When he came to him, old Nelson opened his hands and hugged Sun Hao.

This old man is really temperamental.

The two of them also chatted quickly.

During the chat, Sun Hao knew the reason why Fu Paul had been disappearing, and it turned out that he and Old Nelson had been communicating on the phone.

Because he was afraid of being heard, Fu Paul went to a corner where no one was there to make a call.

And there are many twists and turns in this deal.

Among the teams that Sun Hao tried out, the highest pick was the Jazz team with the 23rd pick.

Originally, the Mavericks and the Knicks negotiated and were ready to trade Eric Strickland for the other party's draft pick.

But the Knicks felt that Strickland was not worth a first-round pick and asked the Mavericks to add the 31st pick in the second round.

Negotiations were deadlocked until after the draft began.

After knowing through internal channels that the Jazz had decided that they would not want Sun Hao, but Stevenson, the Mavericks turned around and began to negotiate with the Bulls again.

It's just that the Bulls' Klaus has a bigger appetite than the Knicks, and he directly asks for the Mavericks' No. 12 pick.

The Mavericks were forced to talk to the Knicks again, but the Knicks had already traded the draft pick to someone else by this time.

And knowing that the Bulls may also choose Sun Hao, after the Mavericks missed the opportunity, they could only start tug-of-war negotiations with the Bulls.

It wasn't until the Jazz made their selection that the two teams completed the trade.

In other words, the 24th pick selected Sun Hao was not chosen by the Bulls, but by the Mavericks for the Bulls.

As for Kukoc, after Jordan retired and Pippen left, he didn't want to rebuild with the Bulls, and he had the idea of leaving the team last season.

It's just that because he still has two years left on his contract, it will be difficult for the team to trade him.

Now with just one year left on his contract, and Kukoc's leadership last season proved that he can't be a big man.

And most importantly, of course, Kukoca doesn't sell tickets.

So for Klaus, he is a bargaining chip with a certain trade value.

Now with him and the No. 24 pick to bring back a lottery pick and a "fully developed" two-way guard, the deal is a sure hit in Krauss's eyes.

After listening to the twists and turns of the story, Sun Hao felt that it was actually quite interesting to be a manager.

The seemingly calm draft has an undercurrent surging every year, and many wonderful stories happen.

Just as the New Orleans Hornets traded Divac for Kobe, just as the Bulls now trade him and Kukoc for Thomas.

It's just that I don't know how Klaus, the old fox-level general manager, will feel if he adds to it a few years later.

I think it's a little more annoyed than Bob Buss, the Hornets' general manager at the time.

After chatting with old Nelson, Sun Hao also knew his next plan.

Instead of going to Dallas right away, he'll go straight to Long Beach, Los Angeles, with a few rookies selected by the team, where he'll play in the Southern California Summer League.

Summer League is where NBA teams look for marginal players, mostly players who don't have guaranteed contracts.

Of course, in addition to this, rookies and sophomores are also a very important part of this league.

Rookies also include those who have been selected and those who have not been selected.

Sun Hao is still very familiar with the summer league, and he has also been to watch the Las Vegas casino league in his last life.

Of course, there is a difference between the current summer league and the summer league he knows.

At this time, there were only two summer league events: the Southern California Summer League and the Rocky Mountain Summer League.

The Rocky Mountain Summer League is better known for its 16-team competition in 1998, at its peak two years ago.

The Southern California Summer League is relatively less famous, but Sun Hao is also familiar with it.

For no other reason, the first summer league in which the Chinese men's basketball team participated was it.

It was in 1996 that the Chinese men's basketball team participated in the summer league in order to prepare for the Atlanta Olympics.

Although it failed to win, the Chinese men's basketball team's game against the Lakers became a classic.

Kobe, who was still a rookie at the time but was already known as "Rookie.Phenomena", scored 36 points in the face of the Chinese men's basketball team and led the team to win.

But the performance of the men's basketball team was also quite good, especially Hu Weidong, who came off the bench, and Kobe Bryant, scored 6 three-pointers and scored 30 points.

It was that game that brought Hu Weidong to the attention of the NBA, and the Mavericks offered him a 10-day contract in 1998.

But Hu Weidong was unable to make the trip because of his right knee injury, which also became a big regret for domestic fans at that time.

However, there is a providence in the dark, and four years later, Sun Hao stepped on this arena again.

Sun Hao was selected, but his draft is not over yet, and the first round of the show will require a makeup photo.

This is a kind of commemoration, and it is also used as material for who became famous in the future.

Of course, at this time, everyone is wearing draft clothes.

And Sun Hao was not alone when he took pictures.

This year, the Mavericks made a lot of moves in the draft.

In addition to Sun Hao, they also have two rookies.

