MITCH KUPCHAK – GENERAL MANAGER NBA Draft Availability 11/18/2020
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MITCH KUPCHAK – GENERAL MANAGER NBA Draft Availability 11/18/2020 Opening statement: “I didn’t realize we were already into tomorrow so that gives you a good idea that it’s been a pretty busy day. It’s been busy, lots of activity and really the only picks I can talk about are the three picks that have already been announced and if we can talk about something else, we will.” On Grant Riller fitting in with the team: “At the 56th pick you’re hoping to get a player that maybe was overlooked by everybody else. But when you’re looking at 60 picks of supposedly the best players in the world, a lot of times you can get a guy down there that makes your roster. Most of the time, you’re hopeful that he has the ability and potential to make your roster one day… but a lot of the time you end up either signing him to a two-way or in normal times you would go to Summer League and play. You’re looking at a multi-year deal with maybe a partial guarantee for three or years not guaranteed… so it remains to be seen in this era when there’s uncertainty with the G-League and how else things are going to play out and how we’ll use him. We think he’s talented, a four-year kid, we had him ranked much higher than 56. Hopefully by ranking him much higher we’re correct, we don’t know that. But we think he’s a good player and we’re happy to have him at 56, like I said we had him ranked much higher.” On upcoming free agency and roster changes: “First and foremost, I’ve always said that the thing that we need most is talent. If we could take advantage of our cap- room and add a second significant level of a talented player then that would be something we’d love to do. The other thing I think we could use, we’re very young, and we’ve got veterans… but I still think that we’re a young team. But we do have Nic Batum and Cody Zeller who do have veteran experience, but maybe another veteran player maybe in the backcourt. Maybe somebody who could play some minutes and mentor for all these young players.” On if shooters are of interest in the free agency: “Yes actually we’re looking right now at Exhibit 10’s, I do believe we have one more two-way so that is a focus. In terms of free agency, yeah, if you could get that one talented player we’d hope that he’d be able to shoot the ball in this day and age you need shooters. Right now it’s a focus with our Exhibit 10’s and two-ways and we have to acknowledge that is a need but what you’re talking about is the roster and we do have two spots open, we do have cap-room. We would hope that if we do find a player that that’s a skill that player would have.” On Vernon Carey, what made him such an attractive prospect and how his game will fit in at the next level: “Well, I didn’t go to Duke to see him. I was at a Carolina game and they were playing Duke, so that’s where I saw him. His skill level, his size, and he has great hands. My understanding is, that in the last whatever months, 6, 7, 8 months – he’s lost over 30lbs. And I’ve watched some workouts, and we’ve interviewed him which is basically all that we’ve been allowed to do. So, I thought he was a little bit out of shape last year, a little bit heavier than you needed to be, and he was still a prospect. As you know he was a great high school prospect, great size. And he can really shoot the ball too, so his skill level is very very high. I thought last year he was not in great shape and heavy, and he’s lost between 30 and 40lbs. So, he looks pretty good. Based on the exposure that we got to him, which is really just video.” On Coach Borrego seeing the team playing a lot of position-less basketball next year – how do you envision that going and position-less working defensively: “We’ve got all of our basis covered, in terms of size – we’ve got 3 players almost 6’11 or almost 7’ tall. We’ve got that position covered, we got the power forward, and the backcourt players. We got the more traditional positions covered. Clearly, two of our players in the front court are very young, Carey and another player yet to be named. I don’t know how much they would play, they’re young and they would have to earn their time. Having said that, we will probably build off the style of play that we played last year with the players that we played with last year. Now, adding LaMelo I think just enhances our ability to play fast and somewhat position-less. The Martin brothers, Miles, and PJ, they’re all pretty versatile – so I would expect that we would continue to play the same way. We do need size in this league still, but they’re young. I think at least today, Cody Zeller is going to be an important veteran for us this year.” On how much of an advantage does it give LaMelo having played professionally before coming to the NBA: “It is important, a lot of times, I remember when the early entry rules allowed high school players to come into the draft right out of high school. I would go to high school gyms and I would watch a prospect who was 17 years old, play in a game against 15- and 16-year-old players. I remember sitting in the gym saying, okay, I better figure out whether or not to give this kid four or five million dollars. And he’s playing against and he’s clearly the best player on the court, and he’s playing against either guys his age or sophomores or juniors in high school. So, the fact at 18 or 17 and I’m not even sure if he turned 19 when he was in Australia, he might have just been 18. To play against grown men in Lithuania and in Australia, that tells you something. To those guys, it’s not like it’s a pick-up game. They all are playing for money, they want to win a spot, they want to win a game. So, they’re play for real. And you’re talking about guys anywhere from 22 to 38 years old. So, yeah it tells you something. It gives you indication, to some degree that he can compete and that he can hold his own against grown men – which is what he’s going to be facing in the NBA. Now, I’m not saying that the league in Lithuania and the league in Australia is the same as the NBA because clearly, it’s not. But it’s a lot better than watching him against a high school team or whatever else there is out there – it gives you a good feel. But that’s not the reason why we drafted him, we drafted him because of his athleticism, his size, his skill, his vision. The way he wants to play the game, his love for the game, all those things were factors.” On whether Dwayne gets a qualifying offer: “No, we haven’t. And when we do, we will notify Dwayne and his agent, and then we’ll notify the press. There is a date that, that has to be done and it’s coming up pretty quickly, so we hope to have that information out in the next day or two.” .