On May 23, the 07 NBA Draft lottery draw was held at Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Knicks, where the 14 teams that failed to make the playoffs were drawn to determine the lottery order, that is, the top 14 picks.

Each year of the draft, each of the 30 NBA teams has a first-round pick and a second-round pick (without a trade), which means that the top 30 picks are first-round picks, and the top 14 picks in the first-round pick are called lottery picks.

NBA's annual lotto lottery, lotto is actually a transliteration of English lottery, which means lottery draw.

Every year, the 14 teams that fail to make the playoffs in the NBA (7 teams in the East and 7 in the East) will be organized by the league to draw lots to determine who gets the top pick, who gets the top pick, etc., and the lottery method is similar to the lottery lottery, but the worse the record, the easier it is to get a good lot.

According to the lottery rules, the team with the worst regular season record has a 25 percent chance of getting the top pick, and the worst team will get a fifth pick if they are unlucky, and the second worst team has 19.9 percent of the pick, even the team with the best record that doesn't make the playoffs has a chance to get the top pick, although the chance is only 0.5 percent.

Since the 14 teams that failed to make the playoffs were drawn through lotteries, the top 14 picks in the draft were called lotteries.

This rule makes it easier to get the No. 1 pick the worse the record, and it also makes it possible for NBA teams to swing around every year and try to rebuild by picking good players, especially in a draft year when a bunch of teams are desperate to finish last.

Of course, there are also many efforts to mess up a season, but they are unlucky when the draw is drawn, and this is the case this year.

The results of the draw came out, and the Portland Trail Blazers, who had the seventh-worst record, were lucky to draw the top pick, the Seattle SuperSonics, who were the fifth-worst, and the Hawks, who were the fourth-worst, were lucky to draw the top pick.

The Memphis Grizzlies, who have the worst record, only got a fourth pick, and the second-to-last Boston Celtics only got a fifth pick.

If you want to get the champion lot, you have to add luck.

Li Chenglong watched the draw ceremony at home with his parents and sister, but the lottery has nothing to do with him, he needs to pay attention to the team that has the end of the first round or the first stage of the second round, and the team that is interested in him.

On May 30, a week after the draw, Lee and his agent, Tom Hammer, traveled to Orlando for a four-day draft test camp.

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Draft test camp is all about measuring physical stats and showing off your strengths for those team managers to pick from.

However, the characteristics of the popular players, such as Oden and Durant, have long been clearly understood by the team managers who are interested in them, and they are here to go through a program, and this training camp is mainly for players outside of the lottery to provide opportunities to show themselves.

"Barefoot height, 1.96 meters, shoeed height, 1.98 meters"

"Weight, 85 kg"

"Reach, 2.08m"

"Standing touch height, 2.60 meters"

……

Li Chenglong was at the mercy of the league staff in various measuring instruments, and obtained static data such as height and weight, followed by a series of dynamic tests, jumping on the spot, running and jumping, running back and forth in the penalty area, three-quarters of a sprint, and 84 kg bench press.

After the physical test data ended, Li Chenglong rested for a while and went to the court to shoot.

The energy bottle can only be used in official matches, but this kind of shooting without a defender is not difficult for him.

There was a sound of Nets friction, and Li Chenglong changed a few positions and showed his good three-point shooting ability, which attracted the attention of some people on the sidelines.

Steve Kerr, the Suns' newly appointed general manager, asked the Suns scouts next to him, "Who is that kid?" ”

The scout said while taking out the information: "The shooting guard from Columbia University led Columbia University to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen this year, but the physical test data is very average, and his body is still too thin, and his draft template is Ray Allen, known as the skinny Ray Allen." ”

The scout said, handing over a copy of the data to Cole, which recorded the detailed data of Li Chenglong.

"Columbia? Chinese? Emaciated Ray Allen? ”

Kerr muttered as he looked at the stats, then said to the scout, "Send an invitation to his agent to try out at Phoenix later......"

