The day after the draft concluded, Yang Shuai received interview invitations from multiple teams, including several front-office opportunities.
Russell Westbrook's remarks had made a greater impact than anticipated. After all, it had been broadcast on national television, and perhaps to fuel the buzz, the interview clip had even been included in the official draft highlight reel.
Yang Shuai didn't rush off to those interviews, however. Knowing where he wanted to go, he was waiting on the Lakers' response.
Sure enough, that very evening, his phone rang with a call from Mitch Kupchak.
"Hanson, welcome to the Lakers. Looking forward to working together."
Yang Shuai was officially in. The role he received was exactly what Kupchak had promised: assistant general manager.
The team he wanted, the job he desired. Despite all the twists and turns along the way, when the dust settled, Yang Shuai had gotten everything he set out for.
Even better, exceeding his expectations, the Lakers arranged housing for him because of his position as assistant general manager. He could stay there until he found a suitable place of his own.
His contract was for one year at a hundred thousand dollars—plenty to rent just about any place he fancied in Los Angeles, so long as it wasn't in Beverly Hills.
This meant he wouldn't have to live with his "parents." That had been one of his motives for working at the bar in the first place: while he didn't share the original host's bitter friction with them, sharing a roof with two strangers while pretending to maintain an affectionate bond was no easy feat.
In truth, he had no time to ponder house-hunting anyway, because on the very day he reported for duty, he was handed a major responsibility: serving as the team's Summer League general manager.
The NBA Summer League wasn't part of the regular season, and in this era, not every franchise even participated.
Yet its existence was vital. It was an essential proving ground not just for rookies and fringe NBA players, but for front-office and coaching staff as well.
The head coach for Summer League was typically one of the team's assistant coaches—for the Lakers this time around, it was Brian Shaw. The general manager tasked with assembling the roster usually came from the front office, and as the newly appointed assistant GM, Yang Shuai was the natural choice.
This was Yang Shuai's first true test since entering the NBA.
A contract didn't mean his foothold with the Lakers was secure. In the NBA, firings could happen at any moment; everyone in this business lived with uncertainty every day.
Yang Shuai was genuinely thrilled about the assignment. Right off the bat, he had the chance to build his own team.
The challenge before him, however, was immense. Sun Yue was set to play for the Chinese national team in this year's Summer League, and Marc Gasol had outright declined the Lakers' invitation. Of the three rookies the Lakers had drafted, only Javaris Crittenton was actually available to play.
Even including second-year guard Jordan Farmar, Yang Shuai's roster had just two players. Everyone else was up to him to track down.
On top of that, the Las Vegas Summer League the Lakers were attending was slated to tip off on July 6. Factoring in practice time, he had less than a week to put a squad together.
Yang Shuai's first move wasn't rushing straight into the free-agent market. Instead, he appointed Cole as his assistant GM.
Cole had joined the NBA a few months ahead of him and worked in the scouting department, so he certainly possessed a broader familiarity with the player pool.
Cole showed no reluctance toward the offer; on the contrary, he was thrilled.
Anyone could tell from Cole's expression back on the day of the interview that he wasn't having the easiest time with the Lakers. Yang Shuai's gesture was effectively throwing him a lifeline.
As for their roles reversing from before, Cole's experience at Wake Forest had already shown him that when it came to scouting acumen alone, Yang Shuai was far superior.
Cole wasted no time displaying his professionalism. When he arrived to meet Yang Shuai, he brought along a thick binder. Inside was not only this summer's list of free agents, but also players who had logged NBA minutes over the past two years and were currently playing abroad—most of whom would jump at the chance if an NBA team called.
Browsing through the pages, Yang Shuai's first reaction was, "Why haven't they promoted you?"
Cole clearly had talent, yet he remained just an ordinary scout with the Lakers.
"That's the Lakers for you," Cole replied, his tone dripping with realism.
In Lakerland, connections mattered far more than competence.
