Published at 27th of July 2022 9:04 pm

Chapter 442 The Filming in Austrália 4

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Jake had asked the directors for two weeks to be able to sort out everything he had to do after the NBA draft and be able to go back to Australia, Jake knew that a few days after the NBA draft the teams would announce the NBA lockout and so Jake could quietly return to filming.

So without giving too many details, Jake had already asked David to speed up the signing of contracts with the sponsoring companies and even with the Lakers' team, so as not to have any problems and delay his schedule.

David did not know the real reason and thought that Jake was concerned about the filming he was doing, David was not so excited about it because he was concerned that the team that selected Jake would not like him to be gone for a few more weeks.

So David agreed that it was better to speed up the signing of the contracts because later it would be more difficult for these companies to withdraw from the agreement, with David urgently organizing the meetings the companies that had already prepared for it a few months ago agreed to sign the official contract quickly.

David couldn't ask the Lakers 'team to do this because until Jake was selected by the Clippers' team their deal was not going to happen, moreover, David represented the side of many players who were against the NBA owners and that was one of the reasons for the NBA lockout.

Fortunately, Jerry West's interest in Jake was great and he had the authority to sign the contract with Jake quickly, in the next few days before Eva arrived in Vancouver, Jake and David were scheduling several meetings and resolving the final arrangements for the deals.

So the two could see a sports program on television that was talking about this year's NBA draft that would take place in 2 days, naturally, that caught Jake's attention because it was known to everyone that Jake would be in that draft.

"In the coming days, we will have the NBA draft for this season, with the discussion between NBA players and owners the future of this season is uncertain and may even be canceled which has never happened before."

"Few players who are big stars like Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing, and others are paid very high salaries and only the biggest teams can pay those salaries."

"In the meantime, ordinary players are paid very low wages and the teams want a salary cap for the teams to try to maintain a more competitive season in the coming NBA seasons and for them to pay fewer wages of course."

"But even in this situation the players who came from universities, high school, and other countries are wanting to enter the NBA and so this year's draft has to happen, this year's draft seems to have big names who can be NBA stars in coming seasons."

"It's true, I also think that the draft can be one of the best in history and so more teams can have good players to try to get a place in the playoffs for the next seasons."

"So today we're going to try to decide who the players are most likely to be the top 10 choices in this draft and which players the teams might want more and need more of."

"Yes, I think the player who could be first in this NBA draft is Vince Carter, he has performed very well in the last three years playing for the Tar Heels team and won two NCAA tournaments and has the style of play that all teams want."

"It really is possible, Vince Carter is a very skilled player who scores a lot and is still improving and is also the type of player that fans like and can help teams regain popularity."

"But if you think about it like that Antawn Jamison has a better chance of being the first pick in this draft, he was one of the best players on the Tar Heels team in recent seasons and had a great rebound and point average in games too."

"Thinking about it Larry Hughes can also be a good choice if the team needs an SG, he will definitely be in the top 10 in this draft."

"If the team needs a Center this season they don't have many options, there are Raef LaFrentz and Michael Doleac who can play as Center and as a PF also in games, we also have Robert Traylor and Michael Olowokandi who can be chosen."

"That's right, but we don't really have a big name that everyone expects to be an NBA star like Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan in recent years, as a strong player we also have Dirk Nowitzki who comes from Germany and can be a star the NBA for the next few seasons."

"We have other players like Paul Pierce who is an interesting player for several teams in this draft and playing as PG we have Jason Williams and Mike Bibby who can also be the first pick of this draft."

Jake was watching this program and was secretly impressed because the commentators hit almost every player who would be in the top 10 in what Jake remembered before he had his second chance.

But one thing he was surprised about was that his name was never mentioned by commentators, he knew that he might not be the favorite among commentators to be the first pick, but he should be in the top 10 for having won the NCAA twice tournament and the Naismith College Player of the Year.

"And we have perhaps one of the most important players in this draft who is Jake Smith, we know which teams will have the choices in this draft, and Jake is perhaps one of the only players who would be among the top 3 choices of all teams in this draft."

"Jake is a PG who can play as SG as well and even as SF if necessary, Jake has an incredible average of over 33.9 points per game and 10.5 assists per game, a great player in three-point shots It is very fast."

"In addition, Jake was the College Player of the Year twice and helped the Tar Heels team win the NCAA tournament for two seasons, in addition, Jake is a great defensive player and averages 7.6 steals per game, 1.2 blocks per game and 8.1 rebounds per game."

"Even so, I don't think the Los Angeles Clippers team will think of choosing Jake as his first pick, the Clippers team should choose Michael Olowokandi because they want a Center and believe in his potential."

"The Vancouver Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings teams can choose Jake because they need a PG, so Jake can be the second pick in this draft or the seventh pick, I'm sure Jake will be an NBA star and any team that chooses him will be doing it right."

"But these are just our speculations and in the next few days we will see which players will be chosen in the 1998 NBA draft."

Seeing the commentators speaking well of him Jake was very happy, he knew that the negotiation of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers team is a secret, there were not many times that these rival teams from the same conference did negotiations like this.

So everyone would be surprised when that happened and many commentators would criticize the Lakers team for exchanging three players for a new player, Jerry West would be highly criticized and Jake would be lucky that the NBA lockout would attract media attention and he would go to Australia after that NBA draft.

The other day very early Eva arrived at the hotel where Jake was and a room was already reserved for her, naturally Jake spent the whole day with Eva while David was still talking to the companies, Jake realized that Eva was a little nervous about this NBA draft and decided to talk to her about it.

"What happened, mom? Is there anything that worries you?"

"You know well what is worrying me, I know that you are very talented and can be successful on any team, but I am nervous to know which team you will play on."

"You don't have to be nervous, mom, I'm going to tell you a secret to calm down, it's very likely that the team I'm going to play is already decided."

"What do you mean, Jake? Wasn't it a lottery chosen by the teams by luck?"

"Yes, it was a lottery and no one is doing anything wrong, but a few months earlier my sports agent, David, who you know well, negotiated with the Lakers team for me to play there this season."

"So the Lakers team made an advance negotiation with the Clippers team that if the Clippers team chose me in this draft they would change some players so that I can play for the Lakers team."

"Luckily the Clippers team got the opportunity to choose the first pick in this draft and so it is almost certain that they will choose me to make this exchange with the Lakers team, it is not certain yet because the Clippers team may change their mind at the end and choose another player taking advantage of their first pick."

"But it is very difficult for something like this to happen and that is why I am more likely to play for the Lakers team in the coming seasons."

Listening to Jake talking like that Eva can be more relaxed, if Jake had had all this work and asked his agent to choose the Lakers team then it should be the team that Jake wanted to play and that was what mattered to her.

Even Eva, who didn't understand basketball well, knew that the Los Angeles Lakers team was a very good team and had chances to win several games and she thought that having a good team Jake could show all his talent.

So that day passed quickly and David Falk continued talking to the companies that were sending representatives to sign the contracts with Jake when everything seemed to be right the day of the 1998 NBA draft arrived.

The 1998 NBA draft took place on June 24, 1998, at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and would be broadcast on TNT, Jake well remembered that this was one of the most striking drafts because of Michael Olowokandi, so it was called one of the biggest draft busts in NBA history.

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