This striker is a bit of a monster

Chapter 140 The Draft Begins!
"Those guys on the Hornets are smart asses!"

Thomas Jackson said with emotion: "While praising Adam Morrison in front of the media, he sent me a text message in private, saying that your trial results are the best among the four, and you are the player they want .”

"what?"

"Smoke bomb! I'm sure this is a smoke bomb, it's too shallow!"

Thomas Jackson said: "Regardless of whether my judgment is accurate or not, we'd better make plans to go to Charlotte."

The NBA league is a business field, and what the general manager said before the draft is as unreliable as possible.

And the media is exaggerating the value of these remarks.

Those who should try out still need to try out.

On June 6, try out the Toronto Raptors.

On June 6, try out the Portland Trail Blazers.

Including Chicago, which holds the No. [-] pick, Zhou Lin has completed his appearance in front of the teams holding the top four picks.

On June 6, Xu Fanghua came to the United States with her youngest daughter Su Qiaoyun, and Zhou Lin gave up the alternative plan to go to the Celtics.

The family came to New York ahead of schedule on June 6, along with Wang Hanxiang and Misha.

In two days, the NBA 2006 draft will kick off in the theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Zhou Lin handed over all the chores to Thomas Jackson, and then took his family to see the Statue of Liberty, walked into the Empire State Building, and took a good stroll on Fifth Avenue.

There is also the largest Chinatown community in New York, and Zhou Lin is constantly being recognized and asked for a group photo when walking on the street.

"If you can play here, it's pretty good, like in China." Xu Fanghua also bought a lot of souvenirs in Chinatown, and she still likes New York very much.

New York's Chinatown is a famous Chinese center in the United States. Here, even if you don't know English, you can communicate without barriers. Every store in the commercial street will be marked with Chinese characters.

While shopping, Misha bought a basketball magazine, because Zhou Lin was on the cover of the latest issue.

Of course, Zhou Lin did not monopolize the cover.

The most popular rookies in 2006, Andre Bargnani, Zhou Lin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Adam Morrison... are all on it.

"Hey, Zhou Lin, the magazine thinks you will be selected by the Trail Blazers with the fourth overall pick!"

Back at the hotel, Misha, who was flipping through a magazine, said, "Portland is in Oregon, it's really far away!"

"Let me see, these reporters have said something bad about me!"

Zhou Lin took the magazine from Misha lying on the bed.

This can also be regarded as a prediction for the draft, but it was made by the media columnists on the magazine side, based on the recent trends and the performance of the joint trial training, and these people also gave the rookies a pretentious plan. feature rating.

The magazine's comments are divided into five categories, including body size, athletic ability, technical characteristics, fighting spirit, and fitness for professional basketball. Each option is rated as [-].

In addition, there is a predicted probability of becoming the No. [-] pick.

Andre Bargnani ranked first.

He scored the highest 47 points. He got full marks in terms of body size, technical characteristics, and professional basketball adaptability. His athletic ability was 8 points, and his fighting spirit was 9 points. In the column of champion selection, he had more than 74 % election rate.

The seven-footer can seamlessly connect in both the 5th position and the [-]th position, and is considered to be one of the most feared inside combinations with the Dragon King Chris Bosh.

But in fact, if you choose the top ten softest insiders in the NBA since the new century, Bargnani will definitely be among them.

Occupying the starting position most of the time, his career average is less than five rebounds per game!

And because he has nearly 4 years of Italian career experience, scouts have always believed that he can seamlessly connect to the NBA.

Tyrus Thomas and third Adam Morrison scored 46 points respectively.

They both have an 8 percent chance of winning the No. [-] pick.

Zhou Lin ranked fourth with 45 points, and LaMarcus Aldridge ranked fifth with the same points. The two had a 5% chance of winning the No. [-] pick respectively.

Zhou Lin scored 10 points in the column of technical characteristics and body size, and the magazine also disclosed that Zhou Lin's real size is 210cm wearing shoes.

However, Zhou Lin only scored 8 points in terms of NBA adaptability. The Chinese fellow Yao Ming gave an example. They believed that it would take dozens of games for Yao Ming to adapt to the intensity of the NBA, while Zhou Lin would take a longer time, or even a year. Two seasons, and it would be more appropriate to suggest that the team let Zhou Lin play from the bench.

Similarly, in the column of fighting spirit, Zhou Lin only scored 8 points.

