The Raptors' choice was an unexpected delight for both of them.
Big Lock Rock had thought he was a lock for the second pick, or even one of the last few picks, so he hadn't expected the Raptors to select him with the sixth pick. Most importantly, he'd get to play alongside Wang Yi and learn a lot from him.
As for Little Tiger Tigre, he was even more overwhelmed, tears of joy filling his eyes. His mother and sister were crying right along with him.
In many rounds of mock drafts, no team had picked him, which meant he was expected to go undrafted.
For a guard like him, with so little offensive ability, going undrafted would essentially mean saying goodbye to the NBA. His childhood dream would be incredibly difficult to achieve.
As he watched the draft on television and saw the other prospects get picked one by one, he hadn't felt much at first. After all, he knew he wasn't going to be selected in the first or second round.
When the second round reached the fifteenth pick, he began to feel nervous, and a little hopeful.
As the draft went on, that hope slowly turned to disappointment.
By the twenty-ninth pick of the second round, no one had selected him. Little Tiger Tigre was beginning to despair, even though his family kept cheering him on and reminding him that the Raptors still hadn't made their pick.
They told him that if the Raptors selected him, he'd get to play alongside Wang Yi. For him, that would be a dream come true, because he'd grown up watching Wang Yi play. He'd trained as a power forward and center from a young age, but Wang Yi was his idol.
Getting to play with his idol—wasn't that a dream