No.1 in basketball scoring-Chapter 109 - 84. Post-Draft Conference Part_3

Zhang Yang watched his cousin’s face go speechless as he patted his bottom, guessing this was just how the uncle and nephew got along, so he sat down.

"Thank you for giving up your seat for me, Jalek."

Jalek Felton chuckled, there wasn’t much he could do about it.

Felton introduced his family and friends, then enthusiastically shared everything about Charlotte with Zhang Yang.

Felton and Jordan attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a small town built around UNC with a population of just under 50,000.

When students at UNC wanted to go out, they either went to the state capital, Raleigh City, or to Charlotte City. Felton was very familiar with the city of Charlotte.

Zhang Yang was surprised by Felton’s enthusiasm, but he was grateful to have someone introduce him to the city where he was about to start his new life. He listened patiently, asked questions at the right times, and learned as much as he could.

Felton had temporarily stepped out of the shadows of being overshadowed by Deron and Paul. Although it was a big blow to be selected fifth overall, below Marvin, two of his college teammates had fared even worse...

Life had to go on. He was an ambitious player, and entering the NBA, he was aiming to be the top dog!

Especially since the Bobcats were both his hometown team and local college team, he had even more reason to be the leader.

The current star of the Bobcats was Emeka Okafor, who had entered the NBA just a year before Felton, but Felton believed he could take over...

Being a rookie and going it alone meant he needed allies, and Zhang Yang from his draft class was the first one he wanted to recruit.

Polite and well-mannered, unlike those dreadful college teammates who always interrupted others. After their initial interaction, Felton thought, except for being too handsome and potentially stealing the spotlight, Zhang Yang was perfect as a subordinate!

Zhang Yang didn’t even realize he had been considered a subordinate. Even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. He had just turned 17, and Felton mentioned he had turned 22 yesterday. So, a subordinate it was.

Anyway, he was quite thankful to Felton for introducing him to many things about the city of Charlotte.

While listening to Felton, Zhang Yang also paid attention to Stern and the vice president Stu Jackson announcing names on stage.

The Lakers selected a small forward named Joey Graham with the 16th pick in the first round.

Graham’s model was LeBron James... a 24-year-old modeled after a 20-year-old. This was the reason Zhang Yang remembered this small forward.

He reportedly had incredible physical strength. If not for his older age, definitely more teams would have gambled a lottery pick on him.

The Grizzlies selected Carmelo Anthony’s senior, Hakim Warrick, with the 19th pick.

Recent hype had made Zhang Yang aware of this player. The media speculated that the Grizzlies were most likely to pick him with the 19th pick in the first round.

Warrick was also an older player, turning 24 in July. He played four years in college, with no visible improvement during his junior and senior years. After winning the championship in his sophomore year in 2003, he was predicted to be in the lottery in that massive draft year. Two more years of playing dropped him to the latter part of the first round.

Zhang Yang was more interested in the high school players. Regrettably, out of 31 high school entrants, only four were selected in the first round: he, Bynum, Webster, and Gerald Green.

The Dunk King was chosen by the Celtics with the 18th pick.

However, several high school players were selected in the second round. Out of 11 high school players ranked in the top 20 nationally who entered the draft, only Keith Brumbeloe, ranked 11th, went undrafted; the other ten were all selected.

High schoolers ranked beyond the top 20 nationally all went undrafted.

Out of 31 high school entrants, only 11 were drafted. This was the lowest selection rate for high school players in the history of the draft.

As Logo Man and Kupchak had analyzed, betting on high school players this year was sufficient in the second round.

With Monta Ellis creating havoc, only Webster and Bynum, the two explosively talented high school entrants, were definite first-round picks. Zhang Yang was also likely to be snatched up in the first round by a team.

Gerald Green’s selection in the middle of the first round was quite a surprise, and the commentators joked about the Celtics trying to imitate the Lakers when Stern announced his name.

In past years, so many teams scrambled for high school players because there were so few, and you had to act quickly or miss out on "the next Kobe," "the next McGrady," or "the next Garnett."

This year, with 31 entrants, there were leftovers even if each team took one.

As Alex Acker was selected with the 60th overall pick by the Pistons, the 2005 NBA Draft concluded.

...

Felton was reluctant to say goodbye to Zhang Yang, having encountered such a good listener for the first time.

But no worries, they were already teammates, and he would have plenty of opportunities to talk to Zhang Yang. This little brother, he was under his wing!

Zhang Yang headed to the parking lot and got into a seven-seat commercial vehicle rented by Tellem.

Aside from Tellem and Bynum, there were Max Hill, Jarett Jack, and two undrafted college graduates on the bus. freewebnøvel_com

Tellem wore a visibly happy expression, having signed six players, four of whom were selected in the first round. A great harvest!

He had initially thought the two college students might be picked in the second round, but with seven high schoolers selected in the second round and twenty more undrafted, they had stolen many spots from college players.

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