<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>After Ed Stefanski was hired as general manager of the 76ers in December, he couldn't scout in person as much as he was used to. That didn't stop the evaluation process. "I still watched games and tape," Stefanski said. "So I have a real good feel for this draft right now, because I've seen these kids for a few years. This draft, I know everybody in it." Stefanski, who made his name as a skilled talent evaluator with New Jersey, will conduct his first draft as head of the Sixers' basketball operations on Thursday. The 76ers hold one pick, the 16th overall selection. Even with the new job, not much has changed for the self-proclaimed gym rat, besides the fact that he's spending less time in the gym. "If you said to me I had to be in the gym all day and take phone calls from there, then I'm not complaining," Stefanski said. "The scope of my job is a little bit different now, so I have to do other things, which I'm not saying I dislike. But being in the gym with the ball bouncing, I'm fine there." For the first time, Stefanski has the final say on who will be picked. Since 2000, Stefanski and Nets president Rod Thorn were well known for draft-day success stories. With Thorn at the helm, Stefanski served as director of scouting and eventually general manager. They took Kenyon Martin with the first overall pick in 2000. "We didn't blow the No. 1 pick in the draft," Stefanski said. And in 2001, the Nets traded Eddie Griffin for Richard Jefferson, Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong. Martin, Jefferson and Collins all started on the 2002-03 conference champion Nets. Nenad Krstic was a steal at No. 24 in 2002. But Zoran Planinic (No. 22 in 2003) was a bust whom Stefanski singled out. Back then, Thorn had the final say in personnel decisions. But Stefanski said they had a very close working relationship. "Rod gave me a lot of leeway in talking with him," Stefanski said. "It was a situation where he had the final say, but we were more like a partnership. But there was no question he had the final say. "And it will be the same way here." Sixers assistant general manager Tony DiLeo, one of Stefanski's confidants on draft night, wouldn't compare Stefanski to his predecessor, Billy King. He has, though, noticed Stefanski's presence. "He's very involved in the draft. Very involved," DiLeo said last week. "He got out and saw a lot of the players. He scouted them live. He watches a lot of film." Stefanski's first draft with the Sixers, for now, appears cut-and-dried. The team likes its position at No. 16, where it can take a power forward, a need Stefanski has identified as the top priority this off-season.</div> Philadelphia Inquirer
