Zhu Zheng, officially joins the Chinese Men's Basketball Team.
This guy is currently 17 years old, with a Chinese father and a Jamaican mother, standing at 1.8 meters tall and weighing 69 kilograms. He plays as a guard on the court. He has already announced his acceptance of an offer from NCAA Division I Alabama A&M University, which means he will be considered a domestic player in the future, truly one of our own.
According to well-known domestic basketball journalist Song Xiang, the Chinese National Youth Team is currently evaluating Zhu Zheng to determine whether he should be included in the next training squad list.
During the U18 National Youth Team's 12-day special training in the United States at the end of last year, Zhu Zheng was present within the team.
The Chinese National Youth Team has successfully secured qualification for this year's U19 World Cup, which will be held in Switzerland from June 28th to July 6th. At that time, Zhu Zheng is likely to wear the national team uniform.
Zhu Zheng is a very typical American-style guard, possessing strong individual abilities and good physical qualities. His scoring methods are mainly based on shooting. As mentioned above, he already has the potential and qualifications to make an impact in the NBA, which will greatly improve the long-standing weakness of the Chinese men's basketball team's guard line in terms of attacking power.
It is worth noting that if Zhu Zheng cannot play in the NBA, he can still compete in the CBA as a domestic player. He has been preempted by the Shanghai team and has become their youth training player. We may see him as early as this year's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Games.
Zhu Zheng becoming a domestic player marks a milestone in the Chinese basketball talent acquisition process. In the future, there should be more mixed-race domestic players like him.
If it weren't for Zhou Zhihao (Zach Edey) having already played for the Canadian men's basketball team in the U19 World Cup and World Preliminaries, perhaps the Chinese men's basketball team could have recruited him just like they did with Zhu Zheng, making him available for our use.
Edey was born in 2002, stands at 2.26 meters tall, and has one-quarter Chinese ancestry (his maternal grandfather is from Guangzhou, Guangdong). He was selected as the 9th pick in the first round of the 24th NBA draft and is currently playing for the Grizzlies. This season, he has averaged 11.3 points, 8 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game in 21.9 minutes, with a shooting percentage as high as 60.4%.
What are your thoughts on the Chinese Basketball Association acquiring Zhu Zheng? Don't hold back in the comment section, let loose and speak your mind freely!