Chapter 388 387. Tearful Draft Night

On June 2008, 6, at 27:7 p.m., at Madison Square Garden, the NBA draft was about to begin.

Zhang Yang sat at a small table in front of the stage, commonly known as the little green house. He had been to the scene of the talent show, but it was his first time to be in this area, but his role was that of a family and friends group.

Today, Ronaldinho and Erha boasted to him several times about being selected for the green room. Even DeRozan was so proud of it. He was very angry, but couldn’t fight back. This time he lost.

And if he loses another game next, Erha will definitely be ranked higher than Zhang San, and there is a high probability that Daluo will be ranked higher than him as well.

Originally, the management wanted Zhang Yang to go to the draft office, but he didn’t go. He believed that Carlisle had his own ideas for building the team. He mentioned Jordan’s name because he felt that Jordan’s characteristics met Carlisle’s needs. He could run, jump, and follow up on fast breaks. No one could have imagined that Jordan would not even make it to the first round.

When he was in high school, Jordan looked similar to Kwame Brown. He was a five-star high school student and had a rating of 96 when he graduated from high school. The media’s comment at the time was that if the NBA did not refuse high school students from participating in the draft, Jordan would be in the top 5.

Even though he played extremely poorly in his freshman year and had a terrible tryout performance when he was selected for the draft early after his freshman year, the media still ranked him 11th on the draft prediction list and he was selected into the green room by the general managers of various teams.

Jordan, Bickerstaff, Carlisle and others might pay attention to Jordan Jr. when they go to watch his tryouts because of his fame, but they will definitely not include him in their team’s draft plan. They may not have even thought about whether Jordan Jr. is suitable for them, so Zhang Yang mentioned it.

In fact, Carlisle once mentioned a target he wanted to select and might possibly select through a trade. That player had his own strengths, specialties of that kind, but Zhang Yang estimated that they could not exchange for such a high draft pick.

As for other draft picks, Zhang Yang may have a good understanding of their future, but he does not have a deep impression of what their rookie year will be like. Selecting a rookie will inevitably involve investment in training, overall playing time adjustments, etc. He should not make things more complicated.

The team is in its rising period, with a clear direction and bright prospects. In terms of team building, does Zhang San’s role look like that of a rich second generation? He can create and act like one. If he wants, he can form cliques and suppress his teammates, which will not affect the team’s continued growth. However, if he interferes too much in player operations, it may really affect the team’s progress and even affect the upper limit, even if he has good intentions.

Of course, if one day we reach the rebuilding stage, things will be different. At that time, we can make suggestions all at once and let the management and coaching staff choose the appropriate ones.

As other contestants and their relatives entered the green room one after another, Zhang Yang felt a burning gaze and took a sneak peek. It was indeed Mayo…

Harden also noticed Mayo and said to Zhang Yang, “Jack, Mayo must hate you to death. Not only did you beat him away that day, but he also didn’t come to the elite competition the next day and was laughed at by reporters.”

Zhang Yang: “What do you mean I beat him away? He just ran away because he couldn’t stand the loss. If he wanted, I could publicly admit that I didn’t win that day. I didn’t even finish 10 balls. After that, he might have scored 10 balls in a row to turn the tables.”

Harden: “…if you say this publicly, he will fight you to death.”

Zhang Yang: “That makes sense, so I won’t say more.”

Harden: “You don’t seem to care at all that he hates you?”

Zhang Yang: “Why would you care about him? We are not familiar with each other. Even if he enters the NBA, I can only see him three or four times a year at most, maybe only twice. We are unlikely to meet privately. The frequency of such meetings may be less than that of strangers in the same city. There are many NBA players who hate me like him. If every one of them cares about me, how tired I will be? You will definitely meet many people who are hostile to you or even hate you in the future. You should get used to it sooner. Look, he seems to be staring at you now.”

Erha: Another day of learning new tricks.

Soon, it was 7:50 in the evening and the draft began.

After Stern completed the pre-draft process amid boos, the staff handed over the Heat’s draft envelope.

Zhang Yang clenched his fists when he saw Harden. Although he was inclined to go to a more suitable team, deep down he still wanted to be the No. 1 pick.

But the name Stern read out, as predicted by the media, experts and most fans, was Michael Beasley.

At Jordan’s training camp, Zhang Yang learned that Pat Riley only had two options left at the time, one was Beasley and the other was Mayo.

From the current perspective, Mayo’s combat effectiveness is higher than Beasley. He can both score and pass the ball, while Beasley was a pure scorer in college, and it is hard to say who is better in scoring ability between the two.

Zhang Yang remembers that Mayo had the highest average points per game in his rookie year in 08, which seemed to be 18+ points per game, while Rose averaged 16+ points per game and Westbrook averaged 15+ points per game.

