…
12. Bobcats, DeMar DeRozan (Template: Vince Carter)
DeRozan received a rating of 93 points and is considered to be the swingman behind Xu Yong this year.
The Bobcats sent Jason Richardson to the Suns last season, and the Raja Bell acquired in the trade was not their long-term choice at shooting guard, and Xu Yong was their first choice.
According to the information currently available, the Bobcats management has a [very strong] interest in Xu Yong.
If Xu Yong does not fall to this pick, then DeRozan will become their new target.
…
The final member of the quartet, Jeff Ayers, is expected to be selected by the Bulls with the 26th pick.
On 5/8/12/26, after seeing this draft prediction that was very close to the final roster, Xu Yong and the others were in a very good mood.
If this is the final result of the draft, their efforts over the past year will be completely worth it.
After reading this latest list, they went back to pack their bags and prepared to go to a private trial with their respective agents the next day.
Xu Yong rested in the room for a while, and Schwartz knocked on the door and came to his room.
He discussed with Xu Yong which teams to go to for trial training.
Now Schwartz has more than ten trial training invitations, and Xu Yong naturally cannot go to every one of them.
"In addition to the Clippers, Grizzlies and Timberwolves, seven of the top ten teams have sent us individual trial invitations."
As soon as Schwartz came in, he introduced Xu Yong's current market conditions.
Of course, what he didn't say was that three of the other four remaining teams in the lottery also sent out trial invitations.
With this market trend, Xu Yong has almost become a soft girl currency, and everyone loves him.
"But there are some differences between trial training and trial training." Schwartz said as he took out the tablet.
He has divided all lottery teams into two tiers.
Or it can be understood in another way, comparing the trial training to a "company interview". Some of them are "one side", that is, private trial training with other rookies; while some skip the "one side" and directly give "Second-side" opportunity, that is, individual trial training.
The teams on one side are: Thunder, Wizards, Kings, Warriors, Nets, Pacers;
The teams on the second side are: Knicks, Raptors, Bobcats, Suns.
Of course, this is just a distinction. If Xu Yong performs well on one side, he will naturally get a second side opportunity soon.
"Jeff, I'm more concerned about opportunities than picks." After handing the tablet back to Schwartz, Xu Yong followed up and stated his needs.
Schwartz nodded after listening, and then according to Xu Yong's idea, the eleven teams were streamlined into six teams, namely the Kings, Warriors, Knicks, Raptors, Bobcats and Suns.
Xu Yong is still very satisfied with this result. Except for the Raptors and Suns, these teams are all in the process of rebuilding, and they have not determined the core of the rebuilding.
As for the Raptors, if nothing goes wrong, Bosh will have to leave after one more season. Needless to say, as for the Suns, Cole has already looked for him.
And another thing worth noting is that this is a small year for the draft.
One of the characteristics of this lean year for the draft is that many high-ranking draft picks are for sale.
This can be seen from previous draft predictions.
It is very possible for a team outside the top ten picks like the Suns or Bobcats to trade up the pick in order to get him.
Precisely because of this consideration, Xu Yong did not use order to choose the trial training location.
"Have a good rest, you will be very tired in the next time." After the discussion, Schwartz reminded.
Trials, drafts, press conferences, endorsements... For a high-ranking rookie like Xu Yong, the next month or so will have a very intensive schedule.
Especially for trial training, whether enough rest is the key to determining the state of trial training.
Xu Yong nodded. The reminder from a top agent like Schwartz must be useful.
The next day, Xu Yong and Harden said goodbye and started their trial training journey.
His first stop for trial training was New York.
If the draft is not about selection, but about players choosing teams, then the Knicks are Xu Yong's favorite target.
It's a big city, there are many fans, and it's similar to his hometown of Shanghai. These factors alone are enough to attract him.
What's more, the Knicks are now in a state of exhaustion. In the past few years, their core has changed from "lone wolf" Marbury to Eddie Curry, and then to Randolph and Crawford.
Except for the fact that both of them were kicked out last season, it is clear that Al Harrington, the team's scoring leader, cannot be the future they want.
As for the future, there is only David Lee inside, but that does not conflict with the core training Xu Yong needs.
As for management issues, that's not his concern.
