Jeff Bower Draft Chat
June 7, 2006
Inside the Hornets: Jeff Bower 2006 Draft Chat
by: Jim Eichenhofer, Hornets.com
Hornets general manager Jeff Bower is a busy man these days. With two first-round picks in the top 15 and three overall draft choices, the Hornets organization has been diligently working out potential draftees and making the final preparations for the June 28 draft. Bower sat down with Hornets.com’s Jim Eichenhofer recently to discuss the upcoming draft and several issues surrounding the annual event.
Eichenhofer: The Hornets have worked out a number of college players in recent weeks, trying to learn more about each prospect. How much emphasis do you place on workouts? Have workouts become more important or less important to teams around the league over the past 10 years?
Bower: There’s certainly more publicity surrounding the workouts. It’s become a little bit of a media target. It’s become a bigger and bigger part of the draft process than it was 10 or 15 years ago. But you’re making decisions that you hope will stand the test of time. And you can’t make decisions based on (how a player performs on) one day.
Eichenhofer: The Hornets have talked a lot about the importance of players having strong character. Is that something you see emphasized more in the NBA today?
Bower: The most important thing is that to be successful, you need players you can count on, players you know will be there for you over the course of an NBA season. Much like when you’re recruiting guys in college – you had to recruit guys who were going to retain their eligibility. Over the course of time, character and the ability to handle adversity shows up in every NBA season, in one form or another. You can’t underestimate the value of having individuals who are committed to the group, as opposed to someone who thinks it’s all about them.
Eichenhofer: How do you evaluate a player’s character or off-the-court traits during workouts?
Bower: It’s non-stop. (During workouts) it could be the way they respond to a question from someone they may deem unimportant. You get the most accurate gauge of a person when he’s not performing, and he’s just being himself. Everybody’s involved in the process and interacting with the players, such as our equipment managers and our office staff. And of course, (Hornets vice president of basketball operations) Willis Reed and myself are around watching. We may not say a whole lot, but we will be watching.
Eichenhofer: In terms of international players in the draft, it seemed like there was a period when several international players such as San Antonio’s Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili were drafted late in the first round or second round, and turned out to be “steals.” In recent years, some analysts have argued that the international players are being taken too early based on their ability. How do you view that situation?
Bower: I think if you look at the initial group of players who had success, a lot of those players had more experience and were a little older (than recent international draftees). In recent years, international players have been drafted based on potential, and many of them did not have the game experience behind them. They haven’t done quite as well as the initial group of players. I think people are being a lot more cautious because of the need to get a return for your pick in the first two years (of a draft pick’s career).
Eichenhofer: It seems like there have been many recent draft classes that have been labeled as “weak,” but three or four years later, they prove to be pretty productive. Even though this 2006 class has also been labeled “weak,” you must be excited to have two picks in the top 15.
Bower: The thing you always have to ask about the people who are labeling draft classes is: How much have they actually watched guys play? What are they comparing it to? Are they saying (a class is weak) because there is no Shaq-type player in a particular draft? To me, this class has been steady in its development. It’s a solid class with good depth. It may lack that star anchor. But I don’t worry about how it’s labeled. All I’m concerned about is what it can do for us, in very selfish terms [Bower grins]. Meaning, do we have a chance to add one – or in this case, two – solid players that can be instrumental in making us better.
Eichenhofer: Is it possible that you could trade up or trade down with the two first-round picks?
Bower: Absolutely. We won’t rule anything out. We’ll look at every scenario possible to help our team get better. How willing is another team going to be to give up a top-five pick? I don’t know how realistic that is. But it’s another piece of this to look at.
Eichenhofer: How do you view the depth of this draft?
Bower: I think there is very little drop-off when you’re looking at players (projected in spots) maybe 7 through 20. The gap between them all is slight. A lot is going to come down to your evaluations and your needs, and your opinions as far as where those players are going to fall. In talking with a lot of other personnel men around the league, the one thing we agree on is that there is no consensus on the order of that group. It’s kind of a fun, intriguing draft to be involved with, because of such a wide range of possibilities.
