…
12. Bobcats, DeMar DeRozan (Model: Vince Carter)
DeRozan scored 93 points and was considered the second best swingman this year after Xu Yong.
The Bobcats sent Jason Richardson to the Suns last season, and Raja Bell, who was acquired in the trade, is not their long-term choice for shooting guard. Xu Yong is their first choice.
According to the information currently received, the Bobcats management has a [very strong] interest in Xu Yong.
If Xu Yong does not fall to this position, DeRozan will become their new target.
…
The final member of the quartet, Jeff Ayers, is expected to be selected by the Bulls at the 26th pick.
5/8/12/26, after seeing this draft prediction that was very close to the final list, Xu Yong and others were in a very good mood.
If this is the final draft result, their efforts over the past year will be completely worth it.
After reading the latest list, they went back to pack their bags and prepared to go to private tryouts with their respective agents the next day.
Xu Yong rested in the room for a while, and Schwartz knocked on the door and came to his room.
He discussed with Xu Yong which teams to try out for.
Schwartz now has more than ten tryout invitations in his hand, so it is naturally impossible for Xu Yong to go to all of them.
"Except for the Clippers, Grizzlies and Timberwolves, seven of the top ten teams have sent us individual tryout invitations."
As soon as Schwartz came in, he introduced Xu Yong's current market situation.
Of course, what he didn't say was that three of the other four teams remaining in the lottery zone also sent out tryout invitations.
In this market situation, Xu Yong is almost like a soft girl currency, and everyone loves him.
“But there are some differences between tryouts and workouts,” Schwartz said, pulling out the tablet.
He has divided all the lottery teams into two tiers.
Or you can understand it in another way, comparing the tryout to a "company interview". Some of them are "first round", which is a private tryout with other rookies; while some skip the "first round" and directly give the "second round" opportunity, which is an individual tryout.
The teams on one side are: Thunder, Wizards, Kings, Warriors, Nets, Pacers;
The teams on the second side are: Knicks, Raptors, Bobcats, and Suns.
Of course, this is just a distinction. If Xu Yong performs well in the first interview, he will naturally get the opportunity for a second interview soon.
"Jeff, compared to the ranking, I am more concerned about opportunities." After handing the tablet back to Schwartz, Xu Yong followed up by stating his needs.
Schwartz nodded after listening, and then according to Xu Yong's idea, he streamlined the eleven teams into six, namely the Kings, Warriors, Knicks, Raptors, Bobcats and Suns.
Xu Yong was very satisfied with the result. Except for the Raptors and the Suns, all other teams are still rebuilding and have not yet determined their core.
As for the Raptors, if nothing unexpected happens, Bosh will have to leave after playing for one more season. As for the Suns, there is no need to say much, Kerr has already contacted him.
And another thing worth noting is that this is a weak year for the draft.
A major feature of a weak draft year is that many high-ranking draft picks are for sale.
This can be seen from previous draft predictions.
It is very possible that a team outside the top ten, such as the Suns or the Bobcats, would trade up in order to get him.
It was precisely because of this consideration that Xu Yong did not use the ranking to choose the tryout site.
"Have a good rest, you will be very tired in the next period of time." After the discussion, Schwartz reminded.
Tryouts, drafts, press conferences, endorsements... For a high-ranking rookie like Xu Yong, the schedule for the next month or so will be very busy.
Especially for tryouts, whether you get enough rest is the key to determining your tryout status.
Xu Yong nodded. The reminder from a top agent like Schwartz would definitely be useful.
The next day, Xu Yong said goodbye to Harden and others and started his tryout journey.
His first stop for the tryout was New York.
If the draft is not about being selected, but about players choosing teams, then the Knicks would be Xu Yong's favorite target.
A big city with many football fans and a city comparable to his hometown of Shanghai, these factors alone were enough to attract him.
What's more, the Knicks are now in a state of disrepair. In the past few years, their core has changed from "lone wolf" Marbury to Eddy Curry, and then to Randolph and Crawford.
Both of them were kicked out last season, and now Al Harrington, the team's leading scorer, is clearly not the future they want.
As for the future, there is only David Lee in the interior, but that does not conflict with the core training that Xu Yong needs.
As for management issues, that was not his concern.
