12dz Chapter 156 2022 NBA Draft Night
Chapter 156 2022 NBA Draft Night
The 2022 NBA Draft will be held at the Barclays Center in New York on June 23.
This is also the Nets' home court.
During this period, all teams began individual tryouts for their players.
In addition to the third overall pick, the Houston Rockets also have the 17th overall pick from the Brooklyn Nets, which is one of the assets they left behind in the trade for James Harden.
At this draft position, the Rockets held tryouts for several players, including Beechem, Jovic, Michael Foster Jr., and Kendall Brown.
It's clear that the Rockets intend to select a small forward at this pick.
This means that the Rockets will definitely select a player who can play the power forward position with their third overall pick.
According to simulations and predictions from various media outlets, the Rockets will choose one of three players: Jabari Smith Jr., Holmgren, or Bankel.
But the reality is that the Rockets, who have the third overall pick, can only choose the remaining pick after the Magic and Thunder have made their selections.
Benjamin was the first to try out for the Rockets, and after the tryout, he specifically mentioned Wang Xiucheng, Jalen Green, and Shen Jing.
“I fit in very well with the three of them. I can play three or four. We are in the same age group. I love the city of Houston.”
The Rockets' management also seems to be very satisfied with Bancaro, and Stone was even photographed dining out alone with Bancaro.
This was thought to be the beginning of the rocket testing phase.
But soon news broke that Holmgren and Jabari Smith Jr. had both declined the Rockets' invitation to try out.
The reasons were surprisingly similar: neither of them believed they would fall to third place.
The problem is that Jabari Smith Jr. had a tryout with the Thunder but didn't come to the Rockets.
They didn't even provide the rocket with a medical report.
This has greatly dissatisfied the Rockets' management and fans.
Wang Xiucheng felt he should do something.
He found Jabari Smith Jr.'s agent's phone number through Ma Xiaoxuan, and then got Jabari Smith Jr.'s phone number.
That evening, Wang Xiucheng made the call.
"Hey, is this the king?"
After the call was connected, a voice spoke before Wang Xiucheng could speak.
Wang Xiucheng knew that if he wanted to get a call from Jabari Smith, Jabari Smith's agent must have obtained his consent.
"Hey, hello, should I call you Jabari or Smith?" Wang Xiucheng greeted him over the phone.
"Either is fine, just call me Smith."
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiucheng went straight to the point: "Smith, I saw in the news that you rejected the Rockets' invitation for a tryout?"
"Yes, it's not disrespectful to the Rockets or to you, it's just that I don't think I'll fall to third place."
Jabari's proud voice rang out.
If it were anyone else, he wouldn't even answer the phone.
But the opponent was Wang Xiucheng, the best rookie and the newly crowned dunk contest champion, so Jabari had to be a little humble.
“Smith, I think you should come to Houston for a tryout. If you’re going to try out for the Thunder, you should come to Houston too.”
Wang Xiucheng continued, "Imagine if the Rockets want to trade you in the future, just like they did with Harden before. They think you have superstar potential and want to develop you with all their might, but because of what happened today, the Rockets have reservations, and the trade might fall through."
"Furthermore, do you think there's any possibility that the Rockets will trade their number one draft pick?"
"For example, Philadelphia traded their third overall pick for the Celtics' first overall pick."
He had initially intended to refuse, but after glancing at his father's expression, Jabari Smith softened his tone: "I will consider it, Your Majesty."
After hanging up the phone, Jabari Smith looked up at his father and asked, "Why did you make me agree?"
Just now, Jabari saw the look in his father's eyes that made him agree.
“He’s right,” Jabari Sr. said. “The NBA is a business league; never offend any team.”
You never know where your next stop will be.
Jabari Jr. still doesn't believe he'll fall to third place, but he also doesn't want to defy his father.
Moreover, what Wang Xiucheng said just now did make him regret his decision.
“Okay, I’ll contact my agent.” Jabari Smith Jr. shrugged, which was a concession.
……
Las Vegas is located in Nevada, but it is only a four-hour drive from Los Angeles, California.
This distance is even closer than the distance from Los Angeles to San Francisco, which is also in California.
There is an extremely bustling avenue in Las Vegas called the Las Vegas Strip.
All the hotels and casinos are located on both sides of this avenue, including the landmark MSGSphere, the giant sphere.
After three days of training, the training team finally got a day of rest today.
After taking leave, Wang Xiucheng left the hotel with Ma Wei, Wu Di, and Wu Jia.
Wang Xiucheng's World Cup plans for the end of the year will begin here.