One is Contney Alexander, who was selected with the 13th pick in the trade, a 1.96-meter swingman.

The other is Donnell Xavi, who was selected with the 31st pick, a 2.03m swingman.

Alexander Sun Hao is not very familiar, but Xavi's words still have an impression that this future will be at the CBA level of fame.

Because of his height, Sun Hao stood in the middle of the C position.

Sun Hao clasped his hands around his chest, Alexander held his hands behind his back a little restrained, and Harvey stretched out his hand and smiled.

A make-up photo, and the Big Three of the Mavericks' Summer League are there.

After taking the makeup photos, the draft over there is also coming to an end.

The summer league was played in Long Beach, Los Angeles' second-largest city, but it was reported two days later.

It's also a buffer time left by the teams for the rookies.

Being chosen, celebration is inevitable.

Except for Su Qun who was going back to catch up with the manuscript, Sun Hao and the others left Madison Square Garden and went outside to celebrate.

……

Madison Square Garden League Draft Office.

Stern sat there, smiling.

What makes him so happy is certainly not this year's draft.

In the draft year, it is difficult to produce any basketball superstars, and naturally there is no "Jordan successor" he is looking for.

What can make him so happy is naturally Sun Hao.

After the first round of the draft, he returned to the office, and the information about Sun Hao was sent to his desk one by one.

He needs to get to know Sun Hao, and then see how much he can open the door to the Chinese market this time.

The more he knew, the happier he became.

Although Sun Hao has many shortcomings, such as being short, average in defense, and average in organization.

But he also has advantages, accurate shooting, high ball quotient, big heart, and strong willpower.

Defense and organization can be improved, and big hearts and willpower are innate.

As for height, he already has a history of height changes from Sun Hao when he was 13 years old to the present.

5 years has grown 43cm, and the length is still very irregular, who knows if he will grow in the future.

Even if it's not long, 1.83m is enough to play a point guard.

In the NBA, there are actually two types of height, one is the registered height, and the other is the measured height.

Most players use a registered height, and this registered height often has some moisture.

Some of them are higher, such as Iverson's registration is 1.83 meters, but the actual one is only between 1.78 and 1.80 meters.

Of course, there are also reports that are shorter, Durant's registered height is 2.06 meters, but in fact he is 2.08 meters.

These problems arise because the NBA has height requirements for various positions.

A lot of players will naturally have some moisture in order to play their favorite positions.

But Sun Hao is different, because Sun Hao did not participate in the joint trial, his height was measured by all teams during the previous trial.

The measured bare foot is 1.83 meters, which is not too much to wear shoes and add some water, and the registered height of 1.88 meters is not too much.

This height is barely enough for a quarterback.

Jerry West, a well-known two-way guard in the NBA, is 1.88 meters tall.

So after understanding it completely, Stern came to a conclusion: Sun Hao is a person who has more advantages than disadvantages.

And this conclusion also means that there is a possibility in Sun Hao.

And he also went to the Mavericks.

Stern is committed to promoting the NBA's overseas market, and the Mavericks are the pioneer of the Chinese market.

In 1998, Hu Weidong was given a 10-day short contract, Wang Zhizhi was directly selected in the 1999 draft, and then Sun Hao was directly selected in the first round this year!

So many operations show one thing, the Mavericks want to get a share of the biggest piece of cake in the Chinese market.

In other words, they will definitely train Sun Hao well.

In addition, it is the mad scientist of old Nelson, and Sun Hao's playing style is very suitable for him.

A player with potential in him, a team willing to develop, plus a crazy manager.

No matter how you look at it, it looks like it can be done.

Stern had read all the materials, he took out a pen and paper, and prepared to write a letter.

Everything was ready, and he was ready to send a gust of east wind.

Dear Chinese Basketball Association,

The letterhead bears these words.

He is ready 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 definitely likes to have one more chance to play against high-level teams.

And in addition to Sun Hao, there are actually two people who are worthy of him to write this letter.

Hu Weidong, the 30-year-old top Asian forward who missed the NBA due to injury, may be an opportunity this time.

Wang Zhizhi, a young man who could have come a long time ago but was limited by the system, represents another possibility.

Maybe the more of this kind of thing, the better.

As long as he can open up the Chinese market, he is willing to form a team.

When he finished writing the letter, he remembered something, and instead of asking his assistant to send it, he picked up the phone next to him.

The summer league will start in ten days, and it will be too late to send a letter, so the phone is the most convenient.

Although the Chinese market has not been fully opened in recent years, the entry of journalists such as Zhang Weiping in the United States has caused much more communication between the two sides than before.

"Hello, I'm NBA commissioner David Stern."

"Hello, I am Li Yuanwei, deputy director of the Chinese Basketball Association."

A phone call across the Pacific Ocean was dialed.

……