Sun Hao was still thinking about the scene of playing basketball with Turkoglu before.
The two of them really hit it off.
If he continues to choose to stay in Europe, playing with Bodiroga will only be stronger.
If you think in this way, it is also exciting to stay.
Feeling someone walking towards him, he put his thoughts aside for the moment.
The Lakers scout looked to be in his sixties, in stark contrast to the younger scouts around him who were in their thirties and forties.
Moreover, he had asked Sun Hao before whether he had ever dunked a basketball, so Sun Hao had a deep impression of him.
“You can play in the NBA.”
The first thing he did when he came up was throw a super big candy to Sun Hao.
"Thanks."
Sun Hao took it as a compliment and replied with a smile .
The scout stretched out his hand to him, indicating that they should go to a place with fewer people to talk.
Sun Hao nodded in agreement.
The end of the tryout is the time for interested teams to negotiate terms with players.
Turkoglu was already surrounded by scouts.
This is the same scene as when I was trying out with Yi Jianlian on the Guangdong Hongyuan team.
The improvement is that at least he has scouts looking for him.
"Your strengths and weaknesses are obvious. Offense is your strong point, and you have a very good heart. You scored the last two goals in the one-on-one situation."
"Your defense is limited by your height and you will suffer in mismatches, but that can be improved. You haven't learned the defensive skills yet, so that's not a problem."
When they reached the side, the scout came straight to the point and told him all his evaluation of Sun Hao, and he was really professional.
"Thanks."
Sun Hao found that he had nothing to say except thank you.
The other person is like an elder who sees through everything.
"I can give you a draft commitment."
However, the other party's next words made Sun Hao look up at him.
This is... a draft promise?
Why does it sound a bit unreliable?
And because he was an NCAA assistant coach in his previous life, he is familiar with the responsibilities of some NBA jobs.
Like scouts, they are divided into two categories.
The first type is called a potential scout, which is the type of scout that most people are familiar with.
Their main responsibility is to evaluate the players' abilities and potential.
The representative figure here is Ivanka Dukan, the legendary scout of the Bulls.
The Croatian discovered the super sixth man of the Bulls dynasty, Kukoc, and later discovered players such as Mirotic for the Bulls.
Most of the scouts present today are of this type.
The second category is called advanced scouts.
Their job is mainly to investigate opponents, including tactical characteristics, game habits, team weaknesses, etc., to help coaches make tactical arrangements.
This is already similar to a teaching assistant.
This type of scout is rare, and they are usually old guys with rich experience.
Sun Hao felt that the person in front of him looked like...
However, even senior scouts do not have the right to make draft commitments.
Because that is the right only the team general manager has.
"you do not believe me?"
As expected, older people are more insightful. He immediately understood what Sun Hao was thinking.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Bill Burtka, the Lakers' scouting director."
Bertka now looked like an old man, smiling and extending his hand to Sun Hao.
Sun Hao was stunned for a moment.
He knew this name!
The Lakers have many legendary figures, such as head coach Phil Jackson, many famous players such as "Magic" Johnson, "Logo Man" Jerry West, and the current "OK combination" Kobe and O'Neal.
Bill Burtka was one of them.
His influence is not as great as those mentioned above, but he is very famous in the circle.
This legendary scout started working as a Lakers scout in 1968. He was the first scout to appear and can be called the godfather of the scouting world.
Sun Hao had heard of him before but had never seen him in person, but he didn't expect to see him here!
The Lakers take this joint tryout very seriously!
But it is understandable. The Lakers just won their first NBA championship since 1988 last season, and the OK combination reached the top.
A new dynasty is about to be established, and the Lakers are about to regain the glory of purple and gold.
The team has done well, but that also means the draft will be difficult.
As the team with the best record in the regular season last season, they only have two draft picks in the new season, one at 29th in the first round and one at 58th in the second round.
The players selected at the 29th pick are basically role players, and the players selected at the 58th pick generally cannot play in the NBA.
Under this premise, it is not surprising that they turn their attention overseas.
Europe is also the place where the level of overseas players is the highest.
Not to mention this joint tryout, some players from Africa and Russia also came.
"You know me?"
Burtka asked, smiling.
"heard about it."
