Basketball Legend: When Pride Still Matters-Chapter 410 - 269: God Rolls the Dice

Chapter 410: Chapter 269: God Rolls the Dice

Granger was being interviewed when Yu Fei had already arrived at the training center.

When he heard that Granger was willing to give up being selected in the top twelve picks just to be his teammate, Yu Fei could only think to himself, what a great fan, but don’t spoil him too much.

At the end of the interview, whether it was the Bucks’ management or the coaching staff, they were all very satisfied with Granger.

Karl thought Granger had an old-school style to him.

He could endure pain, take responsibility, and lead the team forward.

Little Harris, however, was worried that the Bucks’ current draft rights wouldn’t be enough to select Granger.

Then, the technical tests began.

Just like the performance Granger had shown on the college court.

In the first two years of college, Granger actually played as a power forward; then, after transferring to the University of New Mexico, he wore red cedar for a year before, during his senior year, mastering the nation’s top shooting techniques and transformed from a short and stocky power forward to a small forward.

He had both the physique and confrontational ability required for a college-level power forward and the professional-level shooting skills, along with decent ball-handling and good athletic ability, which is why he leapt from obscurity to a lottery pick, even faintly carrying the momentum of a top-five pick.

In today’s tryouts, Granger was in top form.

In the shooting tests that the Bucks valued most, he barely missed a shot, and both his shooting form and touch were excellent.

If management wanted to pick him, Yu Fei had no objections.

But what management worried about was that the thirteenth pick might not even touch the hem of Granger’s jersey.

“I find it hard to believe he will fall to thirteen,” said Karl, “If it were up to me, he’d definitely be above Marvin Williams.”

The only thing the Bucks could do was to have Granger undergo a physical examination and then give him a draft promise.

While Granger was waiting for the results of his physical, Yu Fei made a point of coming over to talk to him.

This surprised Granger pleasantly.

“I just had to come meet my fan,” said Yu Fei, “Your performance was too great.”

Granger humbly replied, “I was just lucky today.”

Just like Granger had top-ten stock but still accepted the Bucks’ workout, his performance today showed the Bucks’ management and coaching staff not only his ability to fight but also his high character as a player.

“If I had had your kind of luck during my workout, maybe I wouldn’t have been chosen by D.C.,” Yu Fei said self-deprecatingly.

Granger tried to keep from laughing but couldn’t.

Because D.C.’s rookie season was an indelible part of the past legendary four years for Yu Fei.

If it weren’t for his challenging Jordan as a rookie, Yu Fei’s popularity might not have become as polarized as it is today.

Actually, what Yu Fei wanted to say was that with Granger performing so well in the tryouts, the Bucks were probably not going to be able to select him.

So he used the story to motivate the other side a bit.

Little did he expect that the other side, being a big fan, would think so much more.

Afterward, the Bucks’ team doctor came out with a grim expression, holding the results of Granger’s physical.

The results were not ideal.

Granger’s seemingly perfect condition also harbored hidden troubles.

When he transferred to the University of New Mexico, not only did he have to sit out a year due to transfer rules, but he also missed a long time due to a knee injury; then, during his senior season, the same knee was injured again in the same place. Although this injury was not serious, under the NBA’s rigorous physical examination, some risks could be anticipated.

The Bucks held a closed-door meeting.

The team doctor expressed his opinion, “I don’t think Danny’s knees can withstand the long NBA season.”

Karl asked, “Can you be 100% certain?”

“That… of course not,” the team doctor said with a wry smile, “The injury prevention mechanism sometimes is like God rolling dice. Even if you have taken all the precautions, some people are just destined to get injured. On the other hand, we also know some people who are blessed by God. They live a life that’s the opposite of scientific routines, but they remain healthy.”

The team doctor’s words left the room silent.

Karl was well aware of how important it was not to mess up this year’s lottery pick for the team.

Yu Fei had only signed a 2+1 contract renewal, which meant that the Bucks only had two years to make the team competitive again, so they couldn’t afford to be careless.

“Can this hidden danger be eradicated through surgery?” Larry Harris asked.

The team doctor shook his head, “He is healthy now, and all his physical indicators are normal, but his knee is very fragile.”

Assistant Coach Lester Conner suggested an idea that made Yu Fei furrow his brows, “Maybe we can use this news to lower Danny’s draft ranking and then trade for another first round pick to select him.”

Very good, very impressive, it has a sort of Boston Celtics beauty to it.

Yu Fei believed in karma, and that the Celtics’ nearly thirty years of misery had to be a result of grave past misdeeds.

“Enough, don’t play these tricks. If everything goes well, we originally would have had no chance to touch Danny. But if by that time he really falls to the thirteenth pick, hesitating for even a second would be a disrespect to his performance in today’s tryout!”

Yu Fei made his stance clear, “My opinion is, just pick him!”

Although it seemed that Yu Fei was endorsing Granger just as he had with last year’s mistake, the choices in front of the Bucks were limited.

Granger was a talent they couldn’t afford to miss.

And so, the decision was made.

