SCOUT Episode 2: Inside the Life of a Brooklyn Nets Scout

SCOUT Episode 2: Inside the Life of a Brooklyn Nets Scout

When did you guys meet? I uh twice that I remember um story tell everybody that uh obviously wasn’t very memorable. He came to the Olympic training center. We had lunch and Sean didn’t say like a word at all. So like big stiff here. I remember a little more vividly cuz we’re actually in my office. So, but we uh just got a feel for the person, for the human. Every room he walks into, people light up and he was the first hire to come to Brooklyn with me. I was very fortunate and we’ve pushed each other, grown together. And it’s funny kind of looking back on all those experiences, you know, you never know how things can come full circle at any time or what can happen. So, relationships in this business is they’re huge, you know. So, [Music] my hope was to always, you know, go walk on at because that was the school I really wanted to be at. And then when it was time for trials, they couldn’t find my name. They couldn’t find my paperwork. And I’m like, I’ve been here every single time. so disappointed because I put so much effort into it. But with that disappointment, I was able to work with the women’s team, Harry Petta with Bill Nova women’s basketball team. I heard there was some crazy happenings that that didn’t allow him to make the team as a walk-on initially, but then I met with him and I loved his personality, his commitment level, his character. And then fast forward to the next season, I was like, they cut me every year. I don’t care. At least I know it’s not meant to be. So, I remember after our women’s practice, I went up to the run the stairs in the pavilion. I saw the men’s team coming on the practice like and I see them pointing up to me. I was like, “Oh, they’re going to kick me out of practice cuz nobody’s supposed to be in here.” And they tell me to come downstairs. I’m like, “All right, I’m I’ll leave.” And then they invited me to be on the men’s team, you know, at that point. No try out, nothing. It was just just like that. He competed every day to make everybody around him better. He actually made himself better doing that. I think he understands that. He’s got a a really unique vision in that way and I think he’s taken that to every position he’s acquired in his professional career. His job with USA basketball was a really highlevel job to take at such a young age and he killed it and then he goes to the NBA and you think, “Wow, that’s a big jump.” And he does a great job there and continues to grow. It’s just a great thing to be able to kind of look back and see how it all kind of fit together. And it’s helped me as a scout. It’s helped me, you know, just in terms of my own personal philosophy of life that you never know what’s going to happen. You can’t give up. You got to continue to press forward for your goals. And it’s okay to dream big even if it doesn’t work out. You know, at least you tried. And that’s one thing I never want to leave with whatifs. So, because of that, it’s allowed me to experience some pretty incredible things. Hey guys, we’ll go and get started. Good to see everybody. Three things that define us. Competitive, selfless, relentless. You know, when Sean comes back or especially around draft workouts, he’s going to ask, “Does this guy have these three things?” Everybody might have a different idea in terms of exact definition, but everybody’s definition shouldn’t be in the same world. So having those examples of, you know, for guys that you’re really passionate about, be able to prove that if you’re really going to stand on the table for a guy, he’s going to go for those three things first. A lot of work went into defining what that is, what Brooklyn’s going to be in the future. Regardless who comes in here, we’re not going to change. They’re going to have to adjust to us. We’re not going to change what that’s what we’re all about here. So now starting to hear little bits and pieces like that. When we get together, you kind of get stronger opinions heard to find out who the other guys that have seen different prospects more than me, who they really like or who they really dislike. You’re just continually building relationships, building camaraderie. So, we’re stronger as a group, not just as individual scouts. If you guys don’t come away with new ideas or new thoughts, then we failed in this meetings. All right? If we’re just rehashing the same stuff over and over and over again, that does nobody any good. If you have thin skin as a scout, you’re probably in the wrong job because you should be a continuous learner. You should go into every situation saying, “Oh, I’m confident with what I do. I should listen to other people and take in what their experiences are and maybe I can learn something from it.” Players with versatility, high IQ. I think those type of guys, they figured you out. Whatever skill set you see that they lack in college, once they get to freshman level, they’re able to adjust. If you leave here without speaking up, it does everybody a disservice. You know, just throw it out there at this point. You know, if you look silly, it’s fine. We’re we’re we’re family by now. If we hold back anything, that could be something that might be a critical thing later on. This is exciting for a scout. I mean, not only we have so many picks, but we have picks at every range. And to me, this is setting the foundation for building us to where we want to be for sustainable success. There’s some pressure there, which is good to make sure we make the right decisions to set oursel up to be able to do that. As you guys know, you know, if you get behind on reports or you’re distracted or things like that, things pile up and snowball so fast. Again, it happens all the time, whether it be weather, family issues. Take care of all that stuff. You guys understand, we can watch video, we can catch up on things later on, but don’t put your family in a position that’s going to take away from you and the job that we’re tasked with this year. We hold everybody accountable. All right? Because if our family life is good, we’re healthy, we’re going to be that much better as a scout, as a scouting group all together. [Music] We had a long stretch the last couple weeks, so I just used this week to kind of just be home and catch up and reconnect with everybody. It’s great to have him home. It It’s hard to see when he goes, but when it’s home, it’s like we just