For every business, hiring can be the difference between a team that outperforms and one that is just average. Even with best practices for talent assessment and a rigorous interview process, the outcome can still be a crapshoot.
Companies would do well to take a page from the intense, sustained efforts of professional sports teams in talent evaluation. Drew Kennedy is intimately familiar with this process. As a former pro basketball player and current scout with the NBA’s Washington Wizards, he is tasked with gathering as much information on prospects as possible to shape decision-making. The stakes are particularly high this year: The Wizards have the top pick in this year’s draft. On June 23, all eyes will be on them.
In this conversation, Drew details the attributes that NBA teams generally look for in prospects, the battery of tests and workouts teams use to dig deeper, and the ultimate decision-making process. The following Q&A has been edited for clarity and length.
Walk me through the departments that are involved in talent assessment.
For most pro teams, the staff focused on talent evaluation consists of several teams. One scouting group principally assesses college players, while another evaluates NBA players and athletes from the pro international leagues. Another team monitors younger players through grassroots basketball, high school competition, and development circuits. Information gathered over multiple years helps teams build long-term evaluations and monitor player progression.
My focus is on collegiate players. By the time these young prospects get to the collegiate level, I typically have a good baseline of their skills and who they are as people.
How does the franchise’s strategy for team building shape evaluations?
Team building is complex. Before each season or draft cycle, organizations establish key traits and priorities that align with their broader vision for roster construction and team identity. These discussions include executives, coaches, player development staff, performance personnel, and analytics departments.
Each position requires a different set of skills. For a point guard, teams typically look for someone who has speed—not only physically but also in how quickly they make decisions on the court. Point guards are typically your “coaches on the floor.” For wings, how well do they shoot and score the basketball, for example. Is their strength attacking off the dribble, or are they good at using screen manipulation to get scoring opportunities? Power forwards require a different set of traits; big men or post players, a different set of traits.
Across NBA organizations, several core qualities are commonly valued.
One shared value is basketball intelligence and how quickly players make decisions. All teams value guys who are smart and fast decision-makers. Can you operate at a high level of thinking? Can you see plays ahead? The game is played so much faster now, so quick decision-making is an important skill.
Every team has to develop its own standards. What’s the prototypical size by position? What is your minimum height or size for a point guard? How big do you want your wings to be? How big or strong should your power forwards be? And with that size, are they versatile? How well do they move? Can they play different positions?
A very important evaluation across all organizations is athleticism specific to basketball movement. We look for basketball athletes, not just athletes. The movement in basketball is different. There’s a lot of lateral movement, squatting, jumping, and fast-twitch and explosive moves. So all teams look for a high level of athleticism.
Mental and physical toughness is another quality that teams value. While evaluating these players at games, teams look for signs that confirm these qualities. Was the game a physically taxing one? Did it go into overtime? Was the player fatigued? How did he bounce back from making a mistake? Did the player’s turnover cost his team a basket on the other side? Let’s say he gave up a three-pointer. He got beat to the basket. His man scored on him. How did he bounce back?
Prospects who are good offensive players and can also defend at a high level are highly sought after by NBA teams. Ultimately, guys who are good on both ends of the floor bring value.
What kinds of information are you seeking, and what steps do you take to get a complete picture of a player?
Teams look for intel on every aspect of a player. Scouts frequently show up well before a game to observe warm-ups, preparation habits, body language, and interactions with coaches and teammates. Conversations with coaches, trainers, strength staff, academic personnel, and support staff help provide a more complete understanding of a player’s work ethic, professionalism, and developmental trajectory.
Throughout the year, scouts may have gotten answers to their main questions about players’ strengths and weaknesses, but they are constantly updating information. Did something change? An improvement or decline in some way? Was there an injury that that could tilt things a certain way? Every game is an opportunity to update, assess, and evaluate these prospects.
Can you think of a time when you saw a prospect, and in the first five or 10 minutes, you knew he was the real deal?
Absolutely. But there were also times when I thought I knew, and with deeper dives a different picture emerged. That’s also a part of the evaluation process. Organizations have meetings throughout the evaluation cycle. Questions are constantly asked, and opinions are confirmed or debunked.
Today’s NBA organizations increasingly combine traditional scouting with analytics and performance evaluation. They use statistical models, tracking data, psychological assessments, and cognitive evaluations to create a more complete player profile.
Organizations also use live, structured workouts and basketball situations to answer specific evaluation questions. A quick example: A player makes really good catch-and-shoot jump shots, but how good is he on the move? How good is he when he’s closed out on and he’s tasked with putting the ball on the floor? Live-action scenarios designed to simulate NBA-level defensive intensity can provide clear answers to most questions.
Washington has the number one draft pick, and there are a few top prospects. Companies face a similar challenge when it comes to hiring; there can be two or three good candidates with different strengths. How does the team choose?
These decisions are made at the very highest of levels. Most teams adopt a united approach, and information is key—it drives the final decision. There’s vigorous debate about all of the important organizational traits, player skills, and information gathered on these players before arriving at a final decision.
How important is a player’s cultural fit and chemistry?
Most organizations would agree that they are important. All teams look for people who are passionate about the game, who are proactive. You don’t have to tell them, “Come on, let’s go get some shots up. Let’s get in the weight room.” They are self-starters. They also bring a camaraderie to it. They enjoy sitting around and hanging out with their teammates. But at the end of it all, teams want fierce competitors. So we also look for benchmarks to help create our own culture.
After several years of evaluation, you have a pretty good idea of who the player is. No prospect is perfect, so evaluations often focus on balancing strengths, weaknesses, and development potential. For example, a player may be passionate, but he might not be the friendliest guy in the locker room. You’re determining how many of these skill sets or cultural attributes he brings to the table, and then you make an assessment on that.
But at the end of the day, talent supersedes everything. Talent is the driving force.
You’re making multimillion-dollar investments in young players. How do you increase your odds of success?
The goal is to reduce uncertainty, improve projection accuracy, and identify players whose skills, mindset, and growth trajectory align with the long-term direction of a franchise. Gathering all this information gives teams the best chance of making sound decisions. This process is not hurried: You start evaluating players at a very early age, so it’s a long process.
Of course, this year we’ll be making a particularly big decision—one that brings a lot of excitement and energy to the organization and the city.
