Coach: Coaching the Grizzlies at the beginning, playing the bantam

Chapter 2 Freedom List Picking up Leaks
The next morning, the NBA free market opened, and the Grizzlies management held a staff meeting.

The players have already gone home for vacation at this time, but the team management is still busy with the offseason.

Especially Lu Yong, the chief assistant coach, will lead his team to participate in the summer league in two days. From the division of tactics to the selection of players, he needs to go off the field in person, so there is no time to be lazy.

As soon as Lu Yong stepped into the conference room, Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace greeted him. "Lu, Tony, this year you will go to the summer league together. Our first game will be against the Rockets. It is said that a Chinese player named Wang Zhizhi will represent the Rockets."

"Wang Zhizhi played in the summer league on behalf of the Rockets?" Lu Yong realized that his joining had produced a butterfly effect.

The last season Wang Zhizhi played for the NBA was 04-05. In that year, he played 20 games for the Heat, averaging 5 minutes per game, scoring 2 points and 1 rebound.

Later, Li Mouwei, director of the basketball management center who went to the United States to watch the NBA All-Star Game, met with Wang Zhizhi three times in Los Angeles, and communicated and persuaded him.The first face-to-face communication between Li Mouwei and Wang Zhizhi became the key to Wang Zhizhi's final return to China.

According to the original historical trajectory, Wang Zhizhi should have given up the idea of ​​hitting the NBA. He is preparing for the Japan Men's Basketball World Championships in August this year. Unexpectedly, he was invited by the Rockets to participate in this year's summer league.

Lu Yong felt that Wang Zhizhi's playing in the summer league for the Rockets probably made Yao Ming's face. If there was no such relationship, the Rockets' management probably wouldn't even give him a smile.

Wallace patted Lu Yong on the shoulder, and then said: "Lu, you can discuss with Morris about inviting players from Summer League. He will send invitations to players according to your requirements, but I can't guarantee whether they can come or not." gone."

Maurice Daiger is a scout for the Grizzlies. He is 54 years old and is still working hard on the front line.

"Is there a detailed list of free people?" Lu Yong asked.

"There is a list, but there are too many people who have signed up for the summer league. I only have the basic information such as name, height and weight. It is difficult to count the technical characteristics of the players, especially those undrafted picks who have not played in the NBA." Morris answer.

"It's enough to have a name, and send me a list of Xia Lian's free agents later." Lu Yong nodded.

Morris's first impression of Lu Yong was not very good. He felt that the young man in front of him was too arrogant, and said in a cold tone: "Mr. Lu, do you think the Grizzlies scouts are not good enough? Just relying on a player with no technical characteristics Can you choose the player you want from the roster?"

"Of course." Lu Yong nodded.

"What?" Morris was taken aback.

He thought that the young and energetic Lu Yong would confront him tit for tat, and he also thought that Lu Yong would be perfunctory because of the management, but he just didn't expect this guy to nod.Only a list of players has to be selected, and even the video of technical characteristics is too lazy to prepare.

"Although I don't know their playing style, shouldn't we look at whether it is suitable for the team? Of course, you should follow your heart if you like a player."

Morris didn't expect the young man in front of him to say such a thing. It sounded reasonable at first glance, so he froze on the spot and didn't refute.

"Mr. Morris, it shouldn't be a problem for me to ask for a free list of Summer League players, right?" Lu Yong smiled slightly when he saw that the other party didn't speak to him. "If it's not convenient, I can find someone else."

Compared with Tony Brown, another member of the coaching staff, Lu Yong is full of confidence in every gesture.Seeing this, the old people in the management team inevitably murmured in their hearts. It seems that this new chief assistant is not a fuel-efficient lamp.

Being able to become the chief assistant coach of an NBA team at such a young age is indeed a man of character.

Head coach Fratello sees Lu Yong getting more and more pleasing to his eyes. He likes people who are straightforward, and he prefers assistants who can share the pressure and provide advice for him.

If the Grizzlies coaching staff in the new season is still as arbitrary as last year, and the assistant coaches shut up like dumb ones, wouldn't it be meaningless for him to spend so much time expanding the coaching staff this year?

Lu Yong has both the vigor of a young man and the confidence to take responsibility, which made Fratello, who interviewed in person, quite satisfied.

The Grizzlies have retained the team's core lineup that hit the playoffs last year, and the weakest link is precisely the coaching staff.

Fratello hopes that Lu Yong can become his right-hand man and share the pressure on his shoulders instead of catering to him like a waste wood.

After the meeting, Morris handed over a list of free agents to Lu Yong.

There are about dozens of densely packed names, which is enough to cause headaches at first glance.

In this list, there are undrafted picks in the draft in recent years, and there are also marginal players who were cut after playing in the NBA for a period of time. Like Wang Zhizhi, they still want to hit the edge of the NBA.

Of course, there are veterans who are on the verge of retiring in their twilight years, trying to return to the team's field of vision through the summer league stage, and try to cheat the old fritters of a pension contract.

This kind of veteran is still very attractive in the free market, but the main target of the Grizzlies this year is rookies, and contact with veteran players is naturally not something that Lu Yong, an assistant coach, can worry about.

Back in the office, Tony Brown picked up the list on the table and briefly glanced at it, then handed it to Lu Yong. "Lu, you can choose first, as long as you make up a big list in the end."

"Let me see."

Lu Yong took the information and looked at it carefully. After more than a dozen players' names, his little heart couldn't help but beat violently, and saw an extremely familiar name-Ariza!

Statistics show that Ariza played for the New York Knicks and the Magic last season. He played 36 games for the Knicks and 21 games for the Magic. He averaged more than ten minutes per game, with 4 points, 4 rebounds and 1 Assist, a free agent this summer, has yet to sign with the team.

In this era, except for Lu Yong, no one could have imagined that Ariza would become a top 3D player in the league in the future. He had received an annual salary of 1500 million US dollars in the highest season, and he was more sought-after than a star in the free market.

Signing a star also has to consider whether it will match with his own star, but Ariza, who signed a contract with 3D attributes, does not have this trouble at all.This guy's playing style is versatile. He can shoot three-pointers, cut, fast break and defend. If it doesn't work, he won't feel bad even if he abandons it.

In his peak season, Ariza averaged 15 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals per game. He made 33.4% of his three-pointers.

Ariza was just an unknown marginal man at this time, and he was lucky in this wave of picking up leaks.

　The new author asks for your support, thank you.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)