Y13 [EN]: Chapter 165

Y13-165 2011 Off-Season

While the official fan club was having their photoshoot, Dallas Mavericks’ head coach Rick Carlisle, team owner Mark Cuban, general manager Donnie Nelson, the coaching staff, and scouts were gathered in the coach’s office.

“While the players and other staff are still basking in the afterglow of the championship, draft day is fast approaching. I’ve received the preliminary reports, but let’s discuss the players who participated in the workouts in detail and formulate our primary plan.”

Donnie Nelson looked at the scouting team and asked for their opinions. Jason White, the head scout, began the briefing.

“First, we have the 29th and 59th picks. We are considering five players for the 29th pick. Currently, our roster needs a combo guard or a stretch forward [a forward who can shoot well from long range]. Coach Carlisle wants to prioritize the latter. Is that correct?”

Rick Carlisle simply nodded in response to Jason White’s question.

“We already have three starting-caliber guards, so it would be difficult to give a rookie playing time. The more significant weakness is the lack of stretch forwards besides Nowitzki next year. Marion and Brewer can fill that role, but Marion’s shooting range is limited, and Brewer can’t play power forward. They are very different types from Nowitzki. Peja [Peja Stojaković, former NBA player] and Cardinal [Popeye Jones, former NBA player, likely a mistake and should be Cardinal] are unlikely to perform better than this season, so we’ll exclude them. We shouldn’t re-sign them, or if we do, their stats will likely decline significantly. Therefore, we should draft stretch forwards in the first round.”

Soon after, scout Dick Baker began briefing on the players under consideration. Player data was displayed on a projector on one wall, and documents were already prepared in front of Nelson.

“First, if they are available when our pick comes up, we must draft Tobias Harris and Kenneth Faried. The next realistic players are Kyle Singler, Davis Bertans, Justin Harper, Tyler Honeycutt, JaJuan Johnson, Nikola Mirotic, and Chandler Parsons. Bertans and Mirotic are European players and can’t be brought over immediately. So, we’ve conducted workouts with Kyle Singler, Justin Harper, Tyler Honeycutt, JaJuan Johnson, and Chandler Parsons.”

Dick Baker briefly explained each of the five players. Honestly, even though it’s the first round, the chances of drafting a rotation-level player with the 29th pick weren’t high. The expectation for the 29th pick was just a third backup who could develop.

In the explanations of the first four players, Kyle Singler was introduced as a tall small forward with a weakness in defense but specialized in three-pointers, a replacement for Peja. Justin Harper was explained in more detail, emphasizing that he primarily plays power forward with a long shooting range, a downgraded version of Nowitzki. Baker said that both players were considered lower first-round picks.

Tyler Honeycutt was seen as an athletic forward with room to improve his shooting, and JaJuan Johnson was decent in three-pointers and defense but lacked physicality and athleticism. The explanations for these two players also concluded with evaluations ranging from the first to the second round.

“Lastly, there’s Chandler Parsons. Um… Chandler Parsons is the lowest-ranked player among those mentioned in the mock drafts. He’s considered a high second-round pick. His shooting range is the longest among the players, and his BQ [Basketball IQ] is good, but it’s uncertain whether he can adapt to the NBA. Frankly, I think one of the previous players will still be available, but there’s a reason why I included this player in the plan.”

Nelson tilted his head and questioned. He couldn’t understand. It’s good to have multiple scenarios, but Dallas was too busy to prepare too many. In such cases, it might be better to focus on the minimum plan. Dick Baker, who had worked with Dallas, knew this, but he still included Chandler Parsons as a candidate. Donnie Nelson was curious about the reason.

“Hmm, there must be another reason. Continue.”

Baker nodded and continued.

“Youngjae Yoon and Nowitzki attended the workout. They were in the middle of personal training and showed interest in the workout, asking if they could attend and even conduct tests themselves. They said various things to the players, but both of them rated Chandler Parsons quite highly. In our judgment, he had the best workout results.”

Not only Donnie Nelson but also owner Cuban and the coaching staff looked puzzled, but Rick Carlisle simply nodded as if agreeing, without saying anything.

“Both players said the same thing. Youngjae Yoon especially recommended him actively. Apparently, he saw Chandler Parsons in a game against San Diego State University, where his close friend Kawhi Leonard plays. He said Parsons was very impressive in the NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] game and seemed to have improved even more in the workout. Youngjae Yoon has attended several other workouts with Parsons.”

After listening to Baker’s explanation, Donnie Nelson paused to think and then shared his thoughts. In his opinion, Youngjae was the team’s future, but since he wasn’t a free agent, there was no need to blindly follow his opinion.

