NBA Draft
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The NBA draft has been described by one prominent general manager
almost as a game of chance. If it was an exact science, then
Michael Jordan would have gone first in his class and Kevin
Garnett would have gone number one in the 1995 draft. What
makes someone like Manu Ginobili who is selected late in the
second round of the NBA
draft rise to stardom while other players selected in the
first round are out of the NBA in a matter of years. Michael
Redd was a second round pick in the NBA draft and his career
has continued to blossom at a meteoric rate. The NBA draft
brings more angst and elation to almost every group associated
with the game, from coaches to general managers to scouts
and finally to the most important group of all, the fans.
Some of the great “steals” from recent NBA
draft years include the following players: Kevin Garnett,
Kobe Bryant and Dennis Rodman, Maurice Cheeks and many others.
Each year every NBA team will spend thousands of dollars evaluating
up to 40 college, high school and international prospects.
Some of the “due diligence” on players includes
background checks, psychological testing, IQ tests, and the
most important of all which is on-court performance in closed
workouts. Team will normally fly in five athletes that all
play the same position and have them compete against each
other in a rigorous workout setting. Sometimes fights break
out, emotions run high and rivalries are born in these private,
cutthroat workouts.
After these intensive workouts, players shower up, ice down,
and then get ready for the next day in a new city with a new
NBA team with new coaches and in some cases, new competitors.
NBA teams will occasionally invite this group of athletes
out to a dinner so that coaches and staff can get to know
the players on a more intimate level and see how they think
each player might mesh with their team if selected.
When the NBA draft day arrives each NBA team will typically
have a “war room” where the brain-trust from each
team will congregate to make the moves most beneficial to
the team. Draft day frequently turns out to be a huge day
for teams to trade players and draft picks as well as trying
to find that diamond in the rough.
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