I have a lot of skills in the NBA

Chapter 45 The Draft Begins

The draft began, and at this moment, the lights on the scene slowly dimmed, and the official promotional video of the 2018 draft began to play on the large LED screen in the middle of the stage.

The 2-minute promotional video is shocking and exciting. The rookies appearing in the film are basically the top picks predicted by major websites, such as DeAndre Ayton, Marvin Bagley, Luka Doncic, Tre Young and Jaren Jackson Jr., etc.

When the video started, the fans at the scene couldn't hold back the excitement in their hearts, and the screams became more and more exciting.

After the promotional video ended, NBA President Adam Silver came out from the backstage in a neat suit with his speech in hand. Although his body was slightly thin, he was full of energy and had a standard smile on his face.

As soon as Xiao Hua appeared on the stage, the atmosphere of the entire scene exploded in an instant. Cheers, whistles, and boos were intertwined and resounded throughout the arena for a while.

Xiao Hua also leaned forward slightly, with one hand on his ear, making a gesture of listening to the applause, "What are you talking about, I'm handsome!" Then he smiled.

"Hush..." The audience booed immediately.

Xiao Hua stood there and accepted it calmly, waited until the scene became quiet, and then began his opening remarks.

"Good evening and welcome to the 2018 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center in New York City, Brooklyn Night begins now!"

In the next 2 minutes, Xiao Hua started pouring chicken soup fiercely, bluffing the rookies in the audience.

Mainly through examples to illustrate why the draft pick is not important, hard training is the most important.I think Leonard was only selected with the 15th overall pick back then. As a result, he won the MVP of the finals in the third year and won the best defensive player for two consecutive terms.

After Xiao Hua finished his opening remarks, he turned around and entered the backstage. Since then, the annual draft conference has officially kicked off.

At this time, the draft picks of all the teams were displayed on the big screen, and all the players participating in the draft were also displayed in a list.

For the participating players, the draft is a test and a stepping stone, an opportunity for them to step onto the NBA, the highest basketball stage in the world.

If they are selected, they will become a member of the NBA, and their identities will be changed. In the future, they will stand on the NBA court, compete with many NBA stars, and compete for the championship.

If they fail to be selected, their future basketball path may be extremely difficult.The road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to go to the blue sky.

Li Yang's heart suddenly hung in his throat.

Although he knew that he was unlikely to be selected at a high position, his nervousness became more and more intense as the draft progressed.

"Kakkaka!!"

The cameras of the domestic media's webcast were also aimed at Li Yang's location at this time.

At the same time in the Tencent live broadcast room, commentators Ke Fan and Yang Yi also began to talk about Li Yang's draft predictions.

They flattered Li Yang at first, and then expressed some pessimistic attitudes from time to time, singing red faces and bad faces, and they were making love all the time.

At this time, the icon of the Phoenix Suns with the No. 5 pick appeared on the large LED screen in the middle of the stage, and the [-]-minute countdown beside the icon began to roll.

After the Suns made their final selection, Adam Silver once again stepped out from behind the stage.

On the stage, Adam Silver's expression became serious, and the entire arena also fell silent. Everyone stared at Xiao Hua with wide-eyed eyes.

Xiao Hua cleared his throat, glanced at the envelope in his hand, and directly announced: "In the 2018 NBA Draft, the first pick in the first round, the Phoenix Suns selected... Deandre Ayton from the University of Arizona!"

"Oh"

As soon as the voice fell, there was a burst of exclamation at the scene, and then there was a sound of "it really is".

It is no secret that the Phoenix Suns will select Ayton with the first pick in the first round. It can be seen from the fact that Ayton did not participate in the training camp and the Sun has been silent.

Another point is that today, Ayton has been very calm from the beginning, obviously knowing the result in advance.

It is not difficult to guess from these places that he and the Suns must have reached an agreement.

Amid the continuous applause, Ayton stood up with a smile on his face. It was no surprise that he was selected as the first pick!
Seeing that Ayton was selected first, Marvin Bagley at the next table was obviously a little disappointed, and his eyes were a little lonely...

Then Ayton turned around and hugged his mother, then hugged his college coach and friends, took the peaked cap with the Suns logo handed over by the staff beside him, put it on, and walked onto the rostrum to shake hands with Xiao Hua.

