Can't speak for all GMs, but for awhile worked close enough with about 10 of them to tell you that in most cases, this is absolutely not how it works, certainly not with consequential picks. Scouts have their role (detailed input on players), analysts have theirs (trends in the league, what they're "hearing", etc.) , data guys have theirs, coaching staff has theirs (player fit, roster strengths/weaknesses), cap gurus theirs, medical and psych staff theirs (red flags, mostly) and the GM has to manage those teams, develop the overall strategy have and manage the larger picture, etc. At the end of the day, the decision is on the GM's shoulders, so any worth a damn is going to have a lot of involvement in the final decision, based on the inputs above as well as their own scouting (they're on the road a TON).
I don't think that works as a GM in the NBA. You have to have a basketball mind. Or you get fired. Paul Allen was incredibly intelligent, and involved in the process. I doubt he would have just let Neil spin doctor him through the years. HE WANTED TO WIN. Can't judge a book by it's cover, but i think, including myself, i commit that mistake once in a while.
I would seriously bet against your theory that GM's just take scouts' word for it. Come on, the draft is a huge opportunity and can be a huge detriment to the GM. So at the very least every GM is having their scouting team put together video packages and scouting reports. Yeah, the GM might not watch every game a guy they want to draft has ever played but to think that they don't educate themselves and have final say is pretty crazy to me.
Kevein Pritchard really low; the last three picks he made for the Blazers helped that. Shall I remind: Babbit, Eliot Williams and what was that Duke guard's name?
OK. Nolan Smith 2011; Pritchard gone by then, 2009 Victor Claver. That was three years of total failure.
You know a lot of people like to talk a lot of shit about a couple of our past point guards: Nolan Smith and Raymond Felton and if you think I'm going to ask you to stop, you're wrong. Carry on, those guys sucked.
According to NBA.com, Duarte to GSW at #14 is now the consensus of the mock drafts from the main sites. https://www.nba.com/news/2021-consensus-mock-draft Tooting my horn 6 months ago in this very thread when he was projected mid-2nd in the mocks I was comparing him to Klay and calling top half of the 1st. With Thompson saying in June that recovery is going "slow" & W's GM Bob Meyers saying they won't rush him back even if that means delaying his start until March, they've real need at SG. Chris has reportedly worked out for them privately multiple times which is largely why I think the various mocks have coalesced on this projection. STOMP
I wonder if the Sixers just did. I'm hoping he goes undrafted and that Dame really is his buddy - he could be the next Fred VanVleet...