“Hmm… Yoon will be a key player for the team from next year, so we can’t completely ignore his opinion. But it’s not right to follow his opinion alone. However, if Nowitzki also gave him a good evaluation, we can’t just dismiss it. What’s the scouting team’s perspective?”

Baker scratched his head and opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Parsons received strong recommendations from Yoon, and he’s also from the same university as Nick Calathes, whom we have the rights to. Drafting Parsons would help Calathes adapt to the NBA in the future. If the expectations are similar, considering the relationships with the players wouldn’t be a bad pick. Next year’s draft is expected to be of very low quality due to the lockout concerns, with many prospects declaring their non-participation. So, a somewhat adventurous choice might be more beneficial than a stable one. Especially in this draft, it’s difficult to make accurate judgments for players below the 20th pick, with predicted rankings varying by dozens of spots.”

“Hoo… Originally, we would have prioritized trades using the pick, but most teams are hesitant to trade because we don’t know what the revised CBA [Collective Bargaining Agreement] will look like. Besides, we’ve drafted good players with lower first-round picks for two consecutive years. I think it’s worth expecting this time as well.”

Afterward, the scouting team and Nelson continued their discussion. But there weren’t any players that particularly caught their eye, and their 고민 [Korean word for worry/concern] was only getting longer because they were all so similar. Eventually, they were able to complete the plan late at night and end the meeting.

Youngjae put on dress pants and a light sky-blue dress shirt for the first time in a while, folded his sleeves a few times, grabbed the collar, and stood neatly in front of the front door. Before opening the front door, Youngjae looked around the cold and quiet house again, glanced at his wristwatch, opened the door, and got into his SUV.

Vroom-

Youngjae drove Emily to the airport, and many fans watched them pass by. In the United States, people don’t take pictures or approach celebrities or sports stars privately without permission. Unless the stars allow autographs or photos, they don’t do it. A culture of cherishing their stars has been formed. In that respect, it can be said that stars live in a better environment than in Korea. The two of them didn’t care about their surroundings and only looked at each other.

“Call me.”

Youngjae and Emily both didn’t want to part. But they were people who had things to do, and Youngjae hugged Emily lightly and whispered in her ear.

“I’ll surprise you. In the meantime, bear with me by calling. Don’t waver even if another handsome guy shows up somewhere.”

Emily stole Youngjae’s lips instead of answering his cute jealousy and slight anxiety, then waved her hand and went inside.

“Hoo.”

That was already three days ago. Youngjae wasn’t used to the quiet house, but he knew he had no choice, so he tried not to whine or waver. He knew that focusing on what he had to do now was the only way to meet Emily later without shame.

After finishing his personal training and returning home to wash up, he was resting while watching game videos and record sheets when the doorbell rang.

“Yoon! It’s nice to see you.”

As expected, Bill Duffy, with his good physique and bright complexion, saw Youngjae with a cheerful smile and reached out his hand as if he was happy to see him, and Youngjae also smiled friendly and accepted the handshake.

“Haha, if you perform so well from your rookie season, I wonder how great you will be in the future. I’m already looking forward to it.”

“Thank you for the compliment. Let’s go inside and talk.”

Youngjae smiled awkwardly at Duffy’s flattery, led Duffy into the house, prepared some simple refreshments, and sat down at the table. Duffy took out various documents from his briefcase and began to speak as Youngjae sat down.

“First of all, congratulations again on the championship. I congratulated you on the phone, but now that I’ve seen you in person, I have to congratulate you again. Winning the championship from your first season, it seems like it will be the start of a good career. Besides, your position in the team is good. I’m looking forward to next year even more.”

“I think being drafted into this team was the best result for me so far. I wanted to join this team, but I didn’t expect such a good result. It was really a year of good fortune.”

Youngjae also thought that he would be the best fit for this team, but he didn’t expect such a good result. He expected the team’s performance to be good to some extent, but he couldn’t have predicted that his personal performance would be this good.

“That’s right. Thanks to spending a season as a starting member instead of a benchwarmer, the team is paying a lot of attention to you. There are many things the club asked for in the part I’m going to talk about today. Dallas is still paying a lot of attention to you even though they can use you for three more years.”

“Um. You flatter me. I still have many shortcomings. It’s a good thing if they pay a lot of attention to me. By the way, the club has never given me any hints, but I’d like to hear what you have to say.”

Youngjae was well aware that the club was paying a lot of attention to him, but from Duffy’s story, there seemed to be more to it. The club mainly paid attention to his health and training. However, the story Duffy brought today seemed to be a part that the club hadn’t hinted at to him.