After the individual performance, there is a simple confrontation match.

It's a very simple matchup, and the physical confrontation is much smaller than that of the NCAA, where everyone is only focused on their own offense, there are no tactics, and few people are willing to defend seriously, and no one wants to get injured in this kind of place.

Li Chenglong played for more than ten minutes, 4 of 5 shots, 2 three-pointers and 2 mid-range shots, and scored 10 points, which is not bad, but the managers on the sidelines are very familiar with this kind of confrontation, and they don't care about the data in this confrontation, they value what is shown in the confrontation.

In the afternoon, Li Chenglong left with Hammer from the rookie training camp, and Hammer was happily saying: "Bruce, I have received trial invitations from five teams. ”

"Which teams are interested in me?"

"There are the San Antonio Spurs, the Phoenix Suns, the Detroit Pistons, the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets."

……

As soon as he got out of the training hall, a reporter came to interview, Li Chenglong was still an acquaintance, Wen Yi, a reporter from the "Basketball Herald", but he left New York not long after the start of Crazy March, and he hadn't seen him for a long time, Li Chenglong answered a few questions normally.

"Team Rocket? If I can be selected by the Rockets, I will be very happy and look forward to working with Yao Ming. ”

"Yi Jianlian and Sun Yue? I didn't see them in the training camp, Yi Jianlian didn't seem to come to this training camp, Sun Yue saw his name on the list, but it may have happened to be staggered and didn't meet. ”

……

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It was June 28, 2007, at Madison Square Garden in New York, where the '07 NBA Draft was underway.

In the previous draft, Oden was unexpectedly selected by the Portland Trail Blazers with the top pick, Durant was picked by the Seattle SuperSonics with the top pick, and just now Yi Jianlian was taken away by the Milwaukee Bucks with the No. 6 pick, and Wen Yi, who stayed by Li Chenglong's side, also ran over to interview Yi Jianlian.

Lee was not eligible to sit in the Little Green House, which is reserved for those who are likely to get a lotto ticket, and Lee sat in the stands with his parents, good friend Randy Wilson and agent Hammer.

As the draft continued, it gradually reached the latter part of the first round, which is the position where Lee Sung-ryong may be selected.

The 23rd pick of the Knicks selected Wilson Chandler, a sophomore from DePaul University, and there were a lot of boos from the audience. There was a local voice in New York before the draft that the Knicks should use their No. 23 pick to select Bruce Lee and choose a real New York star, but in the end, Isaiah Thomas didn't listen to public opinion, and he believed in his choice.

Li Chenglong himself knew that the Knicks didn't even send him an invitation to tryout, and they were not interested in him at all.

The Phoenix Suns' No. 24 pick selected Rudy Fernandez, and Hammer on the side said to himself: "It's okay, there are other teams, and the Suns also have a No. 29 pick." ”

The Rockets' No. 26 pick selected University of Oregon point guard Aaron Brooks, and Hammer said, "It's not our fault that the Rockets need a point guard more." ”

The San Antonio Spurs selected Brazilian center Thiago Split with the 28th pick, and Hammer could still say: "The Spurs have been trying to find a good replacement for Duncan. ”

The Suns' No. 29 pick picked Allendo Tucker, and Hammer finally couldn't help but curse loudly: "Those damn bastards, they did it on purpose." ”

Li Chenglong vaguely knew the reason for Hammer's anger, but soon he heard his name.

"The Boston Celtics, with the 32nd pick, chose Bruce Lee of Columbia University."

When Bruce Lee's name was pronounced, there was a lot of applause from the audience, and this was in New York, and most of the people in the audience were New Yorkers, who were more than happy to applaud the stars in New York.

Li Chenglong was not too surprised, and quickly walked up to the stage and hugged the short and fat league president David Stern, who said affectionately: "Congratulations, boy, I hope you can make a name for yourself in the NBA." ”

Perhaps because he is also an alumnus of Columbia University, Li Chenglong actually thinks that Stern's words that should be compliments sound very sincere.

