With only one game day left in the season, NBA reporters and experts began to predict what would happen next, the playoff alignment, and the awards and All-Star teams.

Among them, for example, the MVP is the focus of James and Durant, and different experts have different opinions, and for example, the best defensive player, the best team, and the best defensive team are also different opinions from everyone.

Among them, a report in "Sports Illustrated" made Li Tian the object of heated discussion.

"Best Rookie Team Prediction, Damian Leads, Kings Lose the Draft and Become the Biggest Dark Horse"

In this report, Sports Illrated predicts the Rookie of the Year lineup for the season, with the first team led by the Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard, followed by the Hornets' Anthony Davis, the Wizards' Brand Beal, the Cavaliers' Dieng West, and the Kings' Lee Tian.

The second team is the Warriors' Harrison Barnes, the Pistons' Andre Drummond, the Raptors' Jonas Valanciunas, the Bobcats' Michael Kidd Gilchrist, and the Cavaliers' Tyler Zeller.

In the report, the reporter wrote in his evaluation of Li Tian:

The China-born University of Kansas draft pick became the biggest missing gem of this rookie, and in his 38 appearances, Averaging 14.5 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game, he is second only to Damian Lillard and Dion West in scoring, with the first two scoring 19 and 14.7 points respectively, but the Kings rookie averages only 20.2 minutes per game, while the first two have 38.6 and 28.8 minutes respectively, while his shooting percentage and three-point shooting percentage are 49.5% and 43.0%, respectively, which is surprising. ”

"There is no doubt that Li Tian is the most efficient player in this rookie class, and he will have a spot in the rookie first team."

After the "Sports Illustrated" report was released, some media reporters agreed, but it also attracted a lot of doubts.

"Yes, the undrafted stats look good, but what we have to see is that he's only played less than 40 games, and the rest of the players who qualify for the All-Rookie Team have played at least 60 games, and everybody knows that there's not a lot of difficulty between playing 40 good games and 60 good games, and the rookie hasn't been as good as he has in all of his games."

"The Kings rookie has just played well in certain games this season and put up decent stats, which adds a lot of points to him, but I don't think that would have allowed him to squeeze out the Warriors' Harrison Barnes into the rookie first team. Although Harrison is not as good as the Kings rookie in scoring, Harrison has more consistent playing time and performance, and he is also very good at rebounding. The Kings rookie should be on the rookie second team, which is a better position for him. ”

A reporter from The Bleachers then made such remarks, expressing his skepticism.

After the reporter's remarks were published, the reporter of "Sports Illustrated" did not refute it, and the local newspaper "Bee" in Sacramento began to complain about Li Tian.

"Yes, Lee has only played 38 games and he hasn't had many chances before that, but everyone should note that he's getting better and better. Imagine if Lee had been on the court since the very beginning of the regular season, hey, I think he could even challenge for Damian Lillard's rookie of the year spot. Lee is the most efficient player in this rookie class, and in addition to the stats, Lee should be more noteworthy for the help he has brought to the team, and one statistic is enough to speak for itself, the Kings have won all the games where Lee scored more than 20 points. Lee should be named to the All-Rookie Team for a while, there's no doubt about that. ”

When his remarks were questioned, the reporter of "The Bleachers" was of course very unhappy, and he responded immediately.

"Attacking the Rookie of the Year? God, no kidding, he's a utility player, but what does he compete with the talented Damian Lillard and Anthony Davis? Low playing time, high efficiency? Come on, is that little playing time just because of the fierce competition on the Kings' front line, and don't forget the guy's scouting report that his stamina is so bad that it simply doesn't allow him to have more playing time. ”

"Needless to say, if he hasn't been on the court since joining the Kings, that says it all, if he is given 82 games to play, when all opponents know his technical characteristics, he can get better and better? The answer is clearly no, and he probably won't be on the radar at all. ”

While the reporters were arguing, the fans were also discussing the issue, and in contrast, the fans were more likely to think that Li Tian should be in the first team.

Except for Warriors fans who are worried that Li Tian will squeeze out Harrison Barnes's position, most of the rest of the fans are relatively neutral, and Li Tian left them with the impression of those few highlight games, plus Li Tian's draft status is more inspirational if he can enter the No. 1 rookie lineup, which is a script that fans are happy to see.

According to NBA rules, the rookie rookie lineup is voted on by the head coaches of the league's 30 teams, and only the two rookie rookie lineups that they think are the best are selected regardless of player positions. Of course, these managers are not allowed to vote for their disciples.

Therefore, whether Li Tian can be selected for the rookie first team has to be decided by the head coaches of the remaining 29 teams in the league, and it is certain that there is not much suspense for Li Tian to be selected for the best rookie team, and the key is whether the first team or the second team.

Li Tian's strength lies in his efficient performance, and after entering March, he has played a very good performance, especially the scoring efficiency is very high.

After all, Li Tian only played 38 games, and even if he played the last game, it was only 39 games, not even half of the regular season, and in all these games, Li Tian did not start a single game, which would make him lose a lot of points.

Among those favourites, most of the other players have started more than 40 games, while Lee's most direct opponent, Harrison Barnes, has started 81 games.

Li Tian naturally hopes to be able to enter the rookie team, which is not only an honor, but also a great help for him to negotiate a contract with the team in the future. Whether it's signing a contract extension with the Kings or signing a contract with another team in the league, being selected for the rookie team means that Lee's performance is recognized by other head coaches, and such recognition is often more convincing than the numbers.

As for influence, Li Tian's Chinese identity doomed him to not need to think about it.

The actual vote won't be announced until May, and there is still a long way to go before the Kings have one more task to complete their final regular season game, which is the curtain call of their season and the playoffs in the West.