After finishing his workout with the Clippers, Lin Yi hit up Oakland, Oklahoma, and Phoenix for more tryouts.
In Oakland, the Warriors loved him. Like, full-on praise from everyone. But the problem? They already had Maggette and Ellis running the wings — what they really needed was a dominant big guy in the low post. Urgently.
In Oklahoma, it was the same story — the Thunder were super impressed. Presti was basically sweating, like, "Man, how do I trade up and snag this kid?"
Then in Phoenix, Steve Kerr was impressed and almost did not let him leave. The dude was obsessed. Kerr was thinking, "How come Stoudemire can't impress the Clippers enough for us to get Lin Yi in a trade?!" He was seriously questioning life decisions.
Later, after all the craziness, Lin Yi got on the phone with Curry. Steph's tryout in New York went super smoothly. Honestly, the Knicks were so desperate, they didn't even hide it. Their plan was simple: they weren't aiming for Lin Yi or Blake Griffin — they were dead set on Curry. No competition, no drama. They were ready to bet their own on him.
Meanwhile, right before the draft, the Spurs and Bucks pulled off a trade — Bucks sent out Richard Jefferson, and the Spurs gave them Bruce Bowen, Oberto, and Kurt Thomas. Then the Bucks flipped Oberto to Detroit for Amir Johnson. Wild times.
Oh, and the Timberwolves? They stayed busy too. Lin Yi remembered from before: the Wolves traded Randy Foye and Mike Miller to the Wizards for the #5 pick, Etan Thomas, Darius Songaila, and Oleksiy Pecherov. Yep, a mess.
Honestly, Lin Yi didn't even wanna comment on Minnesota's moves. Everyone knew they were eyeing the 2009 guard class hard, especially after Rubio declared but said he couldn't join the NBA right away. His stock tanked, but the Wolves? Still willing to bet big on him.
As for Jonny Flynn? Yeah... maybe he'd fall even lower than Lin Yi remembered. Either way, the Wolves were bad then, and they stayed bad for a while. Timberwolves fans loved to blame KG leaving, but... hey, that team wasn't winning even with him.
While all this was happening, Zhong Muchen was showing Lin Yi house listings. "Boss, which one do you want if we buy a house?" he asked, excited. He had already scoped out some options in LA and Oakland, expecting Lin Yi to be a top-two pick.
"Hold up..." Lin Yi suddenly got a weird feeling.
What if... what if the Clippers don't pick me?
Would crazy-ass Don Nelson snatch me for the Warriors and screw New York again?
Lin Yi remembered when he worked out for Golden State — Nelson liked him, but the old man kept asking about Curry... a lot. Like, suspiciously a lot.
And Curry had refused to even work out for the Warriors.
Back in '09, Golden State was a mess — a bad team, a chaotic front office, and no Jerry West yet. Ellis played like he thought he was Kobe. Corey Maggette was never a good 3&D player.
Lin Yi never minded going to the Warriors because he knew they'd turn around eventually. Jerry West would show up, new ownership would take over, and they'd spend hundreds of millions to buy the team and make it a powerhouse.
And if Lin landed there? Easy — he just needed to survive two seasons next to Ellis and wait for the reinforcements.
Same with the Clippers. Sterling was a mess of an owner, but after the Lakers signed the Time Warner deal, Lin Yi knew LA would slowly become Clipper Town. He wasn't worried.
But now... now Lin Yi had a bad feeling.
From Don Nelson's perspective, how could the Warriors NOT pick Curry in 2009? Which explained why the Knicks only had Curry in for a workout — they figured Lin Yi and Griffin were out of reach.
Lin Yi suddenly felt the need to cover his bases. "Hey, Zhong Muchen," he said seriously, "maybe double-check New York housing too?"
Zhong Muchen looked at him like he'd grown two heads. "Boss, even if the Clippers don't take you, there's no way you fall to #3!"
"Still... better be safe," Lin Yi muttered.
Real talk, he wasn't 100% confident anymore. His workout with Griffin in LA was a 50-50 split. Lin Yi couldn't say he dominated — he even helped Griffin show off some improvements. Griffin's shot was coming along, his ball-handling was solid, and he wasn't selfish with the ball. Clippers might just stick with the safe choice.
And let's be honest — the Clippers' front office didn't exactly scream "genius."
If they were smart, they would've built around DeAndre Jordan, Griffin, and CP3 way earlier and maybe grabbed a top wing. But patience and smart decisions? Not really their thing.
Whatever. One step at a time.
...
June 25th, 2009.
The NBA Draft kicked off at Madison Square Garden. The hype was unreal, especially back home in China — people were losing their minds wondering if Lin Yi could be the second Chinese No.1 pick after Yao Ming.
Chinese TV was even broadcasting the draft live.
Before the draft, everyone online was arguing:
Some said Lin Yi had the better college performance, others swore Griffin was still the guy. Some Curry stans even joked: "If Griffin had Curry as a teammate, he would've still crushed North Carolina too!"
True, Griffin only made it to the Sweet 16, but come on — he averaged 25 points and 17 boards in March Madness. Respect.
Meanwhile, backstage, Thunder GM Sam Presti and Suns GM Steve Kerr were this close to committing crimes against Clippers owner Donald Sterling.
The Thunder offered Ibaka, Jeff Green, and a future first-rounder to move up. Sterling waved it off like they were selling him Girl Scout cookies.
Kerr added more to Phoenix's offer — took out the whole kitchen sink — but Sterling still said no. He didn't wanna risk trading for Stoudemire and losing him in free agency.
So yeah. No trades.
In the green room, Lin Yi and Curry sat together.
The twenty-something lottery picks were back together again, about to find out where they'd end up.
.....
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