On the Beat: Diverse Opinions Form Draft Day Decisions

PHILADELPHIA – On draft night, the many members of the 76ers’ basketball operations department will carry out a series of important, unified decisions.  Don’t be fooled, though.  Making these decisions probably required a healthful dose of debating.With the all-important date of June 23rd looming on the horizon, the Sixers are on the cusp of beginning in earnest internal discussions about how to best maximize the key resources at their disposal.  “The process I guess really hasn’t gotten going yet,” Sixers Director of Basketball Operations / Scouting Innovation Vince Rozman said Tuesday. “When the scouts come in later this week, then we’ll really start grinding.  I think we’re in good shape.”Not only do the Sixers own the draft’s number one pick, they also boast the 24th and 26th selections in the first round.  The team has expressed a willingness to operate with an open mind should the opportunity surface to execute additional transactions as well.To ready for the draft, the Sixers have devoted years, not just a few months since the end of the season, to researching the crop of prospects available in 2016.  These efforts have yielded extensive results, all of which are open to the interpretation of the team’s top brass, advisors, scouts, and coaches.  “You might think the more you’re with somebody, the more you start to think alike,” said Brandon Williams, the Sixers’ recently-elevated Vice President of Basketball Administration, after Wednesday’s pre-draft workout session wrapped up at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. “That probably couldn’t be further from the truth.”Having been with the Sixers for a while, Williams would know.  He was originally hired in 2013 as general manager of the club’s NBA Development League affiliate, the Delaware 87ers, and has since risen through the ranks.  When it comes to making assessments, Williams uses multiple contexts.”After you’ve spent this many years in the business, there’s times I’ve changed hats and I feel like a player again,” said Williams, who spent time in both the NBA and NBADL. “I think, ‘I’d love to play with that player.  I would love to get a pass from that player, I would love to give him a ball.'”The other times, you think as a mentor, that guy needs guidance, he needs somebody to help him focus, then his physical attributes will really shine.  We all have those kind of moments where we’re switching and starting to look at it through different lenses.”Williams’ perspective is just one of several that will be applied towards the draft choices at which the Sixers ultimately arrive. “We won’t sleep a lot,” Rozman said, sizing up the week that the Sixers have ahead.  “There’ll be a lot of meetings.  I’m sure we’ll have a few good arguments still to come.”Rozman is one of the Sixers’ most tenured basketball operations staffers, having joined the team in 2006.  Like Williams, he expressed excitement about now having the chance to go through a draft with Bryan Colangelo and Marc Eversley.  Colangelo was tapped as the Sixers’ President of Basketball Operations in April.  He then brought Eversley on as his Vice President of Player Personnel in May. “We’ve gone through a lot here as a franchise, as a city,” said Williams.  As he put it, the Sixers are “really wanting to hit a homerun” in the draft.”We want to be diligent, and there’s an intensity around our preparation,” he said.  “There is a collaboration which we’ve all enjoyed over the last month or so that we’ve now been together.  There’s a diversity of opinion.  Bryan’s been in the league a very long time, Marc has gotten experience in a couple of different organizations now, and so there are diverse approaches to the way we see players.”Subsequently, according to Williams, the Sixers are well-positioned to avoid the traps associated with “group think.” In the end, he’s learned that, regardless of a person’s background, most personnel views are shaped by one prevailing question.”What do you love about players?,” said Williams.  “There’s really no right answer to that, but really learning what sticks out to them, and being able to counter with something that’s sort of great to others.  So I’ve enjoyed the debate and the sparring and the collaboration among our group.”In the eyes of the Sixers, these sometimes feisty interactions are welcomed, relished, and necessary.  More than that, they could very well lead to delivering a major long-term pay-off.