Sports Medicine Master System

In the spacious training facility, the squeak of sneakers on the court was incessant.

Chen Yu stood in a corner of the court, silently watching these rookies play.

There were a lot of them. 47 had come last year, but this year the number was even higher, reaching 54.

Many agents probably figured that having their rookies train at Chen Yu’s camp before the official combine would add some shine to their prospects and boost their draft stock.

Nelson approached Chen Yu, nodding his chin toward a player on the court. "Chen," he said quietly, "I don’t have a good feeling about that kid. Honestly, he would’ve been better off declaring back in ’01. He’s dragged it out for so long that his game is set and his potential is completely tapped out."

Chen Yu’s eyes locked onto a nearby court, where a young man drove with the ball, only to have his path cut off by a defender.

His name was Damien Wilkins.

In ESPN’s mock drafts, he was projected to be picked somewhere between 50th and 60th.

That told you everything you needed to know about a rookie’s skill level in that range.

Normally, Chen Yu focused on the lottery prospects and wouldn’t have paid him any mind.

But he was an NBA legacy.

His father, Gerald Wilkins, was a close friend of Ewing.

Most importantly, his father’s older brother—his uncle—was the famous "Human Highlight Film."

So when the training camp opened, his father had personally brought him over and entrusted him to Chen Yu.

Dominic had also called Chen Yu, asking him to look after his nephew and saying not to worry about his feelings—to evaluate him however he saw fit.

’This is complete bullshit.’

’You already called. The subtext is obviously that you want me to say a few nice things about him to boost his draft stock.’

"Indeed, he’s too old," Chen Yu agreed with a nod.

The kid was already 24.

After graduating from high school, he went to North Carolina State University, played for two years, and was preparing for the draft, but in the end, he withdrew.

Then he got into trouble off the court, spent a year in prison, transferred to the University of Georgia, played another two years, and finally, with nowhere else to go, declared for the draft again.

In other words, he’d spent five years in college.

’Five years. Even the greatest talent would go to waste in that time.’

’The thing was, his performance in college was terrible. It wasn’t just that his skills were unpolished; he also clearly lacked any exceptional talent.’

’He really didn’t inherit a single drop of his father’s or uncle’s talent.’

"It’s fine. Anyway, we only announce the rankings for lottery prospects. If I actually put him in the lottery rankings, Dominique himself would be embarrassed."

’Besides, what’s the worst that could happen if I don’t give Dominique any face?’

’Instead of hoping I’ll do him a favor, he should just use his connections with the Hawk to get his nephew a contract and a tryout. Why even bother with the draft?’

"Enough about him." Chen Yu’s gaze shifted to the far end of the facility.

In one area, a blue-jerseyed Dwight Howard leaped up and swatted away a shot from Robert Swift, the so-called last hope for white centers.

His vertical was astonishing.

Meanwhile, on the half-court opposite him, another top draft prospect, Emeka Okafor in a red jersey, quickly rotated on help defense and disrupted a shot from guard Shaun Livingston.

His speed on the rotation was also impressive.

"The camp has been going for four days now. Between the two of them, who do you think has the higher ceiling?"

Chen Yu hadn’t paid much attention to this year’s training camp.

For one, last year’s camp had been a huge success. This year, the company had more trainers, all of them more professional, and had accumulated more data and experience. It was just a matter of following last year’s blueprint.

Secondly, he was just too busy.

Not just with work, but with his personal life as well.

Lexi had gotten her wish and was pregnant.

The week before last, after they returned from Spain, Lexi suddenly told Chen Yu her period was late. Chen Yu took one look with his Eye of All-Seeing and, yep, they’d hit the jackpot.

It wasn’t exactly a shock, but Chen Yu had thought that with his busy work schedule, they could wait another couple of years to have a child. Yet, now that a child was actually on the way, he couldn’t suppress his joy.

It was a strange but wonderful feeling, watching his child change day by day through the Eye of All-Seeing.

’An embryo... there really wasn’t much to look at.’

Under the circumstances, Chen Yu planned to scale back his work to spend more time with Lexi.

After all, the work would never be done. He just had to focus on what was important.

’Sometimes, when he was swamped with work, he would think it might be nice not to take on so much—to return to his roots and just focus on the clinic, on healing people.’

’But that was just a thought. With a child on the way, he had to keep working hard and making money.’

Nelson clearly already had an answer. "It’s definitely got to be Howard," he said. "His low-post skills are terrible and raw, and his free-throw shooting is a complete mess, but his athleticism is just off the charts. Much, much better than Dako."

"Of course. Dako is so much taller than him," Chen Yu said with a smile.

They weren’t even in the same size class. Plus, Milicic was white, so his physical attributes were bound to be a little lacking in comparison.

"But the gap isn’t that big, is it? Factoring in the extra height, Dako’s athleticism is top-tier as well."

The comparison made it clear. According to the camp’s athletic testing, Howard’s standing vertical was 77 and his running vertical was 90. His lane agility drill was 11.21 seconds, and his three-quarter court sprint was 3.14 seconds.

And Milicic’s tests last year? A standing vertical of 67, a running vertical of 82, a lane agility time of 11.3 seconds, and a sprint of 3.36 seconds.

In other words, based on the numbers alone, Milicic’s agility was nearly on par with Howard’s; only his vertical was lower.

