A week later, the curtain came down on the joint trial training. One day later, on May 18, another major event in the draft, the lottery, also came to an end.
The result can be summed up in one sentence, that is, the old unlucky King, the Grizzlies Thunder European King.
The Kings struggled to win 17 games last season, the league's worst record, but ended up with only the No. 4 pick.
The Grizzlies and Thunder, one from the bottom and fifth from the bottom, respectively picked the second and third picks.
The final lottery picks from high to low are: Clippers, Grizzlies, Thunder, Kings, Wizards, Timberwolves, Warriors, Knicks, Raptors, Bucks, Nets, Bobcats, Pacers, Suns.
As the lottery results came out, both NBADraft and ESPN immediately updated their draft prediction lists.
On this day, Xu Yong and the others sat around in front of the computer and watched NBADraft's latest draft predictions.
Because they are about to go to their own private workouts, this should be the last time they get together before the draft.
So they all seemed extremely serious at this time.
The Internet speed in Chicago is so fast that it pops up in the blink of an eye.
This time the update of the list is very comprehensive, even the templates have been listed.
Or you can understand that this is already a list that is very close to the final draft result.
The reason is that NBA team selections not only look at the abilities and potential of rookies, but also the needs of the team, which is the result of a combination of factors.
1. Clippers, Blake Griffin (Template: Karl Malone/Antonio McDyess)
In Griffin's draft report, his total rating reached an astonishing 105 points. Except for his average wingspan, he was affirmed in almost every aspect.
Scouting report appreciation: He is a monster, with incredible athletic ability, perfect strength and work ethics, full of toughness, great advocating confrontation, top-notch speed, agility, and explosive power, and excellent ball handling ability. He will be an excellent player. He is a passer with big hands and can control the ball easily, so he has a great chance to become an organizational power forward, and he already has mid-range, post-up, and even Duncan's mid-range rebounding skills. His skills are very mature.
The Clippers have already put Zach Randolph and Chris Kaman on the shelf, and their draft targets are very clear.
2. Grizzlies, Hakeem Thabeet (Template: Mutombo)
Thabeet received a rating of 97 points. His recognition mainly comes from the defensive end. Although he is 2.21 meters tall, he has lateral speed and flexibility that big men at the same level do not have, and he has excellent athletic ability.
It is worth mentioning that because his touch is pretty good, although his current offensive performance is like a blank sheet of paper (a euphemistic expression), he is considered to be able to develop offensive skills.
After trading away Pau Gasol, the Grizzlies do not have a reliable center in the team, but they do not rule out using this pick to pick Ricky Rubio, and are even trying to make some trades with the second pick. .
3. Thunder, Ricky Rubio (Template: Steve Nash/Jose Calderon)
Rubio also received a 97-point rating. His defensive ability, leadership, ball handling, potential, and passing were all rated 9 points. He is considered to be one of the purest point guards in the past few years.
After shining in the 2008 BJ Olympics, Rubio was considered a top-five player in the 2008 draft. After announcing his participation in the draft earlier this year, he quickly ranked among the top three and was even considered to have a chance to become the No. 1 pick.
But because the club's buyout cost is expensive, and Rubio himself said that if he cannot go to a suitable team, he will choose to stay overseas, this makes his draft situation full of uncertainty.
The Thunder still want to choose Rubio even though they have Westbrook. They may want Westbrook to play the second position like he did in college. If Rubio ultimately fails to land in the NBA, then James Harden and Xu Yong Players considered to be of interest to them.
4. Kings, Tyreke Evans (Template: Larry Hughes/Jamal Crawford)
Evans received a rating of 96. His overall body and immediate combat ability have been fully recognized, and he is considered one of the two best combo guards in this class.
The Kings have a clear goal in this year's draft. What they want is a point guard. Rubio is their first choice. If Rubio cannot be selected, Evans, Jrue Holiday, and Stephen Curry are all their options. Alternative targets, and of the three, Evans is the least risky.
