Pandemic rough on scouting, draft prep
Virus leaves some players with more resources and training than others
It’s the longest pre-draft year in NBA history, stretching now into its 17th month.
So long that for the first time in his NBA career, Patrick Engelbrecht is still scouting draft prospects while other leagues around the world have already tipped off their next season.
The Raptors’ director of global scouting said the team has compiled more information on potential picks than perhaps in any other time in history. But COVID-19 poses unique challenges in this bizarre year, and to some players more than others.
“It’s very strange,” Engelbrecht said. “There’s some international prospects that we’re actually watching the beginning of their season, but yet they’re in this year’s draft.
“Each player has their own story. We have a dossier and a history with each guy that we’re very serious about, so we look at each player through a different lens. It’s his own journey, his own path, and you’re watching his evolution and his trajectory differently than you would anybody else.”
The Raptors have the 29th pick in the Nov. 18 draft, which is normally held in late June. This isn’t a normal year.
“Some guys, you’re relying more on video. Some guys, you can get up close and personal with them, and obviously you’d love to do that,” said Engelbrecht, who’s in his eighth season with the Raptors.
“This pandemic has affected people in a lot of different ways and you need to be careful when you are judging young men going through a pandemic. Some may have gym access, some may not. Some may have an agent with resources to do X, Y and Z and some may not. So you need to balance that stuff and figure out who will thrive in your environment and stick to the talent.”
The false backdrop for Engelbrecht’s Zoom call with the media on Monday was the Raptors’ practice gym at OVO Athletic Centre in Toronto. While he was in a gym, he said, it wasn’t that one. He’s actually in the U.S., and while some states have stiffer travel restrictions — New York, for example, requires 14 days of quarantine if arriving by airplane — he’s been able to watch workouts in some gyms in the west.
“Most of the agencies are based on the west coast. A lot of prospects are between Vegas and Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, a small little pocket of guys in Phoenix, a small little pocket of guys in San Francisco,” he said.
He added a lot of agencies have brought prospects out to go through the pre-draft process together as selection day approaches. Still, nothing compares to running players through drills and game situations in their own gym.
“When we have a guy in our building, obviously they are on our turf,” Engelbrecht said. “They put on our practice uniform. They go through our paces. Our minor-league development coaches work them out, our head coach and assistant coaches are sitting courtside. There’s a different level of, let’s say, intensity in the gym when you are doing a workout in your own facility.”
The solo workouts are difficult to evaluate. There’s no one for players to pace themselves with. They start missing shots, and “you are out there alone, and you can be out there drowning,” Engelbrecht said.