The title of ‘Super Jordan’ is ridiculous, but if he doesn’t do that, or at least has a positive attitude towards playing, Mayo still has the potential to be an All-Star. After all, he can score 20+ points per game at the age of 18, and he has huge room for growth.

So when he accepted the challenge that day, Zhang Yang expected the score to be around 10 to 5.

Zhang Yang learned from the management of his own team that the reasons why the management of those teams holding high draft picks lowered their expectations for Mayo were different from those of the media and fans.

The outside world thinks that Mayo’s ranking will decline because that day Mayo was beaten 7-0 by Zhang San.

The management doesn’t particularly care about this. Mayo has proven in previous tryouts that he is the one with the strongest personal ability among all the draft candidates.

They are worried about Mayo’s future – after just two or three shots, he was so upset by the trash talk that he started playing randomly, and his psychological quality is worrying.

That training camp allowed the fortune teller to finish the last multiple-choice question.

When Beasley walked onto the stage, Zhang Yang once again felt Mayo’s gaze…

When it came to the second pick, Harden kept muttering, “The refrigerator can’t see me, and the refrigerator can’t see me.” Zhang Yang on the side couldn’t help laughing.

Zhang Yang and Pelinka both think that the Timberwolves are a quagmire. Harden believes what they say. Since he did not become the No. 1 pick, the draft position is not so important, and where to go is more important.

Zhang Yang thinks the Timberwolves should not choose a guard. Several of this year’s popular guards are ball-handling players. The Timberwolves already have three ball-handling guards in Randy Foye, Telfair and Jaric. The ball possession has always been insufficient. No matter how poor their refrigerator operation ability is, it is still better than the Kings.

but……

“…the Minneapolis Timberwolves selected…James Harden of North Carolina!”

After Stern announced the Timberwolves’ choice, the Compton Three-Volume King cursed in unison.

Erha looked at Zhang San: How could this happen?
Zhang San: I don’t know! What do you think, Ronaldinho?

Ronaldinho: I don’t know even more!

Pelinka was also surprised. In order to avoid being noticed by the Fridge, they didn’t even go to the Timberwolves for a tryout, but he still quickly reminded Harden to go up and shake hands with Stern and take a photo.

Even if he doesn’t want to go to the Timberwolves anymore, he can’t show such thoughts even if he is selected. It is not a good thing to offend the new team.

Harden just lifted his butt off the stool, the lights on the side stage came on, and the host announced the deal that had just been completed!

The Knicks made a multi-party deal, sending Jamal Crawford, Zach Randolph, and the No. 5 pick in exchange for Harden, the No. pick who had just been selected by the Timberwolves, and signed and traded for Stephen Jackson from the Warriors.

The trade involved 4 teams. Baron Davis signed with the Clippers, Maggette signed with the Timberwolves, Jamal Crawford joined the Warriors, Randolph joined the Clippers, and the Timberwolves got the No. 5 pick…

After the host announced the deal, there were constant exclamations from the audience.

This was the first major trade after the end of the 07-08 season, and it was quite shocking, involving multiple first-class and higher-level players changing teams.

In this deal, the swap of the No. 5 pick and the No. pick seems less important.

Erha stuck his butt out in confusion for two seconds, then looked at Ronaldinho, Zhang San, his agent, and his mother, asking with his eyes: Should I still go up?

DeRozan couldn’t help it and pushed Harden onto the stage.

Harden rushed onto the stage happily. Now it didn’t matter which team’s hat he wore to take a photo with Stern. What mattered was… he was going to stay in the Big Apple!

Stern was also shocked by such a big deal that happened suddenly, but he was professional and his expression did not change at all. He kindly handed the Timberwolves cap to Harden to wear, and shook hands with him for a photo.

This time, the fans at the scene cheered rarely.

Finally got rid of those two stinky fish, Crawford and Randolph!

New York fans recognize the strength of these two players, but the former is independent and reckless, and the latter is a team destroyer. Crawford has been scolded for several years, and Randolph has been scolded for a year since he came to the Knicks.

Now these two cancers have been eliminated, and the new MOP Harden has been brought back, and Stephen Jackson, who has played in strong teams for many years and helped the Warriors rise in the past two years, has also been acquired!
…

The deal caused a sensation, the scene was bustling with activity, and people in front of the TV and on the Internet were also hotly discussing this big four-party deal, wanting to find out the details of the deal.

But the draft process was not affected. The SuperSonics used the third pick to take Derrick Rose.

The Clippers selected Russell Westbrook with the 4th pick.

The Timberwolves used the No. 5 pick they got back in the trade to select Kevin Love.

