Hansen's tryout with the Thunders was his most impressive yet, and he smoothly secured an opportunity for a second-round tryout.
"I spoke with the people from the Thunders, and they plan to pit you against James Harden next. If all goes as expected, they aim to draft you with the 25th pick."
On the flight to Memphis, Thomas shared some good news with Hansen.
Hansen looked at his agent, utterly shocked. Your connections are excessively good!
But he couldn't hide the excitement in his heart.
From the end of the second round to the middle of the second round, and then to the end of the first round, his draft stock had soared like a rocket.
This situation was rare even in the history of the draft.
He still had to thank Durant for it; Durant was a golden backboard!
...
Among the six teams that conducted tryouts, the Grizzlies were one of the teams Hansen hoped to join.
Thomas believed that the Grizzlies' starting lineup for the outside positions was already set, leaving no room for Hansen's growth.
Thomas wasn't wrong, but Hansen happened to be quite familiar with the Grizzlies team.
Mike Conley, OJ Mayo, Rudy Guy, Zach Randolph, and Little Gasol.
While this lineup looked strong, their defense on the outside was lacking, and it was only after they signed Tony Allen that the Grizzlies truly began to rise.
But at that moment, Tony Allen was still in Boston, and Hansen had a complete opportunity to take over that position.
Upon arriving in Memphis, Hansen found that there weren't many hot prospects at the tryout.
Logically, the Grizzlies had the 2nd, 27th, and 36th picks at that year's draft.
However, Francis had refused to join the Grizzlies after being selected by them, forcing them to trade him to the Rockets. That year, both Harden and Tyreke Evans also declined to attend the Grizzlies' tryout, making Memphis a somewhat unpopular location.
During the tryouts, Hansen noticed that Chris Wallace, the general manager of the Grizzlies, kept an eye on him intentionally or unintentionally.
This confused him as he was sure he had never met this general manager before.
For the one-on-one drills, the Grizzlies chose their starting shooting guard, OJ Mayo, as the opponent for the rookies.
This left Hansen a bit puzzled. Did you arrange this with the Thunders?
While Mayo wasn't as talented as Durant, his one-on-one skills were strong, and he had abundant stamina.
After all, he was the third overall pick of the 2008 draft and had averaged 18.5 points in his rookie season, having once overshadowed Ross as the top high school player in America.
Although Hansen hadn't outperformed him, he showcased his skills well, marking his presence among the rookie tryouts.
After the tryout ended, Hansen was invited to Wallace's office alone.
It was a scene reminiscent of his time in Miami.
Except Wallace's next words shocked Hansen even more.
"We plan to trade up in the draft to select you before the Thunders."
It wasn't just the draft promise that surprised him... How did Wallace know the Thunders intended to pick him?
Wallace had an insider in the Thunders!
Or perhaps, he had paid for this inside information?
Regardless of which it was, this general manager was no ordinary person.
Of course, whichever it was didn't matter as much as Wallace's attitude toward him.
This was a first-round draft promise!
Thomas had mentioned that if nothing unexpected happened, the Thunders would pick him, but who knew if something unexpected might occur?
However, this was a solid promise from the Grizzlies.
"We are looking forward to the defensive energy you can bring to our team's outside positions," Wallace extended his hand to Hansen.
"I am also very excited to join the Grizzlies," Hansen immediately stood up and grasped Wallace's hand.
Who said Memphis was a bad place to be? This is where the dream begins!
...
Orlando was Hansen's last tryout location.
This tryout was somewhat unique.
Because, theoretically, the Magic didn't fit into the category of "playoff or fringe playoff teams" Thomas had mentioned.
Howard was at the peak of his career, and the Magic were among the favorites to contend for the championship.
But because of Howard's presence, "One Star and Four Shooters," Hansen's skills could be maximized.
The Magic didn't have a first-round pick that year, and they were also still in the playoffs against the Cavaliers, making this a relatively straightforward tryout for Hansen, which he completed smoothly.
Once the Magic's tryout was finished, Hansen's first round of tryouts was also over, and all he had to do was wait for the upcoming second-round tryouts with the Bobcats and the Thunders.
With about a week's gap in between, he decided to stay in Orlando and train.
Meanwhile, he also continued to earn some extra money.
Previous crazy investments had netted him a small profit, providing him with some startup capital, most of which he had spent on betting on the Lakers to win the championship, with a little left over.
An excellent opportunity was right before him.
The Eastern Conference Finals between the Cavaliers and the Magic.
The Cavaliers had been championship favorites for years, reaching the Finals in '07, battling it to seven games with the eventual champions, the Celtics' Big Three, in '08, and securing the league's best record with 66 wins that year.
Things were aligning perfectly that year, and the Magic had taken down the Celtics in the semifinals.
Unless something unexpected happened, the Cavaliers were set to make it back to the Finals after a year, setting the stage for James to face Kobe in the destined 23 vs. 24 battle.
So, at such a time, Hansen simply...bet on the Magic.
