NBA's King of Talking

Jia Fei has been practicing his shooting ability like crazy these past few days. Compared to his ball-handling skills, which cannot be improved in a short time and require more demanding practice conditions, shooting can be practiced even alone. He felt he needed to showcase his strengths, and besides his freakish physical attributes, he felt he also needed to demonstrate his defensive and shooting abilities.

In the NBA, 3D players don't seem to have much to do with stars, but Jia Fei is self-aware. He's going to be drafted now, so what do star players or superstars have to do with him right now? Establishing his own persona and using "3D player" as a selling point is probably much better than letting NBA scouts think he's a jack of all trades and master of none.

The Chicago Combine was a golden opportunity for him to attract attention from all sides.

On May 18th, the day before the Chicago Combine, the 2011 NBA Draft Lottery was held in New Jersey. The 14 lottery teams used a draw to determine the draft order for the 2011 NBA Draft. The Cleveland Cavaliers had a major upset; they had a 19.9% ​​chance of winning the first overall pick in the lottery, but only managed the fourth pick themselves. However, the Cavaliers used a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers to acquire a mere 2.8% chance of winning the first overall pick, and luckily, they won it, making them arguably the biggest winners of this year's lottery.

ESPN commented on this, saying: This is a victory for Nick Gilberto (the son of owner Gilberto).

For Jia Fei and the other three, it seems that which team gets the number one pick has absolutely nothing to do with them. Even Kemba Walker, the Most Outstanding Player, has always been a top-ten pick in draft predictions, never even once appearing in the number one pick candidate list.

Even though this is widely considered a weak draft class, there are still plenty of highly talented rookies. Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams are the two biggest favorites to be the number one pick this year.

On the evening of the 18th, Jia Fei and three other young men from Cornell University chatted idly in their hotel room after dinner. Tomorrow was the day of the Chicago Joint Tryouts, and all four were excited and couldn't sleep.

While scrolling through the news on his phone, Oriak exclaimed, "It's unbelievable! Kyrie Irving actually skipped the Combine and said he'd only try out for the Cavaliers."

Art Mayor shook his head and said, "I think he's too immature. He must be crazy. He's too immature and will offend a lot of teams. The Cavaliers didn't say they would definitely draft him."

Kemba Walker appeared calm: "I think he's just trying to increase his own value. There have been rumors that he's a number one draft pick, and the Cavaliers would actually like this. Don't forget that the Cavaliers still have the fourth pick. They can use the fourth pick if they need a wing or a center, but to get Kyrie, they can only use the number one pick."

Jia Fei nodded slightly. Kemba Walker's analysis was logical. In his previous life, the Cavaliers did indeed use the number one draft pick to acquire Irving. He didn't know if the situation would change now.

"Jia, who do you think is more likely to be the number one draft pick, Kyrie Irving or Derrick Williams?" Art Mayork turned to ask Jia Fei.

“Kerry Irving!” Jia Fei said seriously. As a transmigrator, if he didn't even have this much ability, then he had lived in vain.

"By the way, Ja, which team do you want to join?" Oriak asked.

Jia Fei chuckled sheepishly, "I don't even know if I'll be selected, how could I be qualified to choose a team! Kemba, which team do you want to join?"

Kemba Walker thought for a moment and said, "I want to join the Cavaliers, hahaha, I also want to be the number one pick! Even if I'm not the number one pick, the fourth pick is still not bad."

The other three laughed too. They knew Kemba Walker was joking, but that didn't mean he wasn't thinking it. Who in the draft doesn't want to be the number one pick? Being the number one pick not only means getting the highest rookie contract, but also high visibility and popularity, the opportunity to get more endorsements, and being a key player for the team to develop.

On May 19th, the annual Chicago Combine will be held at the Chicago Discovery Complex.

The Chicago Combine is a large-scale NBA-organized tryout. During these few days, almost all NBA scouts, player development coaches, and even general managers and head coaches are present to select their desired rookies. It's somewhat similar to a large trade fair, with players treated as special commodities.

The Chicago Combine is the largest NBA draft combine before the NBA draft, with most of the players participating being in the top 60 of the projected draft list.

In addition to scouting top draft picks, NBA general managers, coaches, and scouts also look at underdog players who show potential on the court, hoping to find some gems.

Chicago's multi-purpose arena, located in downtown Chicago, is a favorite summer spot for many players. It's said that four key players from the "2003 draft class" – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and Carmelo Anthony – trained here.

Normally, a player like Jia Fei wouldn't be invited to this joint tryout, but with Jeff Schwartz's help, he successfully made it to the tryout event. Often, all young people need is simply an opportunity to showcase themselves.

Jia Fei cherished this opportunity. He wanted to showcase his abilities during the three-day trial, get to know the scouts and general managers, and leave a lasting impression on them.

This was Jia Fei's first time participating in such a joint tryout, and on that day, he met many of this year's top young talents. Kyrie Irving was indeed absent, but another top prospect, Derrick Williams, was present, along with Tristan Thompson, the Morris brothers, Brandon Knight, Jonas Valanciunas, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, and many others.

The joint tryouts will include: team interviews, shooting drills, five-on-five practice games, strength and agility tests, physical tests, half-court practice, and medical examinations.

At 10:00 AM, after all the young men participating in the joint tryouts had arrived, the tryouts began. Agent Jeff Schwartz did not attend in person, but sent his assistant instead. Although he was not present, everything had been arranged.

Jia Fei and others first underwent physical tests and strength and agility tests. This was his first time participating in a formal physical test, and to be honest, he was a little nervous. He just hoped that he wouldn't be diagnosed with a disease that would prevent him from pursuing a professional basketball career.