Jesse Buss

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Go into the draft process with Rob Pelinka and Jesse Buss

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Behind the Scenes: Draft Process

Mike Trudell

Trading for Anthony Davis in the summer of 2019 led directly to an NBA title for the Lakers, while, of course, also costing them considerable assets.

Drafting well over the years helped put LAL in position to have enough tradeable assets – lottery picks Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball, and late-first-rounder Josh Hart – to make the move. Meanwhile, the future draft picks L.A. sent to New Orleans would require VP of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka and his staff, led by assistant GM and Director of Scouting Jesse Buss, to find creative ways to still get young talent into the building and onto the court.

We sat down with Buss, the youngest of Dr. Jerry Buss’s six children, to discuss the usage of two-way contracts, draft strategy in the late first and second rounds, LAL’s 2022 draft pick, Max Christie, and more:

MT: With the trading of several of the team’s draft picks across the past few seasons, you’ve still managed to unearth first Alex Caruso, and then Austin Reaves as undrafted free agents. I know you typically have a board of 60 players in order on draft day; how has that evolved?Jesse Buss: I think our board has expanded naturally over time due to the addition of two-way contracts. Once those were available for us to use, we had to go past the 60, because we want to look at so many more players, and have a bigger master list. Luckily, we had Austin on our board, and we were able to secure a deal with him on a two-way once he went undrafted, so we felt pretty good about that from the jump.

MT: How did you first become familiar with his game? I assume at Wichita State, before his transfer to Oklahoma?Buss: We were familiar with him at Wichita State, and he had a very different role there. He was more of an off-ball shooter, and asked to be more of a glue guy for that program. Once he came to Oklahoma, his junior year, he started to show more capability with the ball in being more of a scoring option on offense. We were pretty familiar with him then, obviously being in the Big 12, he got a lot more exposure and was playing against a lot of good programs. He was on our radar as a guy we felt could translate to a good role player, though we weren’t sure what level after his junior year. But once he came back for his senior year, early on, I watched a game of his against TCU, and I think it was his best game of the season. He had a season high in points, 32, a season high in assists, nine, and he really just did everything. Not just from an offensive standpoint, because he was the No. 1 option for Oklahoma, but obviously, coming into our team, his role was going to be different. I felt it was the little things he did; he competed the entirety of the game. He wasn’t a guy taking plays off, especially defensively; he really got after it on defense. Even though he was the No. 1 option, he showed a big-time motor for hustle plays. He was diving for loose balls, trying to draw charges, getting his teammates involved. It really became apparent to me that he had the talent of a first round pick after that game; it was because he was a complete package. There are still areas he can grow, and really expand his offensive game. For us last season, he didn’t get to show a lot of what he can do with the ball, like he did at Oklahoma.

MT: How are you gauging value for a guy that isn’t on a lot of mock drafts, but you like clearly like a lot, especially when you don’t have picks?Buss: Sometimes you just have to hold your breath, when you don’t have picks. There are going to be 60 players taken, many of whom you like. But when that finalizes, there is now a lot of competition for undrafted players and two-way contracts. In particular, Nick Mazzella and Joey Buss have shown that this is a great place to sign a two-way deal, because of our development program with South Bay. I think we have a track record of success of guys that are on two-ways translating to NBA rosters, and they’ve done a wonderful job. It’s a great selling point to players and their agents when we’re trying to recruit undrafted players.

MT: This past draft, the Lakers purchased the No. 35 pick in the second round from Orlando, leading to the selection of Max Christie. What’s the process like after you purchase a pick, when you weren’t sure you’d be selecting in that spot?Buss: This year, we were very aggressive. Typically, when making calls to other GM’s and assistant GM’s, a lot of times teams are unwilling to part with their draft picks, especially in the second round, until they know who’s available with that selection. So you see a lot of those picks move on the clock. It’s typically a last minute thing where another team may not be comfortable using that pick because the players they were prioritizing were off the board. So it was kind of unique in the sense that we were able to acquire that pick before the draft. We did have some time to continue to study film, even though we pretty much had our board finalized. But really zeroing in on the four or five players that we thought would be available there.

MT: I remember texting some folks after the trade with Orlando that the Lakers were now in “Jesse Buss Range,” since you’ve had a strong track record in the late first, and early second rounds. Players like Kyle Kuzma (No. 27) and Larry Nance, Jr. (No. 27), or Josh Hart (No. 30) and Ivica Zubac (32). Even including later picks like Jordan Clarkson (No. 46) and Talen Horton-Tucker (No. 46), and about the only guy who isn’t still in the NBA is Anthony Brown (No. 34). Looking back, any connective tissues for you in finding players at those spots?Buss: A lot of times when we’re discussing the board, it comes down to potential vs. production. In the particular cases of the guys we’ve had success on that were older in college, we felt their production and who we thought they’d be as NBA players were just too high to pass on. What I mean by that is, in comparison, there were players with upside that were available at those picks. But we felt that even if those guys hit their upside, the player we were getting with those selections was going to be a better player five years from now. That’s really what we focus on when we’re ranking these guys. We want whoever is going to be the best long-term player for the Lakers. My philosophy is that any time we draft a player for the Lakers, I want him to finish his career here. I want him to make the case that he’s a player here for the long run.

