no shortcuts in basketball

Chapter 69 Trial Training (4K+ Chapters)

……

[-]. Bobcats, DeMar DeRozan (template: Vince Carter)
DeRozan scored 93 points and is considered to be the second only to Xu Yong's swingman this year.

The Bobcats sent Jason Richardson to the Suns last season, and the traded Raja Bell is not their long-term choice for shooting guard. Xu Yong is their first choice.

According to the information obtained so far, the management of the Bobcats 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 last of the foursome, Jeff Ayres, is projected to be selected by the Bulls with the 26th overall pick.

On 5/8/12/26, Xu Yong and the others were in a very good mood after seeing this draft forecast that was very close to the final list.

If that's how the draft ends up, it's been worth their hard work over the past year.

After reading the latest list, they went back to pack their bags and prepared to go to private trial training with their 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 try out.

Now that Schwartz has more than ten invitations for trial training, it is naturally impossible for Xu Yong to go to every one of them.

"Except for 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 remaining four teams in the lottery had sent out trial invitations.

In this market, Xu Yong is almost becoming a soft girl currency, everyone loves it.

"However, there are some differences between trial training and trial training." Schwartz said and 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 which are "one side", that is, private trial training with other rookies; "Two sides" opportunity, that is, individual trial training.

The teams on one side are: Thunder, Wizards, Kings, Warriors, Nets, Pacers;
The teams on both sides are: Knicks, Raptors, Bobcats, and Suns.

Of course, this is just a distinction. If Xu Yong performs well in one side, he will naturally get a second chance soon.

"Jeff, I'm more concerned about opportunities than my pick." After handing the tablet back to Schwartz, Xu Yong followed up with his needs.

Schwartz nodded after listening, and then according to Xu Yong's idea, the eleven teams were reduced to six, namely the Kings, Warriors, Knicks, Raptors, Bobcats and Suns.

Xu Yong is very satisfied with this result. Except for the Raptors and Suns, these teams are all rebuilding, and they have not determined the core of rebuilding.

In the case of the Raptors, Bosh will have to leave if nothing goes wrong after another season. Needless to say, the Suns, Cole has already looked for him.

And it is worth noting that this is a small draft year.

One of the characteristics of the small year of the draft is that many high-ranking draft picks are up for sale.

This can be seen from the previous draft predictions.

It is very possible that the Suns or the Bobcats, a team outside the top ten picks, traded up the pick in order to get him.

It is precisely because of this consideration that Xu Yong did not use his pick to choose a trial training location.

"Take 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 schedule for the next month or so will be very intensive.

Especially in trial training, whether the rest is sufficient is the key to determining the state of trial training.

Xu Yong nodded, the reminder of a top agent like Schwartz must be useful.

The next day, Xu Yong and Harden bid farewell to them and started their trial training journey.

The first stop of his trial training was New York.

If the draft is not about being selected, but about players choosing teams, then the Knicks are Xu Yong's favorite target.

A big city with lots of fans and a comparison with his hometown Shanghai, these factors alone are enough to attract him.

What's more, the Knicks are now in a state of being in a state of ruin. In the past few years, their core has changed from "Lone Wolf" Marbury to Eddie Curry, and then to Randolph and Crawford.

It's not that both of them were swept out last season, and now the team's scoring leader Al Harrington is obviously impossible to be the future they want.

In terms of the future, there is only David Lee as an insider, but that does not conflict with the core training that Xu Yong needs.

As for management issues, that's not his concern.

Because the Bulls' management was also mixed, but Jordan did it in the end.

It is not his style to force the team management to trade certain players and change teams if they do not trade.

So the king of New York?
Why not!
Two days later, Xu Yong ended his individual trial training with the Knicks.

The result of the trial training can be described as [perfect].

After the off-the-ball trial training of shooting and ball control, the Knicks also specially recruited the former steals king, that is, the website "Hey Hughes, please don't shoot anymore.com" that was once built by Cavaliers fans. The scolding Larry Hughes and Xu Yong fought a bullfight.

Facing this veteran who had been in the league for a long time, Xu Yong had the upper hand from the very beginning, and even seized the opportunity to dunk on the opponent.

Mature, stable, and tough, this is the impression Xu Yong left on Knicks president Donnie Walsh the most, 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 Stephen Curry guy 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 "CIC King" Alan Houston in New York. It takes more than just skills to conquer this city.

After the trial training, Walsh had dinner with Xu Yong, expressed his love for Xu Yong, and said a meaningful sentence: "We will regard you as one of the final choices."

Xu Yong was not surprised by that "one".

He also knew the story about [Knicks loves Curry too much] before he was reborn.

You must know that Curry is also going to the Knicks with all his heart in history, and for this reason he almost rejected the trial training of all other teams.

As a result, the Knicks failed to select Curry in the end, because Golden State, it doesn't matter, I will shoot, and the Warriors cut off the baby face.

Now the draft pick is the same as in history, and this thing will basically happen again.

But in this way, it also means that he now has the eighth overall pick.

……

After finishing the trial training in New York, Xu Yong went to Charlotte and Toronto again.

Charlotte's trial training went well. Although Jordan did not appear on the trial training site, he could feel the management's liking for him.

And when it comes to digging deeper, Jordan is still just the small owner of the Bobcats at this time, and he actually doesn't have much say in the draft.

However, due to the long distance in Toronto and the exhaustion of boats and cars, his performance was relatively average.

After finishing his trip to Toronto, he then boarded a plane to Sacramento.

Kings, this is a very popular team in the NBA.

