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Chapter 547 - 2007 NBA Draft Pick No. 236

Chapter 547: 2007 NBA Draft Pick No. 236

The Chicago Bulls have several big men leaving the team this summer.

PJ Brown, who is turning 38, will see his big contract expire, and the Bulls have no intention of re-signing him; he’s stated he’ll test free agency.

Tyrus Thomas, the 4th pick of the ’06 draft, acquired in exchange for Aldridge, averaged just 5 points and 3 rebounds in his rookie year. The Bulls gave him a chance, but he flopped completely, and by the mid-season he had been cast aside.

From the ’03 class, Michael Sweetney, who is a stocky power forward with weight issues, was traded for Eddie Curry. He’s undisciplined and overweight; likely, he won’t be offered a new contract.

The only capable big men left on the Bulls were the veteran Ben Wallace and the 29-year-old backup big Malik Allen—a good destination for someone.

Besides the open positions, they also have two excellent pass-first point guards in Hinrich and Chris Duhon, and Luol Deng and Ben Gordon aren’t bad in that department either.

The worry is, there’s a good chance the Bulls could implode thanks to a certain No. 24, and might tank next season... but that might not necessarily be a bad thing for Yi Jianlian.

The Bulls picked Yi Jianlian when Noah, who was originally chosen by the Bulls, almost fell out of the lottery, ending up going 12th to the Pistons. This pick, which was top 5 protected, came from the Magic, who ended 12th last and didn’t land in the top three, so the pick went to the Pistons.

Noah was unlucky. In ’06, he was projected to be a top 3 pick, and he even thought of aiming for another college championship. He had top 5 predictions for this year too, but then Oden took him down in the finals, and he slid down the draft while Horford managed to get the Hawks team’s attention with his height of around 206 cm.

After the lottery picks, Zhang Yang started to pay less attention, waiting for the end of the first round.

Although ’07 was a draft heavy with talent, outside of the lottery few players made a name for themselves, despite the initial hype—most faded from the limelight eventually.

Half an hour later, as the first-round draft neared its end, Zhang Yang focused his attention once more.

The Rockets selected Aaron Brooks with the 25th pick.

The Pistons chose Jared Dudley with the 26th pick.

Seeing Dudley taken, Zhang Yang almost choked on his own frustration.

This was a player he had in mind, and although he didn’t know who the management would pick, Carlisle had mentioned Dudley during the championship parade a couple of days ago, which got Zhang Yang researching him.

Dudley was a 22-year-old senior standing 201 cm tall, weighing 100 kg, with a highly matured body and skills, seen as an immediate contributor in the NBA.

Dudley’s most impressive stat—over four years in college, he had a 51% shooting percentage from long two-point range, and as a senior, his three-point percentage reached 45%. He averaged 15 points over his college career and 19 points in his senior year.

In college, Dudley could play positions 3 through 5, and likely in the NBA, he’d fit at both forward spots.

Moreover, despite his underwhelming individual defensive abilities due to physical limitations, Dudley had an excellent sense of team defensive collaboration.

Getting such a player at the end of the first round would have been a steal, but the Pistons picked him first.

Stern returned to the stage, and Zhang Yang put aside his dejection to see who his team would select. While he fancied Dudley, Joe, the boss, and Carlisle might not have the same target in mind.

Stern announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, with the 27th pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, the Charlotte Bobcats select Aaron Afflalo from UCLA!"

DeRozan exclaimed with surprise, "Aaron! Jack, Aaron’s going to be your teammate now!"

Harden asked, "You guys know Afflalo?"

DeRozan explained, "He graduated from Compton High School too. When I joined the team in the 9th grade, he was the main core player, and although we never played a game together, during team training matches, Jack and I used to be his sparring partners."

Harden joked, "So you guys were his little bros back then... Hey, Jack, now Afflalo is coming to be your little bro!"

Zhang Yang said, "What little bro? I’m just a plain 19-year-old player. I don’t want to be the boss; I just want to shoot hoops."

DeRozan added, "Could you two not get sidetracked?"

It had to be DeRozan who brought the conversation back on track, "Jack, your team isn’t short of guards, right? Why choose Aaron?"

Zhang Yang, who was stroking his chin—even though he had no beard—said, "I think their choice of Aaron isn’t just a simple one."

Yang Jing suggested, "Juniors can negotiate contract extensions early. Picking your high school friend might show their focus on you."

Zhang Yang mused, "That’s possible."

DeRozan mentioned, "Aaron is good at defense and three-point shooting; he can play small forward, just like you. Pairing up with you would actually work well. And isn’t there a possibility that Wallace might get a max contract offer? Maybe Jordan is preparing for Wallace’s potential departure."

Zhang Yang considered, "That possibility exists as well..."

...

The group then talked about why Aaron Afflalo was selected, and paid less interest in the subsequent draft since the Bobcats no longer had any draft picks, nor did they acquire any through trades.

Late into the second round, Zhang Yang took note that Marc Gasol had been picked by the Lakers.

Zhang Yang had thought of recommending Gasol but knew the team’s priority at center was to re-sign Perkins and Muhammad. Taking Gasol could lead to an overload at the center position. Moreover, bringing in Gasol—who wouldn’t be immediately available for play—required development time, and picking him would mean trading away a player to get the draft pick, which didn’t fit in with their championship-focused team building strategy.

The Knicks were an object lesson—just enough talent is sufficient. Too much and it’s not just counterproductive for the team but also restricts individual players’ growth.