As the time approaches mid-February, almost two-thirds of this season's schedule has been completed.

The annual NBA All-Star Weekend is coming again.

For previous years' All-Star lineups, Kongbu could generally guess the results before the voting results were released.

But this year's results completely exceeded Kong Bu's expectations.

Even if he was asked to predict it 10,000 times, he would never have imagined that this year's Eastern Conference All-Star center would be Dampier.

That's right, Dampier was selected as the Eastern Conference All-Star center by the fans, beating out Mourning, Ewing, Ben and Uncle Mu.

His votes were as high as 1.8 million, Mourning and Ben had only 1.3 million, and Ewing and Uncle Mu were even less, with only about 300,000 votes.

Under normal circumstances, Dampier's entire career lasted for 16 years without a single honor.

There is really no honor at all. He has not even been selected to the All-Rookie Team. As for the Player of the Week and many other honors produced in a year, he has also not received any of them.

But now that he has only played half a season in the hands of Kong Bu, he has become an Eastern Conference All-Star.

Kongbu felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.

Dampier's rise has nothing to do with his own system. He is truly an all-star that he cultivated on his own.

On the one hand, Dampier's statistics are indeed not bad. He averaged 19 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game in the Menglong's second team. Among centers with a balanced offense and defense in the Eastern Conference, he is no worse than anyone else.

On the other hand, Dampier had just beaten Malone severely, which made his reputation reach an unprecedented level.

Being strong, tough and confident makes Dampier very popular among the fans.

However, his selection into the lineup must be at least half of Nash's credit. Without Nash's help, his data would have shrunk by at least one-third.

The center forward of the Eastern Conference is Dampier, and the two forwards are Dazhi and Daba respectively.

Da Zhi was elected as an All-Star forward, and no one can fault him. Currently, Da Zhi is averaging 26 points, 9 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. The offensive end is extremely sharp, and the defensive end is definitely acceptable.

Especially in the Eastern Conference, the competition for the power forward position is not fierce. It is simply unreasonable for Da Zhi to have such poor statistics.

As for Daba, his statistics are not particularly impressive, but Menglong's record is good enough, and he also has the strong support of Chinese fans, so his selection is not unexpected.

The Eastern backcourt consists of Tracy McGrady and Payton, and there is no controversy either.

McGrady is now the number one shooting guard in the league. After Jordan retired, no one can compete with him for this title.

As for Payton, last season's MVP, FMVP and various All-NBA teams, he is the number one player in the league today.

As soon as this Eastern Conference list came out, other teams could only sigh and smile bitterly.

There were five people in the lineup, and it turned out that except for Dazhi, the other four people were all from Menglong.

How powerful this is!

Never in NBA history has a team had four All-Stars.

Even Dazhi has actually been labeled as Kong Bu for a long time. Everyone knows that he is Kong Bu's favorite disciple.

It is equivalent to saying that all five players in the lineup are from Kongbu.

Not only the lineup, there are also many Menglong players in the substitute lineup.

Ben, Nash and Carter were all selected as substitutes.

Counting the four players, it means that a total of seven Menglong players became All-Stars today.

There are only twelve players in the roster, and the newly acquired Odom is now also on the roster.

More than half of the Menglong's players are serious All-Stars.

The fact that the other five were not selected does not mean that they do not have the ability to be All-Stars.

Take Maggette and Marion, for example. This pair is full of impact, has diverse defensive styles, and can guard against all types of players.

If any bad team can get this pair of forwards, they will be able to take off immediately.

Pierce was not selected as an All-Star, which is a bit embarrassing, but he is also a small forward in the Menglong first team, and there is no way he is weak.

The bearded Davis is in a miserable situation. There is no place for him in either the first or second team. As a result, he has now become the Menglong's water fountain keeper.

You must know that he is the second pick, and it is indeed a bit miserable to be reduced to this situation.

There's nothing Kombu can do, because whether compared with Payton or Nash, Davis is far behind.

As for Odom, who just arrived, there is no place for him in the Menglong team.

But Odom's strength is indeed good enough. At least before Watt's brain came out, he was one of the top combo forwards in the league.