After spending several thousand dollars at a random hotel, Wang Xiucheng and his friends went to another hotel and spent several thousand dollars there again.
Wang Xiucheng spent over 20,000 dollars in one day.
In the end, Ma Wei's face even changed color.
"Brother, you can't get this on you."
Hearing him say that, Wang Xiucheng was relieved.
What he feared most was that Ma Wei would pick up this bad habit.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
In the evening, after grabbing a quick bite outside, Wang Xiucheng found a place where he could bet on online gambling and bought several thousand dollars worth of soccer balls.
The total cost for the day finally reached $3.
Wang Xiucheng didn't pretend, so almost that evening, news of him gambling in Las Vegas appeared in China.
But in less than ten minutes, all the news about Wang Xiucheng disappeared again.
Meanwhile, Wang Xiucheng, who had just returned to the hotel, was invited by Yao Ming to have tea.
After a lecture, Wang Xiucheng returned to his room with a wry smile.
Looks like I'll have to keep up the pretense from now on.
After a brief incident, the training team continued their training.
However, no reporters are allowed to enter the training site anymore.
Fortunately, people like Yang Yi and Wang Shipeng, who have connections, occasionally break some news.
According to their leaks, the training seems to be going very well.
This has made fans even more excited for the upcoming Summer League.
June 16th arrived quickly. What was supposed to be an ordinary evening was suddenly broken by Shams Charania's revelation that the Rockets had traded Wood to the Dallas Mavericks.
They also acquired Boban Marjanovic, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke, Chriss, and the Mavericks' 26th overall pick in this year's first round from the Mavericks.
Shams interpreted this trade as a move to trade Wood, who was not a good fit for Wang Xiucheng, for this year's No. 26 pick, while also giving Shen Jing and this year's No. 3 pick, Xiu Teng, a spot.
Soon, the day of the draft arrived.
Zeng Fanbo, Guo Haowen, Zhang Zhenlin and Yu Jiahao, who originally participated in the talent show, all seemed to be fine and continued to train with the training team.
They had no intention of going to the New York draft.
This was Wang Xiucheng's suggestion.
A few days ago, Wang Xiucheng, Yao Ming, and the four players who were going to participate in the draft had a meeting.
Wang Xiucheng put it bluntly: "To be honest, you have no hope of being selected. Your way out is the same as mine last year: get a two-way contract first."
"Before that, if you want an NBA team to take notice of you and give you a two-way contract, you need to perform well in the Summer League."
"So if other teams offer you a 10-day contract to play for them in the Summer League, please refuse immediately. Trust me, they won't give you more than 5 minutes of playing time."
"Focus on training here; there's no need to go to New York."
Wang Xiucheng's words carried weight, and with Yao Ming present, the four of them indeed gave up their idea of going to New York.
Despite being told not to let the four go to New York, Wang Xiucheng went to New York himself.
Of course, when Wang Xiucheng asked Yao Ming for leave, he said, "Stone asked me to go to New York."
The Rockets have this year's third overall pick. As the cornerstone of the team, aren't you going to come and welcome your little brother to the arena?
Especially recently, Jabari Smith Jr. personally called Stone, saying that Wang Xiucheng invited him to a tryout.
This further elevated Wang Xiucheng's status within the Rockets' senior management.
Soon, the time came to eight o'clock in the evening.
At this moment, Jabari Smith, sitting in the little green room, looked extremely pale.
Just ten minutes ago, he had been ranked number one in the Las Vegas betting odds, but suddenly dropped to third.
Yes, he's not only not the top scorer anymore, he's not even second.
Furthermore, multiple reporters, including Woj and Shams, have revealed that the Magic, who hold the number one draft pick, will select Ben Carter, who has not yet had a tryout with the Magic.
This was hard for Jabari Smith, who had been at the top of various prediction lists for almost half a year, to accept.
Old Jabari patted his son on the shoulder: "It would actually be better if he could go to Houston."
Jabari nodded; he knew this wasn't just his father comforting him.
His weakness in ball handling, if paired with a point guard like Wang Xiucheng who excels at penetration and passing, would make him a perfect fit for the power forward position.
However, losing his status as the top scholar still bothered him.
Soon after, Adam Silver appeared and announced the magician's choice.
As reported by journalists like Wojnarowski, the Orlando Magic, at the last minute, chose Benjamin Butler, who had been flirting with the Rockets, and passed on Jabari Smith, who had been leading the odds for the number one draft pick.
Ben Kerr, beaming with joy, took to the stage wearing a magician's baseball cap.
