But Zhang Hao didn't care, and neither did Carter. The two competed in shooting duels, each time with 50 shots. Zhang Hao took long shots, Carter took three-pointers, and occasionally Carter would shoot mid-range. In mid-range shots, Carter had a decent foundation, but compared to Zhang Hao, who specialized in mid-range shots and had recently made rapid progress, he was indeed far behind.
This made Carter even more interested and determined to work hard in this area.
The next day, the game day of the McDonald's High School All-American Game arrived. Zhang Hao and Carter weren't planning to watch it. The players on the court might not lose to them in terms of strength. At the high school stage, physical fitness is the most important, which is why technical geniuses like Mike Bibby are particularly favored by colleges because of their uniqueness. As for those with good physical fitness, there are quite a few of them.
But the game itself... really wasn't much to see.
While the two focused on personal training and occasionally tried out duels, in an office on the second floor of the Great Western Forum, someone would occasionally watch their training from the window.
"Jerry, are you observing that high school student again?" A middle-aged man in his 40s walked into the office and said to the 50-something team general manager Jerry West by the window, "That guy named Carter is excellent, right? We can wait for him to get out of college and try to draft him."
In public, Carter, who was still a high school student, wasn't that well known. But for NBA teams with many scouts, Carter's talent had long been recognized. After all, he was the best high school player in Florida and had received a full scholarship offer from the prestigious basketball school North Carolina. After two or three years of college training, under normal circumstances, he would definitely become a fairly outstanding professional player.
Jerry West smiled and replied, "Yes, Mickey, Carter is excellent and might be part of our future revival plan."
The Lakers had many quality pieces, but future lottery picks weren't easy to obtain. It would require significant effort and might even require using a center to get them.
Geniuses like Carter would definitely be contested by many teams. From the information Jerry West currently knew, he judged that the draft in the next few years would be very competitive. Some teams might tank severely since college talents like Duncan, Iverson, and Olajuwon were very attractive.
The Lakers' performance certainly wouldn't be too bad. With Divac as an all-star center, they had picked so many outstanding players with mid-to-low draft picks in the past three years. The playoffs were definitely within reach, and in the next two to three years, it would be almost impossible to get a lottery pick.
Of course, attention must still be paid, and Jerry West already had a revival plan and had started laying the groundwork in the media, but they still needed someone on the outside.
Carter was one of Jerry West's targets, and he reminded Jerry West of a young Dominique Wilkins.
He initially became aware because Carter came to train, so he paid attention and didn't follow the team to Seattle this year. They definitely had no chance of winning the championship. Although Eddie Jones and Van Exel had all-star fringe capabilities, and Divac was also at fringe all-star level, relying on these three to win the championship... even if all three were at their peaks, it would still be difficult. So after not achieving anything by the mid-season trade deadline, Jerry West had shifted his focus to the future.
Incidentally, Jerry West also noticed a Chinese high school student and a talented white point guard from New Jersey. Initially, it was just because this Chinese high school student showed astonishing athletic ability in the dunk contest tryouts two days ago. These two days, McDonald's intensified its promotion in the Chinese community, leaving an impression on Jerry West.
But he realized that this Chinese high schooler not only had exceptional athletic ability but also had outstanding shooting skills!
Jerry West had observed Chinese players and found that, theoretically, they all had pretty good shooting talent, but their shortcomings were more pronounced. They lacked mobility and were insufficient in confrontation.
Zhang Hao was the same. If there was a shortcoming, it was that he was too "thin." It didn't matter in high school, but in adult games like the NCAA, it might get exposed.
And generally, Chinese players' ceilings weren't high, mainly because Chinese basketball was mostly limited to the domestic system. Chinese basketball was a product of the system, rarely allowing players to play in European or American leagues. Moreover, Chinese basketball development was distorted. Almost every player was groomed as a center because of their height from a young age. Inside players had relatively sound fundamentals, but outside players usually started focusing on outside skills only after their body shape solidified, by which time it was already too late.
In the past two days of watching Zhang Hao's training, he discovered something astonishing.
In terms of skills, Zhang Hao couldn't compare to Mike Bibby and was far behind Carter.
But when it came to mid-range shots, while still in high school, Zhang Hao had already reached an NBA level! While it might not be exceptionally outstanding in the NBA, it was certainly adequate and even considered excellent!
Mike Bibby and Carter didn't have much of an idea; they just thought Zhang Hao's mid-range shots were very strong. But Jerry West, having worked in the NBA for over 30 years as both a player and a manager, saw much more.
That wasn't all. Jerry West keenly noticed the differences in Zhang Hao's training details from the first to the second day. That is to say, after a day of training, Zhang Hao could effectively summarize!