The BroadCast | Previewing the Draft With Vince Rozman

presigned new opportunities for us to get better. Through everything that's happened since the pandemic hit, the shutdown, the restart, and now an accelerated off season, Rosman is confidence that the seventy six ers are ready. When you're told you know you're adding a guy like Barrel to your staff, you're pretty excited. Obviously, he's been incredibly successful throughout his career in the NBA, and I think he's a guy that if you want to learn from, you can learn

a ton from. I'm Lauren Rosen and I'm Brian Seltzer, And on this episode of the broadcast, we preview the draft with the seventy Sixers vice president of Scouting, Vince Rosman. Oh baby, this week in the NBA, Sit back and get ready for it. I mean, who knows where things will be at at the time this podcast comes out. Trade window began on Monday, NBA Draft on Wednesday, Free agency negotiations start on Friday, and then signings can begin

on Sunday. Listen, the pandemic is awful, horrible. Seriously, be safe, mask up, do your thing. But if you need a diversion, perhaps the most dramatic tent pole moments of an NBA offseason are all coming together and combining for a crazy week long stretch. It's insanity, but for me personally, I cannot wait to see how it unfolds. The seventy six Ers, of course, find themselves in a very intriguing position. They

have a new president of Basketball Operations and Daryl Morey. Obviously, they have two other key new editions the front office and executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Peter Dinwiddie and

Vice President of Player Personnel Prosper Krangua. But a guy who's been in the Sixers front office for fifteen years now, who has seen so many different iterations, evolutions and eras of the seventy Sixers is a guy by the name of Vince Rosman, and if you've listened to the podcast over the years, we've had Vince on a handful of times. He is outstanding and there's a reason that he's been

around as long as he has. Vince is the vice president of scouting for the Sixers, and with the draft being on Wednesday, Lauren Rosen and I felt the timing would be perfect to catch up with Vince and look ahead to Draft Night twenty twenty. Well, Vince, it is great to be speaking with you in the days before this year's unprecedented draft. Can you get us caught up to speed on just how the pace has been for

you guys leading up to the draft this year? Yeah, you know, it's always a bit chaotic those previous a few days. This season is is no different, if anything. You know, it's compounded by you know, our front office is all new and we're trying to you know, feel each other out a little bit, and then you know, we're going to blink and the draft is over and we're right in the free agency and then the free agency period is over and we're right into the season.

So yeah, it's pretty nuts. It's pretty much. I think we're ready, but it's it's been quite the process. So can you give us like a little bit of perspective on what it's been like to plan the draft, especially given the exterior circumstances that you guys are dealing with

with the pandemic. Just sort of what it's looked like from your department, maybe from the job and up until now, for sure, I guess you know, if you if you think back in in April, we were preparing to have the draft in June still, and we were preparing to do it, you know, not knowing what workouts may or may not look like, or what reviews may or may not look like, or or anything, honestly, um, and I think we were prepared for that, and and then that past,

and then we were prepared to do the same thing in August whenever the draft was supposed to be in August, and that past, and then and now we you know, each time we've gotten a regroup a little bit and and like you know, identify, all right, if we have a few more months, you know, whereas time best spent um to to you know, make an incrementally better decision

based on whatever new information we can find. So it's been Um, honestly, it's been a pretty unique opportunity because you get to a layer deeper on players that time never really permitted before, or you get to, you know, the next set of players that you would consider, um in the G League, you know, with Matt Lilly and and the Blue Coats, and talk through those guys a little bit more than than would have been available in

the past. So it's it's been challenging, but in a lot of ways, it's it's presented, you know, new opportunities for us to get better. Vince, you brought up some part of this equation that I think is probably the most fascinating in that there have been these sliding mile posts along the way for when you guys had to

be ready. So one thing that I've just kind of wondered about is how much has changed, whether it's with you or what you've gathered with teams around the league on opinions and views on players in between these different mile markers. Like you said, originally the draft is supposed to be in June, then maybe it was gonna be later than that, So how much could change about these players as the scale moved along to later dates. Yeah, I guess it's not. You know, that happens every year.

You know, you're you're in the week before the draft and you know your staff starts to move on a player. You just need to be cautious. I think we encourage, you know, guys to change their minds as they learn more about players. But I think for us, the key is understanding like why, Like okay, if us collectively or one of our scouts individually are are forming a new opinion on a player, we want to know, like, okay, what's changed? You know, what did you watch that that

made you think this? What is the specific reason that you think he may be you know, more or less likely to become a good NBA player at this point. So it's the changes are going to happen, like it just happens every year, and some some for the better, some for the worst. I think that the key is understanding, like the reasons why and the inputs behind all of those,

all of those opinions, to make sure you know their sound. Um. You know, there's a lot of information that floats around and a lot of things that can kind of push you off track, whether it's this rumor or you know, reading such and such article from from such and such website,

You just have to stay guarded. It sounds like despite all these sort of intangibles that you guys have dealt with, whether it's the pandemic or a somewhat new staff that you're pretty comfortable and confident with, with the week that you're heading into, if you had to explain maybe why you're feeling good about this draft, why would it be.