After his old club finished selecting players, which took only a few dozen seconds, Harden, who had been analyzing for more than ten minutes with his fingers, finally figured it out. He excitedly said to Zhang Yang and DeRozan, “This deal is a good deal for the Knicks! It seems that we have lost two players who average 20+ points per game, but the lineup structure is better. With Randolph gone, Lee will have more playing time and can start. With Crawford gone, I will have more opportunities! What a pity, it would have been better if Curry had been taken away with him.”

DeRozan: “…”

He thought about it for a while. Wasn’t it just this? Wasn’t it a good move that could be seen at a glance? Didn’t you hear the New York fans cheering for this deal?

Zhang Yang: “James, have you gotten into the role of a Knicks player so quickly?”

Harden: “Of course, this is the Knicks! New York! I thought I was going to play in a small city like you, and the best thing would be to go to the Clippers and be a supporting role for the Lakers. What a surprise!”

Zhang Yang was jealous and forced out a proud expression: “Wherever I am, that’s a big city, there’s a market!”

Harden felt that something was wrong with Zhang Yang, but after thinking about it, he agreed: “That’s right, you are the player with the highest commercial value. You can make a newly built team so popular in the Carolina area. Even our university feels threatened and actively cooperates with your team to grab Duke’s market. But I am different from you. I am not that popular. It is definitely better to play in New York than in a small city.”

Wow, Erha has grown up and started to pay attention to these aspects!

Zhang Yang put away his sourness and analyzed, “Your team’s deal is indeed a clear loss but a real gain, but the biggest winner is the Timberwolves. I guess they wanted Love from the beginning, but their draft pick was too high and Love’s expectations were not that high. They didn’t want to give Love the second-largest rookie contract. Now they changed the No. 2 pick to the No. 5 pick to select Love, reducing the salary a bit, and got the peak Maggette for free.”

Harden: “Yeah, the Timberwolves are the ones who made the most money. The Clippers signed and traded back the Beard. Although they took over Randolph’s expiring contract, at least they didn’t lose anything. The Warriors seem to be the one who lost the most, losing Davis and Jackson and only getting Crawford.”

DeRozan interjected: “The Warriors probably can’t keep those two. Jackson and Artest have a bad relationship. They were willing to cooperate last season because their contracts were about to expire. The mad scientist said that Artest was part of their future team building plan. Jackson definitely didn’t want to stay with the team when his contract expired.

Davis was dissatisfied with the ball being divided between Ellis and Artest. Last season, they reached the seventh game in the second round and performed very well, but it was Ellis and Jackson who received the most praise. I saw on the news that Davis said a lot of unpleasant things in private and did not want to stay with the Warriors.

Jackson wants to go to New York and Davis wants to go to Los Angeles. It should be their own decision. If the Warriors do not accept this sign-and-trade deal, they will lose these two players in vain and will not even get Crawford.

The situation is similar when Maggette changes teams. He asked the Clippers for a big contract last summer, but Thornton played well in his rookie year and they still had Livingston to renew his contract, so they were unwilling to give it to him. It was certain that he would leave.

Zhang Yang blinked and agreed, “I think so too.”

He didn’t expect that Daluo, who was usually taciturn and aloof, could analyze these things so clearly!
He, Zhang San, has really become Zhang San, except that his face is not as dark.

When Erha saw that Zhang San agreed with Daluo’s statement, he also nodded in agreement. What the eldest brother and the third brother said was right!
Seeing Stern return to the stage, Harden said: “I suddenly thought of one thing, Mayo really fell out of the top 5! Which team do you think he will be selected by?”

Zhang Yang: “I don’t know where he will go, but Ainge, the general manager of the Celtics, must be praying on his knees right now, praying that Mayo’s ranking will continue to drop.”

Harden: “Why?”

DeRozan covered his head helplessly: “James, before you ask a question, can’t you think about the answer yourself first?”

Harden: “Ah? Why should I bother thinking about it? With you guys here, you can definitely analyze it more correctly than me, so I’ll just listen to you.”

Zhang Yang: “…I really don’t know how to refute you when you say that.”

Erha: 乀(`へ)ノ

DeRozan was defeated and helped analyze: “I think what Jack meant is that Ainge is eager to pick Mayo. The Celtics sent Pierce away in order to play badly and let Farmar be the point guard, just to choose one of you, Rose, Westbrook and Mayo, but they didn’t get the top 5 picks. They were already hopeless, but Mayo was knocked down by Jack, and Ainge once again had hope of selecting Mayo…”

Soon, Stern read out DJ Augustine’s name, and the Bucks did not choose Mayo.

The live TV camera turned to “Super Jordan” sitting at the small table. At this time, Mayo no longer focused his attention on Zhang Yang and Harden, but was in tears.

A few minutes later, it was the Celtics’ turn with the seventh pick, and Mayo’s name was finally mentioned by Stern.

