Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters

Chapter 852 852 532 The Longest Vacation_2

?Chapter 852: Chapter 532: The Longest Vacation_2 Chapter 852: Chapter 532: The Longest Vacation_2 It was then D.C.’s turn.

Although they didn’t surpass Cleveland in their misery, losing the destined encounter with Wall, the second pick was still pretty decent this year.

Presently, the options before D.C. were the safe pick (Ervin Turner), high risk and high reward (Cousins), and when in doubt, pick him (Favors).

Whether intentionally or not, before D.C. made its choice, ESPN revisited their performance in the draft nine years prior, which could have rewritten the team’s history.

In 2001, they selected Kwame Brown with the first pick, then traded for Yu Fei’s signing rights from the Cavaliers.

This trip down memory lane not only vividly revealed what D.C had missed but also explained why they could not surpass Cleveland in the conference of misery, even by sacrificing their owner.

Given this team scenario, they had, in 2001, traded away the future Greatest of All Time, which they had already picked, for Courtney Alexander and then adored a decently talented but erratic player as if he were the GOAT. This “GOAT” contributed to the team no more than the historical Cavaliers had, letting down Clevelanders in several critical historical moments and finally issued the Cavaliers a good character certificate with a decision that shocked the world. He’d rather cry in a fancy car in Los Angeles than be the Little Emperor in a Cleveland palace.

It was undoubtedly a heart-breaking moment; even the typically rude New York fans forgot to jeer at the venue. Looking at Cleveland and D.C’s plight, they felt Dolan wasn’t so bad after all.

At least Dolan didn’t feed the fans such crap.

Five minutes later, D.C made their choice.

Like a typical rebuilding team, they weren’t about to make a decision to just comfort themselves; they would pick the one with the highest ceiling.

Thus, another person’s fate was changed.

DeMarcus Cousins became the second overall pick of the 2010 draft.

Major TV networks began recapping D.C.’s failures at the 2001 draft, thinking Cousins might lead them into another abyss.

In terms of talent and potential, Cousins was the only player in this draft whom professionals would bet their fortunes on “definitely becoming a 20+10 star in the future.”

But as the most talented and capable player in the draft, the style he played in high school was compared by scouts to Rasheed Wallace during his Portland Jail Blazers period; his professional attitude compared to Derrick Coleman, and his mental health to Michael Beasley.

The NBA had been heartbroken by these immensely talented but mentally troubled geniuses.

Thus, D.C’s choice seemed so shockingly bold.

Even more shockingly bold was Cousins’s interview.

The reporter asked him what hobbies he had besides playing basketball.

“I like challenges, and I play some card games, poker as well,” he said.

Given that Arenas had once drawn a gun on a teammate over gambling debts in the locker room, you can imagine how those who cared about the Wizards felt when Cousins said this.

Later, Cousins admitted that he just wanted to crack a seemingly wholesome joke with the gun-pulling incident involving Arenas, realizing later that the joke was not entirely appropriate for all ages.

Afterward, Derrick Favors was selected by Philadelphia.

Coming to the fourth pick, the Bucks were rare guests in the lottery zone.

Even during the Yu Fei era, they had had lottery picks, but those were mostly from trades; this time, it was their own poor performance that led them into the lottery zone.

Last season, Kevin Martin and Danny Granger were both season-ending injuries, followed by injuries to Aldridge, while Pau Gasol struggled alone; the Bucks seemed like their time had run out, suffering defeat after defeat, and ended up in this position.

This was not necessarily bad for them.

Aldridge’s rookie contract bonus was set to expire this summer and picking a fourth overall pick was beneficial for their competition next season.

After much consideration, they picked Ervin Turner, who was the safe card among the top five favorites.

Subsequently, the Bobcats conveniently took Greg Monroe.

The Raptors chose Epke Udoh.

The Brooklyn Nets picked up Gordon Hayward.

The Grizzlies selected Al-Farouq Aminu.

The Pistons grabbed Cole Aldrich.

The Kings chose Paul George and immediately traded his signing rights to San Antonio for Luol Deng.

The trade was prompted by the Kings not valuing the remaining players, while the Spurs wanted to offload Deng to reduce the team’s salary burden and add a potential newcomer.

The Spurs chose George by chance.

But this coincidence inadvertently made George replace Kawhi Leonard as the answer for the Spurs for the next decade.

Not to mention how this would change Leonard’s fate, upon receiving the news, Yu Fei had a gut feeling that George would develop a bit better than in his previous life.

The Spurs team, though rather rigid about their core during Duncan’s era, had top-tier ability to develop player potential.

They had the league’s best shooting coach, a head coach who was almost neurotically meticulous about details, and Duncan, the perfect leader who became more ethereal as he aged.

This was the perfect place for George.

After that, Patrick Patterson went to the Golden State Warriors, Larry Sanders to the Clippers, and Xavier Henry to the Trail Blazers.