I mean, I guess, I guess it starts with I think our staff is awesome, um and and do you know, just do incredible work all year, So I think, you know, we put processes in place that I think, you know, the college season's over, if we need to make a decision then, which we don't have to, but like I think we're prepared for that. And then any any step along the way that that gets added, it's just you know, you get better and better information or you refine your

thoughts a little more. But I think, you know, whether it's it's getting intel on players or evaluating them in a really thoughtful way. Our our group is just good and I was believe in them and I'm proud of them, and I think like they help me and help me through, Like you know, My goal is to have el In and now Elton and Darryl as prepared as possible with

all the information they need. And I think we go well beyond like what is like a really really good set of both like depth of information and quality of information, And I think we're Yeah, I think we're ready to go. I feel like this is the age old question that gets asked every year because it has to be, but probably changes because every year is different. Is this is a draft for need, draft for the seventy six ers, draft for best player available? Or does that depend on

the circumstance and the draft where your guys slot comes up. No, I think that's in fairness to Darryl, like kind of a question for him and where his philosophies lie there. Obviously the two works we've we've been together, I'm learning kind of how he ticks and what he thinks. I don't know that I'm I'm perfectly there yet, but yeah, I think every every draft kind of has its own own flow there, and you've got to, you know, make the best decision for the team when you're on the clock.

I don't know if there's like a set answer to that question so much it seems about getting ready for draft. Vince is injecting out what a player could ultimately be. And you've used the word information a handful of times already. You've been at this for a while. What have you learned over the years about how to inform your gut, your hunch, the way you view a player and to know when you feel like the information you're getting a sound or what type of information to kind of let

pass through and maybe disregard. I think the key is every year we go back and or not every year, every couple of years you go back once the dust settles a little bit from the draft and review what you had and how accurate it was, and you know, it's it's more than just like, you know, we had a guy in this range and he went in that range and he was good, but it's like, did you have him right for the right reasons? Is he is? Like did you project the skills properly? Did you project

his role properly? Did did the intel we have like does that seem like it's true? And if it's not, or if we're wrong in one area or another, like we review why And it's creating processes and guard rails to like you know, you know, guard yourself from bad information or prepare yourself at the right points in the season to evaluate the right things or evaluate players in the right settings or whatever, you know, wherever that might be.

But we I think there's a lot of like you know, self analysis that our group goes through every year to try to get better. So as much as you can tell us without being too specific, when you're scouting primarily over video as opposed to in person, how has that changed things for you? And and maybe are there certain advantages that you might not have seen before in like

the video scouting world. Just what's that been? Like? Yeah, I actually I think, you know, I don't know that we're necessarily unique in this, but I think our group collectively has always valued video scouting, for lack of better term, a lot, and probably more so, you know than live scouting. One you can you can just get deeper. You can try to answer us to the question about a guy or like rewind, which is you know something you can't do if you're at a at a live game. I think,

you know, live scouting events has its benefits. You know, you get to meet people and you get to kind of see a player's body language a little bit see his interactions with his teammates or his coaches, or get a little bit better sense for his you know, his physical like attributes. Um, but if you really want to learn about a player, I think, you know, locking yourself in a room and watching hours and hours and hours of tape is the best way to get there. And

you know, we've had months, let alone hours to do so. Obviously, a big part Vince, of draft prep in years past is the interview with prospects. Typically that would happen at the combine or at the training complex, if you brought guys in for workouts. Have you guys been doing that this unprecedented year? And when did you start doing that? Uh? Yeah, I think like way back in May, and we talked

about earlier, you know, COVID presenting challenges. It's no different than like you know, you're ideally, I think we would be in the same room having this conversation and that's just not available. So we just adjusted and did you know, zoom interviews from starting in May and going all the way up to last week. Honestly, and I think in

a lot of ways it's not perfect. But also we've been able to do more than we would have otherwise, just you know, time permitting, and you don't always get to have a guy come out to the city or you're not assigned to them in the combine. And I think, you know, agents this year maybe have been a little bit more cooperative. It's easy to sit a guy on a couch and put them in front of a laptop and you know, let them talk to thirty teams or whatnot.

So if we look back at the last few drafts, whether it's for con or Shake or Matise last year, it seems like you guys have had a lot of success with those picks being able to come in and actually make an impact within whatever it was their first couple months or first couple of years in Shake's case. And then obviously mar was awesome in the G League last year. So it does seem like you guys are sort of on a role when it comes to your picks. What do you attribute that too, and how can those

successes inform this year? And I think a lot of it, honestly is luck. Um. I think a lot of it is, whether it be with our NBA staff or or' connor and his staff in the G league. We have a really really thoughtful, awesome player development staff, and I think, you know, from a from a player standpoint, I think the one thing that we have focused on are our guys that are are you know, grown ups, I guess, the guys that can take all the challenges that are

thrown at them in the league. I think you know, you mentioned Shake and fur con Um either those guys, like you know, we're good right away. Shake had to go through a year and even a lot of time this year in the G League and through it. Um

so like to be able to overcome adversity. Fir con Um, you know, his first few years probably weren't what he was expecting to go through, and he continued to work and work and work and is mentally tough and and incredibly confident and and you just have to have guys that can fight through those challenges because it's not always