Watching Mayo wipe away his tears, force a smile, walk onto the stage, put on a Celtics cap, shake hands with Stern and take a photo…

Harden: “What a bargain the Celtics got! Jack, Ainge must love you to death!”

Zhang Yang: “No, no, no, it’s not necessary, but I didn’t expect Mayo to go to the Celtics. For him, it might be better than being selected in the top 5.”

Harden: “Huh? Why?”

Zhang Yang: “The last time I played against him, I found that his psychological quality was too poor. He was very ambitious, but he couldn’t recognize the reality and couldn’t accept it. After he enters the NBA, no matter which team he goes to, he can’t really become a ‘super Jordan’. He will definitely be hit hard. It is very likely that he will choose to escape like the time he played against me, and finally get worse and worse. But the Celtics are different. Ainge is a cold-blooded general manager. He will continue to put pressure on Mayo. I don’t know how good Rivers’ coaching ability is, but I heard from my teammates that this coach has strong psychological counseling ability. This combination of general manager + head coach may be very suitable for Mayo.”

Harden looked up and thought for a moment, then said, “Jack, are you using this statement to comfort yourself and relieve yourself of your guilt because you feel that you caused Mayo’s ranking to drop?”

Zhang Yang: “…”

Can I still do reading comprehension this way?
Seeing Zhang San’s speechless expression, Ronaldinho, his two agents, Hama, and Luo’s father and mother all burst into laughter.

Then at the 8th pick, the Nets, as predicted by the media, selected Danilo Gallinari, a 19-year-old talented white forward from Serie A.

When it came to the 9th pick, it was DeRozan’s turn to burst into tears, but he was not sad, but because he got what he wanted!

Bird used the 9th pick to select Kentucky freshman guard DeMar DeRozan!
Then the Kings selected Jason Thompson, a talented power forward from Rider University, with the 10th pick, the Rockets selected Brook Lopez, the older brother of the Stanford duo, with the 11th pick, and the Trail Blazers selected Jerryd Bayless, a freshman point guard from the Arizona Wildcats, with the 12th pick.

With the 13th pick, someone cried again, as the 76ers selected Eric Gordon.

Zhang Yang then realized that after he chased Mayo away, the one who was most affected might not be Mayo, as he at least made it into the top 8 picks. Eric Gordon was the one who suffered the most!
It was originally predicted that Eric Gordon would be selected by the Celtics, but Mayo fell out of the draft and the Celtics took advantage of the situation. Several teams behind him all had their favorites. Eric Gordon was one of the top three picks at first, but after the crazy three games, his ranking dropped to the top five. After the tryout phase, his ranking dropped to No. 7 on the prediction list, and now he is No. 13…

The lottery draft ended as the Grizzlies selected Brandon Rush at No. 14, adding to their year-long lack of shooting guard.

Two members of the green room – Joe Alexander of West Virginia University and DeAndre Jordan of Texas A&M University – both fell out of the lottery zone, which caused heated discussions among the commentators.

As for the Compton Three Roll Kings, they are not so concerned about the subsequent drafts.

Both Harden and DeRozan were selected with draft picks that exceeded expectations. DeRozan went to his ideal team. He had a very good tryout with the Pacers and had certain psychological expectations, so he got what he wanted. Harden was traded back to the Knicks, which was a pleasant surprise.

The three brothers chatted and watched the fun.

Harden is looking forward to a bright future life in New York, but DeRozan keeps pouring cold water on him to prevent him from losing himself in the big city.

Zhang Yang occasionally interjects… no, interjects, keeping an eye on the whereabouts of those talented players from the 08 class.

The subsequent draft picks were pretty much the same as he remembered. Lopez was selected by the Suns, Hibbert was selected by the Raptors and then immediately traded to the Pacers, McGee was taken by the Wizards, and Batum was selected by the Rockets and immediately traded to the Trail Blazers…

Carlisle’s favorite player, Serge Ibaka, was picked by the SuperSonics with the 24th pick in the first round.

If Ibaka could have been selected through a trade, he would naturally be better than Jordan in terms of combat power, but as expected, he was not selected.

Zhang Yang remembered the new general manager of the SuperSonics, who had a keen eye for draft picks.

Until the first round of selection, Joe Alexander was selected at the end of the first round, and Jordan Jr. was still ignored. Influenced by the people who cried before him, Jordan Jr. also burst into tears.

In the second round, Stern left the stage and vice president Stu Jackson came on stage.

The Timberwolves, who had the Heat’s second-round pick, selected Walter Sharp from the University of Alabama at Birmingham with the first pick in the second round.

With the second pick in the second round, the Supersonics selected DeAndre Jordan!

Just when Zhang Yang was surprised, the spotlight was turned to the secondary stage. His eyes lit up. It seemed that it was successful!
(End of this chapter)