Because the Bulls' management at that time also had mixed reputations, but Jordan did it in the end.
It is not his style to force the team management to trade certain players and change teams without trading.
So the king of New York?
why not!
Two days later, Xu Yong ended his solo workout with the Knicks.
The result of the trial training can be described as "perfect".
After the off-ball trials of shooting and ball-handling, the Knicks also specially recruited the former steals king, the one who was once used by Cavaliers fans to build a website called "Hey Hughes, please stop wasting shots. com" Larry Hughes and Xu Yong had a bullfight.
Facing this veteran who has been in the league for a long time, Xu Yong had the upper hand from the beginning and even seized the opportunity to dunk on the opponent's head.
Mature, steady and tough, this is the most impressive impression Xu Yong left on Knicks president Donnie Walsh, and it also made Walsh very happy.
Although he only came to New York last year, he has been in the league for more than 20 years and knows exactly what kind of players the Knicks need.
The guy named Stephen Curry that coach Mike D'Antoni and owner James Dolan liked was simply not going to get a foothold in New York.
Think about what happened to the last shooter, "Central Shooting King" Alan Houston, in New York. Conquering this city requires more than just skills.
After the trial training, Walsh had dinner with Xu Yong, expressed his love for Xu Yong, and said something meaningful: "We will consider you as one of our final choices."
Xu Yong was not surprised by that "one".
Regarding the story of [Knicks falling in love with Curry], he also knew it before he was reborn.
You must know that Curry has also been obsessed with going to the Knicks in his history, and for this reason he has refused trials from almost all other teams.
As a result, the Knicks failed to select Curry in the end, because Golden State, it doesn't matter, I will take action, and the Warriors intercepted that baby face.
The draft picks are now the same as they have been historically, and this will basically happen again.
But this means that he now has the eighth pick.
…
After finishing the trial training in New York, Xu Yong went to Charlotte and Toronto.
The trial in Charlotte went well. Although Jordan did not appear at the trial, he could feel that the management liked him.
And if you look deeper, Jordan is still just the Bobcats' minor owner at this time, and he actually doesn't have much say in the draft.
However, due to the long journey to Toronto and the fatigue of traveling and traveling, his performance was relatively average.
After finishing his trip to Toronto, he then got on a plane to Sacramento.
Kings, this is a very popular team in the NBA.
There have been championships in team history, but those were in ancient times, when they were still called the Rochester Royals.
Since then, what they have left the deepest impression on people is the golden background of the Lakers team at the beginning of the century: the Princeton Kings.
Because the rookies selected in recent years have performed poorly, this place is also called the "rookie graveyard" by many fans.
But Xu Yong doesn't care about this, because he knows that the Kings' current situation is very similar to that of the Knicks, and they are also eager to find a core to build the team.
And the Kings are also the highest-ranked team among his interested teams.
To put it in a very realistic way, they are all places you want to go. Why should you be eighth when you can be fourth?
So Xu Yong also put on an eye mask and earplugs to sleep on the plane this time to recharge his batteries.
By the time he arrived in Sacramento, Xu Yong had adjusted his mental state to its optimal state.
Because they are on the same team, Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio and Jrue Holiday came to the Kings for a trial with him this time.
As shown on the draft prediction list, what the Kings want most now is a point guard.
However, when the trial training began, Xu Yong, who had adjusted his condition, performed very well.
Especially the shooting performance.
Coincidentally, this year's point guards are obviously polarized when it comes to shooting.
Either it is the ultimate shooting, such as Curry; or it is the ultimate inability to score. The three point guards hired by the Kings all belong to this category.
Evans: I'm only average at shooting.
Rubio: I'm not in good shape today.
Holiday: What is a shot?
If it weren't for Xu Yong's sudden score in the end, they all thought there was something wrong with their own basket.
And after the no-ball trial, the Kings also allowed several of them to conduct one-on-one offense and defense in a wheel-type manner.
The most exciting one is the confrontation between Xu Yong and Evans.
What Evans stands out is a dazzling one, while Seo Yong shows a clean and neat one.
Basically, Evans shows off his crotch and changes direction to score, and then Xu Yong can use a pull-up, or turn his back and layup to return the goal.
