No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 105 - 83. Draft Conference_2

Zhang Yang looked at the agent across the table, who was enjoying his meal, and said, "Arn, weren’t you busy with those two college students’ tryouts these past few days? You didn’t need to come all the way here; my tryout is over."

In a draft, Tellem naturally wouldn’t only sign two high schoolers.

Georgia Institute of Technology’s Jarett Jack and the University of Cincinnati’s Jason Maxiell were also taken in by Tellem.

In fact, several college students were signed, but none received a second tryout invitation, and now they were all resting, entering a mode of praying to God.

Tellem wiped his mouth and took a sip of water before saying, "I wanted to know about your tryout situation early, to understand how interested they are in you."

Zhang Yang: "Did you find out?"

Tellem: "I spoke with Bickerstaff, went to the FedExForum before coming to the hotel, and smoked a couple of cigars with the logo man... Do you think they plan to pick you?"

Zhang Yang: "Possibly, but probably in the second round."

Tellem: "Oh? Why?"

Zhang Yang: "I asked Andrew; in his second tryout, the centers that the teams brought in to compare with him were all college students. In my case, all the comparison subjects were high school students. They might want to gamble on me with a second-round pick."

Tellem: "You analyzed it well. They indeed only prepared a second-round pick, but there are many mistakes."

Zhang Yang: "What did they get wrong?"

Tellem: "It’s not that they only want to choose you with a second-round pick but rather that they think a second-round pick might suffice. They arranged for you to be compared with high school students because you are even younger than the other high schoolers, and it certainly wouldn’t be appropriate to compare you with juniors or seniors. It’s not that they don’t value you. Otherwise, why would they give you a second tryout? Right now we just need to do one thing."

Zhang Yang: "What’s that?"

Tellem: "Put a little pressure on them..."

Zhang Yang: "What kind of pressure?"

Tellem: "You’ll see when the time comes."

Zhang Yang: "Alright." freewёbn૦νeɭ.com

Tellem: "Aren’t you curious about what I’m going to do?"

Zhang Yang: "I’ll know when the time comes."

Tellem: "..."

...

The day after the Grizzlies’ second tryout, on the 22nd, Zhang Yang returned to Hidden Mountain to rest and wait for the draft on the 27th.

Although it was a rest, he still trained for six to seven hours every morning and evening.

After training at the entrance of his home, Yang Jing truly understood how strong her son’s willpower was. She was curious, could training really be as addictive as her son claimed?

Curiously, Yang Jing practiced a few sets of Five-Step Boxing in the yard... never mind, let her stay overweight, at least she had been beautiful in the past.

As the date reached June 25, the focus of basketball fans was on the NBA draft two days later, discussing who might be the first pick.

Bogut had the best odds; Deron and North Carolina’s Marvin Williams also stood a chance, and Webster, the third-best high school player in the nation, might also surprise.

By evening, media from Memphis and Los Angeles suddenly released a piece of news—the logo man had decided to use the 19th pick in the first round to choose Zhang Yang, to avoid being undercut by the Lakers.

As the ’youngest draft participant ever,’ Zhang Yang had been under discussion for the past two months... or rather, being ridiculed.

Many were waiting to mock him, anticipating his failure.

However, some of the ridicule, from a certain point of view, amounted to praising his talent.

Some media claimed he was initially set to be the top high school player of 2006 and would have been a draft lottery pick or even top three if high schoolers were allowed to participate in 2006; they said he graduated early to enter the draft because high schoolers could not participate in 2006.

In short, in the ’Year of the High Schooler,’ 2005, Zhang Yang stood out as the most unique, and though he never gave public interviews or participated in public tryouts, he still maintained a high level of public interest.

After this news broke out, some said it was fake, but many believed it!

After all, both the Lakers and the Grizzlies had tried Zhang Yang out, more than once!

Avoiding joint and public tryouts at this stage was also seen by those who believed as an early promise of being drafted...

Zhang Yang was then pulled by his mother from the yard to the study to see the online discussions and finally understood what Tellem meant by ’putting a little pressure on them.’

This move, how to put it, was slick!

The Grizzlies’ second-round pick was the 39th, and the Lakers’ was the 37th, truly a competitive situation.

The incident of the logo man being forced to resign after the Lakers’ three consecutive championships in 2002 was brought up again.

The logo man, against all advice, used Divac to get back Kobe, helping the Lakers to achieve the first dynasty of the 21st century. He ended up a casualty of the family infighting within the Lakers, and now he was competing against the Lakers for another high schooler...

The analysis by netizens, Zhang Yang felt, wasn’t far off the mark!

He remembered how, after the draft application list was announced, Tellem had his profile linked with Bynum’s, referencing stars like Kobe and young O’Neal from the 96 class; his first tryout was arranged with the logo man...

The ’mystery’ Tellem had maintained had indeed played its role on the eve of the draft.

This big guy really knew how to play the game!

...

June 27th, 8 PM, Madison Square Garden, New York, the 2005 NBA Draft began.

This year, the green room invited only 15 people.

With over 30 high schoolers declared for the draft, only a mere two were selected by general managers into the green room.

Nation’s second-ranked high school player Ellis, fifth-ranked Louis Williams, tenth-ranked Bynum, eleventh-ranked Brumbeloe, twelfth-ranked CJ Miles, fourteenth-ranked Amir Johnson, eighteenth-ranked Blatche... none of the nine received an invite to the green room.

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