On June 25, 2007, the draft was underway.

In the Knicks' lounge, Thomas, the former "smiling assassin" and current Knicks general manager and head coach, is making difficult choices.

Before the draft began, he made an upward trade. The New York Knicks were traded for the New Jersey Nets' 17th pick in the first round with the 23rd pick in the first round of the season.

The goal is to preempt the Lakers management to cut off the freshman at Okio State University, Li Wan from China.

It's just that at this moment, he hesitated a little again.

Taking out Li Wan's scouting report again, he carefully looked at it from the beginning.

"Name: Li Wan;

Education: The Ohio State University;

Major honors: 06 American four-star high school student; NCAA '07 Championship;

Freshman stats: 6.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game;

Fame fight: 07 NCAA Finals three-point three-point defeat Florida;

Age: 19 years old;

Height: 2.02 meters;

Reach: 2.18m;

Weight: 94kg;

Reach: 2.18m; Palm: 23.5 cm, Foot: 32 cm;

Strength: 84kg bench press 5; Maximum bench press 110kg;

Bounce: 68 cm bounce in place; The maximum bounce is 80cm;

Three-quarter sprint: 3.29 seconds;

Position: Swingman of the Frontguard; ”

"Characteristics: High ball intelligence, good at defense, good team communication, mature beyond his age, trustworthy outside defender. Knowing how to grasp opportunities, he often scores through unexpected runs, and his last-minute kills in the finals show his big-hearted qualities. ”

"Disadvantages: weight and strength are not up to the level of the league's No. 3 position, against NBA-level forward players will suffer, since the third year of high school to contact basketball, lack of offensive ability with the ball, lack of scoring means, lack of stability in the outside of the long-distance projection."

"Draft template: Michael Petrus;"

……

Looking at the scouting report alone, this is a player with distinct strengths and weaknesses.

Static talent is the top in the league, dynamic talent can only be regarded as average, as a player's spirituality, there is the possibility of becoming "Mr. Key", but the means of scoring are lacking, and the final goal of the finals is likely to be a flash of inspiration.

The stakes are too great!

Originally, Thomas was not a cautious person.

Stephen Marbury's 5 years 80 million, Eddie Curry's 6 years 60 million, Jared Jeffries 5 years 30 million...... The bad contract that the New York Knicks can't handle right now is all given by him.

At the age of 44, he had a good time in New York and became a rich man, and then at the age of 46, he found that he was too young back then.

With the New York Knicks missing the playoffs for three consecutive years, what he did also caused more and more condemnation from the New York media and fans, so much so that when he traded up for the pick before the draft, their first reaction was: Thomas, the killer, is doing a demon again.

In such a public opinion environment, if he insists on choosing Li Wan, and finally loses the bet, I am afraid that it will not be far from him coming down from the position of general manager of the Knicks......

Compared to Leewan, the Knicks focused on another rookie Wilson Chandler before the draft. Although he doesn't have these spiritualities, he has better physical fitness, because he only participated in the draft in his junior year, and his confrontation ability has reached the standard of the front line, and his mid-to-long-range shooting ability on the offensive end is also very stable.

He is an instant player who can contribute on both offensive and defensive ends since his rookie season.

The only drawback is the common problem of older rookies: lack of potential, that is, it is difficult to have a significant increase in combat power.

Choosing him, the risk factor is not so high, it is a very safe choice, at least you will not make mistakes.

Let's change it!

After reading the scouting reports of the two men again, Thomas, who wanted to sit in the general manager position for another two more years, finally made up his mind and wrote Wilson Chandler's name in the envelope belonging to the Knicks.

……

Li Wan sat in the row behind the small green room, watching David Stern in the center of the stage shake hands with this year's first-round pick Spencer Hawes, and gave timely applause, with regret in his eyes.

Although he knew that he would not be selected in the top 10 in the first round, when this thing really happened, he couldn't help but secretly say: I don't know what kind of impact it will have on the evaluation.

Arne Tylen, the agent sitting next to him, suddenly handed his phone in front of him.

- Damn, Thomas didn't reply to my messages, I don't think the Knicks will pick us with the 17th pick in the first round.

