think about it. Plan B is in place. The team's previous strategy of firmly keeping Garnett has been slightly shaken. If they get nothing in the trade market and Garnett doesn't renew his contract, they are likely to get nothing next year and Garnett will be poached directly in the free market.

As the saying goes, when someone comes to sleep and gives him a pillow, McHale's first consideration is of course the Celtics. Although he also suspects that the Celtics were behind the trade scandal, there is no evidence, and the Celtics do have a lot of money. Quality chips. Therefore, McHale offered a high asking price for Walker, Arenas, and the second pick. Firstly, he wanted to make a profit, and secondly, he was waiting and testing.

But later, as the bosses of the two teams met, although the deal has not yet reached an agreement on the content, the possibility of success is increasing. The core point of the deal now is that the Celtics are not willing to pay Arena Si, they only want to add Derrick Williams.

But the Timberwolves now desperately need a point guard. For McHale, if Arenas can be acquired, then this deal will be perfect. They no longer even need the deal with the Bucks.

While McHale was still waiting for news and paying attention to the draft in the candidate area, he received a call from team operations director Rob Babcock.

"Kevin, I received a message from the league office five minutes ago. They said the investigation into the trade has been canceled and everything can proceed normally."

When McHale heard the news, his mind was a little confused for a while. He didn't know whether this was good news or bad news. The good thing is that the transaction can proceed normally, then the Timberwolves can strengthen the team's point guard position. The bad thing is that the Timberwolves have now been tempted by the Celtics' trading chips, and even in Minnesota, many people I think that in fact, we got rid of the super big contract that weighed on the Timberwolves.

Although Garnett is outstanding enough, his contract is indeed too big, which completely affects the team's recruitment. With no rookies and no free agents, the Timberwolves want to improve their record. Breakthrough is just too difficult. McHale is deeply aware of the difficulty of a skilled woman making a living without straw.

At this time, the draft has reached the second pick. The five minutes David Stern gave the Boston Celtics to consider has passed. He returned to the podium. It seems that the Celtics' choice has been made. There are results.

This draft is also very important for the Timberwolves and McHale, because the Celtics' selection determines whether they want to make this deal. Obviously, the Timberwolves need a replacement for Garnett.

"In the 2003 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics selected Darko Milicic from Serbia!"