Wearing a baseball cap with the Celtics logo, Lee shook hands with Celtics team manager Danny Angie, and smiled as he took photos with reporters on stage.

Li Chenglong was selected by the Celtics, and the Spurs team and the Suns team below were a little dumbfounded, how could a Celtics suddenly appear to cut off the beard halfway, especially the Spurs, they are all ready to use the No. 33 pick to choose this Chinese kid, and the Celtics No. 32 snatched people away.

As a second-round show, Li Chenglong did not receive much attention, and soon left to stay with his family.

Tom Hammer was saying with a happy face: "Let those bastards die, the Spurs and the Suns obviously have a crush on you, but they just don't want to use the first-round pick to select you, and now they have been cut off, so they deserve it." ”

Lee knows why Hammer is angry, and it's about money.

Under current NBA rules, rookies selected by a team can not be signed, and once signed, they must be signed in accordance with the rules.

The first-round pick must be signed on a 2-plus-2 contract, with the first two years being a guaranteed contract and the second two years being a team option, and the second-round pick being signed on a 1-plus-1 contract, with a first-year guaranteed contract and a second-year team option. As long as there are no force majeure factors such as the end of the world, the destruction of the earth, the destruction of the universe, the Big Bang and other force majeure factors, the team must pay the players, even if the opponent does not play for a minute. The team option is for the team to choose whether to enforce the contract or not, and if it is not enforced, the player will leave without paying the salary.

Li Chenglong was selected by the 32nd pick, that is, the second selected in the second round, even if he was only two picks away from the first round, but he was still a second-round pick and could only get a one-plus-one contract.

In fact, it is still the Spurs and the Suns who lack confidence in Lee Chenglong, and they feel that with the second-round selection, even if it is scrapped, they can reduce their losses. This kind of thinking is understandable for the team, but for Hammer, Lee Chenglong's agent, he feels that the other party is excessive.

Lee Sung-ryong has been selected, and the family and friends who came to help him are not very interested in the next draft, and Sun Yue's selection by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 40th pick has not attracted everyone's attention.

Hammer asked, slightly curiously, "How could the Celts suddenly pick you?" They only gave you a surprise the day before the draft and asked you to go to a tryout, and they didn't give any guarantee after the audition, and now they suddenly selected you, which is too surprising. ”

Li Chenglong said in a casual tone: "Maybe they have a deal to happen." ”

Lee certainly knew that there would soon be a big trade that would shock the league, one that would make the Celtics choose one Chinese and give up Chinese another.

At this time, Yi Jianlian's team was also puzzled, Yi Jianlian had never gone to the bucks for a trial at all, and was suddenly robbed by the bucks.

Yi Jianlian's agent, Dan Fagan, took a deep breath and made up his mind and said, "Yi, we can't go to Milwaukee, it's freezing in the cold, we have to find a way to get the Bucks to trade you." ”

In Dan Fagan's heart, Yi Jianlian's best place is the Golden State Warriors, San Francisco has the second largest number of Chinese in the United States (second only to New York), and it is also the place with the highest proportion of Chinese in the United States (about 20% are Chinese), but the Golden State Warriors are ranked 18th, and with this year's draft, Yi Jianlian will never fall into that position.

In addition to the Warriors, Yi Jianlian also went to try out the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls, both teams were very interested in Yi Jianlian, the Celtics were in the 5th pick, the Chicago Bulls were in the 9th pick, and Boston was not going to Chicago if it was not good, but I didn't expect the Celtics to choose Yi Jianlian, and then before the Bulls could get the pick, Yi Jianlian was cut off by the Bucks.

Fagan is not Li Chenglong, of course he doesn't know that the Celtics are secretly negotiating a big deal, and if the big deal can't be negotiated, Yi Jianlian will be selected to rebuild the team, and now that the big deal has been negotiated, Yi Jianlian is naturally not needed.

(To be continued)