Chapter 751 - 676: A Cold Reception

Chapter 751: Chapter 676: A Cold Reception

The entire selection process was actually quite similar to a joint tryout.

Staff from Chen Yu’s company led the arriving players through various physical tests, followed by random 5-on-5 scrimmages.

While it couldn’t be guaranteed to showcase every player’s full strength and unique traits, it could at least reveal the basics.

Moreover, Chen Yu had also prepared video footage for every player and built a website. Once Li Chunjiang and the others returned to their hotel, they would have plenty of time to watch, consider, and discuss everything at their leisure.

It was a three-day event. Today was the first day, and there were over thirty people present.

Li Chunjiang and his group sat in the stands off the court, observing quietly.

"What a big man!" someone below exclaimed.

On the court, a 6’11" player executed a chase-down block, pinning the basketball against the backboard.

His leaping ability, the speed of his turn—you probably couldn’t find another player like that in the entire CBA.

Naturally, he captured everyone’s attention.

Before, Li Chunjiang would have been interested in a big man like this—tall, Black, who could run and jump. But now, after Zhang Yongjun’s speech, he wasn’t as keen.

Zhang Yongjun had said that in the future, the CBA might follow the NBA’s lead and implement a defensive three-second rule.

If that rule changed, the entire playstyle of the CBA would be transformed.

Besides, he was truly inspired by the things Zhang Yongjun had talked about.

That "fast, accurate, and agile" style of play wasn’t a fantasy; it had genuinely succeeded in China before.

So why not learn from it?

"Chunjiang, what do you think of this Harris?" Chen Haitao asked from beside him, flipping through the player profiles.

He was talking about the big, Black player.

Karen Harris, from the North Charleston Short Crocodile Team, was the team’s starting frontcourt player.

"A little expensive," Li Chunjiang said after a moment’s thought.

A price was listed at the end of most players’ profiles.

This was the player’s asking price.

Of course, it was negotiable, but looking at this figure basically gave you an idea of the final signing price.

And this Karen Harris, his price was 300,000 US dollars.

Calculated over six months, that’s 50,000 US dollars a month.

That was more than triple the salary of the highest-paid foreign player in the CBA right now.

Furthermore, all these figures being discussed were after-tax.

So for Hongyuan, it was very expensive.

Not to mention, Hongyuan still had Jichen.

"I know," Chen Haitao said with a grin. "But I feel like he’s much better than Jichen. And 300,000 US dollars... if we bite the bullet, it’s not impossible. It’s only a little over two million RMB, after all. If we miss out on a player this good, he’ll just end up on someone else’s team."

Li Chunjiang didn’t say anything. If the boss was willing to invest, that was obviously for the best.

His gaze, however, fell on a player with cornrows on the opposing team, number 7.

He was the opposing point guard.

While everyone else was trying to show off, he remained calm and passed the ball where it needed to go.

Of course, he could also score. He had extremely quick dribble penetration and an accurate shot.

Also, he had defensive awareness.

That was quite rare. Li Chunjiang had been greatly inspired by Zhang Yongjun’s grand theories, but some things deep down would never change.

For instance, defense!

You can’t win a championship without defense.

Even his Pioneer team’s ability to pull off an underdog victory wasn’t entirely due to their run-and-gun offense. It was built on defense both inside and out, and on a squad of "bench mob" players.

So, the fact that this number 7 was willing to play defense was something Li Chunjiang really liked.

Most importantly, he was tall!

Over 6’2", he was a big point guard.

In China, that was a very scarce resource.

Li Chunjiang flipped through the profiles in his hand and found number 7’s file.

Smush Parker.

Height 6’4", weight 179 lbs.

His resume was very detailed.

An undrafted player from the ’02 draft. After going undrafted, he got lucky and was eventually signed by the Cavaliers.

In other words, he had played in the NBA.

But he was let go after just one year and went far away to Europe, playing for a year in Greece.

He still wanted to return to the NBA. In ’04, he finally got a contract with the Pistons and played with them for a year, but he barely played in any games.

Then he was cut once again.

Last season, he signed several 10-day contracts but couldn’t secure a foothold in the NBA. When no one wanted him, he went to play in the Development Alliance.

With the Huntsville Flying Team, he averaged 14.6 points and 5.1 assists per game.

At the very bottom, his asking price was also 300,000 US dollars.

Li Chunjiang gritted his teeth and said to Chen Haitao, "General Manager Chen, if you’re really willing to shell out 300,000 US dollars to sign someone, then he’s worth considering."

He handed Smush Parker’s file to Chen Haitao.

Li Qun was getting older; he would probably retire in the next season or two.

’If we’re really going to pick a foreign player, we have to prioritize our needs.’

The three-day selection process ended quickly.

To Chen Yu’s surprise, the 14 teams only ended up selecting 31 players.

This result also left the current president of the Development Alliance, Phil Evans, a bit dejected.

"Chen, was the asking price for our players too high?" Phil Evans asked.

He had been to China, was familiar with the CBA league, knew the market rate for foreign players in the CBA, and also knew how much a CBA team spent on players each year.

With the market so cold now, he thought and thought, and could only come to one conclusion: the asking prices were too high.

They started at 100,000 US dollars, and many talented players were asking for two or three hundred thousand.

In the NBA, that’s nothing, but in the financially limited CBA, this was not cheap—it was expensive, even.

If a team selected the full five players, it could mean an investment of hundreds of thousands of US dollars, or several million RMB.

Chen Yu was also pondering this issue. "I don’t think that’s the only reason," he said.

"China’s economy is also improving. The soccer boom has also stimulated the sports market. The people in charge of these CBA teams also want to turn a profit. So it’s not necessarily that they’re unwilling to invest, but rather that they’re waiting and seeing."

"They probably aren’t sure if this model can be profitable or if it’s sustainable in the long run, so they don’t dare to go all-in and invest too much," Chen Yu said.

Chen Yu’s entry into the scene was forcing other teams to make changes and keep up.

But investing too much also gave them pause.

After all, the CBA’s revenue was currently pitifully low.

So their most logical course of action was to increase their investment on a small scale, observe for a while, and see how things went on Chen Yu’s end.

If Chen Yu turned a profit, they would up their bets and follow suit.

If Chen Yu lost his shirt, they could cut their losses in time and avoid losing too much themselves.

Chen Yu could understand this mentality.

After all, it was the same situation in soccer.

If they hadn’t seen how many tickets the Pioneer were selling, would the other teams have been willing to splash the cash to sign star players?

"Phil, you don’t need to be so pessimistic. Believe me, China is a huge sports market, and their economy is improving. The market for basketball will definitely get better and better in the future. This year might just be how it is, but next year, they will definitely increase their investment."

"And by then, the CBA will gradually loosen the restrictions on foreign players, and the demand for players will grow even larger."

What worried Phil Evans was that the Development Alliance couldn’t accommodate so many players, and he hoped to find a way out for them.

Because once they were completely cut, if they went back to their hometowns to become, say, a high school basketball coach, they would never be able to come back to the professional scene.

The Development Alliance was a league that allowed them to stay in game shape.

And in the future, the CBA could also serve that function.

"Alright, Phil. Chen has already said as much. If not this year, then next year," Stu Jackson chimed in from the side.

Phil Evans nodded with a wry smile. If the teams didn’t want the players, what could he do?