The Scouting Question

[raptorsfan_04]

It really seems weird how nearly half of all the top picks (outside of the top 3) in the NBA draft end up being busts. When I play basketball I have the ability to arbitrarily judge talent and I've found nearly everyone who's played basketball has that corresponding ability. Many of the people I know also are able to judge a person's ability to another and I find it crazy that NBA teams pay their scouting department hundreds of thousands (probably moreso millions) of dollars to judge talent. Throw in the fact that they can make the draft picks play against one and another and it's really mesmerizing. Besides the point why don't NBA teams bring in their own players to go up against the new kids on the block? Wouldn't this be the most effective way of judging talent? If not what would be the best way to judge talent?


Going on the potential question... there are certain skills where a player's potential can be maximized through practice. These skills are probably dribbling, shooting, passing, basketball IQ... but a factor to consider would be how much time a player is willing to put into the improvement of those skills and a player's motivation. How much of an emphasis do you think the league puts into these skills?

I think the physical features are the only aspects which would probably be set in stone once a player enters the league... also does the league today put to much emphasis on these skills because of the fact that they cannot be taught?

Basically to me it seems like the league puts WAY too much of an emphasis on the physical features of the incoming draft picks. To me it seems like if a large emphasis is placed on a player's athleticism and this in turn increases the bust rate amongst players. However when teams place the emphasis on skills the bust rate lowers significantly. I think if there was a ratio of the emphasis that teams should place on skill to athleticism it shouldn't be any higher than 70:30 if they were to do a weighted average on potential/skills.