Assistant GM Larry Harris on the Draft on the Dubs Talk podcast

the report is coming from inside the building

First, Podz speaks for himself

Larry Harris podcast

DNHQ commenter rcknfn had this nice find of a podcast with Assistant GM Larry Harris. rcknfn wrote:

If you are feeling down about draft (or even otherwise), I highly recommend you to listen to Larry Harris on Dubs Talk podcast. You don't need a account or such:

It comes across as a honest assessment about rooks.

Podz - Film session was off the charts (My comment: Steve and Dray are gonna love that). His grit, his determination, his IQ, ability to make open shots; DDV-esque rebounding; Already has NBA ready body - compact, strong like Jalen Brunson.

Trayce - Big, Long, Athletic, Weak side.shot blocker, if you give him a lane, he gonna finish over top over a lot of people

Here are a few key quotes.

The scramble to get into the second round

We only had one pick and then all of a sudden, when it was over. 19 was picked. Brandin. I go, well, that was a good draft. Okay, now let's have some food and kind of sit back. And then all of a sudden at about 31 or 32, they're like, well, we need to get on the horn here. And so, the interesting thing for the fans is from like pick 35 or 36, we're calling every team, you know, Hey, can we do this? What do you think? What do you think? And then all the way down to 57, we finally found a team and was able to secure Trayce Jackson-Davis, which we're excited about as well.

Deciding on Podziemski

As we worked on our board throughout the last three days, it seemed like it kind of resonated to two different guys that we were looking at and really spent the majority of the morning and most of the afternoons just trying to decide what was the best fit….

The consensus came a little bit later in the afternoon. Mike is his first year as a GM. I thought one of the big things during the day was that he kind of took some quiet time to himself, absorbed everything that he was hearing, and Joe basically said, “Mike, you know, this pick is yours.”

We all met again and he said, this is who I'm comfortable with. And it ended up being where everybody was at, at the same time.

Trading Down?

To be honest with you, there were options that we had about moving that pick back to 20, to 21 to 22, and even a chance of going back further and once the draft started getting closer after about 15, and as we had had our board measured up, he [Podz] was at the top of it.

And it got to a point where we were starting hearing some rumblings that he may go 20, may go 21 and you know, so it's becomes like Vegas. You come a little bit of a gamble and do you push back, maybe get a couple more draft assets? Or do you stick with what you had? ….

We didn't feel comfortable enough to move back even one or two slots, cuz the intel we were getting was that Brandin was gonna be taken.

Podz’s Strengths

We have the two greatest shooters in the world. I just don't think you can have enough shooting. I think the spacing of the floor is important for the way Steve wants to play and the effectiveness that our team has, especially in the offensive end of the floor.

So what Brandin brings first is elite shooting. You know, over 40% at near 44% in the West Coast conference. I think obviously a big jump from Illinois to Santa Clara. He was on every top of the scouting report and what we liked about him after interviewing him here after bringing here and having him work out and then going through a film session was just his grit, his determination. His IQ’s off the charts. Got a chip on his shoulder. Wants to prove to everybody that he can play.

It really is a fit all the way around with the IQ, the passing, the ability to make open shots, and … as a sophomore and 20 years old, he's really got a bright future ahead of him because I think he brings enough of a skillset set that really complements our team.

Podz needs to develop midrange game

If you can really shoot it, your feet are set and you can stretch the floor. Now you put the defense a little bit on their heels. He's not afraid to get to the basket. He's got a little floater in the lane. I think some of his game off the dribble needs to improve. I think that's an area. Pulling up in the mid-range — though he can do that.

I think people are gonna find out that we just can't let this guy sit on the three point line. We gotta run him off the line. And so his game needs develop more in the midrange. But his athleticism, his toughness, his ability, he's not afraid to get to the basket. He's just gonna have to learn that, you know, in the NBA, which is different than college, you know, pulling up in the lanes, it's there for a reason.

The great shooters and scorers know how to score. Steph and those guys have figured out that sometimes you can't get all the way to the basket and he already has a little bit of a floater. So offensively, they say three level scorer... I think he eventually can get there, but for him, I think everything gets set up by the fact that he can make the long ball.

Podz excellent rebounding

Q. He also led the West Coast Conference in rebounding as a 6-4, 6-5 guard, 8.8 REB/G, 13 double-doubles. How much does that stick out to you?

We think rebounding translates no matter what position. And if you can rebound as a guard, that that usually bodes well for you in the NBA. There's a lot of kids, especially his age 19, 20 years old, where you're like, okay, first thing you write down: “Body development. Oh, he's gotta get stronger, gotta get in the weight room.” He's already got that. He's almost got that compact, strong kind of body.

And again, I don't want the fans to lose their mind a little bit when I say this. He rebounds, he's smart, he can score. He's got a little bit of some Jalen Brunson in him in the sense of he knows how to worm his way into the lane and he's strong enough to take contact.

Podz athleticism

He's not the greatest athlete in the world and laterally, defensively, that's probably gonna be the biggest challenge for him, which I think is for a lot of young players and especially perimeter players trying to handle any guards, backups or starters in the NBA, one-on-one, and it's always a team defensive sport. But I think defensively is gonna be his biggest adjustment.

But you bring up a great point. He's not afraid he'll stick his nose in there and he is the ultimate competitor. I almost sometimes to his detriment that he feels like he can do things that you're like, maybe not this time. Maybe kind of take a different lane to get there.

But we talk about internally is we never wanna draft players that you gotta rev up. We'd rather draft players that you kind of wanna draw back. Well, this guy, we don't have to worry about revving him now.

Trayce Jackson-Davis

Yeah, I think the biggest thing is, it's interesting we grab two guys that can rebound. I think the other thing is as a weak-side shot blocker. The stats have proven this guy is a very, very, very productive player and he's played in arguably the best conference or one of the top three conferences. And not only played, but he was the best player. Two-time Big 10 player of the year.

This guy put up real numbers in a real league and was double and triple teamed every night. So I think the rebounding is there. I think the passing, he's gotten better. As he's seen more double teams and stuff like that. And I think the floor spacing's gonna help him where I doubt he's gonna be double teamed in the NBA.

So I think his effectiveness, if he's learning from Draymond how to play out the split game in the mid post, I think he can do those things. And if he gets a little small guy on him, he's not gonna be fading away and shoot fade away jumpers. He's gonna get to the rim and you give him a lane to run and as big as his hands are, as long as he is, he's gonna finish over the top of a lot of people.

The pre-draft process

Having the opportunity to visit with them in Chicago was great. Just got to know them as people. And then obviously early in the process we brought them in. I trust our scouting staff and department enough that to see the games live that they need to see. So when they come in here, it's more sitting down with them, getting them to know them. Now they'll go through a workout and all this stuff, but it's three on three. It's a little scripted. I think you make a big mistake like, “Hey, guy had a great workout.” Well, unfortunately we play five on five and there are probably a few more players that are a little better than this workout that you win against.

But you got to see is with Brandin, the competitiveness that he had. And then in the film session, he was off the charts.

Then with Trayce, it was just that, the size, just how big and long and athletic that he is. And now you try to envision, okay. Can some of the things you did in college translate to what you can do to help us?