Inside the Hornets: Draft Round Table
June 27, 2006
Bethany, Oklahoma – The draft prospects have been evaluated in exhaustive workouts. The scouting reports and player analysis are finalized. Now all that remains for the Hornets front office is to wait to see which players are available with the No. 12, No. 15 and No. 43 overall picks in Wednesday evening’s draft.
In the final extensive interview given by Hornets general manager Jeff Bower and head coach Byron Scott prior to Wednesday night, the pair fielded a wide range of questions inside the Hornets’ practice facility at Southern Nazarene University.
The following are a few highlights from the hour-long give-and-take, in which media members bounced questions off both men to try to gain insight into the draft and their thought process:
Question: There are rumors every year of trades happening on draft night, but this year there seems to be more than usual because of all of the uncertainty. Jeff, how much activity do you think there will be throughout the league?
Jeff Bower: Just from talking with teams, there’s going to be some shifting (of draft order) in the draft. There’s going to be a couple teams that trade up. One of the biggest reasons for that is because there really is no clearly defined draft order, more so than I can ever remember. Team needs are really going to be (emphasized) in this draft, as opposed to the overall quality of a player, because the fit for that player into a system is going to be the biggest factor in their success as a rookie… This draft doesn’t have enough players that you look at and say, ‘We have to take him regardless of his position.’ Because of that, you’re seeing a lot of rumors and a lot of conversation taking place.
Q: Why is this draft, in a lot of people’s minds, viewed as a weaker draft?
Jeff Bower: Well, I think it’s because somebody said that very early on in the process [grins]. Somebody said that, then every Internet story ran with it and reported it and built on that stigma. But when you look at the players in it, this draft doesn’t have the, quote, marquee name at the very top. It doesn’t have Shaq, LeBron or that type of player. That’s very true – no one would argue that. But we’re very selfish from the standpoint of we all look at it from our perspective. We look at this draft as one that provided us some pretty good depth to evaluate in a year that we had two picks. That’s a huge, crucial thing for us. Having two picks in a draft that has a pretty solid depth to it, in the range we have, that’s something we think we’re going to turn into something for us.
Q: Is it possible you’ll draft a guy that has more potential, as opposed to a guy who might help you next year?
Jeff Bower: I’ll say this: We’re looking at players who can help us (in 2006-07). We have to look at it through both the short-term of next year, as well as the long-term of a player’s development. I understand coaches want to look at a player for next week [grins, nods toward Byron Scott]. Honestly, so do I. We all want to improve this team tomorrow. That’s what our focus is. We’re not looking at everything saying, ‘Eventually, that will be good enough for us.’ … Now, we won’t jeopardize our long-term future and the growth process that we’re currently in with our young players. We certainly want to add players who we can build with and who will continue to grow with our other young guys.
Q: Who is the best player in this draft?
Jeff Bower: Well now, that’s a hypothetical situation [grins]. I’ve watched Donald Rumsfeld enough to know I don’t have to answer that [laughs]. But there are some really good ones.
Q: Can you talk about the reasons why Mardy Collins (of Temple) and Duke’s J.J. Redick did not come in for a workout?
Jeff Bower: In Mardy’s case, he was scheduled to come in but suffered a hamstring injury in one of his other workouts. We never were able to get together on another date. In J.J.’s case, we discussed a date many, many times with his agent, but weren’t able to get a workout date agreed upon prior to him being in Orlando (for a pre-draft camp). At that point, he really wasn’t doing workouts after Orlando.
Q: Is there a chance of you drafting someone at 12 or 15 that you didn’t see work out?
Jeff Bower: We won’t rule it out. We can’t take it off the table. But we have a higher comfort level with everyone we worked out.
Q: Coach, is there one position that you feel like you can fill better with this draft?
Byron Scott: The number one priority I think is bigs. We’ve got to get a little bit better, a little bit stronger up front. We need that presence in the middle, somebody who can disrupt (opposing teams), block shots and change shots. If we can get that, we’ll be alright.