There have been championships in team history, but that was still 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 board 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 has been called the "rookie grave" by many fans.

But Xu Yong doesn't care about these, because he knows that the current situation of the Kings is very similar to that of the Knicks, and they are also eagerly looking for a team building core.

And the Kings are also the highest pick among his intended teams.

To put it in a very realistic sentence, they are all places they want to go, why should they be number eight when they can be fourth?

So this time Xu Yong also put on blindfolds and earplugs on the plane to sleep and recharge his batteries.

By the time he arrived in Sacramento, Xu Yong had adjusted his mental state to the best.

Because it is one side, Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio and Jrue Holiday came to the Kings for trial with him this time.

As shown on the draft prediction list, what the Kings want most now is a point guard.

However, after the trial training started, Xu Yong, who had adjusted his state, played very well.

Especially shooting performance.

Coincidentally, this year's point guards are clearly polarized when it comes to shooting.

Either it is the ultimate shooting, such as Curry; or it is the ultimate inability to shoot. The three point guards hired by the Kings all belong to this category.

Evans: I'm just so-so good at shooting.

Rubio: I'm not in a good shape today.

Holiday: What's a shot?
If it wasn't for Xu Yong who came up and swished in at the end, they all thought there was something wrong with their own basket.

And after the off-ball trial, the Kings also let a few of them carry out a wheel-style one-on-one offense and defense.

The most exciting of these is the confrontation between Xu Yong and Evans.

Evans stands out as a dazzler, while Xu Yong shows a clean one.

Basically, Evans scored with his crotch and a change of direction, and Xu Yong can use a dry pull in turn, or turn his back to layup and return a goal.

Kings general manager Geoff Petrie, who was watching the game from the sidelines, was very moved when he saw Xu Yong.

Although what the Kings need now is a point guard, the team's small forward positions are Francisco Garcia and Andres Nocioni, both of whom have limited strength and talent.

And there is one thing, it is still the prosperous age of the swingman.

After the trial training, Xu Yong got another chance to have a free dinner, this time with Geoff Petrie.

Seeing that it was Petrie, Xu Yong suddenly seemed to see a magpie on the treetop.

"Xu, I plan to pick you with the fourth pick." Sure enough, Petrie gave him good news when he opened his mouth.

And unlike the information given by Walsh, Petrie directly gave the exact draft promise!

And you must know that this trial training is only "one side", Petrie skipped the second side and gave this draft promise.

This shows that the king is quite optimistic about him.

Of course, it is impossible for Petrie to talk about his exchange with Schwartz, who successfully reminded him of Xu Yong's commercial value beyond his strength.

"I'm very happy to join the big family of the Kings, Mr. Petrie." Xu Yong smiled and shook hands with Petrie immediately.

What is two-way running!
……

After leaving the Kings, Xu Yong rushed to Oakland to participate in the Warriors' trial training.

His performance is still excellent, but the enthusiasm of the management over there for him is not as great as expected.

He can more or less guess that after the joint trial training, the Warriors should have made up their minds to intercept Hu Curry.

However, with the Kings' draft commitment, such a result has little impact on him.

At the last stop of the trial training, Xu Yong returned to Phoenix.

Then to his surprise, the person who came to pick him up was the Steve Kerr he had seen before, and a 50-year-old looking at a 70-year-old face, someone 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."

By the way, Gentry.

Moreover, the general manager and the head coach of the team, even if it is a "team in the same city", this battle is so big that it is so big.

"If you are not selected at the No.14 pick, we will definitely select you." Cole's opening remarks are straightforward enough.

"But the current situation seems to be difficult for you to fall to that pick, so we will seek to trade up. If it goes well, I believe we can pick you at the fifth pick." Cole then added with a smile.

Gentry nodded earnestly, as if to prove that Cole was not joking.

In this year's high-ranking draft, the Grizzlies' No. [-] pick is the highest in the trading market.

However, the asking price of the second lottery is generally very high, so the probability of transaction is not high.

Then there is the No. [-] pick in the hands of the Wizards.

Speaking of this year's high-ranking teams, the Wizards are the most special one, because their strength is absolutely at the playoff level.

Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, Gilbert Arenas, this is synonymous with the "Trident" in the East.

But they've struggled the past two seasons as Arenas struggled with a left knee injury.

The guy who used [-] points for drinking water and [-] points for sweating when he faced Kobe Bryant at the beginning, because of injuries severely dragged the team back.

However, Arenas recovered from his injury in the new season, and the Wizards are still a playoff team in theory, which is why they have always wanted to trade the fifth pick.

If this kind of team selects a high-ranking rookie, it will be Milicic of the Pistons and Kuminga of the Warriors. They will not be given playing time, and there is a high probability of losing.

Of course, this is also the reason why Xu Yong did not choose to go to the Wizards for trial training.

For the same reason he didn't go to the Thunder, his chances with that team were limited.

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, as if he was here for a trial training, right?

Their car finally stopped in front of a restaurant.

Cole and Gentry had a dinner with him. At the dinner table, they talked with Xu Yong about team development and how to train Xu Yong.

Well, we talked about everything, except about the trial training.

But in the end, Cole may have noticed 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 understood what it means to be "the first to get the moon near the water", "the rabbit wants to eat the grass by the side of the nest", "the strongest man is already in the city".

And the eighth, fourth, fifth, the draft promises one after another, made him a little impatient for the upcoming draft.

　For the 4K+ big chapter, the original chapters are combined into one, is there any ticket reward?Thank you for the 500 rewards from the sacrilegious level and the commander of the imperial army, Meng Zhi~~~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)