Chapter 19 The Trial

The draft was fast approaching, and the rookies were all busy with tryouts for their respective teams.

As the tryouts progressed, along with information from the combine, more and more rookies' true stats surfaced, and the draft order became increasingly clear.

The biggest fluctuation belonged to Perry Jones, the rookie who surprisingly declared for the draft. Due to poor tryout performances, he had fallen all the way from being a potential top pick to the edge of the lottery. Rumor had it that he might ultimately withdraw from this year's draft.

The opposite was true for Tristan Thompson. The freshman from the University of Texas had been very impressive in both the combine and team tryouts. He had risen sharply from the lottery to the top six, even contending for the top three.

(Note: Harrison Barnes, Sullinger, and others have confirmed that they will not participate in the 2011 NBA draft.)

The changes brought about by the tryouts were evident.

On June 19th, ten days before the draft, Tang Tian, arranged by Fagan, participated in a tryout with the Miami Heat along with other rookies.

Normally, highly touted rookies like Irving and Derrick Williams would have individual tryouts, or even have several teams watching from the sidelines at the same time.

But the tryout Tang Tian participated in was the opposite. With the 31st pick, there were many options available, so more than a dozen players participated in a single tryout.

Tang Tian saw many familiar faces among them.

Norris Cole, a senior from Cleveland State University, was a slender point guard with a height of 1.88 meters and a weight of 77 kilograms. Last season, he averaged 21.7 points, 5.3 assists, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.2 steals, impressive stats, but Cleveland State University failed to make the tournament this year.

Jordan Hamilton, a sophomore from the University of Texas, was 2.01 meters tall and weighed 100 kilograms. Like Tang Tian, he had the standard NBA small forward build. Last season, he averaged 13.5 points and 5.3 rebounds. He led the team in three-point percentage and makes, and helped the team reach the Sweet Sixteen in the tournament.

Shelvin Mack, the core of Butler University, was someone Tang Tian knew well. He was defended miserably by Tang Tian in the finals. He was 1.91 meters tall and weighed 94 kilograms. Unlike Cole, he was a stocky point guard, averaging 16 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists last season.

Tyler Honeycutt, a sophomore from UCLA, was 2.03 meters tall but only weighed 85 kilograms. He was a lanky wing player with excellent defense, possessing an extraordinary wingspan and excellent athleticism. He averaged 7.2 rebounds and 2.06 blocks. Due to his impressive tryout performances, his draft stock had been rising steadily.

…

From the Heat's selection of tryout participants, it was clear that their goal this year was: either select a point guard or a wing player.

This was entirely reasonable. The Heat's loss last year was largely due to the weakness at the point guard position, and James and Wade had always lacked this type of player.

Seeing his competitors in the tryout actually boosted Tang Tian's confidence.

Take Hamilton and Honeycutt for example. The former had a good three-point shot, but his defense wasn't good even in the NCAA, let alone at the NBA level. Honeycutt was the opposite, with good defense but lacking in outside shooting.

In short, they either had 3 or D.

Perhaps their athleticism and other aspects were better than Tang Tian's, but that wasn't what the Heat were looking for.

The tryout was divided into three parts.

The first part was a demonstration of basic abilities: shooting, dribbling, passing, and some basic physical tests, such as standing reach, jumping reach, and shuttle runs.

In this part, Honeycutt and Hamilton were both impressive in their respective areas of expertise.

The second part was one-on-one, with players competing against each other.

Tang Tian began to show his strength in this part. After increasing his release speed, his three-point shot was difficult for opponents to defend. Of course, his defense was even more impressive.

His opponents, including Hamilton and Honeycutt, were all late first-round or second-round players, a level below Irving and Derrick Williams, whom he had faced before. They were defended quite miserably by him.

Only Cole, the slender point guard, had an absolute advantage in speed and beat him, but everyone else lost to Tang Tian in the one-on-one part.

"Who is that? That Asian guy." As the players were trying out, no one noticed that James, the Heat's core player, had just passed by the training gym. After watching for a while, he couldn't help but ask the trainer, Mancias, next to him.

"I don't know. I'll go ask." People came to try out every day, and Mancias couldn't possibly know everyone. After he went in, he went straight to the team's assistant coach, David Fizdale, who was in charge of the tryout.

James nodded. He didn't leave immediately but went inside to find a seat and sat there, biting his nails and watching with interest.

After the second part of the tryout ended, they quickly moved on to the third part, a full-court scrimmage.

The scrimmage was divided into two teams. Tang Tian and Cole were on one team, while Mack, Hamilton, and Honeycutt were on the other.

The temporarily formed teams didn't have much chemistry, and the offense relied entirely on the players' individual abilities.

After the start of the game, it was basically Cole and Mack going head-to-head.

Mack's team had better overall talent, and they had been pressing Tang Tian's team.

When Mack's shot drew a foul on Cole and sent him to the free-throw line, Tang Tian took the initiative to chat with Cole on the outside.

When they switched to offense, Tang Tian caught Cole's pass after running a play and quickly shot an open three-pointer, making the shot.

If the players lacked chemistry on offense, they lacked it on defense as well. Simple plays were very effective in this kind of game.

After the basket, the players on the sidelines who weren't playing couldn't help but cheer. The underdog's counterattack always attracted attention.

James, who had been watching somewhat bored and was about to leave, heard the shouts and turned his attention back to the court.

Tang Tian stole the ball from Hamilton on defense and passed it to Cole, who went straight for a fast break layup.

Mack's floater didn't go in. On the other end, Cole and Tang Tian ran a pick-and-roll again. Cole passed the ball back to Tang Tian at the top of the arc, who made another open three-pointer.

After an 8-0 run, Tang Tian's team immediately turned the tide.

James raised his eyebrows. Without waiting for Mancias to finish asking, he got up and walked over.

"LeBron," Fizdale said with a smile as he saw James approaching.

"That rookie is good," James said, pointing at Tang Tian on the court.