Come to think of it, without Jerry West's recommendation, Yang Shuai wouldn't have landed this assistant GM role no matter how capable he was—the Lakers hadn't even extended him an interview invitation beforehand.
The list was lengthy, but few names were actually useful to Yang Shuai. Summer League had little to do with high-end free agents, as anyone capable of securing a guaranteed deal wouldn't bother suiting up for these exhibitions.
Most of the remainder were names Yang Shuai had never heard of—fringe guys who would struggle to even earn pre-season minutes in the NBA.
Still, Yang Shuai managed to pick out a few names worth pursuing.
The first was Von Wafer.
A former Rocket, he had earned the nickname "Bat King Wafer" among Chinese fans, a playful homage to a character from the martial arts classic *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*.
Wafer actually had deep ties to the Lakers: they had drafted him 39th overall in 2005, and he had spent a season in Los Angeles.
His performance that season had been dreadful, however. Over sixteen appearances for the Lakers, he averaged just 4.6 minutes and 1.3 points while shooting an atrocious 15.8 percent from the floor. Aside from an electrifying putback slam from near the free throw line, he left virtually no imprint on the NBA.
The only reason he still appeared on this list was his strong campaign in the D-League last season, where he averaged 21 points while knocking down 45.3 percent of his three-pointers.
While he still wasn't NBA-caliber right now—his stellar D-League play had earned him a ten-day contract with the Clippers, where he logged a grand total of one minute—Yang Shuai knew players like him were absolute lethal weapons in Summer League.
More importantly, he was a shooting guard, meaning his minutes wouldn't conflict with Jordan Farmar or Javaris Crittenton.
Even though this was Yang Shuai's first Summer League, he understood that winning wasn't the only objective. The team also had to carve out ample development room for the rookies to showcase their game.
The second target was Ryan Bowen.
Another former Rocket. In his past life, Yang Shuai had once confused him with Bruce Bowen of the Spurs, since both were tenacious, blue-collar defensive workhorses.
Unlike Wafer, Bowen was a genuine veteran.
Drafted 55th overall in 1998, he had seven NBA seasons under his belt and had even started sixteen games for the Rockets during the 2005–06 season.
After that season, however, injuries phased him out of the league. He went abroad to play in overseas leagues, where his numbers were fairly ordinary.
Yet Yang Shuai knew Bowen was precisely what the squad needed.
A veteran of his mold brought invaluable experience without demanding touches. There was no better complement for the roster.
The third target was Coby Karl.
The son of renowned NBA coach George Karl, Coby Karl went undrafted in this year's draft. A product of Boise State, he had put together a solid college career, averaging 17.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4 assists as a junior.
His athletic tools were mediocre, making him the quintessential player who was versatile in college but likely overwhelmed at the NBA level.
Yang Shuai had two main reasons for picking him. At small forward, Karl was one of the few names he actually recognized.
Furthermore, as George Karl's son, bringing him aboard would generate extra buzz and media coverage for the team.
Though a newcomer to the NBA, Yang Shuai was well aware that it was an entertainment business. Capturing the interest of fans and the outside world took more than just raw on-court ability.
With these three locked in alongside Farmar and Crittenton, the core rotation was essentially set: playmakers, scorers, defensive stoppers, and headline-grabbers—every element covered. The only glaring omission was a center.
In this era, winning games was virtually impossible without a capable big man, even at the Summer League level.
Yet that was also the hardest position to fill. True-sized centers—even purely physical bruisers—were the hottest commodity on the market.
Yang Shuai, however, already had someone in mind.
Leaving the outreach for the three targets and the rest of the roster in Cole's hands, Yang Shuai hurried straight to the airport and boarded a flight bound for Spain.
The target of his journey was none other than Marc Gasol.
Gasol had not only turned down the Lakers' Summer League invitation, but had gone completely off the grid ever since, ignoring phone calls and leaving messages unanswered.
Chapter 41