get to settle in and love on each other. We get to have kind of more of a normal schedule. So, I feel like that’s super important. Here. Here. Number go. Oh, no. Yay. You did it. You did it. The four. All right. Let them come in. We’re going to come into the office. Miss the floor. You understand? Everybody has stuff going on, but also we have a massive job to do, you know, this year. So recognizing that, you know, make sure they take care of their families, but also being sensitive if we need something. So it’s one of those, this is definitely very common, too. So, I think we’ve gotten to a place with our group that everybody respects the work that everybody’s doing and so when someone has to pull away, then they they’re willing to do that, you know, and and everybody understands and it gets it for sure. So, BJ knows that we’ve been on the road. Most of us got families, but you know, for him to reach out and appreciate the work that we’ve been doing, that makes us even more of a family because, you know, he cares. He cares. He’s selfless. That’s important when you’re working with someone. I think one of the most important thing is being able to put everything in perspective. And I think you cannot really fully evaluate players from one side or the other of the ocean if you don’t know who are you comparing them to with. So I’m lucky enough to have the chance to visit see how our team is playing and at the same time lucky enough to have games going around in college at this time. And so this is like a great moment for me to put together all the thoughts I have. It’s a lonely life at times and you’re always catching a flight somewhere, going somewhere to see games and see players and and connect with coaches and relationship building and things like that. It probably seems more glamorous than what it is at times. Um, but it’s a grind. It’s a lot. So, having to monitor your exercise, having to monitor your mental health, all those kind of things there are are go into it because if any of those things fail, you’re not going to be as good of a scout as you can be. The work never stops. You want to see these guys compete, who wants to win. I think every kid goes through different journeys and that makes who they are when they get to this level. So, you got to look at the whole story. When you see a guy that’s super tough, you know he’s went through some adversity that he’s overcame and he continues to push. He has that relentless. If a guy is super competitive, you know, he probably has siblings that’s in his household that they’re competing every day. I think that the one piece that’s starting to change in the NBA is valuing highlevel basketball IQ and competitiveness that enables them to be successful in playoff basketball. game of basketball is is so many complex things happening in a short amount of time. So your brain has to make so many decisions under pressure with a lot of moving pieces and to find guys that are able to think the game, be a to make those decisions, be able to see things happening before they can happen. Sometimes you see that with their passing or the ability to anticipate in the passing lanes and the steals. The impact of a player overall, both from the mental aspect as well as the energy that they bring are the things that jump out to me, you know, when looking at evaluating a prospect right away. When we talk about versatility, winning, upside, IQ, those are the things that the foundation to develop. And if they have those tools and have the ability to be coached and receive criticism, then now we can build upon that. And that’s so important. We’ve kind of, you know, taken this whole process this year, not only just evaluating the college season, but also evaluating the Nets, knowing how the team is playing, what the team is looking for, I think is very very important and crucial part having a direction and knowing what we’re looking for. It’s really important that the collaboration between the coaching staff, front office, and our scouts is in is in sync. So, it was great that Jordy got to come in and really give us a lowown on, hey, this is why I like these particular players. This is the skills that I look for. This is the development. This is the mindset. Watching different players that fit into what Jordy’s trying to do helps us better evaluate the players that we want to bring into the organization. So watching the way that Jordy coaches, the interactions, the priorities that he set out, you know, all right, if this player is doing this in college, you know, imagine him, you know, with our our coaching staff, and that could be amplified even greater. We got to be better, relentless, competitive, and selfless. That’s Jody’s DNA as well, you know, as a coach. He expects that from those guys. He’s hold those guys accountable. Those three things, it goes within the organization, it goes within the players, it goes within the coaches. It’s across the board. The timing of, you know, being able to bring some foundational pieces into the next organization with a new coach as um implementing an exciting style of basketball. Um it just allows us to be a to evaluate all those things, be excited about all those things, and and kind of build for the future and and be a part of something pretty special. The amount of ground that we cover, you guys have done an amazing job from a scouting standpoint and an intel standpoint. the amount of work and the volume of work and the quality of work has been impressive from you guys. So, thank you for the work that you guys done. It’s one thing to have the job and the task at hand that we have to do and everybody knows how important it is and the work that we need to do. But to be able to do it with people you enjoy working with um while holding everybody accountable. It’s been an enjoyable process doing it together with people that you really enjoy working alongside of has been a true true blessing for me. A lot of work to do. Got five picks now. Four still in the first round, one in the second round. So unbelievable opportunity for us, you know, here and I’m excited to do it with this group.

In episode 2 of SCOUT, follow Assistant GM BJ Johnson’s basketball journey from Villanova to Team USA to the Brooklyn Nets, step inside the life of an NBA scout, and see how the front office collaborates with Head Coach Jordi Fernández and his staff to identify prospects who fit the team’s identity.

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