MT: To zoom in on this year’s pick, what was the thought process on draft day?Buss: We were looking at two or three players, all who we had first round grades on. Max was highest on the board. But it was definitely close. There were a lot of talented guys left on the board. We felt comfortable with Max because getting him here with Coach Ham and his staff, Max is going to develop into a pretty good player, long term, for us.

MT: I got to see him in person several times in San Francisco and Las Vegas for summer league games, and was impressed with his defense specifically, both on and off the ball. Rewinding from there, what did you see from Christie when you scouted him?Buss: Max has been a highly-touted player since his high school days. He participated in a lot of All-America camps, in addition to the McDonalds All-America game. I actually watched him play live for the first time over three years ago at the SC 30 camp, where a lot of the high school players participate. I felt he was one of the players that stood out most from that camp. You’re talking about all different ages, all different classes, including many lottery picks. He was one of the standouts.

MT: Why?Buss: From a talent perspective. There was a lot of room for growth with him. At a young age, he had a pretty good handle, a pretty good mid-range game. I think he can develop into a pretty good shooter at the NBA level. (Legendary scout and Lakers assistant coach/advisor) Bill Bertka always says, “He has true size for his position.” For a two guard with Christie’s height (6’6’’) and length, he really is true to his position. He’s not a guy that’s undersized. And we think he can guard multiple positions once he’s able to get stronger. He’s a good athlete – he tested as one of the best athletes at his position at the combine, vertically and agility wise, and we think he has pretty good length. He can be a disruptor on that end.

MT: That’s a great point from a GOAT, Bert, about positional size. I think about that every time I watch a playoff game, especially, when certain guys just can’t stay on the floor because they can’t hold up on defense. Christie does seem to have the tools to develop into that type of player that holds up.Buss: That’s the thing, as we’re talking about prototypes of players, and the types of players we look for in the draft. We see where the game is trending, and you want to stay ahead of the curve. We felt like getting a guy like that at his size, his length, his athleticism, having shown flashes of a solid mid-range game … right now, a little bit of a streaky shooter, but we like his mechanics, we like a lot of things about his shot. We think he can continue to improve that and become a pretty good shooter in this league.

MT: When I wrote up the oral history of your dad, Dr. Jerry Buss,&nbsp; (https://www.nba.com/lakers/history/dr-jerry-buss-the-oral-history-of-the-greatest-owner-in-sports) you talked to me about becoming your dad’s eyes and ears for college players. Eventually, you evolved into your current role as Director of Scouting and assistant GM, but you’ve also started to watch more NBA players. How are you balancing all of that?Buss: I think watching both levels help each other. When you’re looking to sign a player, you want to see how they’ve developed. Having people in the room who have watched these guys since they were teenagers when you’re signing a free agent (or making a trade) is important. They’re able to tell you what things they did differently to get to the point where they are now in the NBA. In a lot of cases, it’s guys that have improved so much throughout their career from when they were drafted that it’s a good sign of the type of player you get. So I think it’s invaluable to have our scouting staff be a part of those conversations. And in terms of waching NBA games and applying it to scouting the draft, I think it’s very important, because at the end of the day we’re scouting these players to play in this league, for these coaches, against this competition. We need to know what it takes to be an NBA player. It’s very helpful to go scout a couple college games, and then watch an NBA game, because you notice the speed, the size, the athleticism and the length. Those things really stand out; watching both makes you better at both jobs.&nbsp;

In terms of becoming more well-rounded, that’s just come with time. As Rob and my sister Jeanie have brought me in more, and made me more a part of conversations, it’s really helped my growth, and I continue to learn every day. It’s helpful for me to have these conversations with a lot of executives around the league, because I’m constantly trying to learn and be better at my job.

MT: You’ve been at this for a long time now, having officially started with the Lakers in 2006, certainly relative to your age (34). How do things compare from when you first started, and probably dealt with some skepticism, to where you’ve grown to now, with a lot of relationships in the league, and a track record of your work?Buss: It was a long process for me. When I started, a lot of the conversations I would have analyzing talent or talking about basketball were just 1-on-1 with my father. Over time, that translated to a three-way conversation with myself, my dad and my brother Jim. Now, to be able to expand and have conversations like this with pretty much anyone in the league, whether they’re an executive with another team, at the league office or an agent, it’s been a long time coming. It’s been part of my growth, and I’m really happy with the place I’m at now. I don’t look at it as that ‘I’ve made it’ in terms of, I’m going to stop learning from other people. I take it as a situation where you try to absorb as much information as you possibly can, and use it to the betterment of the team.

MT: One of the things that helps me the most in covering the Lakers is to watch as many other NBA games as I can, which properly contextualizes everything happening with LAL. But that takes a lot of time … and I don’t have to watch college games. How much do you continually draw upon the various scouts and other employees you consult with to try and manage it all?Buss: I can’t be at every single big tournament for college basketball while also trying to make as many Laker games as possible, so over the years, I’ve really tried to build the staff out with people I trust in their basketball expertise. I lean on those guys quite a bit for their knowledge, their insight and their ability to help the team make the best decision possible when it comes to evaluating talent. You really do have to maximize your time and be as efficient as possible, and part of my job is to make everybody’s scouting schedules, and I think everybody in the staff, we all try to see the top 60 prospects at least once live. But sometimes that gets difficult, especially with COVID, and sometimes it gets done later throughout the season. That’s when you have to lean on your staff, and trust in those guys to help you make the best decision possible.