Q: How concerned are you about both Seattle and Golden State potentially taking a big man with the ninth and 10th picks?
Jeff Bower: We’ve got a lot of contingencies. We’re to the point where we think that we’re going to get a good player with our pick. We’re not necessarily zeroed in on who that one player is. We obviously have our preferences, but we think it can go deep enough that we can end up with a pretty good player.
Q: As far as how you weigh short-term vs. long-term decisions on players in the draft, since the season ended there have been many articles written about what you need to do to make the playoffs in 2006-07. When you read that, do you agree with that notion, or would you tell the fans, ‘We won 18 games the previous season, so we need to look at it from a more patient standpoint’?
Byron Scott: I think we definitely need to look at it from a more patient standpoint. I don’t anybody should expect us to win 20 more games (again) than last season, meaning go from 18 to 38 to 58 (wins). It just doesn’t happen that way. I think everybody also has to look at the conference we’re in, and the division that we’re in. If we go from 38 (wins) to 44, we still might not make the playoffs next year, (but) that’s still an improvement as a basketball team. That’s what we’re looking toward doing, taking those steps to get better and better each year. And eventually be not only a playoff team, but a team that can contend for a championship. THAT is our goal. Our goal is not to just make the playoffs. But I think everybody has to be a little patient, because of who we are as a basketball team, and where we’re coming from.
We still have a long way to go. If you look at the teams that didn’t make the playoffs in the Western Conference – Houston didn’t make it after talking about a championship, they had injuries all season long; Minnesota just a couple years ago was in the Western Conference finals; Seattle, just a year and a half ago, was division champs – we have a lot of teams in our (conference) that we still have to jump over. We had a great year this year, but I don’t think anybody here in Oklahoma City or in New Orleans should expect us to go from 38 to 58 wins. We have to be patient as an organization as well, to know that we’re still trying to improve. But these draft picks and free agency will hopefully help us improve.
Bethany, Oklahoma – The draft prospects have been evaluated in exhaustive workouts. The scouting reports and player analysis are finalized. Now all that remains for the Hornets front office is to wait to see which players are available with the No. 12, No. 15 and No. 43 overall picks in Wednesday evening’s draft.
In the final extensive interview given by Hornets general manager Jeff Bower and head coach Byron Scott prior to Wednesday night, the pair fielded a wide range of questions inside the Hornets’ practice facility at Southern Nazarene University.
The following are a few highlights from the hour-long give-and-take, in which media members bounced questions off both men to try to gain insight into the draft and their thought process:
Question: There are rumors every year of trades happening on draft night, but this year there seems to be more than usual because of all of the uncertainty. Jeff, how much activity do you think there will be throughout the league?
Jeff Bower: Just from talking with teams, there’s going to be some shifting (of draft order) in the draft. There’s going to be a couple teams that trade up. One of the biggest reasons for that is because there really is no clearly defined draft order, more so than I can ever remember. Team needs are really going to be (emphasized) in this draft, as opposed to the overall quality of a player, because the fit for that player into a system is going to be the biggest factor in their success as a rookie… This draft doesn’t have enough players that you look at and say, ‘We have to take him regardless of his position.’ Because of that, you’re seeing a lot of rumors and a lot of conversation taking place.
Q: Why is this draft, in a lot of people’s minds, viewed as a weaker draft?
Jeff Bower: Well, I think it’s because somebody said that very early on in the process [grins]. Somebody said that, then every Internet story ran with it and reported it and built on that stigma. But when you look at the players in it, this draft doesn’t have the, quote, marquee name at the very top. It doesn’t have Shaq, LeBron or that type of player. That’s very true – no one would argue that. But we’re very selfish from the standpoint of we all look at it from our perspective. We look at this draft as one that provided us some pretty good depth to evaluate in a year that we had two picks. That’s a huge, crucial thing for us. Having two picks in a draft that has a pretty solid depth to it, in the range we have, that’s something we think we’re going to turn into something for us.
