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ShareSixers Hold Final Workout Before Draft
With the 2006 NBA Draft rapidly approaching, the 76ers took a look at one last group of players before beinning their final preparations for Wednesday night.
Now that the workouts are complete and the talent evaluation process is drawing to a close, Sixers President Billy King and the rest of his brass are attempting to ascertain what the 12 teams in front of them plan on doing.
“I have no idea [what to expect Wednesday],” King said. “I’m being totally honest. I think we’re going to meet a lot this afternoon. We’ll meet a lot tomorrow. Hopefully we will have a better idea. We’ve had a lot of conversations with teams about moving up and moving down. So now, we’ve got to really evaluate. We like a lot of the guys but trying to figure out where they are going to be drafted is going to be the toughest thing right now.
“Our scouts pretty much have a tentative ranking 1 through 30, and we’ll hash it out today and tomorrow.”
Although there was a point in time that King was optimistic about the team’s chances to move up in the draft, he does not foresee that happening now.
“I doubt we’ll move up at this point in time,” King said. “We did a lot of talking to people, but right now it doesn’t look as good. That could change within the hour. You get some crazy phone calls at this time, and you’ve got to evaluate them. I’m not confident that we’ll move up, so we are going to focus on 13 right now.”
One factor that will certainly play into King’s decision is the price that teams are willing to sell their pick for. During the 2003 Draft, King purchased a pair of second-round picks for $125,000 and $225,000 for the draft rights to Willie Green and Kyle Korver, respectively. However, while unsuccessfully attempting to purchase a second-round pick during last year’s draft, King was met with a price tag that ranged between $650 and 750,000.
“A lot of people are calling and asking ‘do you want a later pick in the first round, do you want a second rounder?”’ King said. “So now we’ve got to see who’s going to be there. Once you get to draft day, you start calling and start trying to buy a pick. If the price is right this year, we’ll do it.”
While a key player may be added, King is aware that the Sixers cannot correct all of their deficiencies on Wednesday night.
“The draft is a process,” King said. “That’s the offseason. You always look at the draft as the first piece of the puzzle. You draft a player who you think is the best and you think You never build your team just in the NBA Draft. Unlike football, where there are [7 rounds], in basketball, there are just two. So there are only 60 players who are going to be drafted.”
King also addressed the report in Monday’s Boston Globe that the Sixers called the Celtics to inquire their level of interest in trading for Allen Iverson.
“We talk to everybody,” King said. “People have called us, and we listen. That’s our job. People call about a lot of players and we listen, it’s not just particularly Allen.
“People are calling about a lot of our players. So you evaluate it, and you try to figure out how it will impact you next season and how it will impact you down the road. I think that’s how you’ve got to look at it. There are some veteran players that you can say ‘this is going to help us, but you don’t have a chance to get better down the road.’ There’s some where you say ‘these young guys are good and you have a chance to add to it later.’ I think you’ve just got to look at all of them and evaluate them.”
King did not rule out the possibility of trading Iverson, or any player for that matter, within the Atlantic Division.
“I think you can’t sit there and say you can’t do certain deals,” King said. “You’ve got to listen to everything because some deal may make sense and may make you better, regardless of where the player goes.”
Monday’s final workout was expected to include Rodney Carney, an explosive 6-7 forward with tremendous leaping ability from the University of Memphis, but the reigning Conference USA Player of the Year re-aggravated an ankle injury Sunday night and was unable to perform.
“My ankle is pretty bad,” Carney said. “I did it in a Portland workout and continuously tried to play on it and [made] it worse and worse. Now, it’s at a point where I can’t jump or play to my potential.”
Although Carney did not workout on Monday, King and his staff have seen enough of him up until this point to make an accurate evaluation.
“We use the workout for the interview process more,” King said. “[Team Psychologist] Dr. Fish is sitting down with him and giving him the psychological tests. We’ve seen him play quite a bit. Fortunately, their coach worked here, so we get a lot of input from him.”
With Carney sitting out, the Sixers took a look at Marshall Strickland of Indiana for a second time, Antywane Robinson of Temple and Omar Williams of George Wasington.
Williams, who played at Celestial Prep in Philadelphia, stands at 6-9 and has the ability to play multiple positions.
“I’m real athletic and versatile,” Williams said. “I think I can be a great defender in the league one day. I mean have to get stronger, obviously. I think if I keep working, with the way my game is, I can definitely play in the NBA.”
Robinson, a two-year captain at Temple, may catch on as an undrafted free agent if he is not selected in the second round.
“They said this is the most unpredictable draft in NBA history,” Robinson said. “If I get drafted, I do. If I don’t, I don’t.
“I’m going to cross my fingers and cross my toes like everybody else in my family.”
Said King: “We like him. We told him we wouldn’t take him at 13. We may get a second-round pick and if you’re not drafted, a la Shavlik Randolph, we may look to bring you in later.”
Notes:
King confirmed that J.J. Redick was in town over the weekend for a physical and a round of psychological testing. The former Duke standout, who did not work out because of a back injury, joined King for dinner on Saturday night.