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Jesse Buss Q and A

Rodrigo Azurmendi

Pareciera que se ha convertido en rutina que los Lakers acierten en sus selecciones del Draft, al punto de que las expectativas para los escogidos en la Clase de 2018 son altas pese a que llegaron con los picks No. 25, 39, y 47 – territorio pocas veces fértil en la historia.

Está claro que debemos esperar para ver cómo se compararan Moe Wagner, Isaac Bonga, y Svi Mykhailiuk con algunas de las selecciones recientes de los laguneros, y vale recordar que varias de ellas fueron de lotería.

Los últimos tres veranos nos sentamos a charlar con Jesse Buss, Director de Scouting y asistente al gerente general, para hablar de las llegadas de Larry Nance, Jr. (No. 27 en 2015) y Ivica Zubac (No. 32 en 2016), y los arribos de Kyle Kuzma y Josh Hart (Nos. 27 y No. 30 en 2017).

Jesse nos dio su tiempo nuevamente para hablar del proceso hacia el Draft 2018 y contarnos algunos secretos de los tres nuevos jugadores de los Lakers. Esta es una transcripción de esa conversación:

MT: ¿Qué me puedes contar de cómo decidieron elegir a Moe Wagner? 
Jesse Buss: Lo hemos estado siguiendo durante ya un par de años en la Universidad de Michigan, y en algunos torneos que jugó en el extranjero con la Selección Nacional (de Alemania). Es un jugador con buen tamaño y un nivel muy alto de habilidades. Él cuenta con la capacidad para disparar, pasar, y manejar la bola a esa altura (6’9’’), algo que es sólido. Es un jugador con un alto coeficiente de baloncesto y gran intensidad, que además corre bien la cancha. Eso es algo que definitivamente era atractivo. Tuvo esa personalidad cuando vino a probarse con nosotros, y mostró mucha fortaleza y carisma. Eso es algo que definitivamente valoramos como organización. Obviamente, Rob (Pelinka) tiene la conexión con la Universidad de Michigan, así que tuvimos toda la información posible acerca de Moe antes de tomar la decisión. En la Liga de Verano, pienso que lo hizo mejor en los rebotes de lo que esperaba. Creo que mostró una tendencia a meterse y fajarse, y limpió las ventanas mejor de lo que lo hizo en Michigan.

MT: El día del Draft, ustedes no sabían qué agentes libres los Lakers iban a firmar, pero si tienes una idea de quién sería, ¿eso puede influenciar las selecciones de alguna manera? 
Buss: La manera que los ojeadores y yo ordenamos nuestro pizarrón es basado en talento, y solamente talento. Cualquier otro factor – lesiones, temas de conducta, cómo encajan en el equipo, quién se proyecta como refuerzo en la agencia libre – eso es un tema de Rob y Magic (Johnson).

MT: Ahora que LeBron James es jugador de los Lakers, ¿las cualidades de Wagner destacan más, especialmente su capacidad para encestar triple en Michigan? 
Buss: Si, porque es nuestro único jugador que puede jugar de pivot y espaciar la cancha como lo hacía en la universidad. Él no disparó bien en la Liga de Verano, pero esa fue una muestra pequeña, obviamente. Creo que encaja naturalmente ahí. Obviamente, LeBron ha tenido muchísimo éxito con tiradores alrededor suyo en su carrera. Él nos da muchas opciones diferentes, con muchos internos que pueden hacer cosas diferentes.

MT: ¿Cómo pasaron desde ver a Bonga en persona junto a Rob Pelinka en la primavera a adquirir la selección y luego elegirlo? 
Buss: Antes que nada, Rob siempre está buscando tratos, llamando a los otros gerentes generales de la liga, y sobre todo a medida que se acerca el Draft. Él sintió que tendríamos la oportunidad de adquirir esa selección (la No. 39). Nosotros queríamos seleccionar la mayor cantidad de jugadores posible para que crezcan con el equipo porque pensábamos que era un Draft muy profundo, y que habría mucho talento disponible al organizar nuestro pizarrón. Así que nos sentimos cómodos canjeando una selección futura para adquirir esta, porque pensábamos que traeríamos a alguien bueno.

MT: ¿Hace cuánto que seguían a Bonga, y qué vieron recientemente en Alemania? 
Buss: Además de la vez que lo vimos con Rob recientemente en Alemania, habíamos escuchado de él y visto sus videos. Recibimos la mayoría de la información de nuestros dos scouts internacionales, Antonio Maceiras y Can Pelister. En persona, vi a un tipo que tenía gran tamaño para su posición, siendo armador, y que realmente se movía bien para ser un tipo tan alto. Mostró muchos atributos que se pueden trasladar al siguiente nivel, como visión de juego y capacidad de pase. Obviamente, él es alguien que necesitará tiempo para desarrollarse, y debe trabajar algunas cosas. Estamos confiados en su potencial y en el jugador en el que puede convertirse para nosotros en el futuro.

MT: Bonga era el jugador más joven en Las Vegas con 18 años, y no jugó demasiados minutos. ¿Cuál fue tu impresión? 
Buss: Creo que dio algunos buenos pases. Hubo uno en particular en el que penetró por la línea de base y dio un pase con la mano izquierda al perímetro. Eso es algo que pocos jugadores en la NBA pueden hacer, especialmente para un tipo de ese tamaño. Tiene cosas naturales que se desarrollarán. La pregunta es: ¿puede desarrollar el resto de su juego? Eso vendrá con el tiempo que pase en South Bay y todo eso.