Because the Bulls management received mixed reviews back then, but Jordan still did it in the end.
Forcing the team management to trade for certain players and then changing teams if they fail to trade is not his style.
So the king of New York?
why not!
Two days later, Xu Yong completed his individual tryout with the Knicks.
The result of the tryout can be described as perfect.
After the off-ball training on shooting and ball handling, the Knicks specially invited the former steals king, Larry Hughes, who was once scolded by the Cavaliers fans for building a website called "Hey Hughes, please stop shooting, okay.com", to have a bullfight with Xu Yong.
Facing this veteran who has been in the league for a long time, Xu Yong gained the upper hand from the beginning and even seized the opportunity to slam dunk over the opponent.
Mature, steady and tough, these are the impressions Xu Yong left most on Knicks president Donnie Walsh, and also made Walsh very happy.
Although he only came to New York last year, he has been in the league for more than 20 years and knows very well what kind of players the Knicks need.
The guy named Stephen Curry, who was favored by head coach Mike D'Antoni and owner James Dolan, simply could not gain a foothold in New York.
Think about what happened to the previous shooter, "mid-range shooting king" Alan Houston, in New York. It takes more than just basketball skills to conquer this city.
After the tryout, Walsh had dinner with Xu Yong, expressed his love for Xu Yong, and said something meaningful: "We will consider you as one of the final choices."
Xu Yong was not surprised by the "one of".
He also knew about the story of the Knicks' unrequited love for Curry before he was reborn.
You should know that Curry was determined to go to the Knicks in the past, and for this reason he almost rejected tryouts from all other teams.
As a result, the Knicks failed to select Curry because the Golden State Warriors snatched the baby-faced guy away.
The draft order is the same now as it has been in history, so this will basically happen again.
But this also means that he now has the eighth pick as a backup.
…
After finishing the tryout in New York, Xu Yong went to Charlotte and Toronto.
The tryout in Charlotte went smoothly. Although Jordan did not show up at the tryout, he could feel that the management liked him.
And if you look into it, Jordan was just a small boss of the Bobcats at the time, and he didn't actually have much say in the draft.
However, due to the long journey to Toronto and the fatigue of traveling, his performance was average.
After finishing his trip to Toronto, he boarded a plane to Sacramento.
The Kings are a team with average popularity in the NBA.
The team has won championships in its history, but those were in the ancient times when they were still called the Rochester Royals.
Since then, the most impressive thing about them is that they were the golden background of the Lakers at the beginning of the century: the Princeton Kings.
Because the rookies selected in recent years have performed poorly, this place is called the "rookie graveyard" by many fans.
But Xu Yong didn't care about these, because he knew that the Kings' current situation was very similar to that of the Knicks, and they were also eagerly looking for a core to build the team.
And the Kings are also the team with the highest draft pick among the teams he is interested in.
To put it in a very realistic way, these are all places I want to go, so why should I be eighth when I can be fourth?
So this time, Xu Yong also wore an eye mask and earplugs on the plane and slept soundly to conserve his energy.
By the time he arrived in Sacramento, Xu Yong had adjusted his mental state to the best.
Because it was a one-sided tryout, the players who came to the Kings for the tryout with him included Tyreke Evans, Ricky Rubio and Jrue Holiday.
As shown on the draft prediction list, the Kings are most looking for a point guard right now.
However, after the tryout training began, Xu Yong, who had adjusted his condition, performed very well.
Especially the shooting performance.
Coincidentally, this year's point guards show a clear polarization in terms of shooting.
Either they have an extreme shooting ability, like Curry; or they have an extreme inability to shoot. The three point guards recruited by the Kings all belong to this category.
Evans: I'm just average at shooting.
Rubio: I wasn't in good shape today.
Holiday: What is shooting?
If Xu Yong hadn't come up and shot the ball in at the last moment, they would have thought that there was something wrong with their own basketball hoop.
And after the off-ball tryout, the Kings also asked them to conduct a round-the-clock one-on-one offense and defense.
The most exciting part is the confrontation between Xu Yong and Evans.
Evans's performance was dazzling, while Xu Yong's performance was clean and neat.
Basically, Evans would show off his skills and change direction to score, and then Xu Yong could turn around and make a pull-up shot or a layup with his back turned.