Li Wan, who had no expression on his face, frowned slightly when he saw this message, and typed with Taryn's mobile phone: Then it is possible to choose me before the 20th pick in the first round, and it will be the Lakers, right?

Taryn nodded hesitantly, thought about it and pressed it with the keyboard of his phone: The Lakers have only half the chance of choosing us, and you know why.

Li Wan's brows furrowed even deeper, and he pushed Tyron's outstretched hand back, focused, and silently said "system", and a virtual interface that only he could see appeared in front of his eyes.

"Host: Li Wan;

Date of birth: October 11, 1988;

Height: 2.02 meters;

Reach: 2.18m; Palm: 23.5 cm, Foot: 32 cm, Achilles tendon length: 15.6 cm;

Weight: 95kg; ”

The first page of the system is his basic information and static talent.

It can be said to be outstanding.

Whether it's a 16-centimeter arm span height difference or Michael Jordan's big hands, it's the top configuration of an NBA guard. The only fly in the ointment is that his Achilles tendon is not very long.

However, the length of the Achilles tendon determines the strength of the explosiveness, which should actually be regarded as a dynamic talent.

And Li Wan's own dynamic talent is indeed not good.

"Upper limb strength: 45 (70);

Lower limb strength: 65 (77);

Waist and abdominal strength: 60 (72);

Explosiveness: 50 (62);

Speed: 64 (68);

Flexible: 68 (69);

Stamina: 50 (65); ”

The two values behind each ability, the former one is Li Wan's current ability value, and the latter one is Li Wan's potential value in this regard.

According to the system description:

90~100 is superstar ~ supergiant;

80~90 for all-stars ~ superstars;

70~80 for the main players ~ all-stars;

60~70 is a rotation player ~ main player;

50~60 is the NBA "water cooler" administrator ~ rotation players;

In other words, Li Wan's current physical fitness is probably at the level of rotation players, and he can reach the level of the main player when he is full of potential. Presumably the league's average dynamic physical talent.

If basketball only looks at static talent and dynamic talent, Li Wan is at least a genius boy at the NBA quasi-first-line level.

"Vision: 85 (90); Ball control: 35 (50); Passing: 31 (75); CIC: 34 (45); 3 points: 30 (44); Breakout: 40 (55); Layup: 50 (60); Back: 19 (50); Dunk: 30 (60); Slam dunk on the spot: 31 (35); Offensive card slot: 50 (60); Air cut: 66 (84); ”

"Runs off the ball: 70 (83); Single defense: 65 (79); Assist: 75 (85); Traverse Footsteps: 65 (70); Defensive rebounds: 50 (60); Offensive rebounds: 30 (60); Caps: 45 (55); Steals: 56 (80); Defensive card slots: 58 (84); ”

It's just that when the system page turns to the attribute value page at both the offensive and defensive ends, it's a bit miserable. In particular, the abilities and potentials on the offensive side can be said to be "extraordinary".

According to the potential values related to offense given by the system, even if Li Wan practices to death, he will not be able to have NBA-level offensive ability.

At best, become a blue-collar player who focuses on the defensive end and builds his foothold in the NBA on defense.

This is also in line with the draft template given to him by outside experts: Michael Petrus.

However, the system should be more than just looking at abilities and potentials.

Li Wan clicked to jump again, and the system page jumped to the last page, with only three words on it: Reviewing......

Ever since he crossed over 4 years ago, the system has been in this mode. He feels that after the evaluation is over, his plug-in can really arrive.

As for when the review ends......

Li Wan estimated that it was after the end of this draft. Moreover, his draft pick should have a significant impact on the final evaluation results.

Therefore, after the announcement of the top ten picks, Li Wan's eyes will show regret. Now that he heard that he might not even be able to hold on to the 19th pick in the first round, his heart sank.

"In the 2007 draft, the 17th pick in the first round, the New York Knicks selected the ......"

David Stern's voice brought Li Wan's eyes back to the court, and he couldn't help but sit up straight, the appreciation in Thomas's eyes and the promise in his mouth were still in his ears, and it also made him still have some anticipation in his heart.

"The New York Knicks picked ...... Wilson Chandler, a third-year student from DePaul University! ”

It's a pity that the reality is often skinny, and the New York Knicks' final choice is indeed not him!