But he was taller and heavier, so that was understandable.

In terms of strength, Howard was actually weaker than Milicic. On the 84kg bench press, Howard managed 7 reps, while Milicic could do 13.

"As for Okafor, he’s more mature both technically and mentally, but his physical shortcomings aren’t so easy to overcome. When it comes to his ceiling, you’d have to say he’s probably lower than Howard’s."

Ultimately, the draft is about betting on talent.

Skills can be coached, but talent is a hurdle that’s extremely hard to overcome.

"Oh, right. Okafor also has a history of back trouble. That’s another knock against him," Nelson added.

The kid had been injured in college and had surgery.

Chen Yu waved a dismissive hand. "That’s a small problem. I’m here."

"True."

Nelson chuckled. Seeing J Kidd still bouncing around, Okafor’s minor lumbar issue was really nothing.

At the start of the previous season, Okafor had suffered a herniated disc. He’d had a minimally invasive procedure to remove the protruding nucleus pulposus and missed a few games.

The surgery was a success, however, and the herniation must not have been too severe, because he played outstandingly in the latter half of the season and led Kang University to a championship.

But with that type of minimally invasive surgery, the recurrence rate was nearly 100%.

That wasn’t a problem, though. Chen Yu could perform an annulus fibrosus repair, which made it a minor issue that wouldn’t affect his career.

"By the way, I haven’t been around the last couple of days. Have you seen any players who’d be a good fit for us, late first or in the second round?" Chen Yu asked.

Given the Suns’ situation, a lottery pick was out of the question.

Of course, the Suns had a pile of quality assets and could even trade for the number one pick, but they were championship contenders. There was no way they were going to break up the team.

So at best, they could only trade for a late first-round pick.

Nelson thought for a moment, then pointed to a tall, thin player on a distant court. "That one. Kevin Martin, the guard from Western Carolina University."

"Him?"

Chen Yu looked over just in time to see Martin curl off the baseline, catch the ball, and shoot.

"Huh?"

Chen Yu was taken aback. That shooting form...

"Weird, isn’t it?" Nelson said with a smile.

Chen Yu nodded. ’His arm proportions are fine,’ he thought. ’He should just bring the ball straight up for the shot. Why does he have to add that tilted motion, like he’s slinging it in a loop?’

But you had to admit, it was accurate.

Besides, everyone is different; it wasn’t a deal-breaker.

The Suns still had Marion, after all. Chen Yu had once tried to adjust Marion’s shooting form, but his field goal percentage plummeted with a standard release, so he’d given up.

Chen Yu recalled the Suns’ internal scouting report on Kevin Martin.

Height 201cm, weight 88kg, average wingspan at 2.1 meters.

He was a bit light for his height.

Western Carolina University wasn’t a basketball powerhouse, but Kevin Martin was the team’s undisputed offensive centerpiece.

He was a potent scorer with an accurate shot and a knack for drawing fouls, but he also came with a pile of problems.

The biggest problem was his defense.

His physical tools were lacking; his frame was too slight.

Nelson continued, "We still need shooters on the perimeter. His skills are relatively mature, so he doesn’t need much development. If we could get him, he’d be good enough to come off the bench and get some points. His poor defense wouldn’t be a huge issue."

Chen Yu nodded thoughtfully. ’A specialist, plain and simple.’

He was like Wash Leonard, who they traded last year. His defense was also a complete mess, and aside from his three-point shot, there was nothing remarkable about him.

But all the Suns had asked of him was to come off the bench occasionally, hit some threes, and run specific plays. They never expected him to be an all-around player who could contribute on both offense and defense.

"What about the frontcourt?" Chen Yu asked.

The Suns weren’t actually that desperate for perimeter shooters.

Old Miller was very disciplined and still in good shape. The bench had Poseidon and Payton, who could both shoot.

And on top of that, they still had Kovol.

The frontcourt, on the other hand...

Sabonis was definitely retiring at the end of the season.

Once Ma Long left too, the frontcourt would be down to just two rookies.

They absolutely had to find a good backup for O’Neal, and if there was a decent rookie big man available, they could try drafting one.

Nelson said, "There’s a high schooler named Al Jefferson. He’s young, but his low-post skills are surprisingly good. He’s just too slow, with poor athleticism. He also has a bad habit: he always attacks with his right hand, even from a bad angle. For some reason, his left hand is surprisingly bad."

"He’s projected to go somewhere around the 15th to 20th pick in the first round."

As soon as he heard that, Chen Yu dismissed the idea.

Never mind whether the Suns could even trade for the 15th pick.

A rookie like that wasn’t a good fit for the Suns anyway.

The Suns really didn’t lack offense.

McDyess, an All-Star caliber, 20-plus-point scorer, had his stats drop to just over 12 points a game due to team strategy and playing alongside O’Neal. Did the Suns really need the few points a rookie could offer?

They needed defense. They needed bigs who could hold their ground.

"As for the second round, I haven’t found anyone yet."

There were barely any suitable players in the first round, let alone the second.

Chen Yu nodded. "Alright then, we’ll talk about it later. By the way, Jason gets in this afternoon. He called me. You should come over tonight."

Tomorrow was the first game of the playoff series between the Suns and the Nuggets.