Now that the workouts are complete and the talent evaluation process is drawing to a close, Sixers President Billy King and the rest of his brass are attempting to ascertain what the 12 teams in front of them plan on doing.
“I have no idea [what to expect Wednesday],” King said. “I’m being totally honest. I think we’re going to meet a lot this afternoon. We’ll meet a lot tomorrow. Hopefully we will have a better idea. We’ve had a lot of conversations with teams about moving up and moving down. So now, we’ve got to really evaluate. We like a lot of the guys but trying to figure out where they are going to be drafted is going to be the toughest thing right now.
“Our scouts pretty much have a tentative ranking 1 through 30, and we’ll hash it out today and tomorrow.”
Although there was a point in time that King was optimistic about the team’s chances to move up in the draft, he does not foresee that happening now.
“I doubt we’ll move up at this point in time,” King said. “We did a lot of talking to people, but right now it doesn’t look as good. That could change within the hour. You get some crazy phone calls at this time, and you’ve got to evaluate them. I’m not confident that we’ll move up, so we are going to focus on 13 right now.”
One factor that will certainly play into King’s decision is the price that teams are willing to sell their pick for. During the 2003 Draft, King purchased a pair of second-round picks for $125,000 and $225,000 for the draft rights to Willie Green and Kyle Korver, respectively. However, while unsuccessfully attempting to purchase a second-round pick during last year’s draft, King was met with a price tag that ranged between $650 and 750,000.
“A lot of people are calling and asking ‘do you want a later pick in the first round, do you want a second rounder?”’ King said. “So now we’ve got to see who’s going to be there. Once you get to draft day, you start calling and start trying to buy a pick. If the price is right this year, we’ll do it.”
While a key player may be added, King is aware that the Sixers cannot correct all of their deficiencies on Wednesday night.
“The draft is a process,” King said. “That’s the offseason. You always look at the draft as the first piece of the puzzle. You draft a player who you think is the best and you think You never build your team just in the NBA Draft. Unlike football, where there are [7 rounds], in basketball, there are just two. So there are only 60 players who are going to be drafted.”
King also addressed the report in Monday’s Boston Globe that the Sixers called the Celtics to inquire their level of interest in trading for Allen Iverson.
“We talk to everybody,” King said. “People have called us, and we listen. That’s our job. People call about a lot of players and we listen, it’s not just particularly Allen.
“People are calling about a lot of our players. So you evaluate it, and you try to figure out how it will impact you next season and how it will impact you down the road. I think that’s how you’ve got to look at it. There are some veteran players that you can say ‘this is going to help us, but you don’t have a chance to get better down the road.’ There’s some where you say ‘these young guys are good and you have a chance to add to it later.’ I think you’ve just got to look at all of them and evaluate them.”
King did not rule out the possibility of trading Iverson, or any player for that matter, within the Atlantic Division.
“I think you can’t sit there and say you can’t do certain deals,” King said. “You’ve got to listen to everything because some deal may make sense and may make you better, regardless of where the player goes.”
Monday’s final workout was expected to include Rodney Carney, an explosive 6-7 forward with tremendous leaping ability from the University of Memphis, but the reigning Conference USA Player of the Year re-aggravated an ankle injury Sunday night and was unable to perform.
“My ankle is pretty bad,” Carney said. “I did it in a Portland workout and continuously tried to play on it and [made] it worse and worse. Now, it’s at a point where I can’t jump or play to my potential.”
Although Carney did not workout on Monday, King and his staff have seen enough of him up until this point to make an accurate evaluation.
“We use the workout for the interview process more,” King said. “[Team Psychologist] Dr. Fish is sitting down with him and giving him the psychological tests. We’ve seen him play quite a bit. Fortunately, their coach worked here, so we get a lot of input from him.”
With Carney sitting out, the Sixers took a look at Marshall Strickland of Indiana for a second time, Antywane Robinson of Temple and Omar Williams of George Wasington.
Williams, who played at Celestial Prep in Philadelphia, stands at 6-9 and has the ability to play multiple positions.
“I’m real athletic and versatile,” Williams said. “I think I can be a great defender in the league one day. I mean have to get stronger, obviously. I think if I keep working, with the way my game is, I can definitely play in the NBA.”
Robinson, a two-year captain at Temple, may catch on as an undrafted free agent if he is not selected in the second round.
“They said this is the most unpredictable draft in NBA history,” Robinson said. “If I get drafted, I do. If I don’t, I don’t.
“I’m going to cross my fingers and cross my toes like everybody else in my family.”
Said King: “We like him. We told him we wouldn’t take him at 13. We may get a second-round pick and if you’re not drafted, a la Shavlik Randolph, we may look to bring you in later.”
Notes:
King confirmed that J.J. Redick was in town over the weekend for a physical and a round of psychological testing. The former Duke standout, who did not work out because of a back injury, joined King for dinner on Saturday night.