MT: Bonga es el primer “proyecto” que han seleccionado en un buen tiempo, si es justo usar ese término. Ustedes han tenido mucho éxito eligiendo jugadores con mucha experiencia colegial, y que han sido capaces de contribuir de inmediato, además de prospectos de alto calibre como Brandon Ingram y Lonzo Ball. ¿Cómo aplican todo eso a la hora de clasificar el talento? 
Buss: Es muy difícil tener tres selecciones, y elegir jugadores que anticipas que contribuirán de inmediato. A veces debes diversificar un poco, y sabiendo que elegimos a Moe y que realmente nos gustaba Svi, no podíamos traer a múltiples jugadores que necesitaban minutos de inmediato. Queríamos elegir a un jugador que tuviera gran potencial a largo plazo para el equipo. Debes ver al resto del plantel, y ver si tienes un lugar en el que puedas desarrollar a alguien durante los próximos años. El trabajo que Coach Walton y su cuerpo técnico han hecho con nuestros jugadores jóvenes me genera mucha confianza de que realmente podrían ayudar a Bonga a desarrollarse como jugador.

MT: Ya que no veo mucho baloncesto colegial y que por ende no conocía demasiado a Svi Mykahiliuk, me pregunto cómo puede ser que no haya sido seleccionado antes – tras lo que vi en la Liga de Verano. 
Buss: Él siempre ha sido uno de los favoritos de mi departamento en los últimos años. Él apareció en nuestro radar cuando lo vimos en el Hoops Summit hace cuatro años. Luego él fue a Kansas, un gran programa, y lo vimos crecer. Él no tuvo un gran rol sus primeros dos años, pero en su tercer año fue titular y una gran parte del equipo. Él consideró la posibilidad de ir al Draft – y lo entrevistamos – y le dijimos que podría ser seleccionado como un tirador, pero que no había tenido la chance de expandirse y mostrar todas las facetas de su juego. Siento que al regresar a la universidad, él explotó. Era un jugador más confiado. Sumó 10 o 15 libras de músculo, y algo que se notó entre las dos entrevistas en el Combine. Es un tipo que siempre ha estado entre los mejores tiradores del baloncesto colegial, y del Draft. Definitivamente sabíamos que su juego iba más allá de ser un francotirador, y él lo demostró en su último año en Kansas. Es menospreciado como atleta. Tiene gran tamaño para su posición. Algo de lo que nadie habla es que su promedio de asistencias dio un gran salto entre su tercer y cuarto año. Su generación de juego realmente mejoró. Sentimos que es un jugador con mucho lugar para mejorar dada su edad*, y no es muy común encontrar un prospecto como ese.*Mykhailiuk cumplió 21 años el 10 de junio. Él tenía apenas 17 años en su primera temporada en Kansas.

MT: ¿Qué tan preocupados estaban de que no estaría disponible en el No. 47? 
Buss: Aterrado. Sentíamos que era básicamente un talento de primera ronda. Nos sorprendió que estuviera allí en el 39, y mucho más que estuviera allí en el 47.

MT: Más allá de la confianza que le tenían a Svi, ¿pensaban que iba a terminar en el Segundo Equipo en Las Vegas? Eso no sucede muy a menudo con jugadores seleccionados No. 47.

Buss: No. Nunca esperas que un jugador seleccionado en la segunda ronda tenga éxito inmediato de esa manera, por más que sea un jugador de cuatro años, porque compite contra jugadores de lotería y mayor pedigrí. Sé que es solo la Liga de Verano, pero que tuviera ese logro tan temprano es impresionante. Debería estar orgulloso de eso.

MT: Mencionaste más temprano todas las demás cosas que hizo bien en Kansas además de tirar, y las mostró. Ya sea el pase – me dijo que jugó de armador cuando era más joven – o la defensa o el rebote. En múltiples ocasiones, él falló un tiro y luego le robó la bola al oponente que bajó el rebote, determinado a corregir us error. 
Buss: Su juego fue fantástico. Me sorprendieron algunas cosas que hizo, algunas cosas con el balón, y que se sintiera lo suficientemente cómodo como para mostrarlo de inmediato. Él tiene algo de potencial en esas áreas, siendo capaz de crear su propio tiro y tiros para otros. ¿Pero mostrarlo de inmediato? Pensé que eso iba a ser algo que los entrenadores iban a tener que pulir. Que lo mostrara de inmediato nos hizo sentir bien. Obviamente sabíamos que era un tirador letal. Así que fue emocionante, pero hay un largo camino por delante, y sabe que tiene que seguir creciendo y desarrollándose. Obviamente estamos en circunstancias diferentes con este equipo. Los últimos años, uno siempre quería ganar, pero había mucho más desarrollo y tiempo para darle a los jóvenes.

