NBA's King of Talking

While Art Mayork and Oriak were happy for Jia Fei, they also felt bitter. With five draft spots still to be announced, it would be quite difficult for them to be selected.

Fortunately, when the second round 28th pick was announced, Art Mayok's name was mentioned, and the team that selected him was the traditional powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers.

Art Mayork breathed a sigh of relief. Compared to Jia Fei and Olyak, as their senior, if he couldn't be selected by an NBA team, he would have no choice but to play in another league.

Unfortunately, Oriak was not selected until the very end; the last player to be selected was Isaiah Thomas.

There was still some disappointment in Auriak's eyes, but he quickly accepted it.

"Alex, don't be discouraged!" Jia Fei squeezed his arm to comfort him.

Oriak had a better mindset than Jia Fei and the others: "It's okay, at worst I won't be able to play in the NCAA next season. It's okay, I'm still young, I'll focus on my studies first. Not being able to play in the NCAA doesn't mean I can't play basketball. I will still work hard to play, and I can play in the NCAA again in a year. I will not give up becoming a professional basketball player."

Jia Fei was also infected by his optimism and positive attitude. Yes, there is always a way out, and one failure does not mean the end of the world.

Just then, his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw it was his agent, Jeff Schwartz. Fearing it might be something important, he didn't dare delay and quickly answered. The agent's voice came through the phone, "Mr. Jia, you've been traded!"

"Huh?" Jia Fei's mind went blank. A trade? He, a second-round pick and nobody, was actually traded on draft day? Of course, trades on draft day are not uncommon, in fact, they are quite common. Let alone second-round picks, even lottery picks are frequently traded. On draft day in 1996, the golden generation of '96 saw Stephon Marbury, the 4th pick, swapped with Ray Allen, the 5th pick; two years later in the 1998 draft, Jamison, the 4th pick, was again swapped with Carter, the 5th pick.

"Where will I be traded to?" Jia Fei quickly calmed down. Being traded didn't seem to be anything new. So the question now was where exactly he would be traded to.

"You've been traded by the Oklahoma City Thunder for a future second-round pick and some cash. The trade is complete, and your draft rights belong to the Thunder!" Schwartz seemed very calm; agents of his caliber were already used to this kind of thing.

"Thunder..." Jia Fei muttered. Compared to the Trail Blazers, the Thunder seemed more familiar to him. At this time, the Thunder's "Big Three" shouldn't have disbanded yet! He hadn't expected to join such a strong team so soon after entering the league.

Whether it's a good thing or a bad thing for him is still hard to say. But one thing he's very clear about is that he doesn't have the right to say no; he can only accept it, unless he chooses to give up the NBA.

"What's wrong, Ja?" Art Mayork and Oriak both looked at him.

"Jeff said I've been traded to the Thunder!" Jia Fei looked at the two of them with a silly grin.

“That’s really surprising!” Art Mayork said. “But Ja, it makes sense when you think about it. You didn’t work out for the Portland Trail Blazers, but you did work out for the Thunder! They didn’t have a second-round pick to draft you, but they wanted you, so they had no choice but to trade you with the team that drafted you!”

Art Mayork's explanation was reasonable and well-founded, and Jia Fei nodded, thinking that this might be the truth.

Thus, this year's draft came to a successful conclusion. Of the four candidates from the NCAA champion UConn University, three were selected, which is generally considered a good result.

Jia Fei glanced at the big screen and, seeing that Isaiah Thomas was the last pick in the second round, he no longer felt that he was truly being underestimated. This year's draft was predicted to be weak, but he knew from his previous life that the overall success rate of the rookies was quite good. Even in the second round, there were players like Bojan, Parsons, Bertans, and Thomas who would later become famous, and of course, Jia Fei himself.

就算是他们在NCAA锦标赛决赛巴特勒大学的主力后卫谢尔文·马克，也只是被次轮第4顺位选中。要知道他本赛季全部38场比赛其中34场比赛得分上双，场均得到16分4.5个篮板3.4次助攻，还入选了最终四强赛最佳阵容。

Thinking about Isaiah Thomas again, Jia Fei stopped feeling resentful. Ultimately, his original goal was simply to be drafted; it was just that the recent hype from online media had made him a bit arrogant. "Praise to death" is really undesirable. He should uphold the fine virtues of humility and modesty of the Chinese nation. While his skills weren't yet dominant enough, it would be better to develop cautiously and discreetly!

The treatment of NBA second-round draft picks is obviously not as good as that of first-round draft picks. First-round draft picks get to go on stage and shake hands with the league commissioner, and have plenty of exposure, while second-round draft picks are just announced on the big screen.

Soon, a young general manager, whom you only see on TV, walked towards Jia Fei with a grin. Beside him were two other men.

Of course Jia Fei recognized him; this man was Thunder general manager Sam Presti!

There's a well-known saying in the NBA about the "Four Treasures of the League": a former Rockets player, a Thunder rookie, a Suns team doctor, and a Spurs assistant coach. The Thunder rookie's incredible success is largely attributed to this man—Presti.

Sam Presti is only in his early 30s, yet he's already the general manager of an NBA team. He's considered part of the "Spurs system," having worked his way up from scout and video analyst to assistant general manager in his six years with the Spurs. A little-known fact is that he recommended Tony Parker, the "French sports car," to the Spurs. For a while, everyone has been accustomed to his phenomenal signings: in 2007, he used the second overall pick to draft Durant; in 2008, he used the fourth pick to draft Westbrook; and in 2009, he used the third pick to draft Harden. Yet, despite his remarkable achievements, he hasn't yet won the "Executive of the Year" award.

Presti certainly didn't succeed alone; his scouting team played a crucial role. His eye for talent is phenomenal, even in the entire NBA! Here, we must mention a certain basketball god, who is practically a cautionary tale.

So, does being good at basketball necessarily mean you have excellent judgment of people? Isn't this a living example?