The Basketball Court Swordsman

Henson and An Jiali’s leisure time did not last long. After the German and his Dallas Mavericks unexpectedly beat the Miami Heat with a total score of 2-1 and approached the NBA championship infinitely, Henson’s leisure time Time is officially over.

Next, he is about to make adequate preparations for this year's draft. For Horford, Henson paid this year's second-round pick and next year's two draft picks. In other words, after this year, Henson will not be able to play his fist in the draft at least until the next year.

Although the Pacers achieved fourth place in the East last season. But this year's draft is still very important to Henson. The reason is simple, this year's rookie includes Kavai Leonard!

Not long after the finals ended, when the Dallas people were still immersed in the joy of winning, the NBA draft draw ceremony had already begun.

For those teams that have lost ground this season, the result of the draft lottery will be the capital of whether they can stand up. Looking at the rise of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the madness of Derrick Rose, you know how important the draft is to the team.

But this year, even at the draft lottery ceremony, it can be seen that the top of each team is worried.

Compared with the NBA draft this summer, the teams seem to be more concerned about the results of labor negotiations. If the negotiations continue to stalemate, then the NBA will most likely welcome another shutdown after the 98-99 season!

The players are locked out, which will undoubtedly cost the team owners and players a lot of money at the same time! The emergence of the financial crisis, and the development of the small ball exposed after the James Baotuan incident is destined to make this negotiation extremely long.

But Henson didn’t care much about whether the league was suspended. First, Vivek had given him a “vaccination shot”, and the league and the team’s owners were definitely more anxious than their own coaches. They would think about it. All means to promote the completion of the negotiation.

Secondly, Henson was anxious to take advantage of the chaotic moment of the shutdown. The minds of others are temporarily negotiating, so Henson put all his mind on building the lineup.

So in the depressed draft lottery, Henson got the 23rd pick in the first round. Of course, the Pacers' draft picks do not need to be drawn, but are ranked according to the results. The Pacers' regular season record of 55 wins and 27 losses this season is indeed gratifying, but it also gave Henson the lowest draft pick since becoming a head coach.

But the Pacers are not a team based on high draft picks. The 11th and 10th picks that Henson has won since he took office are actually not too high. What he is best at is selecting the most suitable players with low draft picks.

So, holding a 23rd pick in his hand, Henson flew to the Chicago United Center with his team.

Of course, this time Henson is not going to play in the playoffs, but to participate in this year's joint trial!

At Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, Henson took his two confidantes, Frank Vogel and Stephen Silas, plus some necessary staff, to officially start their joint training trip.

Henson looked very excited, because he was planning the draft before the regular season was over. Leonard's attractive potential and physical conditions have made Henson think about it for a long time.

But before that, Henson has one important thing to do.

"What!? You want me to be your assistant coach next season?" Stephen Silas looked at Henson in surprise. He thought that Henson would be more willing to explore rookies.

"Yes, I hope you are mainly responsible for the work of video analysis and data collection. Byrd has agreed to this proposal, and now I want to hear what you mean." Looking at Silas with a surprised look, Henson triumphed. Smiled.

Last season, the Pacers coaching staff really played a leading role, in fact, only Henson and Vogel. There is no doubt that the work of four or five people is all weighed on them, and the workload is too much.

Henson alone is responsible for tactics, training plan collection videos, data analysis, and on-the-spot command. Vogel is responsible for defense and team training. He also shares most of the tactical planning work with Henson.

Although the two worked closely together last season, the Pacers also played a strong defense that shocked the league. But the workload is too large, which also means that the two can't concentrate on what they are good at.

If Vogel can focus on defense, and Henson does not need to analyze the video and data himself, then the efficiency of the Pacers coaching staff will definitely improve a lot.

"Of course I do! Who would be unwilling to be able to return to the coaching position?" Silas was so happy that he almost didn't jump up. Compared to running around watching young people play, Silas was naturally willing to become a team assistant. .

And there is no doubt that the salary of the team's assistant coach is much higher than he is now.

Seeing Silas readily agreed, a small rock in Henson's heart also fell.

The success of a head coach is actually inseparable from the efforts of the assistant coaches after the opening.

Just look at how many talented Spurs coaches are, and you know how much assistance Popovich can get. It is said that Van Gundy was good at defense, but it is easy to ignore that his defensive coach is precisely Tom Thibodeau.

Henson is very aware of the importance of the assistant coach to him. He is not his predecessor, Jim O'Brien, who always goes his own way. A coach must have his own set of connections and systems within the management to be truly successful.

And now, from the coaching staff Vogel and Silas, to the higher-level Bird and Vivek. Henson's system in the Pacers management has also been initially established.

As usual, this year's joint trial is still very lively. Although the teams were somewhat distracted under the influence of labor-management negotiations, when Henson stepped into the joint trial site, he still saw a crowd of people.

As soon as he entered the scene, Henson couldn't wait to scan with the data analysis module. When others don't know what a rookie can make, Henson can control information that others don't know, which always makes him feel dark and cool.

This year's draft was once again considered a draft year, and Henson discovered that it was not without reason. He watched several high-potential rookies who had already been heated up, but none of them had a high potential value.

It's hard to see a player with good potential and good physical condition, and he is actually Duke genius Kelly Irving.

Irving, of course, needless to say, the Clevelandans have booked him as the top pick. But apart from Irving's other hot rookies, it's a bit horrible.

"Okay, everyone starts to work in groups! Today is destined to be very hard, but you will definitely pay off. Remember, we must remember our guidelines. Don’t reveal our draft intentions to anyone, even your mother. Calling to ask you, you have to answer Don’t know, is it clear?"

After a few glances, Henson arranged for his team to officially start the joint trial.

In order to prevent the tragedy of the Timberwolves' sand sculpture scout from happening to him, Henson specifically asked everyone. Not letting others know what you want to do has always been Henson's code of conduct.

"Don't worry, Coach Henson, even if my mother is holding a crowbar, I can't pry open my mouth." A little brother in charge of video analysis made everyone laugh.

"That's good," Henson waved his hand, "Go!"

Instructing everyone to set up cameras, prepare to record data, and collect intelligence... This feeling of controlling the overall situation with one hand really makes Henson extremely refreshing.

Just two years ago, in this place, he was called by O'Brien. And now, he has his own team, and the draft plan can be exactly what he wants.

This year's draft is more difficult than last year, because the Pacers could securely win George with the 10th overall pick last year, and no one competed against them. But this year, under the eye-catching Spurs, it is not easy to find a way to get Leonard with the 23rd pick.

Without much thought, Henson looked for Leonard, hoping to see how the taciturn kid performed in the joint training.

But when he was looking for Leonard, suddenly a big A+ jumped into Henson's eyes.

"Steven, what's that guy's name?" Henson hurried to Silas. He didn't know the rookie, which meant that another omission with the highest potential had appeared!

Silas looked at the direction of Henson's fingers, then picked up a thick rookie information book and flipped through it.

"Jimmy, Jimmy Butler, from Marquette University, is a senior, and is an older rookie. The latest forecast is placed between the end of the first round and the top five in the second round."

Silas answered.