A week later, the joint tryout came to an end, and a day later, on May 18, another major event of the draft, the lottery, also ended.
The result can be summed up in one sentence: the Kings are the unlucky ones, while the Grizzlies and Thunder are the European kings.
The Kings played terribly last season and had 17 wins, the last record in the league, but ended up only getting the fourth pick.
The Grizzlies and Thunder, ranked fifth from the bottom and fourth from the bottom respectively, received the second and third pick respectively.
The final lottery picks from high to low are: Clippers, Grizzlies, Thunder, Kings, Wizards, Timberwolves, Warriors, Knicks, Raptors, Bucks, Nets, Bobcats, Pacers, and Suns.
As the lottery results came out, NBADraft and ESPN both updated their draft prediction lists.
On this day, Xu Yong and his friends sat in front of the computer and looked at the latest NBA Draft predictions.
Because they will be attending their respective private tryouts soon, this should be the last time they get together before the draft.
So they all seemed particularly serious at this time.
The Internet speed in Chicago is so fast that it popped up in the blink of an eye.
This time the list is updated very comprehensively, even the templates have been listed.
Or you can understand that this is a list that is very close to the final draft results.
The reason is that NBA teams not only consider the ability and potential of rookies when selecting players, but also the needs of the team. It is the result of a combination of factors.
1. Clippers, Blake Griffin (Sample: Karl Malone/Antonio McDyess)
In Griffin's draft report, his total score reached an astonishing 105 points. Except for his average wingspan, he was recognized in almost all aspects.
Appreciation of the scout report: He is a monster, with explosive athletic ability, perfect strength and work ethic, full of toughness, and a strong love of confrontation. His speed, agility, and explosiveness are all top-notch, and he is very good at handling the ball. He will be an excellent passer, and his big hands can easily control the ball. Therefore, he has a very good chance of becoming an organizing power forward, and he already has mid-range, post-up, and even Duncan-style mid-range rebounds, and his skills are very mature.
The Clippers have already put both Zach Randolph and Chris Kaman on the shelf, and their draft targets are very clear.
2. Grizzlies, Hakeem Thabeet (Model: Mutombo)
Thabeet received a score of 97 points. He was recognized mainly on the defensive end. Despite his height of 2.21 meters, he has lateral speed and flexibility that other big men of the same level do not have, and he also has excellent athletic ability.
It is worth mentioning that because of his good touch, although his current offensive performance is like a blank sheet of paper (a euphemism), he is considered to be able to develop offensive skills.
After trading away Pau Gasol, the Grizzlies do not have a reliable center, but they do not rule out using this pick to pick Ricky Rubio, and are even trying to make some trades with the second pick.
3. Oklahoma City Thunder, Ricky Rubio (Sample: Steve Nash/Jose Calderon)
Rubio also received a score of 97 points. His defensive ability, leadership, ball handling, potential, and passing all received 9 points. He is considered one of the purest point guards in the past few years.
After shining in the 2008 BJ Olympics, Rubio was considered a top-five player in the 2008 draft. After announcing his candidacy earlier this year, he quickly moved into the top three and was even considered a possible No. 1 pick.
However, due to the high buyout costs of the club and Rubio's statement that he would choose to stay overseas if he could not find a suitable team, his draft situation is full of uncertainty.
The Thunder still want to choose Rubio even though they already have Westbrook. They may want Westbrook to play the No. 2 position like he did in college. If Rubio is ultimately unable to land in the NBA, then James Harden and Xu Yong are considered to be players they are interested in.
4. Kings, Tyreke Evans (Model: Larry Hughes/Jamal Crawford)
Evans received a score of 96 points. His overall performance and immediate combat effectiveness were fully recognized and he was considered one of the two best combo guards in this class.
The Kings have a clear goal in this year's draft. They want a point guard. Rubio is their first choice. If they cannot choose Rubio, Evans, Jrue Holiday and Stephen Curry are all their alternative targets. Among these three, Evans is the one with the least risk.