MT: Ahora eso cambia gracias a LeBron. Ok, una pregunta diferente: algunos de los jugadores que seleccionaron en los últimos años, como D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson y Larry Nance, Jr., fueron utilizados en cambios por varias razones, que han beneficiado a los Lakers hasta ahora. ¿Es difícil como scout ver eso depende de cómo se dan las cosas, o es parte del negocio? 
Buss: Primero y principal, le deseo lo mejor a ellos y aprecio todo lo que le dieron al equipo en un periodo en el que no había mucho que celebrar. Siempre tenemos que hacer lo mejor para la franquicia, y ponernos en la mejor situación de cara al futuro. Cuando hicimos el canje con Brooklyn, sentimos que era una oportunidad para liberar espacio salarial para poder tomar decisiones en la agencia libre como hicimos el año pasado. A veces hay que tomar decisiones difíciles, pero cuando Magic llegó al equipo él tenía una visión para devolvernos al camino del triunfo lo más rápido posible. Estábamos muy limitados en lo que podíamos hacer, con poca flexibilidad por la manera que el convenio salarial está diseñado – al momento que ciertos contratos expiraran, estaríamos pagando gran parte de nuestros salarios a los jóvenes y sus extensiones. Definitivamente aplaudo a Rob y Magic por cambiar el curso y sacar provecho de las situaciones que se presentaron. Yo igual me enorgullezco de haber seleccionado a esos jugadores, porque para que otro equipo los quiera, y esté dispuesto a cambiar selecciones por ellos, eso significa que son buenos jugadores. Ser capaces de mover un contrato de tres años y por ese monto significa que querían a uno de nuestros jóvenes, y sin ellos ese canje no se hace. Si hubiéramos seleccionado a un jugador en esa posición que no tuviera valor de recambio, entonces las cosas no se hubieran dado de esta manera este verano, porque no hubiéramos tenido la flexibilidad para hacerlo. Además, ¿conseguir una primera ronda y seleccionar a Josh Hart? Eso fue tremendo en cuanto a conseguir a un buen jugador joven y flexibilidad en el mismo canje.

En cuanto al canje con Cleveland, los jugadores que estaban en nuestra organización jugaron bien y lo hicieron por encima de sus respectivas posiciones del Draft. Me siento muy bien de haberlos elegido. Pero hablamos de la necesidad de liberar aún más espacio salarial para realmente poder movernos este verano (y el próximo), y fuimos capaces de adquirir una selección de primera ronda junto a eso. Eso significa, para mí, que ellos valoraron a esos dos jugadores lo suficiente como para entregar una selección del Draft. Porque esos son activos valiosos en la NBA de hoy. Estás sumando a un jugador joven en un contrato establecido por cuatro temporada, y como dije antes, las selecciones de primera ronda son extremadamente valiosas.

MT: Ustedes han tenido un proceso que ha sido consistente durante muchos años ya. ¿Cómo ha sido tener que integrar a Magic y Rob desde que tomaron control de las operaciones de baloncesto? 
Buss: El día que Magic llegó aquí, lo he dicho antes, él tenía una visión para este equipo y cómo pensaba que podía contribuir a llevarnos de vuelta adonde estábamos cuando mi padre todavía estaba vivo. Eso fue extremadamente importante para nosotros porque todo lo que queremos es ganar, y eso lo único que nos importa. Él es tan carismático y tiene una presencia que realmente te hace sentir bien sobre la dirección en la que el equipo está yendo.

Rob ha hecho un gran trabajo de ser nuestro nexo con el resto de la liga, en cuanto a comunicarse con los otros equipos, los agentes, y realmente ver lo que hay ahí. Él ha sido un buen representante de los Lakers en su posición.

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Analizando el Draft 2018 con Jesse Buss

EL SEGUNDO – La primera semana de la temporada baja no pasó sin novedades en el mundo Lakers.

Lo más significativo ha sido el viaje de gran parte de la cúpula ejecutiva a Europa, donde están viendo jugadores de cara al Draft del próximo 21 de junio.

Vale recordar que los Lakers cuentan con las selecciones No. 25 (adquirida en el canje con Cleveland en febrero) y No. 47 (ex propiedad de Denver, adquirida en el canje de José Calderón en el verano de 2016).

De esta forma, el gerente general Rob Pelinka y su asistente Jesse Buss se unieron en el viejo continente al scout español Antonio Maceiras y al turco Can Pelister.

Francia fue una de las primeras visitas, con paradas en Mónaco y Paris. La siguiente fue Atenas (Grecia), donde presenciaron el encuentro de Euroliga entre Panathinaikos y Real Madrid.

También hubo pasos por España, entre ellos Valladolid (para un Valladolid-Barcelona B de la LEB Oro) y una visita de Pelister al Fenerbahce-Baskonia de los cuartos de final de la Euroliga.

El sábado fue el turno de Belgrado, donde visitaron el estadio Aleksandr Nikolic Hall para presenciar el juego entre Estrella Roja y Mega Leks.

Esta semana se anunció que Lawrence Tanter, la voz del estadio en STAPLES Center en los juegos de los Lakers, regresará en 2018-19 para su temporada No. 36.

Tanter se perdió dos partidos en el tramo final de la temporada, cortando una racha de más de 800 juegos consecutivos. El locutor estuvo presente sin falta durante más de dos décadas.

El novato de los Lakers, tras una temporada exitosa en la que lideró al equipo en goleo con 16.1 puntos por noche, charló con Baron Davis sobre su vida dentro y fuera de la cancha.

La historia de Andre Ingram y su debut en la NBA a los 32 años causó furor.