That night, Karl and Little Harris had dinner with Granger and gave him a draft promise.

Having settled on the lottery pick, the Milwaukee Bucks continued to work on the 26th pick in the first round.

Yu Fei opted not to get involved with this selection.

The only player he knew at this position was David Lee, but it seemed that the Bucks didn’t really need a big man at the time.

Whether they used this pick to supplement their point guard position or to select another wing player, it was more appropriate than choosing a big man.

Therefore, Yu Fei decided to be an enlightened player-president.

He handed the task back to Little Harris and Karl, who were supposed to be in charge of it, and he patted his buttocks and went on vacation.

In the end, the Bucks hesitated between C.J. Miles and Salim Stoudamire.

One was an agile high school shooting guard, and the other was the best shooter (point guard) in college.

Karl leaned toward the former, while the coaching staff believed that in terms of fitting into the lineup, the latter was more suitable.

Then, they made their decision.

If the lottery pick landed Danny Granger, they would select Stoudamire at the end of the first round; otherwise, they would pick Miles.

The Bucks had their draft strategy all set and were waiting for draft day to arrive.

June 28, NBA Draft Day

In the days leading up to this, the Bucks were negotiating a trade with the Jazz.

The trade of Ray Allen had brought Cuttino Mobley, Greg Ostertag, and a future draft pick to the Bucks from the Kings.

Mobley was about to test the free-agent market, and Ostertag, due to injuries, hadn’t been much help to the Bucks, with one year and four million US dollars left on his contract.

Ostertag’s dream was to end his career in Utah, so he requested a trade from the team.

The Jazz were also willing to accept him without incurring too much cost.

Since both sides were eager to close the deal, negotiations went smoothly.

The Jazz used a future second-round pick to take Ostertag off the Bucks’ hands, and the Bucks used this second-round pick to get the 16th pick in the second round from the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Bucks officially fired the first shot of the draft day.

However, not many people paid attention to that shot.

The draft began.

With Yu Fei’s arrival, the Bucks were still at the forefront of the league, which is why Andrew Bogut’s professional career took a different turn from what it could’ve been had he gone to play in Milwaukee.

The team holding this year’s top draft pick was the New Jersey Nets.

And the Nets made the same choice as the Bucks did in another life.

In the league still dominated by tall players, Andrew Bogut was the only one among this draft class with All-Star potential, so unsurprisingly, he was selected as the top pick.

The next three picks – Marvin Williams, Deron Williams, and Chris Paul – all went where they were expected.

The fifth pick, however, once again revealed the power of the butterfly effect.

The Seattle SuperSonics, who had started tanking since last season, ended up with the fifth pick again.

However, this could also be one of the more frustrating draft rights to have.

Because the pattern of this year’s draft is the typical one king with three strong contenders.

Bogut’s status as the top pick was steady, and the choice between Paul and Deron simply depended on who the management felt more fond of. Marvin easily locked in any of the top four positions due to his potential as a star.

For the rebuilding SuperSonics, the fifth pick was vexing, as they were unable to secure any of the first four highly sought-after players, and what remained were all X-factors.

In the end, the SuperSonics chose Channing Frye from Villanova University.

As soon as the SuperSonics made their pick, the only reason Yu Fei had for watching the draft was to see if Granger would fall to the thirteenth pick.

If last year’s draft was characterized by off-court trades—with a total of twelve trades occurring on draft night—this evening was different. Apart from the Jazz’s blockbuster trade for Deron Williams, the other few trades were inconsequential.

When the Raptors chose Charlie Villanueva with the eighth pick instead of Danny Granger, as many media outlets had predicted, the atmosphere of the draft seemed to change.

The Raptors and Granger seemed like a match made in heaven. Their draft position was ideal, and the team itself needed an immediate contributor at the forward position, yet they made what seemed to be the worst pick.

Because the Raptors’ core player, Chris Bosh, was a pure power forward, and Villanueva was definitely not a center or a small forward, it meant the Raptors used a can’t-miss lottery pick to select a player whose position and function overlapped with that of their young nucleus.

Why did this happen?

Because Granger didn’t just have a workout with the Bucks; he also underwent physical exams while trying out for other teams. The medical concerns the Bucks discovered were likely to be found by other teams, too.

This was why the Raptors passed on Granger.

And the Raptors’ decision undoubtedly influenced other teams’ opinions of Granger.

One team after another skipped over Granger.

With the Clippers selecting a Russian player with a name so long it gave Yu Fei a headache at the twelfth pick, the Bucks came to the critical moment of the evening.

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Danny Granger, a consensus top-ten selection before the draft and expected to be a top-five pick as the draft’s strongest forward, was still awkwardly sitting in the green room.

Similar to when the Denver Nuggets chose Michael Porter Jr. during the Jokić era despite his back issues, for weaker teams, selecting such a player was a huge risk, but for stronger teams, the potential rewards outweighed the risks no matter how great they were.

David Stern returned to the stage, opened the envelope, and said, “With the 2005 NBA Draft, the Milwaukee Bucks select… Danny Granger, from the University of New Mexico!”

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