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bobcats.com
June 23, 2009
Higgins Video Part I | Higgins Video Part II | Higgins Video Part III | 2009 Draft Central
Bobcats General Manager Rod Higgins met with members of the media on Tuesday to talk about the upcoming 2009 NBA Draft and the status of Raymond Felton and Sean May.
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(On the draft process)
We’ve now been in the process for about two or three weeks. We’ve brought in about 35 guys. It’s been a unique process in that we’ve had guys that won’t be drafted, second round talent, first round talent and guys that have come in for multiple workouts. Thursday is right around the corner and we are now ready to see where it goes.
(On the difficulty of getting guys in to workout)
The landscape has changed in that sometimes you have an opportunity to bring in guys that you think are going to be considered at number 12, but then you also have to factor in the players and where they want to go and teams that want those players. So we were, for the 12th spot, just off of the top of my head, able to bring in probably six to eight players. You know you have to work within the landscape of the NBA and a lot of teams are positioning themselves as we are. The agents factor in as well because they want to hand pick where their players go and sometimes that is hard to do.
(On drafting based on position)
I will just say that when you draft, a lot of times it depends on what your mindset is. Sometimes you’re drafting for a need and sometimes you’re drafting for the best player. (Head Coach) Larry (Brown), (Managing Member of Basketball Operations) Michael (Jordan) and myself are currently in meetings right now to try and get the best case scenario for us going forward. I would say that we are kind of all over the board right now.
(On bringing back Gerald Henderson and Terrence Williams for second workouts)
They are both talented young players and they are different in what they do successfully on the basketball court. Gerald is a player that has come from a very good system with (Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski). He uses the draw-and-kick style of penetration, and his improvement has been steady. He’s got more moves, his ball handling has gotten better, and his athletic abilities are off the charts. He is going to learn a lot once he comes into the league and he is going to be a guy who will continually improve. Terrence is a player who averaged eight rebounds per game, five assists per game, and 12 points per game, but he is more of a playmaking two guard or just a playmaking perimeter player. Both of those players are exceptional in the open court. They have their own strengths and their own weaknesses.
(On the 12th overall selection)
We are all over the board in terms of keeping or trading the pick and that is the unique part about this time of year - all the teams are doing the same thing we are doing. We are just going over “what if?” scenarios. There are some scenarios where players might slip to us, that two weeks ago we thought would never get to us. But players may have bad workouts or bad interviews, so you have to be prepared to know if you will take a player like that if they are sitting in your lap.
(On financial constraints)
I think the budget issues are always something that we are going to look at. Looking at our salaries from last year and going forward, we’re going to have some constraints in terms of luxury tax numbers. I don’t think it’s fair for us to get anywhere close to luxury tax numbers if we’re just trying to get to the playoffs. It’s going to be hard-pressed for us to go to ownership and say that we want to go to the tax level to get talented if it doesn’t guarantee us getting to the playoffs. The thing for us is to try to get to playoffs, but also be mindful of the luxury tax number and keeping our salaries under control.
(On interest from other teams in the 12th pick)
There’s always a high interest in the lottery. We’ve had quite a few teams call us on the 12th pick, but to do something with that pick would really have to make sense for us. Will the 12th pick improve our basketball team? It’s still going to be a young player that, most of the time, needs some seasoning going forward.
(On moving up from 12)
We’ve had conversations to move up, yes.
(On if they have thought about trading the 12th pick for a veteran)
Yes, but you have to have cap space to pull in a veteran salary because that pick is of zero value until it is signed. So, to get a veteran’s help, we would have to take salary back for that pick. We have talked about that, which just simply means we would have to make a trade.
(On what can be seen in a workout that can’t be seen on tape)
I think that the one unique thing is that you see how they respond to our coach. Coach Brown is a meticulous coach and he wants guys doing things a certain way. You can tell by his coaching style if that player is going to be a player that can fall in line and be receptive to what coach is trying to do. You get the opportunity to meet these guys and have a bite to eat with them, so you get a feel for the person. Normally, on film, you can’t get that; you are talking to other people and trying to get a feel from other people on how the player is. It’s definitely an advantage to bring them in here. You might want to do a certain strength test that they don’t do in Chicago Pre-Draft Camp, or something that is important to you and your philosophies.