El escolta visitó a Kevin Garnett en su programa KG Area 21 y se divirtió junto a una leyenda de la liga.

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Temporada baja: Ingram, Kuzma, Tanter y scouting europeo

The Lakers have found a sweet spot drafting in the late first and early second round of late, nabbing Larry Nance, Jr. in 2015 (No. 27), Ivica Zubac in 2016 (No. 32) and Jordan Clarkson in 2014 (No. 46).

To take a closer look at the process behind making such selections, we sat down with Lakers Director of Scouting/Assistant GM Jesse Buss and went through how Nance, Jr. ended up becoming a Laker. We went on to discuss how things have been different in the basketball operations office since Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka came into the building, and looked ahead to next week’s draft.

Below is a transcription of that conversation:

Mike Trudell: How did Larry Nance, Jr. first get on your radar?
Jesse Buss: We’d been following him since he started college at Wyoming. Obviously, his dad (Larry Nance, Sr.) was an NBA player. We didn’t know what kind of prospect he’d be back then, but we kept track of him over the years as he developed. He had a few (unfortunate) things happen to him during his college career like tearing his ACL his junior year and getting mononucleosis his senior year. We’d been watching him more closely – either in person, on TV or on Synergy – during that senior year and he was having a great season. He had a rough period there (with mono) where they lost a couple games and he wasn’t playing too well or he was out. But he came back on strong, and they ended up making the NCAA Tournament. His body of work overall as a senior was pretty impressive, and when we began watching him more on Synergy, that’s when we turned our focus to him more closely as a potential guy we could draft late in the first round. He then participated in the Chicago pre-draft combine and did pretty well, and we got him here in June for a workout that really sealed the deal for us. We just knew we had to have him on draft night, and we were hoping he was there at No. 27.

MT: How does somebody go from just being one of many players that you’re watching closely to being a potential Lakers draft pick like Nance, Jr. was?
Buss: We watch so many games during the year that it usually takes a scout or someone in the front office to watch somebody and bring him up to the group. With Larry, I thought, ‘Maybe we should look into this guy a little more.’ Given the fact that he had a great four-year career and the NCAA Tournament experience, I definitely thought he was a guy of interest even though not many people were talking about him at the time. Larry helped himself in the draft process, too. He played well at the combine, and I’d heard he worked out well for other teams. I know what we saw here in our building, where he was phenomenal in his workout. That’s how these things happen. Someone may like a player early in the process, and then it’s their job to share it with the rest of the staff. You get everybody on board … and it was easy to do that for Larry once he had a great workout.

MT: What stood out from his workout?
Buss: The most notable thing was his athleticism. He tested off the charts with his vertical leaping, and everything else: speed, quickness, agility. That alone was very impressive. Then he showed an advanced pick-and-roll game in a two-man game with (current Celtic) Terry Rozier. He was just diving to the rim and dunking on everybody, and showed that he had great hands, that he could pass and could handle the ball a little bit. And even at times step out and shoot the ball a little bit.

MT: So you had four years of tape on Nance, Jr. from Wyoming. … How much does one workout in your gym tell you?
Buss: For example, they don’t do as much pick and roll in college as in the NBA. We get to see more of that in a workout setting than in going to watch a typical college game. But at the end of the day, you have to take the entire body of work, and go with your gut decision. It can’t just be one game. It has to be multiple games, tape work, workouts and interviews to understand what type of kid he is.

MT: How much does a player’s personality matter in that workout setting?
Buss: It matters on the court. You could see that Larry was very enthusiastic and a good teammate. He always had a smile on his face. He was very respectful to our coaches. Some of the staff knew his dad, and knew that he came from a good family, so we were pretty confident that not only were we getting a talented player, but we were getting a good person.

MT: When you drafted Nance, Jr., it was a surprise to many since he wasn’t that high on the mock drafts. And thus, the Lakers heard some original criticism. Scouting players correctly is one of the biggest jobs an organization has, so it must feel good when you get a win once it becomes clear that player has outkicked his original projection.
Buss: Any time you vouch for a player that you may know better than other scouts, you want to be right. You want that player to show out and do well because you want to trust what you saw that turned you onto him in the first place. That goes for any scout on our staff. Since we’re all spread out across the country (and Europe), certain scouts are going to know certain players better than others. There are certain players you stick your neck out for, and I was pretty comfortable with Larry.

MT: So was that a quick meeting with the rest of the staff after his workout went so well?
Buss: Right after his workout, everyone was sold and he shot up our board. It was a group decision on that point. Everybody was excited to try and get him with that No.  27 pick.

MT: How did things develop on the night of the Draft?
Buss: Since we were so sold on Larry, where we had him ranked was several spots ahead of anybody else still available at No. 27. The fact that there wasn’t as much buzz surrounding him, we were holding out hope that he’d be there for us. We felt like if we got him at 27, we were very happy with that.

MT: I understand you use a tier system as a part of your big board, which people who play fantasy sports intensely might understand. How do you utilize it and when did you put it into practice for the staff?
Buss: We have our board with guys ranked one through 60. We separate them in groups like a tier system, which is something I developed about three years ago with our staff. We group guys based on their talent level. And then, we have a discussion if we have a couple guys in the same tier. The 2015 Draft was the first time we used the tier system.