The odds were high for the Magic, and he knew that they, not the Cavaliers, would be the ones advancing to the Finals.
Having placed the bet, naturally, he had to attend the games.
Sure enough, it was the first home game of the series for the Magic, with the teams tied at 1-1, making this a pivotal match.
But since Hansen had some leftover cash, buying a ticket was easy.
He even spent money to bring Rondo over from Miami.
Watching the game is more fun with a companion.
The Cavaliers had lost their home court advantage by losing the previous game, and this game was a do-or-die for them.
After the game started... they quickly fell behind.
Howard was way too fierce!
Even though Hansen had seen Howard play at his peak, the live experience was much more intense than watching it on TV.
The phrase "overthrowing rivers and seas, taking whatever one desires" couldn't be more apt.
The Cavaliers simply couldn't stop him one-on-one; they had to tighten up, but once they did, the Magic's perimeter players had opportunities everywhere.
In the end, the Cavaliers had to resort to fouling Howard, sending him to the free throw line, and Howard's free throws were particularly strong today.
Moreover, what was even more daunting was Howard's dominance on the defensive end, which severely limited James' performance.
By the end of the first quarter, the Magic led 24 to 17.
However, halfway through the second quarter, the situation on the court suddenly changed.
It wasn't that the Cavaliers erupted or the Magic's performance slipped, but rather that Howard was called for 3 successive fouls.
Including the first quarter, he had already accumulated 4 fouls by halftime!
"This is way too rigged!" Rondo couldn't help but complain from the side; he had bet on the Cavaliers to win.
His comment signified just how biased the refereeing was, especially considering this game was on the Magic's home court.
Howard fouled out in the third quarter after playing 28 minutes, scoring 24 points, grabbing 9 rebounds, while James managed 41 points, 7 rebounds, and 9 assists, a near triple-double on 24 attempts from the line.
But in the end, the Cavaliers still lost the game 88 to 99.
If the Cavaliers could lose like that, it just meant they truly couldn't overcome the Magic.
A week later, Hansen had completed his second-round trials with the Bobcats and Thunders, marking the end of his trial journey.
He received four draft promises after these trials: 43 from the Heat, 40 from the Bobcats, 27 from the Grizzlies, and 25 from the Thunders.
Such trial results could not be deemed anything but successful.
Of course, these promises were not public and also not entirely reliable.
But at least one thing was certain, his selection was guaranteed.
At this time, it was early June, with just under half a month until the official start of the draft conference.
Hansen also had a relatively free period.
During this time, in addition to continuing his training, he could continue to explore the issue of negative fan values.
The negative fan values earned from Jordan were unexpected, as social media remained his main source.
But he realized that the last increase of negative fan values was notably limited.
He eventually understood that the negative fan values generated by an individual had a limit.
This was reasonable, otherwise it would be exploitable.
This meant that he had to keep adding new negative fans to continue increasing his negative fan values, preparing for the next stage of talent exchange.
So, he posted a new status on his personal page.
Inspired by the recent game between the Cavaliers and the Magic.
"Dwight Howard averages 5.3 fouls per game with 3 out of 6 games fouling out, yet the Magic eliminated the Cavaliers 4-2."
Correct, he targeted the second largest fan base of the NBA.
This post led to a barrage of attacks from James' fans.
"Howard can only stop James by fouling, blames it on the referees because he can't defend?"
"James averaged 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 8 assists per series, can you ask for more?"
"Despite Howard being fouled out so many times, the Magic still won, doesn't this show his teammates are much stronger than James'?"
"The Cavaliers lost, but James didn't lose!"
…
During Cavaliers 1.0, James was still thought well of, despite taking many steps and being favored by the referees, he was still the Dragon Slayer.
So, when Hansen posted these facts to criticize him, he naturally couldn't escape sanction from James' die-hard fans.
Hmm, Hansen thought he could step up his efforts.
He then posted a second status.
"James averages 38.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 8 assists, with an average of 15.7 free throw attempts per game, hitting 48.7%/29.7%/74.5% respectively;
Howard averages 25.8 points, 13.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, with an average of 11.2 free throw attempts per game, hitting 65.1%/0%/70.1%."
This post blew up his social media comments.
"How is James getting so many more free throws than Howard, without looking at the names I would've thought it was peak O'Neal!"
"Without seeing the detailed stats I thought James played much better than Howard, seeing this, 5 more points from free throws, just foul out earlier, tsk!"
"I want to add on, James averages 6.1 three-point attempts per game, the Magic are just letting him shoot, yet James still dominates the foul calls."
…
"This Han is just inciting conflict! He's anti-James!"
"This guy isn't even in the NBA yet, he's just a clown seeking attention!"
"A kid not in the NBA daring to critically speak of the league's top player, shameless."
…
These consecutive waves of posts once again made Hansen's negative fan values surge.
Hansen had inadvertently discovered a shortcut to increase his negative fan values.
And doing so had minimal repercussions for him.
After all, it's not like he was going to join the Cavaliers.