Say no to the Pacers + Jazz! Choi Yong-hee officially joined the Trailblazers, or become the next NBA Chinese player

Crimson Rain Kan Ball

2024-06-28 14:34

In this offseason at the end of the 2023-24 CBA season, a news about Cui Yongxi, the star of the Guangzhou men's basketball team, who was not selected in this year's NBA draft, continued to heat up. With the end of the second round of the NBA League draft, Choi Yong-hee, the new core of the men's basketball team, officially became the undrafted. However, after the defeat, including the Jazz, Pacers and Trail Blazers, it was revealed that they threw an olive branch to Choi Yong-hee. Subsequently, Choi Yong-hee rejected the recruitment of the Pacers and Jazz, and chose to sign with the Trail Blazers. According to people familiar with the matter, Choi Yong-hee will sign an Exhibit10 contract with the Trail Blazers, and will play in the NBA Summer League and have the opportunity to get a formal contract from the team.

In fact, the Pacers did not select Choi Yong-hee in three second-round picks, and it is understandable that the latter turned down his recruitment. After all, none of the three second-round picks selected by the Pacers are necessarily better than Choi Yong-hee, so it seems that this team does not plan to focus on developing Choi Yong-hee. Although the Jazz team is stronger and has a more complete system for cultivating newcomers, Choi Yong-hee will face very big competition once he joins. However, it is a team like the Trailblazers that has no pressure to compete for the championship that can give Choi Yong-hee more training opportunities in the future. According to statistics, Cui Yongxi was able to contribute an average of 15.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game in the Guangzhou team last season.

For Choi Yong-hee, although the statistics and dominance of the CBA league are not outstanding, the excellent performance during the trial period did attract the attention of many scouts in the NBA. Despite his defeat, Choi Young-hee was given the opportunity to engage with several NBA teams. After a fierce selection, Choi Young-hee finally reached a signing agreement with the Trail Blazers. This means that Choi Yong-hee will become the first Chinese player to represent an NBA team in the summer league after Abdul Salamu, Zhang Zhenlin, Zeng Fanbo and Guo Haowen. For Choi Yong-hee, although he failed to directly win the favor of NBA teams in the draft, his subsequent performance also had the opportunity to be directly signed by some NBA teams.

Of course, it is not easy for Choi Yong-hee to land in the NBA league smoothly like Zhou Qi, Sun Yue and others. However, Choi Young-hee is likely to get a very good boost with the Trail Blazers. In the future, Cui Yongxi may officially become the new core leader of the Chinese men's basketball team. Although Cui Yongxi is not sure whether he will be able to gain a foothold in the NBA league at present, after this period of intensive building and training, he will definitely be able to become the strongest player in the Chinese men's basketball team. On the basis of Zhou Qi's current continuous injuries, the Chinese men's basketball team needs a new leader to carry the banner. Choi Yong-hee's stronger physical fitness and athleticism do have a higher ceiling.

With all that said, let's look forward to Choi Young-hee's outstanding performance with the Portland Trail Blazers. As long as Choi Young-hee can keep improving and continue to show his characteristics, then he will definitely have a chance to become the next Chinese player in the NBA.

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