Kings general manager Geoff Petrie, who was watching the game, was very moved when he saw Xu Yong.
Although the Kings now need a point guard, the team's small forward position is Francisco Garcia and Andres Nocioni, both of whom have limited strength and talent.
And one thing is that it is still the heyday of the swingman.
After the trial, Xu Yong got another chance to have a free dinner, this time with Geoff Petrie.
Seeing it was Petrie, Xu Yong suddenly felt like he saw a magpie on the treetops.
"Xu, I plan to pick you with the fourth pick." Sure enough, Petrie gave him good news as soon as he opened his mouth.
And unlike the information given by Walsh, Petrie directly gave an exact draft commitment!
And you must know that this trial training is only "one side", Petrie skipped the second side and gave this draft commitment.
This shows that the king is quite optimistic about him.
Of course, it was impossible for Petrie to say what he had communicated with Schwartz, who successfully reminded him of Xu Yong’s commercial value beyond his strength.
"I'm very happy to join the Kings family, Mr. Petrie." Xu Yongye immediately smiled and shook hands with Petrie.
What is a two-way rush?
…
After leaving the Kings, Xu Yong rushed to Oakland to participate in a trial training with the Warriors.
His performance is still outstanding, but the enthusiasm of the management there for him is not as great as expected.
He could more or less guess that after the joint trial, the Warriors should have made up their mind to intercept Hu Curry.
However, with the Kings' draft commitment, such a result will not have much impact on him.
At the last stop of the trial training, Xu Yong returned to Phoenix.
What he didn't expect was that the people who came to pick him up turned out to be Steve Kerr, whom he had met before, and a fifty-year-old man who looked seventy-year-old, a person he knew but couldn't name for a while.
After getting in the car, Cole introduced him: "This is the current head coach of the Suns, Alvin Gentry."
That's right, Gentry.
Moreover, the general manager of the team and the head coach, even if it is a "team in the same city", the battle is so big.
"If you are not selected with the 14th pick, we will definitely select you." Cole's opening remarks were straightforward enough.
"But the current situation seems to be difficult for you to fall into that pick, so we will seek to trade up. If everything goes well, I believe we can pick you with the fifth pick." Cole then added with a smile.
Gentry nodded seriously on the side, as if to prove that Cole was not joking.
Among this year's high-ranking draft picks, the Grizzlies' second pick is the highest-ranked pick on the trade market.
But the price for the No. 2 pick is generally very high, so the probability of a transaction is low.
Then there's the No. 5 pick that the Wizards hold in their hands.
Speaking of this year's high-ranking teams, the Wizards are the most special one, because their strength is absolutely playoff-level.
Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, and Gilbert Arenas are synonymous with the "Trident" in the East.
But they struggled in the past two seasons because Arenas suffered from left knee injuries.
When he played against Kobe Bryant, he drank forty points and sweated fifty points, but his injuries severely delayed the team's retreat.
However, Arenas has recovered from his injury in the new season, and the Wizards are still theoretically a playoff team. This is why they have always wanted to trade the fifth pick.
If such a team selects a high-ranking rookie, it would be Milicic of the Pistons and Kuminga of the Warriors. If they cannot be given playing time, they will most likely be lost.
Of course, this is also the reason why Xu Yong did not choose to try out with the Wizards.
The same reason why he didn't go to the Thunder, he had limited opportunities on that kind of team.
But if the Suns can really get the fifth pick, it will be another guarantee for him.
only……
Xu Yong looked at Cole and then at Gentry. It seemed like he was here for a trial, right?
Their car finally stopped in front of a restaurant.
Cole and Gentry had a dinner with him. At the dinner table, they and Xu Yong were already talking about team development and how to train Xu Yong.
Well, we talked about everything except the trial training.
But in the end, Cole may have sensed Xu Yong's doubts, and said with a smile: "We have watched enough of your games, and we know enough about you. If possible, we would like to have you tomorrow." .”
After listening to Cole's words, Xu Yong finally understood what "the first to get the moon is near the water", "the rabbit wants to eat the grass on the edge of the nest", and "the strongest man is already in the city".
And the eighth, fourth, and fifth draft commitments one after another made him a little impatient for the upcoming draft.
