Sixers 2008 Draft Center

SIXERS PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER ED STEFANSKI ON MARREESE SPEIGHTS

Listen to Ed Stefanski's Press Conference

Opening Statement…
First off, let me tell you that I am sorry about the delay. I planned on coming here (to talk with media) over an hour ago, but we got very active late in the first round and early in the second and it didn't happen for us. But that is why I'm late so, I'm sorry.

Regarding our 16th pick in the draft, Marreese Speights; we did pretty well, and that was the guy we were going to pick. We really like Marreese, for his size, he is extremely athletic and runs the floor the way we want to play and he can make a shot. He has a chance to be the “back to the basket” type of player. He is a player that can make I (a shot) with his left hand and his right hand. He is 20 years old. He needs to be nurtured. We do not expect him to come in and be the star of the team. We feel he will be able to be a piece of this puzzle and a good one. We are real high on his upside. He will be coming in tomorrow. I talked to him on the phone. He was ecstatic and thanked us for the opportunity. I had Mr. Snider on the phone with him. He was a typical 20- year-old kid getting picked in the first round of the NBA. So it was all good.

On how he views this pick working out…
We feel the 16th pick in the draft is part of our plan. We have a plan, and that’s part of the plan. We thought we were going to get a big guy, that’s the player we wanted, and also one with very big upside. Again, we do not see him (Speights) coming in and helping us immediately, but this kid is a talented offensive basketball player and he is 6’11”. But the 11 million (under the cap) is extremely important to us to get a free agent that we want in the summer time come July 1st.

On where the Sixers front office saw Speights when it came time to pick…
One person had him second on our board, and the rest of us were unanimous. We were all for him (Speights) and very high on this kid. He has a chance. That’s all you can ask for with the 16th pick in the draft, and this kid has a chance.

On how this selection came about…
During the season, both Tony DiLeo and I liked him. We followed him all season, and as the season was over and we made progress towards the draft he continued to grow on us. He was in the mix, and he just got higher and higher in the mix. By the time we got to the 16th pick, the three top picks we wanted were still on the board. We had our choice. But before we went into the draft, we knew who we wanted for our selection and he (Speights) was our top guy.

On what other positions the Sixers are looking to fill this offseason…
The way we are looking for right now on a depth chart, we look for a three man or a specialist who can make shots. We also need that third point guard.

On what the Sixers are looking for in free agency…
The way we’re looking at right now on the depth chart, we would probably look for a 3 man or a specialist who can make some shots. We would also need that third point guard.

On if Lou Williams is the team’s second point guard…
Yes, I would say on the depth chart right now. You would have to ask Mo (Cheeks), but I would say Lou Williams is the back-up to Andre Miller and will fight for a starting job at the 2.

On if the deal the Sixers almost made at the end of the first and start of the second round involved one of the players they targeted at 16 and fell…
Yes.

On if it was Donte’ Green…
(Chuckles) I may tell you later, I’m not sure right now.

On what it’s like hearing everyone’s opinion on who the 76ers should take…
It’s great to hear everybody’s opinion. Everybody has one, but we have to be comfortable with ourselves. I am very happy with the scouts. I think the world of Courtney (Witte) and Tony (DiLeo) and I feel I have a chance at picking some talent. I feel very good with the guy we picked.

On the significance of working players out…
The few questions on Marreese (Speights) were his toughness and will he compete. What I saw on film, as everyone else did, was a very athletic kid who really knew how to play. When I was getting reports that at workouts he wasn’t playing, I didn’t see that at all in our workouts. Is he going to knock you down on every play? No, but he is a finesse kid and he banged. He wasn’t afraid of that at all. We did not bring him back for the second time for the reason that everybody would say we really like him. And we did really like him so we felt comfortable enough that we knew him. We were fortunate that night he was in that he had to stay over night, so we took him out to diner. We got to know him really well… or as well as you can know someone over diner. We felt good about it so when we were saying lets bring him back for a second time to go up against a player we may like, we decided to just forget it.

On the Free Agency Market opening July 1st…
Will I be on somebody’s door stop on July 1? That’s illegal, right? Oh free agent wise? (Laughs)…I’m getting older - I don’t know about 12:01 in the morning? We will be active July 1. When we did the trade for Kyle, everyone couldn’t see what was going to happen with it because it couldn’t happen immediately. Now we have to see if we can do something with the opportunity we made with that move. We traded a very nice basketball player to Utah - now we got the young kids on the floor and have the chance to use that money on somebody good.

On acquiring a shooter…We will not have a lot of money because the 11 million (under the cap) I would think first will go to that high-level free agent we are trying to get. So there’s not going to be any money left over besides middle money for that shooter, but you can’t have everything over night and as I have said numerous times, I believe the guys in our program already are going to become better shooters.