Q: Is it possible you’ll draft a guy that has more potential, as opposed to a guy who might help you next year?
Jeff Bower: I’ll say this: We’re looking at players who can help us (in 2006-07). We have to look at it through both the short-term of next year, as well as the long-term of a player’s development. I understand coaches want to look at a player for next week [grins, nods toward Byron Scott]. Honestly, so do I. We all want to improve this team tomorrow. That’s what our focus is. We’re not looking at everything saying, ‘Eventually, that will be good enough for us.’ … Now, we won’t jeopardize our long-term future and the growth process that we’re currently in with our young players. We certainly want to add players who we can build with and who will continue to grow with our other young guys.
Q: Who is the best player in this draft?
Jeff Bower: Well now, that’s a hypothetical situation [grins]. I’ve watched Donald Rumsfeld enough to know I don’t have to answer that [laughs]. But there are some really good ones.
Q: Can you talk about the reasons why Mardy Collins (of Temple) and Duke’s J.J. Redick did not come in for a workout?
Jeff Bower: In Mardy’s case, he was scheduled to come in but suffered a hamstring injury in one of his other workouts. We never were able to get together on another date. In J.J.’s case, we discussed a date many, many times with his agent, but weren’t able to get a workout date agreed upon prior to him being in Orlando (for a pre-draft camp). At that point, he really wasn’t doing workouts after Orlando.
Q: Is there a chance of you drafting someone at 12 or 15 that you didn’t see work out?
Jeff Bower: We won’t rule it out. We can’t take it off the table. But we have a higher comfort level with everyone we worked out.
Q: Coach, is there one position that you feel like you can fill better with this draft?
Byron Scott: The number one priority I think is bigs. We’ve got to get a little bit better, a little bit stronger up front. We need that presence in the middle, somebody who can disrupt (opposing teams), block shots and change shots. If we can get that, we’ll be alright.
Q: How concerned are you about both Seattle and Golden State potentially taking a big man with the ninth and 10th picks?
Jeff Bower: We’ve got a lot of contingencies. We’re to the point where we think that we’re going to get a good player with our pick. We’re not necessarily zeroed in on who that one player is. We obviously have our preferences, but we think it can go deep enough that we can end up with a pretty good player.
Q: As far as how you weigh short-term vs. long-term decisions on players in the draft, since the season ended there have been many articles written about what you need to do to make the playoffs in 2006-07. When you read that, do you agree with that notion, or would you tell the fans, ‘We won 18 games the previous season, so we need to look at it from a more patient standpoint’?
Byron Scott: I think we definitely need to look at it from a more patient standpoint. I don’t anybody should expect us to win 20 more games (again) than last season, meaning go from 18 to 38 to 58 (wins). It just doesn’t happen that way. I think everybody also has to look at the conference we’re in, and the division that we’re in. If we go from 38 (wins) to 44, we still might not make the playoffs next year, (but) that’s still an improvement as a basketball team. That’s what we’re looking toward doing, taking those steps to get better and better each year. And eventually be not only a playoff team, but a team that can contend for a championship. THAT is our goal. Our goal is not to just make the playoffs. But I think everybody has to be a little patient, because of who we are as a basketball team, and where we’re coming from.
We still have a long way to go. If you look at the teams that didn’t make the playoffs in the Western Conference – Houston didn’t make it after talking about a championship, they had injuries all season long; Minnesota just a couple years ago was in the Western Conference finals; Seattle, just a year and a half ago, was division champs – we have a lot of teams in our (conference) that we still have to jump over. We had a great year this year, but I don’t think anybody here in Oklahoma City or in New Orleans should expect us to go from 38 to 58 wins. We have to be patient as an organization as well, to know that we’re still trying to improve. But these draft picks and free agency will hopefully help us improve.
