Chapter 31: Wise and almost demonic
David Stern read out Zhang Hao's name loudly, using only one sound. When they heard that it was another high school student, the scene was in an uproar again!
The scene was shocked once before when Garnett was selected with the 5th pick, and now it’s happening again!
Another high school student!
Not to mention the situation on the spot, in the draft office, Logo man couldn't help but swear. The Nets actually snatched the 9th pick! Crazy!
He finally understood why the Nets refused the trade when he discussed it with them before. He thought they didn't want a player of the same type as Ceballos because they had Almon Guillem. It turned out that they had the same idea as him!
He thought that even if there was a team that wanted to take a gamble and select Zhang Hao, the chances were that they would be in the middle of the first round, around 16-20th pick. He believed that the 11th pick he got was as secure as it could be.
This can be intercepted!
Logo man is fine, but the Bucks are going to bleed. After receiving the offer from Logo man, they no longer paid much attention to who to choose with the first round pick. Although they don't know what Logo man is thinking, in their opinion, Zhang Hao is a high school genius who is expected to have a big leap in the late first round or early to middle second round. They will definitely get him with the 11th pick. Using the 11th pick to trade for a star like Ceballos who is at his peak and on the verge of an All-Star level is a huge profit.
Zhang Hao’s current market situation is like that of Jermaine O’Neal next year.
Who knew the Nets would come out to join in the fun!
Kupchak was totally surprised by this situation. He looked at the Logo man and asked, "Jerry, what should we do? Still trade?"
Mickey Mouse usually seems very smart, but why is he so slow to react when something big happens?
He shook his head and said, "Inform the Bucks to cancel the trade... Compensate them and tell them that Michael Finley from the University of Wisconsin is very good... But I don't think they will choose him. They don't have the vision. Ignore them and just tell them."
He continued to build up the Bucks' network of relationships. He recommended candidates. If they were selected and performed well, it would be considered compensation. If they were not selected and performed well, it would also show the Bucks his sincerity.
The current situation also dumbfounded the Logo man. After calming down, the Logo man began to calculate what might happen.
A few minutes later, Logo's eyes lit up.
Seeing the look on Logo's face, Kupchak, who had just been hung up on by the Bucks, knew that the other side had a new plan.
Kupchak asked, "Are we going to make a trade offer to the Nets?"
"Of course, but I think they will refuse. The head coach of the Nets seems to be their former scouting director, right? That guy loves gambling."
"Yes, he helped the Nets select a lot of good players in the first round in the past few years." Kupchak didn't ask why he proposed a trade even though he knew the other party would refuse. This must be part of the Logo man's plan.
"That's fine, just make an offer first, and they will come to us when they want to trade in the future."
"Will that kid not be able to play well in the Nets?"
"No, that kid will definitely play well in the Brooklyn Nets. Their point guard is Kenny Anderson, who has averaged more than 9 assists per game for two consecutive years. He is good at cooperating with fast players who can shoot."
"Why?" Kupchak really couldn't understand what the Logo man was doing.
Kupchak is also a very talented manager with excellent business capabilities, but when compared with the Logo man, he always feels that his IQ is suppressed.
"With a good point guard and an athletic and talented shooter, you have to win in the East!"
"Winning the game... could it be that..."
"You guessed it Mitch, the Wake Forest center is going to be used again. I don't think he's been hyped enough before. All the teams with low playoff hopes need to fight for him.
It's the kind of attraction that makes you so excited about the guy entering the draft that you eliminate all factors that may influence tanking.
It just so happens that guy has such strength.
As long as this kid can get out, the faster he gets out, the closer he will be to us...
Mickey, I leave this to you."
Kupchak now fully understands Logo Man's strategy. Thinking of Logo Man's amazing operating ability, Kupchak mourns for the Nets... and at the same time feels that Logo Man is really terrible.
It was a huge miscalculation, but in a split second he figured out how to make use of it.
It is true that the Nets got the player, but they were treated as a "testing agency" by Logo Man, who asked the Nets to help test Zhang Hao, help train Zhang Hao, and finally pick the peach!
Thinking back to two years ago, after O'Neal's freshman season ended, he was targeted by the Logo Man and planned to do it until next year...
It is difficult to plan a talent with the Nets, but this is the plan of the Logo man, so Kupchak doesn't think it is that difficult.
At this moment, Kupchak felt a little bit of fear! If he knew Chinese, he could describe his feeling towards the Logo man in one word:
So wise but almost like a demon!
The Logo man felt Kupchak's gaze, and he liked it. However, he knew that Kupchak's understanding was not comprehensive...
Kupchak thought the Logo guy was at the top, but in fact, he still didn't see through it completely.
…
On the 76ers side, John Lucas could only feel regretful. He really thought that the two high school students were very talented. He had not considered recommending Garnett before because they already had Shawn Bradley, a tall and thin inside player. Adding Garnett, the inside line would look very interesting...