Jabari Jr., who was sitting in the audience, was extremely restrained, but he still looked pale and sickly on camera.
Soon the Thunder made their own choice, and as predicted, they chose Holmgren of Gonzaga University instead of their original top pick Jabari Smith, even though they had the option to choose him.
At this moment, old Jabari patted his son on the shoulder again and whispered, "It's good that he went to Houston for a tryout."
Jabari paused slightly. Yes, it was good that he went to Houston for a tryout.
If I stick to my original idea and don't go to Houston, even if the Rockets draft me by blind selection this time, I will inevitably leave a bad impression on Rockets fans.
Thinking of this, Little Jabari immediately looked up to search for Wang Xiucheng's figure.
Before the talent show, he also saw Wang Xiucheng, and the two greeted each other.
At that time, he firmly believed that he was the top scholar.
However, before they could find Wang Xiucheng, Adam Silver took to the stage to announce the Houston Rockets' selection.
"The Houston Rockets have selected Jabari Smith Jr., a power forward from Auburn University."
Jabari rubbed his stiff face hard, trying to force a smile, then stood up and hugged his parents and family.
At the same time, I felt relieved.
Being selected as the third-ranked player was the bottom line he could accept.
If even the Houston Rockets don't draft him, he might just vomit blood.
Jabari Jr. picked up the prepared rocket cap from below the stage, put it on, and went on stage to shake hands with Adam Silver in respect.
"Rockets are a better fit for you."
In the instant of their embrace, Jabari heard Xiao Hua whisper something.
"Thank you, Mr. Xiao Hua."
Jabari Smith Jr. stepped down from the stage, and Wang Xiucheng was standing below him without anyone noticing.
Under the watchful eyes of numerous cameras, Jabari Smith gave Wang Xiucheng a hug, unable to hide his relief: "Thank goodness I listened to you."
“It’s your own decision.” Wang Xiucheng smiled. “Go ahead and do the interview. See you in Las Vegas.”
Wearing a baseball cap, Jabari Smith Jr. followed the staff to the interview area.
Wang Xiucheng returned to the shadows, contacting Reba while waiting for the result of the 17th pick.
Although Stone and other executives were sitting not far away, Wang Xiucheng didn't want to sit with them. It was too boring; he'd rather flirt with his sister.
After a relatively short wait, the Rockets finally selected defensive stalwart Talisca Talisca with the 17th pick, a pick originally projected to be a lottery pick.
After embracing Ethan just like he did with Jabari, Wang Xiucheng finally couldn't wait to leave the draft venue.
Although the Rockets still have the 26th pick they just acquired through a trade, Wang Xiucheng can't wait any longer.
Penguin Live Room.
"The Rockets really had to work hard to draft the number one pick this year," Wang Meng couldn't help but laugh. "First Jabari Smith, then Talisca Talisca, the Rockets are definitely worth looking forward to this year."
Yang Yi nodded. "We can see that the Rockets are clearly selecting players around Wang Xiucheng. Whether it's the tall, ranged player like JaVale James or the defensive 3-and-D player, they are all extremely well-suited to Wang Xiucheng."
"We've always said that the Rockets should trade up to get the number one pick and select JaVale, because JaVale, who isn't good at ball-handling, is the best fit for Wang Hsiu-Cheng."
"Bancairo is indeed more versatile, but he needs the ball in his hands, and the Rockets clearly don't have enough of it to pass to everyone."
"Talisson is the same. He's not good at handling the ball, but his arms are too long. He's 203cm tall but has a 218cm wingspan, which is even longer than Jaren's. His ceiling is Kawhi Leonard. He can bring a qualitative change to the Rockets on the defensive end."
"Whether it's Jabari Jr. or Taliysen, they can defend from one to five."
Yang Yi laughed at this moment: "Moreover, Wang Xiucheng also went to the scene today. Whether it was Xiao Jia or Ethan, Wang Xiucheng was waiting downstairs. This reminds me of a saying, 'Are you here to assist me as well?'"
Wang Meng and Wang Shipeng both laughed at this point.
Although it may sound a bit exaggerated, Wang Xiucheng is already welcoming this year's rookies as the host of Houston.
Of course, despite being called a rookie, Taliysen is actually more than a year older than Wang Xiucheng, who has been playing for a year.
While Rockets fans were patiently waiting for the 26th pick in the draft, Wang Xiucheng had already arrived at a hotel not far from Barrack Center.
Just as she was about to knock, the door opened, and Dilraba's fiery gaze appeared inside.