The finals have just ended, and Lin Yu's leisurely vacation is over.
"Amanda, are you serious?"
At home in New York, Lin Yu was preparing to leave for Madison to meet Steve Mills and attend Donnie Walsh's inaugural conference.
Before Lin Yu left, Amanda Gray presented Lin Yu's schedule for the next two months.
It was already mid-June and the end of June. Because he had already participated in the team's establishment, Lin Yu needed to spare time to participate in the team's draft work.
The Knicks hold a second-round pick ranked in the middle, and may also obtain some draft picks through trade. With the bug of Lin Yu, the draft can be regarded as a real reinforcement.
Then comes the opening of the free market and transfer market, and Lin Yu will continue to stay in New York and participate in the team's transfer signings.
This time, he should have completely confirmed the "Manager Lin" plot.
During this period of time when the transfer contract is being implemented, he also has to officially sign with Nike. Starting from next season, his sneaker brand will be changed from Under Armor to Nike.
Then, in mid-July, Lin Yu will return to China to participate in the men's basketball training camp. Although he is injured, he will fully recover by the end of July. Before that, he can already participate in some basic training.
Then comes the Olympic Games, which starts in mid-August. Starting from the opening game on August 9th, it will be the end of August until the finals.
After the Olympics, Lin Yu still had to participate in a trip to China arranged by Nike. After finishing his trip to China, the Knicks' pre-season training also began.
In other words, he will not have any leisure time throughout the summer.
"It's too difficult and too tiring."
Amanda Gray only gave Lin Yu a look, which meant: Of course she is serious.
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In the morning, Lin Yu met with Steve Mills, who had been promoted to the Knicks general manager, and then attended Donnie Walsh's inauguration conference.
The Knicks' management was finally settled. Donnie Walsh, who had accumulated some successful experience working for Larry Bird in the Pacers, became the Knicks' executive president. Previously, Isiah Thomas
Steve Mills, the Knicks' assistant and the actual power in charge of the Knicks in the second half of the season, became the Knicks' general manager.
As a famous New York star and highly trusted by James Dolan, Alan Houston also became Steve Mills' assistant after this management change.
Judging from the composition of the management alone, Lin Yu had to admit that Dolan knew how to check and balance power. He hired an external CEO and retained a confidant of Lin Yu as the general manager.
To someone who is completely his...
In the afternoon, Lin Yu met with the core three members of the management team. He also called on Lionel Hollins. In Lin Yu's view, the coach's opinions on how to strengthen the team were more important.
"Okay, everyone, let's discuss how to turn the current Knicks into a strong contender for the O'Brien Cup..."
Donny Walsh made the opening, and then he set his sights on Lin Yu.
In addition to Hollins, Steve Mills and Alan Houston also set their sights on Lin Yu. Obviously, they all got some information from Dolan and knew very well who is the real master of the Knicks this summer.
"Let's start with the draft in front of us, Steve. How many picks do we have?"
"Only one, No. 43 overall in the second round."
With the 43rd overall pick in the second round, Lin Yu searched his memory for a while and recalled several famous players in the second round of 2008, including DeAndre Jordan, Omer Asik, and Mario Chalmers.
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute…
But it seems that these are all rookies who were selected in the early second round. Judging from the Knicks' picks in the middle of the second round, they should not be able to select them.
Steve Mills, as the actual person in charge, continued: "We have conducted a week of trial training and have roughly finalized some key inspection targets."
Then, everyone present received a list of rookies and a list of those that the team's scouting department would focus on.
On the list of key inspections, Lin Yu saw a bunch of unfamiliar names. Only Bill Walker and Patrick Ewing Jr. were familiar to him.
Bill Walker did play in New York, but was later added through a trade, and Patrick Ewing Jr. will appear on this list. Lin Yu feels that it has something to do with the real Patrick Ewing.
Lin Yu shook his head. Neither Bill Walker nor Patrick Ewing Jr. were the right choices.
What do the Knicks need? Immediate combat power!
As for the immediate combat ability that can be selected in the second round, the most typical one is Mario Chalmers. Older rookies like him sell immediate combat ability.
The same goes for Luke Richard Mbah a Moute, but the Knicks don't seem to have the draft picks to acquire these two unless it's a trade.
Lin Yu remained silent. He looked through a list of draft predictions provided by Steve Mills and searched for a while.
Others have already started the discussion. Donnie Walsh proposed: "If it is a second-round draft, I don't think we should waste too much time, come up with a position we need, and then select people according to this position.
That’s it.”
"So, my question is, what position do we need a rookie."
"Any position is fine, we are short of people in almost every position." Hollins raised his head and told Donnie Walsh.
"Okay, then we can only cast a wide net." Walsh spread his hands: "As for me personally, I can only provide some key investigation targets from the Indiana Pacers."
Then, Donny Walsh provided several targets for the Pacers to investigate.
The stocky inside men Nathan Jevaj and Joey Dorsey, the swingman Kyle Weaver, and Mario Chalmers, whom Lin Yu is secretly optimistic about.
At this time, Lin Yu knocked on the table and the office became quiet.
"What I want to ask is, is there any opportunity for us to buy a high second-round pick? Or get a first-round pick through a trade?"
He first turned his questioning eyes to Steve Mills, who first shook his head, and then wanted to nod.
Donnie Walsh took the lead and gave the answer: "This is a big year's draft, and the first round is very precious. With our existing assets, unless we send Wilson Chandler or Kyle Lowry
, otherwise we would have no chance of getting into the first round."
"What about the second round?"
"You can try it in the second round, buy it with cash, or trade it with future second rounds."
"Then contact the Timberwolves, Trail Blazers, Clippers and Thunder and ask if they can buy or trade in the second round."
Lin Yu is very purposeful, what he wants is the pick in the second round.
By the way, it is worth mentioning that the Seattle SuperSonics have officially moved to Oklahoma City starting this summer and changed their name to the Thunder.
But Donnie Walsh's doubts soon came: "Can you tell me who you want to choose, Lin?"
"Kansas' Mario Chalmers, UCLA's Luke Richard Mbah a Moute, and Texas A&M's DeAndre Jordan."
There is no doubt that Lin Yu included the two older rookies on his favorite list, and the selection of Jordan is Lin Yu's preparation for the future.
If Lin Yu's memory is correct, Jordan was a qualified backup center in his first two seasons in the NBA. In his third season, he began to step in and became a scarce qualified starting center in the league.