Drafting NBA players requires endless hours of research Feeling Out the Draft By Andrew Ware Ask Rockets director of player personnel Dennis Lindsey about any high school or college player eligible for the 2000 NBA Draft and chances are he can tell you that player's favorite color, the name of his pet, or what he likes to eat for breakfast. The Rockets selected Kenny Thomas with the 22nd overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft. "We look at these guys as million dollar investments, and we want to know as much as we can about them," Lindsey said. "We want to find information about a guy's character and if he has a love for the game. We'll go all the way back to their high school and summer league coaches to see what kind of person he is. I've talked to reporters before to see how a player deals with the media." With the influx of high school players entering the draft in recent years, the scouting process begins at an early age. Lindsey along with Rockets scouts Joe Ash and Brent Johnson use summer evaluations to begin identifying high school sophomores and juniors in an effort to determine which ones are likely to enter the draft following their senior years. "We have put a significant amount of time this year looking at the high school players," Lindsey said. "Of the high school guys that have declared, the only one that really is a lottery candidate is Darius Miles. There are going to be several high school draft candidates available and some of them are potential first-rounders, but maybe not lottery-type players." The Rockets are in unfamiliar territory this year holding a lottery pick for the first time since 1992. That year Houston selected Robert Horry with the 11th overall pick in the 1992 NBA Draft. Although the Rockets know they will be in the lottery – their exact draft position won't be known until after the draft lottery on May 21 – Lindsey doesn't believe the overall class of 2000 lottery picks will have the same impact on the league as have lottery picks from past seasons. "I wouldn't say it's a typical lottery-type of year," he said. "In the past you thought of lottery picks as potential franchise-type players. Mainly due to the number of college underclassmen and high school guys declaring each season, the talent pool has dwindled. So we are dealing with a situation this year where we wish the pool of prospects was greater. We are just trying to figure out who is going to be there, and how they fit in relation to our roster." The Rockets also own first-round picks from both Orlando and Philadelphia from previous deals, but each team has a four-year window in which to convey the pick to Houston. Lindsey doesn't expect the Rockets to receive either team's pick this year but the Rockets' staff nonetheless will prepare for the event they receive either or both team's pick. "You've always got to prepare like you're going to get all the picks," Lindsey said. "If you want a percentage, it's not likely that we would receive the picks this year. But you always go into it like you are going to receive those picks because if you don't prepare, that will be the time those teams decide to convey their pick to you." According to Lindsey, it is still too early to determine whether the Rockets will look to fill a specific need in the June draft or if they will simply take the best player available. "You never want to pass on a potential star," he said, "but yet you want to take a player that is going to best fit with the players that you currently have under contract and potential free agent prospects. Obviously the best senior class prospect is Kenyon Martin and the best underclassman that has declared is Marcus Fizer. Stromile Swift and Chris Mihm have yet to declare, so we still don't know who all of the draft-eligible players will be." (On May 12, both Swift and Mihm declared their intentions to enter the 2000 NBA Draft.) Currently the evaluation process includes plenty of videotape assessment of each potential draft prospect. "As a staff we're watching thousands of games because Rudy (Tomjanovich) is a big believer in the tape evaluation process," Lindsey said. "So we use a lot of video of what guys have done not only this year, but also in years past." The tapes are virtual highlight reels of each player that shows both the highlights and lowlights of his past performances. "We call them outtakes and they show every play, both positive and negative, that a player is in during a game," Lindsey said. "We cut out all the dead time, so all you see is one play after another of that player. We're trying to show what kind of player that player is in the shortest time possible. On some players we make highlight videos to show what kind of plays the guy is capable of making." Once the Rockets identify and narrow their pool of prospects, they bring each player in for a personal workout that allows him to showcase his skills. After the physical tests are completed, the players sit down to be interviewed by the Rockets staff. Rockets scout Brent Johnson said the interview allows the staff to judge how a player thinks. "There's eight of us in a room and he's just sitting there looking at us," he said. "It can be pretty nerve-racking. We're trying to find out what makes the guy tick. We want tough, smart guys on our team and this helps determine if these guys fit the bill. We want to know that they're not going to lock up if Gary Payton starts talking trash to them." ------------------ You just want to be on the side thats winning.
