Magic execs and scouts put in the time and travel the distance to scrutinize and analyze the most promising young talent

Head Coach Brian Hill and Magic Guard Travis Diener

Magic Assistant General Manager Dave Twardzik would qualify for the leading role of a new reality show.

Call it "Extreme Scouting."

Let's cut to a scene on a Wednesday in March. Twardzik boards an evening flight bound for Los Angeles and the Pac-10 tournament the next day. He catches four games before taking a red-eye flight to Indianapolis where he lands two hours before the start of Big Ten tourney play at 11 a.m. on Friday.

He watches four games and gets back to his hotel room at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday where his next flight departs less than six hours later. His next destination is Greensboro, N.C., where the semifinals of the ACC tournament await.

There aren't enough frequent-flier miles to ease the toll this pace takes on Twardzik, who figures he sees 110 to 120 college basketball games a year. But all of this legwork -- and air time -- serve a necessary purpose for NBA survival as teams scrutinize and analyze potential additions to their rosters via the annual June draft.

"The draft process to me is probably the nuts and bolts of any organization," said Otis Smith, Twardzik's assistant GM counterpart. "You have to draft well. You have to put the process together where you're drafting the best basketball player available."

That process begins each year sometime before November in the form of initial lists of prospects that are created internally by the Magic's scouting department. With apologies to the world's myriad draft "experts," the Magic's internal assessments -- and only their own assessments -- carry any weight.

The list evolves during the year, thanks to input gathered by Twardzik, Smith and four scouts who scour the globe with report cards in hand.

Team members crisscross one another in seeing a player to either confirm or question a colleague's assessment. While the scouts do rely somewhat on watching tape of a player's games, there is no substitute for live action.

"People ask, 'Why do you go to so many games?' " Twardzik said. "'Can't you do everything on tape?' You can do a lot on tape but what you don't see is when a guy is taken out, how does he interact with the coach? Did he accept criticism or throw a towel and not talk to anybody? Does he interact with his teammates?

"Seeing a guy is critical, even before the game, to watch his practice habits, to see how he prepares for the game. The other thing is he may show you some things in warm-ups that he's not required to do during the game. It's valuable to come out and watch early."

Along the way, the Magic's list is pared down as the team zeroes in on the players who most likely have an NBA future, especially one in Orlando. Smith has no problem with any member of the Magic scouting team taking multiple looks at a player. When he was reporting to former General Manager John Weisbrod, Smith spent considerable time focused on a certain Saint Joseph's guard.

Smith figures he saw Jameer Nelson play 14 games in person during his senior year, not to mention numerous other stops at practice. Smith loved Nelson as a player but just wanted to make sure that his height - he's listed at 6-foot-0 -- would stand up to NBA standards. Smith obviously felt Nelson could thrive and also saw some other traits that made him more of a believer.

Jameer Nelson on the move

"They played Richmond in Richmond," Smith said. "It was a tough game for them and they ended up winning. Jameer was just about perfect. I don't think he made a mistake but bigger than that is a guy his size has to have something else. He has to have toughness, he has to have some leadership abilities and he showed he has both of those qualities."

While Nelson's on-court skills brought attention from Smith, his off-the-court demeanor, history and activity were studied just as much. Smith and Twardzik don't hesitate to talk to anyone in the community who may have a connection or at least an opinion on a prospect.

"I spent a lot of time in the Philadelphia area," Smith said. "I kid him all the time that I know more about him than he thinks I do. I think you have to do that with people. Philadelphia is a big, but small town. You're able to blend in a little bit and learn more about people than you think."

Smith may have blended in with the residents but he was anything but incognito to Nelson.

"I saw Otis in the stands numerous times," Nelson said. "I can't even count how many times I saw Otis. It was ridiculous. He was at the practices, the games, this, that and the other. He was everywhere.

"It was exciting to me. I had waited all my life to get looks from the NBA and to get people to recognize my basketball skills and my team. I appreciated those guys [scouts] coming out to see me."

The Magic's extra effort on Nelson led to an assessment that several other NBA teams failed to see. Twardzik explains that the Magic categorize draft prospects into "tiers" that are based on overall talent, rather than by position or the team's specific need. In short, the team always will pick the most talented player -- or asset -- available, even if his destiny isn't ultimately Orlando.

"When it's our time to pick, the top guy on the board, that's where we're going," Smith said. "You can't draft based on position and not get an asset. We're after the best available asset. If you already have that position covered, then you at least have something somebody else may covet."

The Magic headed into draft day 2004 with the first pick and Dwight Howard and Emeka Okafor alone on their first tier. At the top of the next tier was Nelson, a player they figured was headed anywhere but Orlando.

"If we had the third pick and Dwight and Okafor were gone, we would have taken Jameer," Twardzik said. "That's how much we thought of him. For us to get him at 20 was like 'oh my God.' "

NBA Commissioner David Stern shakes the hand of No. 1 pick Dwight Howard

Before the team locked in on Howard as its No. 1 pick, Smith and Co. still did their homework. The scouting of Howard -- a high school prospect -- presented a new twist.

"With him, it was almost like you had to become a private detective," Smith said. "You're going into his high school and I didn't like doing that, so I just kind of sat up in the stands [during games]. Most of the people there are people from church. People from church like to talk a little bit. So I chit-chatted with people like 'Mrs. Thomas' who has known Dwight since he was a kid. I told them, 'I just came to see Dwight because I heard about him.' Rarely do I tell people I'm a scout unless I have to."

Scouting high schools no longer is an issue as the NBA set an age minimum of 19 to be eligible for the draft. Twardzik calls this new ruling "a blessing" that is good for the college game and NBA.

With the focus mostly on college and international players, teams such as the Magic soon will begin scheduling pre-draft visits for a personal tryout and interview. Twardzik and Smith don't put a whole lot of stock into the 45-minute basketball aspect of these visits, figuring they've already seen all they need to from live game action.

Instead, these visits allow Magic personnel, including Coach Brian Hill, to put the players through a job interview of sorts and get to know them as people. Magic rookie Travis Diener went through this process a year ago and said his 15 trips to NBA cities were fun, yet somewhat draining.

"You have to get your body ready going city to city and working out," Diener said. "That can be a grind. I've always been confident in how I handled myself so I wasn't too worried about meeting people and getting interviewed. I was going to tell them how I am as a person, what I thought I could do to help their team and just pretty much be honest with people. If they like you, you'll draw some interest."

Through their homework, the Magic liked Diener enough to make him the 38th pick in last year's draft, putting an end to a very arduous task for prospect and franchise.

"Once draft night came, it was very fun," Diener said. "Before that, there was a lot of stress especially for a guy like me since there was no guarantee I was going to get drafted. I was very relieved when I heard the Magic call my name."

As were Smith and Twardzik, no doubt.

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This story originally appeared in the May issue of Magic Magazine. Get your favorite Magic fan a subscription to Magic Magazine! To subscribe call 1-877-841-7070 or e-mail subscription.service@skies.com and specify you want Magic Magazine. A one-year subscription is $18.95 and two-year is just $24.95.