2017 WNBA Draft: How Teams Scout Big On Small Budgets

Thursday, April 13: the WNBA Draft takes place. This means, like all other sports drafts, teams get to pick from the incoming generation of young talent in hopes of landing a franchise-altering player.

Unlike other sports drafts, WNBA teams face challenges exclusive to them. Budgetary restrictions and quirky timing make the process of determining who they will pick more intimate and hands-on, which comes with its own benefits and disadvantages.

The biggest factor in how WNBA teams scout is, of course, money. Teams can’t afford the scouting departments of dozens whose full-time jobs are to prepare for the draft, nor the analytics department to supplement their work with advanced statistics. For example, the New York Knicks have directors of scouting for two different regions, a director of scouting and administration, and two scouts listed on their staff directory. The New York Liberty’s listed coaches and basketball operations staff can be counted on your fingers. The answer? Scouting with what you have.

Once the WNBA season ends, and college hoops season begins, teams will divvy up responsibilities based on geography. Curt Miller, the coach and general manager of the Connecticut Sun, spends his offeseason in the midwest, has one assistant in Los Angeles and one in Florida. This allows his staff to become point people for different conferences.

WNBA personnel will use every resource they have at their disposal without breaking the bank. For games they can’t catch nearby, Synergy Sports, a statistical and video database of all the hoops film you could ask for, is a godsend. Some teams will hire outside scouts to get insight. Word of mouth is also key, with WNBA staff calling on their college connections for information. Katie Smith, associate head coach of the Liberty, says a useful method for learning about unknown overseas prospects is talking to her own players, who spend their offseasons abroad.

“They might be our best eyes,” Smith said.

This doesn’t really sound like an “offseason” for coaches, but they’re used to the grind.

“Most of all of us grow up through the collegiate game, and so it pales in comparison to your recruiting schedule,” Miller told The Summitt.    

But seeing players in action is only part of the scouting process. Prospect interviews are hugely important. Teams in other leagues will break out mind-bending questions out of advanced psychology textbooks if it means learning something new.

“Team chemistry and a cohesive locker room so goes a long way, no matter the level. That became loud and clear in my first two years in the WNBA,” Miller said. “There’s not a lot of time in a WNBA season with commercial travel and going from different time zone to different time zone, it is a tough grind, it is hard to find time for player development. It is very beneficial to have players in your locker room that are self-motivated and will really proactively try and find time to work with you on player development outside of your practice time.”

Arranging interviews are also a challenge in the W. The NCAA season ends less than two weeks before the Draft, leaving a tight window to arrange one-on-one interviews that can be a tough expense to pay out for teams. Instead, teams will often resort to less in-depth phone interviews. Miller says Washington’s Mike Thibault is a master of getting to see kids face-to-face. Smith likes to use her position as a college hoops broadcaster to get a crack at prospects.

Timing also plays a role in assembling draft orders, as teams have to keep their rankings fluid when this year’s deadline for redshirt juniors to declare was just nine days prior to the draft. We saw a prime example of this in Diamond DeShields, who was expected to be a top three pick before she decided to stay for her senior season at Tennessee.

This short gap between college hoops season and the draft also played a role in the league enacting a rule prohibiting teams from hosting individual workouts, along with not wanting to give teams in better financial shape an edge or agents the ability to pick and choose workouts in hopes of pushing their clients towards certain franchises. The WNBA had a combine from 2006 to 2008, but not since.

For all the interesting twists that come with scouting for a WNBA team, there is one major advantage. Having a close-knit group of basketball minds manage the entire operation means no outside voices are around to muck up the flow of information. Coaches are fully briefed on whoever they end up drafting and know what they’re going to get. It can even help teams make better decisions.

“Your two full-time staff members and yourself really know your system. They know who thrives in your system,” Miller said. “We know what’s missing within our roster… Even projecting down the line, this would be an important position to fill this year because we may lose this person to free agency next year.”

All this projecting, planning, traveling and calling will be put to the test on Thursday.