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Scouting 101: Early birds
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Compare a July travel schedule of an NBA scout and a college coach and there won't be much difference.
Both have the adidas and Nike camps circled as must-see events. Getting to the Big Time Tournament in Las Vegas or the Peach Jam in Augusta, Ga., are also high on the list.
|  | | Darius Miles is a projected lottery pick even though scouts haven't seen him play as much as college players. |
Why? NBA teams need to evaluate the same talent as colleges. With the constant flow of underclassmen declaring for the draft, scouting has gone younger and earlier in a player's development.
This year's upcoming high school senior class has at least three players who could bolt early for the NBA, notably 7-foot-2 Tyson Chandler out of Dominguez High in Compton, Calif., and 6-11 Eddy Curry out of Thornwood High in South Holland, Ill.
But even if they don't declare for the draft, they may after only one year of college. Scouts usually want a growth chart on players of at least three years. If a player is only staying one season in college, they better see them as juniors in high school.
"We're all scouting high school kids," said Dick Versace, the new president of the Vancouver Grizzlies. "I'm not so sure we wouldn't be scouting grade-school kids if we could. There's a guy in California (Chandler) that almost came out after his junior year. It shows that there is a need for a developmental league."
And that's another reason why the NBA has to start scouting earlier. If more players declare for the draft who aren't ready, the NBA needs to know if they're worth hiding away in a farm league.
NBA brass will protest that too many high school players are getting into the league. It's true that only a handful do get drafted, or even declare for that matter. While only two high school seniors declared for the draft (Darius Miles and DeShawn Stevenson) this year, five freshmen, two junior college sophomores and 13 sophomores from four-year colleges declared for the draft.
Based on a scout's need to determine a true growth pattern for the player, scouting has to begin during the summer recruiting.
"I've been at ABCD (adidas' camp) the last two years because we have to," said Dennis Lindsey, Houston's chief scout. "Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett
have changed all this. Now you've got to do your homework and know everyone early. But the other advantage is you get quality time with the college counselors like Speedy Claxton or Hanno Mottola. It's a double-dip deal for NBA teams."
The number of unproven players declaring, like Providence's Karim Shabazz, Alabama's Schea Cotton or SMU's Jeryl Sasser, makes it even harder to determine who to scout. Players who barely stay in college -- like Michigan's Jamal Crawford, UCLA's JaRon Rush or Minnesota's Joel Przybilla -- make it even harder to determine who to scout and when for NBA teams.
Atlanta GM Pete Babcock makes a point to take note of anyone who has potential when he's at a game. Scouting has taken on a life of its own, not to mention more and more files because of teams don't know who will be available in a particular draft.
Steven Rosenberry, a scout for the Sonics, said last year scouts weren't too concerned with taking too many notes on Duke's Corey Maggette. The consensus was that Duke's Elton Brand and William Avery would declare, but not Maggette. He was a reserve and not logging serious time, especially during the Final Four. But that didn't matter. Maggette declared and ended up being drafted by Seattle at No. 13 (who promptly traded him to Orlando).
"It used to be easy to track players but it's not anymore," said Chris Wallace, Boston's GM. "You've got to look more at a player's upside and potential when you're scouting. We didn't do that as much 10-15 years ago."
Trying to judge the scouting ability is harder now, too. The success of a team's draft may not be known for one to three seasons, especially with unproven players getting into the league as teenagers.
"Evaluating this draft can't be done overnight," said Jim Kelly, Toronto's director of scouting. "You may not know for years because this is a draft on potential, rather than the ability they have today."
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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Darius Miles rocks the cradle.