Sports Medicine Master System
Chapter 802: Chapter 720: Tryout
"Great job."
Chen Yu walked into the locker room and flashed a thumbs-up to Nowitzki, who was changing his clothes after practice.
Over the past two playoff series, Nowitzki had thoroughly transformed into the media’s absolute darling. Even Barkley, notoriously foul-mouthed as he was, had started praising him on television, raving about his dead-eye, unguardable shooting. It was safe to say that after surviving these two rounds, Nowitzki had finally shed his "soft" label for good.
Nowitzki couldn’t help but chuckle. He then asked why Chen had shown up.
The team had returned to Phoenix yesterday for a day of rest, and today featured a scheduled recovery practice to prepare for tomorrow’s game. Normally, Chen wouldn’t drop by after a session. Skiles hadn’t expected him to come help the players recover either, as Chen simply didn’t handle that kind of hands-on work anymore. Besides, they had played a standard game; the physical toll wasn’t overly excessive.
"We have a tryout scheduled for this afternoon. I need to keep an eye on it," Chen casually explained.
Hearing it was a tryout—a front-office matter—Nowitzki simply nodded and didn’t press further. He was quite satisfied with management’s recent moves anyway, such as re-signing Chandler to a lucrative contract.
Chen chatted with a few other players. Although he claimed he was no longer doing recovery work, he still discreetly scanned them with the Eye of All-Seeing to ensure there were no hidden injuries. After seeing the players off and grabbing lunch in the cafeteria, he prepared for the afternoon tryout.
This year, the Phoenix Suns still lacked a first-round draft pick. They had traded it away to the Wasp long ago during the David West deal. However, first-round picks could always be acquired through trades. Having played with a fourteen-man roster all season, the Phoenix Suns still needed further reinforcements. Today wasn’t an official draft workout, but rather a temporarily scheduled tryout.
The prospect hailed from China.
Yi Jianlian!
He had decided to declare for the draft this year.
It was a joint decision made with his United States agent, Dan Feigen. Next year was undoubtedly going to be a loaded draft class, as a massive wave of players born in 1988—many of whom had made a name for themselves on Chen’s reality show—would pile into the draft. Such a crowded field would severely impact Yi’s draft stock. Therefore, the best option was to declare early in 2006.
Then there was the issue of his age. His registered birthdate in the CBA was October 27, 1987. He was technically months away from turning nineteen this year, meaning theoretically, he was ineligible to declare. However, his registered age was fake. His agent knew this, Chen knew this, and the NBA knew it too. His actual birth year was 1984, making him just shy of twenty-two. That fell comfortably under the maximum age limit for international prospects. Thus, he was perfectly eligible for the 2006 draft, provided his official age was corrected.
Exactly how to execute this maneuver depended primarily on him, Feigen, the Hongyuan club, and the Basketball Association. Personally, he desperately wanted to join the NBA. This past CBA season, facing a swarm of foreign imports, his stats hadn’t declined. Instead, they took a massive leap forward. He shot up from an average of seventeen points per game the previous season to a staggering twenty-three.
Chen had analyzed this phenomenon. First and foremost, it was undoubtedly a testament to Yi’s improved personal skill. Equally important, however, was the fact that Hongyuan had signed three new foreign players. With a strengthened perimeter, he finally had teammates capable of feeding him proper passes. Better teammates drew away defensive pressure, granting him much cleaner looks at the basket. The fact that he could produce such stellar numbers while surrounded by imports suggested he might actually adapt better to High Level leagues. Consequently, his personal desire to come over was incredibly strong.
On the agent’s side, Feigen fully supported his 2006 declaration to avoid clashing with the impending super-draft. Back in China, Hongyuan’s boss, Chen Haitao, also maintained a very supportive attitude. Since the CBA had loosened its restrictions on foreign players, the team’s reliance on Yi had diminished. If he left, they could seamlessly sign an import to fill the void, minimizing the impact on the roster. Furthermore, as a product of their own youth academy, Yi was essentially one of their own kids. Naturally, Chen Haitao encouraged him to venture out and test his mettle on the world stage.
The Basketball Association raised no objections either. Everything was so damn commercialized now, and the National Team had a promising crop of youngsters like Song Jun to look forward to. Even with the World Championships and the Asian Games slated for this year, the administrative pressure wasn’t actually that crushing. With unanimous support across the board, Yi decided to give it a shot.
Whether he would get drafted at all, or what pick he might command, remained entirely up in the air. The only way to find out was to test the waters.
His very first stop was the Phoenix Suns.
His next stop would be the Lakers.
Both were teams that housed his National Team comrades.
His arrival prompted Brian to specifically arrange a tryout for him. The Phoenix Suns were genuinely interested in signing him. After all, they were still short-handed at the power forward position. In terms of immediate impact, Mo Ke simply couldn’t compare to Yi. Trading Mo Ke and swapping him out for Yi would be a highly pragmatic upgrade.
However, the front office had their reservations. Lacking a first-round pick, they had to weigh the cost of trading for one just to secure Yi. If he failed to meet expectations and the asking price proved too steep, the Phoenix Suns would have no choice but to back out. Everything hinged on his actual abilities and whether he was truly worth the investment.
Shortly after one o’clock in the afternoon, Yi and Feigen arrived together at the US Airways Center. Before Yi could even offer a greeting, Feigen was already stepping forward with a beaming smile to shake Chen’s hand. In this league, much like the players themselves, agents were always the most eager to cultivate a good relationship with a top-tier medical miracle worker like Dr. Chen.
Chen offered a slight nod in response. Noticing the shy prospect trailing behind, he smiled. "Ah Lian, relax a bit."
Chen spoke in Cantonese. Having spent so much time in Guang City, coupled with his natural knack for learning, he had gradually picked up a few phrases. Hearing the familiar dialect immediately put Yi at ease. More importantly, he was already quite familiar with Chen.
"Dr. Chen."
A genuine smile finally broke across his face.
Chen pulled him along to exchange greetings with Brian, Skiles, and the rest of the staff before drawing him aside for a private word.
"Don’t put too much psychological pressure on yourself. Even though I’m the team owner and probably shouldn’t be saying this, I really hope to see what you’re truly capable of."
As management, Chen technically had no obligation to soothe Yi’s nerves or offer encouragement. Scouting was entirely about exposing a player’s flaws. But Chen didn’t see it as an issue. Much like Milicic—who had been a total shut-in when he first entered the league—players could always adjust. It all came down to the team environment. With Chen around, if Yi truly joined the Phoenix Suns, he would find a relatively relaxed atmosphere. The same applied to the Lakers, which was exactly why Feigen was striving to steer him toward those two franchises.
With those concerns alleviated, the only thing that mattered was raw ability. Chen didn’t want nerves to prevent Yi from fully showcasing his true potential.
"I understand, Dr. Chen." Yi nodded forcefully, visibly much more at ease.
"Go on. Have a chat with Mo Ke; it’s rare for you two to cross paths." Chen patted him on the back.
Mo Ke had also stayed behind, as had Clifford Robinson. Robinson was there to help Yi run through his contact drills.
After a thorough warm-up, the tryout commenced.
Chen was already quite familiar with Yi’s profile. First off, his static physical gifts were exceptional—easily top-tier back in China. With a height of two hundred and eleven centimeters, a wingspan stretching two hundred and twenty-two centimeters, and an excellent torso-to-leg ratio, his physical measurements held up incredibly well even by NBA standards.

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