(On trading the 12th pick for cap relief)
Yes, there have been conversations about using the 12th pick for relief, but that would mean a player would come from us.
(On an internet report about Raja Bell being traded for Kelenna Azubuike and Marco Belinelli)
I’ve talked to every team in the league. I’ve talked to Golden State a bunch of times during this process and we talk about a lot of players. I’m not going to speculate on anything that is online or rumors of that nature. That’s not fair to us, to the other team or to the players that are mentioned.
(On how he communicates with other teams)
Technology allows you to do anything you want nowadays. There are some guys that I have a good relationship with that I can text and feel comfortable, but most of the time I’m talking on the phone.
(On if trading the 12th pick for a veteran would be the best-case scenario)
I don’t think you’re ever hurt if you get the right type of veteran. It’s hard to say if we will get an impact player at number 12. I’m sure a lot of teams throughout the first round, even the teams drafting above us, are wondering if these players can come in and help out right away.
(On the strength of this year’s draft)
I don’t know how I can say this is a weak draft or a strong draft until the proof comes in a year or two down the road. I think what we try to do is envision players and how they are going to respond down the road, if their talent is going to be the type of player we would want. I wouldn’t say it’s a weak draft, I wouldn’t say it’s a strong draft, the proof is in the pudding and later on down the line, we will know.
(On qualifying Sean May and Raymond Felton)
We are not going to qualify Sean. The possibility was there and now we will go forward with free agency and see what happens. We’ve already qualified Raymond.
(On re-signing Sean May)
If you look at our roster, you see we have a need for a player at the power forward spot. Conversation and communication with Sean and his representatives are on-going. And with the rules, we can go back in free agency and still sign Sean.
(On the decision not to qualify Sean May)
It’s a combination of things. I think there is production that comes into play. In addition to the salary that was in play, it just didn’t make sense for us to make that commitment right now for what we are trying to do for the team.
(On if they will participate in free agency more this year than in years past)
Yes, you can say that, because looking at our depth chart, those needs are apparent and we are going to have to address them. We’ll still have an opportunity to use our mid-level exception, for instance. We won’t be under the cap, so we won’t be a big player in terms of the ability to give a big contract, but we’ll be looking.
(On signing Raymond Felton to a long-term contract)
Our plans all along were first to qualify and then to negotiate and get Raymond signed to a contract.
(On the legitimacy of the trade talk)
With the history that I’ve had, it starts to become more serious today. We had good conversations yesterday. It seems like on Friday, there was still a lot of jockeying in the conversations with teams and the deals probably weren’t as real as they are starting to get right now. It’s like the trade deadline, where we are probably no different than a lot of teams. You talk a lot about different scenarios, but when the deadline is right on your back, you seem to be consistent in your offer and you know what you want to do.
(On teams becoming more agreeable to make deals the closer you get to deadlines)
Yes, that’s what I’ve found.
(On the draft pool)
If you think about it, after the consensus picks 1-2-3-4-5 or whatever those are, if you’re talking 6-20, I’ve read somewhere where they could all be the same type of player. So you have to keep that in mind and that’s where the homework comes into play.
(On drafting someone who hasn’t worked out for them)
It’s scary, but then you have to realize that our scouts have been out all year and they’ve seen these guys numerous amounts of times. So we feel comfortable enough in our background work and our basketball work where we would feel comfortable picking a player. If you recall last year with (D.J.) Augustin, he never came in for us, he never worked out for us. The kid that went behind him, (Brook) Lopez, he didn’t come in for us either. Those are the kind of guys we thought about. It’s not an exact science, but as an organization, you want what you want, so if you can get those players here, that’s what we prefer, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen.
(On if players are being too picky with who they work out for)
In my opinion, I think so. At some point, every team in the league is going to see a player and might have a chance to acquire to the player via the draft or free agency, so why not show your skill and why not put it out there?
(On the consensus picks)
I think you probably have 1, 2, and 3 and you can probably look at any mock draft and they’re pretty consistent. Then, after that, you’re hearing all kinds of players jumping and moving around.
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