Looking at Ayton on the stage, Li Yang's mother's face immediately collapsed, and she said depressedly: "How could it be this big guy, shouldn't it be our little Yang? The Suns are too blind!"

"Mom." Li Yang rolled his eyes speechlessly.

In fact, Li Yan is not the only one who thinks this way, all the relatives, friends and fans who support Li Yang think so in their hearts.

In the gymnasium of the No. [-] Middle School in Shenzhen, China, all the teachers and students of the No. [-] Middle School were watching the live broadcast of today's draft. When they heard that the No. [-] pick was DeAndre Ayton, everyone sighed heavily.

"Why not Li Yang?"

"Unfortunately, it would be great if it was Li Yang, uh, the expectations seem to be a bit high."

However, people didn't have time to sigh, because Ayton had already gone down for an interview, and Xiao Hua walked to the rostrum again and began to announce the second pick.

"The second overall pick in the first round of 2018 belongs to the Sacramento Kings, and they chose..." Xiao Hua paused, whetting everyone's appetites, before saying, "Marvin Bagley, a power forward from Duke University!"

"The 2018rd pick in the first round of [-] belonged to the Atlanta Hawks and they selected...Luka Doncic!!!"

Watching the draft live is indeed very exciting.

"The 2018th pick in the first round of [-], the Memphis Grizzlies selected...Jaren Jackson Jr., a power forward from Michigan State University!!!!"

After hearing that his name was pronounced by Xiao Hua, Jackson let out a long sigh of relief, stood up and hugged his mother, as if saying that it was finally my turn.

Seeing others being selected one after another, Li Yang was also very envious, but he could only envy, he knew that it was impossible for him to be selected in a position too high.

"The fifth overall pick in the first round of the 2018 draft, the Dallas Mavericks selected the point guard from the University of Oklahoma - Tre Young!"

Just then, the first transaction took place.

"A deal happened." Xiao Hua walked to the front desk, and instead of directly announcing the results of the draft as before, he announced that there was a deal.

All the players and fans at the scene turned their attention to the stage. This was the first transaction in this year's draft. Although it was a big year in the draft, I didn't expect the transaction to happen so soon.

"Just now, the Eagles and the Lone Ranger reached a deal. They exchanged the No. 3 and No. 5 picks. The Eagles used the No. 2019 pick to help the Lone Ranger select Doncic, and the Lone Ranger sent a 5 protected first-round pick to the Eagles. At the same time, the Lone Ranger used the No. [-] pick to help the Eagles select Tre Young."

After Silver announced the results, the player icons around the Atlanta Hawks and Dallas Mavericks were swapped.

The process continues, Xiao Hua continues to tear the envelope!
Li Yang's highest draft pick prediction is the eighth pick in the ESPN Draft, and he will be selected by the Cavaliers, so he doesn't have much expectations for the top seven picks.

……

"I think the Cavaliers will probably choose Li Yang at this pick." In the Tencent live broadcast room, the host Ke Fan suddenly said.

"Not necessarily, I think they might choose a small forward." Yang Yi shook his head.

"Have you forgotten James?" Ke Fan said with a smile.

When he was in the Cavaliers' trial training, James personally said that he was very optimistic about Li Yang, and he also deliberately left his contact information. Everyone knew about it at the time.

"Oh, yes, I remembered, James said so." Yang Yi patted his head, and then recalled.

The two looked at each other and smiled, then looked at Xiao Hua who had just walked out, this time they should be able to guess correctly.

"With the eighth pick in the first round of the 2018 draft, the Cleveland Cavaliers selected point guard Collin Sexton from the University of Alabama!"

"Damn!" When Xiao Hua announced the choice of the Cavaliers, Ke Fan and Yang Yi shouted in unison, unbelievable.

The Cavaliers finally chose Li Yang's defeater Collin Sexton, and James finally gave up Li Yang.

Li Yang was released by the Cavaliers, promising to be drafted but not selected. This is not uncommon in the NBA draft, but how could the side that was released be happy.

Even if the rift between him and the Cavaliers is completely settled, he has lived his whole life, and although he looks down on many things, he can't bear this kind of thing, and he will never be merciless when he meets the Cavaliers in the future.

(End of this chapter)