5. Washington Wizards, James Harden (Template: Ginobili/Brandon Roy)
Harden received a score of 98 points, which is second only to Griffin in this year's draft.
Harden's draft report has not changed much from before, but one thing has become a key factor affecting his draft pick. Scouts believe that his playing style requires a lot of ball possession and his turnover rate is too high.
In addition to Harden, they are also interested in Xu Yong, who is also at Arizona State University. The latter's performance in the NCAA finals was impressive.
But in fact, compared to the draft, they are more inclined to sell the fifth pick in their hands.
6. Timberwolves, Stephen Curry (Model: Mahamed Lauv)
Curry's score was only 92 points. Except for his shooting, which got a full score of 10 points, his athletic ability, defense, strength, leadership ability, and passing all got only 7 points.
What the Timberwolves lack now is a center and a point guard. Since they are unable to pick Thabeet, their draft targets are similar to those of the Kings. Rubio is the best choice, followed by Evans, and then Curry and Holiday. Compared to Holiday, Curry is obviously more popular.
7. Warriors, Jrue Holiday (Template: None)
Holiday's rating is only 88 points, but his defensive ability is considered the strongest among this guard.
As the No. 1 high school student in the United States in the class of 2009, Holiday's freshman season at UCLA was undoubtedly a failure, and his decision to run for the draft at this time was also risky, but his physical talent is still enough to get him into the lottery, especially his characteristics perfectly complement the Warriors' core player Monta Ellis.
Although he is not Nelson's type, it will be hard for the Warriors to resist taking him with this pick.
At the same time, the Warriors are also very interested in Xu Yong. They have always wanted to select a Chinese player. They were interested in Yi Jianlian in the 2007 draft.
However, the team already has Corey Maggette, so unless they choose to trade him, the probability of them choosing Xu Yong is not high.
8. New York Knicks, Xu Yong (Tracy McGrady/Rudy Gay)
Xu Yong received a score of 96, including a full 10 for leadership, and 9 for athletic ability, body size and basketball IQ. He is considered the best forward-guard swingman in this year's draft.
Appreciation of Xu Yong's draft report: A perfect leader, excellent athletic ability, top basketball IQ, and has demonstrated a stable pull-up jump shot ability and certain ball-handling organizational skills. He is tough in confrontation and not afraid of defense. He has the opportunity to become an All-Star level player.
But at the same time, injuries may be a hidden danger, and there are certain unknowns as to whether his personality can adapt to the NBA. He is full of uncertainties.
The Knicks' desire to draft Xu Yong is second only to Curry. If they cannot get Curry and Xu Yong has not been selected yet, they will [without hesitation] pick Xu Yong at this position.
It can be seen that the website has a very high evaluation of Xu Yong, but at the same time the website also gives the reason why Xu Yong finally ranked eighth.
First of all, the teams with high draft picks this year need centers and point guards, not swingmen.
Secondly, as the report said, due to injuries and personality, the NBA has a natural impression of the Asian race.
Of course, there is actually another point that the website knows but will not mention.
As the old saying goes, those who plant trees will enjoy the shade. It was only with the forerunner Wang Zhizhi laying the groundwork that Yao Ming's No. 1 pick became possible.
It is also because of Yao Ming's success in the NBA that Yi Jianlian could become the sixth pick;
It is natural that Yi Jianlian's poor performance has caused NBA players to become cautious towards Chinese players.
Not to mention that Yi Jianlian can also refer to Yao Ming, but Xu Yong, as the first yellow-skinned outside player to enter the lottery zone, has no precedent.
The lack of precedent means unknowns and risks.
Taking all these factors into consideration, his draft pick theoretically wouldn't be too high.
But Xu Yong performed well in the joint tryout, and with the help of Schwartz's excellent packaging ability, his draft pick fluctuated greatly. He may fall out of the top ten, or he may become this year's third pick.