The NBA 2021 draft will be on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in New York. Through General Managers, Scouts, and Head Coaches, NBA Teams will be trying to find players that can fit into their respective team ethos. The lives of sixty young men will change forever as they transition from amateur to professional players with massive earning potential. But how can you become a part of this chosen 60? Is talent all it takes? What qualities are General Managers looking for in players? We will highlight some of the attributes that will give players an edge in the upcoming NBA draft.
Key attributes that General Managers and Team Management are looking for in prospects.
NBA General Managers look for specific skillsets and other soft skills when seeking to add players to their roster from the NBA draft. Some of the main things that they consider are a player’s performance, how well they think the player will fit in the team, the work ethic of the player, the players level of maturity, off-court behavior, and also how well the player got along with prior coaches.
A players’ performance is of uttermost importance to General Managers; they are looking for players that have performed consistently well over an entire season rather than those that just had a great month or a few exceptional games. When a player maintains a high level of performance throughout the season, it tells General Managers that they are hard workers who will do what is required to succeed in the NBA.
General Managers are also looking for good fits for their teams; they are looking for personalities that will be at ease in the cultural environment of the team. Every team has a different culture, and some personalities do not fit some team cultures. A General Manager will probably forgo the most talented Point Guard in the draft for the second or third best, purely because he believes that they fit better in the team. Choosing the right personalities for the team is essential to keeping team spirit and morale high in the locker and on the court. A team that gets along with each other performs so much better than one with conflict among team members.
The work ethic of a player is also heavily considered by NBA General Managers. General Managers will review footage of players during training and games to see how they react to situations and how committed they are. Players with great work ethics want to play every minute of every game and remain intense whether or not they are on the court. They also take every opportunity to practice to perfect their skills or work on areas they think they need to improve. Players with these skill sets are highly sought by NBA team General Managers. General Managers are also looking for players that display a strong level of maturity and level-headedness. Playing in the NBA will mean that the player will be in the spotlight and will face more scrutiny than a regular person. Players need to be mature enough to understand this and know how to deal with it from day one; there is no grace period to adjust to life in the NBA.
When NBA General Managers are interested in a player, they do background checks to see what the said player has been up to. Social media accounts are reviewed, and everything else in the public domain; they will get an idea of what type of person the player is from the kind of posts that they make on social media and if they are prone to getting in trouble.
Finally, General Managers might speak to the prospects College, or High School coaches to get an idea of their relationship with the player and how well the player responded to coaching. Some players are more receptive to coaching than others, and NBA General Managers want to know this before deciding on a player.
These are some of the things that NBA General Managers will be looking at before choosing new talent for their teams on July 29, 2021. Players who declared for the 2021 NBA draft should be aware of these requirements so that they can put their best foot forward.