so easy. Um. You know, Matisse found a lot of success early and then had some bumps in the road as well, and and you know was a guy that we relied upon in the playoffs because he was you know, he's a fighter. So I think there's all that, but yeah, you know, Luck is also pretty pretty huge, A modest Vince Roseman joining us on the podcast. Uh, you know this this year, it's a situation where I wouldn't be surprised mins if some fans kind of woke up a

week or so ago. They might wake up the day before the draft or on draft Day and they're like, what is this year's draft class all about? How would you summarize this year's draft? I think outside of the top one or two picks, like every year, it's all about the same, you know, Zia of the Beholder. If you need a big, you can find a big you like. If you need a guard, you can find a guard you like. If you need like defense, you can find

a defender you like. So I think, you know, every every draft kind of presents the same opportunities, and it's just you know, how how teams view him. So I know it's only been a couple of weeks with Darryl Morey, but what are your early impressions of him, what difference does he add to your group, and what's that partnership looking like with the draft coming up? Um, yeah, that's a great question. You know, obviously, when when you're told you know you're adding a guy like Daryl to your staff.

You're pretty excited. Obviously, he's been incredibly successful throughout his career in the NBA, and you know, if you I think he's a guy that if you want to learn from, you can learn a ton from. Um. I guess like this has been a little bit of a firefight these two weeks because he's getting acclimated and we're still you know, getting Peter and prosperous feed on the ground. Uh. So I think it's like it's a it's a question I'm excited to answer. Like as time goes by, it's hard

hard to say. Now, I would say one thing that's I don't know if it's surprising, but it's it's been pretty great. Is you know, we have a bunch of new people in the room together, and I think it's the rapport has has been Um, there's a connectivity right away. Um we're having you know, arguments right away and nobody's offended and you know that's how you get it's a better answer. So I think from that part it's been

really enjoyable. And for the rest it's just I'm as excited as anybody else to see where where all goes. And you know, the opportunity to work for him, obviously, I'm grateful for how much generally speaking, Vince, are these discussions, these quote unquote arguments about guys based on what's been seen and put on film, what they might be character stuff? Is that all the above that goes into this pot

that you guys banter about. I mean, yeah, not even necessarily just like players specific, but you know, conceptually, you know, how do you build a roster or how do you think about this or that. I think it's you know, kind of all of the above. That's great. Yeah, it's it's such a whirlwind process, it seems like for you

guys right now. And I'm not asking you to confirm or deny this, but we have heard that the check in checkout schedule at the seventy six or training complex as of late has been somewhere in the range of eight in the morning to ten at night. So these are kind of be really really long days, how you guys like stamina wise, just getting ready for something like this, Like it's such a huge crucial time of the year. And like you said at the beginning, it's not just

the draft this year. You've got free agency starting twenty four bigger part forty eight hours after the draft ends. Essentially, Yeah, I guess you just don't really think about it, right, It just is what it is, and you fight through it. So, you know, all the conversations and all the work is stimulating. You know, we all we all do this because we love it. So it's you know, this is the fun time, less fun for I guess our families. But yeah, it's

just you know, it's it's the enjoyable part. So you get through the draft events on Wednesday night, and then, like we said, free agency is right on the cusp, and after that, can you kind of map out for fans what mode you guys shift into immediately or how you're splitting this up? Like I'm almost wondering, you know, I hear the coaching staff sometimes it's like you have the game that's right in front of you, and then

you have someone else advancing. How are you guys preparing for the next step of the offseason right after the draft? You know, that's a great question. And this year is obviously, you know, massively unique as a compared to previous years. I think what we've learned through these past few months in life, I guess as much as in work is like,

we're just gonna have to stay nimble. We don't know exactly what the NBA season is going to look like, or the college season, or the international season, or how long any of them may or may not last. So like, you know, if if it may, we can get back out on the road again, like we If not, we'll keep cranking through video like we've we've gotten quite used to over the past few months. I think, Yeah, I

don't know. I guess I'm as curious as you are, But I think we're just ready for whatever challenge comes, and we'll adjust to it. It is truly such a fascinating and crazy compelling time for NBA front offices, and not specifically the seventy sixers, but I would argue the

Sixers have a distinct case this year. They've got a new head coach in Doc Rivers, who's gonna bring a different style of play, and then, of course a new president of basketball Operations and Daryl Moray, plus two great additions to the personnel department in Peter Dinwiddie formerly with the Indiana Pacers, and Prosker Karragua last with the Orlando Magic. I for one cannot wait to see how this comes

together in the coming days. And my personal takeaway from the interview with Vince was that the Sixers feel really good about their preparations. They've been able to catch all the new members of the front office of coaching staff up to speed because the preparation they did, and that there's a healthy alignment of vision going into the draft and free agency. We'll have a draft recap edition of

the podcast coming away on either Thursday or Friday. I think it's going to be Thursday, but just in case, Friday at the very latest, so be on the lookout for that. Enjoy Draft Night and the start of free agency. Talked to you next time here on the broadcast. See him