MT: What made you want to put that in?
Buss: Because in the prior draft year, I noticed it would have been even more helpful for us to have had it. I thought it was too basic to say that a player who is ranked 25th on our board is better than the player who is ranked 26th. The tier system separates guys by talent and allows for debate. Saying a player is ranked 25th doesn’t specify how talented he is, but grouping him amongst his talent level does.

MT: Right, so if you have only one guy left in the first tier and three in the second, you take that first tier guy. But if it’s only the three guys in the second tier, you talk it out…
Buss: Yes. Like, ‘Which guy is the best fit? Which one will fit our system the best? Which guy do we think has the best chance to succeed on our team’ … and at that point Larry was in a higher tier than anybody else on the board. That made the decision easier, because you never take a guy that’s in a lower tier. The 34th pick (which became Anthony Brown) was a little tougher, because we had a couple of guys we liked there.

MT: You have the No. 2 pick for the third straight year, and I’m sure you’re working on finalizing your tiers…
Buss: We usually get that figured out at least one day in advance. Obviously we don’t know who we’re going to select until Boston takes who they want. But we’ll have our order of priority and tier system set up. Now, since our picks are spread out at No. 2 and No. 28, you have a good couple of hours between picks. You’re watching how the draft develops. A lot of times trades come into play, or you’re able to buy another pick. The strategy becomes different in that case, but we rely pretty heavily on our tier system. It works best up through the early second round, when it becomes best player available. You just hope guys at that point can make your roster and potentially be a rotation player. Fit comes more into question in the first round.

MT: What more than anything do you think has helped you get guys that have outperformed their draft position?
Buss: A lot of it is that we’ve been fortunate enough to have Nance, Jr., Clarkson and Zubac way higher on our board than where we selected them. Any time you have a guy several spots higher than where you’re selecting, we usually feel pretty confident he’s going to be a good player. In Clarkson’s case, we had him as a clear first round talent, but he dropped well below our own projection to No. 46.

MT: And if we re-drafted the 2014 class, Clarkson goes much higher than he went…
Buss: Yeah, probably in the late lottery.

MT: Where did you have Zubac ranked?
Buss: We saw him as a potential lottery pick.

MT: So how close is your board getting to being completed now that you’ve had many players come in for workouts?
Buss: We don’t really start finalizing our tier list until later this week and early next week. We’re still having workouts left, so there’s always room for guys to move up or down. We’ll watch tape together and break everything down together, and really hash it out.

MT: You’ve worked your way up from the bottom of the basketball operations department, which is how your dad, Dr. Jerry Buss, wanted you to really learn the business. Now you’re right there in the room with Magic and Pelinka. Who aside from your dad has been a key influence?
Buss: I had a lot of great influences, my dad being one. Bill Bertka* was really the guy who took me under his wing when I was 18. He explained everything about scouting, and told me to go out there and write what I saw. Go with my gut about how I felt about a player, don’t be afraid to share an opinion, and always believe in yourself. Bertka was definitely a big help to me. My brother, Sean (Buss, a Lakers scout), has been a big influence to me as well. He was the one who got me into college basketball in the first place and took me to my first games when I was a kid.

*We profiled the legendary scout and coach last year.

MT: There’s been considerable change in your office in the past few months. What has stood out to you with Rob Pelinka and Magic coming into the fold?
Buss: They’ve been great. Very collaborative. I love working with them, and they love everything we’re doing (on the scouting side). They’ve entrusted me to run the scouting department like it’s been run. Just carry on from what we’ve been doing, because I think they’ve noticed we’ve had some success with the young talent we’ve been able to assemble on our roster. Obviously, they’re more involved now, too.

MT: Let me ask you specifically about Pelinka, with whom I know you’ve spent a lot of time lately on scouting trips to New York and elsewhere. What have you learned about him that you didn’t know when he took the job?
Buss: He’s really been great. I didn’t know that he was as big of a basketball junkie as somebody like me was in terms of scouting players. I thought there would be somewhat of a process there, but no … he already knew all the players in this draft. He’d been scouting them for his own purposes earlier this season. There was really no catching up for him. He was ready from day one, and he’s been readily involved in this entire process. It just amazes me how much he does know about each player, and how thorough he is. Rob is a guy who will text me late at night, “Hey I just watched this guy, what do you think about him?” We’re constantly throwing ideas off each other, evaluating players and talking through that. It’s been amazing working with him. I definitely think we’re going to have a lot of success with him at the helm.

MT: As for Magic … he’s been very close with your family for your entire lifetime. You know how your dad felt about him. How has that transition been from someone you must have loved and admired growing up to someone you work with daily on trying to bring the Lakers back to prominence?
Buss: Who doesn’t love Magic? He’s an amazing person. He’s been such a pioneer for the game of basketball. Everything that the Lakers are today, a lot of credit goes to him. He was really able to help transform this franchise into an iconic one, one that’s beloved throughout the world, and not just Los Angeles. He’s made himself into a global icon, and rightfully so. But Magic just lays out a vision for this team that we’re all behind him with. We think we can achieve that. It’s our job to go out and implement that vision, and we do it in different areas. With me and my department, our area is the draft. He’s been heavily involved even in the workout process. He’s been getting on the court, working out with the guys and telling them what he wants to see. It’s been great. I’m sure the (draft prospects) love it as well because they’re getting passes thrown to them by Magic Johnson. Or Magic Johnson telling them how he wants them to do a drill. He’s just been a great leader of this franchise so far. His leadership ability is he’s able to bring everyone together and make it a collaborative process. He’s definitely not just a guy to do it only his way.