Inside the Hornets: Jeff Bower 2006 Draft Chat
by: Jim Eichenhofer, Hornets.com
Hornets general manager Jeff Bower is a busy man these days. With two first-round picks in the top 15 and three overall draft choices, the Hornets organization has been diligently working out potential draftees and making the final preparations for the June 28 draft. Bower sat down with Hornets.com’s Jim Eichenhofer recently to discuss the upcoming draft and several issues surrounding the annual event.
Eichenhofer: The Hornets have worked out a number of college players in recent weeks, trying to learn more about each prospect. How much emphasis do you place on workouts? Have workouts become more important or less important to teams around the league over the past 10 years?
Bower: There’s certainly more publicity surrounding the workouts. It’s become a little bit of a media target. It’s become a bigger and bigger part of the draft process than it was 10 or 15 years ago. But you’re making decisions that you hope will stand the test of time. And you can’t make decisions based on (how a player performs on) one day.
Eichenhofer: The Hornets have talked a lot about the importance of players having strong character. Is that something you see emphasized more in the NBA today?
Bower: The most important thing is that to be successful, you need players you can count on, players you know will be there for you over the course of an NBA season. Much like when you’re recruiting guys in college – you had to recruit guys who were going to retain their eligibility. Over the course of time, character and the ability to handle adversity shows up in every NBA season, in one form or another. You can’t underestimate the value of having individuals who are committed to the group, as opposed to someone who thinks it’s all about them.
Eichenhofer: How do you evaluate a player’s character or off-the-court traits during workouts?
Bower: It’s non-stop. (During workouts) it could be the way they respond to a question from someone they may deem unimportant. You get the most accurate gauge of a person when he’s not performing, and he’s just being himself. Everybody’s involved in the process and interacting with the players, such as our equipment managers and our office staff. And of course, (Hornets vice president of basketball operations) Willis Reed and myself are around watching. We may not say a whole lot, but we will be watching.
Eichenhofer: In terms of international players in the draft, it seemed like there was a period when several international players such as San Antonio’s Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili were drafted late in the first round or second round, and turned out to be “steals.” In recent years, some analysts have argued that the international players are being taken too early based on their ability. How do you view that situation?
Bower: I think if you look at the initial group of players who had success, a lot of those players had more experience and were a little older (than recent international draftees). In recent years, international players have been drafted based on potential, and many of them did not have the game experience behind them. They haven’t done quite as well as the initial group of players. I think people are being a lot more cautious because of the need to get a return for your pick in the first two years (of a draft pick’s career).
Eichenhofer: It seems like there have been many recent draft classes that have been labeled as “weak,” but three or four years later, they prove to be pretty productive. Even though this 2006 class has also been labeled “weak,” you must be excited to have two picks in the top 15.
Bower: The thing you always have to ask about the people who are labeling draft classes is: How much have they actually watched guys play? What are they comparing it to? Are they saying (a class is weak) because there is no Shaq-type player in a particular draft? To me, this class has been steady in its development. It’s a solid class with good depth. It may lack that star anchor. But I don’t worry about how it’s labeled. All I’m concerned about is what it can do for us, in very selfish terms [Bower grins]. Meaning, do we have a chance to add one – or in this case, two – solid players that can be instrumental in making us better.
Eichenhofer: Is it possible that you could trade up or trade down with the two first-round picks?
Bower: Absolutely. We won’t rule anything out. We’ll look at every scenario possible to help our team get better. How willing is another team going to be to give up a top-five pick? I don’t know how realistic that is. But it’s another piece of this to look at.
Eichenhofer: How do you view the depth of this draft?
Bower: I think there is very little drop-off when you’re looking at players (projected in spots) maybe 7 through 20. The gap between them all is slight. A lot is going to come down to your evaluations and your needs, and your opinions as far as where those players are going to fall. In talking with a lot of other personnel men around the league, the one thing we agree on is that there is no consensus on the order of that group. It’s kind of a fun, intriguing draft to be involved with, because of such a wide range of possibilities.
