NBA Teams Worried About Virtual Drafting: Here’s Why

It is that time of the year for the NBA again when franchises draft rookie players. However, amidst the league’s lockdown, this seems like it will be an exasperating process.

NBA to bring in the rookies virtually

Since the NBA has suspended all operations, a lot of things stand postponed. Events such as the rest of the regular season, playoffs matchups as well as the free agency are considered postponed due to the pandemic. Surprisingly, the league’s June 25 draft is not.

According to the recent episode Back to Back: An NBA Podcast, NBA Offenses Evolution and the Challenges of a Virtual Draft Process, the NBA’s move to take up a virtual drafting process seems like it will have questionable results.

Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the franchises will indulge in virtual meetings with the players. They are allowed only two hours with a player in a week.

Unfortunately, the draft process seems like it might fail, as it will happen based on videos and whatever stats the teams can get their hands on.

The original draft process includes several factors wherein players are made to work out in medical tests and physical tests. In the podcast, Seth Partnow feels that there may be a large factor of uncertainty in “mistakes” on the medical side.

Mo Dakhil says, “Teams are worried about just doing the drafting just off the video and stats whatever they get in 4 hr interviews with these guys.” He further asks Seth Partnow about his opinion, as the latter is a former Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Talking about the effects of the NBA Draft Combine and medical evaluation Partnow reveals, “It’s going to be harder, the medical side will get a huge bump in evaluation with a lot of mistakes with data.

“Without combine, without ability tick. Just medical tests won’t work as their will lots of guesswork and skittishness”

Players are to attend by invitation only. An athlete’s performance during the combine affects perception, draft status, salary, and ultimately the player’s entire career.

Furthermore, Partnow highlighted how these mistakes are bad for the franchises,

“New drafts are like a  ticking time bomb. Evaluation of players won’t hurt so much as there is so much noise around the plays.”

The NBA’s regular draft process

The NBA Draft Combine is a multi-day showcase. It takes place every May before the regular annual June NBA draft. At the combine, college basketball players have to take medical tests.

Next, they are interviewed, perform various athletic tests, and shoot drills. Finally, they play in five-on-five drills for an audience of the  National Basketball Association (NBA) coaches, general managers, and scouts.

The NBA draft happens every year in June. If a team chooses a player, the said player cannot sign a contract to play for any teams.

Players must be at least 19 years old at some point during the year of the draft are eligible.

Teams take turns choosing the players. When a team chooses a player, it is called a pick.

Since 1985, all teams which miss the playoffs have participated in a lottery system to see who gets the first pick. The NBA now uses ping-pong balls that have numbers written on them. A machine picks four balls at a time. They assign every possible combination of numbers to the team.

Teams with worse records get an increased number of combinations of numbers. It means that they have a better chance to win. The machine picks three teams. These teams get the first three picks in the draft. The other eleven teams get to pick in order of how bad their records are.