Chapter 411: A Bountiful Harvest
“Ahahaha, long time no see! Long time no see. How long has it been since we last met? Tonight’s on me—let’s get together properly, guys.”
Chen Yilun greeted people all the way as he walked into the Barclays Center.
With his third championship secured this year, Chen Yilun officially became the youngest dynasty general manager in league history.
If those old foxes had once viewed him with caution and resistance, Chen Yilun had now completely left them in the dust.
Standing in front of him, the other team general managers had virtually no ability to compete.
What Chen Yilun had shown over the past few draft classes could only be described as outrageous.
No matter the pick, he always managed to select the most suitable and outstanding player.
After chatting for a while, Chen Yilun entered the Kings’ private room.
“How are the preparations coming along?”
“No problem. Everything’s been taken care of.”
Executive Vice President Graham handed him a document. “We have too many draft picks this year, so this is as streamlined as we could make it.”
Because Chen Yilun had long adhered to a strategy of deferring moves, even though he hadn’t made any major splashes in free agency over the past two seasons, the team was still overflowing with draft assets.
This year’s picks were especially numerous and messy. Graham had spent a long time just sorting everything out into this document.
“We’ve got this many?”
Chen Yilun couldn’t help but sigh after skimming through it.
The Kings’ main draft assets this year were as follows:
During the DeMarcus Cousins trade, the Wizards’ first-round pick ended up in the Kings’ hands. With John Wall’s injuries and Cousins’ departure, former president Grunfeld had effectively stomped on the Wizards on his way out.
As a result, the Wizards’ record this season could only be described as a complete disaster.
They ultimately landed the 9th pick in the lottery.
Likewise, because the Knicks had drawn the fourth pick last year, they managed to keep the first-round pick originally owed to the Kings, pushing it back to this year. And this year, the Knicks proved the saying: dodge the first, but you can’t dodge the fifteenth.
The Knicks landed the 5th pick, failed to trigger top-three protection, and that pick now belonged to Chen Yilun as well.
It was also worth noting that in the earlier Thaddeus Young trade, the Cavaliers had sent a top-five-protected first-round pick to the Kings. However, the Cavaliers landed the 3rd pick this year, kept it, and pushed the obligation to an unprotected first-round pick in 2020.
The Kings’ own first-round pick had been sent to the Bulls in the Butler trade, so this year Chen Yilun held two premium picks: No. 5 and No. 9.
And compared to the first-rounders, the sheer volume of second-round picks in Chen Yilun’s hands was genuinely intimidating.
These included the Celtics’ 2019 second-round pick from the Otto Porter trade, the 76ers’ 2019 second-round pick from the McConnell trade, and a Raptors second-rounder that had been thrown in as filler during a 2017 first-round trade.
“This is way too many.”
Chen Yilun looked at the long list of picks.
“Can we even use all of these?”
“Definitely too many,” Graham said, shaking his head.
“My suggestion is that we only use the two first-round picks this year. The remaining second-rounders can be traded back again.”
As Chen Yilun’s right-hand man, Graham had already fully absorbed Chen Yilun’s philosophy of deferring value and now applied it with ease.
“Push all of them back? Is that doable?”
Chen Yilun asked as he reviewed the picks again.
While the Kings had plenty of second-rounders this year, their quality wasn’t great.
Aside from the 76ers’ pick at No. 41, the other two were both around No. 50—essentially late second-round selections.
“There’s a market for them,” Graham shrugged.
“With the salary cap rising these past couple of years, the advantages of second-round picks are becoming more obvious. Their value keeps climbing. If we package those two together, someone will definitely take them.”
As the salary cap increased, the cost of signing players skyrocketed as well. The flood of toxic contracts from a few years ago was the clearest proof.
General managers had learned their lesson and stopped blindly handing out long-term deals.
Under these conditions, second-round picks—cheap and flexible by nature—were slowly starting to gain real attention.
“My personal view—”
Chen Yilun lightly tapped the table with his fingers.
“We already have plenty of young players on the roster. Adding two more high picks would stretch our development capacity.”
What he didn’t say outright was that rookie contracts had also ballooned in value over the past two years.
Especially for high lottery picks—their salaries still counted against the cap.
“Is it possible that we only keep one high pick and just sell the other one outright?”
The room fell briefly silent.
“It’s not impossible,” Graham said after thinking for a moment.
“This year is the final year of the golden three-year window. First-round picks are basically priceless on the market. Either of our two first-rounders would spark a bidding war the moment we put them out there.”
“Then put the word out.”
Chen Yilun stretched and stood up.
“Say we’re looking to sell our second-round picks. First-round picks are negotiable as well. Let them come to me with their offers.”
“Got it.”
Graham nodded and stepped out to make the calls.
Not long after, Chen Yilun’s phone started ringing.
“That was fast.”
He glanced at the caller ID and couldn’t help laughing.
“Your information network is impressive. I just gave the order a few minutes ago, and you’re already calling.”
“That’s because the bait you threw out was just too tempting. Impossible to resist.”
Buford’s voice came through the phone.
“So, what are you looking for? Immediate help, or future assets?”
“Future assets.”
Chen Yilun answered without a second’s hesitation.
On the other end, Buford let out a silent breath of relief.
What he feared most right now was Chen Yilun asking for immediate impact players. If that happened, at least half the league’s general managers would lose sleep.
After all, ever since becoming an unrestricted free agent, Durant had been openly flirting with multiple teams. Butler hadn’t made such obvious moves, but his intention to leave Sacramento was still clear.
If Chen Yilun wanted ready-made contributors, it would mean he was prepared to ride the dynasty’s remaining momentum and charge straight at the unprecedented goal of a four-peat—regardless of whether Durant or Butler stayed.
And if that were the case, it would be a disastrous season not just for Sacramento, but for the entire league.
Author's Note
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