Chapter 445 - 1998 NBA Draft 3 (1/2)
[Another thing that you have to understand is that even if your skills are in the SS rank they can still improve a lot, your skill in the three-point shot and the mid-range shot has already passed a lot of other players who also had SS rank in these skills.]
Jake understood that too, even if he had SS rank in Layups one day, he wouldn't be as good as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was, even if he had SS dunk rank he wouldn't be as good as Michael Jordan, even if he had rank Blocked SS he wouldn't be as good as Hakeem Olajuwon and even if he had SS rank in rebounds he wouldn't be as good as Wilt Chamberlain.
Of course, Jake had no intention of being better than these basketball legends in all his skills, but he wanted to be the best of the three-point shot that was what he was always best at, Jake also saw the possibility of being the best in steals in his career.
Jake also didn't think he could be considered the best player in NBA history, he knew that even if he scored more points and won more NBA titles than Michael Jordan he still wouldn't be a better player than him.
Maybe after leaving the NBA, someone could say that Jake Smith was just like Michael Jordan and that would be the greatest honor that Jake thought he could have in his career, especially since Jake would know he got what he had thanks to the help of the system while these other players did not.
After talking to the system Jake understood his skills more, even so, he couldn't help but be excited about having such good stats, he was more confident about his debut season in the NBA.
Jake spent the next day with his mother until Eva had to go to Miami in the afternoon, Jake told her that he would go home if all went well after finishing the film shoot in Australia, while Jake was happy negotiations were going on NBA.
As agreed on the next day of the draft, the Los Angeles Lakers team general manager Jerry West concluded Jake's exchange agreement with Elden Campbell, Eddie Jones, and Derek Harper, thereby the Los Angeles Clippers team general manager Elgin Baylor was happy because he thought he had made a great deal for his team.
Jerry West had already spoken to Elden Campbell, Eddie Jones, and Derek Harper before the negotiation and the three accepted the change, Elden Campbell was a young and skilled player and knew he was the type of player that the Los Angeles Clippers team wanted.
So he would have more playing time and also have more prominence on the team and with the other players who would go with him the Los Angeles Clippers team would improve a lot, Eddie Jones could play only one year on the Los Angeles Clippers team and then leave for another team.
And Derek Harper was thinking about retiring this season, but he could play another season for the Los Angeles Clippers before retiring, they didn't care that they would be traded in exchange for a new player because they knew the NBA was like that.
So Jake traveled to Los Angeles the same day with David Falk, David had already told the sponsorship companies that they would be in Los Angeles next week and that there would be signing of endors.e.m.e.nt contracts, the companies were more excited and confident knowing that Jake would be playing for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
Naturally, everyone in the sports media heard about the news of the exchange of three great players who were featured on the Los Angeles Lakers team to have newcomer Jake Smith, most of the media criticized Jerry West's decision and said he went crazy after the success of the hiring Kobe Bryant.
Of course, many who were smarter realized Jerry West's intentions and secretly praised him, the Lakers' team had Shaquille O'Neal and wouldn't have much room for Elden Campbell to play.
Derek Harper was close to retiring and having a young player like Jake was much better and they wanted to sell Eddie Jones to have more time for Kobe Bryant to play games, moreover, they would free up a lot more space to pay a higher salary for Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.
Even so because Jake had been the first pick, his salary would be very high and would only increase in other years, but Jerry West was right and Jake Smith was one of the best players on the team in the coming years, it would be worth paying a high salary.
Even with a high salary, the Lakers' team would save 6 million dollars with this exchange and that amount would only be higher if Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones received the salary increase this season.
Jake arrived in Los Angeles and soon went to Jerry West's office to sign the contract, even though David Falk said that Jake could be paid less because of exceptions to his contract, Jerry West decided to pay the salary that Jake would receive as the first pick of that draft.
It was interesting that for at least 1 season Jake would receive a higher salary than Kobe Bryant who would renew the contract only next year, Jake was happy with the respect that the Lakers' team had with him.