MT: This may be hard to answer since it’s so new, but what happens if there’s a disagreement in the room? Does Magic have the final say? Rob? Magic and Rob? A collaboration?
Buss: It falls into the collaboration. From day one that Magic and Rob have been here, it’s been all about team, unity and ‘us,’ not ‘me’ or ‘I’. I’m confident we’ll all come to a decision together on whoever we want to select in the draft.

MT: As for the upcoming draft, you were very close – 53.1 percent close, in fact – of losing the pick to Philly. Instead, you moved up a spot. Now that you’ve seen most of the players in that range, how big of a deal can this be for the Lakers?
Buss: I’m genuinely shocked that over the last three years, we’ve been able to keep the pick (through the protections). That’s some luck right there. And this one adds another phenomenal young player to our young core, and rounds it out a little bit. Now, we’re really starting to build a team. It’s not just one, two or three guys. Half our team is guys we really think we can grow and develop together for the next several years. I think we’re really building something the right way.

MT: I know you can’t mention specific prospects, but have you learned anything over the course of the past few weeks that may have changed your mind about who you think the Lakers will take?
Buss: Once you remove yourself from the season and actually scouting players, and let your thoughts get together … you start watching tape and meet these kids for the first time … talk to their advisors and agents … their college coaches and maybe their parents … you start to really learn about the kids. It definitely has impacted my opinion, and collectively our opinion, about who we like especially at No. 2. We’ve been locked in on that. We never know who we’re selecting in May, though. It would have been someone different than who we ended up selecting. Once you really start diving into this process is when you figure out who you want to select.

MT: Are you starting to see any consensus building amongst the staff?
Buss: We still have some workouts … I think that’s going to paint a more clear picture for us, where we can compare each guy to his counterparts.

scouting-the-draft-with-jesse-buss

Scouting the Draft with Jesse Buss

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EL SEGUNDO – El gerente general de Los Angeles Lakers Mitch Kupchak anunció el viernes que Jesse Buss fue promovido al cargo de asistente al gerente general/director de scouting, Ryan West a director de personal de jugadores, y Clay Moser a entrenador asistente/director de estrategias de baloncesto.

Buss recientemente sirvió como el director de scouting de los Lakers durante las últimas tres temporadas, manejando todas las operaciones de scouting en preparación al Draft de la NBA, además de sus propias responsabilidades como ojeador. En su nuevo rol, Buss continuará contribuyendo a las decisiones de personal bajo Kupchak, el Vicepresidente Ejecutivo de Operaciones de Baloncesto Jim Buss, y el Asistente al Gerente General Glenn Carraro, y además continuará asistiendo a los D-Fenders, el representante de los Lakers en la NBA D-League, con su draft y scouting. Jesse se sumó a la organización originalmente en 2006, estuvo dos temporadas como asistente de operaciones de baloncesto antes de convertirse en scout entre 2008-2011, y como coordinador de scouting en la temporada 2011-2012.

West comenzará su nuevo rol tras servir como asistente al director de scouting durante las últimas tres temporadas, donde fue parte vital del proceso de evaluación de jugadores, y tuvo voz en todas las decisiones de scouting y el draft. Además de expandir sus roles con la organización, West mantendrá su extensivo calendario de scouting en persona. West originalmente se sumó a los Lakers como ojeador en el verano de 2009, y antes de llegar a la franquicia había trabajado como ojeador con los Memphis Grizzlies durante ocho temporadas.

Esta será la quinta temporada de Moser con la organización de los Lakers, habiendo llegado originalmente a Los Ángeles como entrenador asociado de los D-Fenders para la campaña 2011-2012, antes de ser promovido al club mayor en diciembre de ese año. Este ha sido un scout a avanzado NBA para las temporadas 2012-2013 y 2013-2014, y sumó responsabilidades como entrenador asistente la temporada pasada. El graduado de Wisconsin-LaCrosse trae 25 años de experiencia en manejo del baloncesto profesional y experiencia como entrenador a esta posición nueva, donde trabajará directamente con los grupos de entrenadores y analistas para integrar ideas e información entre los departamentos. Moser trabajará de manera cercana con el Director de Analítica Yuju Lee y el Director Asociado de Analítica Aaron Danielson.

Lee trae muchísima riqueza analítica y conocimiento de ciencias de computación a la posición, con títulos Masters en ambas disciplinas de UCLA, además de trabajar mano a mano con las operaciones de baloncesto, los entrenadores y fisioterapeutas para incorporar análisis estadístico a las operaciones del día a día en cada departamento. Lee fue contratado originalmente como consultante previo a la temporada 2012-2013, contribuyendo con varios proyectos analíticos.

El rol de Danielson incluirá diseñar e implementar análisis estadísticos para el departamento de operaciones de baloncesto, además de identificar nuevas tendencias y desarrollar nuevos contenidos analíticos para los entrenadores y fisioterapeutas. Actualmente finalizando su PhD en estadísticas en UCLA, Danielson ya cuenta con títulos Masters en políticas públicas de la Universidad de Chicago y en economía de NYU. Él comenzó a trabajar con los Lakers hace dos años en un rol de consultante.