In addition to the Lakers, Bucks and 76ers, the management of another team is confused.
"Hey, Scott, you're not going to run back to your high school just because that kid got picked by another team, are you? That won't work! We've already signed the contract!" Pistons coach Doug Collins said to his younger brother next to him.
“…”
Scott Collins rolled his eyes at his brother . Since he was already here, what else could he do?
But the plan was completely disrupted!
The reason why he suggested Zhang Hao to participate in the draft was because he had reached an agreement with his brother. His brother needed him to help as an assistant coach, and his condition was to select a talented player from his family's high school, that is, Zhang Hao.
After observing Zhang Hao at the Adidas training camp, Doug Collins agreed to this request because Zhang Hao performed very well in the game and was young.
When Zhang Hao decided to participate in the draft, Scott Collins officially resigned and joined the Pistons.
Just a moment ago, before Zhang Hao was selected, Scott Collins was still thinking about what kind of reaction Zhang Hao would have when he suddenly appeared during the team's meeting with the selected players after Zhang Hao was selected with the 18th or 19th pick in the middle of the first round.
However, such a situation was destroyed by the Nets!
"Who am I? Where am I? Why am I an assistant coach for that damn Doug? What do I want?"
…
On the other side, Zhang Hao’s reaction when his name was called was even more confused than that of the management of those teams.
He just sat there and waited. At this moment, his thoughts had already changed to "It's good that the Lakers picked me at No. 37", "I can also enter the NBA with the Clippers' No. 53"...
Suddenly, his name was called!
Pierce's exaggerated cheers, the other candidates around him were in an uproar again, all kinds of discordant remarks popped up, and the staff came to take him away... Zhang Hao was confused the whole time.
Zhang Hao still hadn't come to his senses until he put on a baseball cap with the Nets logo, shook hands with David Stern, said a few words of thanks, and sat next to Garnett.
The ups and downs of life are so exciting!
When he held a press conference to announce his participation in the draft as a high school student, the images he imagined were all beautiful.
Then came a wave of harsh reality...
By the time the draft started, he was ready to accept his fate and set his bottom line as low as possible. After being eliminated and participating in the summer league, he found that it was not unacceptable. Suddenly, he was selected with the 9th pick.
Garnett next to him called Zhang Hao several times, but when he found that Zhang Hao seemed not to hear him, he didn't get angry.
He could understand Zhang Hao's current situation too well. He never expected that Zhang Hao would be selected in this position.
There have been cases of high school students being selected before. In the nearly 50 years of NBA history, only three high school students have been selected by the NBA. Moses Malone was selected by the ABA, which does not count as an NBA selection.
The first high school student to be selected by the NBA in the true sense was Darryl Dawkins, who was selected by the 76ers with the fifth pick in 1975. He was a good role player, but he was far inferior to Lionel Hollins, who was selected next to him. The latter is a star with retired jerseys who has won All-Stars, All- Defensive Teams, and championships.
After that, the extremely talented Sean Kemp, born in 1989, was selected at 17th pick. Garnett analyzed that Zhang Hao would at most be selected in this range.
In fact, when Garnett was trying out, he felt that he was crazy to believe what the media said about many teams in the top ten being interested in him, and that he must have been soaking in the East Coast to believe such nonsense that he would definitely be in the top ten. Fortunately, when he went to the Timberwolves for a tryout, Celtics legend Kevin McHale took a fancy to him.
He also asked McHale why he promised him a draft pick, and McHale replied: "I just took a gamble. It's my first time drafting for a team anyway, so if I make a wrong pick, I can say I have no experience."
Before getting the promise, Garnett originally estimated that he would be selected in the middle to late first round, which is similar to Zhang Hao's situation.
This is also the idea of Logo Man. The Pistons had a similar prediction and felt that there would be no problem in selecting Zhang Hao at the 18th or 19th pick, both of which belong to the Pistons.
As a result, the Nets actually selected this guy with the 9th pick!
…
…
"How did it come to this?"
Zhang Hao felt that he needed to sort things out carefully.
After thinking for a long time, he still couldn't come up with a name, and he didn't even go to the Nets for a tryout!
He has been in a downtime state since he was selected. When he finally came to his senses, he had already moved into a suite in a five-star hotel. Now he is in Pierce's room, and Pierce next to him can finally use the TV to connect his Famicom to play games happily again.
However, I feel so good now! It seems that every cell in my body is beating happily, and I can't suppress my joy.
Entering the NBA!
Zhang Hao thought about it and realized that when David Stern called out his name, he had already slapped some people loudly.
The first is some universities. When he chooses to participate in the NBA draft, he has given up his status as an amateur player in the American sports system, and those universities will automatically withdraw their full scholarship promises to him.
His actions clearly told those universities: You ignored me in the beginning, and I won't come even if you beg me today.
