Lu Yu hugged Snoopy beside him and walked onto the podium.
The general manager of the Clippers is the legendary star Elgin Baylor, who has won eight runner-up finishes. Baylor stepped forward to shake hands with Lu Yu and politely said: "Welcome to join."
Lu Yu smiled. He knew that the reason why the Clippers were not very enthusiastic must be that he had been traded, and he did not have much connection with the Clippers, so he could just do it superficially.
Mr. Belle took over the hat from the staff and gave it to Lu Yu, then left the stage to Lu Yu.
There were boos at the scene.
This shows that the fans of the American Empire are very dissatisfied with Lu Yu being selected at the second position. They feel that the NBA must have made a compromise for the Chinese market behind Lu Yu.
Lu Yu said a few polite words and then returned to the small green room.
Arenas came over to hug him enviously.
"Lu, congratulations. I just saw that there are many Chinese reporters outside waiting to interview you."
"Yeah?"
"By the way, Lu, how do you say thank you in Chinese?"
"Why do you ask?"
"I also want Chinese reporters to interview me soon. When they congratulate me, I can use a Chinese sentence to express my gratitude."
Arenas has a great business vision and he knows that the Chinese market will be the future trend of NBA.
Therefore, it is very beneficial for him to win over a group of Chinese fans with a simple Chinese sentence.
"Oh, that's easy, I'll teach you."
Lu Yu sat next to Arenas and lowered his voice: "Thank you, in Chinese, it's ta ma de."
"Ta ma de? Okay, Lu Yu, ta ma de you!"
Arenas thanked Lu Yu from the bottom of his heart.
Lu Yu pouted: "Fuck you, uncle."
For the next time, Lu Yu became a spectator.
As in the previous life, the Atlanta Hawks selected Pau Gasol. Gasol has played in the Spanish League for three seasons and is a mature professional basketball player.
But Lu Yu knows that the Atlanta Hawks have always been short-sighted.
They gave up on Lord of the Rings Russell back then.
In order to get Russell, the Celtics' trading chips were indeed not low: McCauley, who was an All-Star at the time, and Hagen, the No. 7 pick.
The Eagles were obviously fascinated by the "real money" in front of them, so they let go of a dynasty cornerstone.
After losing Russell for many years, the Hawks will perfectly miss Pau Gasol this time.
Gasol was the third overall pick selected by the Hawks, but the Hawks were worried that Gasol's playing style was too soft, so they traded Gasol. Who did they get in exchange?
His name is Jamal Tinsley.
Never heard of it?
You’re right if you haven’t heard of it,
Do you think it's a loss?
There was a change in the fourth pick. The reason for the change is probably because Lu Yu was selected by the Clippers, and Eddie Curry, who was originally supposed to be selected by the Bulls, did not participate in the draft, so the Bulls selected their original favorite.
Tyson Chandler.
Arenas was dissatisfied at first sight: "Fuck! Choose another high school student. Am I not even as good as a high school student?"
Tyson Chandler sat far away from these NCAA players, so he didn't hear Arenas's complaints.
"Maybe the Bulls are short of big players." Lu Yu said with a smile. He couldn't understand the Bulls' operations, either then or now.
The Bulls drafted Eddie Curry that year and traded for Tyson Chandler from the Clippers.
In addition, the team's original big man, Charles Oakley, and Brad Miller, who was unable to get a contract from the Hornets this summer, turned to the league's top bad team.
The Bulls are loaded with centers.
A bit like the Cavaliers more than 20 years later, who kept all the centers in their hands and left other teams without centers?
But this is 2001, and the most indispensable thing in the league is centers.
Otherwise, the Bulls are the top bad team in the league!
Lu Yu doesn't want to go to the Bulls. It's not because the Bulls are rotten and has no legs to hug. The main reason is that the people on the team are too ruthless. Lu Yu, a rookie, could be bullied in the past.
Let’s not talk about Charles Oakley, an old guy who plays as well as fights.
The big white bear Brad Miller just mentioned is a guy who dares to fight with O'Neal.
Plus boxing champion Tyson Chandler.
By the way, there's also Charity World Peace... He hasn't changed his name yet, so he should be called Artest, the man whose bearded face was deformed with one elbow.
Rookies should be miserable in such a team.
After all, NBA teams have a tradition of playing tricks on rookies.
The Golden State Warriors selected Jason Richardson with the fifth pick. Arenas didn't speak this time because Richardson was sitting next to him.
But as soon as Richardson left his seat, he fired: "Damn Warriors, they clearly said they would choose me, these ungrateful guys, even if I go to the Raptors, I will not go to Golden State!"
In fact, it is not surprising that the Golden State Warriors chose Richardson. Compared with Arenas, Richardson lacks some scoring ability, but his height, wingspan, and physical qualities are much better than Arenas.
NBA teams do not select players based on how well they can score. Scouts have their own set of selection criteria.
The first is to look at the player's physical fitness, and the second is to look at whether the player is suitable for the team.
Arenas obviously has a ball-carrying core style of play. Compared with players like Richardson who can defend and have certain shooting abilities, they are more suitable for building a team.
In the context where the center is the core of the team, Arenas's style of play is destined to fail to be favored by these teams.
And Richardson is like a weakened version of Lu Yu.
He can defend, shoot, and score. After Lu Yu was drafted by the Clippers, the Warriors had no choice but to settle for Richardson.
I will also ask Don Nelson later, does Lu Yu have it, and does Richardson want it?
I guess not.
But it’s not a bad idea to keep such a player in your hands.
With the sixth pick, the Memphis Grizzlies selected Shane Battier.
Needless to say, the Grizzlies had already taken a liking to Battier, and Arenas could only shed tears of envy on the sidelines.
The New Jersey Nets selected Eddie Griffin with the seventh pick, the Cavaliers selected Desaguena Diop with the eighth pick, and the Pistons selected Rodney White with the ninth pick.
The Boston Celtics selected Joe Johnson with the 10th overall pick.
Their original plan was to reach a deal with the Mavericks if they could miss Lu Yu at this position. However, since Lu Yu had already been selected, they implemented another plan and chose Joe...
Johnson.
The reason why Arenas was not selected is similar to the reason why the Warriors selected Richardson.
The Celtics still have the 11th pick in the draft, and they are torn at this time, whether to choose Arenas or another alternative player.
Arenas clasped his hands together and prayed constantly.
“The Boston Celtics draft Okaloosa’s Kedric Brown from Walton College!”
Following David Stern's announcement, Arenas became completely angry. If the camera hadn't been pointed at him, he would have thrown the water glass out of his hand.
With the twelfth pick, the SuperSonics selected international player Vladimir Radmanovic from Serbia.
The players in the little green room looked at each other, they had never heard of this player.
So the scene was filled with boos just like when Lu Yu was selected.
Next, the Houston Rockets selected Arenas' teammate, Richard Jefferson, with the 13th pick.
The overall draft results have not changed much, and Lu Yu's butterfly wings have only flapped a little. Each team has locked in its favorite target through trials. In the era when there was no public rookie training camp, cuts rarely happened.
No. 14 pick, Golden State Warriors.
Arenas has given up hope, and he just cursed that even if he goes to the freezing Raptors, he will not go to the damn Golden State.
"The Golden State Warriors selected..." David Stern looked at the envelope in his hand: "Albert Arenas from the University of Arizona!"
Arenas was stunned.
Then he jumped up from his chair excitedly.
"I knew the Golden State Warriors would choose me, ta ma de the Golden State Warriors, I love you to death!"
Lu Yu couldn't help but laugh.
Looking at the inconsistent Arenas, he finally understood how that law came about.
