Volume 2 Talent Show Controversy Chapter 90 David Stern, the Strategist
When he came up to Sun Hao, old Nelson opened his arms and hugged him.
This old man is really hot-tempered.
The two of them soon started chatting.
During the chat, Sun Hao learned the reason why Fu Paul had been disappearing. It turned out that he had been communicating with old Nelson on the phone.
Because he was afraid of being heard by others, Fu Paul always ran to a deserted corner to make phone calls.
And there are many twists and turns in this transaction.
Among the teams that Sun Hao tried out for, the one with the highest pick was the Jazz at 23rd.
Originally, the Mavericks and the Knicks had agreed to trade Eric Strickland directly for the other team's draft pick.
But the Knicks felt that Strickland was not worth a first-round pick and wanted the Mavericks to add the 31st pick in the second round.
Negotiations remained deadlocked until after the draft began.
After learning through internal channels that the Jazz had decided not to hire Sun Hao but Stevenson, the Mavericks turned around and began negotiating with the Bulls.
However, Krause of the Bulls had a bigger appetite than the Knicks and directly asked for the Mavericks' No. 12 pick.
The Mavericks were forced to negotiate with the Knicks again, but the Knicks had already traded the draft pick to someone else.
And knowing that the Bulls might also choose Sun Hao, the Mavericks missed the opportunity and had no choice but to start a tug-of-war negotiation with the Bulls.
It wasn't until the Jazz made their choice that the two teams completed the deal at the last minute.
In other words, it was not the Bulls who selected Sun Hao with the 24th pick, but the Mavericks asked the Bulls to select him.
As for Kukoc, after Jordan retired and Pippen left, he did not want to rebuild with the Bulls and had the idea of leaving the team last season.
It's just that he still has two years left on his contract, so it's difficult for the team to trade him.
There is only one year left on his contract, and Kukoc proved last season that he cannot be the boss.
Of course, the most important thing is that Kukoc does not sell tickets.
So for Krause, he is a bargaining chip with certain trading value.
Now using him and the 24th pick to bring back a lottery pick and a "fully developed" combo guard, this deal is a sure win in Krause's eyes.
After listening to the twists and turns of the story, Sun Hao felt that being a manager was actually quite interesting.
The seemingly calm talent show actually has undercurrents every year, and many exciting stories happen.
Just like the New Orleans Hornets traded Divac for Kobe, just like the Bulls are now trading him and Kukoc for Thomas.
I just don't know what Krause, the old fox-level general manager, will think if this extra thing of his comes out in a few years.
He should be more upset than the Hornets' then general manager Bob Buss.
After talking with old Nelson, Sun Hao also knew his next plan.
He will not go to Dallas immediately, but will go directly to Long Beach, Los Angeles with several rookies selected by the team to participate in the Southern California Summer League.
The Summer League is where NBA teams examine fringe players, and most of the players who participate are those who do not have guaranteed contracts.
Of course, in addition to these, rookies and sophomores are also very important components of this league .
Rookies also include those who were selected and those who were not selected.
Sun Hao was very familiar with the summer league. He had also watched the Las Vegas Las Vegas League in his previous life.
Of course, the current summer league is somewhat different from the summer league he knows.
At that time, there were only two summer leagues: the Southern California Summer League and the Rocky Mountain Summer League.
The Rocky Mountain Summer League is more famous. In 1998, at its peak two years ago, there were 16 teams participating.
The Southern California Summer League is relatively less famous, but Sun Hao is also familiar with it.
The reason is simple: this is the first summer league that the Chinese men's basketball team participated in.
That was in 1996. The Chinese men's basketball team participated in the summer league at the time in preparation for the Atlanta Olympics.
Although they failed to win, the game between the Chinese men's basketball team and the Lakers became a classic.
Kobe, who was still a rookie at the time but was already called "Rookie Phenomena", scored 36 points and led his team to victory against the Chinese men's basketball team.
But the performance of that men's basketball team was also quite outstanding, especially Hu Weidong, who came off the bench and competed with Kobe, shooting 6 three-pointers and scoring 30 points.
It was that game that attracted the attention of the NBA, and the Mavericks offered him a 10-day short contract in 1998.
However, Hu Weidong was unable to make the trip due to a right knee injury, which became a great regret for domestic fans at the time.
However, as fate would have it, four years later, Sun Hao stepped onto the field again.
Sun Hao was selected, but his draft has not yet ended, and the first-round pick will be required to take a final photo.
This is a kind of commemoration, and can also be used as material for those who become famous in the future.
Of course, everyone was wearing clothes from the talent show at that time.
And Sun Hao was not alone when he took the photo.
The Mavericks have been making a lot of moves in the draft this year.
In addition to Sun Hao, they have two rookies.
One is Courtney Alexander, the 13th pick in a trade, a 1.96-meter swingman.
Another one is Donnell Harvey, who was selected with the 31st pick and is a 2.03-meter swingman.
