Zhong Muchen leaned back on the couch, quietly watching Lin Yi, who was staring dead at the 2009 NBA Draft board.
First pick: Clippers.
Second pick: Warriors.
Third pick: Knicks.
Fourth: Thunder.
Fifth: Wizards.
Sixth: Grizzlies.
Seventh: Kings.
Eighth: Timberwolves.
Ninth: Raptors.
Tenth: Bucks.
Eleventh: Nets.
Twelfth: Bobcats.
Thirteenth: Pacers.
Fourteenth: Suns.
That's your 2009 NBA lottery right there.
Zhong cleared his throat. "The Clippers just sent you and Blake Griffin an invite for workouts. Warriors, Thunder, Timberwolves, Suns too."
Lin Yi didn't even blink. "Skip Minnesota. I'll hit the others."
Cold as ever.
Couldn't blame him, though. Minnesota? Hell no. Lin Yi had big plans — you don't build an empire freezing your ass off in a place like that.
Even in his past life, Lin remembered — this 2009 class? Scouts called it average. At least they weren't dragging it like they did Kenyon Martin's year.
Funny thing was, with Lin Yi shaking up the scene, everyone's paying way more attention. Suddenly, that Clippers No. 1 pick was pure gold. Every team was trying to trade for it.
In Lin Yi's old memory, the Clippers wanted to swap the pick for an All-Star. Now? With Lin Yi and Griffin sitting there?
Forget it. Sterling wasn't trading jack.
Old man Sterling saw all the trade offers flying in and got paranoid real quick — thought everyone was out to screw him. Classic.
As for the Knicks? Yeah, they didn't even bother sending Lin Yi a tryout invite. Their GM, Glen Grunwald, wasn't stupid. He knew Lin Yi and Griffin were locks for the top two picks.
Plus, D'Antoni had already whispered: Get me Steph Curry. That was their guy, no matter what.
Lin Yi wasn't salty. Honestly, he didn't even like Oakland that much either.
People kept hyping up Golden State as some "big city market."
Bro, have you even been to Oakland? The place was chaotic. Property crime rates were through the roof from 2009-2012.
But whatever. Lin Yi figured — knowing the Clippers' management, there's no guarantee they'll even pick him anyway. So, better keep his options open. That's why he agreed to the Warriors' invite.
Meanwhile, Suns were low-key plotting. They wanted to move Stoudemire for a shot at that top pick.
Stoudemire's contract was expiring, his knees were ticking time bombs — the Suns weren't trying to hand him a max deal.
The Clippers' front office was tempted at first...Until Sterling heard the Suns were dangling Stoudemire.
Sterling: "Wait... if they're throwing out Stoudemire, maybe I should just keep the damn pick."
It just showed — everyone knew how special Lin Yi and Griffin were.
Thunder and Presti? Dude could already feel the league's indifference radiating through the air.
"You got Durant, Westbrook, AND Ibaka coming up. What else do you want, a private jet?"
No way the league was letting OKC get another No. 1.
Plus, teams in big markets — LA, New York — always got draft luck. OKC? Not so much.
Another big reason the draft order shifted this year? The Warriors and Knicks tanked extra hard. Grunwald was banking everything on clearing cap space for the 2010 free agency class.
Problem? Only Lin Yi knew the real future: those big free agents were planning to team up. At best, the Knicks were landing leftovers. Maybe Stoudemire, if they were lucky.
Honestly, Grunwald's moves weren't terrible. He cleaned up the mess left by Isiah Thomas, who might've been the worst GM in history, and set New York up pretty well.
Just... too bad New York kept overestimating how much players wanted to play there.
Also didn't help that D'Antoni was about to hit rock bottom. No Curry, no shooter to run his system. Even Jeremy Lin's breakout season years later was D'Antoni squeezing blood out of a stone.
Anyway, thanks to the chaos Lin Yi stirred up, every team with a decent pick was scrambling. He didn't know where he'd land yet, but he sure as hell wasn't gonna skip the big workouts.
...
Zhong glanced at his phone. "Oh, and by the way — Adidas is offering you 4 years, 20 million. Nike, too."
Lin Yi smirked. "Not in a rush. Play 'em against each other a little. Tell 'em if the offers stay low, I'll just sign with Anta."
Zhong raised an eyebrow. "Anta?"
Lin shrugged. "Support domestic industry, man."
Honestly, Lin didn't give a damn what logo was on his shoes. His system could tweak whatever he wore into peak performance anyway. Whoever gave him the bigger bag, he was signing.
...
First stop: Los Angeles. Clippers workout with Blake Griffin.
The workout?
Insane.
Griffin's athleticism was off the charts. Plus, thanks to Lin Yi's little influence, his handles had gotten tighter too. Looked like a mini-LeBron out there.
And Lin Yi?
Dude was now 7'3" (221 cm), moving like a guard, breaking ankles in drills, and just dripping basketball IQ.
The Clippers' staff was losing their minds.
No way they were trading that No. 1 pick now.
No wonder every other team was trying to rob them blind.
Sterling sat there with a smug grin, like, Told you. You all thought I was dumb?
...
But now came the real headache:
Griffin or Lin Yi?
Who the hell do you pick?
Griffin: Freak athlete, future monster at power forward.
Lin Yi: Giant size, crazy skill, smart as hell.
Both were that good.
And now the Clippers front office was back to square one — stressing the hell out over their choice.
...
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