Sun Hao nodded and shook hands with Bertka.
"So you believe what I said?"
"believe."
For such a legendary figure, the position held is not important; what is important is the right to speak.
The Lakers' new general manager Kupchak is probably just a child in front of him.
"I'll try to trade a second-round pick to draft you, that's a promise."
Burtka continued.
After hearing this, Sun Hao continued to nod, but a hint of bitterness unconsciously appeared on his face.
What this means is that if a suitable second-round pick can be traded, he will be chosen.
In other words, if the transaction cannot be completed, the promise does not actually exist.
But he didn't care too much. After all, this was only his first tryout, and it was already great to get a draft commitment.
And thinking of Ginobili, he felt much better.
There is no harm without comparison. No matter how miserable you are, it is better than him!
"Don't be discouraged, kid. You are already good enough, and we will provide you with a second tryout opportunity. If you perform well in the subsequent tryout, I can try to convince them to change their minds and choose you with the first-round draft pick."
Bertka can really see into people's hearts, and one can tell from his words that he likes Sun Hao.
After all, there is only one first-round draft pick each year, and it is not something that can be decided by just one sentence from him. It is a decision that can only be made after repeated research by a team.
Sun Hao nodded.
At this time, the NBA's approach to European guards is basically to select you in the second round and then let you go, or to pay more attention to you and send a trainer to follow you.
As for whether he can play in the NBA, it depends on his subsequent performance.
Ginobili is the most typical example.
The two then chatted about some other things.
"I hope to see you in the training camp, but from a personal point of view, I suggest you play one more year in Europe, or I can recommend you to the NCAA, which will greatly improve your draft pick. You know you are only 18 years old now."
Bertka really admires Sun Hao.
The older you get, the more clever you become. No matter what profession you are in, if you do it for a long time, you will have a good eye for people.
As the pioneer of scouts, he could see Sun Hao's potential.
"Thanks."
Sun Hao finally said the most common words in their conversation.
Bertka patted Sun Hao on the shoulder and left.
After finishing the discussion here, Tekoglu also finished his discussion.
And more and more scouts came to look for Sun Hao.
But unlike Burtka, these teams basically just asked him for a second tryout.
The first tryout is just like the first blind date. Not many people can hit it off at once.
After they finished talking, Sun Hao basically had a general idea of ​​what was going on.
If he runs for the draft this year, he will have to impress these scouts in the subsequent tryouts if he wants to get a higher pick.
After the tryout, Sun Hao walked out of the training hall.
"Sun."
As soon as he came out, someone called him.
When I turned around, it was Calderon.
There was zero communication between the two during the trial training, and I didn’t expect that the other party would be waiting for me here.
"You haven't left yet?"
Sun Hao didn't know what Calderon was going to do, so he spoke out of politeness.
Calderon walked up to him.
"You...got a draft commitment?"
Sun Hao glanced at Calderon. This question was a bit direct.
"No, I think only Turkoglu would have that."
Sun Hao replied very "honestly".
What Burtka gave was actually the same as not giving anything, and who knows if they can trade for a draft pick.
You know, even though it is the second round, the Lakers' championship lineup will basically not change.
In other words, it is difficult for them to trade their current players for second-round picks. As for future draft picks, most teams will be very cautious.
Of course, more importantly, he is not familiar with Calderon.
If you are not familiar with it, there is no need to cover everything.
What's more, both of them are competitors, which will not do him any good.
"Neither did I, and they didn't invite me for a second tryout. These Americans are too prejudiced against us European defenders."
After hearing what Calderon said next, Sun Hao knew why he wanted to see him.
This is a complaint and a way to seek comfort.
Although this is true.
"Come on, respect is earned through playing. The playoffs are about to begin. I hope we can meet again."
Sun Hao doesn’t have the time to comfort others now, nor is he the kind of person who likes to huddle together for warmth after failure.
What he is considering now is that the two days of trial training here have wasted two days, and the La Liga playoffs are about to start, so he is anxious to train within the system.
Calderon glanced at Sun Hao and said nothing more.
The Champions League is over, and the upcoming La Liga playoffs will be their last stage of the season.
If he can perform well in La Liga, he might get a chance for a second trial.