Kings general manager Geoff Petrie, who was watching the game on the sidelines, was very moved by Xu Yong.
Although the Kings need a point guard right now, the team's small forward position is Francisco Garcia and Andres Nocioni, both of whom have limited strength and talent.
And one thing is that this is still the heyday of forwards and guards.
After the tryout, Xu Yong got another chance for a free dinner, and this time he had dinner with Geoff Petrie.
When Xu Yong saw Petrie, he felt like he saw a magpie on the treetop.
"Xu, I plan to pick you with the fourth pick." As expected, Petrie gave him the good news right away.
And unlike the information given by Walsh, Petrie gave a direct and definite draft commitment!
And you have to know that this tryout was just "one side", and Petrie skipped the second side and gave this draft pick a commitment.
This shows that the king is quite optimistic about him.
Of course, Petrie couldn't have said what he had discussed with Schwartz, who successfully reminded him of Xu Yong's commercial value beyond his strength.
"I'm very happy to join the Kings family, Mr. Petrie." Xu Yong also smiled and shook hands with Petrie.
What is a two-way run?
…
After leaving the Kings, Xu Yong rushed to Oakland to participate in the Warriors' tryout.
His performance is still outstanding, but the management's enthusiasm for him is not as great as expected.
He could more or less guess that after the joint tryout, the Warriors should have made up their minds to snatch Curry.
However, with the Kings' draft commitment, this result will not have much impact on him.
At the last stop of the tryout, Xu Yong returned to Phoenix.
What he didn't expect was that the people who came to pick him up were Steve Kerr, whom he had met before, and a man who looked like he was in his seventies and whom he knew but couldn't remember his name for a while.
After getting in the car, Kerr introduced him: "This is the current head coach of the Suns, Alvin Gentry."
Oh, Gentry.
Moreover, the general manager and head coach of the team, even if they are "teams from the same city", this is already a big deal.
"If you hadn't been selected at the 14th pick, we would have definitely selected you." Kerr's opening remarks were direct enough.
"But it seems difficult for you to drop to that spot right now, so we will seek to trade up. If all goes well, I believe we can pick you at the fifth pick," Kerr added with a smile.
Gentry nodded seriously, as if to prove that Kerr was not joking.
Among this year's high draft picks, the Grizzlies' second pick is the highest-ranked pick that appeared in the trading market.
But the asking price for the second pick is generally very high, so the probability of a trade is not high.
Then there is the No. 5 pick in the hands of the Wizards.
Among the teams with high draft picks this year, the Wizards are the most special one because their strength is definitely at the playoff level.
Antawn Jamison, Caron Butler, and Gilbert Arenas are synonymous with the "Trident" in the East.
But they have struggled the past two seasons as Arenas has been plagued by left knee injuries.
The guy who competed against Kobe at the time also took 40 points as drinking water and 50 points as sweating, and his injuries severely dragged the team back.
However, Arenas has recovered from his injury in the new season, and the Wizards are still a playoff team in theory, which is why they have always wanted to trade the fifth pick.
If such a team selects a high-draft rookie, it would be Milicic of the Pistons or Kuminga of the Warriors. They cannot be given playing time and will most likely be wasted.
Of course, this is also the reason why Xu Yong did not choose to try out with the Wizards.
The reason for not going to the Thunder is the same as the reason why he would get limited opportunities in that kind of team.
However, if the Suns can really get the fifth pick, it will be an extra guarantee for him.
only……
Xu Yong looked at Kerr and then at Gentry. It seemed like he was here for a tryout?
Their car finally stopped in front of a restaurant.
Kerr and Gentry had dinner with him, and at the dinner table they talked with Xu Yong about the development of the team and how to train Xu Yong.
Well, we talked about everything except the tryouts.
But in the end, perhaps Kerr noticed Xu Yong's doubts, and said with a smile: "We have watched enough of your games, and we know you well enough. If possible, we would like to have you tomorrow."
After listening to Cole's words, Xu Yong finally understood what it meant to "the one who is close to the water gets the moon first", "the rabbit wants to eat the grass near its burrow", and "the strongest man is already in the city".
Moreover, the eighth, fourth, and fifth draft picks, one after another, made him a little impatient for the upcoming draft.