When an NBA trainer is preparing to work with a prospective player ahead of the NBA Draft, a lot happens behind the scenes before the actual work begins on the court.
In a typical year, trainers gather intel on a prospective player ahead of the pre-draft process. Based on that information, a detailed workout plan can be curated specifically for each player and a daily schedule can be mapped out over the next several weeks.
This year has proven to be anything but typical, however.
Practice facilities around the NBA have shuttered due to the coronavirus pandemic. Players that were once used to having access to gyms around the clock have now been forced to resort to other methods to stay active on their own time.
Trainers are now designing workouts that can be completed indoors and some are even shipping equipment to players on an individual basis. With limited equipment available, some workouts will need to be creative to utilize everyday objects around the house.
“Now, with the coronavirus, it has changed a lot of things,” Tony Falce of Elite Skills Training told Rookie Wire. “We will find out what the player’s availability is for basketball, strength and conditioning. We’ll design a program for his availability. We’ll give them a shooting program they can do at a park since schools are shutdown.
We’ll find out what strength equipment they have at their house and design a program. We also have the equipment we can ship to them and put that program into it. For conditioning, everyone has a street, depending on where you live. We’ll try to put a conditioning program together for that.
Elite Skills Training has programs in Miami and Las Vegas for professional and high school athletes. Falce has worked with several prospects in recent years, including Daniel Gafford, Tyler Johnson, Terry Rozier, Taurean Prince and Abdel Nader among others. Those players spent weeks training with state-of-the-art equipment and resources, from sand training and conditioning to water workouts.
Prospects going through the pre-draft process this year will not have that luxury. Guidelines instituted by the government recommend that individuals distance themselves 6-8 feet away from others in order to help slow the spread of the virus. Basketball players are some of the most well-conditioned athletes in the world but the coming weeks will be crucial for them to stay in shape during this unprecedented time.
“The single most important thing is to follow the guidelines of the government that you’re in,” Falce said. “If there is any type of exercise that you can do, try to maintain it and whatever you can do conditioning-wise. Look at everything that is outside of the box. I shared with them, ‘Stay on top of your conditioning. Don’t get out of shape.'”
Several scouting events, such as the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament, were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, leaving some fringe prospects without an opportunity to showcase their games.
Many believe those players will suffer the most during the pre-draft process since there is seemingly a handful of players that perform well in workouts and improve their draft stock each year.
“The big losses are for the players that won’t have a Pro Day; the wild-factors,” Falce said. “I always use Tyler Johnson as an example, he was the wild-factor when he worked out with the Miami Heat. If they’re doing their opportunity to have their 3-on-3, they are going to possibly lose that opportunity.”
Evaluating a player in person is still a vital portion of the process for teams.
While scouts, coaches and executives have access to hours of film on any given prospect, it is often said they can really get to know a player during in-person workouts and interviews. Players can show off how they compete against others in group settings and demonstrate how they have improved since the college season ended.
With several scouting events now canceled, more underclassmen could potentially return to school. Players will have a harder decision to make and will be forced to rely on suggestions from college coaches and the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee, which has given prospects feedback on their draft stock since 1997, to decide if they want to remain in the draft or return to school.
“I would hope kids will follow the process that gives them a guideline that was put in front of them from the NBA and get the feedback from the NBA first,” Falce said. “Don’t just throw your name in there, sign with an agent and make the wrong mistake; try to do the due diligence that was placed in front of you and follow suit.”
Since the NBA regular season was suspended until further notice on March 11, the league has not made a decision on the NBA Draft Combine scheduled for May 21-24 in Chicago. The early entry deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NBA Draft has also not changed as players have until 11:59 p.m. ET on April 26 to test the draft waters.
The NBA Draft and the surrounding events will be treated as a secondary problem for the league with the regular season on hiatus, leaving prospects and those involved in a bit of a gray area for the time being.
While the coronavirus pandemic is certainly bigger than any given sport, and with several questions lingering on how to proceed, teams and players alike will be faced with navigating through uncharted territory.
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