Chapter 108: Wishing Him Good Luck

While rumors circulated about Curry not participating in the workout, the combined training camp in Chicago started on time.

Before the annual draft, the league will invite the players participating in the draft to conduct a comprehensive trial training in Chicago, which is also the largest training camp before the draft.

Although many high-ranking rookies participating in the draft will only participate in the physical part of the joint workout, there are still many team executives gathered here.

They will conduct a basic evaluation of rookies, meet with various agents, and invite favorite players to participate in individual workouts.

As usual, Griffin, the favorite of the No. [-] pick, should be the one that gets the most attention, but two days before the joint trial, news spread that Curry withdrew from the joint trial and refused to participate in any team trial. , The focus of people's attention has also shifted to him.

Curry and his agent Jeff Austin were not on the scene, and the team management with the top picks naturally became the target of reporters.

Thunder general manager Presti and head coach Brooks also came to the United Center arena, which is the annual joint trial training site.

If anyone wants to see the joint tryout last, it must be the Bulls fans. The joint tryout is held normally, which means that the Bulls were eliminated early this year and gave up the arena to these rookies.

In this year's draft, the Thunder held the No. 25 pick and the No. [-] pick. This is their third consecutive year with high picks.

In the past two years, Presti selected Durant and Westbrook with the No. 4 pick and No. [-] pick respectively. Both of them performed well in their rookie seasons and showed extraordinary potential, which made Presti in the league Fame has risen, and the name of the Spurs has also spread faintly.

At this time, in the United Center arena, a large number of rookies are undergoing physical testing, including popular rookies such as Griffin, Hashem Thabeet, and James Harden.

Unlike later generations, many of the hottest rookies only participate in individual team workouts and do not come to Chicago at all.

The current joint trial training is still attracting a lot of attention. Almost all rookies will participate in it, trying to show their potential in front of the executives of each team.

In Zhang Yu's previous life, many people speculated that the fact that the Grizzlies selected Thabeet with the second pick had a lot to do with the abnormal physical test data he showed in the joint trial training.

Presti and Brooks paced the sides of different practice courts, and wherever they went, the players on that court would do their best to get their attention.

When they walked to the sidelines of a training field, they suddenly saw reporters interviewing executives from other teams.

Presti took a closer look and saw that it was Warriors general manager Larry Riley.

Larry Riley also saw Presti and Brooks walking towards this side. He smiled at them and then turned his attention back to the interview.

The reporter asked:

"Mr. Riley, how do you rate the rookies who participated in the combine this year?"

Larry Riley pondered for a moment and said:

"Griffin, Thabeet, Tyreke Evans, these rookies are all very good players, but my favorite is James Harden. He is a talented guard with outstanding talent and immediate combat power. With great athleticism and all-around skills, I think his future is limitless."

"The Warriors have the No. 7 pick this year. Will you use it to choose James Harden?" The reporter asked.

Larry Riley smiled wryly:

"Of course I hope to pick him with the No. 7 pick, but Harden is unlikely to fall here."

"What do you think of Curry who declared that he refused to participate in the trial training?"

"It's been said that he did it for personal reasons, but I wouldn't draft a rookie without trying out, good luck to him," Larry Riley said.

"The Warriors didn't make the playoffs this year, will you in the offseason..."

Seeing Larry Riley lavishing praise on James Harden, Brooks murmured:

"Sam, even Larry Riley knows you can't use draft picks on players who haven't tried out. Are you still obsessed with Stephen Curry? He didn't even come to Chicago!"

"Scott, I am also very optimistic about Harden, he is a genius, but Curry is unique, you understand?" Presti said.

"Unique? I only know that he is likely to be injured, and there is a high probability that he will be seriously injured. Otherwise, he would not have rejected all the trials. The risk of choosing such a player is too great." Brooks persuaded .

He didn't know what kind of evil Presti was. He especially favored Stephen Curry and thought he was an epoch-making genius. Even though there were rumors that Curry was seriously injured by accident, Presti still insisted on his choice. , to use the pick on Curry.

And Brooks is more optimistic about Harden, and Presti had a disagreement, and the two have discussed many times about who to choose.

Brooks persuaded him many times, and what he said was very reasonable. Choosing Curry is a blind gamble, which is very risky. Harden is undoubtedly a safer choice.

But after all, he is just a head coach who has been in office for less than a year, and Presti has already had two successful draft cases, and he is also in power in the Thunder. Brooks can't compete with him at all.

Presti's ability to ask him to make suggestions on the draft is already a respect for him as a head coach, and he can actually act arbitrarily.

Presti laughed:

"Scott, I know your concerns, but Curry has a kind of magic, I went to watch his game live, his shooting is epoch-making, I have never seen such a player, Harden is also very good, but He lacks a desire to win. His lower limit is indeed high, but I am not optimistic about his upper limit. In Curry, I see a competitive spirit similar to Kobe and Wade. You can't go wrong with him ."

If Zhang Yu was present, he would definitely regret why he stirred up such a big situation in the NCAA and let Presti focus on Curry.

In his previous life, Curry only caused a storm in March Madness in 2008, and then changed to point guard in his junior year. The team record and personal data have declined, and many flaws have been exposed. The prospect of the draft is not good. , Many experts believe that he cannot gain a foothold in the NBA.

Now, under the guidance of Zhang Yu, Curry has avoided a lot of detours and is on the right track early. He has dominated the NCAA and demonstrated his historical projection ability.

Although many experts with traditional views are still not optimistic about Curry, Presti is not a mediocre person. He quietly watched many Butler University games, admired Curry very much, and believed that he had the potential to become a superstar.