Although those universities still have some dignity and did not come out to make a scene like a clown, and there is no need for that, the reporters wanted to stir up trouble! When I went to interview them, some universities still made their views very clear - it is a wrong decision for high school students to skip college and participate in the NBA draft.
Some of the more vicious ones even revealed that they were expecting him to lose the election...
At that time, Zhang Hao tried his best to reduce the pressure caused by negative voices from the outside world, so he didn't pay attention to it, but he always learned about these things.
This is also thanks to the single information dissemination channel in this era. He can finally understand why those young players will easily collapse mentally in the future era of information explosion.
Lying on the bed, Zhang Hao looked at the ceiling which was countless times more exquisite than the one in the hotel he stayed in last night. Zhang Hao stood up, walked to Pierce and pinched him.
"FXXXX...Aix, what are you doing!"
"I wonder if I'm dreaming. Does it hurt? Then it's not."
"Oh...are you trying to see if you are dreaming? It's definitely not a dream if it hurts...wait, pinch me to see if you are dreaming? Why don't you pinch yourself?"
"If I pinch myself it will hurt!"
“…”
Pierce felt his heart throb. He couldn't be angry. This guy was getting more and more annoying! He would be pissed to death if he got angry with him!
However, Zhang Hao's second illness seems to have come back... Pierce is very happy for Zhang Hao, the 9th pick! How many picks can he be selected in the future draft?
Probably not that high... It was indeed far beyond expectations. At the time, they were preparing for the first round, and the candidates for investigation were all in the 16th to 29th pick range. They didn't expect to be selected in such an early position.
Compared to when Zhang Hao first applied to participate in the draft, Pierce and April Clark thought that Zhang Hao's target should be the lower half of the first round, but they did not expect that he would be directly selected as the 9th pick.
No! I have to work harder in college and get a higher draft pick than this guy!
Pierce has one more motivation to work hard.
Putting aside his envy, Pierce returned to his nature: "Axl, you were selected in the first round, so you are already a millionaire, right? I think you should find an agent. You will have to negotiate a contract with the Nets next. Be careful not to get scammed. I heard that if you don't have an agent, the players' union will hire a lawyer to help you. It seems that except for the rookie contract signing and negotiation, you have to pay for the lawyer's fees yourself. It's very expensive. You should find an agent in the future...
By the way, who are the Nets? I remember Coleman and Anderson. "
“Anderson?”
"Kenny Anderson, the starting point guard in the All-Star Game last season, is a great passer."
"oh……"
"I thought you would be selected by the Lakers, but you were picked at the 9th pick. It should be better to work with Anderson than with Van Exel..."
Pierce started to worry again and entered into talkative mode, and Zhang Hao responded incoherently.
He also felt that he should find an agent, but no one contacted him. The main reason was that there was no way to contact him. Even the Xinhua News Agency reporter couldn't contact him...
He is not like Garnett, who remained popular throughout his senior year of high school. He was just one of the 100 best high school students in all 50 states in the United States. He became popular after participating in the McDonald's Slam Dunk Contest.
But now that I've been selected, I guess as long as I'm recruiting, I'll get a lot of calls soon.
There is no rush for this. He is unlikely to demand 100 million like Glenn Robinson and Kidd. After the two of them caused a wave of events in 1994, the NBA stipulated the salary of rookie contracts. Although the rules are not perfect, it will not be like the previous 1994 period where the No. 1 pick got 68 million US dollars for 10 years, the No. 2 pick got 60 million US dollars for 9 years, and the No. 3 pick was only willing to sign a one-year contract and renewed the contract before the end of the rookie year and asked for a 5-year, 34 million US dollar contract starting from the sophomore year.
It is said that it was these guys who made Pippen so angry that he suffered from insomnia every day.
After the draft, Zhang Hao met with Nets general manager Bobby Marks and head coach Butch Baird. They sent a car to help Zhang Hao and Pierce take their luggage and change hotels. They agreed to have a formal meeting after breakfast tomorrow morning.
He plans to study the reason why the Nets chose him later. He is relieved that the Nets are unlikely to trade him. He thinks that since he was selected at this position, the Nets will not be able to trade him even if they want to...
Anyway, just like Pierce said, he became a millionaire instantly!
Last summer, both labor and management took a step back and the maximum annual salary for rookie contracts was capped, but the guaranteed contract rules were also set. Although not perfect, it ensured that rookies selected in the first round could get at least a three-year guaranteed contract. Zhang Hao was very excited.
What we need to consider now is not the money. Our salary is guaranteed. What we need to consider now is how to live to old age.
First of all, you have to stay alive, otherwise no matter how much money you have, it will be useless!
As soon as I thought about it, a subtitle prompt appeared.
He was confused by the Nets before and didn't go to see it right away, but now he has to take a good look.
"Special signing player Zhang Hao was selected with the 9th pick in the first round of the 1995 NBA Draft. Mission: Talent ownership has been completed.
Congratulations to the host for receiving the reward: 1 gold gift pack."
