NBA: James wants to team up with me

Chapter 33 The only one in this league who can prevent Adu from dying is me, Westbrook!

Cook already has a very grand plan, which is to use the appeal of the OK combination to attract as many veterans in the league as possible who want to win a championship before retiring.

But at the same time, he must also pay attention to the Lakers' exploration of young talents, especially when the conflicts between the OK group and the distribution of ball rights are becoming increasingly acute. He has already predicted in advance that it will only be time before O'Neal and Kobe go their separate ways. The problem.

Regardless of whether the team keeps O'Neal or Kobe, there must be another young player with potential to support the team.

On this basis, the team owner also reminded Cook that getting a player with both strength and popularity is the best result.

Cook knew what Bass was referring to.

In last year's draft, the Rockets selected China's number one pick Yao Yao with the number one pick, successfully opening up the Chinese market. In just one year, they received a large number of business cooperation from Chinese manufacturers and made a lot of money.

As the poorest team owner in the NBA, Bass was drooling after watching this.

Although the Lakers have O'Neal and Kobe, the two most popular players in the NBA, who doesn't want to make more money? Especially the fertile soil in China that has not yet been fully developed.

Originally, Cook thought that his boss was just dreaming. Players like Dayao were rare in the NBA, not to mention that the development of basketball was not particularly good in China?

It’s almost a miracle that a genius like Yao has emerged in the past few decades. How could it be so easy to find? Can't you see that the other two players from China in the league are sitting on the bench and unable to play at all?

Cook never expected that before the draft started, Wang Chong would actually appear.

Although Wang Chong is a Chinese-American, he has Chinese blood after all, and he has yellow skin and black hair like Dayao.

This alone deserves Cook's special attention to Wang Chong.

Then he discovered that Wang Chong, who serves as a small forward, has top static talent, a height of seven feet, a wingspan of 2 meters, and a stable mid-range shooting ability.

Isn't this exactly the image of the small forward the Lakers want to have right now?

In the past few years, the Lakers' starting small forward has been Rick Fox.

Fox, who is 2 meters tall, can only be described as average on the front line.

During the Lakers' three consecutive championships, Fox averaged only about 9 points and 4 rebounds per game, shooting 42% from the field and over 30% from three-point range.

Unlike Derek Fisher, who is terrible on the offensive end but can contribute to the team on the defensive end, the Lakers have long had the idea of ​​​​finding players to replace Fox.

However, O'Neal, with an annual salary of more than 2000 million, and Kobe, with an annual salary of 1200 million, have almost filled up the Lakers' salary space, making it impossible for them to obtain the players they want in the free market, and they can only continue to use Fox as the team's main small forward.

In this year's playoffs, Fox was injured after playing four games in the first round and could no longer play. When facing the Spurs in the second round, the Lakers could only use Robert Horry at the small forward position.

结果霍里6场比赛场均7投1.8中，以26.2%的投篮命中率，场均为湖人队贡献4.3分。

After defeating San Antonio, the Lakers' most important signing target during the offseason is the forward.

To Cook, Wang Chong's appearance was like a sleepy pillow.

The only problem is that the Lakers' draft pick is only the 32th pick in the first round, and Wang Chong's talent in the trial physical test and his outstanding performance of points in the game have made his draft choice The rankings are constantly improving.

Cook feels that even if Wang Chong cannot reach the lottery pick, he is at least within the 15th to 20th pick. It will definitely not be the Lakers' turn to select him. In Cook's view, with Wang Chong's current ability, and talent, I'm afraid there will be teams in the lottery area willing to take this risk for Wang Chong's future!

"..."

Cook thought for a moment, then picked up the phone and dialed a number.

-

The combine workouts are over.

<divclass="contentadv">In a few days, the draft will be officially held.

During these few days, each team in the league will invite players they value for final trials to make judgments.

Wade received trial invitations from many teams, but due to time constraints, he declined those teams with lower picks and chose several teams with lottery picks, including Miami. Heat, Memphis Grizzlies and his hometown Chicago Bulls.

In comparison, the number of teams inviting Wang Chong is not only much smaller than Wade's, but the only teams in the lottery are the Washington Wizards, Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies.

But what surprised Wang Chong was the trial invitation from the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Lakers are also interested in him?

If you think about it, this is not surprising.

The Lakers currently lack main strikers, and team owner Buss has always been obsessed with the Chinese market. In 07, he specifically selected a Chinese player Sun Yue to try to open up the Chinese market, and before that , and also tried to get Dayao through trade.

It's a pity that Rockets owner Alexander is not a fool, so how could he give away his cash cow to others?

As for Sun Yue, although he failed to make a name for himself in the NBA, it is undeniable that because of Sun Yue, the Lakers also received the attention and praise of CCTV at that time. Some Chinese fans were at that time because Sun Yue knew Kobe’s name and I fell in love with the Black Mamba.

Kobe has the largest fan base in the entire NBA in China, and it's hard to say it has nothing to do with it.

But the Lakers are not within Wang Chong's consideration.

First of all, the Lakers only have the 24th pick in the first round. Wang Chong's goal is to squeeze into the lottery area, otherwise the system's generous mission rewards will be wasted.

Secondly, the glorious period of OK group has passed, and then comes the trough.

In the 03-04 season, the Lakers lost in the Finals and the team fell apart. The conflict between O'Neal and Kobe became so acute that it was irreconcilable. Then the Lakers chose Kobe, who was younger and more potential. The Sharks traveled east, and Kobe led the Lakers. Struggling in the Western Conference, it wasn't until Gasol came to vote in 08 that he truly rose again.

Of course, Wang Chong does not care about the Lakers' record, but his ball rights with the Lakers.

That was the biggest single-handed player in the history of the league, Kobe Bryant. He was stunned and could take more than 40 crazy shots in a game.

When Durant left the Thunder, many people ridiculed him. Durant couldn't stand Westbrook not passing the ball to him, so he chose to leave the Thunder.

In a sense, Westbrook and Kobe do have many similarities, such as their recklessness to ignore the situation.

There was once a saying in the league, "The only one who can prevent Durant from dying is me, Westbrook."

Wang Chong didn't want this sentence to later become "The only person who can prevent Wang Chong from dying is the Black Mamba!"

Therefore, after some consideration, Wang Chong declined the Lakers' invitation for a trial training.