NBA Draft: Best Available or Best Fit?

As we are surrounded by the frenzy that culminates in tonight’s NBA Draft, our minds reflect on the issues and topics swirling around the annual event.

A couple of trades have already been announced, rumors of potential deals fly about, information about secret workouts is revealed, and everyone has their own theories about who should be drafted and when—and this list of discussion points is the tip of the iceberg.

In all of this draft mayhem, one debate that arguably defines the core of draft strategy is either barely touched on or not mentioned at all: Should one draft the best available player, or should one draft the player that best fits the most pressing need for the organization on the clock?

Since there are few—if any—players who possess all of the skills necessary to win a championship in any sport, front offices are charged with the daunting task of evaluating players to determine the best choice for a given franchise.

There are so many constraints that need to be managed that one team’s answer to this question may change daily because of adjustments to the team, league, and/or macroeconomic framework.  Players are analyzed, in the scope of the team’s philosophies, for their effectiveness both on and off the court, field, or ice.

Additionally, the team evaluates the relative value of each player in the draft pool, the possibility of gaining the opportunity to draft each player, the possibility of signing each player, and the cost incurred for the consummation of the contract.  My head spins when thinking about the extent of this analysis, and this is only the beginning.

League changes such as salary caps, league alignments, opposing teams’ adjustments, and more serve to cloud the issue, not to mention the major media dollars and markets that figure into teams’ decisions.

It is clear that the draft process is involved and fluid, and that the answer to the question is that a team always opts for the player that best fits the team’s framework.

What seems to be lost in the discussion is the fact that a team drafting a player who fills a need already addressed by players on the current roster still chooses the player who is the best fit for the team.  It just happens that the decision is based on other changes that will be made by the team to incorporate the draft choice into the fabric of the organization.

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