He has a basket, a rebound, and the ability to pass and control. His style is somewhat similar to Kukoc's, but his basket is not as good as Kukoc's, and he is worse than Kukoc in other aspects.

Before the start of the regular season, Kombu promised the Grizzlies to get them a decent player this season.

Now that the All-Star Weekend is approaching, it means that the door to the trading market is about to close.

The Grizzlies didn't push him, but since Kongbu had promised, he must keep his word.

His plan was to give Maggette to the Grizzlies.

Without the three-point calibration device, Maggette's lack of a basket was magnified infinitely. Being placed in the second lineup was a bit of a hindrance, slowing down the team's offensive rhythm.

And when placed in the first team, he didn't surpass Pierce's strength.

So it's just right to trade it out, and then put Odom into the second team. This will be the real peak Suns lineup.

Maggette's previous target was Burris Diaw, who has organizational skills that Maggette does not have.

Now Odom's style is more like Brother Diao, which will bring the power of the second team to a higher level.

The All-Star lineup in the Western Conference is very different from what Kongbu remembered.

O'Neal, Duncan, Garnett, Kobe and Kidd, as well as the Utah duo, were not selected as All-Stars this year, and not even a substitute was selected.

The popularity of this duo has declined extremely seriously in recent years. In the 1997 All-Star Game, they both received more than one million votes.

After three years, Malone only had 400,000 votes this year, and Stockton was even worse, with only about 200,000 votes.

With such a small number of votes, I definitely don’t want to think about it.

If it were left to previous years, even if they didn't have the qualifications to be substitutes, they would definitely be indispensable. After all, their qualifications are there, and their data and team record are not bad. When the coaching staff of each team selects substitute All-Stars, they will give them some face.

They choose it.

It's a pity that things are different now, and no team's coaching staff would want to do something like this to blatantly provoke Kong Bu.

You must know that coaches' votes are not anonymous, they are actual voting records that can be checked.

If you vote for Malone or Stockton, can Kongbu not take it to heart? Do you still want to make a deal with Kongbu in the future?

There is a reason why the Menglong were selected to so many All-Stars this year. Anyway, it is just a ballot, and it is quite cost-effective to hand it over to Kong Bu.

After all the All-Star lineups were released, Combs immediately contacted Grizzlies general manager Stu.

"Old man, I'm here to give you a gift."

Kongbu said with a smile.

Stu breathed a long sigh of relief, "Kong, I've been waiting for your words for half a year."

"For the past six months, I have been thinking about it day and night, just waiting for you to take the initiative to call me."

"God, at last you have not forgotten us grizzly bears, and you have not forgotten me, an old friend in suffering."

Stu was also anxious. Seeing that the door of the trading market was about to close, there was still no movement from Kongbu. It was strange that he was not anxious.

Now that he received a call from Kong Bu, he felt much more at ease.

"Old man, I gave Corey Maggette to you for free, and it won't be of much use if you keep it in my hands."

Kongbu said nonchalantly, as if he had given a grizzly bear two kilograms of rice.

Stu is going crazy, give it away for free?

Corey Maggette is very popular and very strong. In the first month of the season, his three-point shooting rate was as high as 43%!

Although I don’t know why he stopped shooting later, some people said that he offended Kongbu and Kongbu stopped shooting three-pointers for him.

But he has three-point ability and is not weak at all. This is for sure.

In addition to three-pointers, Maggette's breakthrough and defense are outstanding.

The value of such a player is so shocking that Stu couldn't even dream of getting Maggette for nothing.

With the rise of defenders, the value of some top defenders is now as valuable as that of insiders.

If Maggette were to be put on the trade market, it would definitely trigger a frantic rush by teams across the league.

For a rookie, his salary is almost negligible, he is strong, and he is very popular. Whether it is to strengthen a wealthy team or to rebuild a weak team, he is an excellent recruitment target.

"Kong, I really don't know what to say."

"The only bargaining chips our Grizzlies can bring are Raheem and Bibby. I guess you don't like them either."

"As for the draft picks, if you want it, I can at least give you two first-round picks."

"You'd better ask for some chips. I'd really feel bad if you gave them away for free."

Kong Bu shook his head and said, "Old man, you helped me solve Hu Weidong's contract problem before, and I haven't thanked you properly yet."
To be continued...