noveldrama
Chapter 848 848 531 The Honeymoon Period Ends Here
Chapter 848 848 531 The Honeymoon Period Ends Here
?Chapter 848: Chapter 531: The Honeymoon Period Ends Here Chapter 848: Chapter 531: The Honeymoon Period Ends Here Due to this year’s draft being known for its depth in big men, even though John Wall has essentially locked down the number one pick as a point guard, over half of the top ten hot prospects following Wall are big men.
Therefore, for those teams looking to find a cornerstone in the frontcourt, this is a good year.
As long as they have a high enough draft pick, they can find a variety of big men at the draft.
But for the Supersonics, these high-ranking talents who are expected to go early have nothing to do with them.
The more players Sam Presti works out, the less confidence he has in finding a usable player at the draft.
Because the talent in this draft class is concentrated at the top, those players worth noting will be gone in the top 20 picks, with no chance of falling into their hands.
Just when Presti was worrying about his draft choices, he remembered Yu Fei.
It was Yu Fei who had reminded him to keep an eye on DeAndre Jordan, who at the time was considered a long shot to fall out of the lottery, just before the draft began.
As a result, because teams skipped over DeAndre Jordan due to his raw skills and immature mentality, the Supersonics scooped up a major steal.
Last year, it was also Yu Fei who had suggested Alonzo Gee, and Gee, although not a second-round gem like DeAndre Jordan, proved absolutely worth the pick.
Currently, Presti has locked onto Quincy Pondexter from the University of Washington, a player who is a slightly undersized 3D wing with an outstanding wingspan.
However, he may not drop to the 29th pick.
After much thought, Presti still decides to give Yu Fei a call to see if he has any thoughts on the draft.
“Sam, is work going smoothly?”
Yu Fei is still on vacation and seems not inclined to get involved in the current draft.
“Fei, what do you think of this year’s draft?”
“Not much,” said Yu Fei, “but if I had the number one pick, I wouldn’t choose John Wall.”
Presti enjoys talking about the draft with Yu Fei because Fei is someone who has proven to actually have an eye for talent.
So even if his comment just now sounds rebellious—like a teenager in the throes of adolescence who doesn’t want to go with the flow—Wall is nonetheless a top draft pick over the last decade who was publicly accepted as the number one pick even before the draft started.
ESPN’s draft expert Chad Ford believes that Wall has the speed of Derrick Rose and the playmaking of Steve Nash, and is like a more athletic version of Jason Kidd. He could certainly be the league’s leading point guard in the future if he can develop a consistent shot.
This kind of hype is undoubtedly over-the-top, but Wall’s talent is unanimously regarded highly within the industry.
After all, the position of point guard isn’t like other positions that can sell the easily visible talent.
Because of their position, point guards are mostly the shortest players on the court, therefore, talent, skill, and basketball IQ are the focus for scouts.
In terms of talent, Wall’s speed is off the charts, his basketball IQ is unquestionable, and he has a great physique; the only thing he needs to improve is his shooting.
So for Yu Fei to not be impressed with such a solid number one draft prospect?
“Oh? Then who would you choose?”
Yu Fei’s voice sounded very relaxed, “I’d trade down, exchange the number one pick for a later lottery pick and future draft rights, and then use that lottery pick to select Paul George.”
When Paul George’s name came out of Yu Fei’s mouth, Presti knew that Fei was very familiar with this draft class.
George, until this year, wasn’t a hot name in the draft even though he was already a sophomore.
Because he was relatively unknown in high school, just your average three-star high school player. Three stars meaning his ranking was beyond the top hundred in his class.
Strangely enough, he grew even after entering college. Now standing at 203 centimeters tall, he demonstrated good defense and silky shooting ability. However, due to his conference being one of the smaller ones in Division I, there were doubts about his competitiveness, and he didn’t make a dominant enough display to lead his team into March Madness. Thus, many scouts questioned whether he could realize his talent at the NBA level.
That caused George’s draft stock to hover around the edge of the lottery.
For Yu Fei to mention George proved that he was well acquainted with this year’s draft.
Unfortunately, the prodigy that Yu Fei saw as a number one draft talent was out of the Supersonics’ reach.
The draft pick was too high. If they wanted George, they would have to dismantle their championship lineup.
But then, would a dynasty team decide to rebuild right after achieving a three-peat, as if to say, “Three championships are enough; let’s make room for others and start rebuilding”? Clearly, no one would do that.
So Presti wanted to know Yu Fei’s thoughts on those players at the end of the first round and the second round.
“Fei, we’re assessing suitable rookies, do you have any recommendations?”
Presti felt he was falling.
He used to hate when Yu Fei meddled in the drafting process, but now he found himself secretly hoping that Fei would recommend another DeAndre Jordan-style gem.
But this was difficult for Yu Fei.
The current draft displayed a trend that had a strong start but a weak tail.
Having looked at various websites’ draft predictions, Yu Fei only remembers Hassan Whiteside and Jeremy Lin among those later-ranked players.
A center like Whiteside they certainly didn’t need anymore, and as for Lin, under Fei’s influence, he did not face the same clear industry discrimination in his era as he did in his previous life.
His so-called “I’m faster than Wall but nobody cares” in this life, someone did care about.