They think that Zhou Lin's expression is too reserved, which is also a common problem of some Asian players. When meeting with the general managers of several teams, Zhou Lin was also expressed by the team's repeated questions about the last shot. What comes out is not uncertain, and being questioned may not have a strong enough heart.

These are the places that Zhou Lin considered humble, but they were found out as lack of fighting spirit, and Zhou Lin had nothing to say.

……

On June 6, Madison Garden was crowded.

Although it is a small draft year, it is also the best opportunity for each team to obtain high-quality and low-cost players.

In fact, the players in the class of 2006 are very old and mainly focus on immediate combat power.

After 2005, NBA orders were banned, and no exceptions were made. This time they refused to give Conley, Oden and others, the talented high school player, the door immediately.

Only college players entered the 06 class, and the average age of entering the league came to 21.8 years old.

对比之下，96黄金一代是19.2岁，03铂金一代则是19.6岁，去年的2005届的平均年龄也只有19.5岁。

……

The annual draft attracts hundreds of media including the United States.

Among them, some domestic reporters including Yang Yi also came to the scene of the draft.

Although Yao Ming was elected to the NBA that year, he did not participate in the specific NBA trial training, nor did he come to the United States, so this is the first time that a Chinese was invited to participate in the draft.

Of course, next year, Yi Jianlian will also be treated like this. In fact, if Yi Jianlian can participate in the draft this year, he will be selected higher than in 2007. However, he is a player with a contract with a domestic club after all. Many decisions are not I can do it by myself.

Yang Yi will also accompany Zhou Lin to sit in the cubicle of the small green room, waiting together for the moment when David Stern calls his name, and the whole process of the draft will be broadcast live.

The indoor countertops have been built, and there will be staff who will explain the selection process and precautions in detail.

Zhou Lin put on his newly purchased suit, holding his younger sister in his arms, and behind him were his girlfriend Misha, manager Thomas Jackson, mother Xu Fanghua, elder Wang Hanxiang, and head coach Jim Lallanagar. To witness the birth of George Mason University's first player to enter the NBA.

A total of 16 members were invited to enter the small green room this year. The members of the small green room are generally voted by the general managers of various NBA teams. Those who can enter the small green room are all popular rookies, and basically they cannot be ranked first. wheel.

Of course, there have been tragedies in history. For example, Jordan was the 2008th pick in 35, and Kevin Rooney, who was predicted in the lottery in 2015, slipped to the 30th pick. They are all frustrated in the small green house. The worst is the NBA Paul Ball, the son of a famous star, was selected with the 2019th overall pick in 44, creating the lowest draft pick in the Little Green House.

However, there are also those who were invited to the small green house and did not attend, such as foreign players who are not in the United States, or because there are too many relatives and friends, they want to rent a larger place, so that they can celebrate after being selected .

Of course, this is a minority.

Members who were invited to enter the Little Green Room this time.

Including No. [-] favorite Andre Bargnani, as well as Tyrus Thomas, LaMarcus Aldridge, Zhou Lin, Adam Morrison, Sheldon Williams, Brandon. Roy, all the popular rookies who have a chance to enter the top five are all present.

And jj Redick, Ronnie Brewer, and Hilton Armstrong were also all present.

Most of the players wore black suits, including Zhou Lin. At a glance, only Sheldon Williams, Rodney Carter, and Ronnie Brewer wore suits of other colors. suit, and Sheldon Williams in a silver and white suit is really eye-catching. He has played at Duke University for four years. He is also one of the hottest rookies and the best player in this class. Defensive insider, but compared with the domineering side of James who also wore a white suit to participate in the draft, how could Sheldon Williams make Zhou Lin feel a little silly.

Seeing Zhou Lin looking at him, the big black man showed his big white teeth and smiled at Zhou Lin.

As a strong contender for the top three picks, Zhou Lin was arranged to sit on the second row of tables. In front of him was the table of Adam Morrison, on the right was the table of JJ Redick, and on the left was the table of Rama Cus Aldridge is at the table, and Andre Bargnani, the favorite for the No. [-] pick, is in the third row, in the center.

The draft process may last for a long time, and the staff even reminded Zhou Lin of the route to go to the toilet, but with Zhou Lin's draft pick, it is estimated that Zhou Lin will be able to go on stage to shake hands with Stern soon.