5. Wizards, James Harden (Template: Ginobili/Brandon Roy)
Harden received a rating of 98, which was second only to Griffin in this year's draft.
Harden's draft report has not changed much from before, but one thing has become a key factor affecting his draft selection. Scouts believe that his style of play requires a lot of holding the ball and his turnover rate is too high.
In addition to Harden, they are also interested in Xu Yong, who is also at Arizona State University. His performance in the NCAA finals is impressive.
But in fact, compared to the draft, they are more inclined to sell the fifth pick in their hands.
6. Timberwolves, Stephen Curry (Template: Mahmoud Rauf)
Curry's rating is only 92 points. In addition to scoring a perfect 10 points for shooting, his athletic ability, defense, strength, leadership, and passing are all only 7 points.
What the Timberwolves now lack is a center and point guard, because they can no longer pick up Thabeet. Their draft targets are similar to the Kings. Rubio is the best choice, followed by Evans, Curry and Holiday again. Curry is obviously more popular than Holiday.
7. Warriors, Jrue Holiday (template: none)
Holiday's rating is only 88 points, but his defensive ability is considered the strongest player among the guards in this class.
As the nation's No. 1 high school student in the class of 2009, Holiday's freshman season at UCLA was undoubtedly a failure. His decision to run for the draft at this time was risky, but his physical talent was still enough to get him into the lottery, especially His characteristics perfectly complement the Warriors' core, Monta Ellis.
Although he's not Nelson's type, it would be hard for the Warriors to resist the temptation to take him with this pick.
At the same time, the Warriors are also very interested in Xu Yong. They have always wanted to select a Chinese player. They were interested in Yi Jianlian during the 2007 draft.
However, the team already has Corey Maggette, and unless they choose to trade, the probability of them choosing Xu Yong is not high.
8. Knicks, Xu Yong (template: Tracy McGrady/Rudy Gay)
Xu Yong received a score of 96 points, including a perfect score of 10 for leadership, and a score of 9 for athletic ability, body size and basketball IQ. He is considered the best swingman in this year's draft.
Appreciation of Xu Yong’s draft report: A perfect leader, excellent athletic ability, top basketball IQ, and has shown a stable pull-up jump shooting ability, and a certain ability to organize the ball. He is tough and not afraid of defense. He has the opportunity to become An All-Star caliber player.
But at the same time, injuries may be a hidden danger, and there are some unknowns as to whether his character can adapt to the NBA. He is full of uncertainties.
The Knicks' desire for Xu Yong in the draft is second only to Curry. If they cannot get Curry and Xu Yong has not been selected, they will pick Xu Yong with this pick without hesitation.
It can be seen that the website has a very high evaluation of Xu Yong, but at the same time, the website also gave the reason why Xu Yong ended up in eighth place.
First of all, teams with high picks this year need centers and point guards, not swingmen.
Secondly, as mentioned in the report, the NBA has a natural impression of yellow people due to injuries and personality.
Of course, there is actually another point that the website will not mention even if it knows about it.
It is said that the predecessors planted trees and others will enjoy the shade. It was Wang Zhizhi, a forerunner, who paved the way for Yao Ming's No. 1 lottery to become a possibility;
It is also precisely because of Yao Ming's success in the NBA that Yi Jianlian can become the sixth pick;
So naturally, Yi Jianlian's poor performance made NBA players start to treat Chinese players with a little caution.
Not to mention that Yi Jianlian can also refer to Yao Ming, but Xu Yong, as the first yellow outside player to enter the lottery, has no precedent.
The lack of precedent means unknowns and risks.
Combined with these factors, his draft stock theoretically won't be too high.
However, Xu Yong’s outstanding performance in the joint trial, coupled with Schwartz’s excellent packaging ability, caused his draft pick to fluctuate greatly. He may fall out of the top ten picks, or he may become the third overall pick this year. show.
