basketball player

Chapter 120 118: My Network System
The leisure time between Henson and Anjiali did not last long. After the German and his Dallas Mavericks unexpectedly led the Miami Heat with a 2-1 aggregate score and were infinitely close to the NBA championship, Henson's leisure time officially came to an end.

Next, he is about to make full preparations for this year's draft.For Horford, Henson paid this year's second-round pick and next year's two picks.In other words, after this year, Henson will not be able to show his strength in the draft until at least the next year.

Although the Pacers finished fourth in the East last season.But this year's draft is still very important to Henson.The reason is simple, this year's rookie has Kawhi Leonard!

Not long after the finals ended, when the Dallas people were still immersed in the joy of winning the championship, the NBA draft lottery ceremony had already begun.

For those teams that have failed this season, the result of the draft lottery ceremony will be the capital of whether they can turn around.Looking at the rise of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the madness of Derrick Rose, you can see how important the draft is to a small team.

But this year, even in the draft lottery, it was clear that the top brass of each team were worried.

Teams seem to care more about the outcome of labor negotiations than the NBA draft this summer.If the negotiations continue to be deadlocked, the NBA will most likely usher in another lockout after the 98-99 season!

The suspension of players will undoubtedly cause the team owner and players to lose a lot of money at the same time!The emergence of the financial crisis and the increasingly difficult development of the small ball exposed after the James Baotuan incident are destined to make this negotiation extremely long.

But Henson didn't care much about whether the league was shut down. One reason was that Vivek had given him a "vaccination" long ago, and the league and team owners were definitely more anxious than himself as a coach. They would do everything possible to facilitate the completion of the negotiations.

Secondly, Henson is eager to take advantage of the chaotic opportunity of the lockout.Everyone else's thoughts are temporarily on the negotiation, so Henson put all his thoughts on building the lineup.

So in the oppressive draft lottery scene, Henson got the 23rd pick in the first round.Of course, the Pacers' draft picks are not drawn, but are ranked by performance.The Pacers' regular season record of 55 wins and 27 losses this season is indeed gratifying, but it also allowed Henson to get the lowest draft pick since becoming a head coach.

But the Pacers are not a team that relies on high draft picks to make a fortune. The 11th and 10th picks that Henson has won since he took office are actually not too high.What he is best at is selecting the most suitable players with low draft picks.

So, holding a 23rd pick in his hand, Henson immediately flew to the Chicago United Center with his team.

Of course, this time Henson is not going to play in the playoffs, but to participate in this year's joint trial training!
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At Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, Henson took his two confidants, Frank Vogel and Stephen Sellars, plus some necessary staff, and officially started their joint trial training trip.

Henson looked very excited, because he was planning the draft before the end of the regular season.Leonard's attractive potential and physical condition have made Henson think about it for a long time.

But before that, Henson had one more important thing to do.

"What!? You want me to be your assistant coach next season?" Stephen Silas looked at Henson in surprise. He thought Henson would rather let himself scout for rookies.

"That's right, I hope you will be mainly responsible for video analysis and data collection. Byrd has agreed to this proposal, and now I want to hear what you think." Seeing Silas' surprised expression, Henson smiled smugly.

The coaching staff of the Pacers last season really played a guiding role, in fact only Henson and Vogel.There is no doubt that the work of four or five people is all on the two of them, and the workload is really too big.

Henson alone is responsible for tactics, training plan collection video, data analysis and on-the-spot command, while Vogel is responsible for defense, team training, and shares most of the tactical planning with Henson.

Although the two cooperated seamlessly last season, the Pacers played a big, four small and tough defense that shocked the entire league.But the workload is too high, which also means that the two cannot concentrate on the things they are good at.

If Vogel can focus on defense, and Henson doesn't have to analyze the video and data himself, then the work efficiency of the Pacers coaching staff will definitely improve a lot.

"Of course I would! Who wouldn't want to be able to return to the coaching position?" Silas was so happy that he almost jumped up. Rather than running around to watch young people play, Silas is naturally willing to be an assistant coach with the team.

And there is no doubt that the salary of the team's assistant coach is much higher than he is now.

Seeing that Silas readily agreed, a small stone in Henson's heart was relieved.

The success of a head coach is actually inseparable from the efforts of those assistant coaches after the opening.

Just look at how many capable people there are among the coaches from the Spurs, and you will know how much help Popovich can get.People say that Van Gundy was good at defense back then, but it is easy to ignore that his defensive coach was Tom Thibodeau.

Henson is very aware of the importance of assistant coaches to him. He is not his predecessor, Jim O'Brien, who always insists on going his own way.A coach must have his own set of contacts and systems within the management in order to be truly successful.

And now, from Vogel and Silas on the coaching staff, to Bird and Vivek at a higher level.Henson's system in the Pacers' management has also been initially established.

As usual, this year's joint trial training is still very lively.Although under the influence of the labor negotiations, the teams were somewhat distracted, but when Henson stepped into the joint trial training site, he still saw the scene of crowds.

As soon as he entered the scene, Henson couldn't wait to use the data analysis module to scan.In a situation where no one else knows what a rookie can do, Henson can control information that others don't know, which always makes him feel secretly refreshed.

This year's draft is once again considered a poor draft year, and Henson has discovered that it's not without reason.He saw several high-potential rookies who had already been hyped, but none of them had high potential.

After finally seeing a player with excellent potential and physical condition, he took a closer look and it turned out to be Duke genius Kelly Irving.

Needless to say, Owen, the Cleveland people have already reserved him as the No. [-] pick.But without Irving's other popular rookies, it's a bit horrible.

"Okay, let's start working in groups! Today is destined to be very hard, but it will definitely be rewarding. Remember, you must remember our principles. Don't disclose our draft intentions to anyone. Even if your mother calls to ask you, you have to answer that you don't know. Are you clear?"

After a few glances, Henson arranged for his team to officially start the joint trial training.

In order to prevent the tragedy of the sand sculpture scout from the Timberwolves from happening to him, Henson specifically instructed everyone.Not letting others know what you want to do has always been Henson's code of conduct.

"Don't worry, Coach Henson, even my mother can't pry my mouth open with a crowbar." A brother in charge of video analysis made everyone laugh.

"That's good," Henson waved his hand, "Let's get started!"

Commanding everyone to set up cameras, prepare to record data, and collect intelligence. This feeling of controlling the overall situation with one hand really made Henson extremely refreshed.

Just two years ago, in this very place, he was being called around by O'Brien.But now, he already has his own team, and the draft plan can be done exactly as he wants.

This year's draft is more difficult than last year, because the Pacers' 10th pick last year could securely win George, and no one has robbed them.But this year, it will not be easy to find a way to get Leonard with the 23rd pick under the coveted Spurs.

Without thinking too much, Henson looked for Leonard, hoping to see the performance of the taciturn kid in the joint trial training.

But when he was looking for Leonard, a big A+ suddenly caught Hanson's eyes.

"Stephen, what's that guy's name?" Henson hurriedly pulled Silas over. He didn't know the rookie, which meant another omission with top potential appeared!
Silas looked at the direction of Henson's finger, then picked up a thick rookie information booklet and flipped through it.

"Jimmy, Jimmy Butler, is from Marquette University. He is already a senior. He is an older rookie. The latest forecast pick is between the bottom of the first round and the top five of the second round."

Silas replied.

(End of this chapter)