The lights went down, and the players' game images appeared on the big screen. This is an edited video, which includes the moments of the players' wonderful performances. Most of the material is taken from the NCAA footage, but because Barger Nani's relationship, his game in the Italian league Benetton Teveso club has also been cut into.

And Zhou Lin also has a lot of scenes, the first one is the scene of Zhou Lin scoring two points against Joakim Nuoan at the last critical moment against the University of Florida.

Different fate, but the same direction.

The poor Florida Five still didn't come to the draft, and all stayed in school, preparing to make a comeback.

Well, in 2007, it will probably win the championship!

The other is Zhou Lin's big cap to Luke Mbah a Moute in the face of UCLA.

And Zhou Lin's overtime game against the University of Connecticut. Rudy Gay, who is in the background, is also in the small green room at the moment. When the latter sees this picture, he looks To Zhou Lin who was in the second row across from him, and Zhou Lin also looked at him.

Zhou Lin didn't just have a tacit understanding with the gods from there, he turned around and asked himself why he turned back!

This is no ordinary embarrassment!
"Brother is great!"

Su Qiaoyun was wearing a princess dress and sitting in Zhou Lin's arms, her mouth was very sweet.

There were also applause for Zhou Lin's outstanding performance. As the MOP of the NCAA championship team, he still has a lot of cards. After all, there are many players here who lost to Zhou Lin.

The 64-year-old Mr. Stern was still full of energy. When the broadcast ended, he walked onto the stage. Accompanied by a burst of cheers, he said with the same opening remarks almost every year: "Ladies and gentlemen, good evening, thank you for coming , Welcome to the American fans watching on ESPN and TNTV, and Canadian fans watching on CBCTV, and fans around the world, welcome to the 2006 NBA Draft held at the Madison Square Theater..."

Listening to the familiar voice, Zhou Lin's thoughts surged upwards.

Stern, the world of Zhou Lin who came upstream from history, has passed away.

No matter from what aspect, Zhou Lin feels that everyone who likes to watch the NBA should respect David Stern.

As the commissioner of the NBA, he was a successful businessman, he brought the NBA to every corner of the world, and he pushed the Dream Team to the highest stage.

But it is also his sincerity that helped the NBA open up the Chinese market.

At the same time, it also let Chinese people know that there is a gorgeous stage called NBA.

For NBA players, his contribution is also huge. The most intuitive thing is to make money. The foundation of a good business league can only be money!
The average NBA player earned $29 when he took office and $570 million when he left.

In addition to opening up overseas markets, Stern is also unique in making stars.

In the era of shining stars, Stern has contributed a lot.

These practices are also to enhance the influence of NBA stars on basketball.

It is of extraordinary significance to promote the sport of basketball.

Stern is also working on measures including anti-drug measures, prohibiting the increase of the upper age limit for candidacy, and prohibiting high school students from entering the league.

Events have proved that these measures are extremely wise.

"The holder of the first pick is the Toronto Raptors, and they have five minutes to make a choice."

As the logo of the Raptors rose on the screen, Stern said loudly, then turned and walked backstage, waiting for the result of the discussion.

"Toronto Raptors, select center Andrea Bargnani from Italian club Benetton Treviso."

Five minutes later, Stern came to the stage, opened the envelope, and announced the result with a calm face.

There was applause everywhere, but it didn't stir up too many waves, and there wasn't much controversy.

The Toronto Raptors did not have any hesitation. The Raptors and Bargnani have been ambiguous for a long time.

A player with talent and immediate combat power is exactly what they need.

Bargnani smiled slightly, strolled onto the stage, and was the first to shake hands with David Stern!
Starting from the second pick, there will be more than 5 players competing for each pick.

Including Zhou Lin, Aldridge, Tyrus Thomas, Adam Morrison, Sheldon Williams, and even Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay may jump out and choose this pick.

It is precisely because of this variability that the general manager of the Bulls is open to this draft pick.

In the young draft, there are no cornerstone players, and all players are bargaining chips in disguise!
"Portland Trail Blazers general manager Miller called!"

"The Houston Rockets are also in!"

"And the Charlotte Bobcats!"

"Quick bargaining chip! Remember our goal!"

Inside that door, the staff of the Chicago Bulls did not seriously study the target to be selected, but were more enthusiastic about the team that came to inquire.

(End of this chapter)