Sun Hao is not very familiar with Alexander, but he still remembers what Harvey said. He will be a star in the CBA in the future.
Because of his height, Sun Hao stood in the center.
Sun Hao crossed his arms across his chest, Alexander stood with his hands behind his back looking a little reserved, while Harvey stretched out his hands with a smile on his face.
With one final photo, the Mavericks' summer league Big Three is ready.
After taking the final photos, the talent show over there was almost coming to an end.
The summer league was held in Long Beach, the second largest city in Los Angeles, but the report came two days later.
This is also the buffer time that each team leaves for rookies.
Once selected, celebration is inevitable.
Except for Su Qun who had to go back to finish his manuscript, Sun Hao and the others left Madison Square Garden and went outside to celebrate.
…
The league's draft office at Madison Square Garden.
Stern sat there, smiling.
What makes him so happy is certainly not this year's draft.
It was a weak year for the draft, so it was hard to produce any basketball superstars, and naturally there was no "Jordan's successor" that he was looking for.
The person who could make him so happy was naturally Sun Hao.
After the first round of the draft, he returned to the office and information about Sun Hao was delivered to his desk one by one.
He needs to understand Sun Hao, and then see how much he can open the door to the Chinese market this time.
The more he understood, the happier he was.
Although Sun Hao has many shortcomings, such as being short, average defense, and average organization.
But he also has his strengths, such as accurate shooting, high basketball IQ, big heart and strong willpower.
Defense and organization can be improved, but big heart and willpower are innate.
As for height, he already has the history of Sun Hao's height changes from when he was 13 years old to now.
He has grown 43cm in 5 years, and the growth is very irregular. Who knows if he will continue to grow in the future.
Even if he is not tall, 1.83 meters is enough to play point guard.
In the NBA, there are actually two types of height: registered height and measured height.
Most players use their registered height, and this registered height is often inaccurate.
Some of them reported higher heights, such as Allen Iverson, who registered at 1.83 meters, but was actually only between 1.78 and 1.80 meters.
Of course, there are also people who report their height as shorter. Durant's registered height is 2.06 meters, but in fact he is already 2.08 meters.
These problems arise because the NBA has height requirements for each position.
Many players will naturally have some water in order to play their favorite position.
But Sun Hao is different. Because Sun Hao did not participate in the joint tryout, his height had been measured by all teams during .
My actual barefoot height is 1.83 meters. If I put on shoes and add some water, my registered height of 1.88 meters is not an exaggeration.
With this height, he can barely play as a shooting guard.
The registered height of Jerry West, the well-known NBA point guard and "Logo Man", is 1.88 meters.
So after fully understanding the situation, Stern came to a conclusion: Sun Hao is a person with more advantages than disadvantages.
And this conclusion also means that there is possibility in Sun Hao.
And he also went to the Mavericks.
Stern is committed to promoting the NBA overseas, and the Mavericks are the pioneers in the Chinese market.
In 1998, Hu Weidong was given a 10-day short contract, Wang Zhizhi was directly selected in the 1999 draft, and this year Sun Hao was directly selected in the first round!
All these operations show one thing: the Mavericks want to get the biggest piece of the pie in the Chinese market.
In other words, they will definitely train Sun Hao well.
In addition, he is the mad scientist old Nelson, and Sun Hao's playing style is very suitable for him.
A player with potential, a team willing to develop him, and a crazy head coach.
This looks like something that could be accomplished.
After Stern finished reading all the information, he took out paper and pen and prepared to write a letter.
Everything is ready, he is ready to send a gust of east wind.
Dear Chinese Basketball Association:
These words are on the letterhead.
He plans to invite the Chinese men's basketball team to participate in the Southern California Summer League again.
The last time the Chinese men's basketball team appeared on the summer league stage was because of the Olympics, and this time it is also the Olympics.
Although the location is different, the level can be the same.
The Chinese men's basketball team would certainly like to have another opportunity to compete against high-level teams.
And besides Sun Hao, there are actually two other people who are worthy of him writing this letter.
Hu Weidong, the 30-year-old top Asian forward, missed the NBA due to injury before. This time may be an opportunity.
Wang Zhizhi, a young man who could have come earlier but was restricted by the system, represents another possibility.
Maybe the more of this kind of thing, the better.
He is willing to form a team as long as it can open up the Chinese market.
After finishing the letter, he remembered something and did not ask his assistant to mail the letter. Instead, he picked up the phone beside him.
The summer league will start in ten days. It will be too late to send a letter, so the phone call is the most convenient.
Although the Chinese market has not been fully opened in recent years, with the entry of US-based journalists such as Zhang Weiping, the number of communications between the two sides has increased a lot compared with the past.
"Hello, I am NBA Commissioner David Stern."
"Hello, I am Li Yuanwei, deputy director of the Chinese Basketball Association."
A call was made across the Pacific Ocean.
